NBA M3 - Chapter 528: Livestream Debut: Popularity Soars (Patreon)

Blake first spent $2 million to buy the villa he was currently living in, which was in a good area. Then, not far away, he rented a similar villa for Dolores Su and Charlotte Quinn to live in.

Blake loved his mother and Mia’s mother, but loving them did not mean he had to live under the same roof as the older generation.

Besides, Mia needed to livestream, Blake often had games at night, and his sleep schedule was irregular. Their daily routine would be chaotic. Taking everything into consideration, it made more sense to live separately from the two mothers.

There was also no telling whether they would stay here long-term.

So there was no need to buy two villas in the same area. Even if they were not especially large, it still would have been unnecessary.

With all that settled, Blake was ready to officially begin training and follow a scientifically designed weight-gain program, gradually acquiring the strength of rookie Shaq O’Neal.

That would further increase both his dominance in the paint and his defensive ability.

...

The next afternoon, Dolores Su and Charlotte Quinn moved into the vacation villa to enjoy the rest of the summer. Once summer was over, they would return to the smaller villa near the training facility, where they could live while looking for work.

Back at Blake’s villa, he was making the final preparations for Mia’s livestream, adjusting the sound card, setting up the room, testing the internet connection, and taking care of everything else that needed to be done.

After several hours of work, they were finally ready.

The tentative streaming schedule was 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., the prime window for livestreaming, when traffic was at its highest.

Blake had already spoken with Justin.tv as well. As soon as Mia went live, the platform would place a large rotating banner for her at the top of the newcomer section, so traffic would not be a problem.

“Um... is there anything else we need to prepare?”

Mia sat in front of the computer with her chin propped on one hand, thinking.

“Hmm...”

Blake thought about it too, then said, “Mia, you can play a little first and get into the groove. You also need an eye-catching title for the stream.”

“What should I call it?”

Mia looked completely lost.

After all, this was her first time livestreaming, so she knew very little about this sort of thing.

Blake thought for a moment. “Your streamer name will be Mia, and the stream title will be: Beautiful and Sweet-Voiced: Crushing Diamond Matches!”

“You’ll only play in Diamond V. You’ve been around Diamond I for a long time, so you should be able to dominate at that rank. As for everything else, just do what I told you before.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Mia nodded thoughtfully.

“One more thing...”

Blake paused, then reminded her, “Mia, remember that livestreaming is only a way for you to build popularity as quickly as possible.”

“Acting is what you love most. It was your original dream, and it’s what you’re best at. In the end, that should still be your main focus.”

“Of course.”

Mia nodded again. She knew what she needed to do next.

And with that, everything was ready. All that remained was to go live.

Before long, 7:00 p.m. arrived.

Mia officially started her livestream. As a newcomer, even with the platform promoting her, there was not much traffic at first.

So she followed Blake’s advice, focused on playing the game, and let her skill speak for itself.

About an hour later, the featured banner gradually began to take effect. The stream, which had been almost empty at first, started drawing more and more viewers, and the clearest sign was the growing flood of chat messages.

“Serious question, is this girl really Diamond?”

“Count me in. I’m new too. I clicked because of the title. A female streamer who’s actually Diamond?”

“Oh my god, top-lane Riven? Is that even a champion girls usually play?!”

“Is the title just bait?”

“The game just started. You can’t tell anything yet.”

“No, no, she’s genuinely good. I’ve been here for more than half an hour. She played top-lane Riven last game too.”

“Riven’s not an easy fighter to play, either.”

“She was even against Garen, who’s supposed to counter Riven, and she still won. She finished 17-5-11. That’s a crazy stat line.”

“Yeah, she’s definitely a skill-based streamer.”

“Whoa, did you see that? Riven hit level six and instantly popped her ult. That fast Q combo was so smooth. She blew up a half-health Volibear in one burst.”

“That burst was insane. Even with Volibear’s passive healing, he couldn’t recover in time.”

“Fast Q combo!”

“Awesome~”

“That combo was seriously clean~”

“Damn, she really is a skilled streamer, and she’s gorgeous too. Looks and skill together? Female streamers like this are rare.”

“I’m sold!”

“Same!”

“How did I never find a girl this pretty and this good before? I’ve sinned.”

“Looks like she’s a brand-new streamer.”

“There’s nobody in the VIP section yet. Guys, don't fight me for the top spot. I’m sending her a premium gift and taking the number-one spot on the gift leaderboard!”

“I’ll send two. I’m number one~”

“Mia, I’ll send you ten premium gifts. Can you make me a moderator?”

“Damn, there are too many whales here. I can’t compete. A broke guy like me can only send one small gift to show some support.”

“One small gift from me too. Keep it up, streamer!”

“Go, Mia!”

“If you like the stream, don’t forget to subscribe!”

As Mia continued showing off her skill, the featured recommendation kicked in, more and more viewers poured into the stream, and gifts such as premium gifts kept arriving.

Buzz~

The popularity of Mia’s stream climbed rapidly.

100... 500... 3,000... 10,000... 30,000... 65,000... 104,000.

She had only been live for an hour.

Yet her stream’s popularity had already broken the 100,000 mark, while her subscriber count had soared from zero to more than 30,000.

A popularity score of 100,000 was enough to break into the top 100 on the daily livestream rankings in the current market, even though tens of thousands of streamers were online every night.

A brand-new streamer had reached the top 100 within the first hour of her debut.

For a first-ever livestream, that was already astonishing. It also showed just how appealing Mia was when she combined good looks with genuine gaming skill.

At the same time, it confirmed Blake’s judgment. Letting Mia enter the rapidly growing gaming livestream market had been a very reliable choice.

As for Mia, only an hour earlier her stream had been so quiet that, without Blake encouraging her from beside her, she might have struggled to keep going.

But now the screen was packed with chat messages, praise, and compliments. Gifts kept pouring in, while her popularity and subscriber count continued to rise.

Feeling that surge in attention, Mia was thrilled, and her confidence in gaming livestreams skyrocketed as well.

“Thank you, [Three Meals a Day], for the premium gift. Thank you, [Red Hair 5577], for the ten premium gifts. And thank you, [Jonouchi xsx], for the small gift...”

“Thank you, everyone~”

After finishing the game, Mia thanked the viewers who had sent gifts one by one while chatting with everyone in the stream. The interaction sent her popularity climbing again.

In the living room, Blake watched the numbers rise and smiled.

“This is going to work~”