He was no longer an "absolute genius," but the "god of grinding"!
That was right. It was time to start today's training.
In front of the camera, Qiji was unmatched among his peers, standing at the pinnacle of everyone his age.
But behind the camera, maintaining that invincible persona demanded far more effort and sweat than most people ever put in.
During the day, Qiji was always sleeping on the rooftop, looking as though he hadn't gotten enough sleep.
Part of that was an act to maintain his persona, but mostly, it was because he really was sleepy.
Because he trained until dawn almost every night!
Have you ever seen the City of Kindling at four in the morning?
Qiji saw it every day!
Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, weighted runs...
After a full round of warm-ups came the main focus of Qiji's daily training-
Venturing deep into the rifts to hone his combat skills!
In the City of Kindling, there was a legend:
After midnight, the wails of Void Beasts could be heard near the rifts.
Of course, a legend was a legend because the vast majority of people wouldn't believe it.
After all, why would Void Beasts wail?
A prominent scholar who specialized in studying Void Beasts had once said-
"Void Beasts don't feel pain."
"Aow... ooh..."
A Void Beast's agonized wails echoed through the depths of a D-rank rift.
A Dreadclaw Ape, an upper second-tier Void Beast as large as a small truck and covered in a fearsome carapace, was kneeling before Qiji without a shred of dignity.
Its claws, sharp enough to tear through steel plates, were wrapped around its head, and its eyes, as big as bronze bells, were brimming with tears.
Qiji looked at the "little guy," who seemed ready to call him daddy, and shook out his hand, losing interest and stopping his elbow strikes.
"The difficulty of a D-rank rift... just as I thought, it's not enough for me anymore."
Chapter 21: The anime premieres!
First- and second-tier Void Beasts were now no different from moving sandbags to Qiji.
They no longer served any purpose as training.
"Should I... try applying to enter a C-rank rift?"
No sooner had the thought arisen than Qiji quickly pushed it aside.
Rifts ranked C and above were usually guarded around the clock by the city-state's garrison.
Entering required a strict review of one's qualifications and a permit application, making the process quite cumbersome.
Qiji disliked trouble.
More importantly, C-rank rifts were mainly populated by third-tier Void Beasts.
Although, in theory, Echoers could usually defeat Void Beasts of the same tier with ease using their intelligence, skills, and Echo abilities,
Qiji knew his own situation-
His powerful body was invincible below the third tier, but he lacked a matching "Power of Echo."
For Echoers, the third tier was a major dividing line.
A third-tier Echoer could already be considered an elite among Echoers.
The mark of reaching the third tier was successfully activating the characteristics of one's [Echo Lineage] and manifesting its power externally to form a "coat" around oneself.
This was also what Echoers commonly called the most basic "Armed Vestment."
From that stage onward, an Echoer's combat power underwent a qualitative change.
The power of their lineage could reinforce their bodies, making it extremely difficult for non-Echoers to hurt them.
Qiji's assessment of his current strength was-
Below the third tier, he was absolutely invincible.
But to go any higher, he really did need to awaken his Echo.
By the time he emerged from the rift, the sky was already beginning to brighten.
Qiji took the spoils he had obtained in the rift to a Void Beast material buyer.
Many things from Void Beasts were quite valuable, such as carapaces, poison glands, and claws.
He put up his hood and pulled the brim lower, hiding his entire masked face in shadow.
Then he walked with practiced ease into a small shop with a "recycling" sign hanging outside.
The clerk behind the counter was unfazed by his attire and came forward to count the goods in silence with practiced ease.
After working the abacus a few times, the clerk handed him a pouch of money.
Qiji accepted it and hefted it with his fingertips, immediately knowing the amount was correct.
He put the pouch away and left quickly.
Before school, he made a special detour to the clinic and paid part of his younger sister's overdue medical bills.
Time flew by amid training and acting.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
During that week, Qiji livestreamed at the academy during the day.
While the stream was on, he occasionally showed his face in class, but spent most of his time sleeping on the rooftop, both to maintain his persona and catch up on sleep.
Once he'd had enough sleep, he would spend the afternoon getting into the main characters' shots and making his presence felt.
At night, he ended the stream and worked hard alone, out of sight of the cameras.
Exercising and honing his body.
Reading and solidifying his grasp of theory.
Venturing deep into the rifts, hunting Void Beasts, honing his combat skills, and earning a little money on the side.
Finally, the day of the Echo anime's premiere arrived!
In the Blue Star world, the first episode of Echo officially went live!
Thanks to the overwhelming production quality displayed during the promotional livestream, it had gained plenty of fans who voluntarily spread the word.
Even before the premiere, many viewers were already waiting eagerly on the playback page.
At seven o'clock sharp.
The screen lit up to the premiere sound effect: "I didn't steal the girl."
The first thing that appeared was a puddle, jolting and swaying as it drew closer.
It was the young Huomu's point of view-someone had shoved him hard to the ground.
"Splash!"
The screen went dark for a moment, then rapidly pulled back and switched to a third-person view.
A small, red-haired boy had fallen awkwardly into a puddle, his clothes soaked with mud.
He struggled to his feet, trying to catch up with the smartly dressed children striding away ahead of him.
"Wait for me..."
But the harder he chased, the farther away the children's retreating figures grew, and the more grating their laughter became.
The scenes began to change rapidly-
The young Huomu was deliberately tripped by a classmate, sending his textbooks scattering across the floor.
His homework notebook went missing, and the teacher made him stand as punishment while the whole class laughed at him.
A shopkeeper on the street saw him and waved him away like a fly, telling him to "get lost."
Something went missing from a neighbor's home, and everyone pointed in his face and cursed, "Who else could it have been but a born thief like you?!"
Countless clamoring voices became a wave of sound that swallowed the boy standing alone.
"Criminal's son!"
"As his son, you should atone with your life!"
"Drop dead!"
"Stay away from me! What rotten luck!"
"What are you looking at? Trying to steal something again?"
Wanting to escape those voices, the young Huomu ran with all his might.
As he ran, his figure gradually grew taller and leaner, and his childish face became more defined, until he had grown into a fifteen-year-old.
"Riiing-!"
The alarm clock suddenly rang.
The scene changed, and Huomu jolted awake from his dream.
He sat up and stared blankly for a few seconds.
Then he remembered something, glanced quickly at the time, and cried out in alarm:
"Crap! I'm going to be late!"
He scrambled into his clothes, grabbed some bread, and dashed out of the house, running full tilt toward the academy.
The bullet comments had already begun scrolling nonstop in the first few minutes:
"Ah! The lighting! Ah! The water!"
"Holy crap, these visuals, this presentation! This is impressive!"
"No wonder so many people online were praising the production! Awesome! [voice cracks]"
"The transitions in that running scene, plus the soundtrack-it's already got me feeling it!"
The episode continued.
What followed was the story that had already played out on the day of the promotional livestream.
The aptitude test, the broken instrument, everyone falsely accusing him, the group bullying...
When the story reached the point where everyone had cornered Huomu, interrogating and insulting him, the bullet comments hit their first peak.
Aside from the usual praise for the production, the rest were all complaints about the story:
"Damn! My blood pressure's rising!"
"What the hell? Isn't this protagonist way too spineless?"
"With production that amazing, this pile of crap is what they made?"
"The classic useless protagonist opening. Can this guy grow a backbone already?"
"Production being too good has its downsides too. It's so immersive I feel like I'm about to die of anger..."
Indeed, a protagonist suffering setbacks at the start was a common trope.