Not far ahead, a tall, impeccably made-up, elegantly dressed woman was stepping out of a sedan, accompanied by a man and a woman, while those who dashed over earlier were likely her fans.
Greeting, taking photos, giving gifts, that enthusiasm was reminiscent of chasing a star.
But the woman being surrounded merely wore a polite smile, with an aura of subtle detachment; her eyes seemed to softly smile, yet bore an air of satisfaction at the situation and a dislike for the noisy fans.
While passing the girl who fell to the ground, the girl called her name several times, but her gaze just briefly glanced over before quickly retracting, completely ignoring the fallen girl.
"Isabella Hart, debuted around the same time as Zero and White, considered a veteran comic artist. However, she rose to fame by mimicking Zero."
Laura Collins smirked, with a touch of disdain, "Back when Mihua Comics was thriving, in the legendary era where diverse comic artists blossomed, her mimicking of Zero was not at all noticeable. Only after Mihua Comics pulled some controversial stunts, causing many comic artists to angrily leave and leading to Mihua’s gradual decline, did she sign with CC Comics and slowly become popular on the new platform."
No wonder she felt a sense of familiarity, having seen her at Mihua Comics before.
Laura continued introducing, "After joining CC Comics, she established her own comic studio, transitioning from mimicking Zero to creating melodramatic romance comics, catering to audiences with her themes and fast updates; her metrics are quite impressive. By now, she’s probably one of CC Comics’ keystone figures."
As a comic artist, having fans pursue her to such an extent proves she has achieved considerable success.
But she’s a bit too high-profile.
She doesn’t seem like a genuine comic artist working from talent, but more like a certain type of celebrity profiting from media hype.
Tearing open a candy wrapper and throwing the candy into her mouth, Laura spoke with considerable distaste, "She portrays herself as a beauty and a talented woman, yet she’s quite arrogant, looks down on people, and loves to act like a diva, I don’t like her."
"You’ve met her before?" Nora asked.
"Saw her last night in the hotel, her arrogance is overwhelming, she only interacts with editors and UU, ignoring everyone else." Laura shrugged, "This morning we all shared a ride here, except her, she had a special car, escorted by an editor and bodyguards."
Laura, being straightforward by nature, generally dislikes such phenomena; she previously resigned because she couldn’t tolerate flattery and sycophancy in the workplace, later quarrelled fiercely with her boss due to differences in principles, and left in a huff.
So now, her candid comments seemed normal to Nora.
Thinking of the chief editor who daily insisted on sending her friend requests, Nora paused and asked, "Are there many such comic artists at CC Comics?"
"Not really, oddities like her are rare, most are quite easy to get along with." Laura took out two candies and handed them to Nora, saying, "Let’s go, I’ll take you inside."
Nora glanced at the two candies in her palm, grasping one and putting it into her pocket.
A black sedan drove slowly along the traffic on the roadside.
"Mr. Langley, there’s a large comic convention being held here today, hosted jointly by our company and CC Comics, so there are lots of people and cars, causing traffic delays."
Inside the car, a middle-aged Mediterranean manager, observing the snail-paced vehicle speed, nervously explained.
Pedro Langley, founder of Cool Ridge Media, although focused on Fernwood Entertainment in recent years and entrusted Cool Ridge to others, still occasionally checked on Cool Ridge’s projects.
Now, the Mediterranean manager, who hadn’t seen Pedro Langley for a long time and was worried about project issues displeasing Pedro, faced with such heavy traffic, felt utterly frustrated.
Upon hearing "comic convention," Pedro Langley’s brows moved slightly, he turned his head to look out the window, observing the open space outside the convention and the incoming visitors.
That glance had his gaze fixed on one person.
Tall, slender, elegant.
Extremely recognizable.
Just a turned side profile was enough for him to recognize without question.
"This isn’t the main entrance, there are more people over there—"
The Mediterranean manager, palms sweaty, explained nervously.
However, his words were interrupted by Pedro Langley—
"Let’s go check out the comic convention."
The Mediterranean manager nearly bit his tongue, his two round eyes were almost bulging out.