It was still the boss who reacted first, "No no, this is very wrong!"
The boss slammed the table suddenly, frowning, as if he had noticed something not quite right.
Trevor beside him looked at the boss in confusion, "Uh… what's wrong with this?"
"Professor Asher is amazing!"
"Back then Professor Asher was often on the trending searches, so it's perfectly normal for the interview about him to have high traffic."
What Trevor said was logical and well-founded, and many old employees nodded in agreement.
That's how it was.
Although the data was indeed a bit exaggerated, it wasn't entirely unacceptable.
However…
"No," The boss shook his head very firmly, "I understand what you mean."
"But," The boss pointed at their interview video.
"Entertainment-oriented and serious content yield different levels of traffic."
'Huh?'
This left the others stunned, then they quickly understood the boss's meaning.
"You all were involved in the production of the content; you should know, whether it's the video or the manuscript, it's not that entertaining."
Asher's answers on some questions had hot-topic potential.
But that alone wasn't the reason why this video could go viral so easily.
"Even after editing, the remaining video is 34 minutes long, and the manuscript is nearly 20,000 words. That length is not something most people have the patience to finish."
The boss had already prepared to wait until Monday to check the results before breaking down the video into smaller parts for re-release.
Using short and concise videos to saturate smaller segments of the internet.
That's also a way to increase traffic.
But, the boss quickly opened the comment section.
'There is nothing.'
Went to browse the internet…
'Hm? When did this trending tag appear?'
The boss saw a trending tag at the bottom of the list: #QCityBeastTamingGeniusTwinStarsLittleAsher
A few big question marks popped up over the boss's head.
The boss keenly sensed that something fishy was going on here.
He immediately clicked back into the comment section and specifically searched for comments related to this so-called "Little Asher" from Q City.
Just as expected, quite a few.
But very subtly maintained at the level of passersby casually praising and discussing, like a random mention, not an intentional attempt to ride the hype.
Even if someone said it was riding the wave, it wouldn't lead to angry arguments.
Cold treatment, the reply threads would just quietly sink.
If the boss hadn't paid close attention, he wouldn't have noticed the issue here.
"Boss, what's wrong?", Trevor saw the boss's serious expression and curiously leaned forward to ask.
Seeing Trevor's big face suddenly close in, the boss was almost startled.
"Nothing," Coming back to his senses, the boss waved his hand.
'Keep your distance.'
"There must be paid commenters involved now," As he said that, the boss nodded.
'Hmm, that must be it.'
"They might've even bought heat and promotion for our video," The boss continued.
Trevor: "?"
Trevor was full of question marks.
'What?'
Even their own boss wasn't willing to spend money on traffic, who has so much extra money to burn on promoting someone else?
Unlike Trevor's confusion, the surrounding colleagues all showed a sudden-realization expression, 'Got it!'
'Someone is clearly planning to stir up something.'
———
"Achoo—" Asher sneezed, and when he looked at his phone, it was a message from the boss of Asuka New Media.
'So cautious in wording, so strange in content…'
"Hm? Little Asher?"
When Asher saw this title, he couldn't help but inhale sharply and showed an expression like he had both a headache and a toothache.
'Tss—'
'It really is a headache.'
"I thought this only happened in the entertainment industry… uh, saying it like that should be fine, right?", Asher coughed twice and said, "Didn't expect that in this… beast taming world, there's this kind of saying too?"
"Hahaha!", Freya, who had pulled Asher over to check on Jaeger's condition and whether the training methods needed adjusting, burst into loud laughter.
Wiping away imaginary tears from her eyes, Freya's smiling face showed a few hints of coldness, "Who says not?"
"This kind of trend exists in every industry, I guess."
"Go back a few years, and I've heard people hyping up 'Little Freya' too."
Saying that, Freya frowned, clearly showing a look of deep disdain.
"If she had some real skill, I wouldn't say anything, but the problem is…"
"She really has no skill. Just riding coattails. Hard riding. After riding on my name wasn't enough, she even went to ride on Lucy's."
Asher: "…"
"That's how I got to know Lucy," Freya spread her hands.
Two unlucky people.
Asher: 'Cough cough, I want to laugh. Hold it in. Laughing right to her face might not be very nice, huh.'
Fortunately, Asher managed to hold it in.
Freya was still venting to Asher.
As if she had finally found a fellow victim of the same kind of tragedy and wanted to pour out all her bitterness.
"I'm fine; after all, my family background is there. Though it feels a bit awkward to say, after my family stepped in, they didn't dare openly ride on me anymore."
"Then she shifted her target to Lucy."
"Compared to me, Lucy's background is much more ordinary. Plus, she's an actress, entertainment industry, you know the hierarchy…", Freya gave Asher a look.
Asher nodded.
'Got it.'
"But Miss Lucy's agent isn't easy to deal with either," Asher thought of the agent named Julian who followed Lucy, clearly a top-tier… well, insurance salesman, no, top-tier agent.
Want to ride on Lucy's fame? Not easy.
Freya gave Asher a thumbs up, "Good eye. That guy really isn't easy to mess with."
"So in the end, those 'Little Freyas,' 'Little Lucys' who tried to ride on us got stomped down."
Freya shrugged, "I haven't really kept up with her since. All I know is her strength isn't anything impressive, right? Just an ordinary Tier 3 or Tier 4 beast tamer?"
Asher: "…"
Tier 3 or Tier 4 beast tamer isn't weak either.
But strength is often relative.
"Professor Asher, you encountered a similar situation?", The topic shifted, and Freya remembered why Asher brought it up. She gave Asher a sympathetic yet gossipy look.
Asher was silent.
"Put away that nosy curiosity; there's no drama for you to watch," Asher said firmly.
"No no no," Freya waved her finger with a knowing expression and said, "This kind of drama isn't up to whether you want to show it to me, it's about whether the other side wants me to see it."
"If they've decided to ride on your fame, Professor Asher, then they definitely have a full process planned."
"Sigh!", Freya suddenly slapped her thigh, "Now I'm starting to look forward to it."
Asher really wasn't looking forward to it.
He decided to skip the topic.
"Training."
"Has Jaeger mastered all its skills?"
With a blank face, Asher ruthlessly dragged Freya back to the training field.
Freya: "..."
"Come come come! Professor Asher, let's have a match!", Freya rolled up her sleeves, looking like she was ready to show Asher something.
Asher nodded: "Sure."
Freya: "?"
Freya's sleeve-rolling motion suddenly froze.
"What?", Freya turned her head in shock to look at Asher, "You're serious?"
She swore, she was just casually saying it.
Her Jaeger was at least Tier 8. Even Asher's Little Raven was only Tier 6, there's still a gap, right?
Freya never imagined Asher would agree so readily.
"Hm?", Clyde, not far away, heard and also walked over.
"Professor Asher is going to duel Freya?", Clyde's face showed a look of interest.
Clyde decisively said, "I want to watch!"
Freya gave her nosy brother a vicious glare.
Clyde was unmoved.
One look and you expect him to back off? What a joke!
"Fine," Freya smacked her lips.
With Clyde joining the fun, Freya didn't want to say more. No matter what she said, it felt like it would be used against her.
Might as well just agree openly.
It's just a battle anyway.
"Then let Jaeger and Little Raven fight. I've been meaning to see…", Freya's words were interrupted by Asher.
"Hmm? Not Little Raven, I plan to send Little Cat."
Big eyes, big question mark.
Freya and Asher stared at each other, trying to see if Asher was serious.
Asher's face showed not a trace of joking.
What's there to joke about?
"I don't only have Little Raven as a pet. It's normal for me to rotate someone else into the battle," Asher countered.
Freya opened her mouth, wanted to say something, then shut it.
Meanwhile, Clyde heard and showed a very interested expression.
'Little Cat?'
He knew, it was that chubby, chirpy pet that looked like a cat-pig hybrid.
Weird color. Weird appearance. Even the dragon horns on its head were weird.
As for strength… Clyde couldn't figure it out. Even if Asher wanted to switch pets, wouldn't Little Jellyfish make more sense?
It was closer to Tier 7, after all.
Even if it lost, it wouldn't look as bad.
If Asher knew Clyde's thoughts, he'd definitely say: Better to send Cat-Worm than Little Jellyfish. Little Jellyfish basically has no useful offensive skills.
'Better send Cat-Worm.'
'Just the right amount of motivation.'
"I won't hold back, you know?", Seeing Asher so determined, Freya stubbornly emphasized again.
Asher nodded, "Yeah, I know, no need to hold back."
This wasn't like the sparring between Little Raven and Flame Emperor.
This was a real fight between Cat-Worm and Jaeger.
Seeing that Asher really made up his mind, Freya didn't try to persuade anymore.
"Then let's see who's better in the ring," Freya put one hand on her hip, looking very confident.
"I'll try to finish it in one move, guaranteed your pet won't suffer too much!"
Freya and Asher stood at opposite ends of the battlefield.
Freya looked at Asher, chin slightly lifted, full of confidence.
Defeat Asher's pet? Piece of cake.
Tier 8, her Jaeger was Tier 8.
How could it not one-shot the opponent?
Asher smiled, not even slightly affected by Freya's harsh truth. Instead, he lowered his head to look at the Cat-Worm in front of him.
"How about it?"
"Did you hear that?"
"What do you plan to do next?"
Asher smiled at Cat-Worm.
Cat-Worm: "Meow! Meow!"
'This dragon must show its power!'
'Damn it!'
'Ahhhh!'
Cat-Worm was so angry its scales were bristling in the opposite direction.
Asher nodded in satisfaction.
'Not bad, that's the spirit.'
Seeing this, the researchers at the institute all came out to watch.
Clyde glanced at the staff and couldn't help shaking his head internally.
Professor Asher's personality was just too good, these employees felt way too at ease.
Should he recommend some reliable, competent new hires to Professor Asher?
The onlooking Levi and others: 'Wait? Why does my nose feel itchy? Feels like I'm going to sneeze.'
Soon, their gazes shifted to the two pets in the arena.
Cat-Worm, they were very familiar with.
"Normally I think Cat-Worm looks so chubby, but why does it look…"
"Suddenly kinda slim?"
"Yes yes yes! That's exactly the feeling!"
"Maybe this is what they call the contrast-beauty effect!"
As their voices faded, everyone simultaneously looked toward the Flame Dragon Jaeger, who stood across from Cat-Worm, and whose massive size provided that contrast.
The huge Flame Dragon, like a moving mountain.
In front of the Flame Dragon, Cat-Worm looked like a cocky, overreaching ant challenging a mountain.
This contrast made them realize even more how colossal Jaeger truly was.
Such contrast made them even more deeply aware of the enormity of Flame Dragon Jaeger.
"Then I won't be polite and go first," Freya had no intention of yielding.
This was a battle, a duel, what was wrong with her taking the first move?
"ROAR—"
"Jaeger, Magma Breath!"
Seizing the opportunity, Freya said it and did it, opening with her ultimate move right away.
Flame Dragon Jaeger let out a sky-shaking roar, spewing a wave of fire geese from its mouth, which almost occupied the entire sky, followed closely by a sky-covering, earth-shrouding surge like magma rushing toward the Cat-Worm.
Covering!
Devouring!
Burning!
The onlookers: "!!!"
Professor Asher: "!!"
Cat-Worm: "!"
'I am going to lose!' *Screaming*
"Hahaha!", Looking at the magma flames that filled the sky and enveloped the entire arena, Freya let out a silver bell-like laughter.
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