Meruru's livestream set was indeed much more exquisite than the Wings of Freedom's. The background was a whole light curtain of swirling stardust, the edges of the frame were softly blurred, and even the font for the chat was a custom stardust theme.
Her face was exactly the same as on the billboards, her long pink hair reflecting a soft pearlescent sheen under the spotlights.
The tear beauty mark at the corner of her eye was outlined with silver eyeliner by a makeup artist, and when she smiled, it blinked in perfect sync with the flickering of the stardust light curtain.
She wore a transformation outfit that looked like a stage costume, her skirt adorned with musical note-shaped decorations that swayed gently with her every breath.
“Good evening, everyone~ Welcome to Meruru's Stardust Night special livestream! Please treat me well today too!”
Her voice was beautiful. The pitch of every syllable fell into the most comfortable frequency range, and every pause was just long enough for a wave of support messages to scroll across the chat.
The viewer count in the top-right corner of the livestream climbed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Meruru gave a gentle wave to the camera, and the chat was instantly flooded with words of encouragement.
“Today's special livestream was a last-minute decision, so I didn't prepare very well.”
Meruru curved her eyes into a smile at the camera, and the chat was immediately spammed with “It's fine!” and “Meruru looks pretty no matter what!”
She rested her chin in her hands, looking at the screen for a moment before reaching for the bag of potato chips on the edge of the low table.
On screen, Meruru was reading a fan letter, her voice incredibly soft and gentle.
The chat unanimously spammed “Angel” and “My fave is shining today as well.”
Qiluo's chewing slowed down.
She could indeed understand why so many people liked Meruru. She was pretty, had a beautiful voice, possessed strong combat abilities, was warm and friendly, and would even earnestly read out the staff members' names to thank them after singing.
If she were just an ordinary high school girl in this world, she would probably stick Meruru's posters on her headboard and spam the livestream chat too.
If she hadn't met those three from the Wings of Freedom first, she would likely have fallen for Meruru at first sight, just like the hundreds of thousands of viewers in the stream.
But she was Qiluo, and she had seen a clumsier, more genuine kind of sincerity.
Besides... Qiluo's chewing slowed down even more as she stared at Meruru's flawless face on the screen for a few seconds.
Then, she tossed the bag of chips onto the coffee table, got up from the sofa, and pushed open the bathroom door.
She stood in front of the mirror on the bathroom wall.
Her warm white short hair reflected a faint light in the mirror, and the red highlight at the tips glowed quietly in the dim lighting, like the last spark in a bed of embers.
Her skirt was an extremely pale warm white, and threads of light silently coiled and dissolved around her fingertips.
She tilted her head, sizing up the person in the mirror from head to toe.
“What do you know.” She leaned closer to the mirror and poked her own cheek with a finger.
Though she lived off convenience store bread and rice balls every day, she still had all the curves she was supposed to.
Turning sideways, she examined herself in the mirror and found that her waistline was actually slightly more defined than Meruru's, which was tightly cinched by her stage costume.
Meruru had to hop and bounce around on stage, but she had to stock shelves and carry heavy boxes at the convenience store every night; their physical exertion wasn't even on the same level.
“I'm not really any worse than her.” She blinked at her reflection, then realized the gesture looked too much like self-admiration. She quickly pulled her face back to normal and took a step back.
No, wait, it wasn't just 'not any worse.'
Their heights were about the same, and her face was no worse than Meruru's... Actually, looking closely, her own features seemed more three-dimensional, and the line of her nose was sharper.
Crossing her arms, she re-examined the Lightweaver in the mirror before coming to a conclusion: she was actually prettier than Meruru.
Though she was reluctant to admit it, Meruru's face was indeed very in line with this world's popular aesthetic.
But her own face was also top-tier—or 'highly competitive,' as they said in this world.
In her mind, she compared their physical features point by point, giving herself half a point more on every single item.
Then why were there hundreds of thousands of people watching Meruru's livestream, while Qiluo Tian Gong had stood behind a convenience store register for months without a single person praising her looks?
Qiluo figured it was because she rarely showed herself in public.
She adjusted her collar, stood up straight in front of the mirror, and tucked her hair behind her ears to reveal her full facial features.
Then, she looked at herself in the mirror and squeaked out a line in that cutesy, high-pitched voice Meruru had just used.
“Good evening, everyone~ Welcome to Lightweaver's special night livestream~ Please treat me well today too~”
...
The person in the mirror looked cold, and her tone lacked any idol-like quality whatsoever, sounding like a robot reading a script.
She quickly pulled down the corners of her mouth and turned away from the mirror.
Forget it, she wasn't cut out to be an idol.
She was just a free little bird; she didn't want to be locked in a cage and forced to sing for people at a fixed time every week.
When Qiluo came out of the bathroom, Meruru was adjusting the height of her microphone stand.
She cranked the stand up a few centimeters, leaned over to check the settings on the virtual screen attached to it, and tucked a strand of long pink hair behind her ear as it slipped off her shoulder, the motion so fluid it looked practiced a thousand times.
The viewer count in the top-right corner had already jumped to two hundred thousand.
Meruru took the microphone off the stand and held it in her hand, giving a gentle wink to the camera.
“This song is for everyone who is still awake at this hour—no matter where you are watching this stream, and whether you are happy or sad today, I hope this song can accompany you through a gentle night.”
Her fingers slid across the touchpad next to her, and the background music transitioned from upbeat electronic tones to a solo piano intro.
It was a very simple melody. A few single notes rippled out like water droplets falling onto a quiet pond, spreading outward in concentric circles.
Over in the sofa area, the three girls were all looking up at the projected screen.
Night Sakura pulled the last folding chair over to the side of the coffee table. After sitting down, she pushed her mask up slightly, revealing her full profile.
Qiluo walked to the other end of the sofa and sat down in her own corner.
Meruru closed her eyes, brought the microphone close to her lips, and sang the first line.
The moment the first note escaped her lips, Qiluo, who was leaning against the sofa armrest, froze.
It was indeed beautiful, but the reason she froze was because she sensed a fluctuation of mana.
It was extremely faint, hidden within the gaps of the melody, like a silver thread weaving through the layered accompaniment.
Ordinary people wouldn't notice it at all, but Qiluo Tian Gong was no ordinary person.
Rate on N.U.
