Virtual idol.

No, more accurately, a virtual streamer.

Overseas, these virtual streamers are called VTubers because they often stream on a certain nonexistent website. Here, the abbreviation is VUP, short for Virtual UP. The person behind one is an ordinary human, usually a cute girl with a sweet voice and a pretty face (?). Motion-capture and facial-tracking equipment bring her to life through a virtual 3D model or a Live2D avatar, which she uses to stream and so on.

That’s more or less the definition of this wondrous phenomenon.

Of course, you could also call one a living, moving waifu made of paper.

So why was Su Tong interested in a thankless job like virtual streaming?

Because she was a beautiful girl now, and beautiful girls didn’t need a reason to act on a whim.

…

Ahem.

All right, enough fooling around. Back to business.

She needed an identity that would preserve a sense of mystery. It couldn’t reveal too much about her real life, but it also had to carry enough weight to make an impact when she eventually brought this setup into play.

After thinking it over, a virtual streamer seemed to fit her needs best.

But there was one even more important reason.

They say men understand men best. So surely she, a fake pretty girl, could easily win the hearts of male viewers…and get them to open their wallets, right?

It wasn’t like she needed the money.

But for some reason, when she thought about her real identity and what might happen later, a strange sense of guilt and taboo began to stir inside her…

Pleasure?

Thinking about it, Su Tong narrowed her eyes into crescents and giggled.

But everything was ready except the final touch.

She had all the equipment, and she was sitting right in front of it. The only thing she still needed money for was the 3D modeling…

With that in mind, Su Tong curled up in her chair, opened QianDu, and searched for studios or companies that offered 3D modeling services.

Really, she could’ve just told one of the servants to handle it.

Rich people always had a whole team to take care of every aspect of their daily lives. Nutritionists, chefs, fashion designers, housekeepers—everyone had their own job. All they had to do was mention what they needed, and someone would take care of it.

Lao Su was a complete nouveau riche, but over the past two years, he’d put plenty of effort into climbing into high society. So naturally, their household had a team like that too.

But Su Tong didn’t really want to use them.

If she could take care of something herself, why bother someone else? The rotten little-bourgeois and capitalist way of doing things was no good.

So she handled it herself. Before long, she’d found a studio that specialized in 3D modeling. She got their contact QQ number from the studio’s website, added them, and her friend request was accepted soon after.

Su Tong thought for a moment, typed, and hit send.

◆

“Hello. Your studio does 3D character modeling, right?”

In a dim room, a girl with bare legs, a messy head of hair, and nothing on but an oversized T-shirt clamped a Pocky stick between her teeth and squinted at the message.

Then she scratched her boobs.

Business at her studio had been terrible lately. They’d been making 3D models for a game company, but halfway through the project, Huang He, the boss of Jiangnan Games, had somehow managed to drink, gamble, whore, and rack up 350 million in debt before running off with his sister-in-law. All he left behind was a busted game company that was nothing but an empty shell.

With their cash flow cut off—and business already slow—they naturally hadn’t been paid for the modeling work they’d done under the contract. The girl’s studio had only just opened, and she hadn’t expected to hit such a wall so soon. Caught in a cash crunch, the studio had quickly gone under, nearly reaching the point where they couldn’t pay salaries or afford to eat.

So it wasn’t as if she wasn’t happy to see a client come knocking.

Still, someone adding her on QQ out of the blue didn’t look like a corporate account. No proposal, no project outline—just a sudden question about 3D character models. It might turn out to be a tiny job at best.

A little water from far away couldn’t put out a fire right in front of you. And in this case, she only had one cup of water to work with!

The girl slumped, then folded her legs up on the chair without the slightest concern that she might flash someone. She was home alone, after all. There was no need to worry about that.

Then she typed.

“Hello, yes, we do.”

Even a tiny job was still a job.

So of course she was happy to take it.

“What kind of 3D model do you need?”

she typed again.

Now that they were talking about her area of expertise, the girl finally got serious. She even pushed up the huge black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose.

“A pretty girl.”

That was the reply from the other end.

The girl leaned back before she could stop herself, her expression turning serious.

Oh, now you’re talking! I’m wide awake!

She hammered away at the keyboard:

“For a pretty girl… do you have a specific character design in mind?”

“You need a character design?”

“…Yes.”

Looks like a newbie, the girl thought.

How could you make a model without a clear character design? Even a rough written description would help. Better yet, a detailed design sheet. Then she could just follow it to the letter, which would make the model both more accurate and easier to create.

So she kept typing:

“It’ll be difficult without a character design. After the model’s made, we might have to make multiple corrections and revisions. It could take a lot of time and effort before we end up with a finished product you’re happy with.”

“That’s a problem, then. I don’t have a definite character design on my end…”

The reply was still the same.

The girl couldn’t help frowning.

This was exactly the kind of client who was a pain to deal with. They’d probably have a ton of demands and a tiny budget, then fuss over every detail while expecting a perfect result. Wasn’t “black in every color” the kind of genius idea people like this came up with?

What the hell. This was ridiculous.

The girl was starting to regret chasing after this tiny job.

But when you’re working under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head.

She could only sigh, reassure herself with, “When Heaven is about to entrust someone with a great task…” and lift her head again, ready to figure out how to satisfy this demanding client.

But just then, a new reply seemed to appear on the screen.

“I really don’t have a definite character design… but I do have another idea.”

“An idea?”

“Yeah. It should be the best fit for this situation.”

Huh?

What kind of solution could possibly fit this situation? If there’d been an answer that good, the long-standing feud between illustrators and modelers—where they practically wanted to beat each other senseless whenever they met—would’ve been settled ages ago.

Definitely a newbie. Talking nonsense without understanding the situation.

The girl pursed her lips in annoyance.

But what could she do? This was the client.

And the client had already replied:

“Since you’ll need to make revisions and start over anyway, how about this: I’ll give you a general character-design direction, and you make models for every character type based on it, all in one go. Can you do that?”

The girl’s unconcerned expression froze. Her fingers trembled as she typed:

“…Do you know how much work that would be, and—”

“Money’s no object.”

“…”

The girl’s face twisted as she wavered between pain, gratitude, and lemon-colored envy.

Then, at last, she typed, nearly trembling:

“That’s wonderful! Please, don’t hold back just because I’m a delicate flower!”

[To be continued]