Miss Witch, even if we're poor, we can't sell ourselves!

Consciousness traversed the deep blue sea of ​​stars, and Mi Ye barely lingered in the login space.

The water beneath her feet reflected the slowly moving constellations, their pale golden trails shattering into tiny specks of light as they touched the tips of her shoes, only to quickly coalesce again.

She easily confirmed her character and then stepped into the portal to Lantern Street.

The moment she landed, the enormous canopy of the banyan tree spread out above her head, with hundreds of lanterns hanging from the branches, bathing the entire message platform in a warm golden hue.

The red prayer ribbons tied to the bronze railings fluttered gently in the night breeze, almost exactly where she had stood when she last logged out of the game.

As soon as Mi Ye regained her footing, before she could even turn around to look for someone, a pair of arms reached out from behind and wrapped around her waist.

"Flower Baby—!"

The little ghost's voice came from behind my ear; it sounded very happy.

Miya froze on the spot, feeling a soft touch on her back. The little ghost's chin rested on her shoulder, carrying a faint floral scent.

What's worse, the little ghost showed no sign of stopping, her entire weight resting on Mi Ye's back, the soft flesh clinging perfectly to her back through the thin veil of her light green ancient costume.

The face beneath the fox mask flushed red instantly.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but couldn't bear to say anything that might make the other person let go. Her fingers clenched at her sides, but in the end, she let them fall down, allowing the little ghost to hold her.

"...Okay, good evening."

The voice came through the mask, softer and sweeter than usual.

The banyan tree branches swayed gently in the night breeze, and the glowing moss covering them blurred the shadows of the two people.

"Cough cough."

A cough that was clearly intentional came from behind.

The two people who were hugging each other jumped away shyly at the same time.

Miya turned around, her fingers unconsciously gripping her cuff, and she looked down as if she were adjusting the small flowers on her belt.

The little ghost was calmer than her, simply pulling her white veil to the side of her face, covering most of her face except for the faint pink tinge on the tips of her ears.

Hoshimachi leaned against the bronze railing of the radio station, her dark blue high ponytail swaying gently in the night breeze.

She was still wearing that plain blue ancient costume, the white mask pushed up to her forehead, a meaningful smile curving her lips, one hand covering her mouth, her shoulders trembling silently.

"Oh dear, did I disturb anything?"

She turned her head away, smiling as she looked up at a koi lantern above the banyan tree. The innocence in her voice was so convincing that even the lantern probably wouldn't believe her.

Miya hurriedly pressed the mask back onto her face, her voice filled with panic.

"No! We have nothing! We're just waiting for her, waiting for me!"

"Yes, I believe you."

Hoshimachi pulled the mask down to cover his face again, finally suppressing his laughter, but the lingering teasing in his voice still made Miya extremely embarrassed.

The little ghost stood to the side, pursing her lips and saying nothing, raising her hand to tuck a strand of long white hair behind her ear.

After a brief silence, Hoshimachi straightened his expression, took a few steps forward, and the three of them formed a small circle around the radio station.

She squatted down, picked up a fallen banyan branch, and pretended to draw a simple diagram on the bluestone slab.

"Get to the point. I just checked, and someone on the MikuFans forum has already summarized the correct way to play."

She looked up and glanced at the two of them.

"The mechanism of this event is very straightforward. The members of the idol team are divided into roles: one person is responsible for killing monsters to accumulate points, and the points are used to buy display space. The rest of the team uses the points to find various stage performances on the map and accumulate popularity points."

Miya squatted to one side, her hands resting on her knees, listening attentively.

The little ghost stood beside her, the hem of her light green dress fluttering gently in the mountain breeze. The sheer fabric of her sleeve accidentally brushed against Miya's shoulder, causing Miya's face to flush again. She quickly checked to make sure Hoshimachi wasn't looking at her.

Hoshimachi continued drawing on the ground.

There are two key points here.

"First, the live stream is anonymous and can only be accessed through homepage recommendations. All players wear masks, which means that even if you have hundreds of thousands of followers in real life, you start from scratch here. Viewers can't find their own accounts, and some minor idols even deliberately impersonate popular idols to muddy the waters, so relying on past fame won't work."

"Secondly, building popularity relies on continuous exposure, not just singing one song. You need to make people see you, remember you, and click into your live stream next time they come across it instead of swiping away."

She paused, then tapped the circle on the ground representing the message board with a twig.

"So my idea is to take it one step at a time. We should first establish a virtuous cycle of points and exposure, and then consider expanding beyond our niche once we have stable exposure."

She looked up and glanced between Mi Ye and the little ghost.

"So here's the question: which of you two will go fight the monster?"

After a brief silence, the copper bells hanging from the banyan tree tinkled softly in the wind.

The little ghost lowered her head, her wide, light green gauze sleeves concealing her clasped hands in front of her.

"I probably... can't do this. I can't be of much help when it comes to fighting monsters."

Miya took the opportunity to take a step forward.

"I'll take care of it, it's nothing."

Hoshimachi didn't show any surprise, he just nodded, after all, Miya was a student of Tsuki no Mori.

"That's settled then. Little Ghost, stay with me on Lantern Banyan Street. We'll go and check out the stage locations and performance rules on the map."

"Um!"

Miya stood up and stretched her wrists.

"Then I'll go do the mission first, and we'll meet at the Message Platform after I'm done."

She finished speaking and turned to leave, but as soon as she took a step, her sleeve was gently tugged.

Turning around, the little ghost reached out and grabbed the corner of her sleeve.

Be careful.

She said that, and then gently released her hand.

Miya looked into those eyes, then smiled and said, "I understand."

She turned around quickly, the ends of her short black hair drawing a clean arc in the air, and then ran down the bluestone steps of the mountain path without looking back.

The pink skirt shimmered in the lantern light, quickly disappearing into the direction of Dengrong Street at the foot of the hill.

Hoshimachi stood up, brushed the fallen leaves off his hands, and turned to look at the little ghost beside him.

A slight smirk appeared on her lips beneath the white mask, but she wisely said nothing.

The little ghost bent down to straighten the wrinkles in her cuffs, her movements slow and deliberate, her ear tips still pink.

The lanterns on both sides of the mountain path swayed gently as Mi Ye left with his footsteps, and the bluestone pavement echoed crisply underfoot.

She ran down the mountain path for a while, and the lanterns on both sides of her vision became denser and denser, and the aroma of roasted chestnuts began to waft through the air.

We've arrived at Dengrong Street.

The wooden pavilions on both sides of the bluestone road were crowded together, and the lanterns hanging under the eaves were so colorful that they almost dazzled her eyes, making the whole street brighter than daytime.

Mi Ye opened the task panel.

[Clearing out the source of miasma in the south of the city]

[Grade: C]

An unusual miasma has appeared near the abandoned shrine in the south of the city, and low-level monsters have been detected. It is recommended that a team of witches of level C or higher proceed.

There is a chance that special missions will appear; completing them will earn you even more rewards.

[Task Reward: 50 Points]

Miya confidently squatted down by the roadside, flipped her wrist, and pulled out the beginner's short sword from her system inventory.

The knife feels similar to a kitchen fruit knife in hand, which suggests that the system's weapon availability is currently very limited; at least for now, everyone can only use basic equipment.

But it doesn't matter, she didn't make a living with weapons anyway, and the other witches are probably the same.

With a leap, the fox disappeared into the night.