Chapter One: The Internet Waits for Me to Fail

The camera zoomed in. Red circles marked a supposed sixth finger, an impossible reflection on the water, and English lettering melted into nonsense in the background. “As his former teacher, I hesitate to make accusations. But commercial art begins with honesty.” Thousands of comments appeared with every refresh. “He didn't even fix the six-finger glitch.” “Revoke his old awards.” “Traditional illustrators are dead. Burn them a prompt.” Lin enlarged the image. The “sixth finger” was a shell cord wrapped around the child's ring finger. The inverted reflection came from the client's third revision: *Make the sea look like a standing mirror.* The garbled sign had once named a rival brand, blurred at the client's demand two hours before delivery.