Harem Online: My Party Is Full of Beautiful Celebrities

Chapter 160: I want that function!

After drying his face and hair, Martin grabbed his phone.

He opened social media and typed in his guild’s name along with "expansion."

The results appeared instantly.

For a second, Martin just blinked.

There were not one or two videos. There were dozens, and the more he scrolled, the more kept appearing.

Players from Night Espresso had uploaded clips from every possible angle. Some showed him riding Ao Tenshin through the chaos like a madman. Some focused on the final clash against Raze Dawg. Others had dramatic edits with music, slow motion, and captions that made him look way cooler than he remembered feeling at the time.

One clip was titled, "Night Espresso Tank Rides Sapphire Beast Into Final Battle."

Another one said, "Ao Tenshin Rider Saves Territory Claim?!"

Martin’s thumb froze over the screen.

Ao Tenshin Rider?

He clicked the video.

The clip began with him charging forward on Ao Tenshin’s sapphire shell, shield raised, while magic exploded across the battlefield. From that angle, it actually looked insane. Ao Tenshin’s water beam cut through the dark energy, Night Espresso’s formation pushed behind him, and Martin appeared in the middle of it all like he had planned every second.

He had not planned shit.

Half of it had been instinct, and the other half had been screaming inside his head while hoping he did not get everyone killed.

The comments did not know that, though.

"This tank is actually him."

"Bro turned a turtle into a war mount."

"Night Espresso found their main character."

"Who is this guy?"

"Is he contracted already? Sponsors better move fast."

"Carried by Ao Tenshin, but I respect it."

Martin’s eyes widened.

Fuck, they’re talking about me.

He scrolled down, then immediately regretted it because there were even more comments.

Some people praised him. Some mocked him. Some argued whether Ao Tenshin deserved more credit than he did. A few players claimed that any decent tank could have done the same thing if they had been given a legendary beast.

That one annoyed him more than it should have.

Then go get yourself a legendary beast, dumbass.

Still, he kept scrolling.

The likes were the worst part. Some clips had thousands, and then he found reposts by MMO highlight accounts with tens of thousands more. The numbers climbed so high that Martin had to check twice to make sure he was reading them correctly.

His stomach tightened in a weird way.

This was not the same as people cheering in the game. In the game, everything happened fast. You fought, you shouted, you survived, and then the moment ended.

These clips stayed.

People could replay him, judge him, praise him, laugh at him, and turn him into a meme before he even had breakfast.

Martin leaned back and stared at his phone.

Fuck, how do people record their VODs? I need this function!

He clicked another video.

This one had a worse angle, but it caught his voice through someone else’s audio. He heard himself shouting something crude before Ao Tenshin slammed forward, and the comment section was already filled with people quoting it.

Martin covered his face with one hand.

Great. I’m famous and stupid.

Then he peeked between his fingers and looked at the view count again.

His shame lasted about three seconds.

Still famous, though.

Once he got to work, Martin lazed around by watching more videos. All he really had to do was check on his co-workers and confirm they were doing their jobs, so he sat in his office with his phone low under the desk like a student hiding from a teacher.

Through social media, he learned that Night Espresso was the seventh guild to claim a territory, and they were third in North America.

Martin paused the video and stared at that part longer than he expected.

Seventh overall and third in North America were only numbers, but the longer he thought about them, the heavier they became. Clearing a dungeon early or grabbing a rare drop before the market adjusted were temporary wins. Territory was different. Territory meant a base, a name on the map, and a place other players could point to and say, that belongs to them.

And once a guild had territory, everything else could gather around it.

Players, resources, quests, beasts, merchants, sponsors, and enemies would all start moving around those claims.

The enemies part mattered a lot.

Martin scrolled through more posts, and the pattern became obvious. Every guild that claimed territory early was already being talked about like it had stepped into a different league. People were not just ranking strength anymore. They were ranking futures.

They were asking who would snowball fastest, who would defend their claim, who would get swallowed by bigger guilds, and who would become the face of the expansion.

Martin leaned back in his chair.

That’s what Clause meant. People find chances and snowball off them. Those who started claiming territories and finding legendary gear now have an advantage.

It was simple when he put it that way.

Painfully simple.

The strong were going to get stronger because the game had finally given them something they could actually build on. Gear could lose value. Levels could be caught up to. Strategies could be copied. But territory, a legendary beast, and a name that thousands of people were already repeating were different.

It was momentum, and Night Espresso had it.

Martin looked at another clip of Ao Tenshin smashing through the battlefield with him on her back, then at the comments calling him Night Espresso’s rising tank.

For a moment, he forgot to blink.

Yesterday, he had only been thinking about surviving the fight.

Today, people were treating that fight like the start of something bigger.

So this is what being early feels like.

His fingers tightened around his phone.

There was excitement there, of course. How could there not be? He was a simple man who liked seeing big numbers go up. Views, likes, rankings, and guild prestige all made something warm and stupidly proud rise in his chest.

Underneath that excitement, though, there was pressure.

If Night Espresso had climbed onto the stage, then everyone could see them now.

And if everyone could see them, then sponsors could see them too.

Martin slowly grinned.

Holy shit. Clause wasn’t joking. We really are snowballing.

He stared at the screen as another video loaded.

The thumbnail showed him on Ao Tenshin again, shield raised and grin stretched across his face like he was having the time of his life.

This time, the title called him "Night Espresso’s Rising Tank."

Martin slowly smiled.

Rising tank, huh?

Then he remembered the comments arguing that Ao Tenshin carried him, and his smile twitched.

Still counts.