Restart life

Chapter 181 0178 [Manga Girl Suffers Tragic Death in a Society]

Xu Fengyin's photos going viral was purely accidental.

Chen Guiliang arranged for a professional photographer to take pictures of his cosplayers. Every single photo was exquisitely taken and posted on various forums and online communities.

These photos did generate some buzz, but they weren't nearly sensational.

What truly made them famous was a set of amateur photos.

The camera used a 300-megapixel sensor, and the angle, focus, and lighting were not very professional; it was taken by an ordinary exhibition visitor.

But it became a hit!
The photo was originally posted on the ComicV forum, a sub-community of an anime information website.

The post title was also unremarkable, showing no potential to become popular: "The Off-get off work Status of a Beautiful Cosplayer".

The first photo shows Xu Fengyin standing below the stage, looking at her phone, after a cosplay performance competition. Her face is flushed and hot, and a strand of her sweaty hair sticks to her cheek.

The second photo shows Xu Fengyin squatting by the roadside, raising her left hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, and pressing the phone button with her right hand to reply to a text message.

The third photo shows Xu Fengyin noticing someone taking her picture, smiling and waving at the camera. There's a hint of embarrassment in her smile, probably because she feels her squatting posture is indecent.

The fourth photo shows Xu Fengyin back at the Three Kingdoms Kill booth, standing there yawning and looking sleepy.

The fifth photo shows Xu Fengyin realizing she is being followed and photographed, and glaring angrily at the photographer to express her dissatisfaction.

"Wow, this cosplayer is so beautiful."

"Keep it up, OP! These photos look very natural. I've seen the other official photos, and although they're beautifully taken, they all seem too contrived."

"What game character is this?"

"Zhen Ji from the card game 'Three Kingdoms Kill'".

"I especially like the last one. He's frowning and glaring at people. He looks really good when he's throwing a tantrum."

"The second one is the best. She's playing on her phone while smoothing her hair. Her profile is so beautiful from that angle."

"Haha, this is my junior sister, from the XX Academy of Fine Arts. She used to draw illustrations for 'Comic Friends' magazine, but now she's working as an artist at Youke. I guess she was temporarily pulled into being a cosplayer by the company."

"So you're a cartoonist! How talented!"

"Senior Brother, what's your Junior Sister's QQ number?"

"I can't reveal her QQ number. But she has an account on this site, her username is 'Nine Can Carry a Knife' (another pseudonym). Haha, there's a surprise! I discovered it by accident."

"Holy crap! She's Kuno Tateto? I've even read her borderline comics."

"..."

Inadvertently, Xu Fengyin's past controversies were unearthed. ComicV users followed the clues and found several comics that Xu Fengyin had posted in the past.

It's really nothing, it's just pretty girls sticking on each other, and nothing that shouldn't be shown is exposed.

The most exquisite painting is of Tiandao Xia and Shanpu sticking together; this couple can only be described as outrageous.

Soon, users on the ComicV forum forwarded Xu Fengyin's photos and suggestive works to the Cosplay and Comic sections.

A pure and beautiful female artist, and slightly risqué comics—this amazing combination instantly ignited two online forums.

Then it was redirected to a bunch of manga forums like Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon. Only then did it move to Tianya Forum, Xici Hutong, Mop...

"what!!!!"

Xu Fengyin sat in front of the computer, clutching her head and screaming softly.

She felt like she was dead.

She creates borderline comics, but she never dares to let people in real life find out.

Now, those comics have been unearthed and are circulating wildly on the internet along with her photos.

Xu Fengyin could imagine the scene: she went downstairs to have a meal, and people pointed at her and whispered: "Look, that's the one who draws suggestive comics online..."

Also, what if my parents see this?

Xu Fengyin logged into her ComicV account, deleted all her posts, then deleted the account and destroyed all traces of her actions.

If her parents, relatives, or friends ask, she will deny it to the death, saying that it is just netizens spreading rumors and slander!

Immediately afterwards, Xu Fengyin logged into her Kaixin.com account, and netizens had already traced her there. This was because she had taken some time during the exhibition to post a set of cosplay photos.

The comments under those photos were densely packed, including many anime fans who came to express their love.

Xu Fengyin quickly wrote a blog post: "I hereby solemnly declare that I am not Jiu Neng Daidao from ComicV, nor have I ever drawn that kind of comic. Please do not make malicious assumptions..."

Some people believed it, and some people didn't.

Xu Fengyin kept refreshing the comments, and the replies from netizens made her feel guilty.

"How could such an innocent girl draw that kind of thing? You people are disgusting!"

"It's not disgusting at all. I think it's quite beautifully drawn, and there's no explicit content."

"The art style can't be hidden. Based on my years of experience as a manga fan, Kuno Tateto is this girl's alternate account."

"..."

When a programmer from Youke came back from the restroom, he passed by Xu Fengyin's workstation, gave him a thumbs up, and said, "Go, Xu! Looking forward to your new work."

Xu Fengyin vehemently denied it: "I didn't draw that!"

"I believe you," her programmer colleague winked at her.

Xu Fengyin broke down and covered her face.

How to do?
She was too ashamed to face anyone. Xu Fengyin typed on the keyboard, writing her resignation letter, but when she got to the reason for resigning, she didn't know how to make it up.

Furthermore, she was in charge of the art direction for the game "Three Kingdoms Kill," and the company even hired two assistants for her to mentor and train newcomers. It would be incredibly irresponsible of her to resign and simply walk away.

Xu Fengyin pretended to go to the restroom, took the elevator upstairs and headed straight for ByteDance.

Several employees looked over, and Xu Fengyin, feeling guilty, sensed that there was something wrong with those gazes.

"Secretary Hu, I'm looking for General Manager Chen."

"Knock on the door yourself."

After moving, Chen Guiliang finally had his own private office, and during the renovation, an outer room was partitioned off for his secretary, Hu Yuexia.

There are only about a hundred people now, so there aren't many rules.

Any employee with special circumstances can directly contact Chen Guiliang.

Even the job ranking system is somewhat redundant; companies with fewer than 150 employees don't need such a complex system. Consider it setting rules in advance to prepare for future expansion.

"Dong dong dong."

"Come in."

Chen Guiliang had been away from the company for more than half a month and was not in a hurry, but there were still a lot of things that he needed to handle personally and get them all done as soon as possible.

"The photos went viral?" Chen Guiliang already knew.

Game Science's marketing team is capitalizing on this trend, using the popularity to promote the game "Three Kingdoms Kill".

"Ah."

Xu Fengyin nodded.

The reason she came to find Chen Guiliang was because Chen Guiliang knew a bigger secret, and the matter of the borderline comics was nothing compared to that.

Moreover, she felt that President Chen must have a solution.

"Boss, what should I do? I'm so ashamed to face anyone," Xu Fengyin asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "Don't make any unnecessary movements. The more you explain, the more suspicious netizens will become. Just act like nothing happened, and it won't be long before everything is fine."

"Huh? But I just posted an article on Kaixin.com saying that Jiu Neng Dai Dao isn't my alternate account," Xu Fengyin asked. "Wouldn't that be considered an unnecessary action?"

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "It's alright, but it's not a big deal. Don't delete that article."

Xu Fengyin said weakly, "I've deleted all of ComicV's old posts..."

"Then there's no explanation, it's just a cover-up," Chen Guiliang tapped his forehead with his finger. "Think more before you act in the future. If Jiu Neng Dai Dao isn't your alt account, then why did Jiu Neng Dai Dao delete the post?"

Xu Fengyin slapped her forehead in regret: "I was so anxious I lost my mind."

Chen Guiliang said, "Go paint. You can forget everything when you paint."

"How do I get along with my colleagues? I always feel like they look at me strangely," Xu Fengyin asked for advice.

Chen Guiliang said, "Treat them the same way you used to. The more you show that you care, the more they will overthink it. If someone teases you about it or makes a few jokes, I think it's within acceptable limits. If someone really goes too far, just tell me directly, and after I verify it, I will give them a private warning. If they still don't listen to the warning, I will fire them."

"Thank you, boss." Xu Fengyin felt it was a feasible option.

"Go."

"Goodbye boss."

Xu Fengyin pretended to be calm and walked out, intending to act as if nothing had happened.

Secretary Hu Yuexia knocked on the door again and came in: "President Chen, Manyou Culture would like to schedule a time to discuss the distribution of physical trading cards in mainland China."

Hu Yuexia is nominally an employee of ByteDance, but Game Science sometimes calls her to help arrange things when they need to report information.

Chen Guiliang said, "Let Youke's business development specialists handle the negotiations themselves."

ManYou Culture, the parent company of ManYou magazine, is in talks to license Yu-Gi-Oh!. However, the asking price for Yu-Gi-Oh! is too high, with a licensing fee exceeding one million yuan, an outrageous 35% revenue share, and an extremely high guaranteed minimum fee.

ManYou Culture turned its attention to "Three Kingdoms Kill" and made initial contact at the Shanghai exhibition, but failed to reach an agreement after two talks.

The licensing fees and revenue sharing were negotiable, but ManYou Culture had other demands: Youke had to terminate its cooperation with online bookstores and Taobao stores. Even Youke's own Taobao store had to be transferred to ManYou Culture!
Chen Guiliang planned to leave them hanging for a few days, but unexpectedly, as soon as he returned to Beijing, Manyou Culture contacted him again.

I guess they're in a hurry, afraid of being snatched up by other companies.

They discovered that news of Koreans calling Chinese people stupid and Chen Guiliang demanding an apology from the Koreans continued to generate buzz even after the exhibition ended. Many print and online media outlets were discussing the phenomenon of Korean online games flooding the Chinese market.

At the same time, Youke is also promoting the successful overseas expansion of "Three Kingdoms Kill", which has been sold to South Korea and Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Coupled with Xu Fengyin's viral photos cosplaying Zhen Ji...

The popularity of "Three Kingdoms Kill" is steadily increasing, and it is highly likely that another company will emerge that wants to become the card game distributor.

ManYou Culture's concerns were valid. On the third day after Chen Guiliang returned to Beijing, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP) took the initiative to approach them seeking cooperation.

The full name of "Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press" is Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, and you can tell what it does just by looking at the name.

They believe that *Three Kingdoms Kill* is an educational card game that can also spread historical knowledge. They are directly skirting the educational aspect (using Three Kingdoms historical knowledge cards) and leveraging their monopolistic distribution channels in Xinhua bookstores and schools to sell *Three Kingdoms Kill* cards!

Ultimately, Chen Guiliang chose to collaborate with Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

Even though Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press's price was much lower than that of Comic Friends Culture.

However, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press offered an offer that was hard to refuse: they would use all available resources to combat piracy.

(End of this chapter)