Oh No, I Forgot That Naturally Likes to Be Direct

Lin Shuang first replied to Firefly's studio with an email.

In the email, she stated that she was also a Firefly fan and naturally agreed to the cover arrangement, charging very little.

She also mentioned that she planned to buy a ticket to Penacony and head there during the Charmony Festival to take part in it.

The emphasis was on being easygoing.

At the end, she casually asked when Firefly would resume activities after the Charmony Festival.

Elsewhere.

Firefly soon received the reply forwarded by her manager, sent by Lin Shuang.

Reading the first part of the response, Firefly smiled in satisfaction.

Good singers deserved good songs.

The other party might not have the ideal conditions for singing, but Firefly could perfectly interpret the music she produced.

At least, Firefly saw it as a win-win situation.

"The price is far too low. I should raise it a little. I can't let a fan get the short end of the stick."

Firefly had no intention of taking advantage of someone just because she was a fan.

Whatever the proper price was, that was what she would pay.

That was the attitude a qualified musician should have.

"But... paying her own way to Penacony during the Charmony Festival won't be cheap."

Even if the other party could spend a huge sum on promotion in one go, that was still nothing compared to the price of entering Penacony.

After all... could tickets during the Charmony Festival possibly cost the same as usual?

Firefly looked at the email and blinked, but she did not consider sending an invitation.

After all, invitations carried considerable weight.

It wasn't necessary.

Just then, a new friend request popped up.

It was the account Lin Shuang used.

After replying to the email, Lin Shuang naturally added the social media account sent by Firefly's studio.

She just never imagined that the account attached to the email was actually Firefly's own work account.

So when the friend request was approved—

She had only just sent, "Hello, nice to meet you."

When the other side sent, "Nice to meet you, I'm Firefly," Lin Shuang fell silent.

With such a large studio behind them, they surely would not use such a boring trick to amuse themselves.

Besides, what was the point of pretending to be Firefly now?

They had used the studio's email earlier, so pretending to be Firefly now would just seem bizarre.

Lin Shuang: Hello, my name is Lin Shuang.

Firefly: Mm, I'll get straight to the point. Miss Lin, the price you offered is too low, far below market value. This isn't good. I'll redraw the pricing according to market standards, then send you the contract.

Lin Shuang: ?

Seeing the question mark Lin Shuang sent, Firefly could not help laughing.

"Pfft... That's pretty interesting. Isn't earning more money a good thing? Why send a question mark?"

Firefly: By the way, Miss Lin's songs are all excellent, but why haven't you sung them yourself?

Seeing Firefly's question, Lin Shuang froze. She truly had not expected that question.

Would anyone care about something like that?

Since Lin Shuang had never been involved in this world's music scene, she had no idea that AI could accomplish many things in music production here.

Lin Shuang: No particular reason. But are you really Firefly herself? Or are you the studio's operator?

Firefly blinked at the reply, not expecting that one day someone would question her identity.

After thinking it over, Firefly simply raised her phone, snapped a selfie, and sent it over.

The moment she saw the selfie, Lin Shuang let out a soft gasp.

Firefly was not wearing the formal dress from the character illustration Lin Shuang remembered, but rather loose, homey clothes. Yet paired with that breathtakingly beautiful face, it instead highlighted an especially alluring warmth.

No wonder she could become an interstellar superstar. She was truly beautiful—the kind of beauty that radiated brilliance.

And she possessed an exceptionally unique aura.

Bright and dazzling were Lin Shuang's first impressions of Firefly.

Compared to her, even Tingyun seemed far more reserved.

Honestly, Lin Shuang could not confirm whether the other party was really Firefly based on a single photo.

After all, it was Firefly's own studio. Getting hold of a few unreleased selfies would be easy.

Firefly seemed to have considered that possibility as well, because she immediately added:

Firefly: You still don't believe me if I only send a photo, do you?

Lin Shuang: Not really. It's normal for a studio to have unreleased photos of Firefly. Of course, I also don't think the studio would stoop to impersonating Firefly.

Firefly nodded in satisfaction. Why would her studio impersonate her? Did they have nothing better to do?

Lin Shuang: But just in case, I want to ask one more question. As an apology, Miss Firefly can cover these three songs for free. Of course, if you don't want to, that's fine too. After all, I'm the one being unreasonable here.

Firefly raised her brows slightly, feeling that the person on the other side of the screen was somewhat strange.

Firefly: What question?

Firefly had assumed it would be some strange fan question and had prepared all sorts of answers and contingencies. But after waiting a moment—

The instant Lin Shuang's message appeared, Firefly's expression became terrifyingly grave.

She tensed up and rose directly from the sofa, staring solemnly at the screen. Even the hand holding her phone began to tremble slightly from the strain.

At the bottom of the screen, however, Lin Shuang's chat box revealed Firefly's greatest secret.

Lin Shuang: It seems there has been a little discordant noise in Penacony's Harmony. Is Miss Firefly's singing voice still all right?

Lying on her bed, Lin Shuang imagined Firefly's current expression.

It was not that she absolutely had to drop a bombshell. Their lives had no overlap, and she still wanted to get an invitation from Firefly.

How could she pull that off without revealing something substantial?

"Crap, I forgot that innocent types like to be direct."

"How is that possible?! Why does she know?!"

Firefly was truly drenched in cold sweat now.

Her aphonia stemmed from the discordant noise that had appeared within the Family's Harmony.

And discordant noise naturally meant that the Family was no longer united, which meant there was a traitor in Penacony.

Because Firefly understood the enormous hidden danger beneath the surface of her lost voice, no one besides those closest to her could possibly know about it.

Even her manager and assistant, who followed her every day, had been given the same explanation announced to the public.

This was a secret.

A secret that could not even be spoken aloud casually.

The Family, renowned for Harmony, had actually developed discordant noise.

Especially now, with the Charmony Festival about to be held.

The eyes of major powers across the universe were all focused on this grand event, held only once every Amber Era.

In the warm, comfortable room, Firefly felt as though she had fallen into the depths of winter. Before she realized it, cold sweat had covered her back.

Firefly: Miss Lin, you must be joking. I only stopped my activities recently to prepare for the Charmony Festival. The Family remains as it always has. Please do not believe unfounded rumors.

Lin Shuang: Is that so? Then I apologize, Miss Firefly. Testing you with hearsay really was my mistake.

Lin Shuang did not actually want to verify Firefly's identity. As she had said before, it was already a studio account, so there was no need to pretend about whether it belonged to Firefly herself.

Besides, it did not matter whether Firefly herself was on the other end.

Lin Shuang's sole purpose was simply to get this information into Firefly's ears.

To let Firefly know that she knew her secret.

Since Firefly already harbored suspicions about the Family's internal situation, Lin Shuang's presence would inevitably become infinitely magnified in her eyes.

At that point, even if Lin Shuang wanted to avoid her, Firefly would never let her go.

In the most extreme case, Firefly might have Lin Shuang controlled so she could not speak until the Charmony Festival ended.

But setting aside Lin Shuang's own abilities, she was currently on the Xianzhou and had Acheron backing her. Firefly could not touch her.

If it were her brother Sunday, he might have found a way to pull something off. Firefly had spent years away from Penacony, so the power she held certainly could not compare to Sunday's.

If Firefly had any sense, she would at least not make a move immediately after investigating Lin Shuang's circumstances.

And as long as there was room to negotiate, getting a ticket to Penacony would be much easier to talk her into.

Lin Shuang put away her phone for the moment, not in any hurry to talk more with Firefly.

She planned to let things simmer for a couple of days first.

And she had to give Firefly time to investigate her.

If she wanted to bluff someone, she had to become a proper cryptic schemer.

Only information that was half true and half false, real and illusory, could easily intimidate people.

And the most important thing for a qualified cryptic schemer was to strike and retreat—say only half of what needed saying and never easily give the other party a chance to press for answers.

So after tossing aside her phone, Lin Shuang muted it and fell asleep while looking forward to Acheron's "gift."

The next day.

Acheron's speed of action was terrifyingly fast.

In just one day, Acheron sent a message saying that she had already arrived at that Starport from before.

Lin Shuang was very curious whether that speed was Acheron's limit.

But when Lin Shuang pressed the B key on her phone, opened the pixel-style portal, and crossed over to that abandoned Starport—

Seeing Acheron's slightly surprised expression, Lin Shuang silently opened her arms and gently hugged Acheron.

"I didn't expect our reunion to come so soon."

She laughed as she teased Acheron.

But Acheron lowered her head, looked into Lin Shuang's eyes, and said:

"I was actually looking forward to it."

"..."

Crap, she had forgotten that innocent types loved being direct.

Lin Shuang covered her chest and rubbed it. For a moment just now, Acheron had made her heart race.

"How come you're saying things like that after only a few days apart?"

"I'm trying not to be so cold. My sense of taste has returned, and my recent memories have barely been fading anymore. It's all thanks to you."

Lin Shuang instinctively wanted to refute her.

But then she remembered the things the system had given her recently, always fond of hiding functions and playing word games.