Chapter 148
Chapter 148
It was an enormous workshop. Several unfinished dolls lay on a massive worktable.
All four walls had been turned into display cabinets filled with completed dolls.
Cheng Miao examined the clay, tools, and silicone molds crowding the table.
The room was full of dolls, many of them missing arms or legs, and the sight made quite a few players uneasy.
Kojima was pleased by Cheng Miao’s respectful attitude, so he paid her special attention.
“Would you like to try making a doll?” Cheng Miao looked at the sketchbook Kojima held out and hesitated. She was terrible at crafts, and making a doll required a design first. As for her drawing skills…
Lin Zhu noticed her predicament and poked his head over. “Mr. Kojima, may I try?”
Kojima looked at the delicate-featured high school student with mild distaste. Not one of these guests had shown any talent. He had only offered Cheng Miao a chance because he found her relatively agreeable.
“Mr. Kojima, my friend is very skilled at this. Please let him try.” Cheng Miao knew what Lin Zhu’s Item book could do and hurried to promote him.
“Fine. You give it a try.” Looking reluctant, Kojima led Lin Zhu toward the worktable. Lin Zhu followed behind him, earnestly absorbing the knowledge from his Item book.
Once Lin Zhu began sketching, making the mold, and shaping the rough form, not only Kojima but even the players watching nearby were stunned.
Watching Lin Zhu’s nimble fingers create a lifelike doll’s head, Xiao Yan lightly tapped him on the arm. “Kid, did you do this for a living before?”
Lin Zhu continued shaping the doll’s head with complete focus. “No. I’m still a student.”
“Then how do you know how to do this?”
Lin Zhu answered with a perfectly straight face, “Mr. Kojima inspired me. I’m self-taught.”
The players: …
Kojima did not believe that someone with such superb technique had never studied the craft before, either. Still, flattery pleased him, especially from someone this talented.
All artists needed a kindred spirit. Kojima dropped his false courtesy and began instructing Lin Zhu in earnest.
As the lifelike doll took shape, the curious players crowded closer. Jiang Chen’s tall frame blocked their view, and he casually patted Cheng Miao on the shoulder.
Cheng Miao understood. She quietly slipped into the back of the workshop.
A small table stood there, covered in a chaotic jumble of hand-drawn drafts.
Newspaper clippings and photographs had been pinned to the wall. Kojima’s face was hard to make out on the yellowed paper, but it was unquestionably him.
Back then, however, he had been in high spirits, not nearly so thin or sickly.
Cheng Miao’s eyes darted across the words on the wall.
“Genius Dollmaker Astounds Town,” “Dollmaker Kojima Wins International Award,” “Dollmaker Retires and Vanishes”…
Then a keyword caught Cheng Miao’s eye. “Unmarried.”
She glanced back. The players still packed the space around Kojima and Lin Zhu, while Jiang Chen and Qiudong stood in positions that perfectly concealed her. She turned back and skimmed the article at a glance.
“The genius dollmaker remains unmarried. When asked about his marital status, he stated that he wishes to devote his energy to his art for the time being.”
Unmarried…
Cheng Miao sank into thought. Seeing no other clues, she slipped back into the crowd without anyone noticing.
Lin Zhu’s doll was nearly finished. Once its eyes were fitted, it no longer looked quite so unnerving.
He had sculpted a little boy who looked exactly like himself, except without the glasses.
He presented it to Cheng Miao like a treasure. She accepted it and examined it. It truly was beautifully made.
Perhaps because Lin Zhu had made it, the doll did not look nearly as creepy as Kojima’s creations.
Seeing Kojima put away the materials, Cheng Miao walked over and asked in a deliberately casual tone, “Mr. Kojima is the most famous dollmaker around. As one of your fans, I thought I knew just about every detail of your life. It’s a shame I didn’t know you and Miss Yuko had married, or I would have congratulated you.”
Kojima’s hand paused. Then he resumed putting away his carving knives, his voice perfectly steady. “Yuko and I never held a wedding. Fame brings too many mundane obligations, and I didn’t want to deal with them.”
That explanation did align with the newspaper. Could Kojima truly be a harmless NPC?
If so, they needed to focus their attention on Yuko. But she had yet to appear, supposedly because she was unwell.
Could it be…
That Yuko did not exist at all?
As though he could see what Cheng Miao was thinking, Kojima said gently to the group, “Once Yuko feels better tomorrow or the day after, I’ll show you her studio. I know some of you admire Yuko and aren’t interested in my dolls.”
Everyone offered a few polite replies. Kojima patted Lin Zhu on the shoulder. “You have great talent. Since you made this doll, you may keep it.”
Lin Zhu accepted the doll and clearly liked it, but he was also worried that something might be wrong with it. Smiling, he said to Kojima, “I’d like to leave the doll with you for now so it can absorb some of your creative spirit. I’ll come back for it when it’s time for me to leave.”
Cheng Miao expected Kojima to refuse, but he agreed readily. He even gave Lin Zhu the key to the doll workshop.
Lin Zhu accepted it as if it were a hot potato and earned an eye roll from Xiang Ping, the quiet buzz-cut member of the three-person team.
As they left the workshop, Xiang Ping remarked sarcastically, “Some people are just lucky. Winning an NPC’s favor means your point total must already be miles ahead of everyone else’s.”
To outsiders, Lin Zhu seemed good-tempered and timid.
But after spending so long with Cheng Miao and Qi Jiajia, he had long since learned to hide a black heart beneath an innocent exterior.
He carefully tucked the brass key out of sight, adjusted his glasses, and said in a meek voice, “Of course you’re far more capable, Brother Xiang. I only think a little faster and know a little more. How could I possibly compare to you?”
Burly Xiang Ping missed the barbs in Lin Zhu’s words. Only after the others had left did their meaning register, and he bristled with fury. “Hey! That little brat!”
“Enough!” Gu Fan pinched the bridge of her nose. “Stop provoking them. Can’t you see they’re stronger than we are?”
Xiang Ping clenched his fists, looking unconvinced. “That remains to be seen. Being good-looking doesn’t necessarily mean they’re strong.”
With that, he walked away without waiting for Gu Fan or Ah Qi.
Ah Qi sighed. “Brother Xiang really does have a bad temper. It’s going to cost him in an instance sooner or later.”
Gu Fan’s brow furrowed deeply. “He’s always been like this. Even after ending up in this damned place, he still won’t change.”
Cheng Miao spent the entire afternoon wandering around the third floor. While Kojima carved away in his workshop, she paced back and forth outside.
“Something’s wrong with Yuko not showing herself all this time, but we probably can’t enter Kojima’s bedroom recklessly.”
Torn by indecision, Cheng Miao tugged at a stubborn tuft of hair sticking up from her head. Qiudong said nothing. He lowered her hand, then smoothed the tuft back into place.
Leaning against the wall, Qin Musong studied the tightly shut door. “If you want to go in, I can blast it open.”
Gu Jian covered his mouth in exaggerated shock. “Big guy, you’re far too violent.”
As he spoke, Gu Jian’s gaze swept over Cheng Miao’s group before locking onto his kindred spirit, Qi Jiajia. “Does no one on your team know how to pick a lock? Little girl, want to learn?”