Chapter 1: Chapter 001: Not to Become a Lone Ghost Wandering the Wilds Chapter 1: Chapter 001: Not to Become a Lone Ghost Wandering the Wilds “Since she’s so stubborn, send her over.”
This was a merciless voice.
“Sir, Miss Shen is still ill.”
“That was her choice,” the voice grew even colder.
*
Was the torment of illness taking its turns again?
Shen Yan sneered at herself: this broken body of mine, these lunatics in the laboratory won’t let go, meaning I still have some value.
Her breathing eased, and Shen Yan suddenly opened her eyes.
Huh?
This wasn’t the cold, clinical research base.
Where was this?
Had those crazies changed their method of studying her?
An ordinary room, with curtains, a normal door, a wardrobe, and walls plastered with posters and various trinkets of a man.
Confused, Shen Yan then mocked with a smile, “Are they testing my reaction?”
Shen Yan found that her body didn’t feel as heavy as before, it felt much lighter.
It was far better than that failing body, plagued with numerous terminal diseases, unable to die nor live well.
Could it be that after causing a fuss, her body healed itself?
Shen Yan looked around the room suspiciously yet defensively; there were no cameras.
“Bang, bang!”
The sound of knocking came abruptly.
Shen Yan’s body suddenly tensed.
“Shen Yan, are you awake?” The voice outside was very impatient, “If you are, get moving. The penalty for breaking the contract is costly, you have to complete these episodes of the program no matter how badly they make you look.”
Penalty for breaking the contract? Program?
Shen Yan walked to the vanity, staring blankly at the face in the mirror, both familiar and somewhat foreign.
It was undeniably her face, but it couldn’t possibly have this healthy and vibrant aura.
In her later stages, she was tormented and her body was permeated with terminal illnesses, her appearance not only gloomy but also sickly pale.
Like a ghost.
The complexion before her, on the other hand, resembled that of her former self.
Could it be…
Suddenly, there were many memories in her mind that didn’t belong to her.
As it turned out, she had transmigrated into a book.
She became a foolish supporting female character in “Actress,” sharing her name.
She remembered an obnoxious researcher showing her this book deliberately, mocking her with the story’s foolish female supporting character.
Unexpectedly, after her death, she had transmigrated into it.
In “Actress,” the female protagonist was an idol for the entire world, adored by countless mindless fans.
The female lead came from a modest family, but her life was as if she had hit the jackpot, not only was she an excellent student, but she was also lucky in everything with benefactors in all aspects.
The male lead, a wealthy young master from Shen City, was both handsome and talented, yet willingly supported the female lead from behind the scenes in the entertainment industry.
Even the original character she had now taken over always made foolish decisions for the male and female leads.
For example, she was so crazed for the male lead that she went to prison for the female protagonist, who later drove over and killed someone, and she even died to perfect their love story.
When Shen Yan saw that part, she really wanted to kill the author of the original story.
The original character, for the sake of the male lead, abandoned her wonderful family and spoke harshly to her betrothed fiancé.
Even after marrying, she was still fixated on the male lead, and her end was to die as a substitute for the female lead.
And the female protagonist? Not a single hint of guilt, she walked towards the pinnacle of life with the male lead, their love story becoming a tale told with admiration.
Shen Yan tugged at the cold corners of her lips.
Since she took over, the plot no longer existed.
“Shen Yan, Shen Yan…”
As soon as the door opened, the noise outside came to an abrupt halt.
Agent Zhang Lu saw Shen Yan and her face darkened a few more shades, giving her a critical once-over, “Quickly tidy yourself up and put on this outfit.”
Zhang Lu handed the bag to Shen Yan and then sat down in the living room to wait.
Shen Yan gave Zhang Lu a cool glance.
She was directly assigned by the company to be managed by Zhang Lu, who had a terrible reputation there.
Her attitude toward the artists under her was even worse, coupled with a somewhat pathological need for control.
The original host was thoroughly defamed from their debut, with Zhang Lu contributing significantly to that.
Upon opening the bag, as expected, it contained a purple dress with an exaggeratedly high slit.
The reality show she was attending was about wilderness survival, not a beauty pageant. Intentionally picking out such a dress to grab attention meant that Zhang Lu was not trying to make the original host famous; she was slandering her.
The original host’s makeup was always weird, paired with bizarre outfits, which indeed made her stand out as quite an oddball.
No wonder she became a hot search topic for getting blacklisted.
The original host was a peculiar one, too, going along with Zhang Lu even after getting seriously ill on the first episode of the wilderness survival. She insisted on returning and would either hit or hurl insane insults at her fiancé, whom she lived with.
If she were the fiancé, she would have lost patience and slapped the original host to death by now, not speaking calmly and having someone send her back.
The only commendable thing Shen Yan found about the original host was that she never revealed her true background; no one knew her origins even to the end.
With the original host’s self-destructive behavior,
No amount of power at home could withstand her trouble-making.
Staring at the sickly beautiful face in the mirror, Shen Yan curved her lips, and the reflection followed with a chilling smile. The former vulnerability vanished, replaced by a cold and unordinary charm.
It was a switch between the innocent damsel and the dark femme fatale.
“Why haven’t you put on that dress!”
Zhang Lu stood up abruptly, staring at Shen Yan, who was dressed in casual and neat attire, with unmistakable dissatisfaction.
Shen Yan tossed the bag back to her: “The quality was too poor, it got torn accidentally.”
Zhang Lu hurriedly checked inside the bag, her face turning black in an instant.
The dress was split in two from the slit—it was clearly no accident, but deliberately ruined.
Luckily, the dress wasn’t very expensive.
Seeing her in simple, elegant makeup, Zhang Lu’s controlling urge resurfaced.
“Why didn’t you wear the makeup I set for you? Didn’t I say you look bland, not the type netizens like? You need makeup to highlight your charisma. If you want to be famous, do as I say…”
Shen Yan flicked her curly hair to the front, mocking, “If being infamous also counts, then you’ve succeeded.”
Zhang Lu stared at Shen Yan in disbelief, annoyed, “What’s with your attitude, do you still want to stay in the entertainment industry or not!”
She was actually planning to leave the industry.
[Popularity System Online, host’s soul detected with multiple terminal illnesses, to fully cure them, you must climb to the highest popularity.]
Shen Yan: ???
What the hell?
[Host, to reiterate, this rebirth requires maintaining the highest popularity for an equivalent exchange. Do not take your life as a joke.]
Shen Yan said mentally, “What if I don’t?”
[Without the support of popularity, your soul will soon return the way it came.]
Shen Yan’s face turned a bit darker at once.
Her body had already completely broken down, by now it was probably already thrown into the primeval forest outside the base.
Go back to being a wandering ghost?
No, she wouldn’t be a wandering ghost.
It’s just popularity; she would earn it!
“Even bad publicity is a form of popularity, isn’t it? So with my current popularity, isn’t that enough to cure at least one of the terminal illnesses of the soul?”
[Host, please do not exploit loopholes. There will be penalties that add more terminal illnesses. Popularity must be genuine and clean; ugly popularity will only backfire. You have one month. Without the highest popularity support, one of the terminal illnesses will transfer to the host’s body. Please be aware of your actions. This is a robot customer service explanation, with no after-service.]
Shen Yan: “…”