Do You Really Not Plan to Draw Comics?

Tang Yao actually knew that her current mental state was somewhat strange.

But it was quite difficult to change.

It could even be said to be impossible.

That was because a person's will greatly influenced their words and actions, while their will was inevitably affected by their subconscious.

To give an somewhat inappropriate example, when people saw a sign in a public place saying "Keep Quiet," most would decide whether to obey it based on the values, worldview, and outlook on life formed through their past experiences. Some would instinctively lower their voices upon seeing the sign, while others would continue doing as they pleased.

Even if the person knew deep down that it was wrong, the feelings, emotions, values, beliefs, and ideas formed over the years... would all unconsciously influence their will, and thus affect their actions.

Otherwise, why would people say that one's nature was hard to change?

Tang Yao's situation was even more unusual... because her consciousness had been formed by the fusion of two true selves.

Most of the time, especially when work was involved, she could avoid being influenced by the other self.

But when she was with Miss Li, or when she was at home, that was not necessarily the case.

The place where she was most influenced was at home. As long as she returned home and Xun was by her side, Tang Yao was Tang Yao most of the time... Tang Yao with an extra cheat-code brain, Tang Yao with some strange stubborn principles.

Actually... as time went on, Tang Yao would only become more and more like Tang Yao.

It was not as though she would forget the memories of her previous life. She might simply gradually blur the memory of her own gender.

Moreover, this process was irreversible. After all, although the differences were enormous, both true selves shared one consensus: their words and actions had to match their own image.

For example, no matter how highly Tang Yao thought of Kang Ming, she would never throw an arm around his shoulders. She would not even think of doing so... because both the Tang Yao of the past and the Tang Yao of the present believed that such behavior was wrong.

Her identity was unsuitable for it, and she could not possibly do such a thing.

Since she had decided to accept her identity, even if she still felt like a macho man, the common sense from her previous life would tell her that such behavior was excessively foolish... not carefree, but self-degrading.

Conversely, when facing Tang Xun and Li Xue, even if she hugged them intimately, Tang Yao would still consider herself a macho man deep down and would not feel that anything was wrong. At most, she would complain a little.

That was the situation she was currently in.

Unless Tang Yao immediately changed bodies, this subtle transformation—the original self's "erosion" of the transmigrated self—would continue.

But... this could not really be called a bad thing.

After all, there was no way she could return. Getting used to it sooner could even be considered a good thing.

But although this was not a bad thing... it did have its drawbacks.

For example, right now.

Tang Yao knew very well that Shang Tao's flashy move benefited her plans. That was definitely a good thing.

And if her name had appeared there, then so be it. The others did not know her anyway. What was the big deal?

But from Tang Yao's perspective, she still felt embarrassed, because her name had appeared at the top... and the work being recommended was one she had drawn herself. Although no one else knew, for someone as thin-skinned as her, it was truly awkward.

Rather, the moment she saw the words "Enthusiastically Recommended," she felt embarrassed.

"It would have been fine even if they had left the name off."

Tang Yao shifted forward again, pressing her burning cheek against Tang Xun's fair, slender thigh. She smelled the faint fragrance coming from her and complained softly.

Tang Xun reached out and brushed aside the hair covering her older sister's face. "...What happened?"

Just moments ago, the two sisters had simply been sitting together normally.

But Tang Yao had been holding her phone and looking at it when she suddenly let out a cry, then directly lay down on her thighs...

In fact,

she still had no idea what had happened.

"..."

At those words, Tang Yao turned over, returning to a supine position as she tried to look at her younger sister's face.

But...

At that moment, she finally understood how Frieren felt when she could see only half the sky while resting her head on someone's thighs.

Tang Yao could only stare at half the ceiling as she blindly handed her phone to Tang Xun.

Tang Xun reached out to take it while supporting her older sister and shifting her farther inward... The sofa at home was not very large to begin with, and with Tang Yao's head resting on her legs, she was genuinely afraid that Tang Yao might move around, slip off her thighs, and roll onto the floor.

As for asking her sister to get up... Tang Xun had never considered it.

"..."

After making sure nothing was wrong, Tang Xun finally looked at the phone.

The Literary Hall's website naturally had no mobile version. They had not even figured out the desktop version yet... Tang Yao had opened the webpage with a browser, and reading comics in this state was extremely uncomfortable because the webpage had not been adapted for phones and the font was absurdly tiny.

But browsing the website roughly was not a problem.

Soon, Tang Xun understood why her older sister had cried out.

Because she had also seen the category titled, "Enthusiastically Recommended! Works Managed by Editor Tang Yao, Give It Your All, the Manga Artist!"

And the two comics under that category... Tang Xun knew them too. She had even read them before the readers.

But...

Tang Xun leaned forward slightly and looked at her older sister lying on her legs.

Tang Yao was staring at half the ceiling. Noticing her younger sister's gaze, she said, "Xun, you understand what happened now, right?"

"..."

Tang Xun gently held the phone without replying. Instead, she looked at it again, at the special category listed separately on the website. At the same time, she thought of Tang Yao sitting at her desk and working day and night several days earlier... Her eyelashes trembled slightly.

It was not just drawing... She had to work this hard at the company too?

Tang Yao found it strange. "Hmm?"

"Nothing."

Tang Xun was silent for a long while before tapping open the introduction page for Fate/Zero. She then skimmed it while enduring the painfully tiny text.

When she saw the author column,

Tang Xun looked at her older sister again and asked, "...Why is the author's name Third-rate Painter?"

"...A pseudonym."

Tang Yao did not know how to explain it and could only say simply, "I'm the editor, and my name is already listed... Whether it's listed or not, the author can't be me. Otherwise, all kinds of unexpected trouble will arise later."

Tang Xun said softly, "But that isn't fair."

"Fair... Xun, I never wanted to become famous in the first place. Rather, the appearance of my name on the website is already troublesome enough."

Tang Yao stared at half the ceiling, somewhat helpless. "I wonder whether readers will come and tear into me later when they can't find Third-rate Painter."

"..."

"What's wrong?"

Tang Yao noticed Tang Xun falling silent again. She finally shifted outward and looked at her expression before asking teasingly, "Are you standing up for your sister?"

"A little."

Tang Xun nodded lightly. Then she slid her finger across the screen and found the comments section.

The comics could not be viewed, but the comments section, which consisted mostly of text, was still accessible.

At present, the number of comments in the section was already approaching thirty thousand.

"Third-rate Teacher! Where's my next chapter? Where's my next chapter!?"

"Holy crap, a genius! A battle royale between immortals, right!? Amazing, amazing!!"

"It's so good! So talented! They can draw a crazy comic like Human Head Balloon! And they can also draw such an interesting classic comic!"

"This comic is still the best! I originally came just for the laughs, but after reading this, all the fun and all the other Manga Award submissions became dull. After finishing Fate/Zero, I thought the other Manga Award works would be just as interesting, so I excitedly went looking for them. But after reading one, it became dull.

"The gap is just too huge. Even if we don't compare them to the unfinished Fate/Zero, compared to the crazy Human Head Balloon, they're still missing a lot of fun. Boring."

"I have to say, this setting is incredibly interesting! The author is amazing!"

"More chapters, more chapters, more chapters! I'm desperate! Teacher, when will it be serialized? When will you release the next chapter?"

"Teacher! Hurry and update the rest! This is my first time reading a comic of this type! Hurry and update! I'll do anything you ask of your readers!"

"..."

It was obvious.

The readers genuinely liked the comic. The comments section was filled with praise and pleas for serialization.

As Tang Xun looked at the comments praising the author... praising her older sister, she pursed her cherry lips. A smile suddenly appeared on her cool, fair face.

"Hmm?"

Tang Yao was somewhat surprised and blinked.

But the smile on Tang Xun's face vanished in a flash. She quickly handed the phone back to Tang Yao instead. "A call."

"A call?"

Tang Yao's attention was diverted. She took the phone and glanced at it... It was Li Xue calling.

She immediately answered.

As soon as the call connected,

Li Xue's excited voice came through, just like when she had first finished reading Human Head Balloon... Her excitement could practically be imagined through the phone: "Tang Yao... Have you seen what's happening on the online website? One hundred thousand readers are online demanding an update! One hundred thousand! Do you really not plan to draw comics? You really don't?"