"Don't worry, Joseph said Finn is doing well," Elias whispered, squeezing his cold hand to comfort him.
Noah took a deep breath, preparing himself to face all the worst-case scenarios, before slowly pushing open the ward door.
What followed from inside the door was Finn's clear and joyful laughter.
Noah! Elias! You're here!" Upon seeing the two standing at the door of the ward, Finn's eyes lit up and his smile grew even more radiant. He waved his phone in his hand and beckoned them over, "Quick, come watch this video, I'm seriously dying of laughter!
Noah was stunned.
Over the past two days, he had been worried sick for Finn, his emotions collapsing countless times.
But this guy could actually still smile so heartlessly, his eyes curving into crescents.
An indescribable surge of frustration welled up, but Noah still walked over to the bedside with a complicated look in his eyes. He was angry at Finn's thoughtlessness, yet at the same time, he felt incredibly relieved that Finn could still smile so carefree.
He truly had a bellyful of words; he wanted to curse him, to reproach him, but when his gaze met the young man's clear eyes and saw his usual, defenseless smile, all the words were stuck in his throat.
—Forget it.
As long as he is fine, nothing else matters.
"Quick, look at this!" Finn thrust the phone in front of his eyes, laughing so hard his shoulders shook.
As the founder of the popular trendy brand "METAL," Noah had always openly treated Finn like a younger brother. He had showed off Finn many times on his own social media platforms, each time, he had Finn—who was handsome and possessed an air of nobility—wear his latest designs. It could be said that he showed off Finn more often than he showed off his own boyfriend, Elias, who was a member of a famous band.
So, later on, netizens also joked that the three of them were a genuine iron triangle.
—Finn, brother, brother-in-law.
Then, some enthusiastic netizens went out of their way to make several video series:
[Noah Hart's Massive Double Standard Scene: Treating His Brother vs. Treating His Boyfriend].
The latest video begins its comparison: Elias at the birthday party versus Finn.
Naturally, at the last birthday party, Elias was also wearing an outfit designed by Noah, dressed entirely in black. The black leather outfit was indeed incredibly handsome, adorned with silver "METAL" logos all over his body that exuded a sense of fashion; even on his cheeks, Noah had used a silver glitter pen to write the large word "METAL," making him a walking billboard.
—It was exactly like doing unpaid advertising for METAL.
But in contrast, look at the "Little King" outfit Noah designed for Finn.
—Crystals! Gemstones! Broken diamonds! Pile them on!
No one ever imagined that a white shirt could be adorned with so many expensive embellishments. Noah wanted nothing more than to pile on every sparkling thing he could find, making it clear that he intended to make Finn the most eye-catching focus of the night.
And more importantly, even if you used a magnifying glass, you wouldn't be able to find a single "METAL" logo on Finn's entire formal outfit in the leaked photos.
It was obvious that Noah had no selfish motives for advertising; he simply wanted to dress his brother to make him look dazzling and spectacular.
It was impossible to tell without a comparison, but once they were compared, Elias was simply dressed in all black, with his only color being an advertisement for METAL.
"That's hilarious." After Finn scrolled to this video, he thought it was hilarious.
Seeing Finn laughing so happily, the corners of Noah's tight mouth involuntarily curled into a smile.
Elias, still dressed in all black today: ".." Have you guys ever considered my feelings?
"And this one, this one!" Finn swiped to another saved video.
It was a comparison of Elias's performance states.
In the past, as long as Noah Hart was present, Elias would always exude a powerful aura, his entire being radiating a sharp edge that screamed, "Look at me! Look at me!" as if he wanted to perform a solo for the entire crowd.
Then, at the last party of Finn Osborn, after Noah Hart and Finn Osborn left halfway through, only Elias and his band remained at the party.
Elias stood on the stage like a leopard that had suddenly lost its vitality; all of his playing was reduced to instinctive muscle memory, completely lacking the passionate brilliance he had shown before.
After watching the video, Noah truly could not help but burst out laughing.
Elias: ".." Do I look like I'm laughing?
Finn had nothing else to do in the ward. Both Joseph and Catherine felt that Finn's current state was not suitable for painting, so they just let him scroll through his phone. Finn did just that; he had originally thought that Andrew's previous video would trigger a larger commotion, but it seemed as though the matter had passed quietly, without causing any particularly large waves.
Moreover, another wave of unexpected magic occurred, coming in the form of powerful support from Finn's vast circle of friends.
The one who first posted the video was Blake.
Blake's studio game had already gone online previously, Finn even helped with a wave of promotion.
After Finn's brilliant debut, Blake utilized his specialty to work overtime and create a pixel art video.
The protagonists of the video are two interacting pixel characters, precisely Finn and Blake.
Amidst the upbeat and rhythmic BGM, the two little figures began their happy daily routine of eating and drinking for the week.
Monday's Finn & Blake: Donuts, delicious!
Tuesday's Finn & Blake: Soy milk, delicious!
Wednesday's Finn & Blake: Popcorn, delicious!
Thursday's Finn & Blake: Juice, delicious!
Friday's Finn & Blake: Cookies, delicious!
Saturday's Finn & Blake: Milk tea, delicious!
They ate and drank all the way until Sunday, when the little Blake excitedly pulled out a birthday cake.
Young Master Finn suddenly raised his hand and made a "wait a moment" gesture.
Finn walked away with small, steady steps, opening the door and stepping out with calm composure, leaving behind a single sentence: "Wait for me a moment, I have a press conference to attend."
The little Blake, holding the cake in place??
The scene suddenly cut to the moment the radiant Finn ignited the entire crowd at the press conference, accompanied by an exaggerated meme of Blake, whose eyes were popping out of his sockets in shock.
This video quickly went viral beyond its original circle.
Following closely behind, Anthony also released his own work.
Anthony's video followed a daily slice-of-life style, featuring edited photos and short videos of him and Finn enjoying food, drinks, fun in their daily lives. However, he also hid a little clever touch—there was a fixed animated shot in the video:
Two hamsters suddenly pushed open a door and shouted, "Finn, let's go play!"
From Monday to Saturday, every time the door opened, there was this enthusiastic invitation, the Finn in the pictures changed his bright and youthful outfits every day, looking full of vitality.
Then, when Sunday arrived, instead of a photo, there was a simple sketch, but you could clearly see that the protagonist—the person wearing a small gray vest and surrounded by brilliant little stars—was Finn Osborn.
Finn raised his hand in a gesture to wait, "[Wait a bit before playing, I have a special activity.]"
In the next second, the camera cut to the scene of the press conference where Finn stunned the entire audience, with Anthony and his two hamsters, Peanut and Pippin, appearing as cartoon figures beside him; both the man and the two rodents were so shocked that their facial features were distorted.
The videos of Blake and Anthony's traffic exploded instantly, even Finn's vast circle of friends used these two videos as templates, relaying a massive batch of support videos that ignited a new wave of viral popularity.
Finn lay on the hospital bed, joyfully scrolling through these various videos, the smile on the corners of his mouth never fading, he couldn't help but marvel in his heart: his group of friends was simply too talented!
Some netizens were also asking follow-up questions, inquiring whether Finn's friends, who posted these support videos, thought he had truly appeared at the press conference without any preparation, or if it was a carefully orchestrated performance designed to look unprepared.
Blake answered very directly in the video's comment section: 【You know nothing about Finn. If he had actually prepared to take the stage, he might have flown up in a mecha, he might have performed a magic trick to appear out of thin air, he might have arrived via helicopter.. In short, walking onto the stage properly from backstage? Not a chance.】
Anthony also replied: 【You know nothing about Noah. If Finn were preparing to go on stage, Noah could just have him wear his birthday suit to the press conference to blind everyone. At the very least, it would have to be some kind of black outfit covered in [METAL] logos. Of course, I'm not implying anyone here. Right, @OVERSTEP-Elias?】
Elias: ".." For some reason, he had been @mentioned countless times by strangers today.
During this period, Finn has truly made a vast number of friends, it just so happens that these people are all individuals with significant influence in various fields across social media platforms. After the press conference controversy erupted, this group of friends gathered spontaneously, each using their own way to speak up and support Finn, with every single post collectively including the hashtag #Happy Birthday Young Master Finn#.
Such a massive, coordinated wave of influence was naturally impossible to ignore, leaving the general public and fans from all walks of life shocked. Those who had intended to criticize Finn Osborn were forced to shut their mouths, especially with the Osborn Group's legal team pursuing them.
Even the Osborn Group and Harry Osborn himself personally stepped in, high-profilely supporting Finn Osborn on social media while sending birthday wishes. In this way, the public outcry triggered by a single video only caused a brief commotion during the time Finn was unconscious; by the time he woke up, not a single trace of it could be found.
In the end, all the support and well-wishes seemed to coalesce into a single post that Noah Hart shared on social media—
I would consider this a birthday gift from destiny to Finn.
On his twentieth birthday, he was given a stage to truly showcase his brilliance.
Not everyone is given such an opportunity, even fewer can seize it.
[Finn Osborn deserves it.]
Happy Birthday to my Little King.
[May you always be passionate, may you always shine brilliantly.]
Playful, brilliant, fond of showing off, skilled at socializing and stealing the spotlight, being the Young Master of the Osborn family—it's as if he has every possible buff stacked to the maximum.
This dazzling appearance even reminded many people of another legendary figure—Iron Man.
As a result, Finn Osborn even unexpectedly gained a new title—[Twenty-Year-Old Tony Stark]. Various media outlets scrambled to report on it, with many asserting that the young master of the Osborn family has immeasurable potential.
Spider-Man: ".." He just wondered what Iron Man would think if he saw this. Would he feel like he was being called [old]?
Finn still didn't know what had happened while he was unconscious. He had asked System PP to clip the video from that time for him to watch. However, after a moment of silence, System PP told him that it had also glitched after Finn lost consciousness, so there was no recording.
Finn: "?? This won't do! You've only just come off the production line, you can already crash?"
"Trash system." Finn suddenly thought of something and whispered it again secretly in his heart.
System PP: [The Host currently has 55.09% Misery Value.]
In other words, you don't need to bother trying to squeeze that pitiful 0.09% of Misery Value out of the System at all.
Although the plotline seems to have completely collapsed, the mission progress has been quite good.
Moreover, while Finn was picking up his phone to reply to messages from various parties, he also received even better news: that the doctor with seven Ph Ds had also sent him a message, stating that research had reached preliminary ideas and progress, but he needed Finn to provide a blood sample to him.
—A blood sample.
Finn suddenly thought of the blood that had been wasted when he cut his arm, he felt so frustrated.
Then where am I supposed to find blood samples? It's not like I can go to Harry to draw some; I'll just have to settle for using myself.
Finn couldn't help but glance at the fruit knife in the hand of Andrew, who was sitting beside him peeling an apple for him to eat.
Andrew's hand suddenly stiffened.
In an instant, the entire ward fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone held their breath, staring tensely at Finn's gaze, which was fixed on the blade.
[Misery Value rising detected, Misery Value +1%]
Finn: "??" What happened now! Where did that Misery Value come from?
"What's wrong?" Finn snapped back to reality, looking at everyone's solemn expressions in confusion.
"It's nothing. Blake told me to tell you that his game, Escape from Mental Hospital, has made a fortune, so you, as an investor, should get ready to collect your money." Noah's heart was racing, but he maintained a smile as he approached, reaching out to brush Andrew aside. Andrew practically fled with his head down, clutching an apple and a fruit knife.