The night was quiet, and in a house lit by dim lights, the creator Guo Shengye was toiling away.
He was a manga artist, and specifically, a doujin artist.
Because his drawn girls were lively and cute, capable of bringing an incredible sense of immersion, he had gained considerable fame in the Sakura District, despite his drawing skills not being top-tier.
However, within the Huafu District, though many had seen his comics, few paid attention to him as a person.
As he drew and drew, he suddenly tore up the drawing paper before him, roughly ruffling his hair.
"What is this damned thing? It has no life to it at all, it doesn't deserve to be my work!"
Guo Shengye was agitated at his desk for a long time, then walked in front of a large mirror and stared silently at his reflection.
"I need inspiration, so let's play."
He put his hands behind his back, making a rock-paper-scissors gesture, and suddenly played scissors in front of the mirror.
But the Guo Shengye in the mirror had his hand open!
The actions of the two, inside and outside the mirror, were actually inconsistent!
Guo Shengye was long accustomed to this strange phenomenon. He continued to play rock-paper-scissors with his reflection, only stopping after more than ten rounds.
"This time, I won ten rounds first. What I want is still the same as before: inspiration, I want inspiration!"
The mirrored Guo Shengye nodded. Then, the image in the mirror began to change. The mirrored Guo Shengye took a knife, walked out of his house, and moved forward into the night.
The scene in the mirror, Guo Shengye was very familiar with, as it was the scenery near his home.
He watched as the mirrored Guo Shengye arrived at the entrance of an apartment building and knocked on the door.
Guo Shengye knew who was behind this door; it was a female student from an art class he was responsible for.
Soon, the door was opened, and a beautiful young girl emerged. She looked surprised upon seeing Guo Shengye.
"Teacher Guo, is there something you need? It's already so late..."
Before the girl could finish speaking, she was silenced by the mirrored Guo Shengye covering her mouth and pushing her into the room.
Then, hurried cries for help, followed by the sound of a knife piercing flesh, could be heard from within the mirror.
Watching this scene, the Guo Shengye outside the mirror showed no fear, as these events were only happening within the mirror, having no connection to the real world.
The mirrored Guo Shengye laboriously dragged the lifeless body of the young girl back to the side of the mirror, throwing the corpse onto the drawing paper within the mirror. Then, the corpse vanished.
"The inspiration has been prepared for you. Let's play again next time."
After speaking, the mirrored Guo Shengye's actions gradually synchronized with the real Guo Shengye, no longer appearing strange.
However, Guo Shengye didn't care what his mirrored self was doing. He rushed to the drawing papers, frantically caressing them like an epileptic.
On the drawing papers, the phantom image of a young girl began to appear, and Guo Shengye could transform this phantom into any appearance.
"This is it, only drawings like this have soul, worthy of me, are perfect works!"
So Guo Shengye hunched over the drawing papers, his brush moving non-stop until he had completed several hundred pages of drafts before stopping.
He admired the characters in the drawings, who seemed to possess souls, becoming deeply intoxicated. It was precisely with the inspiration provided by the mirror that he could produce so many excellent works.
After a while, he used the photocopier in the room to copy all the drafts and mailed them to his editor.
The original drafts, however, were carefully bound by him. The scenes in the originals were too vivid and lifelike, even moving within a small area, so they could not be seen by others.
Carrying his original drafts, Guo Shengye returned to his study, where a bookshelf was lined with similar bound volumes.
He greedily caressed the drafts, as if they were not cold pieces of paper but living beings.
"This is the thirty-second volume. One day, I'll fill this bookshelf. By then, I'll be the best painter, won't I..." Sudancn.com
...
"I told you to drive anywhere, and you actually drove here," Wen Wen said, flicking the forehead of San Zai'er with his finger.
In front of Wen Wen was the familiar Furong River City, where Wen Wen had completely tamed San Zai'er. Was this fellow reminiscing about the days of eating foot skin?
However, since Wen Wen planned to rest in Furong River City for a while, he let San Zai'er drive into the city.
On the way, Wen Wen called Lin Zhe Yuan. Lin Zhe Yuan told Wen Wen that the house Wen Wen used to live in was still there and he could move back in directly. They were very busy now and didn't have time to host Wen Wen.
Wen Wen expected their busyness.
Although the incident in the Qi Ling Mountain Range was eventually contained, a large number of monsters had escaped from the mountains before the association arrived. All the cities around Qi Ling Mountain were in chaos.
However, Wen Wen had no intention of helping them. Only some weak monsters didn't require his intervention, and he had come to Furong River City for a vacation, not for work.
Returning to the familiar house, Wen Wen collapsed onto the bed, relaxed. San Zai'er, familiar with the routine, crawled into a glass fish tank.
After lying down for a while, Wen Wen took out his containment item, Battle Axe Steak, peeled off the plastic wrap, cut off the meat, and put away the bone.
At the same time tomorrow, a new piece of plastic-wrapped steak would grow on this bare bone, which was very convenient.
He pan-fried the extra-large piece of beef with butter, sprinkled it with salt and pepper, and had a delicious meal.
After eating, Wen Wen wiped his mouth and took a jade-green snake from the containment facility, throwing it next to San Zai'er.
"This is the wife I'm giving you. See if you like her."
This green snake was useless except for its good looks, so Wen Wen was too lazy to keep it in containment, occupying a spot. If San Zai'er didn't like it, Wen Wen would consider making snake soup.
Upon seeing the green snake, the three eyes of San Zai'er lit up. It swam to the green snake and entwined with it.
"Seems like you get along. Then you play with your new friend for now."
Then Wen Wen entered the containment facility to sort out his spoils.
First were the monster materials. The largest quantity of ordinary materials had all been sold to the association in the Demon Spirit Village. The remaining relatively rare materials were all placed in the containment shop.
If the former Wen Wen had seen these materials, his eyes would have lit up, wanting to find ways to forge various weapons for himself. But now, he was too lazy to do so.
This was because Wen Wen was equipped with super-powered gear from head to toe, except for his underwear, so he didn't need to craft any new equipment.
"Speaking of which, maybe I should consider crafting a pair of transcendent underwear..."
After reviewing the materials, it was time for Wen Wen to deal with the monsters he had captured. Besides the green snake thrown to San Zai'er, there were the round-faced fighting fat chicken and the great eelman.
Both of these monsters were only Disaster-class in strength. The round-faced fighting fat chicken had astonishing combat skills, while the great eelman could disguise himself as a human and was adept at escaping and stealth, both capable of surprising utility in specific situations.
As he was thinking about the monsters, Wen Wen suddenly slapped his head, his expression peculiar.
He suddenly remembered Cang Yan, whom he had thrown into Hu You Ling's cell...
"After so long, has he died in there? He was a Disaster-level sequence, after all."