Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 455 - 406 Return to Hometown

Chapter 455: Chapter 406 Return to Hometown

The top-floor office was carefully arranged by Xu Yang, simple and elegant.

Xu Yang was talking across the wide desk with Wei Shiyue, while Du Qianqian sat in the small sofa area nearby, brewing tea with the ceramic teaset. Little Fool sat atop the filing cabinet, swinging her legs back and forth.

To avoid making Wei Shiyue feel uncomfortable, Xu Yang also hid his ebony ring a bit.

"My name is Wei Shiyue." She introduced herself with ease, and because of her tail, she had to sit straight in the chair, unable to lean back entirely.

"My last name is Xu," Xu Yang nodded, speaking gently, "I’ve heard about what happened in Silla, and I warmly welcome you here. This is Shijin Mansion, under the ’New World Mechanism’ name, and I am its owner. We have a deep cooperative relationship with Nestor Corporation, and if you’re willing to work together, we can join hands with Nestor Corporation to provide you with the appropriate supporting resources."

Unpretentious, Wei Shiyue liked this attitude. She brought the conversation straight to the point, without any other complications.

"Then, are you familiar with the idol industry?" Wei Shiyue leaned forward, "It’s a really deep business."

"We have operated one before," Xu Yang thought of the virtual live broadcasts of Mouse Witch Sally, "in terms of virtual idols."

"I look down on virtual idols," Wei Shiyue was very familiar with Suzukawa Kiyo’s methods, "A bunch of electronic Cinderellas clad in cheap skins, scamming money from naive boys, using water heaters for traffic, relying on low air pressure to slurp noodles and train fans. Some appear as pure broadcasters on the surface but play around with the alphabet community behind the scenes, even having Masters."

"You know about this," Xu Yang had to admit.

"My dance and singing skills are top-notch," Wei Shiyue boasted about her abilities, having debuted from the actual idol industry, "How could I compete with those virtual broadcasters who have ordinary looks and shoddy singing and dancing? Their streams consist of just watching videos, chatting, and playing games, without any real talent."

"Suzukawa Kiyo has also stopped broadcasting now," Xu Yang said, "Her glorious era lasted more than a decade, and now it’s come to an end."

Half a year ago, during the Blackfire siege, Suzukawa Kiyo had already stopped broadcasting several times, likely because her actual body lived in the Northern Archipelago and was affected by the conflicts.

After the Yama incident ended, Suzukawa Kiyo resumed broadcasting intermittently, but the reputation she built over a decade of dedicated streaming crumbled, leading to backlash and fan infighting.

Eventually, the once mighty "Suzukawa Army" fell apart, causing a huge impact, with malicious incidents occurring online and offline.

In early November of last year, perhaps unable to accept the decline in concurrent viewers, and after building up a thick wall around her heart, Suzukawa Kiyo officially stopped broadcasting and disappeared without a trace.

Wei Shiyue smiled and stood up from the chair.

Xu Yang felt that every girl nowadays was taller than him, and Wei Shiyue was no exception with a robust and tall stature, dazzling beauty as the Moonlight Princess, and especially her eye-catching beautiful legs, shapely and enticing.

"Once those virtual broadcasters become desolate, they can’t find an image anymore and have to leave the online world to spend their lives in a factory," Wei Shiyue said confidently, "I saw through that long ago. Many bottom-tier streamers don’t even make enough to cover their internet fees. We idols have a real fan economy! Back then, I could make seven figures just by endorsing a single ad. My fans are still out there; I want to work with you to prepare a new comeback work. I am top-notch in acting, singing, and dancing; I can do it all."

Du Qianqian gazed at Wei Shiyue’s figure, becoming more fascinated the more she looked.

Little Fool looked at her with pitiful and sympathetic eyes, which displeased Du Qianqian. She grabbed Little Fool off the filing cabinet, twirled her in her hands, and pinched her little face.

"Let me calculate," Xu Yang also knew Wei Shiyue’s potential influence was significant and she might be able to gain remarkable fame in the entertainment circle of the Northern Archipelago, "you’ll need an assistant, stylist, makeup crew, publicist, professional marketing and promotion, a comment control team, a complete data analysis department, photographers, logistics, a driver, and a music and dance team..."

"Most importantly, a manager!" Du Qianqian chimed in eagerly, "I’ll do it!"

"Alright," Xu Yang nodded, "Then you’ll be Wei Shiyue’s manager. But don’t let it interfere with your missions."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Du Qianqian was elated, rubbing Little Fool’s face with her hands.

"Then we’re all set," Wei Shiyue was satisfied.

"What was your pay like at Modern Entertainment?" Xu Yang inquired.

"I’ve always been paid as a trainee before, I got 5%, and the company took 95%," Wei Shiyue said, feeling angry at the thought, "I only got two million for one job; it was inevitable that I’d rebel."

Xu Yang operated on the terminal machine, ordering a bunch of equipment for Wei Shiyue to practice singing and dancing.

He also switched to the camera feed to check on the delivered goods, which were for updating Mond’s costume system and resetting the digital installations on the lunar surface; he was busy with this recently.

"I’ll help you prepare the contract. Nestor Corporation’s people will discuss the specifics with you," Xu Yang nodded to Wei Shiyue, "Because the nature of each commercial contract is different, they can’t all be treated the same, but the preliminary estimate for the profit-sharing ratio is at least 50%, with all expenses for food, housing, and training equipment covered by the company, plus a one-time settling-in fee of 3.5 million."

"Don’t we need a betting agreement?" Wei Shiyue pondered, "Like, if the business value doesn’t reach a certain amount, I’d have to compensate."

"If things turn out poorly, it’s definitely our fault," Xu Yang said, "In that case, we should be compensating you for the valuable time wasted with us."

Wei Shiyue felt good about the deal; she had expected a miserly penny-pinching company, ready to take some loss, but it turned out they were willing to spend money, much different from the artist studios she had worked with before.

No wonder this boss was well-regarded; it’s because he was generous.

After signing the contract, she would have to prepare well for her re-debut work, thought Wei Shiyue to herself. Her dramatic return would surely make fans all over the world scream with excitement.

"Then I’ll thank you in advance," Wei Shiyue bid farewell to Xu Yang, and then walked out. Du Qianqian also stood up, intending to follow.

Xu Yang gestured for Du Qianqian to stay.

"What’s up?" Du Qianqian first handed Little Fool back to Xu Yang.

Little Fool wobbled on the desk, rubbed her reddened face from the pinching, and placed Du Qianqian first on the naughty list.

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"Where’s the 300 million you earned in Silla?" Xu Yang sized up Du Qianqian.

"That would be her." Du Qianqian pointed to Wei Shiyue waiting at the elevator entrance and couldn’t help laughing as she spoke.

"I underestimated you," Xu Yang now realized that Wei Shiyue had been lured back by Du Qianqian, "It seems like she has illuminated your entire being."

"One brightens up in the presence of good people," admitted Du Qianqian, still in a bashful state, casually taking Wei Shiyue to dinner.

"Guagua." The Little Fool opened her arms to Xu Yang, wanting to go downstairs to eat.

Xu Yang picked up the Little Fool, his mind dwelling on Wei Shiyue.

Her character and abilities were both exceptional, befitting of the Moonlight Princess.

Since she was willing to come over, he would of course provide sufficient resources; not only could she bring economic benefits, but also greatly expand the brand influence of Nestor Corporation.

The dining area in Shijin Mansion was split into two levels: the upper level was a buffet restaurant for the Witch Activity Room, while the lower level had a super-large cafeteria for the young witches.

Upon arriving at the upper level restaurant, Wei Shiyue was immediately attracted by the scent of meat and seafood; Silla’s conditions were poor and couldn’t provide such fine food.

The Dragon, being an undeniable carnivore, was in a great mood when confronted with a feast, promptly taking all the restaurant’s salmon sashimi, shrimp salad, steamed bass, grilled chicken skewers, spicy minced meat wraps, and burger curry rice.

Before even starting to eat, Wei Shiyue also spotted high-quality Wagyu being offered, and took another five plates of thick-cut steaks, chose cherries for her fruit, drank red wine, and consumed an entire table’s worth of food all by herself.

"Raising a dragon sure is costly," Xu Yang sighed. Wei Shiyue’s appetite alone was equivalent to a combination of the other witches.

"I’ll work to sustain her!" blurted out Du Qianqian, afraid that Wei Shiyue might be driven away.

It seemed that Du Qianqian was truly fascinated by Wei Shiyue, Xu Yang thought to himself.

The Synthetic Maids did their best, barely managing to restock before Wei Shiyue could completely empty the restaurant. Satisfied with her meal, Wei Shiyue sat in her dining chair swaying, her tail sticking out and flicking in the air.

Pan Ruiyi arrived for dinner, and upon first seeing Wei Shiyue, didn’t recognize her. She approached for a chat while activating her face shield to avoid recognition.

"Who are you?" Pan Ruiyi looked at the pile of empty plates in front of Wei Shiyue, astonished. She thought she was a witch accustomed to binge eating, but this woman could eat even more.

Could this be the new witch whose magic power is to eat ravenously? But that made no sense; apart from burning money, what else could it do?

"I’m Wei Shiyue, the food here is quite good, huh? I’ve become a bit fond of this place," Wei Shiyue said with a smile.

"Hm?" Pan Ruiyi tilted her head, Kyushu High Pavilion’s internal brief had mentioned Wei Shiyue, the dragon famous for scorching the Suzukawa army on the battlefields of Silla, "Okay then, I’m Da Pan, the security here. Nice to meet you."

Then Pan Ruiyi quickly moved away, worried that Wei Shiyue might snatch up the remaining meat, so she went ahead to secure a spot.

"Does she have a name?" Wei Shiyue walked over to Xu Yang as he prepared milk and vegetable paste for the Little Fool.

"Guabu?" The Little Fool looked at Wei Shiyue.

The moment of truth had come. Sooner or later, Xu Yang would have to come up with a proper name for the Little Fool; he couldn’t keep calling her that in front of others—it would be too unfair to the child.

"Xu Cheng," Xu Yang formally named the Little Fool, with the meaning of pure clarity.

"Gua!" The Little Fool was joyful.

"What an amusing person," Wei Shiyue nodded approvingly.

The Little Fool didn’t seem too bright; the person willing to take care of her must be very patient.

Today’s visit to Shijin Mansion truly had been an eye-opener for Wei Shiyue. Glancing around, she felt extremely satisfied. After a stroll and street shopping with Du Qianqian, drafting an idol contract, and meeting most of the people here, a visit to her dormitory topped off what was a perfect day.

Xu Yang led Wei Shiyue to her dormitory on the 11th floor of the mansion, a standard forty-square-meter space including a full-sized bedroom, shower, bathtub, dressing room, and spacious living room. The appliances included a mini-fridge, food processor, smart screen, and several gaming consoles.

Wei Shiyue was quite fond of this private bedroom, which she found to be soft, comfortable, and elegant, designed in a modern style with a color scheme centered on grey and white, simple and generous.

"If there’s anything you want, just write a request list," said Xu Yang, "Everything will be in place within two days at the latest."

"This is a nice room." Wei Shiyue sat on the grey pure leather sofa, testing the fluffiness of the sponge filling, and after a pause, she remarked softly, "... But I have lived in better places, a palace, incomparable to any earthly scenery."

"Will you go back?" asked Xu Yang.

"Soon," Wei Shiyue nodded, "to settle some personal scores."

"Then I’ll see you later." Xu Yang turned and left.

See you later? Wei Shiyue didn’t quite catch the implication of his words. She was planning to travel to the distant Moonlight Palace; perhaps he meant that he would bring something over later.

After resting for a while and ensuring there was nothing to attend to, Wei Shiyue locked the door and then began to release the Moonlight Ritual, establishing communication with her long-unseen father and finally summoning a portal to the Moonlight Palace.

Then, she stepped through with ease and disappeared from the mortal world.

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