From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

97: Chapter 97 Dance Steps, Rehearsals, and Silent BattleAlex decided to change the tempo for himself and his team.

Early in the morning, he gathered the core members in the relatively spacious lounge area of the studio.

”Everyone, it’s the final two days. Staring at screens and checklists won’t help.” He clapped his hands, his face wearing his signature relaxed smile. ”Let’s get practical and simulate the—accidents—that might happen on the night of the live stream.”

Marcus pushed up his glasses: ”Accidents? We’ve written seventeen pages of contingency plans...”

”That’s just talk on paper.” Alex interrupted him, pointing to Hank and Rex. ”You two are now the ’Troublemaking Squad.’ Assume you’ve been hired by Northrop, or are just pure internet trolls looking to create chaos during the live stream. You have ten minutes to come up with ideas—the trickier, the better. Marcus, you’re in charge of playing the live control console and responding. Lauren, you’re responsible for evaluating from a legal and PR perspective. As for me, I’m the unlucky guy who has to keep smiling and keep singing on stage.”

This sudden role-playing game stunned everyone for a moment, but then they all showed expressions of interest. The pressure transformed into a slightly stimulating challenge.

Hank and Rex exchanged glances and immediately got into character. Hank rubbed his chin: ”The simplest one: large-scale spamming of junk comments to disrupt the audience’s view and mood.”

Marcus immediately responded: ”Preset keyword blocking, upgrade filter algorithms, arrange for the moderator team to clean up in real-time, and simultaneously prepare a witty script to soothe the audience.”

Lauren added: ”We can emphasize the consequences of malicious spamming in the user agreement and live streaming guidelines in advance, reserving the right to hold them accountable, although it mainly serves as a deterrent.”

Rex followed up with a move: ”Assume... the live stream signal suddenly cuts out, or there’s severe lagging.”

Marcus frowned: ”Switch to backup streaming lines; the anti-interference protocol provided by Organization D is already in place. At the same time, all social media accounts will immediately post announcements to explain the situation and stabilize the audience.”

Alex nodded: ”If the interruption is short, I’ll improvise an a cappella or tell a lame joke on stage to kill time. If it’s long... it turns into a ’Technical Glitch Special Commemorative Edition’ interactive Q&A.”

Hank thought for a moment, then revealed a somewhat ”naughty” smile: ”What if... someone at the scene (assuming there are a small number of invited audience members) suddenly stands up and loudly questions you, saying your song is plagiarized or was written in advance?”

This question made the atmosphere tighten slightly. This was the blow most targeted at the core of ”improvisational creation.”

Marcus looked at Alex. Alex rubbed his chin, but instead laughed: ”This is interesting. First, security personnel will quickly but politely ask that friend to leave—this is the live streaming discipline stated in advance. Then, I will pause the music and look at the camera.”

He simulated the scene, his tone calm but carrying unquestionable confidence: ”I will say: ’Hey, it seems tonight’s creative spark didn’t just ignite the music, but also ignited some extra passion. Questioning is everyone’s right. But I invite everyone to judge with your ears and hearts from here on out. This song, from the first note to its current progress, was born in this space, at this time, in real-time. Let’s continue and let the work itself speak.’”

He paused, then added: ”At the same time, Marcus, the backstage should immediately pull up the multi-angle backup video of the creation process during that time—aren’t we recording close-ups of the creation with multiple cameras the whole time? If necessary, we can release clips as evidence. But it’s best not to; that would be falling into the trap of self-justification. We must maintain a high stance.”

Lauren noted the key points: ”The response is appropriate; it controls the scene, brings the focus back to the music itself, and demonstrates confidence. Legally, we own the rights to all video and audio from the scene, so it’s controllable.”