NOVEL WEB Chapter 12: Gifting
Yana's face darkened instantly. Although she was a fresh-faced newcomer, she had carefully studied the platform rules.
If she kept losing in PK battles, not only would the platform stop promoting her stream, but her daily PK attempts would also be limited, creating significant challenges.
While guilds and agencies had dedicated teams to manipulate such events for gifts, such methods were unfriendly to an independent rookie like her.
The other party had so many fans that starting a PK felt like a crushing blow from a higher dimension, an outright act of bullying.
"Heh, little girl, let me show you how cruel the real world can be," said the greasy man with a mocking laugh.
He sneered, "Look at those broke fans on your side. All I see are low-level accounts that barely reached level 10. How embarrassing."
"Today, I'll shatter your dream of becoming an internet celebrity."
In a flash, gifts of various values from his side—ranging from a few dollars to tens of dollars—began pouring in like a storm.
His stream's popularity surged to 3,000 viewers almost instantly. In contrast, Yana's stream remained at a pitiful few dozen viewers—a laughable gap that spelled total domination.
Yana expression grew increasingly grim. Her pride couldn't tolerate such humiliation.
She debated calling a few of her admirers—her so-called "loyal backups"—to ask them to send some gifts.
But she hesitated. At most, these people could scrape together a few hundred dollars, and they might not even be able to afford that.
While there were wealthy kids at her school, most of them were careless spenders. True rich individuals were few and far between.
"Sh*t—"
Suddenly, the greasy man on the other side cursed. Yana snapped back to attention.
A previously inconspicuous low-level account, with the username "Poor Guy," who hadn't said a word, suddenly sent a Rocket gift.
That single Carnival gift was worth 300 dollars! On the greasy man's side, no one had sent a gift worth more than 100 yuan.
"Thank you, Brother Poor! Thank you for your support!!!"
Yana was on the verge of tears. Watching this unfamiliar ID instantly take the top spot on her leaderboard felt surreal, almost dreamlike.
Under normal circumstances, 300 dollars wouldn't catch her attention. But at this moment, amidst the humiliation, that single Rocket gift, which displayed effects across all live rooms, was nothing short of a hero saving the damsel in distress—a timely act of kindness.
And it didn't stop there.
Suddenly, the entire live stream room was flooded with special effects.
"Poor Guy sent Rocket×2… ×3… ×10…"
Not only was the greasy man stunned, but Yana was also left speechless. What was even more shocking was that 'Poor Guy' gifting spree didn't stop—he continued to send Rocket gifts at an insane pace.
Lily suddenly ran into the room, holding her phone in shock. "Sis, what's going on? Am I seeing things, or is there a glitch on TikTok?"
She looked at her sister's computer screen and saw the Rocket effects floating everywhere. She stood there, dumbfounded.
"That's 300 dollars each! But this guy is sending them like they're free, going completely crazy!"
"Sis, who is this person?"
Lily face was full of excitement and admiration.
"Didn't you say that everyone chasing you was just a bunch of flashy nobodies? How did such a rich guy suddenly appear?"
"I… I don't know him either!!!"
Yana was equally incredulous.
The Rockets kept coming, never stopping, leaving everyone in shock at how fast this rich "Poor Guy" could send them.
In the blink of an eye, the count hit 300 Rockets—90,000 dollars.
The PK session ended at that point, but the video connection remained live. The result was an overwhelming, exponential victory in terms of popularity.
The greasy man's face twitched slightly. What he initially thought would be a casual bullying session with some playful teasing of a newbie turned out to be a head-on collision with a powerhouse.
Still, he knew how to play it off for the sake of entertainment. In a seemingly nonchalant tone, he said, "Little sister, you're really something. With such a big brother backing you up, no wonder you dare to stream with such a small account."
Yana glanced at her screen and saw that nearly 1,000 people had flooded into her live room, all there to witness the rise of this mysterious rich "Poor Guy."
"Brother Poor, You have such a unique name!!!"
"Brother Poor, you're incredible! A true tycoon, not just a pretender."
"It's been ages since I've seen this many Rockets floating around."
"Brother Poor, please have mercy and love me! Can we be less strict with gender? I'm a handsome young man too!"
"Brother Poor, a sweet and innocent little female streamer begs for your attention and care!"
The chat was overflowing with lively and amusing comments.
Feeling slightly bitter, the greasy man chimed in, "Brother Poor, what games do you usually play? Would you like us brothers to show you the ropes? We're well-connected with all the game streamers in the gaming category."
After finishing his gifting spree, Poor Guy didn't say a word. Ryan, who was short-sighted, didn't even bother to put on his glasses to check how much his level had skyrocketed—he was too lazy to care.
Yana hands trembled as she gripped the mouse. She opened the live stream backend to find her top supporter.
For a newbie who had only ever received a few dollars in gifts, this top supporter completely crushed everyone else on her list.
Her leaderboard showed an overwhelming, monumental gap—60,000 dollars worth of gifts.
With a total of 60,000 dollars worth of gifts, Yana was no longer just a newbie. In an era where countless internet celebrities were competing for attention, she had instantly climbed into the ranks of mid-tier streamers.
More importantly, her live room suddenly became incredibly popular, and the influx of attention filled Yana with unparalleled satisfaction and a surge of vanity.
Standing nearby, Lily beamed with excitement, "Sis, stop pretending to be clueless. If he's not one of your admirers, who would spend so much money on you in one go?"
"Hurry up and ask who this future brother-in-law is!"
Reminded by her sister, Yana snapped back to reality. She quickly sent a private message to her top supporter, carefully crafting her words.
"Thank you for your support, Brother. I'm flattered. Do we know each other?"
However, her message seemed to sink into the void, as Ryan had no habit of checking messages in TikTok's backend.
The primary reason was that his inbox had exploded. Countless female streamers had sent private messages seeking his attention, leaving Ryan feeling overwhelmed by the flood of notifications.