Though I was a boy, my weak stamina left me looking even more disheveled than a girl. Face flushed from oxygen deprivation, I clutched my heaving chest and gasped for breath.

“Huff… Let’s rest. I can’t run anymore…”

“How embarrassing. Are you even a guy?” The girl shot me a disdainful glance. “Fine. There’s a bench nearby—let’s sit in the park.”

Exhausted, we sank onto a bench at the edge of the nearly empty square. Even without seeing the other side, I guessed the open-air performance continued. And the “director” of it all… was probably the demon girl beside me, still catching her breath yet forcing a confident smile.

I stole a glance at her—but she caught me. Chin lifted proudly, she beamed like a child waiting for praise.

“Just now… was… was that… all your doing?” I panted, finally regaining a little strength after resting.

“Yep. So? How’d it feel—being the star under everyone’s eyes?”

I was still breathless from nerves and fatigue, but she’d fully recovered. Her voice held zero tiredness—only a hint of excitement.

As for how I felt…

“I don’t know… I… I think I blacked out,” I admitted honestly. “I only remember being shoved onstage, totally clueless and flustered… then nothing. Wait—did I even sing?”

“I see…” She studied me thoughtfully, pulled out her phone, and opened an app—Kuaiyin Short Video. She handed it to me, sitting curiously beside her, and said gently, “Xi, type in that singer’s name.”

Huh? But by now, obeying her felt automatic.

Curious and puzzled, I typed the name.

Given Wang Yida’s fame, videos flooded the feed—but the top result stunned me: the thumbnail showed *me*, in a maid outfit!

I tapped play. On screen, “I” shone at center stage. Every gesture radiated star power; the voice brimmed with confidence.

Only fifteen seconds long—I replayed it five times before glancing up hesitantly. “Um… Master… is that *really* me?”

Unbelievable. My shy, introverted self—glowing like a superstar under the spotlight?

“What else?” A smirk curled her lips.

“Hmm… Maybe I have a long-lost twin sister who looks exactly like me… and wore the *exact* same outfit today…”

I trailed off.

It felt surreal—like another personality had taken over. I remembered nothing after being pushed onstage.

Yet… I had to admit it. The “me” on screen… was beautiful. Radiant.

“Oh! The official upload should be on Bilibili by now. Want the full version?” she added sweetly.

I rushed to open Bilibili. No search needed—the homepage recommendation headline caught my eye:

*“Wang Yida’s Surprise Street Performance: Mysterious Beauty Joins the Stage”*

After a one-second buffer, the video played.

Opening shots showed the truck band and star singer Wang Yida, crowd cheering behind him. Mid-chorus, the music cut abruptly. Wang Yida tossed the mic toward a maid-clad girl backstage.

The camera followed the mic in slow-mo zoom. The “girl” appeared center frame—initially lost, stage-frightened, nervously fidgeting like a scolded child, head down, staring at her shoes.

Then—suddenly—she lifted her chin. Transformed. A superstar’s confident smile bloomed. She sang the chorus, stepped beside Wang Yida, and nailed the duet.

Her voice? Not jaw-dropping, but pleasant. The real focus: the maid outfit… and the playful collar around her neck. Danmaku flooded the screen:

“The maid cutie singing with Wang Yida is SO cute!”

“Confessing to the maid cutie /<3/<3”

“Wanna see the cutie dance an anime dance in that outfit!”

“Anyone know this cutie’s info?”

“Hi! I’m Cai Xukun—I sing, dance, rap…”

“Sounds good!”

“It’s Wang Yida! Surprise street gig? How did I miss this as a loyal fan?!”

“Mom, I’m in love!”

“I was THERE! New Century Square, Donghai City! Wang Yida + Xixi-chan!”

“Wait—I’m in Donghai too! Too late to go?”

“Band’s packing up. Nope.”

“Breaking: Maid cutie is Chengyu Culture’s new signee!”

“Xixi-chan seems like a total newbie?”

“Can’t wait for her next collab with my Yida!”

…

They say danmaku masters are all Harvard-Yale PhDs, experts in engineering, history, you name it. Yet not one noticed the “maid girl” on stage was actually a boy.

…Well.

As the video ended, the camera pulled wide—capturing the whole square, the band, the music fading softly, almost imperceptibly.