Countless questions flashed through Nuwa's mind.
What was going on with Teacher Painted World?
Why had she crossed genres?
And who was this "Moonlit Sea's Roaring Fishy Cat"?
It sounded like some cutesy elementary schooler; she'd never heard of a screenwriter with that name.
Could it be... her account was hacked? Or was she kidnapped by some unscrupulous corporation and forced to change her style?
As it turned out, Nuwa's wild guesses were not far from the truth; poor Griseo had indeed been kidnapped by the unscrupulous capitalist, Su Yu.
She frowned, hesitated for a few seconds, then decisively opened her live-streaming software.
"Hello everyone, I'm Nuwa."
On camera, the black-haired, red-eyed girl pushed up her glasses, her expression serious.
"I just got word that Teacher Painted World has released a new work. But... the genre this time is a bit special—it's a suspenseful yuri."
The bullet comments immediately started flying.
[What?! Teacher Painted World isn't drawing otome anymore?!]
[Yuri? Am I seeing this right? Isn't she gonna throw out her back with a leap that big?]
[Healing? What do you mean?]
[This screenwriter's name is so weird. I'm sensing a trap, guys.]
[It's over, it's over, Teacher Painted World has been bought out by the corporations.]
[Let's take a look first, what if it's actually amazing?]
Nuwa cleared her throat, her eyes sharp.
"I've decided to read it with everyone right now. If it's a total disaster... I'll write a three-thousand-word essay on the spot criticizing this kind of blind genre-hopping!"
She clicked open "The Three-Year Sakura."
The cover filled the screen.
There were no typical sugary color palettes, nor was there any suggestive, risqué fan service.
There was only a dim, gray hallway, with the silhouette of a long-haired girl standing at the end. Shadows obscured her face, revealing only a pair of vacant eyes that seemed to be staring at every person outside the screen.
First impression—the atmosphere was absolutely incredible.
Nuwa began to flip through the main text.
The first page was a long shot of the school. The scene under the cherry blossom trees seemed beautiful, yet it exuded an indescribable sense of oppression.
The second page cut to an interior classroom scene. Students were gathered in small groups, laughing and chatting, while in the bottom right corner of the frame sat a silent girl.
Asakura Miyuki.
Nuwa's gaze was drawn to that girl.
Her head was lowered, long hair covering half her face, with only one pale hand tightly gripping her skirt.
That sense of isolation, of being cut off from the world, assaulted her through the screen.
"This composition..." Nuwa murmured to herself, "This has some substance."
She continued scrolling down.
Page five, the bullying began.
The twisted faces of the bullies, Miyuki's shoulders trembling as she endured it.
The line art still had Painted World's characteristically delicate style, but this time it carried a suffocating tension.
Nuwa's expression gradually grew serious.
Page twelve.
Miyuki sat alone on the rooftop, the moonlight stretching her shadow long.
Her eyes were vacant, yet the corners of her mouth were turned up slightly, as if she were smiling, or perhaps crying.
That expression...
Nuwa's heart felt as if it had been squeezed by something.
Further down.
Page eighteen.
Miyuki, having been rejected, began showing signs of a Honkai eruption.
Miyuki's long hair flowed around her, her eyes turning a hollow red.
"The way this transformation is handled..." Nuwa's voice was getting excited. "The way this transformation is handled, the explosive power in these lines... It's too strong!"
The tone of the bullet comments also began to shift.
[This sense of pressure... I can't take it, someone get me an oxygen tank!]
[Is this the true power of Teacher Painted World? She's even this amazing at drawing yuri?]
[Poor Miyuki, waaaah... I want to mail the artist razor blades to use on those bullies!]
[This is even more intense than BL! This kind of sick tension!]
Nuwa flipped to the last page.
Under the cherry blossom tree, facing Asakura Miyuki's illusory yet relieved smile, a hand seemed to reach through the frame to grab her.
Slender fingers, a delicate wrist, trying to grasp something.
Only a few centimeters separated the hand from Miyuki.
That regret of being so close yet unable to touch, that feeling of redemption blooming in the midst of death.
Only the final line remained—
[Happy birthday, Kiana.]
The manga's content ended there, and that final line left Nuwa stunned.
The live stream chat went quiet for a few seconds.
And then—
"Ho... ly... shit..."
Nuwa couldn't hold it back and let out a beautiful piece of her mother tongue.
The bullet comments, which had been filled with "I don't get it" and "This is so depressing," also paused strangely for a few seconds before instantly exploding.
[This is way too good!]
[Teacher Painted World, please accept my bow! I'm not reading otome anymore, I'm only reading this!]
[That detail with the outstretched hand is brilliant! Is this what they call hiding a razor blade in candy?]
"Brothers! I take back what I said earlier!"
Nuwa slammed her hand on the desk, making her figurine cabinet tremble. Her face was bright red, flush with the ecstatic joy of discovering a peerless treasure.
"What failure to transition? This is a dimensional takedown!"
She pointed at the screen, speaking at a rapid pace, having completely entered a state of frenzied promotion:
"Look at this gaze! Look at this lighting! Teacher Painted World doesn't just understand men, she understands women even better!"
"This sick and fragile yuri aesthetic... I can't, I have to bow down to this screenwriter, Moonlit Sea's Roaring Fishy Cat! Who wrote this script? They get it! They f*cking get it!"
"I hereby declare that from this day forward, 'The Three-Year Sakura' is my number one of the year! Who agrees? Who objects?"
With a grand wave of her hand, Nuwa pinned the manga link to the top of her live stream chat, set the font to its largest size, bolded it, and turned it red.
"What are you all standing around for? Go read it! And remember to come back and cry with me when you're done! It's a crime against heaven for a masterpiece like this not to go viral!"
[Nuwa's eating her words so hard, lolllll]
[LMAO, going from critic to super-fan only takes ten minutes, huh?]
[Honestly, that last page got me too. That screenwriter has some serious skills!]
[Moonlit Sea's Roaring Fishy Cat, remember that name. Feels like the alt account of a master.]
[Screenshot saved for posterity!]
Nuwa took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, but she couldn't suppress the smile on her face.
"Anyway, for the first chapter of 'The Three-Year Sakura,' I'm giving it a full score, and I'm not afraid to be proud! Highly recommended!"
She gave a thumbs-up to the camera.
"Teacher Painted World is forever a god! And that Teacher Fishy Cat, please, you must continue to release new works!"
That night, thanks to the roaring recommendation of the top-tier fan community influencer Nuwa, "The Three-Year Sakura" spread through the internet like a virus.
Su Yu's backend data began to skyrocket at an astonishing rate.
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