While the girls were laughing over that side-by-side "Eden vs. Rock King Princess" meme, on the other side Mo Li also noticed the edits players had made.
"Tsk…"
"As expected of our sand-sculpture netizens…"
He really didn't mind—in fact, he thought it was pretty funny.
But would he wear it himself? Absolutely not.
He quietly dropped a like on the pic and stopped scrolling.
Right now, something else mattered more to him: the "Penguin" side had just leaked news of a new game.
There weren't many details, but from what was shown, you could tell that game was clearly meant to challenge Genshin.
"Let's hope this time they don't put out some half-baked thing again."
But did Mo Li feel threatened?
Not at all.
If anything, he was actually looking forward to it—looking forward to "Penguin" making something genuinely good.
Because, to him, games in this world were too far behind.
Aside from all the titles sitting in his own head, nothing in this world could get him hyped.
If this world could also reach the "hundred flowers blooming" stage of gaming, he'd honestly be happy.
As for "will it affect my income?"
Please.
Mo Li wasn't scared of being overtaken—he was scared the opponents were too weak.
He was really looking at it from a "god watching mortals" angle now.
Just as Mo Li was browsing, the office door opened with a soft click.
"Mei?"
He'd thought it was Rita, but to his surprise, it was Mei.
"...Ah, sorry to bother you, boss. Is there… a pair of scissors in the studio?"
Mo Li blinked. "Scissors? What for?"
Mei looked a little embarrassed. "I wanted to trim my hair… it's gotten too long."
Mo Li's gaze dropped to her long, beautiful purple hair.
It already reached past her hips.
For daily life, yeah, that was a bit long.
But compared to the in-game Herrscher of Thunder, it wasn't even that long yet.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Mo Li's mind.
"If you want to cut it… can you wait a second?"
"Eh?" Mei tilted her head. "What's wrong?"
Mo Li smiled. "Let me try a hairstyle on you first."
That… actually startled Mei a little.
"Boss knows how to do that?"
Mo Li shook his head. "No, but the one I'm picturing is pretty simple."
"Come sit here. Wait just a minute." With that, he hurried out.
Mei was left sitting there, not sure what to do.
After a moment's thought, she sat down obediently on the chair and waited.
Not long after, Mo Li came back carrying a hair tie, a comb, and a pair of scissors.
"Thanks for waiting."
Mei hesitated. "Boss… are you going to cut my hair yourself?"
"Haha…" Mo Li couldn't help laughing. "I could—if you're not afraid I'll ruin it~"
"T-then… I should do it…" Mei was about to stand up and take the scissors.
Mo Li quickly pressed a hand to her shoulder. "Don't rush. I'm not going to cut it. I just…"
"I thought of a Genshin character, and you're the perfect match. I want to see if the hairstyle works on you."
Mei blinked. "A Genshin character… are you going to model another character after me?"
"Yup," Mo Li admitted straight away.
He hadn't originally planned to—after all, there was still a long way to go before the Raiden Shogun appeared in-game.
But since Mei suddenly wanted to cut her hair short, Mo Li felt it was a shame.
On impulse, he wanted to see—if he tied Mei's hair into the Raiden Shogun style… would she also turn into that "married-lady face"?
"Oh right, Mei, do you have any sisters?"
"Eh? N-no…" Mei's face warmed as she felt him running his fingers through her hair, combing it, gathering it. Her voice turned soft and syrupy without her realizing.
She didn't actually want to refuse him—she was just shy.
Mo Li, of course, noticed.
This… kind of felt like taking advantage of a girl…
And Mei happened to be the type… that didn't really know how to say no.
Touching her hair without asking first… yeah, that was a bit much.
"Great. Now she's probably going to hate me…"
Mo Li awkwardly let go of Mei's hair.
He went back to his desk, pulled up the system, called out the Raiden Shogun model, and threw it on the computer.
He figured it'd be better to show Mei the model and let her fix her own hair.
He really had overstepped a little just now.
Hanging around with Rita and Himeko had made him forget Mei wasn't that familiar yet.
"Blame Rita and Himeko. And… the pink fat fairy…" he muttered inwardly, shifting just a bit of the guilt off himself.
Over on Mei's side, the second Mo Li stepped away, she quietly let out a long breath.
She clutched her wildly beating heart and secretly glanced at Mo Li.
"…"
She was wondering why he stopped halfway…
After a pause, she asked, "Boss? W-what's wrong?"
Mo Li, still flipping through his system panel, answered casually, "Nothing. I suddenly remembered—we already had an early model of that character."
"I'll pull it up so you can see."
In no time, the system pushed the model to his computer.
"Here—Mei, look. Can we change your hair to this?"
Mei looked at the Raiden Shogun on the screen.
…It really looked just like her!
But because of the long braid and that cool, aloof expression, it looked even more mature—more womanly.
"Is this… me?"
Mo Li smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I made it using you as the base. What do you think?"
"It's nice…" Mei paused, then her cheeks reddened. "It's like… a more mature me…"
Mo Li didn't say it out loud.
But yes—that was peak wife-face.
"Can you tie it like this?"
A sudden thought popped up in Mei's head: Does Boss Mo Li… like this kind of character setting more?
But she only thought it—she didn't dare ask.
"I don't mind… you can do it however you want, boss."
Saying that, Mei sat back down obediently.
Mo Li: ???
So… she's just going to let me do whatever?
He didn't dare say it.
So he pretended to keep operating on the computer.
But out of the corner of his eye, he kept watching Mei.
Two whole minutes passed.
Mei still sat there properly, not moving an inch.
Looks like… she really doesn't mind me doing her hair.
Mo Li: "…I'm such an idiot."
It's just doing someone's hair.
This isn't ancient times where girls had to avoid men at the barbershop, okay?
Even he felt dumb for overthinking it.
Since that was the case, the guilt disappeared.
"Thanks for waiting."
Mo Li stood, picked the comb up again, and started to brush Mei's hair.
She smelled really good. When he lifted the hair with one hand, he could see the pale line of her neck, smooth as jade.
Maybe because of all that brain-noise earlier, even Mo Li was a bit nervous now.
He wanted to find a topic to break the awkwardness…
But his mind was suddenly blank.
So his hands just kept repeating the brushing motion…
Where he couldn't see her face, Mei's cheeks were as red as cherries.
Because she was nervous, her posture was stiff, back straight, shoulders taut.
It was just doing hair, but she couldn't help her racing heart.
It felt weird, but… not bad. Kind of new. Kind of… thrilling?
Maybe it's because this is the first time I've been this close to a boy… she thought.
Time trickled by. But Mei could tell—Mo Li was still just brushing, not actually styling.
Did he run into a problem?
She wanted to ask, but was too shy.
Forget it, don't ask.
Right then, Mo Li finally snapped back.
He quickly put down the comb and started braiding.
The Raiden Shogun hairstyle actually wasn't hard.
Just braid it into a long plait, trim the front bangs, and leave two side strands.
The rest was ornaments and clothes.
They didn't have Ningguang tailor the outfit yet, but just with the hairstyle, you could already see the Shogun's silhouette.
Mei had a lot of hair, too. Just fluff it up a bit and don't tie too tight—perfect.
In no time, the long braid was done.
Mo Li tied the end with a hair ribbon, making a neat little bow.
"Okay, now I just have to trim the front."
By now, Mei's face was still pink, but her heartbeat had calmed a little.
She stood up slowly, ran a hand over the braid on her back, and—very carefully—peeked at Mo Li.
But their eyes met—Mei instantly turned her face away.
"H-how do you want to cut the front?"
Mo Li chuckled. "Super simple. Just the bangs."
Mei nodded slightly, then said—softly, almost whispering: "Mm… go ahead."
It was clearly her usual mature onee-san voice.
It was clearly a serious answer.
But with that shy, soft tone… suddenly it didn't sound serious at all…
Even Mo Li's heart skipped a beat.
He was, at the end of the day, a guy who'd just graduated university and had never dated.
To be honest, aside from Kiana, Hu Tao, and Griseo, everyone else in the studio he had to call "older sister."
Klee obviously didn't count.
And now Mei, dressed like she was… plus that gorgeous face… there was actually a hint of "seductive" there.
Her original youthful air had been completely covered up by the hairstyle.
Black silk, heels, blouse, pencil skirt…
Urban Raiden Shogun.
A big sister in officewear…
Mo Li hurriedly shook the thoughts away.
"You're not afraid I'll cut it wrong?"
But the moment Mei said "go ahead," her brain had already gone offline.
She didn't hear what Mo Li said at all—she just nodded on instinct.
In her head, she kept repeating:
I'm just being a model. I'm just helping the boss find character inspiration. Don't be nervous… don't be nervous…
Seeing her nod, Mo Li didn't hesitate anymore.
He took the scissors and comb and walked around to face Mei.
Because of their height difference, he had to lower his head a little to tidy her bangs properly.
"Don't move, okay~ I'll be done soon~"
So close, Mei felt her face heat like crazy.
Even in that simple, gentle reminder, she heard a trace of… pampering?
Her head felt overfilled with blood. Her thoughts scattered.
Her eyes, looking at Mo Li, went glassy and trembling.
She couldn't help thinking of what Rita and Himeko had teased her about before.
Mo Li, naturally, noticed.
You couldn't not notice when someone was staring like that.
He was a little surprised—that wasn't like Mei…
Logically, shy girls would close their eyes, right? Not stare straight at him like that…
Even he was getting embarrassed…
And he was supposed to have a face thicker than a city wall after being trained by Rita and Himeko.
"V-very soon~"
This time he was reminding himself.
But just as he said that, Mei suddenly swayed—and began to fall backwards.
Mo Li reacted fast—he tossed the scissors aside and caught her by the waist.
Mei yelped softly and, on reflex, hooked her arms around his neck.
She was warm, soft; her faint fragrance rushed straight to his nose.
First time holding such a soft girl, and Mo Li's mouth suddenly felt dry.
It was just a haircut…
How did it turn into this?
But this was still worth it—Mei's figure was really something.
Her face was flawless, too—skin pale and glowing, the kind that made you want to take a little bite.
But Mo Li still had self-control. He didn't use it as an excuse to kiss her.
Still… Mei wasn't getting up.
She was still clinging to him.
After a beat, Mo Li patted her shoulder. "What's wrong? Not feeling well?"
Mei nodded at once, voice barely a mosquito: "My head… kind of hurts…"
The "headache" was fake, but the dizziness was real.
Smelling Mo Li up close just made her more embarrassed.
Mo Li didn't suspect anything. He really thought she was sick.
He could feel it—if he let go now, Mei would just crumple to the floor.
But… if he didn't let go, something else was going to get exposed…
He was still a single guy, never dated, and now he was holding a beautiful woman this close, full-body touch.
Yeah. Little Mo Li was not going to stay calm.
"Ah!?"
Sure enough—Mei felt the strange pressure against her abdomen and yelped.
Mo Li: "…"
…Too late.
Mei immediately pushed herself up a little, glanced down—
She really almost fainted, and turned away fast. "B-boss… I'll… go rest for a bit…"
And she fled.
When she walked out, her steps were wobbly—she really looked sick.
Only after Mei left did Mo Li exhale.
Yeah, that was awkward.
But it wasn't the end of the world.
It was a normal physiological reaction. Someone as considerate as Mei should understand… right?
Not long after she left, the office door was flung open again.
"Hahahaha—Boss, look what I found!"
It was Kiana.
She ran in with her phone, grinning like a fox.
"Rock King Princess! Hahaha, it's too funny!"
Mo Li: "…"
He rubbed his temples and said helplessly, "I saw it. It's just fans being silly. No big deal."
"What, did you want to see me raging?"
"Ehhh? Boss Mo Li's not mad?" Kiana was genuinely surprised.
"Heh~" Mo Li shot her a side-eye. "Do I look that petty to you?"
"Even if someone's mad, it'd be Eden, okay? Show her the pic and she'll probably just laugh."
Kiana scratched her head, sheepish. "Hehe~ yeah, that sounds right… But isn't it super funny?"
"It is funny. But I think…"
"Instead of this, you should go check on Mei. She looked like she wasn't feeling well."
The second Kiana heard "Mei's sick," the smile disappeared.
"Eh? She was fine just now…"
Still mumbling, she tucked her phone away and ran out.
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