Making the Whole World Watch My Back

By the time the crew from the YouTube video website arrived in Tuvalu, Li Daniu had already completed his entire development plan.

Although he claimed he would develop an application entirely on his own, in reality, a great deal of work would still require the assistance of others.

Once the YouTube crew had set up their cameras, Li Daniu officially began his work.

"This is my development plan," Li Daniu said, holding up a stack of paper documents to the camera. After speaking, he quickly flipped through the pages to show that the entire stack of documents was filled with his own handwritten plans.

"In this plan, my responsibilities include the overall design, programming, and testing of the software. In other words, I have to complete a ready-to-use software by myself. Of course, even if I build this software, it won't be ready for immediate deployment out of the box. Tasks like server setup and interface translation into different languages still need to be handled. Although I consider myself quite gifted in languages, so far, I only know Mandarin and English."

After putting down his development plan, Li Daniu began to introduce his working environment.

Naturally, his workspace wasn't his bedroom, but an office that had just been cleared out within the royal palace.

"Two desktop computers and a laptop—this is my workstation," Li Daniu said, gesturing toward a large desk as he introduced it.

"Before I begin creating the software, I still need to do some preparatory work." Li Daniu smiled at the camera, picked up the phone, and said, "I am about to call a headhunting firm. Since they didn't pay me for advertising, I won't mention their name."

Once the call connected, Li Daniu stated, "I need someone to help me assemble a complete software company. The product positioning is a social networking application. Development staff? No, for now, just me alone is enough. Please help me connect with the right people as soon as possible."

After hanging up the phone, Li Daniu turned to the camera and said, "You see, it's that simple. As long as I tell them my requirements, they can provide me with suitable candidates. TC Entertainment, which you all know so well, was established in this exact manner."

With a headhunting agency helping him find suitable managers, Li Daniu could begin developing his software with peace of mind.

The cameraman positioned the camera on Li Daniu's desk, framing his upper body, though the angle kept the computer screen out of view.

"Software development is exceptionally tedious work. As you can imagine, for the next period, I will be continuously pounding away at these keyboards in front of me, using code to bring the functions I've envisioned to life."

By the time Li Daniu started writing code, the number of online viewers tuning into YouTube's special live broadcast had already surpassed 7 million. The reason this number was only about a tenth of Li Daniu's total follower count was simply due to the time difference; the vast majority of people were either at work or fast asleep, as Li Daniu's fans spanned multiple countries across various time zones.

After all, those daring enough to use company computers to watch a live stream during working hours were few and far few between.

Still, a figure of 7 million viewers was already remarkably high. Aside from fans who rarely saw Li Daniu on television programs and tuned in simply out of a desire to catch a glimpse of their idol, the rest were merely onlookers joining in on the spectacle.

After watching Li Daniu write code for a while, many viewers found it boring and promptly clicked away.

Li Daniu had anticipated this. Based on his prior discussions with the YouTube production crew, this was not yet the moment to unleash his major surprises.

When Li Daniu's primary fan base finished work, returned home, and finally had the time to tune into the live stream, the viewer count instantly skyrocketed from a meager 700,000 to a staggering 19 million.

Having 19 million people watching simultaneously was already equivalent to a television program with exceptionally high ratings.

To ensure that such a massive audience did not grow bored, Li Daniu decided to play his trump card.

"Software design requires more than just programming; it also needs a graphic artist to create the user interface. Although images on the internet are ultimately composed of code beneath the surface, I don't think anyone is capable of directly writing raw code to generate a complete picture."

Li Daniu pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen, announcing, "I am going to draw an illustration right now to serve as the cover art for this software."

The moment Li Daniu uttered those words, thousands of new comments instantly flooded the section beneath the video.

"His Majesty the King can draw?!"

"This is the first time I've ever heard of a programmer moonlighting as a UI designer."

"Aren't you worried your drawing will turn out so ugly that people won't even want to use the app after seeing the cover?"

...

Li Daniu ignored the comments scrolling beneath the video because he couldn't see them; internet live streaming of that era did not yet have a live chat barrage feature.

After setting up an easel, Li Daniu began to draw. At this point, the YouTube crew moved the camera behind him and set it up. Unlike coding, drawing did not require confidentiality, so the audience could watch the entire process directly.

From a blank sheet of paper to a complete illustration, it took Li Daniu half an hour.

During this time, many newly joined viewers watching the stream felt thoroughly bewildered.

"I thought this was supposed to be a live coding session? Why does this look like drawing?"

"Exactly! Even though drawing looks more entertaining than programming, isn't His Majesty supposed to be proving his programming skills? I want to see code!"

"Newbies, stop complaining and just kneel down with the rest of us to watch His Majesty's performance."

"I honestly want to know if there is anything His Majesty cannot do."

"I'm an art major, and from my perspective, His Majesty's drawing skills are pretty ordinary. While it's very realistic, it lacks any sense of artistic beauty."

"Will the art expert please exit? We don't understand art; all we know is that His Majesty draws things to look just like a photograph."

"This painting... looks like it's depicting a... back view? Standing on Earth and looking up at... the Moon?"

"Why does this back view look so familiar to me? Can someone uncover the truth?"

...

When Li Daniu completed the drawing, he nodded in satisfaction. Although the artwork had not yet been colored, the general concept was already clear: a figure standing on Earth, looking up at the Moon while reaching out a hand toward it.

On the surface, this wasn't drastically different from the famous WeChat cover image from his past life. In reality, however, with this image being drawn directly by Li Daniu's own hands, the significance behind it had completely changed.

Once the basic composition was finished, someone delivered a newly arrived scanner along with the professional equipment required for graphic design.

In front of the camera, Li Daniu scanned the drawing into the computer and began coloring it. The moment the artwork was completely finished, a wave of viewers instantly erupted with profanity, as nearly 30 percent of the fans could tell at a single glance that the person standing on the Earth and reaching toward the moon was none other than Li Daniu himself.

Among the netizens, there was no shortage of eccentric sleuths who managed to dig up a photograph of Li Daniu's back in a remarkably short span of time, posting it in the comment section beneath the stream. Placing the two images side by side made the truth instantly obvious even to those who hadn't fully caught on yet.

"Your Majesty, while your drawing skills are great, is it really a good idea to use your own back as the cover for an app?"

"I have never seen anyone openly paint their own back, let alone make it look this grandiose..."

"From today on, if anyone asks me who has the thickest skin in the world, I will definitely say it's His Majesty the King."

"You guys only see the drawing itself, but you're missing the deeper meaning behind it. I believe this cover completely exposes His Majesty's ambitions. The Earth can no longer contain a genius of his caliber; the Moon is his next target. Therefore, if one day you see news reports stating that Tuvalu has established a space agency, don't be surprised, because His Majesty has already given us a preemptive warning."

"Is the person above speaking the absolute truth? No, I think His Majesty just wants us to look at his back every single day and remind everyone that there are some geniuses whose very backs you can never hope to catch up to!"

...

By the time Li Daniu finished his drawing, the number of concurrent viewers watching the live stream had reached 23 million. After all, compared to the monotony of programming, watching a reigning monarch paint a picture live on camera was undoubtedly far more compelling—especially given that this monarch had already established a reputation for genius across multiple fields.

Li Daniu took a moment to glance at the comments beneath the video and chuckled. Someone had actually managed to guess his true intention behind choosing this image.

Indeed, Earth was truly no longer his ultimate goal. The Moon? That was merely a stepping stone.

Besides, he genuinely did want everyone to look at his back every single day. What a deeply intoxicating thought that was.