Chapter 32: Mobile Game Commission

The next day.

“Yawn.”

Dragging my tired body out of bed, I stretched to loosen up.

Crack.

The sound of my joints cracking wasn’t exactly great for my health—I knew that much.

But it was so satisfying that I couldn’t resist.

After finishing my stretches, I sat down and opened my DMs.

Normally, once I finish one commission, I immediately accept the next to keep things flowing.

But yesterday, I couldn’t sort through the commissions properly because of all the mischievous viewers spamming nonsense.

‘I really don’t want to take just anything.’

If I were a struggling artist with few clients, I’d probably accept every request that came in.

But I wasn’t desperate enough to grab every single one—commissions always flowed in steadily anyway.

“Hmm.”

I refreshed my inbox to see what had come in overnight.

Plenty of DMs had arrived while I was asleep.

[Wanna see my privates, oppa?]

[What about actual animals instead of furries…?]

Sigh.

Block.

I blocked them all without hesitation.

I couldn’t understand why people sent these kinds of messages.

Maybe they thought it was funny, but it was just unpleasant to me.

As I continued checking the requests, something interesting finally caught my eye.

[Would it be possible to commission an illustration for a mobile game?]

It was a request for a mobile game illustration.

‘This one seems decent.’

I hadn’t looked at the details yet, but mobile game illustrations usually came with a much higher price tag.

At least four times more than a standard commission.

Among all the offers I’d received, this one seemed the most promising, so I sent a reply.

[Me: Hello!]

[Me: Could you clarify what kind of illustration you’re looking for?]

A response came shortly after.

[Heart X Memorial: Oh!]

[Heart X Memorial: I literally mean an illustration to be used in our game! That’s why I reached out to you!]

[Heart X Memorial: We’re introducing a new character, and it’d be great if you could bring that character to life in your style.]

“Oh.”

They were indeed talking about an illustration to be used in-game.

I was inclined to accept the offer, but I wanted to confirm something first—just in case.

[Me: Would it be okay to draw this illustration in a public setting?]

[Me: Like during a livestream, for example?]

It was unlikely, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. If it was allowed, great. If not, it was just a missed opportunity.

After a brief pause, the response arrived.

[Heart X Memorial: Um…]

[Heart X Memorial: I think it should be fine.]

[Heart X Memorial: Honestly, our game isn’t that well-known, so it wouldn’t be a problem.]

An unexpected confession.

They admitted outright that their game wasn’t popular.

I found it a bit surprising but quickly composed myself and sent a reply.

[Me: Oh.]

[Me: But who knows? This could be the breakthrough that makes your game famous!]

[Me: Let’s give it our best shot!]

[Heart X Memorial: Thank you for the kind words.]

[Heart X Memorial: I’ll send you the draft for the character shortly…!]

[Heart X Memorial: (File)]

[Heart X Memorial: Looking forward to working with you!]

I moved the file sent by the game company to my main monitor to take a closer look.

“…Not bad.”

It was as if they already knew what kind of illustrations I disliked—there wasn’t any unnecessary exposure.

While the character’s design did emphasize their muscles, it wasn’t off-putting.

Nothing about it made me feel uncomfortable.

Still…

‘Seeing how sincerely they requested this makes me really want to give it my all.’

Usually, when taking on commissions, my mindset was to “keep it reasonable.”

If I didn’t pace myself, I’d end up exhausting all my energy on a single piece.

It was better for my workflow—and sanity—to put in just enough effort while pacing myself for future tasks.

But reading the heartfelt DM from the game company made me want to fully commit to this piece.

“I guess I should start the stream.”

Since I had permission to work on this commission during a livestream, I decided to really focus and do my best.

[The stream has started!]

After confirming the notification that the stream was live, I began setting up.

I displayed the reference file of the commissioned character on the right monitor, while my tablet was shown on the broadcast screen.

[+HurryAndLeave: Hihi!]

[LikeYogurt! Hihi!]

[What are we doing today?]

[Let’s do a World Cup! World Cup! World Cup! World Cup! World Cup! World Cup!]

[I really want to see another World Cup.]

Looking at the chat, it was clear that yesterday’s World Cup had brought in a lot of new viewers.

After breaking my all-time high in viewer count, it was natural that more people would stick around.

But today’s plan was already set.

“Aha, no need to vote today. I’ve already decided what we’re doing.”

I had made up my mind before starting the stream, so there wasn’t any reason to put it to a vote.

[+HurryAndLeave: It’s nothing weird, right?]

[+HurryAndLeave: I trust you, okay?]

[Well, not trusting you won’t change anything, I guess.]

[Yeah, there’s really nothing we can do about it…]

[Pepe: Is it a game stream today?]

[Pepe: Feels like it might be.]

“Today, I’ll be doing some illustration work. A lot of you seem to have come hoping for another World Cup, but don’t get your hopes up too much—it won’t happen again for a while.”

The reason I don’t do World Cups often is simple: they take way too much time.

Yesterday’s World Cup took six hours, even though I sped things up by cutting it down to just 64 rounds.

[+HurryAndLeave: Nice!]

[+HurryAndLeave: This is it, haha.]

[Super excited now, lol.]

[People have been whining for art streams forever, and now it’s finally happening, lol.]

[Didn’t you just do an art stream recently, though?]

[Pepe: Dude, that was a furry illustration last time.]

[How can you be so sure it won’t be again this time, lol?]

“Don’t worry, I’m not drawing anything like that today. Last time was unexpected—it only turned out that way because of some unforeseen circumstances.”

That was the truth.

I couldn’t have predicted the client would suddenly send such a massive payment.

I started sketching calmly as I explained. First, I began outlining.

Swoosh, swoosh.

[Whoa, what’s this?]

[+HurryAndLeave: This is just a guy, right? You’re not suddenly going to add fur, are you???]

[It’s not fur this time; it’s an exoskeleton.]

[Insects are on a whole different level, man.]

[Pepe: Please, for the love of God, stop, lol.]

I didn’t respond much to the weird speculations going on in the chat.

Watching the viewers come up with absurd theories and banter amongst themselves was part of the entertainment value of the stream.

There was no need to shut it down.

“All right, the outline is done.”

[+HurryAndLeave: Nice work!]

[FYI, the furry illustration last time looked flawless up to the outlining stage too, haha.]

[No way they’re going to pull the same thing twice, lol.]

[Pepe: This just looks like a normal guy so far.]

[You can’t tell if it’s a guy, a furry, an insect, or a woman until you observe the final result…]

[This is some quantum-level mystery.]

With the outline complete, I began filling in the details.

Starting with the broad, rounded shoulders, I carefully rendered the biceps, showing veins tautly standing out as the arm bent.

The wide pectoral muscles were drawn with balance and symmetry, giving them a solid, plate-like appearance.

The six-pack abs naturally connected in perfect harmony, with subtle shading between each segment to enhance the depth and realism.

I wasn’t cutting corners; every muscle was intricately detailed.

“How long have I been at this?” I muttered as I worked.

Everything except the face was done. Four hours had already passed.

Even though I’d been chatting with viewers along the way, it had still taken an unusually long time.

[+HurryAndLeave: Holy sh*t, the physique.]

[+HurryAndLeave: Absolute madness.]

[Huff… This is too much.]

[How much do you have to pay for a commission like this? Probably a ton.]

[Nah, LikeYogurt actually charges pretty reasonably.]

[Pepe: Damn, this one might actually be one of the best yet.]

[Crazy good drawing, lol.]

Satisfied with everything except the face, I paused to check the viewer count.

After four hours of non-stop drawing, I figured a lot of people would’ve dropped off.

But to my surprise.

[Viewers: 637]

‘…Why are there still so many people watching?’

I couldn’t figure it out. There wasn’t much reason for the viewership to stay this high for so long.

Puzzled but slightly impressed, I went back to work and started on the face.

To contrast with the chiseled, muscular physique, I gave the character a youthful, boyish face.

A touch of softness to highlight a charming contradiction—an innocent face on a powerful, battle-ready body.

Swoosh, swoosh.

After finishing the face, I glanced at the clock.

It had taken a full five hours to complete the illustration.

[+HurryAndLeave: Wow, that’s seriously amazing, lol.]

[This is probably worth a fortune, honestly.]

[This turned out so good, lol.]

[Pepe: Looking at this makes me want to commission something too.]

[LikeYogurt’s work is insanely good. Trust me, if you go to some sketchy artist, your commission might end up ruined—don’t take the risk, lol.]

Judging by the enthusiastic reactions, the drawing turned out well.

Feeling satisfied with the result, I decided to share something I’d been keeping quiet about.

“This character is from a game called Heart Memorial. So if anyone here is interested, please check out the game! From what I know, this character should be added to the game soon.”