March marked the season of the rebirth of all things, with warm blossoms of spring.
After a brief Spring Festival holiday, Tianchao Imperial City welcod a tidal wave of returning workers, plunging back into extre prosperity and noise.
Cao Lingxuan was one of them.
As a graduate of three years from a university and now making her way in the big city, she had spent a short break in her hotown and once again embarked on the journey of pursuing her dreams.
She had no other choice; her major was in the arts. As a girl who loved painting and manga, and hoped to beco a manga artist one day, her hotown, which wasn’t even fully covered by the virtual network, simply couldn’t provide her the stage she needed.
Only a big city like the Imperial Capital could offer her a suitable job opportunity.
Walking on the bustling streets, contemplating her future, Cao Lingxuan let out a soft sigh.
*Regarding the rapidly growing virtual network in recent years, her feelings were truly mixed.*
*On one hand, the developnt of the virtual network gave many freelancers in the entertainnt industry more space to work freely. The manga industry, due to the further optimization of various drawing software, greatly increased work efficiency, far from the early 21st-century demand of sitting the whole day to create a piece of art.*
*On the other hand, the rapid expansion of virtual entertainnt was squeezing the survival space of traditional entertainnt like manga and novels. Unless you were truly a master, it was hard to earn a decent inco by relying solely on manga.*
*Even for the top-tier manga artists in the industry, to attract readers from the myriad of entertainnt options, one had to rack their brains to create better works.*
*Hands were liberated, but the workload on the brain increased.*
*Many tis, the thinking ti far exceeded the creation ti.*
*No wonder senior figures in the industry joked about how the tis, although increasingly convenient, brought mounting pressure.*
Research, conception, creation...
*Ti seed abundant, but in reality... it felt increasingly scarce.*
Shaking her head, Cao Lingxuan walked into a slightly old-fashioned apartnt.
She headed directly to the third-floor unit 307, knocked politely on the door, but received no response from inside.
Cao Lingxuan frowned slightly, leaned her ear against the door, and heard the sound of loud music coming from the room.
Hm... Calling it loud, but actually, it was just that the volu was high. Honestly, it was quite catchy.
It wasn’t the popular electronic music on the net, but a distinctive pure music style. It had a hint of classical, yet seed to possess an indescribable exotic atmosphere that easily drew people in.
Cao Lingxuan wasn’t unfamiliar with such music; it began spreading in small circles last year and beca increasingly popular over ti. It was known as "Elven Style."
While she had no idea which genius started "Elven Style" music, influenced by soone, she had one or two tracks stored on her phone, and every ti she would listen to them with headphones in quiet nights, drifting off to sleep.
To be honest, it worked quite well for falling asleep.
As long as you avoided looking at the comnt sections.
Because this music seed to have a unique empathetic ability, always attracting a bunch of "depression" patients to share their woes... floridly below.
So, the girl always shielded the comnt section.
Adjusting her appearance a bit, Cao Lingxuan skillfully fished out a key from under a nearby flowerbed and unlocked the door.
As the door opened, a strong sll of alcohol and a sour scent hit her face, prompting her to frown slightly.
The room was very dim, with curtains still drawn and sacks of garbage piled by the entrance.
One could say... it was a ss.
Cao Lingxuan had an exasperated look.
"Ah, it’s always like this..."
She sighed helplessly, entered the room, pulled open the curtains, turned off the music, and then gave a hard kick to a human-shaped object clutching a stealth chamber and fast asleep. She shouted:
"Mr. Black Cat! Stop sleeping! Wake up!"
Startled by the girl’s shout, the human figure on the floor almost leaped up, and a slightly hoarse male voice chid in simultaneously:
"The deadline? Almost there! Almost done! Just give one more day, a day will do!"
This was a man appearing to be in his thirties, despite his decent looks, unshaven and unkempt, with a pair of deep, dark circles...
His gaze was still sowhat blurry.
Until... he locked eyes with Cao Lingxuan.
Man:...
Cao Lingxuan:...
"Ahem, it’s Xiao Cao... I thought it was the editor." His voice was awkward as he coughed twice.
Cao Lingxuan:...
Black Cat, male, real na Mao Mo, aged 33, single.
He was a well-known manga artist in Tianchao, debuting with his works on fantasy thes of other worlds. Although his thes were clichéd, he always had whimsical ideas, often creating compelling and tense stories, hence he had a group of fervent hardcore fans.
Cao Lingxuan was his assistant, aiding him while learning so manga techniques.
However, though being an assistant, she felt more like a nanny.
Surveying the dismal room, she sighed and said:
"Mr. Black Cat, you should find a girlfriend."
"Cough, cough... Virtual gas are more fun than a girlfriend. Being alone feels so free." He replied.
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