Rui's Overwhelming Defeat (Thanks to the King of Gifts, Green Pepper / Thanks to Shangmeng / Three-in-One)

"Fraternity of the Sect" refers to the friendly relationship between fellow disciples within the same school or sect.

In the voice acting and broadcasting industry, it’s common to establish lineages through "master-disciple" relationships, such as saying, "I’m a student of Teacher Huang" or "I’m a disciple of XXX."

The competition between different teams and organizations is exceptionally fierce.

After all, opportunities are limited, and projects are scarce. If one doesn’t seize every chance to climb up, or find ways to build momentum, it’s easy to miss out on core opportunities.

As a result, one’s career might stagnate on the fringes, only landing minor roles like supporting characters, NPCs, or radio dramas, never touching the realm of "major projects with core character demands."

Some voice actors, just to make a bit more money, even take on high-H (explicit) voice acting gigs early in their careers to get by.

Of course, such gigs must be kept under wraps. If exposed later, fans might dig up this "dark history," which could be problematic (though some fans might actually like it).

Therefore, for Liu Yi, today’s opportunity is once in a lifetime.

She encountered a disheartened senior in the women’s restroom,

managed to lure her into her own territory for a showdown,

discovered the senior’s hidden financial needs,

and glimpsed the struggles of her current life—

so, 【by recording the senior’s singing mistakes and imperfections, then editing in her own flawless performance, taking things out of context…】

could she present this as her 【trophy of victory】 to her juniors?

Could she have the esteemed Teacher Huang personally judge their skills, reshuffle the sect’s talent rankings, and award her the title of 【"Head Sister"】?

"Just 3,000 yuan for such priceless honor? Others can only dream, right?"

Heh.

Hehehe…

Liu Yi is confident.

Extremely confident.

Every word she speaks is a trap,

every move she makes is a deception.

A master of the "thousand-layered schemes," she has clawed her way through the dirty, cutthroat world of voice acting, emerging bloodied but victorious.

No one understands better than her the immense effort required to climb the ladder without succumbing to the industry’s dark underbelly.

And precisely because she’s been through it, she finds Bai Xing’s achievements utterly baffling—

【How did she do it?】

【Why does she make it look so effortless?】

【Why, at such a young age, still in university, has she already reached the pinnacle of the voice acting world, even branching into VTubing and making a fortune in the Vtuber sphere?】

—Liu Yi had already dug up the senior’s past.

「Hoshizuki Rina」.

A VTuber with a thousand ships (a measure of popularity).

The strongest "in-person" talent in Xsoul, who, due to lack of full support, faltered in her final livestream, losing control of her emotions and getting flamed.

Though—

Among those who flamed her,

【was Liu Yi herself】.

"Heh…"

Liu Yi sees it clearly now. The reason the senior wasn’t fully supported must be because she didn’t offer what the higher-ups wanted.

And now, walking hand in hand with her boyfriend, does it mean she’s found true love?

And will this love weaken her professional abilities?

"It must, right?"

"A woman in love becomes a love-struck fool, neglecting self-improvement, just like men, only switching from thinking with their lower half to their upper half."

"So today—

I will win."

Liu Yi thought to herself.

……

She had heard.

Heard of Bai Xing’s prowess during her "active" days.

But the seniors’ words were always exaggerated, so she refused to believe it—at least not until she saw and heard it for herself.

Even after watching her livestreams, she would nitpick with a professional’s eye, hiding behind a harmless facade while spewing venom in the comments—

【Isn’t this too forced? I don’t see anything special about her voice.】

【You all like this? Is it just me? Why is everyone praising her? Don’t you think she’s just average?】

【I thought I was the only one who found her tone fake. Her voice sounds artificially high-pitched, doesn’t it?】

【Streaming once every two days, just two hours each time? That’s not enough content, right? Even a workhorse is more diligent than her.】

【Sigh, her earlier streams were decent, but they’ve gotten boring lately. I’ve only listened in twice and already lost interest.】

【So how did she get a thousand ships? Just this? No spicy content, no fun. Not watching anymore.】

【The pink-haired avatar turned me off. Do people really like this kind of design?】

【Honestly, it’s just mediocre. I’m out.】

—All of it was her.

Though she got banned over a dozen times.

Liu Yi bought new accounts on Taobao, endlessly stirring up trouble in Hoshizuki Rina’s livestreams.

The average viewer didn’t know better, and many followed the crowd, so all she needed to do was fan the flames to create a full-blown controversy.

Until finally, Bai Xing called her out directly.

【Oh no, will she get banned by the platform mods? This kind of thing is a surefire way to get reported!】

"Report? Heh, go ahead, try it. ID 'Troll Master,' are you (elegantly) out of your (noble language) mind? Your whole family tree (elegantly) must be (noble language) gone, huh? All you can think about is reporting, reporting, reporting. Do you know how much karma you’re burning for your ancestors? You seem so proud of yourself, huh? Full of energy, aren’t you? Brain (noble language), N (cute little thing)."

【You have been muted for 365 days】

【You have been kicked out of the livestream by the moderator】

……

Today, the chance for revenge has arrived.

Liu Yi wears an innocent expression, looking completely natural.

Playing "So Cute, I’m Sorry," she casually begins gathering information:

"Senior, by the way, why aren’t you taking voice acting gigs anymore? You’re so talented, and Teacher Huang still talks about you often."

"No time."

Bai Xing has already figured out Liu Yi’s motives. Though she doesn’t know her sordid past, she’s at least wary of her—

【As if I wouldn’t see through your little game. I’ve dealt with Su Ling in a single round. Who do you think you are?】

【I thought you’d learned well from Teacher Huang, but clearly, you missed her most repeated lesson—"There’s always someone better. Stay humble to improve." Tsk tsk.】

【Today, I’ll teach you a lesson. Let you know that those who don’t know their place in the world get eliminated quickly.】

【Just watch, little one.】

…

…

"Eh? Voice acting can be quite lucrative if you’re good at it… Does Senior really look down on the income in our field?"

Liu Yi slips her hand into her skirt pocket, secretly turning on a recorder.

Her movements are subtle, filled with malice.

But Bai Xing sees right through her.

【—Something’s off.】

【But it’s fine.】

She responds bluntly: "Voice acting is indeed a noble profession. Through voice, we can bring fantasies and joy to people, satisfying the auditory and emotional needs of voice enthusiasts. It’s irreplaceable by any other industry.

However, I have more important things to do. I have my own ideas and decisions, and it’s not as you see it—that I’ve abandoned voice acting.

On the contrary, what I’m doing now integrates all the skills I’ve mastered, channeling them into a new field, and continuously expanding it. I’ll keep refining and sharpening my competitive edge until certain rivals are left far behind, never to catch up."

The sheer force of her words makes Liu Yi’s pupils contract.

Was that a mistake?

It didn’t seem like it.

Could it be… she’s been found out?

Damn it.

Senior’s words…

They’re layered with meaning.

Liu Yi licks her dry lips, smearing some lip gloss, and continues probing:

"Then, Senior, why haven’t you released any new songs lately? Have you given up on singing too?"

She unleashes her second killer move—"Twisting Reality with Facts."

This technique is incredibly powerful in the realm of 【spreading rumors】, often making outsiders blindly accept her words as truth without seeking evidence.

As expected, she continued to drive the point home:

“Teacher Huang said that vocal music is one of the most important subjects in voice acting skills, just like math, Chinese, and English. Do you remember? She said that a voice actor must be able to sing, otherwise, it’s like being academically lopsided. Relying solely on skills like ‘imitation,’ ‘sound effects,’ and ‘crying techniques’ is completely insufficient. After all, the modern voice acting field is so competitive that even being slightly unattractive could lead to a flood of backlash from haters after being exposed, directly ruining your career. If you can’t sing and fail at such a basic task, it’s even easier to be eliminated. We practice our voices every day, and vocal music has already become a fundamental part of our training. So—”

“Senior, you haven’t given up on vocal music, have you?”

“If a voice actor abandons vocal music and drops to a KTV level, it would be a joke to the teachers, wouldn’t it?”

Liu Yi grinned, pressing forward relentlessly, deploying her meticulously prepared rhetoric to its fullest.

“Oh, really?”

Yet, Bai Xing remained completely unfazed by these words.

It was as if she was watching something rather amusing:

“Who told you I gave up?”

“Huh?”

“Did anyone tell you I stopped singing?”

“…What?”

Liu Yi frowned slightly, “But you haven’t released any new EPs, nor have you followed up with the record companies you’ve worked with before…”

“Ha. Alright? You seem to know a lot about me, don’t you?”

Bai Xing smiled, casting a knowing glance at Liu Yi:

“You’re either into me or trying to take me down. Am I right?”

“…?”

“We’re both women. There’s no need to act out those little thoughts of yours.”

Bai Xing picked up the microphone, walked slowly to the karaoke machine, and clicked the “Pause” button.

Then,

while searching through the song list for a female singer named “Aimer,” she said:

“I haven’t released new songs because I don’t have the money to hire composers and arrangers. You should know a bit about this—unless you sign a blood-sucking contract, making it big in the music industry is a pipe dream, unless you come from a wealthy family that can hype you up.”

“But just because I’m not releasing new songs doesn’t mean I’m not practicing singing after my vocal exercises;

I can’t afford expensive equipment, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use cheaper gear to maintain the skills I should have;

I’m not posting audio clips on social media, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on vocal music or abandoned the singing skills I worked so hard to develop, spending so much money and effort taking lessons from Teacher Haiyin.”

“?!”

At this point, under Liu Yi’s slightly uneasy gaze, Bai Xing deleted all the songs in the queue.

Finally, she selected a song titled “Unrequited Love,”

and declared proudly:

“Care to listen?”

“Let’s see if what you assume is correct or if what I’m about to show you is more convincing.”

“Remember, some actions can come back to haunt you.”

……

……