The news that Sophie Wexler's livestream could soothe spiritual power instantly caused a massive uproar.
Everyone in the livestream felt like their brains couldn't keep up.
What was going on? How could someone soothe a Spiritual Sea just by singing?
In an instant, crowds of people came after hearing the news. Wave after wave flooded into the livestream.
They wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
[I heard singing in this stream can soothe your Spiritual Sea. Is that for real?]
[LMAO, can't believe there are idiots who actually buy this. Everyone knows the only way to alleviate the strain on your Spiritual Sea is to find a Healer-class or go to a soothing institution. If listening to music actually worked, everyone would just do that.]
[Does she think she's a Healer-class? Even if she were, I've never heard of anyone with this kind of ability.]
[I seriously suspect the streamer bought bots to stir up drama and chase clout. Too bad for her, her little plan backfired.]
[She must be desperate for attention.]
The livestream chat was filled with doubt and insults.
Thanks to the topic of soothing, the number of viewers in the stream was skyrocketing, and its popularity kept climbing, catapulting Sophie Wexler's channel to number one on the entertainment chart.
And there it was, an unsigned newcomer's stream, sitting pretty in the number one spot.
It was even starting to creep onto the bottom of the platform's overall livestream rankings.
When a platform staff member saw a newcomer's stream suddenly shoot up the charts, they let out a puzzled, "Huh?"
A closer look revealed it was from the entertainment section.
'What was going on? Was I seeing things?'
A stream from the entertainment section had actually managed to appear on the overall real-time popularity chart.
What on earth had happened?
He thought the streamer must have paid for bots, but when he clicked into the stream, his eyes were nearly blinded by the constantly scrolling bullet comments.
The comments were scrolling like mad, and they were all about soothing and the Healer-class.
The staff member took a closer look and was startled. He knew that soothing was a matter of utmost concern for everyone who had awakened their spiritual power, as was the existence of the Healer-class.
Moreover, because the Healer-class was so rare, The Galaxy had enacted special protection policies. Impersonating a Healer-class was a punishable offense.
Not to mention this person was spreading the idea that singing could soothe the Spiritual Sea.
The staff member made a snap decision and immediately banned the livestream.
Sophie Wexler was looking at the chaotic bullet comments, about to explain that she was just an ordinary streamer who sang, but before she could even speak...
The stream abruptly cut to black.
Sophie Wexler: "?"
'What happened?'
Looking up, she saw a line of large text displayed at the top of the stream window: [You have been banned by the platform.]
Sophie Wexler was completely baffled. 'What did I do to get banned?'
Just then, a message popped up in her backend dashboard.
Sophie Wexler clicked on it.
It was from the platform's administration: [Hello, please do not spread false information in your livestream.]
Sophie Wexler laughed in exasperation. Her fingertips tapped on the screen: "First, I never said anything about soothing. This is purely a singing stream. Second, you ban a stream without any investigation. Is this how your platform operates?"
She sent the message, but there was no reply for a long time. Seeing this, Sophie Wexler frowned.
[May I ask your esteemed platform, isn't it a bit arbitrary to ban my stream just because of a controversy in the chat? Am I not justified in questioning your professionalism?]
After she sent that message, there was finally a response from the other side.
However, it wasn't from the same account, but from another platform employee.
[Hello, I am the supervisor of the Entertainment Channel. I'm very sorry. Your stream was banned due to an error by one of our staff members, who acted without understanding the situation. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.]
[I would like to apologize on his behalf.]
He had noticed that a newcomer's stream was getting good traffic and had taken an interest, thinking of having his staff contact her to see if they could sign her.
Who would have known that before he could even give the order, an intern under him had already banned the account.
The supervisor was so angry he almost couldn't breathe.
The streamer had never brought up the topic of soothing herself. So no matter how fiercely the chat argued, it was all just audience speculation and didn't violate any laws of The Galaxy. On the contrary, all of it was driving engagement. And yet, that inexperienced intern had banned a stream right at the peak of its popularity.
[Entertainment Supervisor: To express our apologies, I was wondering if you would be interested in signing a contract with our platform and becoming one of our streamers?]
Sophie Wexler lowered her gaze after reading the message. 'A contract?'
Sophie Wexler had looked into it before. This was currently the largest livestreaming platform on the planet, with high traffic and very active viewers, which was why she had chosen it to begin with.
As for signing a contract, a glint appeared in Sophie Wexler's eyes.
[Entertainment Supervisor: Our platform provides significant support for our contracted creators, and there's also a fixed base salary.]
Sophie Wexler knew all this. After all, she had been in the entertainment industry before. As things stood now, without a contract, she wouldn't get platform support and the benefits would be poor. But after signing, she could climb the various ranking charts, and if she did well, the platform would even promote her stream.
The supervisor saw the empty reply box on his end and, assuming his offer wasn't good enough, gritted his teeth and continued: [Given the current popularity of your stream, we can draw up a new contract for you. A monthly salary of 10,000 Star Coins, a 40/60 split on gift revenue between you and the platform, 40 required streaming hours per month, and a three-year contract term. What do you think?]
[Your talent is exceptional, and our platform is sincere about wanting to work with you. The terms are already very generous. I wonder what your thoughts are?]
He had been watching her stream the whole time. Setting aside the controversy, just the song she had sung earlier was clearly different from anything by current singers and streamers. He had a strong premonition: she was going to be huge!
What he didn't know was that in The Galaxy, ninety percent of all songs and melodies were synthesized by AI and then performed by singers. Furthermore, performances were always auto-tuned with AI, turning singing into a purely technical exercise.
A song is something with a soul. How could something created by an AI program possibly have a soul? And how could it ever compare to Sophie Wexler's singing?
Sophie Wexler looked at the long string of messages on the chat screen and narrowed her eyes slightly.
'At this stage, signing a contract is indeed the best choice. It would protect my own interests while also giving me someone to help manage the stream.'
But... Sophie Wexler's fingers moved, tapping on the screen.
[I can sign, but some of the terms need to be changed.]
The supervisor saw her message and replied almost instantly: [Please, go ahead.]
'If he could sign someone this brilliant, a few changes to the terms would be no big deal.'
[Sophie Wexler: First, a 50/50 split on gift revenue, and change the monthly streaming requirement to 20 hours. Second, change the contract term to one year. If our partnership goes well after a year, we can sign a new contract then.]
'They can't fool me. They say the terms are generous, but that's only in comparison to other new streamers. I received over a hundred thousand Star Coins in gifts during my very first stream, and now my channel is number one among newcomers. This offer isn't even close to their bottom line.'
'In fact, my ideal gift split is 60/40—me getting sixty percent and the platform forty—but if I pushed for that, it would probably be hard to get my other conditions met.'
'After all, streaming for 40 hours just by singing is too difficult, and a three-year contract leaves room for too many variables. The time commitment has to be shortened.'
'So, by comparison, I'm more willing to give up a larger share of the gift revenue.'
The supervisor looked at the message she sent, not expecting her to be so shrewd. Her terms fell right at the edge of what he could accept.
He could only grit his teeth and agree: [Alright, we can do it your way.]