The lights suddenly dimmed. A spotlight illuminated the center of the stage, forming a perfect circle.
Then, a stunning and charismatic woman appeared in the center, holding a microphone and smiling gently at the audience below.
"Welcome, honored guests."
"I'm Tian Tian, CEO of Black Domain Technology, and also the host of today's press conference."
"I know some of you came here unwillingly, thinking our company is small and incapable of releasing any outstanding product—just here to make up the numbers."
Tian Tian spoke confidently, walking to the center of the stage with grace. Her gaze swept over the audience, and her humorous tone immediately drew laughter from the crowd.
"Interesting! This host is quite straightforward—she's voiced exactly what we were all thinking."
"To be honest, we didn't have much hope. Our editor just asked us to check things out, so here we are."
"She's not wrong. I came here just to pass the time."
"Same here. What kind of great product can a small company like this even release?"
"But I do like her honesty. It's refreshing."
"Heh! If nothing else, just for CEO Tian Tian's pretty face and witty remarks, I'd be happy to be friends with her. How about a movie tonight?"
"...Bro upstairs, I could hear your thoughts all the way from Jiangxi."
...
Tian Tian let the audience chat for a while before raising her hand and gesturing downward to quiet the room.
Gradually, the crowd fell silent.
These were professionals, after all—not here to cause trouble. Unlike the exaggerated scenes often portrayed in novels, the attendees gave the host due respect, even if many were just going through the motions.
Seeing the room quiet down, Tian Tian smiled warmly. With dual PhDs and experience as a professor, her stage presence was formidable. Her opening remarks—self-deprecating yet clever—had captured everyone's attention. Now, she had the whole room focused on her.
"However, those of you attending today's press conference are in for a stroke of luck. Because you are about to witness the birth of a revolutionary smart assistant app. This app is called Hatsune. Its release will disrupt the smart assistant industry and become an essential app for everyone."
Tian Tian's calm yet confident words landed like a thunderclap in the ears of the attendees, like a dragon's roar shaking their spirits.
This...
"Talk about exaggeration!"
"A revolutionary app? Disrupting the industry? Even tech giants haven't achieved that. How can a startup do it?"
"Not only is she beautiful, she's an excellent bullsh*tter too."
"What kind of smart assistant? Just another app. Don't make it sound like it's game-changing."
"Seems like we really did waste our time coming here."
"When Tian Tian spoke candidly earlier, I thought this company might actually surprise us. Turns out it was just empty hype."
Hearing that the company's product was just another app, the audience's interest quickly faded. In today's digital age, with countless internet companies and thousands of apps on the market, even dozens branded as "smart assistants," what made this one so special?
Why would anyone choose this app over those that have gone through thousands of iterations?
Even if the app was strong, nearly every phone now comes with its own built-in assistant:
Mi phones come with Xiao Ai.
Apple phones come with Siri.
...
Who would go out of their way to install another?
Sure, some might argue those are "voice assistants" and this is a "smart assistant." But to the average user, there's no meaningful difference.
Tian Tian listened to the skeptical voices without the slightest hint of panic. Doubt was expected—every new thing faced resistance before replacing the old.
She raised her hand again, gesturing downward in a pause signal.
After a while, the crowd gradually fell quiet again.
All eyes turned to Tian Tian. Everyone was curious how this seemingly confident woman, who just made such a bold claim, was going to follow through. Bragging wasn't illegal, but it definitely invited scrutiny.
Then Tian Tian's calm and powerful voice echoed again—without a trace of hesitation.
"Everyone,"
"I understand your doubts. That's why we're letting you test the app yourselves. If your experience is satisfactory, we'll continue with the press conference. If not, Black Domain Technology will cancel this event immediately."
Her voice was firm and resolute, like an iron lady—unyielding. Then she pressed a button, and a presentation opened up, displaying QR codes for downloading Hatsune across all platforms. It was a smart composite QR code—Android users would get the Android version, PC users the desktop version.
Of course…
Tian Tian didn't want to take such a hardline approach.
But as a small company, they had no choice but to take bold risks for attention. And she had complete confidence in Hatsune.
"Damn."
"Cancel the press conference if we're not satisfied? That's gutsy. Now I really want to try it out."
"If this app doesn't blow us away, I hope the host has the courage to follow through and shut things down. Don't waste our time."
Zhao Ming, a media influencer, had his camera trained on Tian Tian from the start.
Initially, he hadn't taken things seriously.
But Tian Tian's confidence had triggered his instincts—something about this press conference was different. A person wouldn't take such a bold stance unless they had rock-solid faith in their product. Which suggested… maybe this app was truly impressive?
If that's the case...
Zhao Ming said nothing more. He simply pulled out his phone and scanned the QR code, installing Hatsune to see what it was really made of.
Before long, the installation completed, and the system prompted a restart to activate it.
He followed the instructions and restarted his phone.
As soon as the phone rebooted—and before he could even begin using the app—a small virtual figure popped up on the screen.
Zhao Ming's eyes widened in shock.