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

At 4:03 a.m., Mi Ye woke up.

Consciousness rises quietly from the depths of sleep like a bubble emerging from the water, gently bursting open the moment it encounters reality, and then one is fully awake.

She slept all day yesterday, which completely messed up her biological clock.

She was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling like an appliance that had been fully charged but hadn't been unplugged.

"...Alright then."

She turned over, sat up, and her light golden short hair, after rubbing against the pillow all night, stuck up into a standard dandelion shape.

She ignored it, walked to her desk in her slippers, and pressed the power button on her laptop.

The screen lit up, and the silvery light spread out a small patch of cool-toned space in the dim room.

She turned the fill light to its lowest setting, just enough to illuminate the keyboard and desktop without disturbing the sleeping alley outside the window through the curtains.

The character illustration file she had drawn last night was still lying obediently on the desktop. She glanced at the icon, the corners of her mouth curled up, but she didn't rush to open it.

Her attention was elsewhere.

【MikuFans】

Mi Ye double-clicked the browser icon on her desktop and entered the URL she had memorized perfectly into the address bar.

The moment the page loaded, the familiar orange-pink interface filled the screen.

The logo in the upper left corner is still that white owl with its headphone cord tangled up, the mascot of MikuFans, an owl that supposedly has dark circles under its eyes due to staying up too late, but the witches all think it's cute because every witch sees herself in it while staying up late watching videos.

When she was a VTuber, opening this website every day felt like opening her second home.

The homepage recommendation algorithm is even more accurate than those platforms from the past, and can push content based on your viewing habits, magic frequency, and even mood preferences.

But she did not log in to her old account today.

Reminal already knows that the account is linked to the image of the silver-haired handsome boy "Miya".

She used a brand new email address to register a new account, clean and tidy, like a newly opened sketchbook.

[Profile picture: Default gray silhouette]

[Nickname: User 10086]

"...This name is so robotic."

Miya stared at the default ID for a while, then decided to ignore it for the time being.

She needs to figure out the environment of this new account first.

Since MikuFans was updated, she hasn't tried using a newly registered account yet.

She started browsing through the sections.

MikuFans's category system is larger than any video platform in her previous life.

At the top of the homepage is a row of navigation tabs, from left to right:

Live streaming, videos, short dramas, games, virtual YouTubers, music, knowledge, social interaction, magical competitions, sensory experiences.

Some tags have subcategories, such as 【Virtual Anchor】which is further divided into several sub-channels such as 【2D】, 【3D】, 【Pure Audio】, and 【Motion Capture】.

She even saw a newly opened category called "AI Companionship," with the description "A real-time interactive channel for virtual characters powered by AI."

I clicked in and took a look. There were already hundreds of live streaming rooms running. Most of the streamers' avatars were exquisite illustrations, but they all had a small blue AI icon in the lower left corner.

She left the AI ​​section and then browsed the sensory experience section.

This section was something she had never seen before in her previous life. Viewers could directly synchronize the streamer's sensory experience through a magical access device; touch, taste, smell, and even emotional fluctuations could be shared.

Of course, the barrier to entry is also very high, requiring a special external magic device, which cannot be run by a regular mobile phone.

This section features a popular video prominently displayed in the recommended section. The cover image shows a blue-haired witch standing on a sea cliff, and the title reads "Listen to the Seventh High Tide of Beihai with You - An Immersive Sensory Journey," which has over three million views.

Mi Ye scrolled down the page and saw a row of more down-to-earth content.

Insomnia support, stress relief clay sculpting, late-night kitchen sessions, chatting until dawn... a wide variety of activities, everything imaginable.

Then she glanced at the time in the bottom right corner.

4:11 a.m.

She thought MikuFans would be in a quiet, late-night mode at this time, but the opposite was true; the number of people watching the live stream was still incredibly high.

The homepage features several popular live streamers, each with over five-figure viewers.

She randomly clicked into a top-ranked live stream room, where a 3D motion-captured virtual streamer was having a late-night chat. The barrage of comments was so fast that she couldn't even read the individual messages; all she could see was a colorful mass of blocks of color moving across the screen.

Four o'clock in the morning.

Don't witches sleep?

Miya rested her chin on her hand and thought about it for a moment, then realized that it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.

In the witch society of Bellavita, there is no concept of normal routines. Some witches are nocturnal, some rely on magic to maintain their energy and only need to sleep for three hours, and some simply do not want to be alone in the dark.

MikuFans is their plaza, their living room, and the only passage through which they reach out and touch other witches in the dead of night.

The witches of this world have everything, except they are too lonely.

She left the popular live stream room and didn't stay long in those rooms with five-figure viewers.

The comments from those big streamers are too dense. Her current identity is "User 10086". Even if she sends a comment, it will be instantly flooded and it's meaningless.

She didn't think there was anything wrong with it when she was a verified account, but now, as a new account with no profile picture and no followers, looking at the rapidly scrolling barrage of comments, she suddenly understood the feelings of those viewers who sent comments in her live stream back then but were not read.

She started scrolling down.

After scrolling through several pages of recommended posts in the virtual YouTuber section, she clicked into a live stream.

The reason for clicking on it is simple: the cover image is a hand-drawn chibi-style figure with crooked lines that have a simple and cute charm, and the background is a bookshelf filled with magical props and plush toys.

The title of the live stream reads:

[Late-night singing practice; those who prefer quiet can leave their characters logged in.]

Miya glanced at the audience count in the upper right corner: 8 people.

When she clicked on it, a small gray message popped up in the lower left corner of the screen.

Welcome user 10086 to the live stream.

"...Huh?"

The chibi-style character on the screen stopped humming and moved closer to the screen, as if to confirm whether the bullet comments were real.

"Ah, a new friend! Hello, user 10086! Welcome, welcome! Welcome to my live stream!"

Her voice was clear and bright, carrying a hint of nervousness and barely concealed joy.

Miya was stunned for a moment.

When she was a popular influencer, her procedure for welcoming new viewers was fixed.

The comment assistant automatically read out the ID. She smiled slightly at the screen and said, "Welcome, new friend. If you like it, please follow me." Her tone was gentle but polite, as standard as a restaurant waiter saying "Welcome."

But the reaction of this little V was completely different.

Mi Ye typed a line of text in the bullet comment box and sent it.

User 10086: [That's such a beautiful song! What song is this?]

After reading the comments, the chibi-style character cupped his face in his hands.

Live2D has limited range of motion, but she tried to make the character lean back slightly, as if to hide her shyness.

"Thank you! This song is called 'Flowers and Water Melon,' and it's the ending theme of last month's new anime!"

"Thank you for listening to me finish singing. I thought no one would listen. I almost forgot the lyrics just now—"

Miya leaned back in her chair, a smile unconsciously creeping onto her lips. She could picture the witch behind the screen looking at herself, her expression probably exactly the same as when she first started her live stream.

My palms were sweating, my heart was racing, and I wanted to show off my best to every passerby.

She understood that feeling.

She sent another message in the chat box.

[You have a great voice, you'll definitely become popular if you release more covers!]

After sending the gifts, she opened the gift panel and flipped through a few pages.

MikuFans' gift system has expanded considerably since she became a streamer.

There are dozens of tiers ranging from the free "Light Stick" to the most expensive "Crown of the Stars," with a dazzling array of special effects.

Her finger paused on several expensive gifts, then swiped away, finally choosing a "Starry Sky Milk Tea" priced at 100 Loren.

The special effect is a few glowing little stars floating across a small screen. It's not expensive, but it's very warm and suitable for a late-night karaoke room at four in the morning.

She clicked the "gift" button.

A gift notification immediately floated across the screen, and several small golden pixel stars rose from the bottom of the screen, slowly drifting over the head of the chibi character.

The anchor paused for a moment, then jumped up from his chair.

"Huh?! Huh?! Starry sky milk tea?! Really?! Wait, did user 10086 send it?! User 10086—Boss! Thank you, boss!! Oh my god, this is the first time I've received starry sky milk tea in three months of streaming!"

The chibi-style character spun around twice on the screen, then covered its face.

The other viewers who were lurking in the chat were also brought out, and a few congratulatory messages drifted by, showing how generous the boss was.

Miya looked at the chibi-style figure on the screen, who was covering her face and spinning around for the third time, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

For Loren in the past, saying "thank you" would be enough. When she was in a good mood, she might say her ID, but when she was in a bad mood, she might not even be able to pronounce her name properly.

Because there were so many comments and gifts, she simply didn't have time to thank each one properly.

But in this late-night live stream with only 8 viewers, 100 Loren's Starry Sky Milk Tea became the grandest fireworks display of the day.

Looking at the little streamer who was so happy she was almost incoherent, she suddenly felt that the 100 Loren she spent was really worth it.

Sure enough, Little V's live stream is still more comfortable.

Mi Ye clicked the follow button.

Then she refreshed the page and noticed that the number of followers next to the following list had also jumped.

The other person followed her back while also following her back.

Miya stared at the "mutual follow" tag for two seconds, then curled the corners of her mouth and left the live stream.

She switched the page back to her personal homepage.

The gray default silhouette in the profile picture frame sat quietly there, with the nickname bar next to it displaying "[User 10086]".

The profile is blank, the activity feed is blank, the number of people following is 1, and the number of followers is 1.

This account is as clean as a blank sheet of paper.

But a blank sheet of paper is the best starting point.

She opened the settings panel and found a drawing she had made before in the profile picture upload section.

It's an earlier work, an OC she created herself when she wasn't very skilled at drawing in her previous life.

A little girl wearing a hooded cloak, with a few strands of silver hair peeking out from under the brim, is holding a black cat with a smug expression in her arms.

The lines are a bit rough, and the shadows aren't very even, but overall it has a kind of clumsy cuteness, like a little penguin wobbling as an adult leads it.

She cropped the image into a square, uploaded it, and confirmed it.

The default gray silhouette transformed into a silver-haired little girl holding a black cat.

Then comes the nickname.

Miya clicked the mouse over the nickname field and deleted "[User 10086]".

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before typing a string of letters.

flos

Miya leaned back in her chair, and a few clear birdsongs drifted in from outside the window, heralding the imminent awakening of this city where magic and technology coexist.

Bella Vita is quietest between 4 and 5 a.m.

The witches who stayed up all night finally couldn't hold on any longer and went to sleep, while the witches who went to bed early hadn't gotten up yet. The whole city seemed to take a long, deep breath during this time.

Meanwhile, Miya sat in this pause between deep breaths, her knees curled up on the chair, holding an imaginary black cat in her arms, her eyes reflecting the cold white light of the computer screen.

She yawned slightly and curled her knees even tighter into her arms.

I moved the mouse to the MikuFans live stream settings interface and opened it. Then I took out my sketchbook from the drawer, flipped to the page I had drawn last night, and started to refer to it in preparation for uploading the official version of the new V-skin.