The problem, however, was that early in the story, Huomu showed more of his "people-pleasing personality."
Rather than fighting back against the bullying, he shrank away from it. Amplified by the top-tier audiovisual presentation, this made some viewers seeking a "satisfying" experience uncomfortable.
They felt almost as if they were being bullied themselves, and their anger kept rising.
Just as the complaints in the bullet comments grew more and more frequent-
"So damn noisy."
A voice suddenly rang out in the scene, interrupting the people bullying Huomu.
The camera cut to a close-up of its source.
In the back row of the classroom, the masked boy who had been lying on his desk had sat up straight at some point.
His tone was impatient, as if his peaceful sleep had been disturbed.
The moment the masked boy finished speaking, the crowd who had been passionately berating Huomu a second earlier fell silent, as if someone had pressed a mute button on them all at once.
For an instant, a pin could have been heard dropping in the classroom.
Under the respectful or fearful gazes of the crowd, the masked boy stood up. Without looking at anyone or saying a word, he put his hands in his pockets and left the classroom.
Throughout it all, he said nothing else besides "So damn noisy."
Yet, in an almost overbearing fashion, he had forcibly put a stop to the frenzied bullying.
Here, the scene showed a slow-motion close-up of Qiji's departing back from a slightly low angle.
Sunlight streamed through the window, outlining his pure white mask and black coat in a dazzling glow.
It was also at this moment that quite a few viewers sporting "Qiji lv1" badges jumped out to recommend him to the newcomers:
"The real protagonist is here, guys!"
"A little spoiler: this guy's face under the mask is super handsome!"
"An absolute powerhouse! That's where his awesome aura comes from! His livestream room is 919191!"
"Guys, once you're done watching the anime, gather in Brother Ji's livestream room!"
Chapter 22: Short! Way too short!
With just one shot and one line, the mysterious, languid, powerful "masked genius" Qiji, who also seemed to have a slightly different attitude toward the protagonist, entered the viewers' sight in a striking fashion.
Next, the scene cut to a shadowy spot in the teaching building's hallway.
A figure stood quietly in a dimly lit corner.
The camera slowly moved in, giving Liuli a close-up that drew nearer from a distance.
She was the first female character to make a formal appearance in the anime.
Her long, misty-purple hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, and her white academy uniform outlined a slender yet curvy figure.
She gave off an aloof, distant, and fragile air.
Thanks to her stunning character model, Liuli caught the viewers' eyes almost immediately.
The bullet comments, which had been furiously complaining about the protagonist's cowardice and the frustrating plot a second ago, seemed to hit the pause button, coming to a halt for a second or two.
Then the topic shifted in an instant:
"Holy shit-!!! That face! That aura! She's so my type!"
"You had a female character this amazing and didn't bring her out sooner?! Why were you hiding her?!"
"She's my type! Absolutely my type!"
"Just for that character model, no matter how much the story stinks later, I'll hold my nose and watch at least another episode or half an episode!"
Amid the flurry of bullet comments, the story continued-
Liuli took off her glasses and used Mind Echo.
With the brief interspersed scenes and Liuli's inner monologue, the viewers finally realized:
Someone had been fanning the flames of the bullying in the classroom from behind the scenes.
And the one responsible was this seemingly weak and harmless girl!
At this moment, the bullet comments fully illustrated what it meant to "let your morals follow your eyes":
"Liuli, I support you killing Huomu. We nominate you as the new lead!"
"An absolutely gorgeous bad woman? I'm so into that!"
"Miss Liuli, stop controlling Huomu and come control me instead! Haaah, haaah..."
Under Liuli's influence, Huomu rushed up to the rooftop.
Just as the viewers thought this frustrating first episode was really going to pull the spectacularly awful stunt of "the protagonist jumps off a building at the start"-
The masked boy who had just left such a deep impression on them appeared on screen again.
This guy had apparently been lying on the rooftop asleep all this time...
Now, seemingly disturbed from his nap, the masked boy sounded rather impatient.
But judging from what he said and did, the viewers could tell this guy was clearly helping Huomu despite his sharp tongue.
In the scene, Qiji's voice slowly rang out:
"But those are just rumors. Attacking someone without even knowing whether they're true or not is just stupid! Do you take me for one of those idiots in the classroom?"
"It's not a question of whether I believe them or not. Hurting someone based on guesses and one-sided claims is something only an idiot would do."
Those two lines stood in stark contrast to the vicious words Huomu had suffered while being bullied earlier.
The bullet comments instantly began scrolling by at high speed:
"Damn! Those morals! They're so upright!"
"An absolute powerhouse! The rationality that comes from it! The one who taught Huomu to live was..."
If the rooftop conversation had shown just how upright Qiji's morals were, as well as his sharp-tongued but kindhearted personality,
Then the following part of the story focused on his terrifying strength, which utterly surpassed that of his peers.
Controlled by Liuli a second time, Huomu walked toward the edge of the rooftop in a daze and leaped off!
At the critical moment, Qiji moved.
He reached out, grabbed him, and pulled him back.
It was smooth and effortless!
He was so fast that even with their eyes wide open, the viewers couldn't see it clearly.
Afterward, Qiji sought out the mastermind to stand up for Huomu.
He confronted Liuli face-to-face.
With a light flick of his finger, he shattered one of Liuli's lenses.
At the same time, the scene inserted Liuli's shocked thoughts-
This lens was specially made from Echo Crystal. It's hard enough to easily withstand a full-force strike from a second-tier transcendent...
And it was... shattered with a flick of one finger?
You've got to be kidding...
After highlighting Qiji's power indirectly, this episode finally had him deliver his famous line-
"In front of everyone, I'll beat you until you piss your pants and more."
"P-piss her pants???"
"Hajiqi, you bastard, do you even hear what you're saying?!"
"I'm dying! That's how you threaten a beautiful girl? What beautiful girl could withstand a threat like that?!"
"Is this guy a devil?"
"Who's the villain here?! I can't tell! I really can't tell!"
Amid the many laughing and joking bullet comments, there were also some... rather peculiar ones.
For example-
"Ahhhh! Lord Qiji! Please! Beat me until I piss my pants too!!!"
That bullet comment fully demonstrated the diversity of the human species...
While the viewers were following the anime, Qiji himself hadn't missed the premiere either.
In the cramped rented apartment, Qiji was eating dinner with his younger sister when he suddenly saw that outrageous bullet comment.
"Pfft-!!!"
He nearly choked noodle soup out of his nose and immediately broke into a violent coughing fit.
His sister laughed at him for it, too.
"Big brother actually eats noodles with his nose!"
The first episode ended with a flashback to Liuli's childhood memories.
A cold father, a Curse Binding carved into her soul, the little girl's silent tears and utterly lifeless eyes...
The bullet comments, which had been joking about "pissing pants" and shouting "bad women are the best" a second earlier, suddenly ached for her.
"Liuli... (crying)"
"What kind of human scum is the Kamishiro Family?! They deserve to die!"
"No wonder she turned out like this!"
"Suddenly I can't hate her anymore..."
Just as the viewers found themselves immersed in the superb presentation, the screen suddenly went black the next instant.
The ending theme, "Cocoon of Emptiness," began to play, soft and tinged with an ethereal sadness.
The credits began to roll.
Bullet comments: "???"
"Damn?! It's over already?!"
"You cut it off right when I was getting emotional?!"
"Short! Way too short! It wasn't nearly enough!"
"Where's the next episode? Why hasn't it been served up yet?! Even the production team's donkeys wouldn't dare rest this much!"
"What the fuck is with that runtime? Who are you looking down on?! Give me two more episodes! (slams table)"
"Holy shit, they really did give us two more episodes-"
The viewers had initially been complaining about the runtime out of habit, venting their frustration at being abruptly cut off just as they were getting hooked.
After all, given the production values Echo had shown so far, they would already be thanking the heavens if it could keep up a weekly release without the quality falling apart. No one had expected it to release more.
However-
Just as the ending song was about to finish and most viewers were preparing to leave the page,
The screen lit up again!
The title "Episode 2" appeared before their eyes!
And beneath the "Episode 2" option, there was even an "Episode 3" button!
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the bullet comments were instantly flooded with unparalleled joy:
"Holy shit?! Holy shiiiiiit!!!"