Volume One Chapter 1: Live Broadcast

Yu Yansui followed the beauty filter settings she had researched online yesterday and tried to replicate them in her livestream room. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror, now transformed by the filter, she jumped in fright. How bizarre—it was truly strange. Was this really the standard of beauty that people from Country C admired? Could it be a matter of differing aesthetics between countries? But this wasn't just a difference; it was downright abnormal.

Maybe she should ask her brother for help?

But she had agreed to her best friend Zong Qiaoqiao's suggestion to start livestreaming and make friends. Once her brother Milos found out, he arranged everything for her. It felt too easy that way, so she had confidently promised him she’d handle the livestream on her own, without his interference—she wanted to challenge herself.

If she asked for his help now, wouldn’t that mean she was admitting defeat?

She bit her soft pink lips, took a deep breath, and pressed the “Go Live” button.

—

SevenMeow Livestream, Beauty Channel—Yan SuiSui’s Room.

[Cloudbound: Whoa, where did I end up?!]
[Damn, monster, don’t run! Taste my staff!]
[Livestreams are getting wild these days—Sadako’s here now?]
[Just curious, host, how many children did you eat today? (laughing & crying emoji)]
[Snake demon, let my grandpa go! (funny emoji)]
[Is SevenMeow testing users’ limits? (smile)]
[Cloudbound: If it’s ugly, I won’t watch. If it’s weirdly ugly, I have to see it.]
[How is this not SevenMeow’s signature style, bringing us monsters? Such a blessing! (picking nose emoji)]

The female host in the room had an exceedingly strange face. Her chin and cheeks were shaped like the snake demon in the Gourd Brothers cartoon, her eyes as large as bronze bells, with black pupils swallowing almost the whole socket, and lips so red they looked as if she’d feasted on dozens of children.

Sitting before the camera with a bag of tomato-flavored chips, Yu Yansui blinked. The snake demon on the screen blinked too.

People arrived so quickly. The girl set her chips aside and waved excitedly to her viewers.

[Does anyone else see the snake demon from Gourd Brothers waving at us?]
[Her voice is lovely, but I really can’t handle this face. I’m out.]

A wave of viewers entered and then swiftly left, the numbers dropping from double digits back to single.

Were they not interested in her?

Yu Yansui felt awkward and at a loss for words. But she quickly composed herself, picked up the pipa next to her, and said, “Let me show you a little talent.”

She cradled the pipa and performed a traditional greeting, though her movements were so exaggerated that the beauty filter started to slip.

The resonant notes of the pipa filled the livestream, the melody sorrowful and winding one moment, powerful and fierce the next.

[Night Breeze sent streamer an All-World Fireworks* (8888 Meow Coins)]

—

“Thank you, Night Breeze, for the gift!” Yu Yansui smiled sweetly, making a heart with her hands on her cheeks.

[Night Breeze: You’re welcome. Your performance of ‘Ambush from Ten Sides’ was excellent.]
[Night Breeze: Host, how did you set your beauty filter? It’s really unattractive.]

So she really was ugly—not just a difference in taste. Apparently, beauty and ugliness are universal concepts, no matter the country.

Seeing someone offer sincere advice, Yu Yansui felt a bit relieved. Her brother had warned her that livestreams were full of all kinds of people, most of them unpleasant, but she didn’t think so. Look, here was someone kind.

She picked up her phone and boldly showed the beauty filter settings in her notes to the camera. “I just followed these settings. Maybe they’re not suitable for me?”

[Night Breeze: Right, they don’t suit you. It looks weird.]
[Cloudbound: Try lowering the face slimming from 50% to 30%.]

“Ah? Okay.”

Another viewer offered advice in the comments. Yu Yansui was always open to correction and happy to take suggestions, so she followed Cloudbound’s instructions and adjusted the settings live.

[Night Breeze: Still not working. You still look like a snake demon.]
[Cloudbound: I can’t help either, sis, sorry.]

“It’s okay! Thank you, Cloudbound and Night Breeze.”

[Night Breeze: Lower the values for narrow face, small face, and smoothing, or just turn them off.]
[Night Breeze: No need for jaw slimming, chin, or V-face adjustments. You can turn those off.]

Following Night Breeze’s directions, she zeroed out all the values. Her fair, delicate face finally emerged in the stream’s arc. But her features still looked distorted.

[Night Breeze: Lower the filter strength and reduce the eye enlargement too.]
[Cloudbound: Is this the snake demon’s makeover into Black Cat Detective?]

“Night Breeze, do I look better now?”

“What’s Black Cat Detective?”

She didn’t even know Black Cat Detective—was she pretending, or just clueless? But that didn’t matter; an idea struck Cloudbound.

He left her room and entered a male streamer’s channel.

[Duke of Roses Cloudbound makes a dazzling entrance]

The male streamer was performing a comedic routine, his fans filling the chat with gifts and laughter, the mood lively.

[Moderator Cloudbound: @Yan SuiSui, Hanger, go challenge this female host to a PK match. If she loses, make her turn off the beauty filter.]

—

Yu Yansui was still fussing with Night Breeze over the beauty filter when a PK invitation suddenly popped up on her screen. She accidentally accepted.

“Whoa, Cloudbound, what’s this? Seductive child-eating lips and Black Cat Detective eyes? Hahahaha…” Lin Hang burst into laughter the moment he saw Yu Yansui, openly mocking her.

—

Yu Yansui awkwardly picked at her fingers and turned off the beauty filter.

[Night Breeze: Pfft, that’s pretty accurate.]

A flood of users with “Lin Army” badges poured into the room.

[Lin Army—Ruoshui: Miss, what’s your relationship to Black Cat Detective?]
[Lin Army—QQ: There’s another snake demon face in the beauty channel.]
[Seriously, no offense, but someday I’ll have to tip you monsters.]
[Even with filters, you’re this ugly—if you turn them off, won’t it be worse?]
[Come on, if you look like this, don’t force yourself into the beauty channel—it’s blinding.]
[Is SevenMeow’s review team slacking off? How did this host get into the beauty section?]
[How do you have the nerve to go live looking like that?]
[Honestly! You women who don’t want to work keep squeezing into livestreaming without knowing your worth.]
[Maybe she thinks streaming is easy money and wants to get rich quick—a gold digger.]

Lin Hang’s fans were a mixed bunch, mostly sharp-tongued. Reading the barrage of mockery about her looks, Yu Yansui felt uncomfortable. She wanted to retort, but her mind went blank—she didn’t know what to say, so she just lowered her head in grievance.

She wasn’t ugly in real life. Wasn’t it supposed to be that the more filters you used, the better you looked? Why did filters make her look so distorted?

[Night Breeze: Kick out the troublemakers. Are you a pushover, host?]

Yu Yansui blushed, hesitated for a few seconds, then timidly asked, “What’s a moderator?”

[Night Breeze: Wow.]
[Many Fish: I knew rookie streamers were clueless, but this…]
[Night Breeze: Click my ID, a profile card will pop up, and you can set me as moderator there.]

Announcement: User Night Breeze has been made super moderator of this room.

Night Breeze immediately began kicking out the users stirring up trouble from Lin Hang’s channel. The chat soon returned to normal.

Yu Yansui raised her small hand in protest, “It’s my first day streaming—I don’t know how to do PK battles.”

Lin Hang pointed at Yu Yansui, then at himself. “See how many fans I have? Is your room even getting any viewers? I’m bringing you traffic, okay?”

“Let’s play a friendly round. If I lose, I’ll dance for you. If you lose, turn off your beauty filter—I’ll help you adjust it.”

Yu Yansui’s eyes lit up, and she leaned closer to the screen, sincerely grateful. Truly, there were good people in this world.

“Really? Thank you, Lin Hang—you’re a good person.”