Chapter 60: Leveraging Viral Fame
In this chapter, The series âDaily Life in the Tiny Kingdomâ exploded in popularity overnight.The clip depicting tiny... Continue reading Chapter 58 of "The Great Ming in the Box" for the full story!
The series âDaily Life in the Tiny Kingdomâ exploded in popularity overnight.The clip depicting tiny figures in battle became an overnight sensation on TikTok.
It garnered hundreds of thousands of likes and over ten thousand comments.
Li Daoxuan leaned against his crate, scrolling through the comments with amusement.
âThe tilt-shift photography here is damn incredible! Holy crap, this captures the Tiny Kingdom vibe perfectly!â
âIncredible props! That Lego brick city wall with little warriors standing atop it is pure comedy gold.â
âSeriously, how much did this scene cost? Building the wall and painting it like Lego mustâve cost tens of thousands?â
âIt has to be CGI. Actually constructing a Lego-style wall would be absurdly expensive compared to digital effects.â
âDefinitely CGI, but top-tier work. My eyes canât spot any flawsâthis isnât cheap special effects.â
âEven if the walls are fake, those costumes and weaponsâbows, rusty swords, hoes, pitchforks, pot lidsâare all physical props. Thatâs serious money!â
âRight! There must be over a thousand bandit soldiers charging outside the city. Custom outfits for so many extras? Costumes alone would drain a budget!â
âNah, maybe thirty or forty actors. Rest are digital copies.â
âBullshit! Every face and outfit is unique. No way thatâs digital manipulation!â
âModern CGI can handle this easily. Think Marvel battle scenesâonly the front row is real. Everything else is pixels.â
âIâm crying at those plastic catapults! Howâd they even craft those? No way they built functional plastic siege engines!â
âDid actors actually get crushed? Looks terrifyingly real!â
âDonât be stupid. Who kills extras for a video? Itâs computer-generated!â
âAgreed. Just insanely realistic effects.â
âThis CGI quality surpasses major films. Who blows a fortune on a one-minute viral clip?â
âMassive investment like this? Bet the creatorâs prepping something big.â
âOne hit wonât last. Countless TikTok flashes vanish without consistent quality. Fail to deliver? Youâre toast.â
Laughter bubbled out of Li Daoxuan as he devoured thousands of such reactions, forgetting even to eat.
Though new to short-form content, he understood: sustained hits would lock in viewership. Then? Live-stream sales. His decent looks would help. Just needed to polish his pitchâŠ
Time to practice before a mirror: âFam, Iâm slashing toy prices! Get your Tiny Kingdom wall bricks nowânot „999, not „99, just „9.9 with free shippingâŠâ
Escorting Thirty-Twoâs group, Wang Er halted miles from Chengcheng county.
The settlement was now visible in the distance.
Wang Er could advance no further. As a known rebel, even with officials tolerating his pledge to âsubmit next spring,â appearing openly meant suicide.
âThird Lady, brothers from Gaojia Villageâfarewell here,â Wang Er clasped his fists. âRecall us at dawn tomorrow for your return escort.â
Thirty-Two reciprocated the gesture. âOur thanks, Brother Wang. Please distribute this silver to your men.â
He offered scattered pieces of silver.
Wang Er chuckled, shaking his head. âWeâre hunted. Silver buys nothing now. Your kindness is gift enough.â
Fair point.
Thirty-Two nodded. âDawn tomorrow, then.â
As they parted, Thirty-Twoâs group hastened to the county walls.
Ming Dynasty counties typically held just over thirty constables under a seventh-rank County Magistrate. Garrison troops occupied forts miles away under ninth-rank inspectors like Cheng Xuâkeeping civil and martial powers separate.
But Chengchengâs gates now hosted soldiers.
Two armored menâsweating in cloth armor despite midday glareâscrutinized entrants with hostile intensity.
Thirty-Twoâs entourage stood out: a dozen men laden with packs and blades. Soldiers swiftly shut the gates halfway.
âHalt! State your business!â
Thirty-Two raised his voice. âI am Thirty-Two, former aide to Ex-Magistrate Zhang Yaocai. These are my assistants.â
The guards froze at his nameâtheir faces paling.
âT-T-Third Lady? Didnât you⊠die⊠at Gaojia Village?â
Thirty-Two blinked. âDie? Since when?â
Then he recalled the day the Deity helped terrify Inspector Cheng Xu. These guards bore Cheng Xuâs insigniaâlikely among those whoâd witnessed the âhaunting.â
Indeed, these two had fled screaming that night, needing days to recover from nightmares.
Seeing Thirty-Two now, their bodies trembled.
Thirty-Two suppressed laughter, feigning sternness. âAccuse me in broad daylight? The ghost dwells not in me, but your guilty minds!â
The guards flinched. Sunlight indeed blazed overheadâunlikely hour for specters.
They squinted at him. âWhat⊠are you, Third Lady?â
Thirty-Two frowned, bewildered. âAfter Bai Shui Wang Erâs uprising, my wife and I fled. Hearing peace restored Chengcheng, we returned. Why? Youâve seen someone resembling me?â
The soldiers exchanged nervous glances. âThat night⊠it mustâve been his ghost. This one⊠seems like flesh.â