Starting as a Manga Editor-Chapter 129: Recognition

The day after ANF’s relaunch, the related pre-launch events continued to ramp up.
For example, the collaborative novel featuring the site’s mascot girl had been released.
Stuff like that, if it had been uploaded before, probably wouldn’t have made any waves.
But after the ANF revamp, the site had fully leaned into becoming a community platform—
And with the influx of gamers recently drawn to the site, this kind of content was, at least on ANF, extremely popular.
After all, ANF had always had a strong community vibe.
The redesign only amplified that feeling.
Just as Tang Yao had said, they’d truly created a differentiated product—the style and atmosphere were totally different from other video sites.
On most other platforms, people log in to binge dramas with a VIP membership.
But on ANF—a UGC-centered cultural community with high user stickiness—users enjoyed hanging out in the activity feed and comments section, chatting with others.
Even users who had never used the site before were quickly joining the fun, posting under the manga, novels, and game sections, getting into lively discussions.
That kind of environment didn’t just boost the popularity of collab events—
It also sparked spontaneous creativity.
Some users started posting their own doujin stories via the article column.
Others shared walkthrough strategies for tough game levels.
Because in this community, if you posted fan content, someone would respond.
The high level of user engagement—that kind of creative loop—was something other video platforms simply didn’t have.
Highly interactive.
A rich atmosphere of fan creation.
In this kind of space, users weren’t just consumers—they were creators too.
And then, on the third day, when the official page for the FGO × ANF Doujin Contest went live, this trend peaked.
As soon as users saw the event, they exploded with excitement.
“Holy sh*t! First place by total metrics gets 300K?? For fan-made content?! That’s insane! Even if you don’t get first—if a single work hits 10,000 views, you get a cut of a 200K prize pool?! Huh???”
“When did ANF get so rich?! …Oh. I get it now. Just how much did you guys spend on FGO gacha!? [doge]”
“Animations, PVs, MADs, meme edits, game guides, illustrations, manga, doujin stories… even cosplay counts? Is it okay if I try? I’m a guy, but I wanna cosplay Marie Antoinette.”
“No, dude. No. Don’t scar my eyes. No male lolis!”
“Damn… I’ve been wanting to write a doujin story, but I’ve never had the guts. Now I’m going for it!”
“Solid event! Finally, fan creators are getting paid!”
“Calling on the master of misunderstandings! @Shengsheng, your time has come!”
And just like that—
The comments under the event page exploded.
No one knows how many ANF creators were now cracking their knuckles, ready to dive in.
And it wasn’t just internal creators.
Outside creators were watching too.
Because the FGO × ANF Doujin Contest wasn’t the only campaign.
At the same time, the FGO Update Countdown Event went live:
Every day of the countdown unlocked new exclusive manga and novel side stories.
Users who shared the event page on social media could also claim an FGO-exclusive gift pack—with a chance to draw a ★5 Servant.
Hype was already sky-high—
But once users saw the rewards, tons of people started sharing it.
Which didn’t just increase the game’s exposure—
It also boosted ANF’s name recognition.
Some creators whose interests didn’t overlap still hadn’t heard about ANF’s rise.
But if you were a game or anime-related content creator, even if you’d never played FGO, you’d definitely started hearing whispers about ANF.
Take He Xianfeng, for example.
He was a creator on a major video platform, specializing in console gaming content.
He hadn’t played FGO, but had heard about it from the anime groups he lurked in.
He wasn’t a hardcore 2D fan, but he didn’t mind lewd art—in fact, he kinda liked it. So let’s call him “casual 2D.”
He heard about ANF again recently because a troll in one of his groups shared the FGO Countdown event page and started hyping up how different ANF was now.
Everything was “awesome” this and “amazing” that.
That piqued his curiosity—
As a creator, he was intrigued.
He had used ANF before, but his experience wasn’t great.
Back then, he felt the platform was too niche.
So he just peeked and left.
So now… the team behind FGO had invested in the platform and actually made it good?
With that thought in mind, he opened ANF again for the first time in ages.
And right away—
He realized the trolls weren’t joking.
“Wow… this really is a whole new look!”
He Xianfeng sat at his desk, scrolling through the clean and polished homepage, genuinely impressed.
ANF never looked like this before.
But now?
It was really well done.
He skimmed the homepage, clicked into a video—
And saw that a lot of the previous issues had been fixed.
The experience was smooth, and user activity seemed way up.
Every video he clicked had tons of bullet comments.
When did this site get so many users??
As he wondered that, his eyes caught the banner ad at the top of the homepage.
He moved his mouse over and clicked into the FGO zone.
Just like Zhu Mao had predicted earlier—
Even someone like He Xianfeng, who had never played the game, was immediately captivated by the gorgeous character illustrations.
And somehow…
Before he knew it, half an hour had passed.
“This is interesting… The game devs really know what they’re doing.
This kind of promo actually suits ANF’s whole identity pretty well.”
He Xianfeng was a rational adult.
Even though he’d gotten swept up in the visuals, he quickly regained his composure.
Sure, it was cool.
But he wasn’t some teenager anymore.
Still, as he scrolled down, he noticed a jump link to the “FGO × ANF Doujin Contest” at the bottom of the page—and casually clicked it.
And then—
“HOLY S**T!!!”
The guy who just told himself he was too old to freak out—
Blurted out a yell the moment he saw the prize amounts.
“Wait—what!? Three hundred thousand?!?”
His brain buzzed.
See, what Tang Yao had told Cai Quan wasn’t just hype.
Mainstream video platforms really had shifted toward traditional film and TV content.
And for creators like He Xianfeng, who grew alongside those sites, support had seriously dried up.
Forget contests—they didn’t even get traffic anymore.
And as for ad revenue? Take it or leave it.
So when He Xianfeng saw that there was a platform not only holding a contest just for UGC creators—
But offering huge cash prizes—
He was blown away.
“Seriously? This good??”
He leaned forward, scanning the contest details carefully.
And the more he read, the more shocked he became.
Because this wasn’t just about high payouts.
The event was clearly carefully designed.
There was even a note stating:
“Outstanding works will be added to the official Doujin Library and featured on the homepage, with revenue sharing.”
That might seem like a throwaway line to casual users—
But to creators like him?
It was music to his ears.
Big rewards and traffic support??
Sure, ANF had always leaned UGC.
But was FGO’s dev team really going to stay committed to that?
Every other site was shifting away.
And this one was doubling down?
Was it just for the sake of the game?
Or would they stay true to this approach?
Because if they did—
For indie creators like him…
He had to admit—
He Xianfeng was tempted.
Seriously tempted.
He didn’t even play FGO—
But he knew one thing: video platforms don’t stay the same forever.
The big site he was on now?
Who’d have thought they’d end up paying hundreds of thousands for a single drama episode?
No one saw that coming.
So he thought it over—
Switched back to ANF’s homepage—and decided to dig deeper.
Soon enough,
He found a video that caught his eye.
It was a cosplayer—cosplaying Marie Antoinette from the game.
The thumbnail looked super cute.
He Xianfeng wasn’t clicking for pervy reasons (really)—he was just… doing research.
And once he clicked in, he saw he wasn’t the only one studying it.
The video had tons of views.
After watching it, he checked the comments:
“So pretty~”
“Reminds me of her in-game description—like a dream, a fairy-tale noblewoman (i.e., loli).”
“Costume’s a bit off, especially the stockings—don’t quite match the game version.”
“That’s normal. The game just came out; no one’s doing 1:1 accuracy yet. Still cute though!”
“Ahhh don’t judge me too harshly! I couldn’t buy the cosplay, so I made it myself…”
“You made it?! Respect! But I suggest switching to white thigh-highs—might look better.”
The comments were popping off.
Even the creator was there, replying to people and seriously discussing what color stockings worked best.
He Xianfeng scrolled through two pages, dumbfounded.
This site’s creator–viewer interaction is off the charts??
He clicked a few more non-fanservice videos—
And found the same thing:
Every video had creators chatting directly with fans.
It was like a co-creation vibe.
After another hour of exploring, He Xianfeng circled back to the doujin contest page.
And this was the conclusion he came to:
This is a UGC-centered video platform.
It has strong engagement.
A rich community atmosphere.
Users are both consumers and creators.
In other words—
This place was heaven for indie creators.
Because on most other platforms, content is just blasted one-way to the audience.
No community.
No feedback loop.
But here?
The support was real.
And with everything ANF was doing right…
Maybe I should try uploading here too?
He Xianfeng stared at the contest page—
And suddenly had that idea.
And the more he thought about it,
The more excited he got.
Tonight.
No—later today.
He was going to start moving over his old videos.