34: Chapter 34: PK Feature Launched

Half a month's time...

...passed quickly in tranquility.

The popularity of Douyin's live streaming had visibly cooled down over these two weeks.

The number of active broadcasters had slowly slid from a peak of over ten thousand down to one or two thousand; wave after wave of streamers who had started with passion but failed to make money had left.

Those who stayed...

...were mostly of two types. One was like Old Chen, manufacturers who used live streaming as a brand promotion tool and didn't rely on gifts for income.

The other type was like Jiang Youyou, major bloggers who already had a fan base; they broadcasted just to chat with fans and didn't care about the revenue.

However...

...Douyin wasn't completely without highlights during this half-month.

A female streamer with a significant following had a birthday, receiving tips from several bloggers with tens of thousands of followers that day. The revenue for that single session exceeded 70,000 yuan, setting a new record since Douyin live streaming began.

But this figure was still nothing compared to Douyu or Huya; a mid-tier streamer's birthday there could easily break 100,000 yuan.

And just as Douyin's live streaming was becoming increasingly marginalized...

...at noon that day, a topic suddenly trended on Weibo.

“Douyu Live Streaming Revenue Breaks One Million in a Single Session—Now THIS is Live Streaming!”

Clicking on it revealed a battle report poster posted by Douyu's official Weibo account.

In the very center of the image was a polished promotional photo of Douyu's top star, Douyus Top Streamer. She sat in her studio making a heart gesture to the camera, with a background wall densely packed with screenshots of gift special effects.

Printed on the poster in gold-leaf letters was: 'Douyu's Top Star Douyus Top Streamer's Birthday Party—Single Session Revenue Breaks One Million. Thank you to every family member for your companionship.'

Behind this trending topic was naturally the push of Penguin. Almost all netizens could see that the phrase 'Now THIS is live streaming' was aimed directly at Douyin.

Douyin's current live streaming revenue record was only 70,000 yuan.

Yet the single-session revenue of Douyu's top star had already broken the internet record, reaching the million-level!

The top of the comment section was occupied by Douyu and Huya users.

“Douyus Top Streamer is amazing! One million in one night—who can compare to this prestige?”

“Her position as Douyu's top star is rock solid.”

“On the other hand, look at Douyin next door. A bunch of amateurs broadcasting, and you can't even see a single Carnival gift after watching for half the day.”

“Can you even call what Douyin does live streaming? That's called video chatting; it's a completely different thing from live streaming.”

“I'm definitely addicted to scrolling through Short Videos on Douyin, but for live streaming, you still have to watch Douyu or Huya. Professional people do professional things.”

“Douyin's live streaming is just kids playing house. Can it even be compared to Douyu?”

Immediately following this, several marketing accounts posted articles with largely similar content, each title more direct than the last.

“Douyin's 'Live Streaming for All' Becomes a Joke? Number of Broadcasters Plummets, Revenue is Dismal.”

“Douyu's Top Star Makes a Million in One Session—Why Doesn't Douyin Live Streaming Even Deserve a Name?”

“Did Qin Mo Miscalculate? Douyin Live Streaming Starts High and Ends Low—Might Become His Biggest Failure.”

Zhao Lei forwarded this trending topic to Qin Mo's phone with a few words attached.

“What a coincidence. The trending topic arrives right when we're about to launch the PK feature.”

“But Boss, can that PK feature of ours really increase revenue? This Douyu star's single-session revenue broke a million; it's terrifying to see.”

Qin Mo glanced at it and casually picked up his phone to reply.

“Whether it's useful or not, you'll find out after the update today.”

That afternoon...

...Douyin pushed a version update nationwide.

The update notes were written very simply: 'Live streaming feature adds PK mode. Two streamers can connect on the same screen for interaction. We wish you a pleasant broadcast.'

There was no specialized promotion, no trending topics to build momentum, and the update notes didn't even explain the specific gameplay of PK.

It was as quiet as the countless routine updates Douyin had released over the past few months; users casually clicked update and then just as casually forgot about it.

Even the streamers who broadcasted on Douyin every day didn't have any particular reaction when they saw the update notes. PK feature? It probably just meant two streamers chatting via video link.

...

Nanshan District, Shenzhen.

Lin Wanwan sat on the edge of her bed in her rental room, her phone mounted on a tripod in front of her, preparing to start tonight's broadcast.

She was the girl playing the guitar that Qian Yuan followed.

Over the past half-month, a fixed group of dozens to a hundred regular viewers would come to her room to hear her sing. The comments weren't many but were very friendly, and occasionally someone would tip a small gift worth a few yuan.

She didn't think there was anything wrong with this; after all, she wasn't a professional streamer, and singing was just a hobby.

The only exception was that person named Qian Yuan. Every time she broadcasted, he would come, sometimes tipping a few Castles, sometimes a bunch of small gifts, and occasionally sending a comment, just quietly listening to her sing.

The other party even used his real name as his Douyin nickname.

Today...

...Lin Wanwan opened Douyin after the update finished, preparing to start her broadcast as usual.

A new feature prompt popped up on the screen: 'Live PK feature is now live! You can invite another streamer to a PK link. Both sides showcase their talents to the audience to see who is more popular.'

Lin Wanwan was stunned for a moment.

Live PK?

She clicked on the feature description and read through it, roughly understanding the rules.

Two streamers broadcast simultaneously, with their screens displayed side-by-side in the same feed. Whoever receives a higher value of gifts within a limited time is considered the winner.

The loser must accept a pre-agreed punishment.

Even during the broadcast, the side with the lower gift value must undergo punishment until their gift count exceeds the other party's.

While Lin Wanwan was staring blankly at the screen, a private message popped up.

Qian Yuan: 'Wanwan, why not try this new feature today?'

After updating Douyin, Qian Yuan had also seen this new feature and thought it was quite interesting.

Lin Wanwan hesitated for a moment before typing back.

“I don't really know how to play this, and I don't know who to PK with.”

Qian Yuan replied instantly.

“Forgot about Meizi? Before, she covered your song and even copied your self-accompanied arrangement exactly, posting it on her own homepage saying she arranged it herself.”

“When you told her 'I sang this first,' she turned around and posted a video saying you were leeching off her popularity.”

Lin Wanwan was silent for a few seconds.

That incident happened two weeks ago.

Meizi was a singing blogger who had started on Douyin a few months earlier than Wanwan and had significantly more fans.

Lin Wanwan had also posted a call-out video at the time, which even trended on Douyin. That video had hundreds of thousands of likes, and many netizens spoke up for her.

But in the end, the other party only gave a few words of apology during a broadcast, and the matter was glossed over.

She hadn't pursued it further either.

After all...

...every time she broadcasted, the number of viewers on her side was at most a few hundred, while the other party always had at least a thousand.

“She's online now. I saw her room just opened; she probably just finished the update and wants to try PK too.”

“She bullied you so much before; today is perfect. Make her apologize to you in front of everyone. The one who loses the PK has to do a punishment of the winner's choosing,” Qian Yuan's private message continued.

Lin Wanwan took a deep breath, nodded, and pressed a few times on the screen.

Then she clicked the 'Initiate PK' button.

At the same time, Qian Yuan sent another private message.

“Don't worry, with me here, you won't lose.”

Meizi was a girl with dyed light-brown long hair and exquisite makeup. Her usual broadcast content consisted of covering popular songs and occasionally doing gesture dances.

Her room constantly had one or two thousand people, and the comments were very lively.

After her cover of Lin Wanwan's song went viral two weeks ago, her fan count had more than doubled.

At this moment, she had just finished updating Douyin and opened her broadcast, preparing to see what this PK feature was all about, when Lin Wanwan's link invitation popped up in the center of the screen.

The corners of Meizi's mouth curled up slightly.

Facing the camera, she silently mouthed one word.

Accept.

The visuals of the two broadcast rooms expanded side-by-side in the same feed.

On the left was Lin Wanwan; on the right was Meizi.

At this moment...

...Douyin's backend also captured this PK at the same time—the very first PK in the history of live streaming.

And the big data algorithm quickly discovered the following information:

The fan profiles of the two streamers highly overlapped, the content tags were highly consistent, and there was a record of past interactive conflict.

The algorithm judged that this was content with extremely high retention potential and began quietly increasing the exposure weight for this PK in the feed.

Consequently...

...the employees of the Douyin operations team began pushing traffic to this live PK—even the largest traffic push in the history of Douyin live streaming.

At this moment...

...almost all users who were scrolling through Short Videos would come across this PK room.

The screens of the two girls hung there side-by-side. On the right, Meizi had exquisite makeup and a smile on her lips; on the left, Lin Wanwan was bare-faced, her eyes a bit nervous as she looked down to study the PK rules.

One must know that not long ago, the conflict between the two had trended on Douyin and been seen by many users.

At this moment, these users also recognized them.

The two sides of this live PK were the two sides of that previous conflict.

In an instant...

...under the push of big data, countless Douyin users flooded into this broadcast room.