[Tattoo artist: a quick-witted, mischievous heroine VS. Interstellar major general: a cold-on-the-outside, goofy-on-the-inside hero]
After staying up all night to finish her graduation thesis, Shao Tang closes and opens her eyes, only to transmigrate into the interstellar age as an apprentice at a tattoo shop on a run-down, backwater planet. She's being shoved into running the shop before she's ready.
The good news: Tattoo restoration is the most popular profession in the interstellar world, the equivalent of a programmer or actuary in modern times, with boundless prospects!
The bad news: Shao Tang knows nothing about drawing or tattoos, and she even has some hopelessly outdated stereotypes!
Shao Tang grits her teeth and stamps her foot. Whatever, she finally has a chance to get in on a booming industry, so she's going to seize it! With anesthetic in one hand and a tattoo needle in the other, she works hard for three hours, adding a leech to a customer's mighty, imposing dragon tattoo that stretches across his shoulder.
The bad news: The customer is the city lord's son. Once the anesthetic wears off, his face darkens, and he immediately issues a citywide wanted notice!
The good news: ...There is no good news. Shao Tang flees the city overnight!
Looking at her utterly empty account, Shao Tang has no other choice. Relying on her tattoo apprentice certificate, she sets up a roadside stall on the capital planet.
And so...
She grits her teeth and turns the flying tiger on the back of the neighborhood boss into a flying kitty, earning herself a wanted notice from the entire neighborhood!
She plays to her strengths and tattoos the character for "endure" over the round scar on a police colonel's arm, earning herself a capital-wide wanted notice!
Out of kindness, she adds a few more badly drawn wings to the wyvern tattoo on the chest of an injured man she found...
But it turns out the injured man is an interstellar major general! The first thing he does after waking up is issue ten wanted notices in a row, ordering the entire interstellar world to hunt down the tattoo artist responsible, Shao Tang!
What Shao Tang doesn't know is that the birth tattoos carried by interstellar people are tied to how they wield their powers and use their combat abilities. Tattoo artists are among the professions that demand the utmost care in the interstellar age. But after some time, people discover that...
After getting a leech tattoo, the city lord's son gradually curbs his arrogant, overbearing nature and stops causing trouble.
After getting a kitty tattoo, the neighborhood boss changes from his usual vicious, violent self and even starts cultivating a healthy lifestyle by polishing walnuts.
After getting the character for "endure" tattooed on him, the police colonel stops charging ahead without thinking and survives several life-threatening crises.
The interstellar major general slaughters his way across the battlefield, contemplating the severalfold increase in his combat ability.
An aide offers a timely suggestion: "Maybe you should withdraw those wanted notices?"
The major general recalls the tattoo artist's sly smile and smiles faintly. "Issue ten more wanted notices. We'll talk after we catch her."
Blurb version dated 2024.7.5, archived.
Theme: Being a little silly now and then isn't such a bad habit.
