Movie: Get Alpha Dog at the start

Chapter 1617 How did this become so popular?

A month later, the film company's official Weibo account posted a long article with a concept poster—the image shows a sword stuck on a mountaintop, with an ink wash landscape in the background, and a line of small text at the bottom: "The film adaptation of 'Sword Comes' has officially started."

The comment section exploded instantly.

"It's finally here! Do you know how long we've been waiting for this day?"

"Don't be too happy yet. Don't they know the quality of domestic fantasy dramas? Cheap special effects ruin the original work."

"Please, please don't turn this into a historical romance drama. Sword Comes isn't for dating."

"Casting is key. Can today's young idols portray Chen Ping'an's cowardly yet stubborn nature?"

"Neither support nor oppose, let's wait and see."

There were many supporters, but even more opponents. Regardless of which side they were on, keyboards were clattering away. The topic surged into the top twenty trending topics on Weibo within half an hour, and garnered over 100 million views in two hours.

The book review section on Dingqi.com also became lively. Long-time readers who had been silent for more than half a year suddenly reappeared. Some were revisiting classics and urging for more updates, some were declaring with heartache that "this is ruining my youth," and a group of people were arguing there—the content of their arguments was similar to that on Weibo, nothing more than "whether it should be adapted" and "who should play the role."

The Longkong Forum was also busy.

A post was featured on the homepage with the title "Let's talk about the adaptation of Sword Comes into a film; I'm not optimistic about it." The poster listed three reasons: First, the special effects budget was insufficient; the large-scale scenes in Sword Comes would be a joke if they were made with cheap special effects. Second, the casting range was too narrow; those with acting skills lacked popularity, and those with popularity lacked acting skills. Third, the screenwriting team was incompetent; they had previously adapted two online novels, both of which flopped.

There were hundreds of replies below, some in agreement and some in criticism.

But the most heated debate wasn't about these things, but rather—"Should it be changed at all?"

Some book fans are adamant: a classic is a classic, don't touch it. No matter how well a TV series is made, it can't capture the essence of the text. The essence of *Sword Comes* lies in its writing rhythm, in the use of white space, in the spirit between the lines—how can you express these things visually?

Another group of book fans felt indifferent. If the changes were good, they would consider it icing on the cake; if they were bad, they would pretend they didn't see it. After all, the original work was still there and wouldn't disappear.

Neither group could convince the other.

But one effect is undeniable – the popularity of "Sword Comes" has been reignited.

Uncle Fan couldn't suppress the smile on his face as he watched the daily active user data in the backend soar.

This is the effect he wanted.

Two years have passed since "Sword Comes" ended, and while its viewership has remained high, growth has stagnated. Negotiations for the adaptation rights dragged on for almost six months, with the other party aggressively pushing for a lower price. Now that the news has been released, the hype has reignited, giving them a stronger bargaining position.

Even better, Dingqi.com gained a windfall of traffic – this morning alone, it added over 80,000 new registered users. This also boosted the readership of "The Great Feng Night Watchman" and "Lord of Mysteries."

The film and television companies also started to get restless.

President Wang personally called Uncle Fan, his tone much warmer than when they last met: "President Fan, we'd like to release the theme song ahead of schedule, to strike while the iron is hot. What do you think?"

Uncle Fan was happy to cooperate: "Of course, no problem. We'll fully cooperate."

Three days later, the film company's official Weibo account posted another message.

This time there weren't many fancy concept images, just an audio clip with a single line of text—

"The theme song for the TV series 'Sword Comes,' titled 'Know Me,' has been officially released, sung by Zong Guan."

The number of reposts was average, and the comment section wasn't very lively. Most people's reaction was, "Oh, the theme song," they clicked in, listened to it once, and then went about their business.

These days, how many theme songs from IP-adapted dramas are truly memorable?

but--

Quite a few people actually listened to the whole song.

Because it really sounds good.

The intro is a mix of guzheng and guitar, which sounds a bit out of place, but once the melody starts, it surprisingly works together. Then the vocals come in, a male voice, neither too loud nor too soft, with a slightly lazy enunciation, like someone sitting in a small bar talking to themselves.

The lyrics don't follow the typical pop song format. There are no long lines of "I love you, you love me," nor are there any heart-wrenching shouts. Instead, it's like a monologue directly extracted from "Sword Comes," with every word striking a chord with book fans.

Someone commented, "The song is great, I've put it on repeat."

Someone replied, "It's just that the singer's name is a bit odd—'General Manager'?"

"It's probably a stage name."

"Maybe they just want to keep a low profile?"

"Even a stage name shouldn't be chosen so casually, right? At least give it a decent one."

That's pretty much the end of the discussion. It's just a theme song; it's catchy, but it's not going to cause any big stir.

Until a netizen with the ID "Sword Comes: Veteran Fan" posted a thread in the book review section, with a title of only four characters—

"The head steward is performing?"

The main text is even shorter.

"Guess what I found? This song is actually sung by the head butler!"

Below is a string of question marks.

"What do you mean? The steward can sing?"

"No way? This song really was sung by the head butler?"

Some people didn't believe it, went to check it out, and then came back with three exclamation marks—

"Not only the singing, but the lyrics and music were all handled by the head manager!!!"

The comments section exploded.

"Wait, wait, let me sort this out—the steward personally wrote the theme song for Sword Comes, and he did all the lyrics, music, and vocals himself?"

"It's true. I just checked the copyright information, and the lyricist, composer, and singer are all listed as 'General Manager'."

"Not just a nominal position?"

"What's the point of just using his name? He's not a singer, will using his name really increase his followers?"

"Is it for real, or just a nominal position? Can someone from the inside say something?"

"Wow, is the manager really that talented? With that voice, wouldn't it be great if he just debuted right now?"

"Debut? Dream on. Being a star isn't just about having a good voice; you also need good looks."

"That's true. The manager hasn't even shown a single photo yet, so I guess... well, you know."

"What do you know? Maybe they're just being modest?"

"Being low-key and being ugly are two different things. Look at those truly handsome guys, which one of them doesn't post selfies?"

This post was featured on the homepage and has been shared over 50,000 times.

The conversation started veering wildly out of control.

At first, everyone was discussing whether the song was good or not, and whether the manager could actually sing, but the topic quickly veered off course—into a direction no one had expected.

"What does the head steward actually look like?"

This topic originated from an inconspicuous comment. Someone casually remarked, "The manager hasn't shown up yet, could he be unattractive?" The hundreds of replies below were all speculating.

"I bet five cents that the manager is a middle-aged man with a receding hairline."

"Impossible. Someone who can write like that about swords must have a certain charisma."

"Charm and appearance are two different things. Shen Congwen wasn't particularly good-looking either."

"You're comparing the head steward to Shen Congwen? That's giving him way too much credit."

"Honestly, the general manager has never appeared in any public setting, not even for a book signing. Don't you find that strange?"

"What's so strange about that? They just don't want to be famous."

"Don't want to be famous? Which online novelist doesn't want to be famous? They're probably just ashamed of themselves."

"So, to sum it up, there's only one reason why someone doesn't want to be seen—they're not good-looking."

"Hahaha, that's enough! He earns his living through his talent, okay?"

"Making a living through talent doesn't mean you can't be handsome. What if you are?"

"What if what? What if he's a handsome guy and you're hiding him from everyone? What's the point?"

"A...quiet place?"

This conversation was screenshotted and posted on Weibo.

Then it became popular.

It wasn't a minor hit; it was the kind of hit that garnered over 200 million views overnight and surged into the top ten of the trending topics list.

The question of "what does the manager actually look like?" inexplicably became the hottest topic of conversation across the internet.

Someone conducted a poll: "What level do you think the manager's appearance is?" There were four options: extremely handsome, above average, average, and unbearable to look at.

The number of people who participated in the vote exceeded three million within twelve hours.

Forty-one percent of respondents chose "unbearable to look at".

Three percent of respondents chose "extremely handsome".

The remaining people chose the two middle options.

The comments section was a complete mess.

Someone photoshopped a picture, combining the faces of various celebrities with the name "General Manager," and captioned it "Imagine what the General Manager looks like, please rate it."

Someone dug up the default profile picture on Dingqi's website—a drab silhouette—and said, "That's what the manager really looks like."

Some people even dug up a transcript of an interview Qin Hao gave several years ago—an interview conducted via email with no photos or videos—and then analyzed Qin Hao's word choice and sentence structure word by word, trying to deduce his personality, temperament, and even appearance from it.

"Their vocabulary is restrained, but occasionally a very artistic remark will slip out. This contrast suggests either a science and engineering guy or a middle-aged man with an artistic bent. Either way, they're probably not bad-looking."

"Terrible review. I know several middle-aged 'artsy' types, and they're all incredibly greasy."

"A greasy, middle-aged man picking his toes, confirmed."

"Have you all gone too far? Someone wrote a book for you to read, and you're all worrying about what they look like?"

"It's not that I'm worried, it's that I'm curious. You've written so many great books, but you won't even let us see your face. Aren't you just keeping us in suspense?"

"Yeah, Manager, you just need to show your face, it's not like you'll lose anything."

The topic became increasingly heated. As a result, the number of plays for the song "Know Me" also skyrocketed, from 500,000 on the day of its release to 30 million within three days.

The data from music platforms is even more outrageous—the number of favorites has exceeded one million, and there are hundreds of thousands of comments, with the comment section being entirely dedicated to discussing "what the manager actually looks like."

The film company was stunned.

Dingqi.com was also dumbfounded.

They originally thought that after the theme song was released, the most discussed topics among netizens would be "Is this song good?" or "When will the TV series start filming?"

The results of it?

The hottest topic was actually the manager's appearance.

This is outrageous.

When Mr. Wang called Uncle Fan, his first question was, "Mr. Fan, do you...do you have a photo of Teacher Qin Hao?"

"No," Uncle Fan's voice sounded a little helpless. "He never takes photos."

"What can we do? It's all over the internet, with all sorts of conflicting opinions. I'm worried that if this continues, it will damage the reputation of the TV series."

"What good impact could this have?" Uncle Fan laughed instead. "The more it's hyped up, the hotter it gets. You're getting this traffic for free, so be happy."

After thinking about it, Mr. Wang realized that it made sense.

After hanging up the phone, Uncle Fan leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers twice on the table.

Then he picked up his phone and scrolled through the trending topics—

"What does the manager actually look like?" is ranked seventh.

Uncle Fan shook his head and chuckled.

This kid can write books and songs, and now he can even trend on social media without showing his face.

That's incredibly lucky!

-

In the hotel room, the curtains were drawn tightly, blocking out the afternoon sunlight.

The air conditioner was set very low, and the cold air poured down from the vents overhead, causing the corners of the tissues on the table to curl up slightly.

When Qin Hao came out of the bathroom, his hair was still wet, water droplets dripping down his hair and onto his shoulders. He grabbed a towel and draped it over his head, drying himself as he walked back inside.

Zhou Mei sat cross-legged on the bed, leaning against the headboard, holding her phone in front of her face, her thumb rapidly tapping the screen.

Her expressions were very rich.

His brows were furrowed, the corners of his mouth were turned down, and he occasionally let out a cold snort, as if he were arguing with someone. Occasionally, the corners of his mouth would twitch up, as if he had won a round, but he would quickly turn them back down.

Qin Hao sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over to take a look.

The screen displays the book review section of Dingqi.com.

Zhou Mei is arguing with someone.

"You're the greasy, foot-picking old man! Your whole family are greasy, foot-picking old men!" After typing this, she pressed send hard.

The other party replied instantly.

"Oh no, oh no! Could it be a brainwashed fan of the head steward? A brainwashed fan protecting their master, please!"

Zhou Mei's face turned red with anger.

Qin Hao saw everything clearly from the side.

"You're so boring."

Zhou Mei was startled by him and almost dropped her phone. She turned and glared at him, but the fierce look only lasted for two seconds before she softened.

She naturally took his arm and pulled him towards her.

"I just can't stand people calling you a greasy, middle-aged man."

Her tone was slightly coquettish, but mostly defiant. Her finger unconsciously tapped the screen again—

"Have you seen the head steward? If not, don't talk nonsense! He's incredibly handsome!"

After sending this message, she bit her lip and waited angrily for a reply.

Qin Hao's eyebrows twitched when he saw the line she typed.

"So you just uploaded my photo?"

Zhou Mei paused for a moment.

She slowly turned her head to look at Qin Hao, a hint of guilt flashing across her face. But it was only for a moment; she then raised her chin and said confidently—

"yes!"

"..."

"Who told these people to be so venomous!" she said angrily. "I just couldn't stand it anymore, so I wanted to shut them up."

Qin Hao's temples throbbed twice.

Which one?

Zhou Mei didn't say anything, but handed over her phone.

On the screen was her post—a photo with the caption: "This is the manager himself, no arguments allowed."

The photo was taken a few days ago by West Lake. Qin Hao is wearing a white T-shirt, leaning against the railing by the lake, his face turned to the side towards the camera. Sunlight shines on half of his face, highlighting the clean lines of his jaw. His hair is blown up slightly by the wind, revealing his forehead.

To be honest, it was really well shot.

Qin Hao looked at the photo, then at the pile of comments below it—

"Sis, is this a picture from the internet?"

"I searched, but couldn't find the same item. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's the same person."

"If the steward looks like that, why doesn't he show his face? It doesn't make sense."

"It's highly likely they used a photo of a handsome guy to impersonate him; it's a common tactic in fan circles."

"The person upstairs is right. The admin's fans are too pathetic; they even have to resort to photoshopping to save face."

"It's not photoshopped, it's an online image! I think I've seen a similar style on some photography blogger's account."

Zhou Mei was furious. She abandoned Qin Hao and went back to battling with her online friends.

Qin Hao was utterly speechless.

He looked at Zhou Mei's serious expression and felt both annoyed and amused.

"Should I use my account to send it?" he said.

Zhou Mei stopped typing.

She looked up at Qin Hao intently, blinking twice as if seriously considering the suggestion.

Then she shook her head.

"That won't do."

"Why?"

"You're so outstanding, what if one of those sluts steals your heart?"

Qin Hao was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"You have so little faith in me?"

Zhou Mei put down her phone and turned to face him. She hooked her arms around Qin Hao's neck and leaned in so close that her nose almost touched his.

“It’s not that I lack confidence in you,” her voice lowered, with a hint of languor at the end, “Men only lose interest in beautiful women when they’re completely drained.”

Qin Hao rolled his eyes.

But he couldn't help but smirk slightly.

Then he reached out and scooped Zhou Mei up from the bed. Zhou Mei gasped, her legs instinctively hooking around his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck.

What are you doing?

Qin Hao carried her towards the bedroom.

"I'm giving you a chance to drain me dry."

Zhou Mei's face flushed red instantly.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but her mouth was blocked.

The bedroom door was kicked shut, bounced against the door frame, and then opened a crack.

The air conditioner was still humming.

The phone was left on the sofa in the living room, its screen still lit.

The book review section is still constantly updating—

"Where's that girl who claims to be the manager's girlfriend? Why isn't she saying anything?"

"I guess they can't keep making this up anymore."

"Hilarious, the most tragic fake girlfriend in history."

No one replied.

The screen went dark.

A beam of light pierced through the gap in the curtains, falling on the floor and slowly creeping from one end to the other. (End of Chapter)