KON POV

“Inspirations are a funny thing. Often you pictured yourself an end game, only to end up with something completely different after going through the entire process. Pure idealism is naivety in itself. Wouldn’t you agree, Kon?” The creepy girl rambled.

“Do I have to change into this?”

“Huhu, yes, yes you do. There’s a partition at the back there. Take your time.”

I’m holding a piece of clothing that Kuro prepared from her bag. The duffle bag itself is quite large, and I dearly hope she’s not going to ask me to wear all of it. Right now, in my hand, is a gym uniform. That in itself is fine, but why is it so small? It’s not from our academy either. It’s almost skin-tight, and I’d rather not comment on the shorts.

Let’s just get this over with. I should just use my intent mask to deaden my insides and make my brain numb. This almost feels like committing a minor crime. If not for the signed contract that she flaunts in front of me. The things I do for the team. I will be sure to remember this, Zack!

“Ohohoho! A Kuudere! More inspiration flowing through this circuit of mine! You are a veritable treasure, Kon!”

“…..Sure”

“Alright, stay still in the middle of the room, and let me think of a pose.”

Kuro took out a bracelet from her pocket and snapped it onto her wrist. Her hand then swiped the air in front of her, conjuring a collection of green transparent screens of varying sizes out of thin air. Is that an Air Scroll? From my angle, I couldn’t make out any of the information displayed on it. No doubt there’s encryption in place to prevent the naked eye from seeing the information.

Her glasses lens, on the other hand, took on a purple shine. An Air Scroll, huh? The invention from the East, which found its uses among medium to large sized businesses. It is used to assist the user in various workflow tasks such as planning work processes, creating 3D product blueprints, displaying analytics and statistics in business processes, project presentations, and so on. It’s mostly used in formal business settings.

The main reason it doesn’t see much popularity among the public is that the product is still in the early stages of development. The cost of creating one is still much higher than what the majority of people can afford, and, most importantly, the storage capacity is still minimal, unable to compete with even the lowest tier of personal computers. Data needs to be taken out and stored elsewhere regularly.

However, Kuro’s Air Scroll doesn’t seem to have that storage limitation if she can carry it around anywhere and use it for her artistic work.

“That Air Scroll of yours.” I pointed at her wrist.

“Hm? This? Yeah, It’s an Air Scroll but I modified it thoroughly. Had to carry around a storage unit every time I’m using it on places other than my work desk.”

“So, that briefcase contains portable storage. Isn’t it expensive? I heard only mid-sized Corpo and above could afford it”

“True, but not really. You are talking about the Air Scroll pro, the larger business model that can fit that entire 9 desks put together and create a 3D map design of anything. Mine is the lite version for personal use. Still costs an arm and leg though. Are you interested in getting one?” Kuro asked me.

“Yes, I can picture myself using it as a Pathfinder to chart a path for my team.”

“Huh……Drawing mid-run. That’s ambitious. Hmmm, Gimme a sec.”

Kuro rummaged through her bag to retrieve another pair of glasses, identical to the ones she wears, and tossed them towards me. I caught them and gave them a brief look. They were from the Optix series, a standard eyewear, but there was a small accessory attached to the bridge. I presumed it was akin to an invitation to a private channel. Only glasses equipped with these accessories were permitted to view the content of the Air Scroll if she made it private.

“Come, take a look at my Heaven’s Closet.” Kuro proudly showed the public setting panels.

“Are you sure it’s ok for me to see this? And what’s with the naming.”

“We will be working together from now on, so no problem. Also, Heaven’s Closet is my partner. It’s been with me through thick and thin.”

That’s relatable. My Scooter Crow s28T can share the sentiment. Putting on the glasses, I immediately noticed the difference between what I perceived of the Air Scroll before and how the entire thing looks right now.

If before it was just a bunch of green panels floating around in front of her, now various 3D objects are floating in half a circle around her. From her left are a bunch of small mannequin poses that she can scroll up and down; next to it are mugshots of various characters (mostly males), and then a couple of background scenery and settings. In the middle is a blank canvas where I presume she will draw her work. On the right are a bunch of color settings, layers, pen tools, and so on, reminiscent of a drawing software interface.

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“I will show you more later, but for now. Take a pose for me. Let’s see, yeah this will do.”

She quickly scrolled through the list of marionette pose selections and waved the chosen one onto the blank canvas for me to see. After making various small adjustments by tweaking the poses with her fingers, she added a couple of background scenery elements and surrounded the marionette with them to make visualization easier.

It’s all very cool and everything, but I’d rather not spend too much time gawking. The sooner I finish this, the better. So, I stood in the middle of the room and posed according to her directions. For this pose, I’m in the middle of tying my hair up while facing slightly to the side. Ugh, the uniform is so tight, I can barely stretch my arms up to reach the back of my head.

“Don’t worry about the uniform, if it rips, even better. I want to see those arms up higher and your back straighter. Also, cock-in your hips a bit and rest on your right leg. Yep, that’s good. Don’t worry about the expression, just stay relaxed.”

She then began to walk around me slowly in a circle while swishing her fingers that held an invisible pen. Sometimes she stopped briefly to scribble a bit longer, darting from side to side searching for a better angle. Her dedication was evident when she lay down on the floor on her back and drew from that angle just like that. No, I won’t comment on where her focus is.

People might call her crazy, but her serious intent says otherwise. She has the work expression of a pro. Somehow I can respect this side of her a bit. As for the rest, I rather not talk about it. However, there are some things that I am curious about.

“Do you mind if I ask a question?”

“Nope, I don’t mind. It’s better to talk and converse during the modeling process.” She waved me off.

“Why me.”

“Hm?”

“Why pick me specifically? There should be other guys who can fit your preference better right?”

“Like I said, inspiration. You can call it a heat of a moment, but that’s how my whole artist life has been. Doing the things I wanted to do in the heat of the moment. On the cover, you embodied the concept of Shota perfectly, and yet the maturity in the way you speak felt as if you know all the answers there is in the universe. It is a contrast that has yet to be seen before.

I wanted to approach you for an agreement, but if you refused then and there, I would have to go to a random middle school to get my resources and feed my burning inspiration. I would no doubt get arrested. Not to mention it wouldn’t have the same impact as my initial inspiration. So I waited for the perfect moment to strike.”

“That’s why you approached Zack?” I presumed.

“It’s the other way around, he noticed me during my first visit to SpeedGear club when I was stalking you. Then two days ago, he gave me a deal. He seemed to have researched me thoroughly. Even my motivation from way back when. Hmph, for a vanilla power top Ikemen, he is not bad at all.”

While I appreciate the blunt honestly, I can’t help but think that she gives off a feeling of an unrestrained beast. It’s like there is another Zack right now. Oh, joy. Double the Zack, double the headache and this time one of them is a pervert no less.

“Alright, done. Come take a look at the preliminary sketch.” She beckoned me.

So fast, it hasn’t even been 2 minutes, and yet the quality of the drawing she displayed is no longer in the state of rough sketches. Instead, it is comparative to the line art of a pro. Preliminary sketch she says…. Makes me wonder how efficient her comic workflow is.

It is a drawing of me in my pose just now, and yet it’s not me. There is a tiny detail among the facial features that gives it a different vibe. Like a more willful character with a sharper eye. The confident grin her drawing displayed is different than how I normally express confidence too. And yet despite all that, I do not doubt that people will point that drawing to me at first glance. Or at least conclude that it is someone who resembled me. Like my twins or something.

“Well, this is just a prototype. I will refine it later on. But for now, check this out.”

She handed me back the Glasses and I wear it back again. Grabbing the floating canvas, she manipulated the options panel with the other hand before flipping it horizontally. From it came the hologram of that drawing in a 3D setting and mapping line across the silhouette contour of my body.

“A little brush here, this color, that lighting, those shades, yada this yada that. Voila, the 3D map design of stylized Kon is done.” She turned the panel to face me after a couple of finger swishing.

That is a hologram of miniature me floating around on top of a panel canvas, slowly rotating around 360.

This…..this is incredible. I couldn’t even fathom how she managed to create a 3D rendition of the sketch in less than 5 minutes. I have seen some artists do it on OurTube, but to see the entire process taking place in front of my eyes is such an eye-opening experience.

“Hehe, I charge a premium for 3D cartoon requests, but those are hard to make. Out of hundreds of chapters I made, I have only managed to create a dozen 3D cartoons and that’s not even a full chapter. Just a couple of 5-minute scenes that won the most votes.”

“You are a master at your craft huh?”

“Aw shucks, compared to a real pro, I’m still nothing you know?” She signed her digital signature Kuro at the bottom of the canvas and wrote the word Konni on top of it.

“What’s Konni?”

“The character’s name, obviously.”

“…….”

“Anyway, Next up is a swimsuit. I want you to sit at that top desk edge over there, with your leg constantly moving up and down slowly. Like splashing waters with your feet. Again don’t worry about your facial expression. Just relax and be natural.”

I sighed heavily and went along with her request. I wonder what the rest of the team is doing right now. I hope they’re not peeking from the window across the classroom and laughing at my predicament. I really don’t want to use my area of intent read on the off chance I accidentally glimpse into Kuro’s intent or something.

I want to go home.

“UHOH! That lightly toned upper body, in contrast to that juicy squishy belly! HUOOOH, KON! I’M BURNING! THE NIGH INFINITE POSSIBILITIES! Forget the third impact, you may as well go beyond the fourth and become the universe! This is absurd. I’m brimming with potential ideas that- -- - - - -”

I want to go back home so bad.