Chapter 103: Popularity Reaper Princess, the One and Only Bai Fu
While Bai Fu was on her way back to the research institute, the UPs who had previously rushed to make videos after witnessing Hei Fu’s debut began releasing their hastily edited videos one after another.
When riding a popularity wave, efficiency was everything!
As the Minister of Publicity for the Fu Sect, Excavation‑Princess was no exception, releasing her commentary video at the first opportunity.
《Garden of Silence News Express Extra (1) Black and White Fu》
Times had changed—when she first started the game, Excavation‑Princess was an obscure UP with fewer than thirty thousand followers. But now, within the entire Beyond the Stars player base, she was a celebrity, boasting 800,000 followers on video platforms—and the number kept rising.
As a result, her video immediately attracted tens of thousands of players to watch simultaneously.
【Come on in, support Digging‑Treasure to make more videos about Fu Fu】
【When it comes to story analysis, Digging‑Treasure is still the best. Other UPs... cough】
【Babe, Bai Fu appeared in the village, come back quick!】
A flood of live‑stream comments floated across the screen. As the polished opening ended, Excavation‑Princess appeared on screen.
“Hey everyone! I bet you already know what just happened, right? The Fu Sect leader Bai Fu suddenly split into two—black as frost, white as fire. Is this just the developers’ twisted humor, or the beginning of a deeper storyline? Let me break it down for you!”
Accompanied by footage of Hei Fu beating up a Sandworm BOSS, she began her analysis, once again showcasing her signature style of over-interpretation.
【I can guarantee Hei Fu Fu is not a clone of Bai Fu Fu】
【In my view, Hei Fu Fu and Bai Fu Fu should be twins—but unlike regular twins, they probably share the same body】
【Most of the time, Bai Fu Fu is the dominant one. Hei Fu Fu rarely gets a breath of fresh air】
【Hei Fu Fu appearing now... I’m guessing it means a new storyline is about to launch】
【Hei Fu Fu is likely the younger sister. Judging by her expression, she seems the cold type, probably not a fan of sticking close to Bai Fu Fu. But Bai Fu Fu is gentle and kind, always accepting her slightly rebellious little sister. Such touching sisterly love!】
【No need to worry, even though there are now two Fu Fus, Bai Fu Fu remains the one and only】
【That’s my guess. If I’m wrong, I’ll beg Bai Fu Fu for a New Year’s video during the holidays】
Excavation‑Princess’s analysis sparked wide discussion.
Since she had already “guessed right” many times before, most players believed her again.
【Double the Fu Fu, double the joy!】
The most liked comment in the Comment Section was: “I’m not calm at all. Can we get more Bai Fu clones? Ideally, give every player their own Bai Fu.”
“This round’s going to bring in tons of new followers again.”
Excavation‑Princess cheerfully opened the video platform, but to her surprise, her video wasn’t the most popular under the topic.
A rival?
She was stunned and quickly clicked on the currently top-viewed video.
《What You Didn’t Know About Beyond the Stars (Ep.7): On Bai Fu’s Uniqueness》
The video was by a newcomer UP named 【Cathead】. While most players focused on Bai Fu, he had been making videos introducing other NPCs. As players from other Newbie villages started engaging in Regional Main Storyline quests, his videos gained rapid traction.
At this stage, the most popular NPC on Origin Star was undoubtedly Bai Fu. But Cathead’s videos had earned loyal fans for NPCs like the Truth Society President, Su Li, the Dark Web First Person, and the Warlord Luo Rui.
Now he suddenly switched lanes and made a video about Bai Fu, immediately attracting massive attention.
You had to admit—
At first, Excavation‑Princess was puzzled why Cathead’s video was more popular. But after watching, she instantly understood. His video didn’t introduce Bai Fu and Hei Fu, nor Bai Fu’s background—it took a novel approach, arguing Bai Fu’s “uniqueness” on Origin Star based on her abilities.
Cathead’s core argument was that across all of Origin Star, only Bai Fu could create Prayer Cards.
【I don’t know if it’s a Talent or a unique Special Class, but it’s true】
【I won’t overanalyze the implications—this isn’t my strong suit, so I’ll spare you the embarrassment】
【I spent two weeks researching for this video, interviewed tons of NPCs, and gathered quite solid data】
After presenting the context, Cathead began laying out evidence and showing interview footage.
First, he visited libraries in two settlements, scouring psionic-related texts—none mentioned Prayer Cards.
Next, he interviewed over twenty NPCs, including the currently popular Su Li—but even she had never heard of any Psionic Prayer-user being able to make Prayer Cards.
【This proves Bai Fu is unique—at least on Origin Star, no NPC can replace her function!】
【And this isn’t an isolated case. If you want to evolve into an [Evolved Species], you can only join the Truth Society and undergo modification by Lab Supervisor Ed. That’s it for this episode—next time we’ll cover Truth Society BOSS [Mad Doctor Ed]】
In terms of both production effort and relevance, Cathead’s video outclassed others released around the same time. Excavation‑Princess felt she had no regrets about losing this round.
Who wouldn’t be confused after watching this?
A Talent? Or a Hidden Class?
If it was a Hidden Class—damn, that was insane!
Players in the Community were getting hyped.
【Unless I’m wrong, isn’t this the first Hidden Class traceable on Origin Star?】
【Someone on Bountiful Star unlocked a Hidden Class—now they’re treated like royalty by NPCs, living the high life every day】
【If we raise Bai Fu’s Favorability, can we learn this Hidden Class?】
【Might not be a Hidden Class—maybe it’s a Talent】
【Talent is insane too—Prayer Card, ahhh, will we only be able to buy Prayer Cards from Garden of Silence now?】
【Then how are we supposed to fight in the Arena? I’ve been steamrolled these past days by Garden of Silence players using Prayer Cards】
【Seriously, can we ban Bai Fu? This completely breaks game balance】
……
When Bai Fu returned to the research institute, she found the players looking at her with eyes full of blazing admiration, as if she were a rare treasure.
Clearly, in just a few hours, the players had spun a whole new set of wild theories.
She first loudly praised all players present, then handed out the gold-reskinned Eye of Heaven Medals she had prepared.
“This is the Explorer Badge awarded to adventurers. May you perceive the true meaning of life within the silence!”
The players guarding the research institute hadn’t expected such treatment. For a moment, they cheered in unison.
【Yay, now I have the special Eye of Heaven Medal too!】
Bai Fu nodded quietly to herself.
Reskinning might be lazy, but it really worked.
What a pity. If she could customize titles for players, the results would be ten times better than now.
Striking while the iron was hot, Bai Fu announced her new plan to the players——
Limited-time activation of the Protect the Research Institute instance!
Of course, she couldn't outright tell players this was an instance—that would expose her awareness that Beyond the Stars was just a game. She made the announcement from an NPC’s perspective.
Simply put, the Psionic Primordial in the institute was important but currently immovable. Given that it would continuously attract Sandworms, she planned to turn the institute into a defensive line, stationing Hei Fu there to collaborate with players in clearing out the incoming Sandworms.
After announcing the good news, Bai Fu casually renamed the institute on the faction management interface to 【Special Scene·Defense of the Psionic Primordial】. With that, the institute’s name on the map interface also changed.
The players present instantly recognized it—this was clearly an instance.
Just earlier, Cathead had proven Bai Fu’s uniqueness through the Prayer Card. Now Bai Fu further validated her uniqueness by launching the first-ever instance on Origin Star.
【Awesome!】
The news of the instance spread across the Community like an apocalyptic flood.
At this point, even the slowest players knew what it meant: until the instance closed, Garden of Silence players would have a stable leveling spot and a much easier time collecting Sandworm materials to sell.
Leveling, making money...
Bai Fu had just solved two major pain points for Garden of Silence players in one move. Didn’t this call for erecting a cyber merit monument?
【I hereby declare Bai Fu a saint in my book!】
If Excavation‑Princess was named for her love of digging into the plot, then Bai Fu had now become the Popularity Reaper Princess.
Harvested, thoroughly harvested!
But amid the heated discussion, there were also some negative voices—mainly from the stark contrast. Players who couldn’t enjoy these benefits inevitably felt unbalanced.
【Investigate Bai Fu thoroughly!】
【The developer has gone insane】
【Give me a Bai Fu and I’ll forgive you. Otherwise, we’re all rioting!】
Bai Fu, wandering through the Community, helplessly spread her hands.
You win some, you lose some. Even money can’t make everyone happy—let alone her. Given the current situation, it was practically a god-tier opening. She’d done nearly everything possible in the early game. Whether she could now draw a winning combo depended on the depth of the story and character development she presented to the players.
Thinking of that gave Bai Fu a headache.
She, too, wanted a Main Storyline like other “protagonists,” involving millennia-old love, reincarnated grudges, star-crossed lovers, youthful passion, or national revival. But she couldn’t do it!
The developers' method of giving her more screen time was enhancing her strength and modifying her Character Role—not crudely rewriting her backstory or randomly inserting extra relationships.
If she wanted to win over players through storyline and shift their affection from “chasing power and benefits” to “being charmed by personality and a compelling background,” it had to come from her own efforts.
“Should I find a few NPCs and put on a grand play with them?”
Bai Fu shook her head. If it got exposed, it’d just be a comedy show.
She closed the Community tab. While she didn’t mind being disliked, she had to guard against it. If a hostile player acted as a guide and led the Truth Society or Gene Primordials here, it would be a huge problem.
Lately, both the Truth Society and Gene Primordials had run into serious trouble. Several Truth Society bases had been destroyed, and their power had shrunk. The Gene Primordials had been attacked successively by the Truth Society and Bai Fu, losing a vast amount of research data. Fortunately, the Railway Guild hadn’t leaked the news of their secret artificial human production, or the Gene Primordials would become as reviled as the Truth Society.
Still, Bai Fu dared not underestimate them.
Even if they were too busy to personally deal with Garden of Silence, they could always hire Dark Web killers or enlist Wanderers and warlords from the wilderness.
“I must take precautions.”
Leaving Hei Fu to guard the institute, Bai Fu quickly rushed to Shelter Number 11. Around the shelter, she posted numerous Eye of the Dark Moon surveillance devices. While discussing selling clothes to players with Gao Yuan at Shelter Number 5, she also secretly posted several Eye of the Dark Moon Prayer Cards there.
“This way, I can maximize the defense of Shelter Number 11.”
After finishing all that, Bai Fu temporarily relocated Anya and Anya's Mysterious Shop near the institute.
With the institute turned into an instance, word spread quickly and a wave of players had already arrived. Continuing to sell Prayer Cards at Shelter Number 11 wouldn’t be nearly as profitable as selling them at the instance entrance.
Still, Bai Fu opened a new shop at Shelter Number 11. The shopkeeper was an NPC she had rescued earlier from Black Hawk Base.
Seeing that everything was falling into place, Bai Fu began planning her EXP grinding.
At this stage, she had two steady EXP sources. The first was Hei Fu crafting Prayer Cards for her, netting over 30,000 EXP daily. The second was from Sandworms that Hei Fu occasionally helped players defeat—this one was less stable, but averaged around 10,000 EXP per day.
Doing the math, one Hei Fu could earn her 40,000 EXP a day. If she had ten Hei Fus...
Good grief, she might as well earn herself the nickname Plantation Farm Owner.
Wait no, even now she could claim that nickname. Growing players was a kind of farming too, wasn’t it?
“Forty-thousand a day… it’ll take two months to gather enough EXP to unlock an Advanced Class. Too slow.”
Bai Fu decided to take the initiative.
She set her sights on Dark Web missions and some field BOSSes in the Goli Desert.
But just as she was about to act, an unexpected incident disrupted her plans—a group of players on a Commission Assignment in the desert were ambushed by strangers. Most were slaughtered, and the rest were captured. Among them was the well-known berserker from Garden of Silence, Black Tiger Afu.
“？”
A giant question mark popped above Bai Fu’s head.
She had already cleared every sizable Wanderer camp in the Goli Desert. The smaller ones, upon receiving the news, had fled faster than rabbits. At this point, the Goli Desert was practically Garden of Silence’s backyard. Who had the guts to come here and assault its players?
Bai Fu moved instantly.
This was yet another golden opportunity to raise player Favorability—how could she miss it?
“Take me to the scene.”
Guided by the players, Bai Fu rushed to the battlefield.
By the time she arrived, the perpetrators had long fled. But that wasn’t a problem. Several players had been captured, and players weren’t fools—they activated real-time location sharing in the faction channel the moment they were caught.
Using this, Bai Fu easily tracked down the culprits.
They were on a small sand dune, several kilometers from the “spawn box” she had found earlier.
Under the bright moonlight, a group of white-robed figures stood in a circle. At the center were bound players—it looked like a ritual was underway, with the players as the sacrificial offerings.
“Use the blood of these demons to mourn the fallen prophet!”
One tall white-robed man shouted to the others.
The players in the center cursed loudly: “You’re all going to hell!”
“This is all your fault—I failed my Commission Assignment because of you! Screw you!”
“You just wait! I’ll be back!”
“Fu Fu, save me!”
Watching from a distance, Bai Fu twitched her lips.
Yes, yes, I’m here to save you.