Art is always dominated by the rich.
The same goes for pictures.
Royalty, eccentric millionaires, and Fields Medal winners with absurd amounts of cash.
[Is the total prize for the NoName Fan Art Contest insane? LOL][32]
(Notices from NoName Fan Cafe.jpg)
1st place gets 6 million won ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ
With 29 winners, it’s generous enough that any decent artist will likely want to take a shot at it.
Most importantly, they’re giving it away as a Fields Medal prize, how can anyone resist?
[Comments]
– The symbolism is off the charts.
– I’m pretty sure this will make the news, I have to give it a try.
– It’s already made the news several times LOL.
– NoName will personally look at my drawing? Adding that to my life achievements.
– The hidden masters are going to come out in droves.
– Fake madness: Donating the entire prize / Real madness: Spending the entire prize on fan art.
– So no deification allowed? I was planning to draw the Creation and The Last Supper, darn!
Once upon a time, there was a pessimistic belief that the rise of AI would wipe out the illustration industry.
It’s true that many professions have been replaced by AI.
But just like how we don’t watch AI play chess against each other, the creative urge ingrained in human genes through millions of years of evolution isn’t something we can erase.
In fact, the personalized learning processes provided by AI attracted all the talented artists.
Finally, the Grand Art Competition kicked off, and the hobbyists rivaling professionals flooded in.
[NoName Fan Cafe]
[Fan Art Contest]
[Sort by Recommendations]
[#21 Watercolor of NoName’s Fan Meeting]
I once won a chance to attend a fan meeting hosted by NoName!
I tried to capture the atmosphere of that day by drawing NoName sipping water through a straw hehe.
I’m a self-taught middle schooler, so it’s quite rough, but I’d appreciate your good views! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
<♥: 10496>
– Wow, what a vibe!
– You can’t just take a picture to the fan art board, right?
– Is this really middle school level? Stop lying…
– The world is vast and there are many experts.
– Isn’t that you, Bbyong? You’re famous on social media.
└ Right? hehe
– NoName is so cute LOL!
– There are too many golden hands here, it’s scary.
*
[Private Room]
[Na-me and Adella’s House]
Adella sent Na-me 6,893 fan arts, excluding 337 that violated the regulations.
“Check them out when you find the time!”
“Are there really that many violations?”
“Oh, we have to be a bit strict from the start. Otherwise, too many half-baked submissions would pop up.”
“It’d be a shame just to discard them. I don’t mind you sending them along.”
“Absolutely not!”
“Whoa, you scared me. Why are you yelling?”
Adella’s sudden shout made Na-me’s body flinch.
While Adella was setting up the broadcast, Na-me slowly browsed through the fan arts.
From cute drawings by elementary schoolers to grand illustrations from professional artists, they were all diverse.
“About a thousand of these met the judging criteria, and our managers filtered out 100 based on fan votes and quality. You just need to rank 29 of these.”
“Sounds like it’ll take a while.”
“Come on, it’s been a while since we saw people. But are you really not showing your face today? It’s virtual reality after all…”
“Yeah, it’s just that my face is the same old face.”
“Got it. I already prepared a spot for you anyway.”
“?”
[▶Summoning Item No.7429 ‘Bamboo Curtain’.]
swishhhhhh-
Na-me looked up at the source of the sound.
The bamboo curtain unfurled from the ceiling down to the floor.
The finely sliced bamboo was woven together, splitting the Private Room in two.
“You can stay behind this bamboo curtain! It’s set to 90% opacity, so you’ll only be a silhouette. Wanna take a peek?”
Adella went behind the curtain and did a jumping jack on the bed.
From the opposite side, her figure was cast like a black shadow.
In that moment, Na-me felt a strong sense of déjà vu.
“Isn’t this what they use during a regent’s rule? Like in historical dramas.”
When the king is too young, the highest elder in the royal family steps in to assist in politics.
Adella snapped her fingers in agreement.
“Wow, are you a genius? Right on.”
“So you want me to sit back here? This is ridiculous.”
“Can’t you do at least this much? We’ve been through so much!”
Seeing Adella’s determined gaze, Na-me sighed deeply.
“Alright, let’s do it.”
“Hehe you were going to agree anyway, weren’t you?”
[NoName / Adella Ch.]
[Just Chatting – Fan Art Contest]
[Broadcasting Time – 0:05:22]
[Number of Viewers – 15,083]
– Open the door bangbangbang!!!
– At this rate, I’ll freeze to death…
– 8 billion Na-me Dan wishes for NoName’s return!
– Come back to me as my little NoNameㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– NoName is already little now, though?
– Five minutes of a black screen? Isn’t this a pattern I’ve seen somewhere? Can I expect something?
– Please tell me that once the screen comes on, NoName is right there, please please please!
The screen faded in, slowly brightening from the black, revealing a very familiar room to the viewers.
It was a Private Room shared by Na-me and Adella.
Suddenly, cat ears popped out from the bottom of the screen.
“You little! How dare you!”
Adella frowned and scolded the viewers.
For some reason, she was wearing a red royal robe adorned with dragon patterns.
– What concept is this now?
– Adella Nya, where’s NoName?
– Are you a king today?
– Cat King ㄷㄷ
– This concept is all over the place LOL.
– Does this room look different to anyone else?
– No, it looks the same.
After messing with the broadcast a few times, she played the pre-prepared music.
“Your Majesty has arrived!”
Along with her statement, familiar royal court music from the Joseon dynasty played.
The gayageum and taepyeongso blended perfectly, creating a somber court atmosphere.
– ???
– ????
– Huh?
– ??
– Why is the king saying that? LOL
– LOL!
– Let’s just go with the flow here~
The simple chroma key background, which everyone thought was just that, began to fade transparently.
While everyone was laughing at the cat’s antics, observant viewers started raising questions one by one.
Adella turned around and bowed deeply toward Na-me’s silhouette.
“I will now present the fan art praising Your Noble Majesty from the commoners. If you look at the drawings that have been painstakingly crafted to showcase Your Majesty’s dignity and benevolence, you will truly feel the loyalty and artistic sense of the people. This precious gift is intended to enhance Your Majesty’s status and express respect and reverence. While appreciating this, I pray for your future prosperity. What are you all doing! Hurry up and bow!”
“Oh, come on.”
“Please watch over us, Your Highness… I mean Your Majesty.”
As soon as Na-me’s slightly shy voice was heard, the atmosphere in the chat grew frantic.
Once the concept play was over, Adella sat in a gaming chair still clad in the royal robe.
[‘Baliki’ donated 1,000 won!]
– Is that NoName I know behind…?
“As previously mentioned, Na-me won’t reveal herself today since her reflection period isn’t over yet. However, with opacity at 90%, a mere 0.1 Na-me ought to be fine, right?”
– This is an unexpected method LOL!
– I thought it was going to be conducted over Discord since she said she wouldn’t show up today LOL.
– Na-me is behind that pillar!
– Did it really have to come to this? Just show your face!
– When will this reflection period end? 😭😭😭
– Can I round it up to 0.49?
“Wow, are you a genius? Should we set Na-me’s opacity to 51%?”
“I’ll just leave if you keep pushing it.”
“Okay, okay! Let’s get started before our sister changes her mind. For those who are new, let me explain it once more. Three editors and six managers selected 100 excellent works for this contest. Today, we’ll have a time to look at them together with Na-me!”
“We plan to take the time to carefully go through all the fan arts that didn’t make the cut as well. Thank you to all the fans who made them.”
“As for the order? It’s random. The details are all written on T-Gather and the fan cafe, so don’t ask questions; just go check it out!”
*
Right from the start, an amazing fan art popped up.
「1. Captain Na-me vs. Baal Zebub
Inspired by the boss battle with Baal Zebub in the World of Arseria.
I suddenly remembered a nursery rhyme that Na-me hummed and thought, this is it, and I drew it in a week hehe.
It’s set when I came across Baal Zebub while crossing the continent on a pirate ship.」
A blonde woman wearing a pirate hat wielded a gigantic whip of light, ready to split a devil shaped like a pairy in half.
“This is kdh1010’s work. Oh, I remember that little guy. The demon that possessed the Pope, right? Ugh, it’s disgusting to see again.”
“This whip looks like it utilized the Arabesque Knot in the earth attribute. Thanks for the amazing fan art.”
“Hey Na-me, can you sing a line of that nursery rhyme in that context?”
“Suddenly…?”
– Wow!
– That’s so cute LOL!
– Please release it as a ringtone!
– Are you leaving this out? Leaving this out? Leaving this out?
– I’ve really been wanting to hear Na-me’s voice latelyㅠㅠ
clap clap clap clap clap!
Before I knew it, the number of viewers exceeded 20,000, approaching 30,000.
With an atmosphere where declining was not an option, I quietly cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
“I’ll only do one verse.”
“Waahhhh clap clap!”
Well, it’s not like they could see me anyway, so this much was fine.
I swayed my upper body to the rhythm and hummed the song.
“Set sail for the distant sea looking for a continent.
Cargo filled with the dreams of thirty-two passengers.
When the fierce storm swallowed the bow,
The ship was cleaved in two.
The captain is a steadfast person,
Prioritizing women and old folks.
The ship will rise once more,
And now only sixteen remain.”
– Moving side to side is just too cute!
– Aah, that’s why I want to see you in personㅠㅠㅠ
– NoName truly has the talent to make people desperate to see her!
– Illustration bang bam laughing!
– My belly button ㅗㅜㅑ.
– A sheer leotard? Can’t resist that.
– Isn’t that worth first prize?
– No, no, there are still cooler ones left, so stay tuned.
“Alright, time’s short, let’s go to the next fan art.”
At a perfect moment, Adella chimed in.
She was starting to show the qualities of a professional broadcaster.
If we just counted broadcasting time, she must have done it ten times more than I had.
After that, we reviewed top-notch fan arts and I found myself laughing and joking with the viewers.
There were so many materials shown in the broadcast that I had enough sources.
Then, suddenly, I felt like I stopped breathing when I saw one fan art.
「15. NoName Teardrop Interview」
“Next up is the teardrop interview with NoName by Witcher33. Let’s take a look!”
In the picture, I stood there crying heartbreakingly like a child.
Behind the child, a woman draped in pure white veils was hugging the girl tightly.
This is just unfair…
