From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

5: Chapter 5 A Small Amount of Money, and a TroubleFingers swept across the guitar strings, and the final note dissipated tremulously into the silent air of the bedroom. It wasn’t a complex melody, just a few simple chords from ”The Sound of Silence.” The muscle memory instilled by the system made his finger movements fluid and accurate, but as he played, what churned in Alex’s mind was the formal partnership invitation lying in his inbox that afternoon.

”Horizon Outdoors.” He murmured the name, gently putting the guitar back in the corner. The PDF contract draft attached to the email was eight pages long and filled with legal jargon, but the core terms were simple and direct: They would provide a full set of new hiking gear (shell jacket, backpack, hiking boots, etc.) worth about five hundred dollars, and in exchange, he was required to showcase his usage experience in a ”naturally integrated” way in at least three videos over the next three months, and add a purchase link in the video descriptions. Based on the sales generated from the link, he would also receive a five percent commission.

Five hundred dollars’ worth of gear. For Alex, who had just bought a new pair of shoes with his ad revenue, this was not a small amount. More importantly, this was a validation—a validation of the value of the ”Alex’s Wonderland” brand in the real commercial world, and a validation of whether he could convert online attention into offline usable resources and... cash.

He needed money. Not the kind of money in the trust fund that could only be used for tuition and basic living expenses, but liquid capital that he could spend freely to upgrade equipment, pay for potential team costs, or even handle more ”identity filling” needs. The system’s popularity could not be spent directly as money, at least not yet.

He read the contract three times. The commission rate was on the low side, and the restrictive clauses had some gray areas that could cause trouble. He opened the document and began to annotate it line by line. Thanks to the vague memories of handling similar contracts at an MCN agency in his previous life, coupled with a bit of cautious instinct, his suggested changes went straight to the core: clarifying the ownership of the equipment (it would belong to him after the cooperation ended), refining the specific requirements for ”natural display” (to avoid overly commercial hard advertising), and tentatively increasing the commission rate to eight percent. When replying to the email, his tone was polite but firm, emphasizing the value of his channel’s unique content and the possibility of a long-term partnership.

After clicking send, he leaned back in his chair and let out a breath. This felt a bit like throwing a stone in the dark and waiting to hear it land. He knew the first lesson of the commercial world often started with bargaining.

A few days later, the reply came. They accepted the modifications regarding equipment ownership and display requirements, and the commission rate was finally set at seven percent. The manager on the other end of the phone laughed and said: ”Alex, you’re sharper than you look. Looking forward to your work.”

The cooperation was reached. A small, yet significant, income was about to enter his PayPal account. More importantly, a path to monetize his influence had been preliminarily explored.

Just as he was preparing to go pick up the gear that had arrived by courier, another reminder from the ”real world” intruded in a way that could not be ignored.

The doorbell rang. Outside the door stood two young people, a man and a woman, both wearing T-shirts with the University of Southern California logo, their faces carrying the laziness typical of summer and a hint of social enthusiasm.

”Hey! Is this Alex Su?” The boy was tall with a bright smile. ”We’re students at USC, living near this community. Before the fall semester starts, the student union organized some freshman outreach activities, and we’re also helping local merchants promote... er, mainly ’Campus Pizza King’ coupons. Freshmen can get ten percent off this semester with this!” He handed over a brightly colored paper coupon.

The girl added, speaking a bit faster: ”We’re also setting up a freshman group where everyone can exchange information about choosing classes, finding roommates, and sharing info. You live here, right? We checked the freshman list. Want to join?”