Things That Should Not Be Heard

On the other side, Gu Xue had no idea what had happened, nor did she know that Mihara Chisa had already found a "spare tire" for her. Even less could she have known that this production assistant, who had just been clumsily expressing her gratitude, didn't trust her at all.

After the other person left, Gu Xue temporarily set aside her key animation work and began a piece of manual labor: cleaning up the second key animation frames by comparing them against the design sheets.

If drawing key animation is a collision of brainpower and artistic technique—filled with both joy and the agony of being stuck—then cleaning up second key animation is nothing but agony.

It really is manual labor, refining outlines into the final draft. Do you think there's any fun in drawing eyes, clothes, hair, and so on?

Absolutely none.

But these tasks are quite important. The reason Gu Xue chose to clean her own second key animation was that she was most familiar with the key frames she had drawn herself and had a clear vision of the final result. If other animators were to do it, they might not necessarily achieve the best outcome.

To be honest, Gu Xue didn't really trust any of the staff in the animation department of this production team. After all, this team truly lacked experience; one only had to look at the already aired episodes of Ore-sama to see how most of the visuals had collapsed. In fact, Gu Xue didn't just clean her own second key animation; when drawing the key frames, she would also deliberate carefully to choose the most accurate action keyframes. If there was no other way, she would increase the number of key frames. She did this to reduce the number of in-betweens, fearing that the in-betweeners might mess something up and ruin her key animation.

This resulted in her having quite a lot of key animation per cut, and cleaning the second key animation was very time-consuming. Fortunately, the character designs for the animation Ore-sama weren't too complex, or Gu Xue would have gone on strike right then and there.

Actually, on Earth, the visuals of many light novel adaptations are hard to describe. Some are like that because of too many ridiculous settings—things like external mecha or exoskeleton armor just thrown in. Please, that's a mecha! It's like drawing Gundam; who would want to draw that? Plus, the schedule is so tight and the pay is so low, who would bother to draw it well? Using 3D is certainly an option, but making 3D look good also requires a lot of effort.

Therefore, character designs for TV animation are really better the simpler they are. For things like tattoos or armor, if you don't have the skill, don't try it. It really will be as troublesome as drawing Gundam.

After cleaning the second key animation for a while, Gu Xue's speed and efficiency were quite good, but she was indeed getting annoyed. As the irritation grew, at one point, Gu Xue finally couldn't continue. She took off her headphones, intending to go to the restroom to wash her face before returning to work.

Nothing happened along the way, and Gu Xue no longer made the mistake of subconsciously walking into the men's restroom, though that had indeed happened during the first few days...

However, although nothing happened on the way there, when Gu Xue was about to come out of the stall, she heard something she shouldn't have.

At the time, she was adjusting her skirt and about to open the door to leave, but voices drifted in from outside. They mentioned a name she was slightly concerned about, so she didn't rush to open the door.

"Has that new production assistant, Mihara Chisa, looked for you yet?"

A slightly shrill voice came from the direction of the washbasin. Gu Xue didn't even have to think to guess that the person was a girl from the Coloring Department. This department didn't require high technical skills, but it did require extra care, so there were many girls.

"She has. What a terrible person, honestly," another replied, sounding somewhat displeased. The anger contained in her voice was so strong that even through the wooden door, Gu Xue felt it almost seeping in.

"Ugh... yeah, it's so annoying. She just got here, what's she acting so high and mighty for? Saying things like 'be prepared,' and 'once the in-betweens are done, color them immediately, don't delay the progress.' The animation has barely started, is saying that useful? And who is she giving that cold face to! Besides, what does the progress have to do with us? Have we ever delayed the progress? Who does she think makes us work overtime every time? It's the animation department, not us! If you're not going to urge those people, why come here and show off to us? Isn't she just a production assistant?"

The other girl sneered, "She used to be a production manager at a big company, you know."

"So what if she was a production manager? If she wasn't failing, why would she come to our company? Bullying someone of the same gender isn't a skill. If she's so capable, why doesn't she go find those key animators and tell them not to delay the progress?"

"Ha, maybe she doesn't dare."

"The way you say that, do you know something?"

"You know Yamada, right? The production assistant for the company's other project, You Are My Hero, episode 11. He told me that Mihara Chisa was the production assistant for the final episode of that 'famous' animation, Falling Feathers."

"Eh... isn't that terrible? Why would the company hire her?"

"How would I know? But according to Yamada-kun, she really did come to our company because she couldn't make it there anymore. She caused such a huge mess; who would dare give her important work? It's just that our president must have something wrong with his brain to hire someone like that. Honestly, instead of hiring someone like her, they should just give us a raise. As for why she doesn't dare to urge those key animators, listen to this, it's hilarious. Didn't the final episode of Falling Feathers completely collapse? It was because she pushed too hard and gave the animators tasks that were too heavy, so in the end, everyone just quit. To catch up with the deadline and get those animators to change their minds, I heard she even threw away her pride and knelt down, hahahaha."

"Ha. Is that for real?"

"Of course it is. And, I heard her personal life is quite messy too. After causing that mess, she actively seduced the company director, Narita Kei. Otherwise, why do you think she was able to stay at her old company for a few years after causing such a disaster? It was just a 'fair trade'."

"Ugh, I really didn't expect that. No wonder she hasn't found a boyfriend yet. I also heard from people that even though she looks young, she's already 27 this year."

"Maybe she was able to get into our company because of the president too..."

"Exactly, exactly, I think that's possible... Hahaha..."

The voices of the two girls outside grew quieter, but their laughter grew louder and particularly grating.

Gu Xue narrowed her eyes and muttered to herself, "As expected."

Even if not on Earth, some things remain the same. It seems she had heard something she shouldn't have.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Xue slammed the stall door open.

Bang.

The sudden movement made the two girls' laughter stop abruptly. They glanced at Gu Xue, and since they weren't familiar with her, they tacitly stopped their discussion and silently began touching up their makeup in the mirror.

Gu Xue didn't say anything either. She silently washed her hands, and just as the two were letting out a sigh of relief, Gu Xue reached out, passing over one of their shoulders. It looked like she was reaching for the tissue box behind them, but Gu Xue stepped closer and closer.

"What are you doing?" The girl was quite frightened. Seeing Gu Xue closing in, she backed away step by step until her back hit the wall, with nowhere left to go. Slap, she was pinned against the wall.

Gu Xue leaned one hand against the wall, looked down at the girl, and said softly, "I can understand complaining; I have complaints too. But isn't it a bit excessive to badmouth others behind their backs? And most of it is just baseless imagination, right?"

"Who are you? And how do you know it's not true? Mind your own business!" The girl probably saw that Gu Xue was very young, and since Gu Xue's appearance really couldn't look fierce—making people afraid was even more of a fantasy—the girl quickly steadied her nerves after the initial fear of being pinned and retorted.

"It really is none of my business, but did you see?" Gu Xue pointed to the side stall. "There's still someone in there. Aren't you afraid that Ms. Mihara is inside? How will you clean up this mess then? Please, use your brain. If you're going to talk bad about someone, at least find a more private place."

"Also, miss, you're dressed very sexily today. Are you trying to fish for a man?" Gu Xue lowered her gaze and suddenly blurted this out.

"What are you saying? Get lost!" The girl who was pinned suddenly darkened her face, looking quite displeased.

"See," Gu Xue withdrew her gaze and said expressionlessly, "You're angry, right? You know that such groundless and even nonsensical words are very infuriating, don't you? Then what's the difference between what you just said and what I just said? Please reflect on yourself! Miss! At least learn to respect others!"

The girl: "..."

"By the way, my name is Gu Xue." Seeing the other person stunned by her presence, Gu Xue suddenly smiled. "I am the key animator you said Ms. Mihara doesn't dare to urge. Ms. Mihara has been trying very hard to urge me, even to the point of checking on me every three hours. The situation of the other key animators is no better. Now do you understand why I said your guesses were all just imagination?"

Gu Xue dropped this sentence, pulled a tissue from the box with the hand that had been bracing against the wall, and without caring about the two who were temporarily speechless, wiped her hands and walked away.

Although the two of them were speechless for now, Gu Xue could probably guess what they would say later. It would be the same old thing; a dog can't change its habit of eating excrement. But Gu Xue didn't care. No matter how vicious the remarks were, they couldn't really affect her much. Anyway, she didn't plan on finding a boyfriend or getting married.

No, wait, it's I...

Ah, forget it.

Watching Gu Xue's ponytail sway as she opened the door and her figure disappeared behind it, the two girls still in the restroom remained silent for a moment before inevitably beginning to denounce her.

"What the hell! Who does she think she is!"

"How inexplicable! Who does she think she is, trying to butt into other people's conversations!"

The two of them sang in harmony, picking apart Gu Xue as if they were burn victims whose wounds had just been ripped open, finding that only frantic, angry cursing could slightly soothe the stinging pain.

Bang.

However, they hadn't even gotten two sentences out before another stall door swung open.

Mihara Chisa stepped out from the restroom stall.

The two girls' shoulders jolted, and they immediately clamped their mouths shut.

It was hard to describe their current state of mind.

Fortunately, Mihara Chisa didn't say anything; she silently washed her hands and then stared at her own reflection in the mirror for a very long time—so long that the two girls became flustered and were even prepared to apologize. But just as they were about to offer their apologies, Mihara Chisa took a deep breath and left.

From beginning to end, Mihara Chisa never looked at the two girls from the Coloring Department, not even once.