Chapter 100: The Starlit Goddess

A week later, the second chapter of "Gazing Back Under the Starry Sky" was completed.

Since all the characters had already been drawn and the necessary backgrounds were finished, Xia Shiyang only needed to adjust facial expressions and movements according to the plot. Naturally, this process was much faster than before. After all, in this era of advancing technology, comic and animation creators prefer to use computer software to assist in drawing. Not everyone can persist with hand-drawing like Hayao Miyazaki. It’s similar to how most writers now type on keyboards instead of handwriting.

During this week, "Gazing Back Under the Starry Sky" gained a modest following on the Star Comics website. Many otaku eagerly awaited the appearance of Starlight, which would determine whether they would continue following the series. Among them, Zhou Xiaolin was the most enthusiastic. Throughout the week, his mind was often filled with fantasies about Starlight’s appearance. He would frequently check the website to see if a new chapter had been released.

Unlike novels, comics typically update weekly at best, as producing a single chapter is far more complex and time-consuming than simply writing a chapter and publishing it. Zhou Xiaolin understood this but still couldn’t help checking occasionally.

Finally, the weekend arrived. When Zhou Xiaolin clicked into "Gazing Back Under the Starry Sky" again, he found it had been updated. He eagerly opened the second chapter. Before his eyes appeared a goddess who had only existed in his imagination: a few strands of soft bangs drooping over a smooth forehead, a petite and delicate figure standing obediently beside the gentlemanly Junzi Yu, reaching just to his chin.

The surrounding background was rendered with a dreamlike, crystalline quality, evoking the ethereal sense of the intelligent life form, Starlight. In truth, Starlight’s image was simply cute and endearing. As a relatively inexperienced artist, Xia Shiyang could not yet craft such a classic character design all at once.

Yet the story’s premise was cleverly devised. Deep underground in a laboratory, an intelligent life form accompanied a genius boy. This sparked boundless fantasies within the hearts of the otaku. As long as Starlight’s image met basic comic standards, they would see her as the most beautiful.

Comics function this way—the creator tells the story but allows readers to imagine the world and its characters themselves. Through skillful guidance, creators invite readers to endlessly fantasize about the worlds they wish to portray.

Unsurprisingly, "Gazing Back Under the Starry Sky" exploded in popularity. Its creative story background combined with meticulous comic production led otaku to spread word online, fervently promoting their imagined Starlight goddess. What made it especially remarkable was that the author was one of their fellow Chinese.

Thus, many, captivated at first glance by the beautiful Starlight figure, grew curious to explore the story of this intelligent life form. The detailed comic work and novel story setting kept them hooked. Watching the steadily rising number of favorites and comments, Xia Shiyang grinned ear to ear.

Since Xia Shiyang’s parents were home that day, Lin Nan and Si Dong did not come over. In their group chat, Xia Shiyang asked, “Should we sign a contract with the editor now? The editor just messaged me again—if we sign, the work will get site-wide promotion immediately.”

Lin Nan quickly replied, “Don’t rush to sign. Let’s hold off for now.”

Lin Nan knew that in moments like this, patience was key. Like when playing basketball, he waited until winning the national championship before signing with Nike—a contract worth a million, and only after he stopped playing professionally. From then on, Lin Nan was slowly cultivating a sense of business acumen.

Of course, this kind of bargaining only works when your own commercial value is rising; otherwise, it’s mere arrogance. Lin Nan had full confidence in their work, and the current response was excellent.

In the following days, the three of them seized every minute to work tirelessly on the third chapter, uploading it three days later. Otaku marveled at Shiyang’s rapid update pace and high quality.

Thus, Lin Nan and his friends’ comic production sped up, attracting more and more readers—until the Starlight mech first burst through the gray fog layer, absorbed the moonlight, and transformed into a silver robot armor. At that moment, "Gazing Back Under the Starry Sky" reached its peak popularity.

The chief editor of Star Comics could no longer suppress his excitement.

Shi Guang was an editor for Star Comics. Since childhood, he loved watching cartoons, and as he grew older, he became enamored with anime and comics. Now, he had realized his dream of becoming an editor at China’s largest comic website, where he could review countless works by new artists every day.

At first, the job felt novel and fun. But gradually, he realized that most comics were increasingly geared toward commercial value—authors focused more on making money and grabbing viewers’ attention. Their works grew soulless, even vulgar. Readers could no longer sense the creators’ ideas or imagined worlds; most were just highly derivative copies.

Then Shi Guang discovered "Gazing Back Under the Starry Sky." From the opening, it dazzled him—the gray fog layer, the apocalypse, environmental protection—all the themes the author wanted to express came through vividly in the first chapter. The effort put into depicting the gray fog layer was evident.

By the second chapter, the appearance of the intelligent life form Starlight won his admiration. Starlight embodied many otaku’s fantasies. Now, with the Starlight mech bursting through the fog, bathed in moonlight as it transformed into silver armor, the vast starry sky, the lonely cosmos, the textured mech, and Junzi Yu’s gaze upon the fog-shrouded Earth—all these elements elevated the comic to a new height.

Earlier, Shi Guang had already sent a contract offer to the author. When no reply came, he knew the author was likely not yet satisfied, as the meticulous details revealed great dedication. Shi Guang had urged the chief editor to increase the offer, but the editor was indifferent.

Now, seeing "Gazing Back Under the Starry Sky" nearing the top ranks in popularity, the chief editor could no longer hold back. He instructed Shi Guang to draft a special contract to send to the author. The burden now lay entirely on Shi Guang. If the contract was too generous, the website would suffer losses; too stingy, and the author would refuse. It was a difficult dilemma indeed.