At 6:23 PM, the setting sun dyed the curtains orange-red.
Su Yu's phone vibrated.
He picked it up and glanced at it, his movements pausing for a moment.
Griseo had sent a compressed file. After unzipping it, he found twenty-four pages of high-definition line art, plus a full-color cover illustrated with an incredible level of detail.
It was all finished.
Su Yu opened the first image and zoomed in to inspect it.
The lines were clean and sharp, without a single superfluous stroke.
The characters' expressions, body language, the folds in their clothes—every single detail was handled perfectly.
The rhythm of the storyboarding was excellent, with clear visual guidance that required absolutely no revisions.
"It'd be a real shame if this girl doesn't go on to draw a weekly serial someday," Su Yu remarked with feeling. "The hope for revitalizing Shenzhou's manga scene rests on her shoulders."
Musing to himself, Su Yu tossed his phone aside, opened the laptop resting on his knees, and began the final preparations before going live.
"I'll send the files to the typesetter first," he said. "Then I'll contact a few manga platforms and see if we can negotiate a good feature spot."
Kiana leaned against the sofa, watching Su Yu as he sat cross-legged beside her, a small laptop table for lazy days placed on the floor.
"After it goes online... will anyone read it?" Kiana asked.
"They will." Su Yu didn't even turn his head. "Griseo's art is so strong that as long as the promotion is done right, it'd be hard for it not to get popular."
He stopped typing and turned to look Kiana in the eyes.
"Besides, your story is excellent in its own right."
Kiana was taken aback for a moment.
"What?"
"The Three-Year Sakura," Su Yu said seriously. "It's a good story."
"Although it's a tragedy, it's not one of those cheap tragedies that's angsty for the sake of being angsty."
"Miyuki's end may be miserable, but her struggle, her pain, her final accusation against the world... and that fleeting moment of release—all of it is real."
He paused, his gaze softening.
"Real things are the most powerful. They move people, make them remember."
He turned back and continued typing on his keyboard.
"So don't worry. People will read it. They'll remember this story. They'll remember... the girl who once struggled so hard."
Kiana didn't say anything.
Her gaze drifted to the window. The sun was setting in the west, painting the horizon a brilliant shade of orange-red.
Will someone remember?
The girl who was abandoned by the world.
The girl who struggled to the very end in her despair.
If that were true... how wonderful it would be.
The typesetting process went smoothly; the name of Teacher 'Painted World' was even more powerful than expected.
The moment the editors at several manga platforms heard it was a new work by Mistress Painted World, they practically crawled through the internet cable to beg for a contract, and the feature spots were immediately maxed out.
All that was left was the final step.
Su Yu stared at the publishing information field on his computer screen, his fingers tapping away at the keyboard.
"Screenwriter's name..."
He thought for a few seconds.
Using his real name was definitely out. It would expose his identity too easily, and how could he continue being a lazy bum in the future?
In that case—
He clattered out a string of characters.
[Moonlit Sea's Roaring Fishy Cat]
Kiana leaned over for a look, her expression becoming peculiar.
"What kind of stupid name is that?"
"A tasteful screen name," Su Yu said with a straight face. "It's cool, cute, and has an air of mystery."
"...I just think it's chuunibyou," Kiana retorted. "It sounds like the kind of name a chuuni would have, someone who shouts 'Transform!' at the moon late at night."
"Chuunibyou is a man's romance."
He replied with a slight smile on his lips.
Of course, the current Kiana would have no idea that this screen name would one day belong to the God of Earth.
Su Yu continued to the artist field, this time without hesitation.
[Painted World]
"You're using her pen name directly?" Kiana frowned. "Did she agree?"
"Of course she did. And when it comes to riding on someone's popularity, you'd be a fool not to." Su Yu was full of self-righteous confidence. "Griseo is already a big shot in the community. The moment her fans see a new work, they'll rush over."
"This is called borrowing a hen to lay eggs... no, wait, a collaboration between powerhouses."
He hit the publish button.
"Alright, it's officially live."
A notification popped up on the screen: ["The Three-Year Sakura" has been published and is awaiting review.]
Su Yu leaned back in his chair and stretched.
"And now, it's time to witness a miracle."
---
Meanwhile.
In a high-end apartment building three streets away from Su Yu's home.
Nuwa was sitting cross-legged in her gaming chair, facing her computer screen, fingers flying across the keyboard.
Her room was nothing short of an otaku's paradise.
The walls were covered in all sorts of anime posters, some so risqué they'd need to be censored. Her bookshelves were lined with rows of limited-edition figurines, and even more numerous were the clay figures she had sculpted herself—among which was even one of Su Yu.
Marker pens, carving knives, and wet paint were scattered across her desk, and in the corner were several boxes of unopened doujinshi deliveries.
It was the standard lair of a dedicated, experienced, and wealthy otaku girl.
As Dr. Mobius's assistant, and unlike her sister Fuxi, a money-lover who watched the stock market in her free time, Nuwa poured nearly all her leisure hours into the world of anime and manga. She was a bona fide master of surfing the web.
"Alright, this part of the commentary is about done..."
Nuwa pushed up the red-framed glasses on her nose, looking at the video preview on her screen with satisfaction.
The title was very long.
[Deep Dive Analysis! A Complete Review of All of Teacher Painted World's Masterpieces! From 'Iron Blood and Roses' to 'Romances of the Golden Courtyard', a Guided Tour Through a Top-Tier Artist's Visual Feast (Hidden Easter Eggs Included)!]
This was a passion project she had slaved over for a week.
As Teacher 'Painted World's' number one fangirl, Nuwa had collected nearly all of her works, not even sparing the rough drafts.
Those delicate lines, that heart-pounding anatomy, that perfectly captured tension...
Especially the 'Romances of the Golden Courtyard' series, which depicted Boss Kevin, that hothead Kalpas, and that quiet Kosma so...
Nuwa practically drooled.
The ships were too good, they were just too good.
Just as she was about to click upload, a glaring message flashed across the bullet-comment section of her live stream.
[URGENT! Teacher Painted World just dropped a new work!!!]
Nuwa froze for a second. A new work? She hadn't heard anything.
She immediately switched out of her window and opened 'Painted World's' main page.
Sure enough, a brand new post was pinned at the top, published just two minutes ago.
[New manga "The Three-Year Sakura" is now online! A collaboration with Teacher "Moonlit Sea's Roaring Fishy Cat." Please show it your support~]
Nuwa clicked in to look at the summary and tags.
[Suspense / Yuri / School / Angsty]
Her movements halted.
Yuri?
Wasn't Teacher Painted World's main focus otome games, with a side of BL, specializing in man-on-man action? Why would she draw a yuri manga?
And a suspenseful, angsty one at that?
This style... was this for real?
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