"So that's how it is."
As Stelle expected, Bai Luan understood the situation with just one sentence, without needing any explanation of the cause and effect.
Stelle smiled confidently, feeling that she had mastered the correct way to communicate with Bai Luan.
While Stelle was smiling confidently, Bai Luan was also deep in thought.
He was getting a bit bored making curios, so he might as well go to Penacony again and have some fun.
Bai Luan found the Bartender activity quite interesting and thought he might participate.
But before participating, he had to make a trip to Clock Studio to see how far along Edgerunners was.
Ever since Bai Luan released the promotional video last time, Silver Wolf would send a message every day to urge him on.
It was almost like an American farmer holding a whip and urging the cabinet to pick cotton.
And whenever Bai Luan thought this, the system would appropriately integrate and provide a fitting BGM for the situation.
Brave Wood~ Brave Wood~
As the familiar BGM played, a hint of helplessness appeared in Bai Luan's eyes.
Yes, just like now.
From this, we can see how much destruction a thesis can wreak on a college student.
How many times must one revise a thesis to possess such a beautiful mental state?
Didn't they say dark humor isn't encouraged?
The system ignored Bai Luan's complaints and continued its calm descent into madness.
Bai Luan decided to ignore the system for a while; if left alone for some time, it would quiet down on its own.
Bai Luan took out his Anywhere Door, brought Stelle, and once again arrived at the Dreamscape Hotel, lay down in his dream-entering pool, and then came to the Studio.
Soon, Bai Luan found Piers, who was wearing a Clockie mask.
"Piers~ Long time no see~"
Piers was startled by the address, then turned to look at Bai Luan.
"Mr. Bai Luan, do you finally have time to see us again?"
"What are you talking about? It sounds like I haven't contacted you in ages."
Facing Piers's reaction, Bai Luan couldn't help but retort.
After all the animated shorts were done, they had to send them to him for review, and only after he nodded did they consider them passed.
Piers scratched his head, smiled apologetically, and said:
"That was contact on the StarNet, wasn't it? It's different from meeting offline."
"Strictly speaking, meeting in a dream isn't exactly an offline meeting either... No, why am I arguing this with you..."
Bai Luan shook his head, almost led astray by Piers.
"By the way, Mr. Bai Luan, I've actually always had a question for you."
"What question?"
"You were so flustered back then, instantly escaping from the dream back to reality. I've been curious ever since that day, what was it that made you so anxious?"
Bai Luan fell silent upon hearing this.
A not-so-pleasant memory surfaced in Bai Luan's mind.
...!
Don't make me remember picking my teeth!
Don't make me recall the past where I was instantly covered in a thick layer of beard by that guy Lars!
Bai Luan rubbed his head and said:
"Let bygones be bygones." Bai Luan skipped the topic.
"Alright..." Seeing that Bai Luan didn't want to talk, Piers suppressed his curiosity and didn't press further.
"Oh, right, I came this time to ask how far along edgerunners is?"
"Most of the series is complete, but... we're a bit short-handed right now."
Speaking of which,
Piers scratched his head, a headache forming.
Clockwork Studio was currently in a situation of extreme dual-tasking, working on both the tom and jerry and cyberpunk 2077: edgerunners.
Neither of these were low-quality works; each required a significant investment of energy to be done well.
During Bai Luan's absence, Clockwork Studio had only completed one episode of tom and jerry and most of the edgerunners series.
This was already Clockwork Studio operating at maximum capacity.
And soon, it would be the Clockie's anniversary, and filming a commemorative piece for the Clockie would also fall to Clockwork Studio.
The thought of the future days of extreme triple-tasking made Piers feel that his future days were bleak.
Although everyone was passionate about animation, they couldn't work at such high intensity indefinitely; they needed some time to rest.
After listening to Piers's report, Bai Luan revealed a smile.
Insufficient capacity? Shortage of manpower?
I have a solution.
Wouldn't it be fine if I just stepped in?
Since Silver Wolf was constantly urging for updates, he would just let her see the full edgerunners series early.
I'm really such a good person.
Bai Luan rejoined the production of cyberpunk 2077: edgerunners as an Animator.
This time, the people at Clockwork Studio witnessed how terrifying Bai Luan was when operating at maximum capacity.
He was practically a talking steel-plated robot!
How could he sustain such high-intensity work with such high efficiency?
Bai Luan alone could equal an entire division of Clockwork Studio!
After Bai Luan joined, the production speed significantly increased. edgerunners, which would have taken a while longer to complete, was now finished with Bai Luan's push.
Once it was finished, it was naturally time to release it.
Since edgerunners had already been promoted, Bai Luan only informed Silver Wolf this time.
Bai Luan: edgerunners is done.
Silver Wolf: ?
Silver Wolf: !
After reading Silver Wolf's brief reply, Bai Luan uploaded the entire edgerunners series to the StarNet.
Bai Luan: Go watch it now.
Silver Wolf: If it's not good, I'll come for you!
Silver Wolf had been looking forward to edgerunners for a long time, so when it was released, she was naturally itching with anticipation and immediately started watching it.
While watching, she also sent messages to Bai Luan, giving him a live commentary of her binge-watching experience.
Of course, Bai Luan was stifling his laughter while reading Silver Wolf's messages.
He couldn't help but laugh when he thought about what kind of messages Silver Wolf would send later.
Bai Luan specifically cleared out some time just to observe Silver Wolf's real-time psychological changes while watching the series.
Then he saw:
Silver Wolf, who was laughing and joking at the start of her binge-watch; Silver Wolf, who began to feel something was wrong when the main characters started dying; Silver Wolf, who began to question Bai Luan's intentions as the plot progressed; and finally, Silver Wolf, who finished the ending and fell into a long silence.
edgerunners isn't very long; it can be watched in a day.
And Bai Luan specifically cleared a day to observe Silver Wolf's psychological changes.
He already started to crack up when Silver Wolf noticed something was amiss.
After seeing the entire evolution of Silver Wolf's emotional journey while watching the series, he felt even more amused.
Yes! That's it!
The lingering impact of this thing is not ordinary!
Really experience what I felt after finishing this show.
Finally, Silver Wolf broke her silence and sent a message.
Silver Wolf: They are just characters in a story, not real.
Silver Wolf: But you are real, Bai Luan, I will find you.
Why does she sound like she wants to kill me?
Bai Luan pondered Silver Wolf's message for a moment, then the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a mischievous smile.
He opened voice input.
Then he sang a highly emotional tune, the 'Widow's Moon Landing Song,' for Silver Wolf and sent it to her.
The other side fell silent again, then Silver Wolf sent a message.
Silver Wolf: You!
Silver Wolf: Are!
Silver Wolf: Human!?
...