C6 The Prelude

Quinlan and his friend had been drinking nonstop from four in the afternoon until eight in the evening—a marathon session of four hours. This time, however, the roles were reversed: Quinlan played the role of drinking companion, while Fatty was the main event. After a long heart-to-heart with Quinlan, he nearly broke down in tears, leaving Quinlan at a loss.

The big guy had a tough exterior but a fragile heart.

This situation highlighted a truth: unless you've walked in someone's shoes, you can't truly understand their struggles. After all, hadn't Fatty once given Quinlan the same advice?

In those four hours, Fatty managed to down a kilo of white wine and five bottles of beer. With his already low tolerance, he was beyond drunk.

All Quinlan could do was haul him back.

"Huff... Huff..." Quinlan gasped for air after laying his friend on the bed. Dragging over two hundred pounds from off-campus to the dorm room was no small feat.

After catching his breath, Quinlan freshened up in the restroom. By the time he was done, it was nine o'clock. Now, he was ready to take down Atlas from his online pedestal.

Later, Quinlan scrolled through some clips on TikTok and checked out a few live streams, but he didn't spend any virtual coins. He was saving them for the moment he'd dethrone Atlas. He might not need all three hundred thousand, but it was good to be prepared.

He planned to be strategic with his gifting to Atlas—just enough to serve his purpose. There was no way he'd waste his hard-earned cash on his rival in love.

While browsing, Quinlan's phone chimed with a distinctive TikTok notification. It was Atlas, going live. "Prince Charming today? More like Prince Charming gone mad," he mused.

With that thought, Quinlan tapped into Atlas's live stream.

Atlas had just started, and his room instantly swelled to two thousand viewers. Clearly, he had a solid fanbase.

"I've been waiting for your stream! Kisses," typed a user named "Atlas' Sweetheart" in the chat.

"Hubby, you're finally here!"

A user named "Atlas' Honey" typed a few words in the public chat.

It looked like Atlas had formed his own 'Atlas' Fans'—that's the only explanation for the fans' coordinated nickname.

"Welcome to my live stream room," Atlas said with a smile, though his every gesture reeked of self-admiration. Simply put, he was showing off!

Quinlan, on the other hand, just watched, biding his time. After about eight minutes, the live stream's viewership hit three thousand. A few minutes later, the count remained steady around that number, indicating that was the extent of the streamer's popularity.

This streamer lacked any real talent, self-proclaimed as the 'Prince of Love Songs.' Yet, to Quinlan, his singing was mediocre at best, certainly not as good as his own.

Atlas sang a line here, chatted there, but his comments were overly boastful.

Watching Atlas strut his stuff, Quinlan was getting fed up. If he let him continue this way, he'd probably end up 'rocketing to the stars' with his arrogance.

Besides, Quinlan was on a mission—to take down Atlas's popularity.

With that in mind, Quinlan opened the gift panel and started sending small crowns, one per second, at a steady pace.

Atlas's eyes sparkled at the sight of the crowns on his screen.

"Thank you, Finnian, for the crowns," Atlas said, feigning nonchalance. He was always one to put on airs, and this false calm was just another part of his act.

"Trying to play it cool with me? Alright, let's see how cool you can stay!" Quinlan chuckled to himself.

After Atlas's remark, the crown count on the screen had already hit twenty.

Atlas felt a jolt of surprise. Could it be that this Finnian was a bit of a big spender?

Quinlan kept the crowns coming, and before long, the count reached fifty.

Atlas was thrilled. In a live stream room like his, with an audience of three thousand, getting a run of ten or twenty crowns was impressive, and fifty was a rare feat. He'd been streaming for over six months and had maintained a viewership of three thousand for two, but such a shower of crowns was a rarity.

As he pondered, the crown count soared to seventy, and Atlas was visibly losing his cool.

"Big thanks to Mr. Finnian for sending me these crowns," Atlas exclaimed with excitement, "Thank you, bro..."

Mid-sentence, the count hit ninety. Overwhelmed, Atlas jumped to his feet.

"Words fail me, man. I'll sing for you—pick any song," Atlas offered, microphone in hand.

The crown tally had hit a hundred, a first for Atlas in one sitting. His excitement was palpable.

Sure, some big-name streamers might rake in a hundred crowns due to their target audience. Atlas catered to a smaller crowd, playing the cool and brash card, charming mostly sheltered, inexperienced young girls with little to spend.

Those over twenty-five weren't biting, and men even less so.

His loyal fans were still rallying behind Atlas. His excitement was a bit much, but within their tolerance. Meanwhile, the chat was abuzz with shoutouts to Finnian.

"Finnian is drop-dead gorgeous!"

"Kisses to Finnian..."

"Finnian, come join our Atlas' Fans club!"

Quinlan read these comments, pegging the fans as under twenty-five, hearts unawakened, lost in daydreams of a fairy-tale prince.

Yet, another narrative unfolded in the chat.

"Finnian's made his move!"

"Tycoon Finnian strikes again!"

"How much is Finnian going to drop in this room?"

"What's Finnian going to have the streamer do? Can't wait!"

"Sitting tight for Finnian's next move on the streamer..."

Seeing this, Quinlan realized these were not Atlas' hardcore fans but spectators drawn to the spectacle.

Quinlan's crown gifts kept coming, ignoring Atlas, who, having just offered to sing a song, stood awkwardly in the spotlight.

Just then, Quinlan had racked up 150 crowns, amounting to a tidy sum of nearly three thousand dollars. With that, he had effectively won Atlas over, and he chose that moment to pause.

Moreover, it was his turn to speak!