The comment section below the homepage exploded into chaos, becoming a massive, heated battleground. Original fans, haters, and onlookers formed three distinct factions, arguing incessantly.
Lu Qing checked his private messages. The number in the red circle had jumped to 99+, and at first glance, it was filled with vitriolic abuse.
A post titled “Analysis of ‘Luo Luo’s Daily Life’ Plagiarism” stood out prominently at the bottom of the page. It had reached three thousand likes, with a mob of netizens commenting beneath it. The attention was quickly surpassing the actual follower count of Lu Qing’s channel.
However, his primary concern was the little bug who had sneaked in through the network path.
“If this continues, the livestream room will be banned for a long time before it can go back online.” Parson felt his head throbbing. Netizens have very short memories; at this point, closing the stream and shutting down the comment section would be the optimal choice.
Once enough time passed and everyone forgot, new fans would arrive to drown out the old ones. The ripples on the surface of the lake, no matter how desperately they tried to splash, would eventually return to stillness.
“Wait a moment. The hacker on the other side has crawled along the network cable.”
The male bug’s tone was so calm that Parson, still worrying about the livestream, was momentarily stunned, nearly thinking he had misheard. He muttered the words to himself before confirming that it meant exactly what he thought it did.
Parson took a sharp breath, panicked for less than two seconds, and then spontaneously calmed down. His heartbeat gradually slowed. He listened to the steady, rhythmic sound of typing that had not faltered at all, his gaze becoming unfocused until he drifted into a daze. Why was he panicking? The male streamer under his management was not worried, so why was he? He was a female bug, yet his mental fortitude was not even as good as that of a young male bug.
“You… good luck.”
Parson did not know what else to say. He could not help with anything else, so he could only offer this sentence as moral support for the male. Though, did he really need encouragement? Parson thought numbly.
The hacker’s attacks were direct, but they retracted quickly, making them difficult to track. Lu Qing found amusement in this cat-and-mouse game; his expression became more serious, and the progress of the program transformations accelerated.
The feeling of meeting a worthy opponent was wonderful. It reminded Lu Qing of the hacker he had encountered online back when he was at the Locke house.
After nearly half an hour, both sides were exhausted. Lu Qing’s right eye was damaged; after looking at the screen for too long, his vision was filled with mottled black spots, leaving it blurred. Meanwhile, the bug on the other side began to show weakness; the attacks weakened, and the defensive speed slowed.
Lu Qing withdrew from his rare state of excitement, reflecting with a hint of regret using his remaining rationality. Since the opponent kept seizing gaps to try and break through, it was naturally impossible to defend against everything.
If he were slightly careless, his IP might be captured. He glanced sideways at the barely noticeable string of numbers in the corner.
He decided to simply create a fake virtual IP and push it along the network cable, letting the opponent believe that this was the great prize they had struggled so hard to obtain.
Not long after, a minuscule, nearly invisible vulnerability was captured by the female bug.
But the female bug was not an idiot. He carefully and cautiously slipped into the vulnerability, tentatively peeling away the protected IP… his mood shifted from skepticism to utter disbelief.
A thousand layers of shell, endless and automatically generated. As soon as one layer was peeled away, there was another. There was no bottom in sight.
The female bug peeled away at the layers while dealing with Lu Qing’s counter-attacks, until he reached the point of doubting his own life. Finally, the fake IP emerged. It revealed… one character.
The female bug on the other side: “…”
“m.”
The cursing in the comment section grew more aggressive. Especially in the popular comment about the plagiarism analysis, the original poster had even pulled out a color palette as evidence, comparing Lu Qing to another streamer.
He explicitly pointed out that Lu Qing’s livestream content was eerily similar to the “Cub Loves to Eat” channel. Whether it was the recipes, the livestream content, or the style, they were strangely alike.
“I haven’t watched his livestream.”
In the video, the small, exquisite male bug smiled at the camera, resting his chin on his hands, lost in thought: “You say he plagiarized my livestream?”
“Haha, I don’t know if he plagiarized, but in this era of the internet where piracy is rampant, please support the original version~”
This statement by Youyou, said casually during a livestream, was posted on the homepage of the popular comment poster and pinned to the top.
Youyou did not explicitly say Lu Qing had plagiarized, but by bringing up “supporting the original,” he left those netizens with no choice but to overthink it.
The half-true comparison chart, combined with an already trending topic being fanned into new heights, successfully brought huge traffic to both Youyou and Lu Qing.
At the end, a “solid proof” photo was attached. Youyou’s first video was released earlier than Lu Qing’s first stream. Who plagiarized whom was obvious at a glance.
A bunch of so-called “insiders” popped up; both small and big streamers came out to support Youyou. The progression of the story was exactly the same as the post about Brute. Under the layering of this new heat, the two incidents mutually corroborated each other, all pointing to Lu Qing being a male bug with poor moral character.
[Dreams Come True]: This Lord… I don’t know how to comment; I hope he realizes his mistake.
[Hehe Speechless]: Plagiarism dog, go die.
[Little Army 123]: How dare he? Plagiarism plus fraud?
[User 45688]: Plagiarism dog, go die already!
Parson was dumbfounded by the increasing number of scandals below. If it were not for the fact that this scandal involved Lu Qing, he might have been standing on the sidelines pointing fingers and commenting along with the passersby.
“Damn it, his first video happened to be before yours. I’ve checked it; it’s really a coincidence. It is the same livestream mode, and even the dishes he makes are the same.”
Parson never expected Lu Qing to have such bad luck, running headfirst into the line of fire. He had investigated the backgrounds of the streamers supporting Youyou; they were all under the management of the same agent. He did not believe Youyou was unrelated to them; he must also be one of that agent’s streamers.
Lu Qing’s hand rested on the edge of the communicator’s casing, tapping twice. His gaze landed on the homepage of the user named Youyou.
The first livestream video on the page was a raw meat slice porridge made with beetle meat, just like his video.
“The publication time has been tampered with.”
A low, husky voice came from one side of the terminal. Parson subconsciously linked it to the hacker from the Randy family and tentatively asked, “Another hacker?”
“Possibly.”
The book whispered, adding: “If Lulu says possibly, then it’s almost certainly true!”
“Then…”
Lu Qing: “I have an idea.”
The book kept blathering: “Catchphrase.”
Parson: “…Please, go ahead.”
“The location is in the main star system, Sera City, Pelade Town, Number 435. Have you made the contact?” The female bug’s fingers ran through his forehead bangs, impatiently pushing them back, revealing a small, dark purple mole at the corner of his brow.
Brute was agitated that he did not have to go to prison, his tone filled with the joy and relief of a narrow escape: “I’ve already told my father! I’m sending the address to them right now; they will help me find that bug!”
The female bug frowned and urged: “Hurry up, if you don’t want to become a dirty, lowly prisoner.”
“…”
The call ended. The female bug took a deep breath, unable to stop his mouth from curling into a satisfied smile.
It was finally going to end.
He hummed an unknown tune, joyfully pouring himself a glass of red wine. He held the stem of the glass between two fingers, shaking it gently.
The glass-like surface reflected his fair, delicate face and the long hair draped over his shoulders.
That bug was much trickier than he had imagined.
The female bug thought, narrowing his eyes, and daintily licked a drop of wine from his lips. The mellow aroma brought him back to the scene where he had challenged Lu Qing.
If it were not for probing for vulnerabilities, he would not even have had the chance to see those thousand layers of shell, let alone find his IP address.
But, in fact, the one who ultimately won was still him! The Bug God was ultimately on his side! Therefore, he could not let him live in this world.
The female bug’s pupils emitted an eerie light, a flash of manic color passing through his eyes. He could not let his Master Male know that there was a hacker out there more skilled than he was…