Chapter 729 - 500: They Absolutely Love It!

What’s happening?

Everyone, including Zhang Li and others, looked in confusion towards the direction of the sound.

Then they saw a dense line of hat-wearing uncles clearing the way at the edge of the crowd, dispersing spectators who had crossed the line.

And then, after clearing a section, they left a human wall to separate both sides.

In this manner, they opened a path leading to an empty space on the south side of the square.

"What is this?"

"Is someone important coming? Why is security so tight?"

People whispered among themselves.

Then, while everyone was talking quietly, neat footsteps and shouts were heard from outside the crowd.

"오목형사랑해!"

"木木ちゃん,大好きだよ!"

Korean?

Japanese?

Everyone was undoubtedly taken aback, not understanding what was being shouted outside, though they could roughly make out that it sounded like Korean and Japanese.

But they didn’t need to understand, because it quickly became clear.

As the footsteps and shouts grew closer, two groups of figures in uniform appeared before everyone.

One group was wearing red support garments with a line of Korean text, which was unintelligible, but there was a Chinese translation below it — Brother Wu Mu South Korea Fan Support Club.

And another group wearing pink support garments with Japanese text, similarly with a translation — Wu Mu-chan Japan Fan Support Club.

These people maintained their formation, continuously streaming through the previously cleared path.

Everyone: "!!"

Whoa!

Whoa!!

"Wu Gou’s Han Mei fans and Sakura fans??"

"Wu Gou’s international fans actually ran to China to support him!?"

"Is it for just one X Night that they ran across borders for support!?"

"They love Wu Gou that much? Plane tickets must be free."

Everyone was shocked.

Moreover...

Watching the crowd pour in for several minutes, yet more people were still streaming in, someone couldn’t help but ask:

"How many people have come?"

"Looks like there are already one or two thousand coming in?"

Han Yan couldn’t help but whisper to Zhang Li, "How come there are so many people? I remember the last time we went to his hometown Nangang, there were only a few hundred international fans."

They were aware that Han Mei and Sakura fans would be present today, but they thought it would be similar to last time with only a few hundred people.

Even a few hundred people would be a lot and quite exaggerated.

Now, there are over a thousand just coming in.

This is no longer simply exaggerated; it’s startling.

Originally, the effort to support across borders was immense, something only truly devoted fans would do.

With so many fans able to come across borders for support, how many fans does Wu Mu have internationally in total?

Zhang Li was also taken aback and speculated, "It’s probably because his popularity abroad has increased a lot recently, especially with several shows airing overseas."

It can only be said that Wu Mu’s popularity surge is truly astonishing, with each program broadcast boosting his fame.

This is evident not only domestically but especially abroad where he lacks many black fans or scandal baggage.

People around were also murmuring.

"Wu Gou’s international fanbase is growing; at this rate, his overseas fans might outnumber his domestic fans."

"Then his international fans could outrightly remove his domestic fans from the fandom."

"Hmm, I’m more worried that Wu Gou’s fame abroad grows so much that he might just start developing overseas, abandoning the domestic scene. Then what would we watch?"

The chaotic scene continued for a while, and then all of Wu Mu’s Han Mei and Sakura fans entered, filling the entire south side of the square.

Everyone roughly estimated that there were at least two or three thousand people.

This number was unquestionably terrifying.

Previous years of cold X Night probably saw total physical fan attendance at about this number, but now Wu Mu’s international fans alone have surpassed that.

Now, it’s the fandom fans who were initially smug and boastful that felt insecure.

Today’s situation seems off.

Wasn’t it agreed that the eighteen provinces would besiege Wu Gou together?

Why does it seem that they’re somewhat counter-besieged now?

With Wu Mu’s casual fans and hidden devoted ones present, and now even international fans showing up... they can’t siege him.

...

The X platform, naturally, kept an eye on the onsite situation from the shadows.

Seeing the situation unfold, Fan Wen, the person in charge of X Night, was undoubtedly surprised.

They had previously worried about Wu Mu being besieged by rival fans and winning the X King title undeservedly. Preparations were even made specifically for this.

But now, judging by the current situation, it seems unnecessary. Wu Mu seems to have solved it alone?

"Looks like we underestimated the size of Wu Mu’s fanbase," said Chen Yong, the Chief Operating Officer of the X platform, as he observed from the side, pondering.

Hmm, although he felt they had already given Wu Mu enough attention, it seems they hadn’t really focused sufficiently on him.

"How many people are at the scene today altogether?" he asked Fan Wen beside him.

"It’s around 38,000 now, and still increasing," Fan Wen replied quickly, as the grid-based area division this year made counting precise.

This number is undeniably exaggerated; previous years’ X Night saw offline attendance of just a few thousand, while this year it’s reaching tens of thousands.

And all this change was brought about by inviting Wu Mu.

"How many of Wu Mu’s rival fans are there?" Chen Yong continued to inquire.

Fan Wen roughly estimated, "Total fans supporting celebrities is around 20,000, though some are fans of other female celebrities and male celebrities not finding trouble for Wu Mu. Counting just the ones wanting to besiege him, there are roughly fourteen or fifteen thousand."

This means that excluding rival fans, those attending for Wu Mu include casual fans, hidden Wu Mu fans, and international fans — totaling eighteen thousand, even more than rival fans?

Hmm, although some could be Wu Mu’s detractors, they’re mingled with true fans without identifiers; it’s hard to distinguish them, so they can be deemed unseen.

After all, people online usually encounter this situation; they claim there are many detractors, yet when it comes to purchasing, the detractors are nowhere to be seen.

Estimating the crowd, Chen Yong discovered the Wu Mu fanbase size was more exaggerated than he imagined.

Though today’s situation shouldn’t straightforwardly suggest Wu Mu outnumbering all celebrity fanbases, as the sample size was too small and heavily influenced by public opinion and personal views, making it inaccurate.

However, saying Wu Mu’s fanbase crushes individual celebrity fanbases is valid.

This scale is already that of a nationwide celebrity.

Chen Yong adjusted his view on Wu Mu’s importance, increasingly feeling inviting Wu Mu today was the right choice.

Though offline presence matters greatly, what matters even more today is the online situation.

"When is our celebration broadcast scheduled to start? How’s the online momentum? How many viewers might we have?"

No matter how many are offline, it’s only tens of thousands; online streaming and program airing are crucial for broadening the event’s impact.

At the mention of this, Fan Wen became even more excited, "Mr. Chen, our offline momentum has exploded! Not only trending on multiple platforms, even our own platform’s hottest topic hits have already surpassed a billion!"