Starting as a Manga Editor

Chapter 130: It Blew Up

He Xianfeng couldn’t suppress his eagerness to improve, so he immediately turned around and started digging through his old videos.

Aside from some of his early works, most of his projects still had backup files, so re-uploading them wouldn't be a hassle.

As for those early ones... might as well skip them.

Soon enough,

He Xianfeng had sorted through all his works and began setting up an ANF account.

Just as he was about to close the event page, something at the bottom of the screen caught his eye.

“A crossover event? More surprises coming soon?”

He looked at the words at the bottom of the page, chuckled, and shook his head before closing it. After all, with a campaign like "FGO×ANF Doujin Contest" already announced… what more could users possibly look forward to?

He certainly had no expectations left.

This was already a huge deal. He didn’t dwell on it too much and instead focused his attention on ANF itself. Since he was entering a new platform, the first thing to do was adapt—both to the open rules and the unspoken ones. He didn’t want to upload something that might end up alienating the platform’s users.

That had always been his approach, and one of the reasons he was able to build a near-million-subscriber account on a mainstream video platform.

Video quality was one thing.

But he never believed good videos alone were enough to guarantee success.

So how to adapt?

Easy—watch the videos from seasoned creators on this site, combine that with user feedback, and he’d get a clear sense of the platform’s ecosystem.

Time passed slowly.

The more He Xianfeng watched, the more he liked the site. ANF users were highly engaged, the culture of fan works was strong, and most importantly, creators got feedback almost instantly after uploading videos!

These were all major draws for him.

And during this time, likely due to the massive promotion of FGO, he saw tons of fan-made game content—animation, hand-drawn stories, MADs, guides—you name it.

Gradually,

Even though he initially had no plans to play the game—after all, he preferred console games over online or mobile ones—seeing so many related videos made him curious. Since he was new here anyway, maybe he should download it and give it a try? Then maybe post a review?

He was planning to stay here long term anyway.

Besides, it looked like there were lots of FGO players on this site. With his polished reviewing skills, the video could rack up a decent view count.

Not to mention the traffic support, and the money…

But before all that, he had to get familiar with the game.

With that thought,

He Xianfeng immediately moved his mouse, opened the official game site, and clicked download.

While waiting for the download to finish,

Another question popped into his mind—if he was reviewing a mobile game, should he post it on the mainstream video platform too?

Hmm… yeah, he should.

Even though the audience over there was a bit different, most of them were gamers anyway, and mobile games were still games.

It could also help direct traffic to this platform. Otherwise, as a big-name creator from another site, it’d look pretty bad to show up here with just a few thousand followers.

Soon enough,

He made up his mind.

And right then, the download completed.

One simple event.

+1 gamer.

+1 outreach channel.

And He Xianfeng wasn’t the only one thinking this way—he was actually a reflection of the broader trend.

Mainstream video platforms were shifting their strategy, pouring resources into licensed dramas and variety shows, while the UGC ecosystem shrank. Budgets for supporting UGC creators were cut, and traffic support was practically nonexistent.

Most UGC creators weren’t doing too well.

Especially those focused on gaming content, which didn’t fit into the platforms’ new strategies.

These mainstream platforms were “mainstream” because of their older user base—over 50% were aged 30 and up. In that environment, lifestyle and family content thrived.

But niche culture—like gaming—had it rough, sometimes even faced discrimination.

Whereas ANF… looked like the heartland of niche culture. While anime was the main focus, gaming, meme remixes, cosplay—most users were into all of it, or at least happy to check it out.

Add to that ANF’s official support for fan works and UGC, plus their push for games… even with an anime-themed aesthetic, it was still about games, and the users embraced that kind of content.

So, many independent creators from mainstream platforms were tempted. Even those who weren’t fully onboard still opened accounts and migrated their old content.

In the current climate, they definitely didn’t have exclusivity deals.

That gave them the freedom to go multi-platform.

And the more strategic ones—like He Xianfeng—started thinking about tailoring their content for ANF, especially those making game-related videos.

With money, traffic support, and a receptive audience—why not?

Even creators who genuinely disliked mobile games but opened ANF accounts anyway would mention the platform back on their original sites.

No one wanted their new account stats to look bad. If they already had an audience, why not leverage it?

Besides, compared to the mainstream platforms, they really did prefer ANF’s vibe.

These creators who specialized in niche culture rarely had massive followings.

People like He Xianfeng hadn’t even broken the million mark yet.

They also had to consider how receptive their original audience would be to a new platform—it was unrealistic to expect all their fans to jump to ANF overnight.

But combine all these “not-so-huge” creators together? That added up to a lot of fans. Even after accounting for overlap, it was still a significant number.

Out of all those fans, there were definitely plenty who’d be interested in ANF.

So before long,

Changes started happening quietly.

Many ANF users noticed a sudden influx of high-quality creators.

These folks who made it on mainstream platforms had been battle-tested. Their content might not align with every ANF user’s taste, but no one could question their production skills.

Especially those from the gaming scene.

They significantly enriched the platform’s content pool and gave ANF users a wider range of quality videos to enjoy.

People were impressed by how suddenly ANF seemed to level up. And they dove right in. The term ACG exists because these niche cultures overlap—the user base on ANF had a highly unified identity, so they had no problem embracing it.

At the same time, a wave of users from mainstream platforms, prompted by just a single mention from their favorite creators… showed up too.

And many of them fell in love with ANF’s community vibe and the real-time “shared viewing” experience created by the comment barrage.

Most importantly, no ads!

If their favorite creators were posting on both platforms, why bother going back to the mainstream site?

So a good number of external users registered and made ANF their new home.

With both sides pushing forward together,

ANF flourished even more… heading into a full-on growth surge.

The ecosystem was taking shape.

And the game benefitted too. With all these creators coming in, making FGO-related content to appeal to ANF users, the game’s visibility exploded on the platform—and even outside it.

This influx of external video creators was mostly gaming-focused.

And their audiences were all gamers.

A good chunk of their viewers were definitely interested in mobile games, just hadn’t come across FGO before.

FGO basically scored a ton of free advertising—combined with the launch of the new version.

In short,

This event turned out to be a win for everyone—ANF, the game, and even the external creators!

The only real loser might be the mainstream video platforms.

But they didn’t care—or didn’t even realize it.

After all, Tang Yao hadn’t launched any “rising wave” campaigns… and most creators weren’t posting exclusively on ANF either. They were still uploading to their old platforms.

Even if they loved ANF’s atmosphere, they weren’t about to go all-in. Many users hadn’t completely abandoned the old platforms either.

But going forward… who knows?

Even without speculating about the future, just this current wave of traffic had already pushed ANF a giant step ahead!

Christmas Eve.

Avalon Studio.

Cai Quan sat blankly in his chair, staring at the backend data on his screen, both shocked and stunned as he muttered, “It really happened just like Tang Yao predicted…”

It blew up!

The site’s numbers exploded!