Bullet comments —
“Here we go again, here we go again.”
“The master of stating the obvious has returned to the scene.”
“Does she think that if we lost our memories, we wouldn’t have to deal with that crawling from just now?”
Sparkle ignored the bullet comments and continued her introduction: “Let’s look at these boxes again.
They look so much like boxes.”
She walked to the corner and patted the pile of boxes, which emitted a dull “thud-thud” sound.
Just then, her gaze was drawn to something in the center of the room.
It was a — — puppet?
Sparkle froze.
She walked closer slowly, with the phone camera following along.
The puppet was wearing a Lolita-style dress dominated by the color purple, with a richly layered skirt.
On her head was a dainty beret, decorated with a purple lily on the side.
Her long brown hair draped softly over her shoulders, and neat bangs covered her forehead.
She had her eyes closed, long eyelashes casting shallow shadows on her eyelids.
Her cheeks were slightly chubby with baby fat, and her features were so exquisite they looked like they had been carved by a craftsman, one stroke at a time.
She wore a black choker around her neck.
She stood just like that, her posture elegant.
Sparkle’s eyes widened.
Bullet comments —
“Holy crap, Herta!!!”
“Is, is, is this a Herta Puppet?”
“The craftsmanship is so faithful to the original.”
“That beret, that dress, that choker.”
“Standing there with her eyes closed, so cute.”
“So, what kind of place is this, anyway?”
Sparkle leaned in a little closer, then closer still.
The Herta Puppet remained motionless.
Sparkle reached out and carefully poked her cheek.
Soft.
So soft.
It wasn’t the texture of plastic, nor the simulation of silicone; it was truly soft, with a tactile feel just like real human skin.
Sparkle’s eyes lit up.
She pinched it again; the cheek deformed slightly under her fingertips, then slowly bounced back after she let go, leaving a small, faint red mark.
“Wow,” Sparkle couldn’t help but exclaim, “so soft.”
Bullet comments —
“Envious.”
“I want to pinch it too.”
“Streamer, where are you putting your hand?”
“This face, this texture, I’m so jealous.”
Sparkle got interested.
She pulled the phone camera a little closer, getting a close-up of the Herta Puppet’s face.
“Family, look at this skin texture, these eyelashes, these lips — ”
With her free hand, she pried open the Herta Puppet’s eyelid, revealing a purple eye.
The eye was a bright purple, exuding a clever and sharp spirit, but because the puppet hadn’t activated, it just stared blankly ahead.
“These eyes are amazing.”
Sparkle leaned in to look, “This craftsmanship, this translucency, this — ”
She closed the eyelid, then pried it open again, then closed it, then pried it open again.
The puppet’s eyelid opened and closed, opened and closed, following her movements.
“Fun!”
Sparkle’s eyes were sparkling, her red pupils flashing with excitement, “It’s just like the real thing!”
Bullet comments —
“Toying with a puppet, are we?”
“If the real Herta comes, Streamer, you’re done for.”
Sparkle was having a blast, and reached out to fiddle with the Herta Puppet’s body.
The puppet’s joints were indeed puppet joints, capable of rotating freely.
She lifted the puppet’s arm and turned it left and right.
The joints were very flexible and could be posed at various angles.
“Wow, this design, this craftsmanship, it’s too exquisite,”
Sparkle commented as she fiddled with it, “Look at these joints, you can pose her in all sorts of positions.”
She had the Herta Puppet raise one hand to make a waving gesture.
Then she had the Herta Puppet put her hands together to make a gesture of offering New Year’s greetings.
Finally, she had the Herta Puppet place one hand on her hip and point the other forward, striking a “charge” pose.
The bullet comments were also laughing like crazy —
“Dying, she’s having way too much fun with this.”
“Make her open her mouth!
Make her open her mouth!”
“The eyes!
Pry the eyes open again and let’s see!”
Seeing the bullet comments, Sparkle followed their suggestions readily.
She pried open the Herta Puppet’s mouth again and looked at the teeth inside — they were actually there, small, white, and neat.
“Wow, she even has teeth,” Sparkle exclaimed, “this craftsmanship is amazing.”
She pried open the eyes again, revealing the purple irises.
Then closed the mouth again.
Then pried the mouth open again.
While she was having a blast, another wave of bullet comments started drifting by —
“Look at something else.”
“What about under the skirt?”
“Let me see!”
“Hehehe.”
“You guys are acting suspicious.”
Sparkle narrowed her eyes, a mischievous grin curling at the corners of her lips.
“Oh?
You want to see something else?”
She glanced at the bullet comments, and those “Look at something else” and “Let me see” messages were scrolling even faster.
Sparkle curled her lips slightly and slowly reached out, extending her hand toward the hem of the Herta Puppet’s Lolita dress —
The bullet comments held their breath.
Then Sparkle scooped with her hand and pulled a fuzzy thing out from under the skirt.
A monkey.
Fuli.
The monkey, being held by the scruff of its neck by Sparkle, appeared in front of the camera with a bewildered expression, half a banana still in its mouth.
It blinked, looked at the camera, and then flashed a goofy smile.
Bullet comments —
“???????”
“It’s you again!!!”
“Why is the monkey here!!!”
“Damn it, how dare you play me!”
“Damn you!”
“I didn’t comment the first time I was tricked, but I’m coming out for the second time.”
“Brother in front, rest easy, I’ve already been tricked twice.”
“I even took my pants off and this is what you show me?”
“Why does it always hide in weird places every time!”
“I want to see the Herta Puppet!
Not the monkey!”
Sparkle grinned and placed the monkey on her shoulder.
The monkey consciously found a comfortable spot to squat and continued munching on its banana.
“I won’t trick you guys anymore, I won’t trick you guys anymore,”
Sparkle waved her hand, “That was just an appetizer; this time it’s for real.”
The bullet comments held their breath again.
Sparkle’s hand reached inside.
One second.
Two seconds.
Sparkle’s expression changed.
The smile on her face froze; her gaze shifted from playful to confused, and from confused to shocked.
She looked at the phone camera.
Bullet comments —
“?”
“What’s wrong?”
“What’s the situation?”
“Streamer, say something!”
“Why is your expression like that?”
“What happened?”
Sparkle opened her mouth, then closed it again.
She took a deep breath and said, word for word:
“It’s.
Got.
Style.”
The bullet comments paused for a second.
Then —
“???????”
“What the hell???”
“Style???”
“Holy crap, it wouldn’t be that, would it?”
“Futa?!”
“Futa, get out!!!”
“Let me see!
Hurry up and let me see!”
Sparkle watched the frenzied scrolling of the bullet comments and couldn’t help but chuckle.
This was too funny.
She was definitely making it up; how could there possibly be something like that?
She just said it off the cuff to mess with these guys.
Just as Sparkle was preparing to make up something else, she suddenly noticed the bullet comments had stopped.
There wasn’t a single new bullet comment.
The screen was as still as if someone had pressed the pause button.
Sparkle froze for a moment, tilted her head, and looked at the camera: “Huh?
Why did it stop scrolling?
Did it lag?”
Then she felt something.
Fuli, on her shoulder, moved, leaned in toward her ear, and whispered:
“Um…
Sparkle.”
Sparkle: “Huh?”
Fuli didn’t speak, just pointed a paw in the direction of Sparkle’s hand.
Sparkle slowly looked down.
Her hand was still under the Herta Puppet’s skirt.
Then Sparkle slowly raised her head.
The puppet’s eyes were open.
The purple eyes stared straight at her, reflecting her frozen face in their pupils.
Those eyes were no longer lifeless glass beads, but carried a certain scrutiny.
Arms crossed over her chest, chin slightly raised, face expressionless, she looked at Sparkle with icy coldness, a completely different person from the puppet that had let itself be fiddled with just moments before.
Sparkle’s hand froze there.
Her brain crashed for 0.5 seconds.
Then she licked her lips, swallowed, and started looking left and right, refusing to look at the Herta Puppet’s face.
“Oh my, my, my,”