【She never speaks.】
【She walks alone.】
【On campus, she is a walking masterpiece.】
【Girls cast glances filled with malice.】
【Boys are ensnared by illusions, unable to move.】
【She is Tang Yan.】
【The undisputed strongest original illustrator in the ACG circle at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, with no rival.】
…
In a dark room with a black-blue tint.
Surrounded by printed papers, she sat curled up on an ergonomic chair, hugging her knees.
Her gray hair cascaded down her back, reaching her hips.
Her pearl-white toes rested on the edge of the chair,
glistening faintly under the blue light.
Tang Hua's gaze was vacant.
She stared fixedly at the screen in front of her, looking at the top-tier project that was 80% complete,
left pondering,
unable to find the answer.
——She couldn't figure out what was missing in that final「stroke」.
The screen was dual-monitor.
The left screen was a 2D drawing software, upgraded from the early SAI to CLIP Studio Paint 2.0;
The right was an L2D modeling host, simply named l2d.
Tang Hua was accustomed to first creating the base design on the left screen,
then bringing it to life on the right.
The character on the screen mirrored her 1:1.
After all, she was designing herself, so no one could understand her proportions better than herself.
She measured every inch with a tape measure.
Set up a DSLR for multi-angle selfies.
Zoomed in on the photos to study the details.
And occasionally, she couldn't help but exclaim from the heart—
“I’m so beautiful.”
Hehe.
Just a little more.
Only a little more is needed.
——「Infusing the soul」.
As long as she could infuse the soul into the「herself」on the screen.
These four days of sleeplessness would not have been in vain.
At this moment,
Tang Hua's eyes were bloodshot.
Like creeping vines,
they spread across her conjunctiva, encircling her cornea.
“I need to rest…”
Her body was sounding the alarm.
Continuing like this, the probability of a sudden death would rise above 50%.
Even with regular intake of food and water, chugging the bitterest coffee,
she still couldn't sustain her energy for more than three days and nights.
Doing this, one really could die.
It’s true, one really could die.
“Huh.”
Tang Hua took a deep breath.
Stretched out her arm, grabbed the yellow box on the desk.
——「Hope Brand」banana milk.
She bit the straw,
sipped with a slurp.
“Mmm! Ah~”
…
A little more comfortable now.
This time, the comfort was different from the previous pain.
Now, she had the motivation to move forward;
all she needed was to run toward that absolutely correct direction, toward that singular path, with all her effort,
to obtain what she desired most.
——Instead of having to rely on the previous method, punishing herself.
“Boss…”
“Boss……”
Hehe,
hehehehe…
No.
No way.
She absolutely couldn't collapse.
Completing the boss's commission in one go,
was an imperative etched into her DNA.
Tang Hua rallied her spirits once more, as if, the extreme fatigue couldn't compete with the shadow in her mind,
the shadow that she had captured, spied on, followed, and trailed,
her most favorite shadow.
Come to think of it, that time when she infiltrated the Tianhai City Arts Academy and successfully hid in the men's bathroom stall during class, unnoticed.
Tang Hua knew, the boss had a habit—
that after leaving the classroom, there was a low probability of him going to the bathroom to relieve himself.
There was about a 10% chance of encountering him, and he would always choose the same, innermost closed stall.
So, all she needed to do was wait in advance.
Tang Hua predicted Lu Qing's actions and on that day, successfully obtained his confidential photos in one go.
Photos that no one else had ever possessed, nor could ever get.
With her gaze retracting from the ceiling above the large bed, Tang Hua felt herself ignite.
Igniting with new energy, filled with new motivation.
“That’s right.”
Since it's already 80% complete,
why not test the「draft」skin today.
Before submitting the final piece, her work must「pass market scrutiny」.
Otherwise, how could she dare to hand it over to the boss.
Fufu.
Tang Hua smiled, grabbed the mouse, minimized the CSP page,
and exported the L2D product, then opened OBS, Danmuji, and the Bilibili live streaming platform client.
Tonight, she decided to unveil this top-tier skin that was 80% complete,
letting those otaku fans evaluate it, to see where it still fell short.
Mmm.
Only a work that is recognized by the audience, even leaving them speechless, can be considered a「work」.
And only a「great work」that is widely praised and wildly recognized,
can be presented to the boss for evaluation.
What she aimed to create was not some ordinary piece worth a few thousand yuan.
But a masterpiece with an advance payment of 20,000 yuan, with additional follow-up payments from the boss.
So.
——Tang Hua prepared everything and clicked「Start Live」.
…
…
At the same time.
In a male dormitory at the Tianhai City Arts Academy.
Zhang Yang was a sophomore majoring in planning at the School of Cultural Creativity. He was quiet and reserved, ranking at the bottom of his class, so he respectfully addressed everyone as“X Ge”.
Tonight, he sat in room 5012 of the fourth phase student dormitory, facing his computer, ready to try something「new」.
“Wen Ge, you always say that watching female anchors isn’t elegant, like I’m uncultured or something. I think this can’t go on.
So, bro, I’m gonna try something「elegant」tonight.”
He said, grinning like a plain steamed bun without sugar, his back to Wen Le.
“？”
Wen Le was currently browsing a website called《Jinman Paradise》, featuring high-quality maid-related comics, and the one he was reading was an extremely rare full-color edition.
Hearing Zhang Yang’s words, he waved his hand impatiently, not even turning his head,
“Do whatever you want to be elegant, just don’t blast the volume of your ten-yuan internet cafe headphones. I can’t stand the torture.”
“Haha, Wen Ge, don’t look down on me so much, you gotta give me a chance! People always need to progress, right? As roommates, we should understand each other, appreciate both the elegant and the popular! Right?”
He said jokingly, “Wen Ge, tonight I’m not watching Huya or Douyu live streams, I’m gonna check out Bilibili.”
“You’re sick.”
Wen Le grumbled for a moment, then grabbed his ice-cold cola, chugged down half a can, and finally returned his gaze to the exquisite comic《Masochistic Maid》.
Zhang Yang didn’t disturb his immersion again, instead, he opened the Bilibili app he had downloaded specially today,
moved the mouse pointer to the live streaming option in the upper left corner, and decided to explore the realm that Wen Le was deeply indulged in—
Virtual YouTubers.
“Hey, Wen Ge, I noticed you’ve been watching comics a lot lately, you’re not into VTubers anymore, what’s going on?”
He asked again, unable to hold back.
“Heh, recently enlightened, what else? I recommended a VTB to Qing Bao, and he got hooked, even doxxed her.
Now he's chatting online with an ultimate beautiful girl in the virtual world, and offline he's dating the equally ultimate anime-style beautiful girl from the broadcasting department next door. I mean, dual-thread operation, pure playboy, you know.
Wen Le cursed, “So, bro, every time I think about VTBs, I feel uncomfortable, the dead memories attack me, making my corpse not very comfortable, so I have to switch tracks and study something else.”
“Woc, that’s so crazy, Wen Ge. Also, why do you call Lu Ge ‘Qing Bao’? I’ve never heard you call me ‘Yang Bao’, you’re kinda weird.”
“…Shut up, you won’t die.”
“Haha.”
Zhang Yang scratched his head, continued browsing the recommended VTBs on the homepage, muttering:
“But it’s unexpected that Lu Ge’s getting lucky with women at this time. You know, he’s been in college for so long, and whenever other girls asked him to help with homework, he never agreed, Wen Ge, do you remember?”
“Of course, I’m sitting right next to him all the time, how could I not know?”
“So, how did he get this new girlfriend? Or how did she get him?”
“Hmm… Hmm.”
It seemed the key question had been raised.
Wen Le suddenly took off his headphones and lifted his right hand from the mouse wheel.
“Right, huh?”
“You asked well. You asked really well, kid.”
Zhang Yang's topic seemed to have flipped a switch in him, directly putting him into "Puzzle-Solving" mode.
It was clear that Wen Le didn't have many hobbies. Besides anime, his favorite thing was puzzle games.
Especially on Xiao Hei He, he had practically collected all the puzzle mini-games available. Of course, in the realm of novels, he was also deeply interested in mystery and detective stories.
Now that Lu Qing's romantic issues were brought up, he felt it necessary to delve a bit deeper to prevent his good buddy from being deceived by some seductive loli outside.
“As far as I know, his girlfriend always sits behind him during classes. If he really had feelings for her, the two of them would have gotten together long ago. It wouldn't have taken until recently to go public.”
Wen Le's logic was frighteningly clear.
“Assuming Qing and Bai Xing didn't know each other before, that means this relationship was established just a couple of days ago.”
“In other words, Qing was the one who got caught.”
“After all, he wouldn't have actively pursued her.”
“So, the question is...”
“What kind of tricks does she have to snag someone like Qing?”
“Can an average person even do that?”
He stroked his chin, deep in thought.
“In Qing's eyes, just being good-looking means nothing. Plus, he doesn't have time to date; he has to write books.”
“Whenever he starts writing, he goes into extreme hermit mode, cutting off all contact with the outside world. Even asking him to come downstairs for a meal gets a 'no time.'”
“Even I can't get him to come out; do you think those girls could?”
Wen Le's monologue left Zhang Yang speechless.
Zhang Yang couldn't help muttering, “Wen Ge, are you that confident? Are you more important than a beauty?”
“Isn't that obvious! The bond between me and Qing is something you mere three-dimensional traitors can't comprehend!”
Wen Le said haughtily,
“Since you've joined my Otaku V Ninja Village, you'd better quietly start from the bottom, Omae. Don't keep trying to climb to topics that only Qing and I can discuss.”
“……”
Zhang Yang gave a polite yet subtly mocking smile.
Turning back, he pulled out a cheap tissue box and wiped off the instant noodle soup that had spilled on the edge of his computer desk. Only then did he pick up his mouse again.
He clicked into a page that looked decent to him.
The live broadcast room was silent.
But the visuals on the screen, like a dream descending from the heavens, dealt a massive blow to Wen Le, who was standing behind Zhang Yang.
It was an unprecedented,
Level X,
——Ultimate Suit.
After all, being able to make 2D look so lifelike, so close to 3D, was a rare occurrence in his eyes.
“What is this?”
This…?
Wen Le stared intently at the screen.
——「Gray-Purple」.
An extremely avant-garde color scheme.
Full-body stance, slightly swaying.
——Countless action details.
Ultimate lines, perfect figure.
It felt like a real girl standing right in front of you, full of affection,
Telling you about the future through the screen.
Burgundy-colored eyes,
Violet innerwear,
Grape-dyed hair,
Three different shades of purple,
Combined with gray long hair and a black succubus dress,
Creating a top-tier, dominating look.
Squinting to examine the details.
——The bust was magnificent.
Magnificent yet realistic.
The motion capture's swaying conveyed this without exaggeration.
——The neck had a black heart-shaped iron collar.
Leather with silver chains,
Telling the viewer what avant-garde beauty truly was.
——The skin was snow-white.
Ribbons crossing above the chest,
Under subtle occlusion,
Even the exposed parts could be described as breathtakingly beautiful.
She had no name.
Nor did she have any sound.
She just vividly swung in the center of the screen, operated by the person in the middle.
Every expression exuded a "frame beauty" that felt worth more than a thousand dollars.
“……”
My goodness.
Wen Le gasped.
His gaze quickly locked onto the room's host name ID——
「Lubia」.
“……”
He had to admit, after years of watching Vtubers and spending money on various small and medium-sized Vtubers (never on big ones), he had seen all kinds of suits.
All kinds of styles.
But this「G-cup Burgundy-eyed Succubus」…
Her「Black Bat」 wings that could be retracted at will,
The「Arrow Heart」 tail swaying around her hips…
Every frame,
Made one's heart feel like it was being tightly gripped,
Breathing became difficult.
“Wen Ge, Wen Ge? Are you okay? This, this anime pic, uh, suit, this is way too beautiful. Do you usually watch such amazing stuff?”
Zhang Yang looked at it with an academic gaze,
“If it's this exquisite, I think it's totally fine for me to keep watching and listening. It's like anime characters coming to life, right, Wen Ge?”
Today, he seemed to have also caught a glimpse of the mysterious beauty of the virtual world.
“……”
Wen Le had no time to respond,
He just grabbed Zhang Yang and took over his dirty seat,
Then he pulled out a tissue and wrapped up Yang's greasy, soup-covered mouse, gently moving his hand to meticulously study this bizarre live broadcast room.
Sure enough.
The number of viewers in the live stream was skyrocketing.
【D·D Decapitation: Oh my god, what is this?? This is too amazing!! What kind of new suit is this? I’ve never seen anything like it!】
【Interest-Driven Gachi: ??? Did I just stumble upon a treasure? Wait, is the main host even here? You… aren’t talking, right?】
【Chill: My god… madam, you must be the original artist of this suit, right? I’m also a painter, and I’d like to ask humbly, what’s the price of your top-tier design? Is it something an Xsoul guild would splurge on? Can you tell me so I can envy you?】
【Blackout Listening is Fun: Great suit, makes my brain spin. When will the main host start talking? I’ll rally people to get the main host a fleet.】
【You’re Killing Me: Enough from you upstairs, I bet the people you’ll bring are all blackout listeners, huh?】
Blackout Listening is Fun: Enough from you downstairs, last time you got banned for 365 days in Hoshikiri Rina’s livestream, must’ve been real fun for you, huh?
【Even Cats are Alive: Too beautiful! Even cats are alive after seeing this.】
…
A torrent of bullet comments rolled across the live stream page, but Wen Le didn't participate.
He just observed, watching every move, every small expression of this suit.
It was clear that the host had intentionally turned off the live sound.
No microphone, so no sound from her side.
But the motion capture lens was on, and she was using her own expressions, frame by frame, to feed into the lens, making various high-end tuning tests.
——The painter, testing her own body.
“Woc… this is really professional…”
Zhang Yang seemed to have caught the bug as well: “This is really intense…”
The two hit it off.
Clearly,
Wen Le's instincts were like a vulture that hadn't drunk a single drop of water in a hundred years, and his vision was also very market-oriented, with a good sense of the big picture.
At a glance, he judged——
If this virtual idol were to be slightly operated, truly facing the public during her debut…
Then, even if they found a random girl to be the "middle person," her fame would almost be a certainty.
“This is really amazing; I have to tell Qing.”
Wen Le instinctively pulled out his phone, “Such a good V, it would be a shame not to recommend her to him.”
As if forgetting his previous concerns,
Even though Lu Qing had a new love, a girlfriend, and even became an old man to Hoshikiri Rina,
Wen Le still snapped a few pictures of Zhang Yang's year-old, never-cleaned laptop screen and sent them to Lu Qing via WeChat with a "whoosh" sound.
After sending, he seemed dissatisfied with the clarity,
So he opened his Bilibili app, found "Lubia's" live stream like a bloodhound, and used the screenshot function to save a few frames that could be described as invincible, then sent them all over.
With the caption:
“Qing, I think you should dump Rina.”
"Take a look at this, trust me, get in early, be ready to pounce."
"This is the absolute best, top-tier skin on the platform right now, currently in the 'mother testing phase' (the self-debugging state after the artist's draft), if you get in now, you'll be an OG."
"When the artist announces who the voice actor will be, you just go and check it out, ALL IN, you get me? ALL IN! Dude, I've never seen such a badass L2D in my life, seriously!"
For this kind of devastating blow, Wen Le's comment is—
"Even just looking at the skin, it's enough to make the streamer fans have a cerebral orgasm."
……
Phew.
"I'm so beautiful."
Admiring her every move and expression.
Ignoring the wailing and howling of the DD (Danshi, or "guy") fans in the live stream.
Tang Hua looked at his masterpiece of the soul, which was only 80% complete, with satisfaction.
Tang Hua was satisfied with her soul masterpiece, which was only 80% complete.
She opened her little mouth in front of the camera.
In that instant, the deep purple succubus on the screen synchronized with a strange upward rolling of its eyes.
The next moment, a notification from the admin popped up—【Your live stream has violated the rules】.
Plop.
The connection was cut directly, killed by the official.
"……"
"Oh come on…"
Tang Hua pouted dissatisfied and muttered:
Tang Hua pouted discontentedly, muttering,
"It was just an everyday expression… really."
"The folks on the platform are so strict."
She reluctantly returned her delicate hand to the mouse, taking one last glance at the voices howling in the live streaming room.
She dejectedly grabbed the mouse again, glancing one last time at the howling voices in the live stream—
"Nooo! I didn't get enough!"
"Madam, please, just one more look! I beg you! I love succubi!!"
"Admin, you're pulling up your pants again, huh? You're gonna die young, I'm telling you!"
"The platform really doesn't know what's good! Such a great skin not allowed to be streamed, might as well delete the site!!"
Hmph hmph.
It seems the market approval is solid, huh?
Tang Hua was elated, deciding that next, she might need to shrink the bust size by one more model to avoid the voice actor getting unexpectedly banned for being "too large" during the live stream.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but sigh and support her forehead.
She sighed and pressed her forehead.
"Really can't deal with people nowadays."
Feeling the fatigue in her chest.
Others might feel a chill in their 12A chest;
Some might feel a stabbing pain in their 36D chest,
But Tang Hua,
Feels a dull pain in her 82H chest.
"Fufu, none of them understand the beauty of 'bigness'. Deep down, they love it the most, but on the surface, they have to make everyone not watch. Really…"
She clicked her tongue, exited the bullet chat software, closed OBS, and then reopened CSP and L2D.
She clicked her tongue, exited the bullet screen software, closed OBS, and reopened CSP and L2D.
Re-examining where else she could improve.
Based on past experience, once a boss's order reaches this stage, there are no technical issues.
Technically, as a triple-threat (illustration/2D/3D) "human pillar of strength" from the Tianhai City Arts Academy, she considered herself second to none in the two-dimensional realm.
The feedback from the live stream just now had proven this.
So, she decided to research some "metaphysical" aspects.
"That's it."
"Soul."
"My own soul is not strong enough."
Even very fragile.
Constantly on the verge of dissipating.
This won't do.
A fragile me can't support such a powerful shell.
Must, must inject something more into it.
Tang Hua pressed her soft lips together, thinking seriously.
Tang Hua pressed her soft lips together, thinking seriously.
The prototype in front of her was too powerful, and with her current abilities, she couldn't unleash its full potential.
"Indeed, indeed, I must draw inspiration from the boss, right?"
Tang Hua leaned back, looking up at the ceiling.
Staring at the high-quality printed papers pasted two or three layers thick on the ceiling.
Naturally, she revealed an obsessive smile.
Naturally, she revealed her obsession with a smile.
"Speaking of which, it's been a few days…"
"The wind, it should have blown over by now, right?"
She licked her lips, thinking carefully.
She licked her lips, thinking carefully.
"Last time, I was so cautious, but still got disturbed, so strange."
"No matter how you look at it, it seems like human interference…"
She smiled, smiled,
Her gaze growing colder.
"The boss obviously wouldn't treat me so coldly."
"The boss would love me."
"Even if he saw me, he wouldn't choose to call the police. It must be like this."
"So."
"Someone else saw me, noticed me."
"And targeted me."
Tang Hua smiled, the smile growing wider.
"This person should be near the boss's house. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to seize the opportunity so accurately that day, almost making me crash."
"Hmm…"
"But now, I must go out again, to draw power from the boss. Otherwise, the last 20% progress will never be completed."
"This won't do."
She muttered, like a dreamer slowly closing her eyes.
Boss…
I can't take it anymore.
I must see you.
I'm not okay anymore.
Even if I'm targeted,
Even if I'm stopped,
Even if I'm interfered with,
Even if it's raining cats and dogs…
No matter what, I must see you,
Preferably, preferably unintentionally,
Just like last time,
Leave some precious footage.
Ugh.
Boss…
Wait for me.
Wait for me, okay.
Thinking like this, thinking,
Tang Hua's consciousness gradually blurred—
Her pure and alluring face carries a sweet sense of happiness.
She murmured:
She murmured,
"Take a little nap, wake up and set off, okay?"
……
……