Chapter 34
◎ Caught One (Includes Live Comments) ◎
A live stream aimed at their own fans wasn’t as formal as those with brand or platform tasks.
It was purely because Skye hadn’t appeared in the fans’ view for a long time, so they were popping up to chat and meet up.
The members were all very relaxed. They didn’t even get their hair or makeup done, nor did they change clothes; they were in their private, daily state.
They were still practicing dancing fifteen minutes before the broadcast. When the time approached, staff came to call them, and they moved directly from the practice room to the adjacent lounge, ready to start.
Having just finished dancing, Berlin took a tissue handed by the staff to wipe the sweat from his face, grabbed a cushion, and nestled onto the sofa.
The manager had briefly informed them beforehand that near the end of the stream, two trainees the company was currently optimistic about would come over to say a few words. To create a casual, relaxed atmosphere and not look like an intentional heat-grab, they would pretend to pass by and accidentally appear on camera later. In reality, they were waiting next door.
Berlin knew Cecil was one of them; he had messaged Berlin on WeChat.
The five of them fit perfectly on a three-person sofa. Berlin sat in the middle, Jiang Shuiran and Hua Yan on his left and right. Wu Hengyao and Han Yuzhe sat cross-legged on the carpet in front, allowing the phone to be placed directly on the stand without needing to be held.
Although Jiang Shuiran was the leader, Berlin had always implicitly been the center of the team. Not only because his personality was the most extroverted and cheerful, and not just because his teammates invariably listened to him the most, but the main reason was—Berlin was the only human in Skye. He should be able to understand the fans’ thoughts better, after all, the fans and his teammates were not the same species.
The live room was set up by staff in advance. It started on the dot. After the fans who had been squatting early rushed in, the face of a masked staff member flashed across the lens, followed by a shake as it was placed on the stand.
A hand adjusted it, and after moving away, all fans were greeted by the visual impact of Berlin leaning close.
The angle of the phone stand had been adjusted beforehand to landscape mode. After confirming the stream was running normally, Berlin leaned back, tilting his head to one side to read the messages scrolling rapidly across the screen.
[Ahhhhh caught off guard seeing Berlin, I almost threw my phone in excitement]
[I immediately gave the screen a fierce kiss hehehe (Only a bastard wouldn’t take advantage Thanks)]
[Don’t come over!! Are you so informal right off the bat? You make me feel like I’m video calling my boyfriend (:з」∠)]
[Bite your cheek, Lin Cub snuggles!]
Too many people flooded in within seconds, causing the server to lag slightly. It took two minutes to smooth out.
A staff member’s voice came from off-camera: “Little Lin, turn off the filter. It seems the filter is set a bit too high right now.”
Berlin looked up to listen to the staff, nodding. “Oh, oh, okay. Let me see…”
He wasn’t very nearsighted and rarely looked at electronics, only having about -1.00 diopters. Not wanting to block his teammates, he only leaned forward slightly to study the app functions.
Ten years ago, interfaces were overly simple; now they were increasingly flashy, making functions less direct. Berlin accidentally clicked several filters before switching back to the initial state. After confirming something, he scratched his head in silent amusement and looked at the staff member. “Sis, it wasn’t on to begin with?”
Staff: “…? Wait, let me see.”
Thirty seconds later, the staff member handed it back, trying to act nonchalant. “Oh, true.”
Berlin looked understanding. “I get it, Sis. Everyone is so good-looking it’s a bit inhuman.”
Staff: “…………”
The speed of comments in the live room skyrocketed again.
[I just burst out laughing hahahahahahahaha]
[Look, Brother Lin is showing off again (Puffs chest.jpg)]
[What? GNK employees actually dare to question the visuals of our modeling AI group! (Doge)]
[Off topic, I also want to hear Little Lin call me Sis (I have pink eye/envy TxT I want to clip this part for a ringtone qaq)]
[Little Lin: You make me laugh. After all, we are Skye, the AI group that passersby frequently cursed as fake people and wanted to boycott for using virtual idols when we debuted.]
[I really die laughing whenever I think about it. Skye debuted three months ago and passersby still thought GNK released a virtual idol group, asking which CV voiced Han Yuzhe hahahaha I can laugh about this for fifty years]
Wu Hengyao, sitting in the front row, tilted his head to look at the comments, his dynamic vision astonishing. “What is a CV?”
Before fans could answer, Berlin habitually explained: “It’s a professional voice actor.”
Wu Hengyao seemed to understand but not really. “Oh.”
[Teacher Wu’s 2G persona stands strong 23333]
[Today’s suspicion: Is Teacher Wu a wild handsome guy GNK dug out of the mountains?]
[Yes, we generally introduce Teacher Wu as an Earth-element handsome guy—meaning an artifact just unearthed. Very precious to me, sings and dances well, but is an ancient person (Doge)]
Skye’s live stream didn’t have a prepared script; the flow depended entirely on what the members thought of doing, very casual.
Berlin was in charge of cueing fan interaction. “If you guys have anything you want to chat about, feel free to send it. We’ll pick and answer whatever we see.”
The scrolling speed was too fast. Berlin didn’t have the inhuman dynamic vision of his teammates and had to squint hard to read carefully.
He randomly picked one to read out. Since the comments scrolled too fast, he read it instantly without processing the content: “Berlin look at me, Sis has a little money…”
His teammates turned to look at Berlin simultaneously: “?”
Staff broke out in cold sweat: “!!!!!”
Staff: “Berlin Little Lin, filter the content a bit, stay awake.”
Berlin, who hadn’t processed it at all, looked at the staff honestly with an apologetic face. “…Oh, oh.”
He muttered softly, “I didn’t expect the full face of that sentence before I finished reading it.”
Berlin looked directly at the camera with a sigh, as if making eye contact with the fans through the screen, and shook his head earnestly. “Look at you guys. If my live room gets banned, you all have to take ninety-nine percent of the responsibility.”
[Hahahahahaha someone save me]
[Marketing accounts: What? Berlin is streaming? Work time! (800-meter sprint)]
[Which sister said that? I truly admire you hahaha (Sis look at me, don’t be too strict on gender cough cough)]
[Sis give up, our Berlin is a rich first-generation himself, and don’t you know he’s married? Because of your sentence, he has to coax me for two hours tonight (Doge)]
Hugging the cushion, Berlin put on a serious face. “Auditors please don’t misunderstand, we are really a serious live room, strictly abiding by the healthy concepts of prosperity, democracy, civilization, and harmony, supporting success through our own hands and hard work.”
[Passerby wandering in: ?]
[Teacher Berlin’s grand classroom is open. Students attending Teacher Berlin’s online class, please take notes. Failure to get an A at the end of the term results in expulsion from Skye fandom (Not really)]
Teacher Berlin continued reading fan comments. “Mmm, this fan friend named ‘Little Lin’s Panda Dun Dun’, lately we’ve been in intensive training, just practicing, practicing, practicing every day. It’s not too tiring, actually. After all, I quite like practicing dance hehe. Being able to focus on nothing but dance for a while makes me quite happy.”
Han Yuzhe found a comfortable position to lie in, tilting his head slightly to read fan comments.
In his eyes, these rapidly scrolling messages were like slow motion; he could see every one clearly.
Han Yuzhe saw a response from a fan.
[Baby, don’t lie to me. How could you not be tired?]
Reading up to here, Han Yuzhe was still thinking that although Berlin was tired, he was happy, so the fans really had nothing to worry about.
Unexpectedly, he made the same naive mistake as Berlin—when he finished reading the second half of the sentence, he discovered the complete meaning was totally different from what he thought.
That fan: [You’ve been walking in my mind for two years, one hundred and eighty days, twenty-one hours, thirteen minutes, and twenty-five seconds. How could you not be tired!! (Covering mouth crying.jpg)]
Han Yuzhe: “…………”
Han Yuzhe: I haven’t been this speechless in my entire life.
He paused for a while, then silently straightened his head from reading the comments.
Han Yuzhe leaned his head back against the sofa expressionlessly, entering a state of zoning out.
Two years. Not used to it. As expected, I’m still not used to it.
Perfectly good humans, why must they speak like angels.
Fist clenched.
Berlin noticed Han Yuzhe leaning back, so he cued him. “Ah Zhe, you saw the comments just now too. Anything you want to say to the fans?”
Hearing this, Han Yuzhe looked at the lens with a serious expression. “I sincerely advise you all, as humans, don’t speak too much like angels.”
Berlin: “…?”
Although he didn’t quite understand why Han Yuzhe said that, he intuitively felt that the literal meaning fans understood was likely different from what Han Yuzhe wanted to express.
[Brother, Brother Han, who provoked you? Was it antis saying you don’t express love?! Don’t be too fierce all of a sudden; to be honest, I can’t handle it.]
[Han Yuzhe, you’re so cheesy hahahahahahaha. CEO quotes from twenty years ago: Check.]
[Unsolved mystery of the world: My idol says cheesy pick-up lines to me, but I inexplicably feel he’s scolding me (Not really)]
[Why can Han Yuzhe say lines like ‘Woman, you’ve caught my attention’ with a cold face? I’m reflecting on whether my overly passionate love has put too much pressure on Brother Zhe (No)]
[Thinking of calling 110 to ask what to do about possession SOS. Han Yuzhe, please quietly be a handsome guy and don’t try to blow rainbow farts at fans, otherwise I’ll use my toes to build you a villa (Tearful)]
Han Yuzhe: ?
Humans are really hard to understand. I know every character, but put them together and I don’t know what the fans are saying.
Berlin timely saved Han Yuzhe by reading a new comment. “Mmm, are we wearing makeup?”
He pulled a tissue from the coffee table and wiped his face with honest force several times, like scrubbing a face, then unfolded the tissue to show the fans. “No makeup on.”
[Little Lin is so honest I’m worried he’ll be abducted by a piece of candy (Looking at Little Lin’s scrubbed-red cheek with worry)]
[Wuwuwuwu our Little Lin is too good-looking, cute enough to make heads fall off with every move, why isn’t he mine (Biting pillow angrily)]
[The visuals that even haters can’t question, that’s our big Skye. Face-dogs will never leave the fandom!]
Berlin tried hard to read the comments. Among the IDs related to Skye, he saw a [Heart] that was neither the group nor individual support color hanging at the end of an ID. It was quite conspicuous amidst the full screen of comments. So he quickly took a screenshot, zoomed in, and looked closely—
Berlin: “?”
He touched his chin inquisitively, looking at the camera with a snicker. “Mmm, caught a wall-climber.”
Berlin executed a public execution, reading out the ID with amusement: “Today I also want to offer my heart to Brother Lu…”
“But the comment you left me is ‘What is the meaning of life without sleeping with Berlin’.”
Berlin blinked slowly. “? So did you climb from ‘Brother Lu’ to Skye, or from Skye to there and forgot to change your ID back?”
He sighed as if he had seen through it all, tilting his head with a knowing look. “I get it. So you just want to sleep with me, but don’t plan to give your heart.”
[Hahahahaha caught a multi-stan red-handed]
[Berlin: Only physical, not emotional. This fan friend, you are clearly a scumbag TT]
[Little Lin look at me, I-I-I promise to give both body and heart! I’ll be good to you forever!! (Self-recommending) (Drowned by suitors)]
Berlin shook with laughter, like a cat sitting on countless dried fish who wouldn’t be easily hooked by humans. “It doesn’t matter, you won’t succeed anyway.”
Wu Hengyao took a bite of beef jerky and subconsciously added, “Then can I?”
Berlin: “…?”
Three death glares shifted to Wu Hengyao simultaneously.
The comments on the screen paused for a moment; there were few new messages for two or three seconds.
Then, they exploded upward at breakneck speed.
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