Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

In the rental room, Xie Ruoxi sat there blankly, staring at the screen of her smartphone.

She had been hesitating for almost an entire evening.

Logically speaking, a pie of this size wouldn't just fall from the sky for no reason; it was more likely that the cultivator had taken a fancy to my attractive three-dimensional skin and wanted to use money and power to force me to my knees and capture me as his female slave.

Emotionally, isn't this just the plot of "Overbearing CEO Falls in Love with Me"? The other party is the renowned Yan Zhanlong! Handsome, powerful, wealthy, and with a promising future; if he insisted on binding me to him with a marriage contract...

Xie Ruoxi glanced at her phone again, the pitiful numbers in her bank account piercing her heart.

Every month her brother would secretly transfer money to her, scraping it together from his living expenses, fearing his sister would suffer while working outside. But he was, after all, going to start college this month, and college was expensive. If I could earn money...

Xie Ruoxi silently hugged her pillow, lying listlessly on her bed as the glow from her phone dimly reflected on her face.

After all, being kept was absolutely out of the question,

but if it was decent work that could make money...

She felt she could give it a try.

"Can you reveal what kind of work it is?" Xie Ruoxi steeled her resolve and began typing on her phone in the darkness.

"Fan community management." The reply from the other side came quickly, so fast she felt as if they were also waiting by their phone for her, but then she thought better of it—it seemed impossible.

"What exactly does 'fan community' refer to?"

"Fans," came the reply again. "Simply put, it's being the leader of the fans, managing the fan group for our team."

Xie Ruoxi: ?

——————————

In the end, Xie Ruoxi still agreed to come to Jinling, giving Yan Yu a sense of smooth sailing that felt almost dreamy.

The timing was just perfect. The girls were all at the South Sea and hadn't returned yet, so Yan Yu could personally interview her without the risk of them interfering.

Of course, it wouldn't matter even if they did find out; Yan Yu was confident he could persuade them to let her stay, but they would surely take turns vetting her identity—it would be far simpler to have her move into the villa and start working, creating a fait accompli before dealing with the girls.

At the arrival time of the flight, Yan Yu, wearing sunglasses, arrived at the airport and stood in the waiting line for the meet and greet, suddenly finding the situation rather amusing.

He almost always led the team to conquer mysterious realms, and Qi Changping would be at the airport to meet them upon their return. Now it was finally his turn to meet someone else; it was like the wheel of fortune had turned, the worker becoming the boss.

After a while, he finally received a message from Xie Ruoxi:

"I've arrived."

Yan Yu immediately sent a selfie in response.

"Haha, you look like a big star dressed like that," Xie Ruoxi replied as she walked through the terminal.

Right after sending the message, she felt stupid enough to cry, hurriedly shivering as she quickly tried to backtrack:

"Sorry, you're already a big star. I didn't mean anything by what I just said..."

"Come out quickly," Yan Yu urged.

He had been waiting outside for a long time and finally saw Xie Ruoxi, carrying her luggage, coming out from the throng of passengers who had just disembarked.

She was about 1.6 meters tall. Although at first glance she was quite petite, she wasn't as tiny as Chen Lingyun and was of a height that was generally popular among male preferences.

Her hair was about shoulder-length, neither long nor short. Without any makeup, her facial features were delicate, exquisite, and petite, somewhat reminiscent of Zhao Linger from "The Legend of Sword and Fairy." Overall, her appearance was indeed good-looking and pleasant, but it was a shame that she wore thick glasses and dressed in tacky sports attire, completely covering her inherent allure.

Yan Yu remembered that his sister had once forced him to watch similar anime. To put it simply, this kind of girl was the "ugly duckling type"; usually inconspicuous because her outward appearance didn't match, but fundamentally very impressive, and could astonish everyone with a proper transformation.

Of course, Xie Ruoxi could do makeup too, and after cosplaying and retouching the photos with a beauty app, she truly could attract attention. But that was almost tantamount to changing faces; anyone could look good with that, like an ugly duckling forcibly sticking peacock feathers on herself, not showing the potential genes of a swan.

"Uh," Xie Ruoxi approached Yan Yu, wanting to speak but found herself at a loss for words.

I'm not wearing makeup now, and my clothes are plain. He won't think I'm ugly and reject me, right? Maybe I should pretend I didn't recognize him and just turn around and leave, then say I've had second thoughts... Oh no! He only gave me a one-way ticket! I don't have the money to go back!

However, Yan Yu had no idea that in the instant they met, so many thoughts had spun through her mind. He just turned his head and motioned:

"Let's go."

Together they reached the airport's taxi lane. Yan Yu had already hailed a cab, which was waiting nearby with its trunk open.

Xie Ruoxi stood behind the car, panting as she lugged her suitcase, trying hard to fit it into the trunk.

Yan Yu didn't help, just stood to the side looking on with interest.

Hmm, she's willing to exert effort; not completely useless.

Come to think of it, it's true; at this stage, Xie Ruoxi was still the one running around with a camera, doing private photography for female clients. Physical labor was unavoidable, unlike the utterly useless Xie Ruoxi later on, tied up in the fan's lair at the cultivator's homestead—two entirely different cultivation realms.

Thinking of this, he intentionally teased the other party:

"You brought your suitcase as well? What if you don't pass the interview, are you going to have to lug your suitcase back?"

"Ah, I..." Xie Ruoxi was struck as if by lightning, completely stunned on the spot.

Didn't they say that I would have work as soon as I arrived? Why is there still an interview?

"Let's go, get in the car." Seeing that the girl was dumbfounded, Yan Yu didn't have the heart to tease her further and instructed her.

They took a taxi to the Yan family villa, and all the way there, Xie Ruoxi was in a kind of dazed state, gripping the car door tightly with both hands, which made the cab driver tense up—without a sound, he toggled the child lock on the door, preventing it from being opened from the inside.

Although Yan Yu was expressionless, considering Xie Ruoxi's hometown, as well as her quirky personality... he was also secretly prepared to intervene and rescue her if needed.

Fortunately, Xie Ruoxi wasn't lacking common sense, and she didn't really try to jump out of the car suddenly. So, they arrived at their destination without incident.

Watching the taxi drive away, Yan Yu thought he might be blacklisted by the driver. He turned to Xie Ruoxi and said:

"Let's go, head inside first."

"Is this the office location?" Xie Ruoxi asked curiously, looking at the large house in front of her.

"My house," Yan Yu answered.

"Ah?" Xie Ruoxi stepped back a few paces, looking for an excuse, "I truly have a boyfriend! I'm really sorry!"

"Aren't you the 'Little Dragon Girl' cultivated for a thousand years who cannot possibly have feelings for any man in this worldly realm?" Yan Yu mercilessly exposed her lie.

Seeing Yan Yu pierce through her dark history (which was more or less from middle school, when she had concocted a similar fantasy narrative for herself, filled with magical and over-the-top elements), Xie Ruoxi immediately widened her eyes, covered in sweat and felt an urge to turn around and run away.

Damn it, it's a top predator of the food chain! If I don't run now, I'll be eaten!

"Let's go inside and talk." Yan Yu used an irresistible tone and command, prompting Xie Ruoxi to push her suitcase and robotically move her legs, walking towards the villa.

Once inside the villa, Xie Ruoxi's attention was diverted.

So huge! Just like in the anime! A place where rich people live!

"Leave your suitcase by the door, and let's talk over there." Yan Yu led her to the dining table and pulled out a chair for her to sit, "What insights do you have on social media operation?"

In a past life, Xie Ruoxi had been a streamer with a million followers, so she was not just good at, but professional in refining and crystallizing fan engagement.

But at this point in time, she hadn't even started as a real-person broadcaster, still a barely visible video uploader, so her ability in this regard was questionable and needed confirmation.

"Um," Xie Ruoxi tried to calm herself down and then said, "I have managed a Coser interest group and my own fan group on a certain platform, so I do have some experience in this area."

"Mm, go on." Yan Yu placed his hands on the table, interlaced his fingers, and propped his chin, ready to listen closely.

Xie Ruoxi took a deep breath, striving to calm her nerves, and then began to speak fluently:

"The key to managing fans lies in establishing a well-defined idol persona, and then ensuring high-frequency, prolonged exposure to maintain the idol's recognition among the fans and potential fan base."

"Fans can be divided into two categories: core fans and fringe fans. Core fans need the idol to provide positive emotional value to induce a preliminary personal worship, then deepen path dependency on this basis to the point where they unconditionally believe in and support the idol, becoming a free marketing resource we can utilize."

"Fringe fans are comparatively less loyal but have the advantage of being a large group with extensive connections to the general public. So, by using positive exposure, on the one hand, we can attract them to convert to core fans, and on the other hand, we can also get them to convert outsiders, leading to the diffusion and viral growth of fame."

"I have written a preliminary strategy proposal for operating these two groups, please take a look..."

She nervously, yet deliberately calmly handed over the prepared and bound proposal to Yan Yu.

Yan Yu took the stack of A4 papers, flipping through them discreetly while in his heart a storm was brewing.

Holy shit! I've struck gold!

He had thought she was pretty but useless Xie Ruoxi, but it turned out she wasn't entirely useless; she was willing to put effort into preparing a strategic proposal and taking the interview seriously! Find exclusive stories on empire

Reading the content of her proposal, it was indeed full of unconventional and disagreeable tactics!

Things like regularly hiring someone to disguise as a hater for unfounded criticisms to increase fan solidarity; managing male and female fans separately by building a female fan base first and then using the attraction of female fans to bring in male fans; and schemes like stirring up ambiguous relationships with Li Minghu to attract the couple's fans for promotion, then later turning around and kicking them to the curb...

We'll leave that aside for now, but your thought process and methods are commendable!

Although I'm not very knowledgeable about fan operations, the feasibility of your plan looks... absolutely doable! Easily doable!

Xie Ruoxi, I didn't see you coming, but you really are a hidden gem!

Yan Yu set the proposal aside, looked at Xie Ruoxi who was obviously anxious but tried to remain composed, and said with a slight smile:

"Although according to formal etiquette, I should say 'I'll think about it for a few days and get back to you later,' since you did come with your suitcase, so..."

Xie Ruoxi held her breath unconsciously, only to hear Yan Yu ask:

"So, I want to confirm one more thing."

"Do you want to become a Cultivator?"