My Online Friend Can't Be This Cute Chapter 44

"Actually, she..." Mo Xiangwen shook his head. "She's just a little aloof by nature. She isn't used to interacting with others, nor is she good at it. She doesn't mean anything else by it."

Anyway, that wasn't a lie. In every sense, it could be called the truth.

"I see. Then we won't force her." Su Mengyao said, "If she doesn't want to, then forget it."

"Let's not talk about that." Mo Xiangwen smiled. "Didn't Mengli say she wanted to run an offline campaign before I even got to school?"

"But up until today, forget an offline campaign—even the online one hasn't made a single move."

Su Mengli's pretty face darkened slightly as she complained, "Whose fault do you think that is? You and Pigeon keep flaking out all the time. Can't you learn from Baibai? She's always there whenever called."

"I don't know about Pigeon, but I didn't actually want to flake." Mo Xiangwen shook his head. "Military training kept adding extra drills a while ago, and recently I've been cramming classes like crazy. There was really nothing I could do."

As he said that, Mo Xiangwen frowned. "Come to think of it, Baibai's pretty outrageous too. She has more free time than us college students. Doesn't she have classes to attend?"

"That does seem strange." Su Mengli shook her head. "Which is why I never blamed you guys, right?"

"Maybe she's already working?" Su Mengyao said thoughtfully. "If she's a freelancer, that would make sense, wouldn't it?"

"The freelancer you're talking about," Mo Xiangwen joked, "do you mean unemployed, or the kind who works even during holidays and doesn't get a single day off all year?"

Su Mengyao pursed her lips and said unhappily, "Don't say such terrifying things."

"Anyway, should we find another time and arrange it?" Mo Xiangwen looked at Su Mengli. "This campaign's been flaked out on for at least a month."

Su Mengli nodded. "Next time, I'll check everyone's schedules and ask in the group when they're free to run the campaign."

Baibai: Sneak Through Yinping, Strike Directly at Shu Han

Ever since Baibai had forwarded that artist's draft of the junior girl to him on behalf of her friend, he'd been looking forward to the other characters' designs being finished.

It wasn't just him who thought the artist Baibai had found was excellent. The readers thought so too.

Bookmarks and subscriptions were rising day by day.

But... this artist's recent condition didn't seem very good.

Mo Xiangwen stared at the character art file Baibai had forwarded to him and fell into deep thought.

Was it because this artist wasn't feeling well, or was she simply not good at drawing characters other than younger white-haired types?

Why did Yu Weiwei's character art look so much worse than Bai Shiyin's?

Look at that character's eyes. Weren't they a little too fierce? Would a beautiful girl really have such a vicious gaze? At most, it should be a little cold.

Look at those black stockings. They were seriously lacking in appeal... Though maybe he simply wasn't into that sort of thing, Bai Shiyin's white stockings had definitely looked more textured.

And look at her proportions... especially the chest armor in front. Wasn't it a little awkward?

It couldn't be said that the level of detail was twice as poor as junior Bai Shiyin's, but it was at least five or six times worse.

He hesitated for a moment before deciding to message Baibai directly and ask.

Human-Dragon Unity: Is the artist helping me with these designs not feeling well lately?

It didn't take long for a reply to arrive.

Baibai: I don't think so. I've still been playing games with her recently.

Human-Dragon Unity: Uh, then is she dissatisfied with the commission fee?

Human-Dragon Unity: She draws very well, and I'm satisfied too. If the payment isn't suitable, we can discuss it again.

Baibai: ...Probably not.

Human-Dragon Unity: I'm afraid you might not understand, so I'll just say it directly. When you ask her later, please phrase it tactfully.

Human-Dragon Unity: This Yu Weiwei piece seems a little underfinished.

Baibai: Is... is that so?

Human-Dragon Unity: It's not like Yu Weiwei's design is badly drawn, but the difference compared to Bai Shiyin's is a bit too large.

Human-Dragon Unity: If the art style weren't still fairly similar, I'd suspect this artist had asked someone else to help draw it.

Baibai: She wouldn't do something like that.

Baibai: She just... um, might not be very good at drawing this kind of character.

Baibai: But! I can help urge her to revise it!

Human-Dragon Unity: Is that so? Then I'll leave it to you.

Human-Dragon Unity: If she really can't draw it well, that's fine too.

Human-Dragon Unity: At worst, I'll just find another artist.

Baibai: No, no, no. Didn't you promise that she'd be in charge from now on?

Baibai: If you go back on your word, she'll be very sad.

Human-Dragon Unity: Is it that serious? If there are suitable white-haired girl characters later, I'll still ask her to draw them.

Human-Dragon Unity: I can't force someone to draw something they aren't good at, can I?

Baibai: She'll improve.

Baibai: I believe she'll draw character art that satisfies Xiao Yi.

Baibai: Please believe in her too, Xiao Yi.

...There was a strangely forceful air about her, but since Baibai was willing to vouch for her friend, he was willing to wait a little longer.

In the end, he had been a little too impatient. She was Baibai's friend, after all. It was only right to give her a few more chances.

Besides, when she'd first helped draw Bai Shiyin, she had charged relatively little and put so much care into it.

Yet when she encountered something she wasn't good at, he had immediately said he wanted to change artists. That was a little too much, wasn't it?

That might be how business worked, but this was a friend's friend. He couldn't treat it all the same.

Mo Xiangwen quietly reflected on himself, then hurriedly replied.

Human-Dragon Unity: Let me apologize first. Sorry, I was a little too impatient.

Human-Dragon Unity: Since Baibai says so, I'm willing to trust her too.

Human-Dragon Unity: Then please tell her that we can discuss the commission fee again if she isn't satisfied. I still hope she can try to draw it a little better.

Baibai: Mm-hmm.

Baibai: I'll go pass that along right away.

Human-Dragon Unity: No rush. There's one more thing.

Human-Dragon Unity: Actually, I wanted to ask earlier. You don't have to answer if it's inconvenient.

Human-Dragon Unity: Has Baibai been in a bad mood lately? You haven't seemed very active in the group recently, and you don't sound very energetic when chatting either.

Baibai: ...Mm, a little.

Human-Dragon Unity: Can you tell me about it? It's fine if you can't.

Baibai: There's nothing inconvenient about telling Xiao Yi.

Baibai: I just wanted to go to H University recently to see Xiao Yi, the president, and Xiaohuo.

Baibai: But it seems like now isn't a good time, so I can't go. It's a little regrettable.

Baibai was coming to H University? He hadn't expected to meet all the group members so soon.

Human-Dragon Unity: Are you just passing through H City?

Baibai: No, my home is in H City.

Human-Dragon Unity: Huh? You've never mentioned that before. Then why didn't you say you wanted to come all this time?

Baibai: It wasn't convenient before.

Human-Dragon Unity: So are you suddenly busy with something again now?

Human-Dragon Unity: Or are you worried you won't be able to get into the school? I can just pick you up at the gate.

Baibai: Um... because I'm not feeling well, so I can't go?

Human-Dragon Unity: Why is that a question? Did you go to the hospital because you weren't feeling well?

Baibai: I did.

Human-Dragon Unity: So what's stopping you from coming?

Baibai: My body is relatively weak, so I get tired easily from walking?

Human-Dragon Unity: How is that even a problem? Just rest when you're tired.

Human-Dragon Unity: If there's nothing seriously wrong, then come if you want to.

Human-Dragon Unity: If you haven't told the president and Xiaohuo, I can take you over and give them a surprise.

Yeah, if Yan Nuoya was Pigeon, he could surprise her too and see whether she reacted.

Baibai: Then... if Xiao Yi says so, I'm really coming?

Baibai: Don't scold me if I can't walk anymore.

Human-Dragon Unity: Don't worry, do I seem like that kind of person?

Human-Dragon Unity: If you really can't walk, I can carry you on my back.

Mo Xiangwen suddenly imagined himself carrying a grown man on his back... Emmm, it wasn't like he'd never joked about that with friends and roommates, and passersby wouldn't care, but it was still a little strange.

Human-Dragon Unity: No, thinking about it now, it'd be way too weird for me to carry a grown man on my back.

Human-Dragon Unity: Forget carrying you. But if you're tired, you can sit and rest slowly. There are benches everywhere around campus, so you won't have to worry about finding a place to rest.

Baibai: But I'm a girl?

Mo Xiangwen stared at the screen and fell silent.

In such a large group, was he really the only guy? Seriously?

Human-Dragon Unity: But when we played together, wasn't your voice male?

Baibai: At the beginning, I was using my real voice. You were the one who said it sounded weird and told me to turn it off quickly.

Baibai: You even said something about how esports had no gender.

Baibai: Something like women only affected the accuracy of your aim.

How should he put it... that did sound like something he would say.

So he was the one in the wrong after all?

Kind-Hearted Her

Thursday Afternoon

On the podium, a middle-aged teacher with the hairstyle of a powerful man lectured mechanically from the textbook.

Below the podium, the students held their phones and did their own things, occasionally whispering a few words to nearby friends and roommates.

Probably because it wasn't a major course, the teacher couldn't be bothered to care what the students below were doing.

At least all the students were present during roll call. That alone was already showing the teacher plenty of respect.

Playing on their phones was no big deal. It wasn't a major course, so he let them be.

As long as they weren't sitting in the front row, openly playing on the desk right in front of him, or making noise and disrupting classroom order, the teacher couldn't be bothered to manage so much.

The principle was simply that things had to look acceptable on the surface. Everyone understood and respected one another.

They were already college students. Those who understood they needed to learn would listen, while forcing those who didn't want to learn had no meaning.

Mo Xiangwen yawned, feeling as though he was about to fall asleep.

He turned his head and glanced at Yan Nuoya beside him. She propped her chin up with a pen, looked straight ahead, and frowned slightly, appearing to listen to the lecture with complete seriousness.

However, because she had moved to the last row, she was sitting with her back perfectly straight in order to see the contents on the projection screen clearly. Her graceful curves immediately stood out.