The next morning.
Lu Qing, yawning repeatedly, slung his single-strap bag over his shoulder and picked up the tuna sandwich his younger sister had prepared for him from the table. Feeling weak and drained, he opened the door and bid her farewell:
"I stayed up too late last night, so I'm a bit tired. By the way, don't rush to study everything I taught you. Copywriting, operations, and market intuition aren't skills you can master overnight. Just focus on practicing the piano for now."
"Got it, big brother! I understand. You should get some rest too. Try to catch up on sleep during useless classes."
Su Ling seemed to understand his way of recharging and knew that the knowledge he had shared through the night was meant to lay a foundation for her future learning and collaboration.
"...Yeah."
Lu Qing nodded groggily, said no more, and hurriedly left the house.
He had walked the path to the subway station countless times.
Whenever the sun hung high in the clear sky, his eyes would instinctively squint, as if irritated by some external force, forcing him to raise his right arm to shield them—
He didn't know why.
Sometimes, Lu Qing suspected he had an eye disease.
He would secretly look in the mirror, searching for red veins in the whites of his eyes.
And he found them—so prominent that it seemed like he had conjunctivitis.
The sensitivity to light and the dry, uncomfortable sensation made him feel like he couldn't use his eyes normally.
He also searched on Xiao Hong Ben and Zhi Hu several times, trying to figure out what kind of eye condition his symptoms might indicate.
The results ranged from glaucoma, which had no cure, to keratoconus, which required a corneal transplant.
Terrified, he rushed to a top-tier ophthalmology hospital for a comprehensive check-up. In the end, the specialist concluded:
"Your cornea and conjunctiva show no signs of damage. If you're still concerned, you can check for MGD (meibomian gland dysfunction) and VDT (visual display terminal syndrome). But it might not necessarily be an eye condition—it could be psychological. I recommend you visit the psychiatric department for further evaluation."
Under the slit lamp, Dr. Guo, the deputy director of ophthalmology, examined Lu Qing's eyelids for a long time, trying to find the "problem" Lu Qing was convinced existed.
But whether it was the ultrasound or the corneal topography, the results all showed that Lu Qing's eyes were fine.
He visited doctor after doctor, and they all told him he was healthy.
Of course, who wouldn't want to be healthy?
Being healthy is a good thing.
But the discomfort he felt was real—it was there, and it was unbearable.
So Lu Qing believed that the skill levels of ophthalmologists varied, and that the doctors simply hadn't detected his illness.
Thus, he switched hospitals and doctors, making appointments with different specialists and general practitioners.
Worried that the experts might be brushing him off, he switched to general practitioners.
Concerned that the general practitioners lacked experience, he went back to the specialists.
This cycle repeated over and over. In one month, he visited the hospital more than ten times, undergoing tests, getting prescriptions, and consulting doctors. His behavior was so excessive that the hospital almost flagged him as a scalper, issuing a stern warning in the official medical system: "Prohibit frequent appointments to avoid wasting medical resources."
In the end, he came to a shocking conclusion—
He had "hypochondriasis."
He suspected he was sick and firmly believed he was sick, constantly seeking out doctors to confirm his belief, even though the facts said otherwise.
"Suspecting that you're sick is itself a disease."
Therefore—
He needed to change this ingrained mindset.
He needed to free himself from fear.
As Doctor Qi said, when a person's emotions remain in a state of tension for a long time, anxiety and fear can develop.
To overcome anxiety, one must first rid themselves of fear.
So—
"As long as I firmly believe I'm not sick, everything will be fine."
"Then I won't suffer from hypochondriasis anymore."
—【I'm not sick】.
...
...
Lu Qing didn't listen to a single word of his Thursday morning class.
Time was limited, and he had to seize every second of "recovery" he could, turning it into energy for the afternoon to ensure everything was ready before tomorrow's broadcast.
During lunch break, he slumped in his classroom seat, weakly pulling out his phone.
He opened Bi Zhan (a video platform) and saw the video he had uploaded the previous day—【Mebia Debut Preview·Image Showcase】. His unfocused eyes were immediately drawn to the 99+ notifications of comments and likes in the top right corner.
"Oh?"
Lu Qing perked up a little.
He opened the comments and was almost startled—
【？？？？？？？】
【Hot hot hot hot hot (emoji)】
【Tongue out (emoji) *58】
【What the?? What kind of ultimate succubus is this??】
【Don't speak, everyone, don't speak! Let me finish my X first.】
【Charge charge charge... charge!】
【Something's off, something's off. I'm hallucinating. This can't be real. There's no way a VTuber model can look this good. Impossible, absolutely impossible.】
【I've never seen such a perfect succubus. So the streamer is the succubus, right?】
【Big things are coming. Go tell your friends!】
【I'll share this in the Captain's group. Any reporters? Go call the big spenders.】
...
Comments like these flooded the screen.
Clearly, due to the high quality of the video, it had been promoted by Bi Zhan's official operations team, receiving a traffic boost that instantly pushed the likes past 999+.
This timing caught Lu Qing off guard, but upon reflection, it made sense.
After all, Tang Hua's recording of the "swaying succubus" in her VTuber model was simply too good. Her already flawless appearance, combined with expressions so realistic they could melt hearts, reaffirmed Lu Qing's belief—
No one understands the details of a VTuber model better than the artist themselves.
Choosing Tang Hua to complete this "assignment" was absolutely the right decision.
"Great. It seems everything is ready. All we need now is the final push."
Lu Qing decided to share this good news with the two core members and give Tang Hua some well-deserved praise.
"Hmm."
"Since we're going live tomorrow, it's necessary to create a 'work group' beforehand."
He thought that while one-on-one communication with the two girls was fine and ensured privacy, now that they were about to collaborate, creating a space to bring the team closer together wouldn't hurt.
With this in mind, he opened Fei Xin (a messaging app), created a group chat, and added "Tang Hua" and "Bai Xing" to the group.
As everyone knows, in Fei Xin, if you create a group but don't send a message, even if you add friends, they won't see the group or know they've been added.
So, Lu Qing typed a "1" in the group as a prompt. He then casually named the group "Unnamed Guild,"
—abbreviated as 「Unnamed」.
...
Bai Xing was at home, busy adjusting to her VTuber model. She had skipped both morning and afternoon classes, completely absent from school.
Seeing that her senior had added her to a group, she immediately responded with a cat emoji and typed, "What's this group for, senior? A work group?"
"Yeah, a preliminary internal communication group for core members. We might add more people later."
Lu Qing briefly explained, though in his mind, he was considering whether adding Su Ling to the group as his "manager" in the future...
Would that make the other two feel uncomfortable?
Would the atmosphere become awkward?
Hard to say.
For now, it was best to wait and see.
As he was pondering this, Tang Hua seemed to have woken up.
She sent a bear peeking emoji and cautiously said, "Good morning, boss."
"Morning. I uploaded the preview video you made, and the response has been amazing. Great job."
Lu Qing sent a "not bad" emoji.
Tang Hua: "Wow! That's awesome! Hehe... Boss, about last night, that, um, were you satisfied?"
Bai Xing: "?"
Lu Qing: "Huh?"
Tang Hua: "You know, the thing I gave you..."
"Oh, the assignment?"
Lu Qing realized Tang Hua was referring to the succubus cosplay photo set in a small metal box.
The box contained a set of prints she had made using her home printer and the highest quality photo paper, giving them an excellent texture.
Unfortunately, last night was too hectic, and Lu Qing hadn't had the chance to appreciate them properly, as he was busy with work.
Now that she brought it up, he thought it was indeed time to take a closer look, so as not to dismiss Tang Hua's heartfelt effort.
Tang Hua: (Bear nodding emoji)
Xing Bao: "Staring.jpg"
Lu Qing: "Satisfied, very satisfied! I’ll definitely come back for more."
As he said this, his hand had already reached into the bag behind him, trying to feel for the small silver metal box he had placed inside last night.
However...
He felt around five times.
Nothing.
"Huh?"
The bag wasn’t complicated in design, and theoretically, he should have been able to feel the flat metallic surface with just one touch.
"What’s going on?"
Lu Qing frowned.
In a sudden motion, he turned around and yanked open the zipper of the bag.
To his shock,
The silver box, right under his nose,
Was gone.
......
......