Chapter-20: Success of Website

It's been only one day since the release of the website, and its popularity exploded. Many doctors related to Mia contacted her, eager to join after realizing the website's potential as a good source of extra income and recognition. Every doctor wants to be known for their specialty.

They started preparing, and some even provided videos they had recorded, following Mia's example, for their assistants and juniors. This influx of content significantly expanded the website's database. Some teachers from Ava's college from where she graduated also reached out after stumbling upon a video of her explaining things in her field on YouTube as snippets, posted by random individuals who had discovered the website.

These teachers offered their help, believing that providing an alternative learning platform could address issues related to college admissions. When they approached the college board with this idea, they received encouragement, as the college anticipated an increase in admissions due to the website's popularity. The college decided to watermark these teachers' courses with the college's name in the title.

They even attempted to invest in the website, but Jim refused. Understanding the potential reach and popularity of the platform, he knew how much it could grow. After finalizing the deal, the college received 15% of the teachers' income from the site, while the teachers retained 35%, and the rest went to the website owners. With the help of AI, the watermarking process was completed, and these college-level courses were also uploaded to the platform.

Gia's course was enhanced with some robotic and animated videos to create the impression that she recorded them under adult supervision or that an adult asked her to narrate. This approach aimed to boost trust in her videos. Jim also added some parts with his face in the recordings to establish a personal connection.

While the website gained traction across various age groups, it became especially popular among kids. With schools and colleges reopening after holidays, the website provided an excellent way for students to revise their syllabus. Jim added brain teasers and tests to the videos with the help of AI, offering viewers a chance to challenge themselves or skip the tests based on their preference.

The website's popularity soared as snippets found their way onto YouTube. On the first day alone, it showed 234,600 visitors ranging from age 6 to age 50+, a number constantly increasing and likely to do so for some days or months.

With the holidays ending in two days, Mia and her daughter returned. Emma, Mia's daughter, was a friend of Jim from before, and their relationship was more like cousins. She treated him like a friend as well as a brother. Emma was slightly shocked by Jim's transformation from a loner to an interactive individual and the substantial percentage from his game. Now, she looked forward to visiting Aunt Ava to meet Jim after the holidays and learn the secrets behind his success.

The next day, Ava skipped going to her salon and waited for her friends, Mia and Emma, Mia's daughter. Jim and Gia lazed around, savoring the last days of the holidays, even though Gia felt the impending dread of school settling in. Despite having completed her homework and revisions, she disliked school because it meant waking up early and having an early bedtime at home.

[Ding] [Dong]....

"Oh, they are here," said Ava as she opened the door and saw her friend.

"Ah, you're back, baby Mia," Ava greeted her friend with a hug. This was their way of addressing each other, as everyone in their friend group had multiple nicknames for each other, creating a playful atmosphere.

"Finally got to see you too, Avocado darling. Even Emma missed you, asking me when we will go back to Aunt Ava," Mia replied, teasing her daughter and embarrassing her by revealing her eagerness to return to Ava's place.

"Oww, my little Emi missed me," Ava exclaimed happily and hugged Emma too with her other hand making Emma more embarrassed. She then separated and started asking questions from Mia about her vacation and what they did there while walking inside. Jim had already placed glasses of water in the living room for them.

"Hello Aunt Mia, how's the vacation been? Did you enjoy it? And you, Emma, got any hobbies, or just studying like always?" Jim asked Mia while teasing Emma for being a bookworm, who shot him an angry stare in response.

[Author note: I am going to make a blend of Hermione from Harry Potter in this Emma, but a little more tolerable, and she is more of a sister to him, so no romance.]

"Well, I am smarter than you at least, Hmph," snorted Emma at Jim's statement. However, that didn't faze him one bit, as he loved to tease this tsundere girl. Emma's face fell as she realized she was the only one who got upset.

"Hahaha, you two really don't disappoint when you are together. Well, I am good Jim-Jim, and we had fun there. Oh, I also got a gift for all," said Mia as she placed a shopping bag on the table, filled with gifts.

Jim wasn't sure if this was intentional or not, but Gia was acting like she was sleeping. She had claimed to feel sleepy, using it as an excuse for a head massage from Jim, but in reality, she just wanted a massage. Now, she wanted to get up to meet Mia and Emma, but that might make her seem like a liar in front of Jim. So, she continued to act like she was sleeping, although everyone noticed her ears and lips twitch at the word "gift."

Seeing her like this, Mia asked in a whisper about the reason from Jim. As he explained it, Mia thought of teasing Gia. Taking advantage of the situation, Mia said, "Well, I will give Gia's treats to someone else. She might not be able to eat them as she just fell asleep." Mia made a face that looked like she was contemplating who to give the sweets to, while glancing at Gia from the corner of her eyes. Gia made a panicked face with her eyes still closed.

"Mom, who do we need to give it to? Let's eat them or they might get spoiled," suggested Emma. Gia moved a little to make it look like she was disturbed by the sound of their conversation. Then, Gia opened her eyes, took a look around while taking a deep yawn, and stretched her arms, making it seem like she had just woken up. As she saw Mia, she suddenly stood up, still in her act, and made a face as if she wanted to complain to Jim, whining at him.

"Jimmieee, why didn't you wake me up? I also wanted to welcome Aunt Mia," Gia put the blame on Jim for not waking her up. She then went to Mia, gave her a hug, and observed the treats box that Emma took out from the corner of her eyes to ensure that Emma didn't eat it without her.

Everyone laughed, but Gia thought they were laughing because of her scolding Jim, not realizing she had been caught from the start. Mia, seeing her cute antics and not having seen her for months, missed her. So, she picked Gia up and started distributing gifts, starting from Gia to Jim, and lastly to her friend Ava. The gifts included decorations for the house, a painting for Ava, a big plushy doll for Gia to put in her room, and an iPad for Jim, as he liked to write. iPads were good for that purpose.

Gia also received a microphone set for her narrations, as she had heard from Ava that Gia was trying to record her stories for Jim's site with Jim's headset. The headset had clear sound, but the quality of the microphone set was better. Gia was the happiest here, hugging her gifts, as she now knew what she lacked to recreate the narrations for the stories even better for Jim's next project.

Mia then took out the treats, making Gia jump in joy. While they ate on the sofa, they talked about their holidays and how Jim's game was going. Mia hugged Jim in between, expressing how proud she was of him. Inspired by Jim writing the novel, Emma also tried but couldn't create anything. She asked Jim to teach her how to do it, realizing that the time was nearing night when they were done. They had dinner at Jim's house and went home, with Jim promising Emma to show her how and what to do to write a good story or novel.