The scene shifts back to Robin. At 3 PM, she played the instrumental track in her live stream and sang the entire song. After confirming there were no issues, she turned to the camera, flashed a professional smile, and said, "That's all for today. If you enjoyed the stream, please consider following me. As for the next stream time... I'll let you know later."
Though Robin had interacted sparingly with the bullet comments during the hour or two of the stream, she still offered a few polite closing remarks before ending it.
Dragon Lady Isn't Cute?: Huh? That's it?
Dragon Lady Isn't Cute?: Sing a few more songs, please?
Dragon Lady Isn't Cute?: Chirp~! Please, please, please!
Throughout the stream, this particular viewer's comments had appeared with remarkable frequency. Even though Robin rarely checked the chat, she couldn't help but notice the guy's messages every time she glanced up. He was either showering her with praise for her beautiful singing or unleashing fiery curses upon the entire family trees of her detractors—a true powerhouse in the comment section.
Even though this was Robin's first live stream, her chat was already swarming with trolls. Some criticized her rude attitude, saying she ignored viewers and didn't even acknowledge gifts. Others complained that her beauty filters were cranked up too high, making her look inhuman. But that's the internet for you—nothing's surprising.
While online negativity often breaks people down, Robin was immune. It all came down to the same reason as before: she simply didn't care.
They're criticizing my attitude and saying I ignore viewers? That's true, she thought. So what?
They're saying I don't look human? Well... she technically wasn't human anymore. She belonged to a race called the Halovians.
As for the user "Dragon Lady Isn't Cute?", who had clearly become one of her obsessive fans, Robin didn't give it much thought. With a name like that and a profile picture that looked like a cosplay selfie, he was probably just some bored, middle-aged man in disguise.
Ignoring the fan, Robin concluded bluntly, "Anyway, goodbye for now. See you next time."
Robin decisively ended her live stream.
Next, she needed to upload a new video. Typically, music videos on these platforms came in three forms: stunning music videos, solo performances of singers dancing and singing, or flashy animated visuals.
Clearly, Robin couldn't produce any of those. Her solution was simple: she clipped the final singing segment from her live stream and uploaded it directly, essentially creating her own highlight reel.
Regardless, it was a significant improvement over her first "polished" video. With a proper microphone and audio interface, the sound quality was far superior to her phone's recordings. This time, there was instrumental accompaniment, and the video even featured a cute girl—what more could anyone ask for?
After clicking "Upload," she glanced at her follower count. Thanks to her recent live streams and the continued spread of her first video, her subscriber base had exploded to over 200,000. The Handsome God of the North Sea had undoubtedly contributed significantly to this growth.
Next, Robin downloaded a music app called NetEase Cloud Music. After creating an account, she extracted the audio clip of her singing during the live stream and began uploading the song.
As the saying goes, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." To accelerate her fan growth, she naturally opted for a broad-net approach.
While Robin was uploading her song, a friend request popped up on her WeChat. The accompanying message read:
[I'm Yun Luo from Kuaishou. Miss Robin, I'd like to discuss live streaming opportunities with you.]
The executives at Kuaishou were well aware of Robin's recent live stream. Normally, they wouldn't bother with a newly emerged small streamer, but Robin was no longer a small-time streamer.
Her absurdly rapid fan growth was one reason. The incident involving the Handsome God of the North Sea's lavish gifting, followed by his ban, was another. After all, this wealthy patron's unrestrained generosity had generated substantial revenue for Kuaishou, making him a familiar figure to many of the platform's executives.
Rewind a little to a recent meeting of Kuaishou executives:
"What are your thoughts on Robin?"
"I don't think she's a natural streamer, but she's an incredibly talented singer. She doesn't need gimmicks or manufactured drama—just her voice."
"I agree. We should sign her with our highest S-class contract. Given her rapid fan growth and a little targeted promotion from us, she could easily become the top musician on the platform in no time."
"But what about the conflict between Beihai and her?"
"Ugh, Robin's stubbornness is really testing my patience. I'll try to mediate and see if I can convince her to apologize to Beihai privately."
"That sounds reasonable."
"I'll contact Beihai first and urge him to calm down. We can't let him team up with other streamers to sabotage Robin out of anger."
A moment later, the executive frowned as the phone rang unanswered. "Why isn't he picking up?"
Undeterred, he dialed again. This time, after two rings, the call was answered—but not by Beihai's familiar voice. Instead, a cold, masculine voice spoke: "Hello? This is the Bureau of Anomalous Investigations. Who's calling?"
"Huh? The Bureau of Anomalous Investigations?" The Kuaishou executive was stunned. How could a simple phone call have been directly connected to the Bureau?
He checked the number again. It was correct. Stuttering, he managed to say, "Um... I was trying to reach Beihai..."
Before he could finish, the voice on the other end interrupted, "Oh, you mean Gikhongao? Beihai's real name. I'm sorry, but you can't speak to him right now. If it's urgent, you can discuss it with him during your next visit to the Bureau."
Then the line went dead.
Listening to the dial tone, the executive numbly hung up. His colleagues, watching his reaction, immediately asked:
"So, what's going on?"
"Was he really that angry? He hung up before you could even finish speaking?"
"Maybe I should try talking to him..."
But the executive shook his head. "Perhaps we no longer need to mediate between Robin and Beihai. Beihai's been arrested by the Bureau of Anomalous Investigations. He'll probably be out of the picture for a while."
The others fell silent.
With one side of the conflict removed, the conflict itself ceased to exist.