"Bro, I've always had a question—mind clearing it up for me?" Chu Zhi asked. "We won't even talk about the achievement system, but were you the one who wrote those notes? 'Little celestial being,' 'ruthless butcher,' 'Smoke King'..."
[Yes.] The system admitted to being the source of the labels.
Seemed like the system was relatively young and a bit chuunibyou in its thinking. Chu Zhi praised, "A true genius at naming. If you're not the one announcing the names at this year's Spring Festival Gala, I'm not watching."
Current balance: 5 Personality Coins
Just enough for a blind box draw. The other four coins came from eating spicy food twenty times. The progress for smoking a hundred cigarettes was almost complete—just a couple more days.
First, the blind box. The prize pool was as follows:
—[Deep Voice of a God]
—[Title: Cigarettes, Come!]
—[Poetry Collection: This Is My Name]
—[Uchiage Hanabi (Fireworks) Package]
—[You Are Not Alone Package]
—[Album: Against the Light Package]
Such a rich selection! Chu Zhi's heart raced as he scanned the prize descriptions.
[Cigarettes, Come!] – Legendary Title
"If Heaven does not birth a smoker like me, the path of smoke shall remain in eternal darkness! Shout 'Cigarettes, come!' with conviction."
Effect: Immune to all negative effects of smoking. When smoking, personal charm increases by 20%.
"A legendary title really is something else. Just being immune to all smoking-related health damage is already god-tier." Chu Zhi had guessed correctly—some achievements in the Personality Star system harmed the body, but the system also provided ways to nullify those effects.
[Deep Voice of a God] needed no explanation. No one could resist the magnetism of a deep voice. On Earth, the bass singer Wang Xi, with his soulful low tones, was hailed as "ear candy" by fans.
[This Is My Name] was a poetry collection by Syrian poet Adonis—another case of an obscure name but widely circulated verses. Lines like:
"Night sleeps on my pillow, but I remain sleepless."
"My loneliness is a garden with but a single tree."
"I crown myself king of the winds."
And the more famous one: "The world left me scarred, but from my wounds grew wings."
"Uchiage Hanabi is a Japanese song, and You Are Not Alone is in English. If possible, I'd rather not get these right now. I know the packages include songwriting experience, but I don't speak Japanese or English at all. This isn't like poetry."
"Even though the original body didn't go to college and was criticized online for his poor cultural foundation, poetry relies more on accumulated knowledge and talent. I can selectively 'borrow' works without diving too deep into a poet's full repertoire—no problem." Chu Zhi was muttering to himself, but also discussing with his system bro.
"But releasing a Japanese or English song would be pushing it."
Especially You Are Not Alone—Michael Jackson's magnum opus, an R&B masterpiece, and the first song in U.S. history to debut directly at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
[Against the Light] – The tenth studio album by Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun, released on March 22, 2007, containing 12 tracks.
An album by the "niche" singer Stefanie Sun? Absolutely nice.
"Speaking of which, why isn't there a special grand prize anymore? Now I don't even have the right to drool over it." Chu Zhi suddenly realized.
The system replied:
[The prize pool is dynamic. The refresh rate for special grand prizes is low. Album rewards are already high-tier.]
This was starting to feel more and more like a gacha game—not only were special prizes hard to pull, they were barely even in rotation.
The blind boxes began shuffling rapidly. Now, it was all up to fate. Please, not the poetry collection—one 'Stray Birds' is enough! With this prayer in mind, Chu Zhi picked the box slightly left of center. For some reason, he always preferred the middle when drawing lots.
Box opened—[Album: Against the Light Package]
"Wuhu, takeoff!"
This outcome completely surprised Chu Zhi. Based on previous draws, the order of prizes in the pool seemed to reflect their rarity. Past rewards like Voice of Despair, Perfect Singing (Non-Lyrical Version), and The Wind Blows the Wheat supported this theory.
Now, he had full access to the album's knowledge—including arrangements. Skimming through the tracks, Chu Zhi realized how perfectly this fit.
For hits, there was "I Miss" and "Against the Light." For sophistication, "Serene" and "Floating." The latter even featured humming—perfectly aligned with his skills. The rain outside hadn't stopped, but Chu Zhi felt invincible again.
"Thanks for this one, system bro." He suspected some behind-the-scenes rigging. Otherwise, how could the coincidence be this perfect?
[The host's own luck is excellent. I had no involvement.]
"Sure, sure. Whether it's the blessing of the gacha gods or your help, as long as the result's good, I'm happy."
Chu Zhi pondered. For the semifinals, "I Miss" with a touch of Voice of Despair—wasn't that basically a royal flush? He got so engrossed in planning that he skipped dinner entirely.
But he wasn't the only one missing meals. Over at the Golden Eagle Building's conference room, I Am a Singer's producer Wang Ke, director Meng Fan, and the core staff were holding an emergency meeting.
The agenda? Defending their ratings and stealing viewers from Masked Singer. Publicly, they all looked down on the rival show. Wang Ke had even openly remarked, "I don't understand what kind of low standards you'd need to enjoy that show," sparking minor controversy. Luckily, Hunan TV's PR team suppressed the trending hot search before it blew up.
But while they strategically despised the enemy, tactically, they took them very seriously.
"Should we still push the Zheng Yingying-Lin Xia CP angle?" a planner asked.
"Keep it low-key. Lin Xia's company has been protesting," Wang Ke replied after some thought.
The duo didn't have many shippers, but the drama attracted massive attention—most of it hate targeting Zheng Yingying. Not that her side could do much about it. The show would milk this "self-destruct" narrative regardless.
"Lin Xia vs. Li Xingwei is explosive potential," the advertising team suggested. Fan wars between the two could rocket the show's heat.
"But we can't use 'Lin-Li Rivalry' in pre-release promos," Wang Ke said. That clash would be a post-broadcast marketing focus. Wasting it in previews would be a shame—plus, the surprise guest's mystery was part of the appeal.
Director Meng Fan spoke up. "I have… an unorthodox idea."
"Go on," Wang Ke urged.
"We could use Chu Zhi for hype."
"Chu Zhi? The guy whose reputation was blacker than a crow's feathers? What hype could even be milked from that?" The room was baffled.
"But he did rank first this round—above Hou Yubin and Lin Xia," Meng Fan pointed out.
That was all Wang Ke needed to grasp the plan. The more he thought about it, the more viable it seemed. The meeting concluded with two key promotional angles: the Zheng-Lin CP and weaponizing Chu Zhi's infamy.
"Just tweak the framing. Don't make it too obvious," Wang Ke warned.
The advertising team flashed a "Trust us" look. If there was one thing they excelled at, it was malicious editing—a basic skill for any production crew.
Of course, Lin Xia's team would be consulted before the promos dropped. Zheng Yingying? A mere heads-up would suffice. As for Chu Zhi? No notice needed. His contract included a clause: "The artist must cooperate with promotional activities, including but not limited to Weibo, Twitter, and Instagram posts. The production team reserves the right to use the artist's name and likeness for promotional purposes."
Harsh? Of course. But in entertainment, power dictated terms. No backing, no leverage.
Fans were the lifeline of traffic stars—yet some stars still loved biting the hand that fed them.