Becoming the Richest Man Alive

Chapter 16

When she saw the messages, Giselle’s anxiety suddenly eased.

Despite having Casper on the live stream, Giselle was still feeling insecure.

After all, given Jeanette’s popularity, she would likely have some rich fans, too.

Furthermore, Casper had just sent her tens of millions worth of gifts in the afternoon, which would have taken the wind out of him. If she agreed to Jeanette’s challenge, Casper’s ability to support her would definitely be impaired.

Given that her biggest supporter had been weakened and that she was a far cry from Jeanette in terms of popularity, Giselle felt that winning the Popularity Contest was an uphill task.

As a result, she was hesitant to accept the challenge.

However, now that Casper had reassured her, it meant that he was confident enough to make her the winner.

Besides, Jeanette’s words no longer left her any choice. It would be devastating for her if she rejected the challenge.

Given all the consideration, Giselle gritted her teeth and gathered her courage.

“All right! If that’s what everyone wants, I’ll gladly accept the challenge!”

“Hehe, that’s Gigi for you. Now, game on!” Jeanette acknowledged with a smile.

After that, she sent Giselle an invite to the Popularity Contest which Giselle then accepted.

At that moment, a progress bar appeared in front of them. Giselle’s was red while Jeanette’s was blue. Both of them started at the same level.

After that, music began to play as a countdown sequence started.

3… 2… 1… Start!

The moment the word “start” appeared, Jeanette began to belt out a song.

From then on, their respective progress bars began to move. Starting from zero, they kept filling up as live stream gifts poured in.

However, due to the huge gap in popularity, Giselle’s progress bar was quickly overpowered by Jeanette’s. Jeanette’s lead widened significantly in just a few seconds.

Fellows comrades, let’s stay strong.

Charge! We’re being left behind.

Come on, everyone!

Giselle’s fans grew anxious when they saw how quickly Giselle was trailing behind.

Haha! Jeanette is still the best! She managed to double her lead in no time.

Go, Jeanette! We’re right behind you!

You guys on the opposite side should give up. The lead is just too wide. There’s no point competing.

Jeanette’s fans began to behave arrogantly.

The progress bar showed: 13314: 59987

When she saw the much she was falling behind on the progress bar, Giselle couldn’t help but frown. Growing nervous, she pursed her lips slightly and clenched her fists.

Suddenly, a banner appeared at the top of the live stream with the notification: Gigi, you have received a banner from Mr. Simpson!

At that moment, Giselle’s progress bar, which had shrunk to twenty percent of its starting size, abruptly expanded and brought her in the lead. The gauge now read: 117311: 65751.

Mr. Simpson is the man!

Mr. Simpson is amazing!

Go, Mr. Simpson! Destroy her!

When she saw what just happened, Giselle, whose heart felt as if it was being suspended in the air, finally heaved a sigh of relief. Just as Jeanette ended her song, it was Giselle’s turn to sing.

Despite the difference in popularity, Giselle’s voice was a lot more melodious than Jeanette’s. The moment she started to croon, Jeanette’s followers gasped in awe as Giselle’s beautiful voice filled their ears.

Pouting, Jeanette grumbled coquettishly, “Oh… I’m being outdone.”

Quick everyone, we’re going to lose at this rate.

Childish Kid has gifted Jeanette four Yachts!

Rich Guy has gifted Jeanette ten Rockets!

Whitey White has gifted Jeanette one Banner!

Nameless has gifted Jeanette ten Airplanes!

Missing You has gifted Jeanette ninety-nine Special Cards!

As the notifications filled the screen one by one, Jeanette’s progress bar surged back into the lead: 130991: 244710. Giselle’s temporary lead was once again gone.

As Giselle’s fans were provoked by Jeanette retaking the lead, they began to work harder to send in gifts. Unfortunately, due to the differences in the size of the fan base and the fans’ financial abilities, their efforts weren’t enough to close the gap on Jeanette’s lead.

“Hehe, I’m back in the lead again! Gigi, you have to work harder!” Jeanette declared smugly.

Just as she was gloating, an announcement appeared on the screen, causing her smile to freeze.

Mr. Simpson has gifted Gigi ninety-nine Super Rockets.

Mr. Simpson has gifted Gigi three Banners.

The progress bar now read: 663113: 251300.

After recovering from her shock, Jeanette pouted and yelled, “Argh! This is killing me! Mr. Cloud, help me!”

Mr. Cloud has gifted Jeanette ten Banners.

The amazing Mr. Cloud is here.

Haha, Mr. Cloud will destroy Mr. Simpson.

Forgetting her frustration, Jeanette acknowledged in delight, “Thank you, Mr. Cloud!”

At that moment, the song that was playing had passed its halfway mark. When it finished, it would also signal the end of the Popularity Contest.

After Mr. Cloud gifted ten Banners to Jeanette, she was back in the lead by six to seven hundred thousand points.

In a very short time, the morale of Jeanette’s fans shot up, resulting in them sending gifts hysterically which further increased her lead.

Meanwhile, on Giselle’s side, Casper seemed to have gone quiet ever since Mr. Cloud appeared.

Furthermore, Jeanette’s seemingly unassailable lead had dealt a devastating blow to Giselle’s fans. Slowly, many of them began to give up, resulting in fewer gifts being sent in. Whatever gifts she received only contributed to a few thousand points, which hardly made a difference.

Growing increasingly nervous, Giselle clasped her hands in front of her and pursed her lips.

“Haha, Gigi, it seems the gap between us has widened further. At this rate, you will definitely lose! By the way, where’s Mr. Simpson? Why has he disappeared? Is he afraid of Mr. Cloud?” Jeanette taunted Giselle.

With only twenty seconds left, the progress bar showed: 668911: 1970063. Jeanette’s score was three times Giselle’s.

Moreover, Jeanette’s score was still increasing while Giselle’s had slowed down to almost a complete halt.

15 seconds… 10… 8…

“It seems I’m going to win! Gigi, prepare to be ‘punished’!”

Smiling gleefully, Jeanette’s squinted eyes flashed with animosity.

Jeanette had always maintained a top-ten position on the daily gifts leaderboard. Despite usually appearing at the bottom, she had never dropped out of it before.

Originally in tenth place today, she was squeezed out of the leaderboard entirely when Giselle suddenly took first place.

Jeanette was infuriated that an unknown online streamer had pushed her out of a position she had dominated for a long time. Furthermore, Giselle’s gifts for the day alone almost exceeded the gifts she had worked hard to accumulate for the entire month.

Other than animosity, Jeanette was also filled with jealousy. That was the real trigger behind her attempt to humiliate Giselle.

From her perspective, being a decent-looking online streamer who used beauty filters to enhance her looks was a good way to become popular.

Someone who doesn’t dare reveal her face must be ugly. That’s why Gigi has to rely on her voice instead.

Hence, Jeanette’s true objective of challenging Giselle to the Popularity Contest was to humiliate her. As long as Jeanette won, Giselle’s reputation would be ruined regardless of whether she followed through with the bet.

Jeanette didn’t believe that someone could actually be foolish enough to fork out tens of millions of gifts. Therefore, she surmised that the gifting must be Giselle’s own doing in an attempt to increase her own popularity. Mr. Simpson is highly unlikely to be able to beat Mr. Cloud, anyway.

6… 5… 4… 3…

As time was almost up, an insidious grin began to emerge on Jeanette’s face.

“Mr. Simpson, please help me… I don’t want to lose…” Giselle pleaded like a damsel in distress.

Ever since Giselle started her live stream, she had never begged anyone for gifts.

However, when the thought of her having to reveal her face crossed her mind…

She had a pretty face. As such, her popularity might even surge if she revealed it. However, the problem was that the entire school would find out that she was an online streamer, which was what she was trying to avoid.

Therefore, after much consideration and internal struggle, she finally decided to appeal to Casper.

“I beg of you, Mr. Simpson…”

Swoosh!

Just as Casper was prepared to turn the tide in favor of Giselle at the very last second, Giselle’s coquettish plea jolted him. Gasping in surprise, it made him feel as if he was on cloud nine.

For a fleeting moment, his finger on the “send” button moved away by reflex. However, he quickly regained his senses and stabbed his finger on it at the very last second, causing Giselle’s progress bar to surge rapidly.

Mr. Simpson has gifted Gigi fifty-nine Banners!

“I won!”

At that exact moment, Jeanette cried out in delight. She was so happy that she jumped out of her chair in joy, celebrating jubilantly.

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As a barrage of ellipses filled the live stream screen, the audience was suspended in excitement.

“Hahaha! Thank you, Mr. Simpson!” Giselle exclaimed in joy the very next moment.

She was so thrilled that her face reddened completely. Losing her composure, she cried out Casper’s name affectionately.

Mired in despair a moment ago, she was enthralled that she came from behind to win. The victory certainly felt sweeter compared to just cruising to win.

Mr. Simpson is amazing!

We won! We won! Mr. Simpson is the best!

Hahaha, I thought we were goners.

This feels so good.

Jeanette was visibly stunned when she heard Giselle’s shriek. Glancing at the screen by reflex, she was confused by the congratulatory comments flooding in for Giselle.

After that, she shifted her attention to the progress bar which had now stopped. When she saw the score, her expression froze as humiliation overwhelmed her. The next moment, a gloomy expression began to set upon her face.

It read: 6599113: 2470063.

The red progress bar overpowered the blue bar, pushing back the latter until only a small patch of blue could be seen.

Meanwhile, the word “Victory” had appeared in an animated celebration over Giselle’s head.