Chapter 97
“Yuanbao, what are you looking at?”
Just as Shao Mian was staring at Bai Bai, about to make a move, Lin Ran finally arrived with the dejected Jiang Jie.
He immediately noticed the unusual atmosphere.
Bai Bai’s usually fair, youthful face was pale and tense, making his black-rimmed glasses look even darker.
Lin Ran subconsciously supported Bai Bai and glanced at Shao Mian curiously.
He saw Shao Mian holding a book, which surprised him.
“Is this book that good? Otherwise, why would Yuanbao be holding it?”
“No!”
“You can’t read it–”
Seeing that Lin Ran wanted to take the comic from Shao Mian’s hands, both Shao Mian and Bai Bai instinctively refused at the same time.
“…”
Facing their unusual reactions, Lin Ran paused, then continued trying to take it from Yuanbao.
Shao Mian gripped it tightly, unwilling to let go, but after Lin Ran gave him a calm look, he instantly obeyed and released his hand.
After getting the comic, Lin Ran blinked a few times at the title, wanting to laugh but holding back, then pursed his lips and opened the book.
As for Bai Bai, he was already numb from the sheer mortification.
Mom, the A-Ran doujinshi he drew had actually been seen by A-Ran himself! And the content was so embarrassing…
He would definitely be hated, right!?
If he could turn back time, Bai Bai wished he could permanently transform into a panda and cling to A-Ran’s side.
Shao Mian simply sneered at Bai Bai, trying to make the reckless panda realize the gravity of his mistake.
And next, he should recall and destroy all copies of this work.
However, under this strange and suffocating atmosphere, a few minutes later, Lin Ran, who was simply flipping through the pages, suddenly laughed.
Because the “Adopted After Turning into a Panda!” drawn by Bai Bai was very heartwarming and cute, without any strange plot lines.
The whole story was about a quiet and somewhat unsociable boy with glasses who suddenly turned into a panda one day and was picked up and carefully raised by another protagonist, A-Ran.
Because the story took place in a mountainous area where pandas might appear, Lin Ran could understand why Bai Bai came to Jiangjia Village for inspiration.
The art style wasn’t that of a traditional comic, but rather a light-colored, simple sketch style.
The daily interactions between Sesame the panda and A-Ran were drawn in a very refreshing and natural way, with a low-saturation watercolor palette.
“It’s really well-drawn, Bai Bai. How did you become so good?”
As he flipped through the pages, Lin Ran was occasionally amused by the small details in the story, realizing that Bai Bai was truly a demon with keen observation skills.
“Ah… this, it’s just, I worked hard and drew it well.”
Bai Bai, suddenly praised, was a little stunned and explained with a blush.
Shao Mian’s expression darkened even more.
“Yuanbao, don’t you think it’s good?”
“I don’t.”
Shao Mian stated firmly. The further he flipped, the faster he went, wishing he could replace the annoying panda with a mighty golden lion.
“No wonder, then you didn’t properly see the ending.”
Because he had been seriously reading, Lin Ran realized that the ending of the story was unexpectedly a bit sad.
After they had become each other’s most important beings, one day, when Sesame habitually went to play catch with A-Ran, he suddenly noticed that A-Ran, who was a beat slower and missed the ball, had a white hair!
Sesame then realized that as a demon, he would never grow old, but A-Ran, as a human, had unknowingly aged.
So, for the first time, Sesame truly experienced the passage of time and quietly accompanied A-Ran through his final days.
However, many years later, every snowy winter, a pair of snowmen exactly the same as before would appear in front of the small village hut, and the taller one would always wear the red scarf A-Ran had personally made.
“Damn it, why is the ending so sad! Sesame Ball sensei, are you heartless?!”
“I really want to catch this guy and force him to change the ending…”
Before Lin Ran, who had finished the story, could speak, other fans who were also reading couldn’t help but yell through gritted teeth.
After their outburst, these young fans realized they were still in a bookstore and shouldn’t be so loud. They instantly looked over apologetically.
Bai Bai didn’t even dare to move until these fans, still grumbling, went to pay for the book. He then breathed a sigh of relief, pushed up his glasses, and was glad that he hadn’t agreed to the editor’s suggestion of putting the artist’s photo on the title page.
Otherwise, if he was recognized offline, there might be news reports of readers beating up a panda.
“But A-Ran, I made up that ending, don’t take it seriously! I just couldn’t fix the plot hole at the end…”
Bai Bai immediately tried to explain in a panic.
After all, A-Ran was an NPC in “Demon World,” and NPCs naturally wouldn’t age.
But after setting him as a human, Bai Bai realized that the ending was suddenly difficult to conclude as he drew.
So, after racking his brains for several days and nights in the attic, under pressure from his editor’s frantic deadlines, seeing a demon posting about A-Ran’s winter plushie on the forum, he drew the ending in one go.
It wasn’t entirely made up, because after drawing the final scene of the little snowman with the red scarf, Bai Bai found that his eyes were a bit red.
It was as if he had truly been raised by A-Ran, but then watched A-Ran, a human, gradually grow old… Sob, sob, sob!
So, this comic definitely couldn’t be simultaneously serialized on the “Demon World” forum.
Otherwise, Bai Bai suspected that while Stone, the handmade doujinshi plushie master, received praise and admiration from the entire forum, he, the panda who drew doujinshi, might be hunted down and receive death threats.
Every demon would inevitably be curious about their story of being picked up and raised by A-Ran, right?
“…”
What Bai Bai didn’t realize was that although he hadn’t posted it on the forum, Shao Mian, who hadn’t carefully read the ending before, was glued to Lin Ran’s side, seriously reading this heartbreaking ending with him.
The look in his eyes this time wasn’t so simple, because Shao Mian truly wanted to kill someone.
No wonder it was “Adopted After Turning into a Panda,” because if it was “Adopted After Turning into a Lion,” he would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen.
However, at this moment, Shao Mian also seriously started to consider this matter in advance.
“Yuanbao, what are you doing?”
Lin Ran glanced back at Yuanbao and found that he was about to make a move, so he hurriedly patted the large golden tabby.
In a sense, Lin Ran felt that Yuanbao wasn’t suited for reading novels or comics from the human world.
Because Lin Ran suspected that if the plot didn’t satisfy Yuanbao, he was capable of sending people to the author’s house and forcing them to change the ending.
After all, such things had happened throughout history.
In modern times, it would be a super popular character suddenly dying, a mysterious reader donating tens of thousands, and then the author resurrecting the character in the next update…
In the era of print media, it would be a super popular character in a martial arts novel suddenly dying, and then the author being kidnapped by angry readers the next day and forced to change the ending on the spot.
Therefore, Lin Ran felt that Bai Bai had better not reveal his identity and location, after all, being an author was a high-risk occupation.
“You really have to hide your identity well, Bai Bai.”
Mainly because it was too well-drawn, so the more readers immersed themselves, the sadder they felt at the end… The matter of lifespan was very helpless, no matter what.
Fortunately, Bai Bai was a panda, a nationally protected animal. If worse came to worst, he could transform back into his panda form, and no reader would dare to beat him up, right?
“Oh, oh, I’ve always hidden it very well, no one knows my identity.”
Bai Bai hurriedly nodded in agreement.
He wasn’t like some demons who liked to show off. He hadn’t suffered much after coming to human society. His first comic had become a small hit, earning him enough money to eat bamboo for ten years!
“But to support you, Bai Bai, let’s buy a few more copies!”
Lin Ran smiled and took a few copies home.
Bai Bai was almost moved to tears. Who understood? His comic was actually bought by A-Ran and would be placed on his bookshelf——
He couldn’t brag about this on the forum, it truly felt like wearing fine clothes at night.
For the first time, Bai Bai was strongly conflicted about whether to reveal his identity.
“After the version update is done, you’re welcome to come to the Demon World and play with me.”
Finally, Lin Ran reached out, rubbed Bai Bai’s head, and made the appointment with a smile.
Bai Bai: !
Bai Bai almost wanted to cry again, who understood? Didn’t he want to!? Damn, he had to get it this time!
But on the way back after parting, Bai Bai, who was originally elated, suddenly fell into deep thought.
If he could meet A-Ran in real life, was A-Ran a human or an NPC? Would A-Ran be troubled by lifespan issues?
And after returning home, Lin Ran was indeed a little caught off guard.
Because the little fluffy creatures at home could actually read and understand pictures. After they finished Bai Bai’s comics one by one, their eyes were all red after reading “Adopted After Turning into a Panda”!
“Cheep, cheep, cheep——!”
Sootball jumped up and down, wanting A-Ran to throw the book out the window, wishing he could immediately go back and ask Ms. Oni for a basin of Moon God’s Dew, so that A-Ran would never grow old.
Even though only one drop of Moon God’s Dew appeared every few hundred years, Ms. Oni probably couldn’t find a basin even if she turned the Demon World upside down.
Little Feather simply covered the book, signaling A-Ran not to read it, this book was too scary.
It was a good thing he wasn’t a panda!
“Why are you all so invested? This is a comic drawn by Bai Bai, not a real story, and the protagonist is A-Ran, not A-Ran.”
Lin Ran rested his chin in his hand, a bit amused and exasperated.
Although he felt that the whimpering little guys were incredibly cute.
They were usually so proud and even a bit like little bullies; it was the first time they had panicked like this.
Actually, Lin Ran had also never really thought about lifespan issues.
“So, you really won’t ever grow old?”
Touching Yuanbao’s face, Lin Ran admitted he was suddenly a little curious.
Lin Ran had always known that Yuanbao was very handsome.
Under the light, his brow bones were deep, and there was always an innate casualness between his brows. The coldness and oppression in his personality were almost undisguised.
But at this moment, there was a subtle sense of domestication.
Shao Mian, whose cheek was being touched, rarely spoke, but silently leaned closer.
Lin Ran was startled and subconsciously blushed, wanting to push Yuanbao away because Little Feather and the others were still playing in the room.
But he found that Yuanbao didn’t take the opportunity to peck him this time, but simply buried his face in his neck, acting coquettishly like a big cat that had been wronged outside.
This feeling was quite novel.
Running his fingers through his hair, Lin Ran felt like he was combing the fur of a large golden tabby. Although he was a little worried that he couldn’t handle it if Yuanbao put all his weight on him.
But Shao Mian clearly knew this and only carefully held him in his arms, sniffing his familiar scent.
“Cheep?”
Sootball flew over and, seeing the big lion guardian acting coquettishly with A-Ran like him, felt a little embarrassed for Shao Mian.
“Ee ee!”
Little Feather thought it was really cool to be grown up, he could hug A-Ran back!
“Why don’t you two go play in the courtyard? It’s not good to stay cooped up in the room reading all the time.”
Lin Ran, being stared at, felt a little embarrassed and waved for Sootball and Little Feather to go play.
[Ding——@All players, version 5.0 has been officially updated! You’re welcome to log in and experience the new functions!]
Unexpectedly, at this moment, the latest update for “Demon World” suddenly popped up. After a day of updating, he could finally log in again!
This news undoubtedly caused a huge reaction in all the hidden corners of the world, and the number of logins instantly surged to a terrifying number.
If Tao Shu were to compare it to previous years’ data, he could only say that there had never been so many demons logging into “Demon World” at the same time.
After all, who wouldn’t want to log in as soon as possible and see what new content “Demon World” had updated!?
The S-rank interaction card “Pick Up and Kiss” undoubtedly played a key role in driving sales across the server.
As soon as it came out, countless demons couldn’t wait to log in and frantically draw cards, praying that they could also get one.
Just when everyone wanted an interaction card the most, “Demon World” deliberately took a whole day to update and whet their appetites. This naturally turned everyone’s enthusiasm into a volcanic eruption.
They couldn’t wait to line up to interact with A-Ran!
“There won’t be any lifespan issues.”
Before logging in, Shao Mian seriously held Lin Ran’s hand and emphasized this point.
“Still thinking about that ending?”
Lin Ran chuckled, looking at Yuanbao up close, not expecting such a big reaction.
He could only say that Bai Bai, this panda, was really talented as a comic artist.
“Actually, growing old isn’t a bad thing…”
At least he had encountered this mysterious and lovely world?
Trying to make Yuanbao not dwell on it, Lin Ran softly comforted him.
He was the one who would grow old, why was he the one comforting Yuanbao?
“Absolutely not.”
But the next second, he was firmly stopped by Yuanbao.
Shao Mian felt that after logging in this time, after resolving this matter in advance, he would personally write and adapt “Adopted After Turning into a Lion!”
And he would make it a pinned post on the forum, forcing all demons to read the real version! He would even give extra points for long comments and reading impressions!
Just thinking about this made Shao Mian secretly smug.
“…?”
Lin Ran looked at Yuanbao suspiciously, wondering if there was something wrong with this large golden tabby.
