Chapter 319
Continues Carrying the Pan
The final anomaly of the “Altair card” was that the novel world she originated from was already in a problematic state, or rather, it was already destroyed, and the novel was not even popular.
Even so, her character managed to become popular through doujinshi videos. Of course, her popularity was driven mostly by the popularity of Ah Yu, Su Li, Zhu Yinzhu, as well as the original game of “Dreamside Maroon.”
Strictly speaking, Altair’s initial character settings originated from the game of “Dreamside Maroon.”
This was actually a one-of-a-kind of situation, because under normal circumstances, when characters become popular, they would surely drive their works towards popularity as well. However, she had not driven the novel towards popularity at all. Instead, she was boosting the popularity of other doujinshi works
This could not be helped. The novel was too obscure and delusional, to begin with. The average person would never be able to comprehend the language. Even if some understood it, they would not be patient enough to read it.
Evidently, Altair was no longer a part of that novel. Right before the death of “Setsuna,” she had escaped her original world through a special operation. This had left her with a future filled with the unknown.
All these things contributed towards making the Altair card a unique character card. Her character was simply too different.
Zhao Youyue had an obsessive-compulsive disorder in relation to card collecting. If the “Altair card” had never appeared on the “Two Dimensional Gate,” and did not have an “incomplete” on it, she might have just let it pass. She would have just treated the work of “White Clover” in the same way as “War Heroes,” as if it was the type of world mainly for her relaxation and enjoyment.
However, now that the “Altair card” had appeared in a state of incompleteness, of course, she could not help but feel the need to complete her and as a result, obtain a character card that was likely to have some unique qualities.
The key factor was that this character card was still capable of growth and wielded unlimited possibilities.
Do not forget her terrifying “Holopsicon” ability, which allowed her to continually update her abilities based on the 2D works of others without any limits. Regardless of whoever it is who creates a story about her; she would use it as a “commodity” and attach it to herself. As long as there was a continuous supply of stories, her abilities could be updated indefinitely!
If this were a card collecting game, the Altair card would definitely be the ultra-rare kind of card. Nobody would know how much money they would have to spend on the game just to get her
For a girl like Zhao Youyue, such a developable character card with unique qualities was exactly the type of card that would make her itch the most. Regardless of whether the character card was useful, the crazy card collector Lady Zhao would be eager to get her hands on it!
However, Zhao Youyue also knew that to obtain a unique character card like this one, things would not be that simple. This was once again, a long-term task.
Zhao Youyue also saw that she could sacrifice the high popularity character card in another way. That is, by offering it to the “Altair card,” she would be able to take the form of “Altair” and enter works of the same energy levels, even if they have already been completed. All her actions in the world would be expressed in the form of doujinshis. The more exciting the doujinshi is, the more popular it will be, and it would naturally be possible to complete the “Altair” card further.
Zhao Youyue only had a “Zhou Chun” high popularity character card in her hands at the moment, but she did not expect to be able to sacrifice it in so many ways. This had piqued her interest even further.
She could use the “Zhou Chun card” as a springboard for her to obtain a new iconic character card. It could also become a nutritious meal for the “Altair card” and play a part in helping her complete the “Altair card.”
Between acquiring a new character card, or completing the “Altair card,” Zhao Youyue would have to decide for herself.
However, all of this needed to pass through the “Two Dimensional Gate.” Currently, as it was still in an inoperative state, Zhao Youyue decided not think about this complicated matter for the time being. Instead, she decided to shift her focus onto the real world, especially to the upcoming New Year’s Eve. She hoped for the best of everything.
Even so, Zhao Youyue did not expect to have no time to live stream at all. She disappeared without a word, right after she posted a status on Weibo defending Su Li. She had not been live streaming for quite some time, and it seemed like she had totally disappeared from the internet. There was only one way to look at this!
Zhao Youyue did not use the popular “Ah Yu” Weibo account often, as every single time she logged into that account, there was always a long list of private messages and such. It was especially active, and she found it troublesome. Thus, whenever she felt like surfing on Weibo, she would use her own personal Weibo account. Due to this, she naturally would not know that after she had not live streamed for almost one whole week, the latest Weibo status by “Ah Yu” had been exploding with replies and shares!
“Miss Ah Yu, please don’t scare us, your fans, like this. If you’re still alive, can you just give us a squeak?”
“Sigh, she has really committed a sin. Why did Ah Yu get in touch with the mysterious force coming from the East? Now she’s done for. She has totally vanished!”
“Ah Yu seemed to have been involved in a serious car accident on the same day of her last Weibo status. Currently, she is still in a state of coma, and it is still unclear whether she will make it…”
“Sigh, it’s a pity for such a talented female live streamer like Ah Yu. I was expecting her to dub more animated voices and to continue creating those super-popular hit songs, as well as create the coolest tunes using the violin. But this time, she couldn’t help but die in the hands of the poisonous girl?”
“Guys, stop spreading fake rumors around. Ah Yu is certainly just having some temporary problems with her life. It surely isn’t an issue about safety!”
“I’ve already gone to kneel down to Su, the Great Deity, and prayed that she would restrain her supernatural powers so that the perfect Ah Yu can be returned to us. Please stop whatever you are doing, you cannot do this to her!”
“Ah Yu, please quickly change the portrait of yours which was drawn by Su Li. It’s really poisonous, and it will threaten you for life…”
…
At the same time, Su Li’s Weibo was attacked by Ah Yu’s huge fan base. All of them were asking her, what had happened to Ah Yu, why had she been gone for so long?
All of them who were unable to watch Ah Yu’s live stream, were close to dying!
Other than Ah Yu’s fans who were genuinely anxious, other netizens who were watching everything did not take it that seriously. Some particularly talented netizens could not help but write a short story for Su Li, which imitated the iconic character Kong Yiji —- —-
“You must have drawn someone to death again! Tell us, how did Ah Yu die and where is her dead body?”
Su Li was so surprised, and with her eyes opened wide, she replied, “How can you guys so blatantly blame the innocent…”
“What innocent? We have seen you draw the doujinshi author “Setsuna” to death with our very own eyes!”
Su Li blushed out of embarrassment, while her forehead started to crease. She was muttering things like, “it has nothing to do with me” and “I don’t know anything.” This made everyone laugh, and the whole Weibo was filled with a joyous ambiance.[1]
Before this, Su Li was still deeply touched by Lady Zhao’s bravery in speaking up for her. Now, it turned out that everyone is blaming her for Lady Zhao’s sudden disappearance from live streaming!
However, Su Li was also quite worried. Was it true that Lady Zhao had gotten into an accident? Burdened with her messy state of mind, she immediately took the initiative to contact Zhao Youyue
She could not continue to be misunderstood any longer. It was poisonous, indeed!
Translation note :
[1] The RAW (untranslated copy of the chapter) did not indicate the end of the short story, but it probably ended here. The story would make more sense like this.