Young, Beautiful Little Wolfdog

Author's note: Mark: I, a dignified artificial intelligence, was actually compared to artificial stupidity. I'm furious! Come at me!!

Riding Xing Jiang and Qianqiu's popularity! Stardust and Lin Zhiluò's designated exclusive battle-tool brand for the entertainment industry!

Young, Beautiful Little Wolfdog

Because of the trending topic about the Fight the Landlord champion, netizens were flocking to Meng Feixuan's homepage to watch the show. The moment this Weibo post went out, everyone saw it immediately. Without question, the comments first lined up in a neat row of: ???

After a while, people finally got their words together, though their first reaction was naturally disbelief:

[What's going on? Meng Feixuan wants to square up against Nangong Xu??]

[Hello, Xie Ran, is that really you? I can see you typing.]

[He's panicking, he's panicking, he's panicking! Meng Feixuan can't be sold, so Xie Ran personally jumped in and pretended to be a robot posting!]

[???? Why doesn't anyone believe it? If Meng Feixuan really won the Fight the Landlord championship, then it wouldn't be impossible for him to post on Weibo.]

[The person above, you also know the premise is "Meng Feixuan won the Fight the Landlord championship." The question is, did he really? Or was this some publicity stunt Xie Ran Studio came up with?]

Mixed in with the doubts were some fans' disappointed remarks: [And you still want to square up against Nangong Xu! Nangong Xu has already released an MV—what are you doing?!]

Meng Feixuan replied with perfect confidence: [I'm competing in a Fight the Landlord tournament, and I even won the championship!]

Fan: [...] Why did he get proud about that? No matter who's controlling this account behind the scenes, this isn't appropriate, is it?!

Kuang Youfang had been somewhat nervous when he first saw the trending topic, but once Meng Feixuan provoked Nangong Xu, he immediately relaxed.

Like most netizens, he burst out laughing and said to Fang Huiwang, "Xie Ran's putting on too much of a show. He even had Meng Feixuan bring up Nangong Xu—was he afraid people wouldn't know Nangong Xu was the one who knocked him off his pedestal?"

Especially when he replied to that fan afterward—didn't that make it even more obvious that a real person was controlling this account?

As Kuang Youfang scrolled through the comments, he said with satisfaction, "Too much is as bad as too little!"

But Fang Huiwang did not echo him. Kuang Youfang turned to look at him curiously, only to find that he had been staring intently at his phone, his expression indescribably grim.

Fang Huiwang was not as optimistic as Kuang Youfang. Meng Feixuan's flamboyant Weibo post reminded him of the final night in Old West City, when Meng Feixuan had provoked him in exactly this way on the Sky Garden's holographic stage.

Even now, he could clearly recall Meng Feixuan proudly lifting his chin and pointing straight at him. "I sing better than him!"

That day at Sky Garden, Meng Feixuan had spoken for himself. This time, then, it was also possible that Meng Feixuan had really made that Weibo post.

It was only that back in Old West City, Fang Huiwang had believed it was a preprogrammed routine. Now, however, he was no longer so certain.

Fang Huiwang's hand slowly tightened into a fist.

Kuang Youfang noticed something was off with him and could not help feeling a faint unease as well. With an awkward laugh, he asked, "What's wrong with you? Don't tell me you actually believe Meng Feixuan is really posting these things?"

The moment he finished speaking, another livestream link appeared on Meng Feixuan's homepage. Its title was: Live Broadcast of the First Mark Cup Fight the Landlord Championship.

Kuang Youfang:?

Mark Cup?? What kind of idiotic name was that?

Quite a few people shared Kuang Youfang's confusion. Before long, a huge number of netizens clicked into Meng Feixuan's livestream room, and everyone was jolted.

The livestream camera was pointed at Xie Ran Studio's conference room. Xie Ran sat in a chair beside the conference table, leaning slightly back against the chair, his legs crossed, one hand propping up his chin as he lazily looked toward the other side of the table. There stood the young man who had once amazed everyone—bright and exquisitely handsome, with fluffy, slightly curled hair, a guitar slung across his back, and an innocent, dazzling smile on his face.

Everyone:!!!!

Although many companies now had holographic projection equipment, few people used it for personal livestreams. The modeling and rendering requirements for holographic images were extremely demanding, requiring considerable time and effort in advance, so they were generally only used for major events.

Livestreaming was even more difficult for virtual idols. Apart from the modeling itself, every interaction involving a virtual character had to be meticulously designed. It was simply impossible for them to be like real people and casually turn on the camera to begin.

This was the first time a virtual idol had livestreamed so casually, yet Meng Feixuan's model in the footage remained flawless, without the slightest imperfection to pick apart.

Someone immediately could not restrain themselves from typing into the chat: [Baby is so handsome!!!!]

No expression could be seen on Xie Ran's face. He merely looked at Meng Feixuan and asked lightly, "Mark Cup?"

Both he and Meng Feixuan knew that Mark Cup meant Mark's Cup, but to the public, Mark Cup probably sounded like the kind of mug used for drinking water—a name that inspired absolutely no desire to compete.

Of course, Mark's Cup was not much better.

Meng Feixuan looked up at the sky, utterly fearless. "I thought calling it the Feixuan-Ran Cup would make the signs of tying myself to you too obvious. It wouldn't fit my low-key image."

Xie Ran: "..."

Netizens: [...]

The goddamn Feixuan-Ran Cup, the goddamn tying himself to him, and that low-key image... But it had to be said that this simple exchange between the two instantly stirred up tremendous interest among netizens. Their conversation was lively and casual, unlike other virtual idols, who could never shake that stiff, programmed feeling in front of the public no matter how they were configured.

As for some netizens who had watched or even participated in the CP war some time ago, they were now spiritually spamming: [Yooooooooo]

As though he had heard a notification sound, Xie Ran suddenly turned toward the livestream camera and asked, "The stream has started?"

Meng Feixuan nodded, then raised his hand and waved at the camera. "Hello, everyone... Is it 'bros'? Or 'besties'? Hello, everyone!"