In the completely dark rental room.
No windows, no fresh air.
The entire space was less than 150 square feet.
It could only fit a bed, a desk, a large wardrobe, and a full-length mirror.
The digital drawing tablet on the desk dimly lit up.
The faint blue light reflected in a pair of beautiful eyes, but for some reason, the owner of these beautiful eyes seemed to be frozen in place, motionless.
In the room, cheap takeout boxes were piled like mountains, and the cosplay outfits in the huge wardrobe were somewhat messy;
The blanket on the bed wasn't folded neatly, and for some unknown reason, sharp tools like art knives were thrown beside the pillow.
Standing out from all this was the room's owner, staring blankly at the line of text on the screen in front of the computer desk.
"Life is hard, don't forget your original intention."
The Twitter comment notification stayed there.
Although the accumulated comments and likes numbered 999+, she no longer cared about any praise or abuse.
But the person who left this message was her only hidden follower, the most important person who had been continuously providing her with commissions a year ago, allowing her, a novice artist, to gradually transition to where she was now—to survive until now.
At that time, the part-time Taobao store manager had been very clear: "Lubia, if you bring our store one more negative review this month, pack your bags and get out. We have at least 50 artists, and the negative reviews of the other 49 combined aren't as many as yours alone. Heh, you're not a spy sent by our competitors, are you?"
"..."
Unacknowledged, nowhere to go, no skills, unwilling to sell herself.
Although her Twitter subscriber count was decent, it only provided less than 2,000 yuan in monthly income.
In Tianhai City, where prices were skyrocketing, it wasn't even enough to barely rent this dark rental room.
Fortunately, at that time, she met Boss.
Boss contacted her via email and later threw five commissions her way.
As if knowing her situation, Boss didn't haggle over prices.
At the commercial illustration rate, it was 8,000 per piece, earning her 40,000.
40,000 yuan, even in Tianhai City, would be enough to live frugally for half a year.
Unlike others, Boss seemed very casual, never asking for revisions or multiple modifications.
He even liked letting her express herself freely, only providing a framework, never interfering with anything else.
Most importantly, even though she could only draw big-breasted anime girls, Boss didn't mind, and even praised such works as having character, his tone far from perfunctory.
Gradually, talking to Boss and pestering him became the only interesting thing in her garbage-like life.
Boss was naive, treating her like a brother.
Perhaps in his eyes, she really was just some creepy old otaku?
"Sigh~"
Walking to the mirror, in the blue light from the screen, she gazed at herself.
Black hair reaching her waist, mountains protruding from her chest, toes invisible when looking down.
Her legs, praised by others as perfect, were straight, her waist delicately slim.
Her skin was pink and white, looking soft and smooth to the touch.
The only flaw was the bandage wrapped around her wrist, spotted with blood.
Matching the dried red on the art knife's blade.
"38-year-old unemployed doujin artist" was the disguise she created for herself, making her seem bolder when communicating with the Taobao store manager and other difficult clients, appearing less easy to bully.
But now, she somewhat regretted this disguise.
How should she...
How should she...
Explain it?
If someday, she developed the desire to meet Boss in person...
What expression would he show when he saw her?
Shock?
Confusion?
Disgust?
Or intolerance for the deception?
...
Taking her phone from the heart-shaped leg garter at her thigh, the blue light slowly moved upward.
Illuminating that long snow-white neck, perfect facial contours, delicate nose and black eyes, and those naturally plump, dewy cheeks.
The pure and exquisite features combined to form an ultimate weapon that would make even young girls feel insecure.
She was already 24 years old.
Although she had graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts not long ago, due to her social anxiety and not wanting to find work, plus her family's relentless pressure to get married, she had no choice but to pack her bags and come to this city where ordinary people could barely afford to live.
The reflection in the mirror looked beautiful, with a perfect figure and excellent conditions, but in others' eyes, she was nothing more than a tool for lust and release.
Once, a talent agent with ulterior motives approached her asking if she wanted to join a "media company" as a model, earning 30,000 a month, only needing to follow the leader's requirements for photoshoots and cosplay.
She was naive then, only realizing at the company's door that it was a small workshop, and during the interview, they actually required female models to undress.
Watching several other models around her bow their heads for those verbal promises of money, she chose to give up the opportunity and walk away.
Looking back now, how much was her cheap self-respect worth anyway?
It was quite laughable.
Her drawing skills were terrible, only able to draw herself while looking in the mirror, completely unable to draw anything else.
No talent, no other motivation to survive.
She couldn't do physical labor, and moreover, just going out would result in men's lewd gazes licking all over her.
Without realizing it, her social anxiety had gotten even worse.
"Ah."
"At least there's Boss, at least Boss doesn't mind me, treats me like a brother."
Actually, ever since receiving Boss's commissions, she had mustered up the courage to try finding her "original intention" again.
She created a project in a hidden folder, starting to try drawing original characters again.
Every day and night, she stayed in this 3,000-yuan rental room, honing her drawing skills, doing yoga, exercising, surviving on the meager income from cosplay posts on Twitter, waiting.
She had been hoping that Boss would start a new book soon, that he would suddenly notice her improvement.
She had been carefully inquiring, constantly sharing erotic images to figure out Boss's preferences, and creating characters according to his tastes, wanting to touch his heart.
Of course, touching his heart with just her drawing skills wouldn't be enough.
So she made a major decision that all future cosplays would be based on his preferences, completely original.
Let him see that she had never forgotten her original intention, had always been struggling forward.
If under these conditions, Boss gradually came to like her cosplay, wouldn't that indirectly mean he... liked her a bit too?
At that time, using excuses like "Since we're both in Tianhai, why don't we meet to discuss character designs?"...
Wouldn't that be more natural?
"Hehe... Boss..."
Tang Hua turned from the mirror to look at the wall.
One could vaguely see that all three walls, including the ceiling, were completely covered with printed papers of a male college student's social media selfies, ID photos, author profile pictures, subway side profiles, photos of him going to and from school, and candid shots from the breakfast shop below Tianhe Platinum Apartments.
All the printed papers had uniform traces that resembled dried saliva, their uneven adhesive surfaces having endured unknown soakings and washings.
...
...
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
