Butterview
As soon as the live broadcast began, the short teaser video that had been uploaded earlier started playing.
A black dragon revealed itself amid crackling lightning, its eyes a brilliant golden-yellow. The sheer majesty of the sight instantly seized every viewer’s attention.
People wondered who on earth the guest could be to warrant such an entrance, but those in the know already had a pretty good idea.
The screen transitioned.
What appeared was a lavish reception room with strong Chinese styling—a 3D model prepared by the Mudayang channel for its Chinese VTubers.
The chat exploded the moment it came into view.
The reception room’s ceiling then cracked open. From it fell Mudayang, dressed in the flowing Qixiong Ruqun and the majestic attire of the Demon Lord—looking every bit like a graceful celestial maiden.
The dumpling-haired girl landed somewhat precariously, wobbled for a moment, then struck a pose with a proud little smile.
“Mutda-mutda-muda-muda! The internet world’s idol interviewer ‘Ask Me Anything! Mudayang!’ has arrived! So? Everyone, wasn’t I cool just now?”
Mudayang gave a small giggle at the flood of “cute” comments and officially opened the show.
“All right then, let’s begin today’s virtual interview—Butterview! Our guest today was incredibly difficult to book! Today’s main character is…”
She deliberately paused right before revealing the guest’s name—a tiny prank to make the audience squirm just a little longer.
Right when the viewers were about to explode with complaints, Mudayang shouted again.
“Here he is, here he is, here he is! The man currently riding an unstoppable wave of momentum! Martial world, tremble in fear! All under heaven, shake with terror! The master of the highest peak and the ten thousand demons! Please come forth!”
At her cry, a deep rumble of thunder rolled out. A pitch-black bolt of lightning slammed down in the center of the reception room, swallowing the entire screen in darkness.
From within the thick black smoke that obscured everything, a long-haired beauty of a man emerged.
His long black robe fluttering behind him, hands clasped behind his back, Myeong-yun stepped out of the smoke and gave a light wave of his arm. The entire cloud of darkness scattered at once.
The sudden gust made Mudayang cover her face with both hands.
Huh? Was that effect in the script?
She was startled for only a second before her professional instincts kicked in. She quickly smoothed her hair and continued the introduction.
“The legendary VTuber who reached one million subscribers in just one week! The man who shocked the world with his unmatched, once-in-a-lifetime physique! The Heavenly Demon himself from the ‘Heavenly Demon Myeong-yun’ channel has joined us as today’s Butterview guest! Everyone, please give him a huge round of applause!!”
The real-time viewer count had already surpassed sixty thousand and was still climbing rapidly. The moment Myeong-yun appeared, the “collab system” triggered notifications for his own subscribers as well.
In the blink of an eye the number shot past one hundred thousand.
Even Mudayang was slightly stunned. Normal Butterview episodes usually hovered around fifty thousand viewers at the start. To more than double that instantly meant they might very well break the show’s all-time record.
With his hands still clasped behind his back, Myeong-yun gave a slight bow toward the camera and the audience beyond it.
His tone was arrogant and overbearing to the extreme, yet no one found it unpleasant. In the VTuber industry, a strong, distinctive role-play persona was considered a major plus.
“This is actually the first time we’re meeting face-to-face since the preliminary meeting—which was only yesterday! How should I put it… even just looking at you is overwhelming. There’s this aura that makes it hard to approach you, you know? I sent the contact email half-expecting to be rejected, so the fact that you actually came has me so moved I feel like I could cry!”
“I’m personally a huge fan, so I think today’s Butterview is going to be really fun! Okay, please take a seat!”
“Mm.”
Myeong-yun and Mudayang sat on opposite sides of the camera in the classic television interview format—facing the viewers rather than each other.
“Now then, for the first segment of the 124th Butterview! It’s time for ‘Ask Me! Personal Information!’ We’ll be digging into every detail of the Heavenly Demon’s personal life. If any question is too difficult, feel free to pass! All right, first question! Heavenly Demon, could you introduce your siblings or family clan?”
“My clan, hmm.”
Myeong-yun lightly stroked his chin at the first question. Recalling his family required reaching quite far back into his previous life.
He opened his mouth, drawing up memories from a distant past.
“Wow, what a big family! You must have been the beloved youngest!”
It really had been a happy childhood.
But that happiness had been short-lived.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was a place where strength was everything—a cruel world that followed the law of the jungle.
How long ago had it been?
At least several decades.
He had thought the passage of time had dulled the pain, yet bringing it up again made a corner of his chest ache.
To others it might sound like mere role-play flavor text, but to Myeong-yun it was real.
“I-I see! Somehow I feel like I already understand even without hearing the rest… I’m getting sad too!”
To lighten the mood, Mudayang pretended to cry cutely before quickly moving on to the next question.
“More of the Heavenly Demon’s personal information! We’ve picked out a few questions that many fans are dying to know! When is your birthday?”
“So that’s why you give off such a mysterious vibe! Having a birthday only once every four years means you get four years’ worth of presents all at once!”
Myeong-yun gave a small laugh and continued answering Mudayang’s questions.
Since today’s Butterview was also doubling as a Q&A session for his own channel, there were quite a lot of questions sent in by his viewers.
“How tall are you?”
“Could you explain the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?”
“Ah! So that’s how it works! Then how many people in the history of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult have been called the Heavenly Demon?”
“Whoa, so the title of Heavenly Demon is incredibly hard to obtain. I’m not that familiar with wuxia, so I thought every cult leader was automatically called the Heavenly Demon!”
“This question might be a bit sensitive! A lot of comments say that judging by the scale of your activities, it wouldn’t be strange to call you a corporate VTuber rather than an individual one!”
“There you have it! To all the companies currently watching Butterview—this is your chance! The perfect opportunity to buy the Heavenly Demon at a low price!”
“What’s your favorite food or hobby? By the way, I personally love Sichuan chili sweet and sour pork!”
And so the questions and answers continued alongside casual talk for roughly an hour. When they finally started running out of things to ask, Mudayang clapped her hands sharply.
“That’s all for the question corner! The Heavenly Demon answered every single one of the countless questions—everyone please give him another round of applause!”
“Next up is a corner everyone knows and loves! It’s the fan-favorite ‘Defeat Mudayang!’ segment!”
Myeong-yun watched the incoming chat messages with open curiosity, wondering what exactly this segment was about.
He raised a fist and asked,