Chapter 129: Special Mission to Kidnap

"Lip-syncing?!"

Merushi looked at her colleagues in disbelief.

She had been in a great mood today. Her colleagues, who rarely logged on, were enthusiastically singing on stage. Even if they weren’t putting their hearts into it, they were at least singing.

But when she mustered the courage to approach them, she overheard a shocking, whispered conversation.

"Is the vocal tuner you hired reliable?"

"Very. Their skills are so good you don’t even need to sing. They can just synthesize a voice for you."

"Hmm, then I’d better practice lip-syncing."

"L-lip-syncing is bad. The audience comes to hear a live performance," Merushi couldn’t help but interject. Fighting through the Panic of making eye contact, she addressed the two streamers who were openly discussing their fraud.

However, her voice was so quiet that they only caught her initial gasp.

"Didn’t you get the company notice?" Having their fake singing scheme exposed didn’t fluster the two streamers at all. Instead, they looked at her weirdly and fired back a question.

"Notice? I’ve been online practicing my singing..."

"The company told us to log on today to pre-record our songs. We’re supposed to hire our own tuners or use the company’s to polish the tracks, then lip-sync on the day of the concert," the tall female streamer laid it out clearly and matter-of-factly, seemingly baffled by Merushi’s disbelief. "What are you so surprised about? Isn’t this totally normal in the industry?"

"That’s deceiving the audience. How can you do that?" Merushi forced herself to meet the other girl’s eyes, but the streamer’s beautifully made-up face intimidated her into quickly lowering her head again.

In the end, she lacked the courage to call out their wrongdoing. All she could do was ensure she did the right thing herself.

"I-I don’t need to record anything. I can sing live at the concert."

"No, you have to. Otherwise, you’re disobeying the company’s arrangements. You’ll be fined for breaching your contract." The tall streamer’s cold words made Merushi’s eyes widen.

"Isn’t that a draconian clause?"

"It’s the year 2100. There’s no such thing as a draconian clause anymore. A lot can go wrong at a live concert. If you bomb your performance, it could ruin the whole show. That damages the company’s interests, which means you’ve breached your contract," the tall streamer explained. She was getting impatient but continued trying to persuade Merushi. After all, one person singing live would expose everyone else lip-syncing.

"You’ve always just uploaded pre-recorded covers. You haven’t even done a live stream before. How can you guarantee you won’t mess up in front of hundreds of thousands of people? Aren’t you constantly practicing right now exactly because you know you might underperform?"

Merushi lowered her head, softly denying it.

While her endless practice on this massive stage was partly driven by a fear of underperforming, whenever she sang, her mind was entirely focused on wanting more people to hear her voice and convey her emotions.

She treated this stage as the starting line for her dreams.

She didn’t want to become some idol singer; she just wanted to find the courage to communicate and interact with others.

If she could pull off her debut on a stage with 300,000 viewers, then she wouldn’t have anything left to fear.

"I don’t want to lip-sync."

Seeing that Merushi had no intention of cooperating, the short female streamer twirled her bangs dismissively.

"You’re a mute in real life anyway. Haven’t you essentially been lip-syncing this whole time in the virtual world?"

"Hey!" The tall streamer tugged at the short streamer’s hand, not wanting her to be so harsh. But the intervention only spurred the short streamer on.

"I heard you’re only performing to overcome your social anxiety. Well, what you need to learn is how to read the room and not get in the way of everyone else making money. Give us a straight answer right now: are you going to lip-sync or not? If you won’t, then drop out."

"I..." Merushi barely managed a single word before a sharp avian screech pierced the air.

A massive Shadow rapidly approached. It was a giant bird. The moment it closed in, it flared its fearsome talons and clamped them onto Merushi’s shoulders.

SWOOSH.

Like an innocent white rabbit, Merushi was snatched away by the enormous bird.

"...Didn’t they say this venue had Defense functions?" The tall streamer was momentarily stunned, but she quickly brushed it off, looking down to scold her shorter companion. "Why did you have to be so mean? She’s still a streamer with a million followers, you know."

"What if she really drops out?"

"Are you stupid? If she drops out, that just paves the way for our girls to step in, and their follower counts aren’t any lower than hers," the short streamer replied, completely unbothered. "She doesn’t milk her fans for cash at all. The company’s attitude toward her has always been that she’s entirely dispensable."

"What if she leaks this?"

"Where would someone with severe social anxiety find the courage to speak out? Besides, doing that really would breach her contract."

The two of them soon ran out of time to gossip. It was their turn to record their duet.

In the magnificent hall of art, a half-hearted, perfunctory song echoed.

Merushi gripped the two thick talons on her shoulders with both hands. The wondrous sensation of flying through the sky made her momentarily forget the heavy knot in her chest.

"You’re Blaze’s bird, right? I recognize your voice!"

Merushi looked up. Although it had undergone a drastic Transformation in size, she still recognized Blaze’s messenger pet.

The chicken didn’t make a sound, simply carrying Merushi aimlessly through the air. The sight of those Foreigners solemnly discussing fraud in a Holy Land of art that others spent their entire lives striving for had made her sick to her stomach.

Merushi didn’t belong there, so in a moment of hot-headedness, she had swooped in and snatched her away.

Unaware that the chicken could talk, Merushi first checked the reply letter Blaze had sent her. As always, it was filled with encouragement. Unlike the auto-corrected text generated by players, letters from NPCs were handwritten.

Even though the content was mostly the same every time, the handwriting was always rigid and blocky, occasionally veering off course. She could easily picture a man clad in Heavy Armor, carefully pinching a fragile pen to write.

"Should I... give up a little bit of myself for the sake of those who want to hear me sing?"

Blaze was encouraging her, expressing his anticipation for the concert. Her supporters were looking forward to her appearance too, so she had to perform.

"So, could you please take me b—AAAAAAHHHH!"

Before Merushi could finish, the chicken suddenly veered off course and accelerated to an extreme speed, heading toward a completely unfamiliar city.

Upon arriving above the city, the chicken went into a steep dive, dragging the screaming Merushi straight into the moat. Within seconds, they reached a massive cave.

COUGH COUGH COUGH!

Merushi coughed reflexively. Although she couldn’t actually choke on the water in-game, the sensation was incredibly realistic. Meanwhile, the culprit landed to the side, elegantly preening her feathers.

"Where is this?" Merushi looked around in confusion. Just then, a pair of hands clamped onto her shoulders.

"Ohoho~ Good job. You immediately roped in a volunteer for me."

Merushi looked up, meeting the gaze of a petite girl looking down at her.

The girl was beaming at her.

"Miss Merushi, right? We need your help.

"You Foreigners don’t usually turn down our quests, do you?"