From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

17: Chapter 17 New Thresholds and Copyright EchoesThe craze triggered by ”Data Rift” lasted a full week.

This storm, whipped up by the tech circle, action enthusiasts, and the visual arts community, pushed the popularity of the ”Alex’s Wonderland” channel to a whole new level.

That afternoon, Alex sat in his apartment with his laptop and some draft paper spread out before him.

He had just refreshed the backend data:

Subscriber count: 427,105.

This number made the corners of his mouth curl upward uncontrollably.

Over 400,000 subscribers was already a fairly astonishing achievement on YouTube in 2010, firmly stepping into the threshold of the platform’s top-tier creators.

Although there was still some distance to go before reaching one million, the growth momentum was extremely healthy, and most importantly, the stickiness and activity level of these 400,000-plus fans were incredibly high.

The comment section, sharing data, and even the commercial inquiries that followed all testified to the channel’s solid influence.

Awesome!

This feeling of solidifying a foundation step by step with his work and watching his influence grow like a snowball was far more reassuring and satisfying than numbers that skyrocketed out of thin air.

He knew that he had successfully carved out a solid territory in this emerging content kingdom.

On the system interface, his popularity had steadily climbed to around 9,200 points, driven by this wave of high-quality dissemination.

He could feel that when this number crossed a certain critical point, the system might evolve again and unlock more core domains.

Feedback from the real world was equally enthusiastic and pragmatic.

Leo from the Reality Maze company had already started discussing the preliminary concept for the next AR location-based project with him; this time, they wanted to try a bolder ”augmented reality storytelling.”

The brand collaboration with Kinetic Pulse was proceeding smoothly, and the first substantial brand content fee had already been received—enough for him to upgrade a batch of key equipment and make the numbers in his bank account unprecedentedly abundant.

Within USC, he had almost become a kind of ”unofficial spokesperson.”

The feeling of being watched from before had now transformed into more concrete respect and opportunities.

Professors were taking the initiative to invite him to participate in graduate visual laboratory projects; the student entrepreneurship center had also chatted with him, asking if he had any intention of branding ”Alex’s Wonderland.”

Walking on campus, the ”being recognized” gazes held less curiosity and more recognition.

Of course, along with influence came more intensive and ”higher-level” social signals.

The parties or events he attended now often involved people approaching him with clearer goals or more professional backgrounds.

After an exchange meeting at the film school, a rather talented independent female director specifically found him and spent twenty minutes discussing the narrative structure of ”Data Rift” in depth, only smiling and handing over her private contact information at the end: ”I hope there is a possibility of cooperation in the future; the sense of movement in your shots is very unique.”

Her appreciation was professional and direct, and Alex responded with an equally professional attitude; both were clear that this was more about potential future collaboration rather than an immediate personal relationship.

This was the new rulebook of influence: more opportunities, more complex social coding, and the need for clearer, more explicit personal boundaries.

Alex adapted quickly; the pressure and multi-threaded task mental management allowed him to navigate these new situations with composure.

What he faced now was no longer ”how to be discovered,” but ”how to choose.”

The invitations piling up in his email needed filtering, future creative directions needed planning, and his personal brand image needed to be shaped more proactively.

He decided to slow down the pace of purely pursuing visual stunts and began to conceive a series that could better reflect the ”soul of the channel” and pave the way for his future plans.

He opened a blank document and wrote the title: ”city sound and vision · Prologue.”

For this series, he intended to try to combine music and urban imagery more deeply—not just as background music, but to make music the core clue for guiding visual exploration and triggering emotions.

This was both an extension of his personal interests and a way to establish a more authoritative and unique ”visual creator” identity as a bargaining cornerstone when he stepped into the music field in the future, rather than just a simple ”content provider.”

Just as he was outlining the series, a new email notification popped up.

The sender was ”Harmony Bridge,” an agency specializing in music copyright management and cross-boundary artist collaboration.

The phrasing of the email was more rigorous and artistic than any previous commercial collaboration:

”Dear Mr. Su,

We have been continuously following the outstanding growth of ’Alex’s Wonderland.’

Your exploration of the relationship between music and visuals in your work, especially the inspired use of the track ’The Outside’ in ’Above the Reef,’ has left a deep impression on us.

The artists we represent are always looking for visual partners who can understand and sublimate the core of their work.

We wonder if you would be willing, at your convenience, to have an informal phone conversation with us to discuss the possibility of resonating on specific projects in the future?

We believe that true collaboration begins with an appreciation of each other’s artistic language.”

Below the signature at the end of the email, a few collaborating artists were listed in an elegant font, which clearly included: Taylor Swift.

Alex’s gaze swept over the name calmly; his heartbeat frequency did not change, but a clear realization formed in his mind: the seed he had planted regarding copyright had not rotted, but had sprouted a thread, extremely tender but clearly directed, in professional soil.

This was not an invitation to collaborate, nor even a promise; this was a crack in a door being pushed open, allowing him a glimpse of the passage behind the door named ”professional artistic collaboration.”

He replied with a carefully worded email expressing his gratitude and open attitude, and proposed the next convenient time slot for a call.

After handling the email, he refocused his attention on the system.

The nearly 10,000 points of popularity radiated an alluring halo in the mall.

He did not touch those grand but vague new categories, but instead examined the practical options that appeared particularly bright based on his recent experiences.

The names and descriptions of the skills also seemed to become more refined and pointed toward the essence as his cognition improved:

【Team Command Intuition】 - 1600 points (Enhances the instinct to unite, guide, and inspire different professional partners to work synergistically in complex projects.)

【Creative Source Guardian】 - 1300 points (Strengthens mental resilience, protects core creative energy from being diluted by outside noise and frequent collaborations, and improves sensitivity to capturing sparks of inspiration from diverse information.)

【Public Image Anchoring】 - 900 points (As personal brand value becomes prominent, learn how to stably and consistently shape and maintain an attractive public image, and calmly handle external scrutiny.)

These abilities were exactly the ”internal skills” he urgently needed to deal with the next stage of challenges.

After a little thought, he chose to redeem the first two.

A stable core team and an inexhaustible source of inspiration were the cornerstones for dealing with grander projects in the future.

【Consumed 2900 points. Redemption successful.】

【Remaining Popularity: 6300 points.】

The fusion of abilities brought a kind of internal accumulation and expansion, rather than knowledge infusion.

He felt that his leadership pattern and awareness of guarding his creative heart had been silently reinforced.

He closed the system; the night was deep.

On the computer screen, the title ”city sound and vision · Prologue” flickered behind the cursor.

The expectations of over 400,000 subscribers, the commercial collaborations unfolding one after another, the first echo from the music field, and the still abundant capital in the system... everything was pointing to a more complex, broader, but also more exciting future.

He was no longer the transmigrator who needed to rely on ”information asymmetry” and ”showing off skills” to make a name for himself.

He was becoming a participant in rule-making, or even, one of the definers of a new trend.

The phone screen lit up; it was a message from Leo: ”The preliminary architectural draft of the lab has been sent to your email, check it out. Also, we’ve scouted a few super cool abandoned venues that might allow filming; photos are sent to you, any inspiration sparked?”

Alex smiled and replied: ”Received. The venues are great, inspiration is on the way.”

New challenges, new tracks, new possibilities.

And he, had already adjusted his breathing, ready to take off.