Volume 2 Chapter 7: My Style Seems a Bit Different from Yours…
Lin Lin held the edge of her skirt tightly and followed Du Wenmei into a brand-new residential area.
But the inside of the neighborhood was not as nice as she had imagined. Many tall, low-cost apartment buildings were crowded together. It didn’t look very good in terms of sunlight or fresh air.
And these apartments seemed to be rental-only units. Each one didn’t look very big either.
Du Wenmei led Lin Lin left and right through the buildings. Finally, they found the correct tower and took the elevator up.
Hmm…
This time, it didn’t get stuck.
Lin Lin let go of her skirt and sighed in relief. Then she saw Du Wenmei press the button for the 40th floor. She couldn’t help swallowing nervously.
“Hahaha, we do live pretty high up,” Du Wenmei said with a smile, quietly waiting for the elevator to move.
Riding the elevator all the way to the 40th floor, Lin Lin experienced for the first time the pain of thinking, “Wow… the elevator ride is so long…”
After a while, the elevator finally arrived smoothly at the 40th floor. Du Wenmei walked out confidently, while Lin Lin followed behind her, feeling less and less confident.
The 40th floor… If someone disappeared here, no one would notice, right?
Ugh…
Before stepping out, Lin Lin glanced at the security camera inside the elevator.
It should still be working… right? Haha…
“Hm? Lin Lin, why are you walking so slowly?”
Wenmei turned around and saw Lin Lin almost too weak to walk. She laughed and gently pushed her forward from behind.
“Come on, come on. We’re already here.”
When the door opened, the first thing Lin Lin saw in the small apartment was a messy pile of streaming equipment.
Then—
There was a chubby otaku sitting in the living room, eating instant noodles.
Seeing someone enter, the otaku looked up at Lin Lin, who had just been pushed inside, and then at Du Wenmei behind her. He quickly stood up.
“Hello~” Du Wenmei proudly rubbed Lin Lin’s head and introduced her. “I brought Little Vampire back! This is Ari-chan. Lin Lin, that strange uncle over there is called…”
She suddenly paused mid-sentence. She looked up at the otaku in confusion.
“Eh? What’s your name again?”
The otaku’s mouth twitched awkwardly. “Wang Mian.”
“Oh, whatever. We usually just call him ‘Chao Mian’ anyway. Ahem. Lin Lin, you can call him Chao Mian too. He’s my editor and business partner. He’s very capable at work!”
“Ah… uh…”
Lin Lin hadn’t expected there to be someone else in Du Wenmei’s apartment, especially not a man. She was so shocked that her mind started imagining strange, dramatic scenes like in certain manga. She didn’t even dare to greet him and almost wanted to turn around and run away.
Uh…
Feeling disliked, Chao Mian became a little embarrassed and quickly explained,
“Um, I don’t usually live here. Wenmei called me over today because we’re doing a streaming collab. I came to help set up the equipment.”
“Thanks for your hard work, Brother Chao Mian!”
Du Wenmei smiled and tried to calm the little girl down.
“So? Relax a bit. This is my home. Sit anywhere, do whatever you like. Um… it’s a bit small and crowded, so maybe not much space to move around~”
“Mm…” Lin Lin nodded and looked around the room. It really did feel cramped. There wasn’t even a good place to stand near the door. Now that both she and Sister Wenmei were standing there, it felt even more crowded.
Du Wenmei laughed and pushed her gently into the room, then led her into her small studio.
As soon as Lin Lin stepped inside, she felt that even with her height of 155 cm and small build, the room was almost too tight for her.
The room was messy. Most of the space was taken up by equipment. Du Wenmei scratched her head a little awkwardly and said,
“This is where I usually do my livestreams. It’s a bit messy. I didn’t clean up. Actually, the floor is clean. It’s just that the equipment is placed kind of randomly…”
“My OCD is shaking. My depression is crying,” Lin Lin couldn’t help but complain quietly.
Uh…
Hearing that from such a cute little girl made Du Wenmei feel a bit embarrassed. She coughed twice and quickly changed the topic.
“How about… we just start the livestream?”
“Huh? So soon?” Lin Lin froze.
Du Wenmei nodded confidently. “Yes! That’s the main purpose today anyway. Let’s get straight to it. It’ll also help you get used to my streaming style sooner. If we finish early, maybe I can treat you to dinner tonight?”
“Okay! Yes!”
As soon as she heard “treat you to dinner,” Lin Lin nodded excitedly. She quickly followed Du Wenmei and sat down in front of the computer.
Chao Mian stood at the door and reminded them, “Adjust the settings, then you can start. Both of your Live2D models will appear on the screen at the same time.”
“OK!” Du Wenmei nodded.
But Lin Lin suddenly waved her hands in panic. “Wait, wait, that’s not OK!”
“What’s wrong?”
Du Wenmei looked at her in confusion. Lin Lin looked nervous and explained awkwardly,
“My model files are on my own computer. I didn’t sync them. I… can’t use Little Vampire’s avatar here.”
“Ah…”
Du Wenmei suddenly realized the problem. Right, Lin Lin didn’t bring her laptop.
So… what now?
“Easy!” Chao Mian suddenly stepped forward. He opened a file and pointed at it. “Just use this for now. This is only a test stream anyway!”
“Ah…”
Lin Lin adjusted it for a moment, and then—
On the screen, a…
Stick figure popped out.
Uh…
Looking at the simple drawing, a rough stick figure, with two sharp twin ponytails that were the only clue it was supposed to be a girl, Lin Lin’s mouth twitched.
But what shocked her even more was this—
The stick figure’s face, which only had a black checkmark as a mouth, also twitched at the same time.
What the heck?!
Lin Lin was speechless. She didn’t even know how to complain about this scene. It felt so strange and unreal, but she couldn’t explain what exactly was wrong. She just sat in front of the computer, stunned, her heart unable to calm down.
After a moment, Du Wenmei, using her big-chested mature-sister avatar, coughed twice and gently reminded her,
“Ahem, Lin Lin, we’re about to start!”
“Mm… Sister Wenmei, my art style is totally different from yours…”
Lin Lin turned her head with a pitiful expression.
Du Wenmei coughed again and said,
“Ahem, it’s fine if it’s different. Let’s just make do for now. Remember, during the stream, don’t say my real name. I’m Princess Hydrogen Hki, and you’re Ari-chan. Don’t forget!”
“Oh, okay…”
Lin Lin nodded. Wenmei then pressed the “Start Streaming” button.
“Hello everyone~ Ahem, today I kidnapped—uh, I mean, brought back a cute little sister from outside to do a collab with me~ Good afternoon~”