Starting as a Manga Chapter 126: Huh?

Most of the long-ti users of AnimationFan already knew the site's situation.It wasn’t doing great.Because before the site got acquired, Site Director Cai Quan was out there almost every day venting to the users—saying stuff like the servers were too expensive, site maintenance was too hard, no investors, not enough reviewers to approve content, etc.Basically, he said everything except for that infamous line: “We’ll never charge users a single cent until the end.”

And most users could actually tell from the site’s operation that things weren’t going well.A month before Tang Yao decided to buy the site, Cai Quan had already run out of options and secretly took on ads for adult products.Now sure, that kind of ad wasn’t illegal or anything—But co on, any half-decent site wouldn’t stoop to putting that on the hopage.

And yet—Just when a bunch of users thought the site was dood…The ever-complaining site director Cai Quan suddenly did a 180.No more whining. Instead, he started playing the emotional card—talking about the rough journey the site had gone through, and how much better things would be in the future.Gone was the vibe of “we’re going bankrupt any day now.”He suddenly looked like… he’d been sponsored.

This sudden shift?Everyone figured he must’ve sold out. Maybe he got a huge cash injection?A lot of old AnimationFan users had similar theories.

And sure enough—Cai Quan eventually announced that the site was getting a complete overhaul. That confird it for everyone: real money had co in.

And if there’s money behind it, the site was definitely heading for comrcialization.That was inevitable.I an, why else would anyone invest? Capital doesn’t do charity.

Honestly, users knew that for any video site to last, it needed comrcial backing. Otherwise, it was only a matter of ti before it collapsed.Plus, AnimationFan’s user experience had been getting worse lately. Bugs everywhere…So most users were actually in favor of the overhaul.But even so, so old users were still worried.Because once niche communities get comrcialized, they often lose their soul.

The biggest worry was that after the overhaul, AnimationFan would no longer focus on 2D content, no longer serve the ACG community.Cai Quan had once said, "No one wants to invest in sothing that only caters to the 2D crowd."So now that soone had invested—Did that an the investors were going to step in and change the direction of the site?Was this the end of AnimationFan as a 2D platform?

Of course—Only a small minority thought this way.Most users didn’t care, or weren’t even aware the site was being revamped.They just ca to ANF to watch videos—who had the ti to listen to what the site director was saying every day?

But coincidentally—On the day the new site launched, one of the users refreshing the hopage actually was one of those worried types.

His na was Zhu Mao, but unlike those old users who just wanted to protect their "little sanctuary," his feelings were more complicated.You could say he was in a state of quantum superposition—both hoping AnimationFan would change, and hoping it wouldn’t.On one hand, he had real feelings for this site—he was one of its earliest users.But on the other hand…The site had been an absolute ss recently. There was even a two-week stretch where it wouldn't load at all. He was done.

So he built his own site modeled after ANF.Not because he thought it would make money—He was just that pissed. Cai Quan was such a dumb***!How do you run a perfectly good site straight into the ground like that!?

“A dog could’ve done a better job,” he’d once ranted.So user must’ve seen that and clapped back: “You make it sound easy. If you’re so good, why don’t you do it?”

And he actually did.

His site was nearly ready to go live…Then out of nowhere, Cai Quan announced a full site revamp.

So right now, Zhu Mao’s feelings were all over the place.Seriously?You’re ssing with , right?Now he didn’t even know if he should go live with his site anymore.He’d been planning to wait for ANF to crash and burn before swooping in with a big launch.

“You better f*** this up completely.”Zhu Mao refreshed the hopage with a tangled expression. “No way the company that gave you money is a good match, right? They’ve gotta have demands, right? 2D content’s probably—”

He didn’t even get to finish his thought.Just then, the page stuttered a bit—Then, the new site loaded.

Zhu Mao glanced at it—And the mont he saw the hopage, he froze.

Right at the top of the new ANF hopage was a giant banner ad—And the characters on it were way too familiar!

Saber. Mash. Gilgash…Except for the two girls in black stockings next to them, everyone else was straight from Fate/Grand Order!

Huh???Was the FGO production team the one who invested!?

He scrolled down in disbelief, staring at the completely revamped, sleek, clean hopage… totally stunned.

Aren’t they a ga studio?Why would they…Sure, they made a 2D ga, but why would they invest in this janky site?What’s the angle here?

With that thought, he closed the site’s onboarding overlay and clicked the banner ad.

The page jumped.ANFxFGO collaboration page appeared.The giant ga key visual filled the center. But it wasn’t the sa one as on the official ga site—It had a ton of Heroic Spirits Zhu Mao had never seen before…But the quality? Still insanely high. Gorgeous visuals across the board.

And it wasn’t just one—It was a carousel of three, each with its own description below.

“New Main Story Chapter! Age of Discovery! Third Singularity! The Four-Sea Lockdown Finale!”

“Christmas Event! Limited Servant! Artoria [Santa Alter]!”

“New Observer Route from Fate/stay night! A rare Swordmaster… but her class is Assassin!?”

As a hardcore ani fan, Zhu Mao had definitely played Fate/Grand Order.Not only played—he loved it.

So when he saw this page, the sheer flood of new content knocked the wind out of him.

Third Singularity?Christmas version Saber?New post-Fate/stay night content??

Huh???Each tagline was a banger, paired with jaw-droppingly good art… it was straight-up magnetic.Even if you’d never played the ga, if you were even remotely into ani, there’s no way you wouldn’t click out of curiosity.

Thinking that, Zhu Mao clicked on one of the promotional images.The page jumped again—This ti to a video page.The uploader was listed as Avalon, with a little blue badge beside the na.

The mont the video started, a wall of bullet comnts (danmaku) ca pouring in:

【Holy sh*t! I can actually watch a ga trailer on ANF now? Is this official!?】【Wait—you guys bought into the site? Hell yeah!!】【Aweso!! Mash looks amazing!】【Can’t wait!!!】【Please release the new version soon!! I need the next part of Fate/stay night!】【……】

Zhu Mao stared at the chaos of scrolling comnts—completely dazed.

…That many players already!?D*mn, how long has this been live?

So everyone did the sa thing he did?Clicked the hopage banner the second it showed up?

No wonder…No wonder!

And at that mont—Zhu Mao suddenly understood.He finally figured out why the team behind Fate/Grand Order would invest in this site.