"I'm home~"
Lu Chen and Raiden Ei returned to their four-bedroom apartment, carrying bags of fresh vegetables and fruit from the supermarket.
Huh? It's awfully quiet...
Lu Chen noticed the others were all gathered around the sofa, seriously playing a board game. Even Qiqi, who usually greeted him the moment he stepped through the door, was clutching a hand of cards, completely absorbed.
Yae Miko lounged lazily, her elegant legs crossed. Venti wore a solemn expression as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Qiqi, as usual, remained expressionless—but clearly, she too was immersed in the game, having not even noticed Lu Chen's return.
Exchanging a glance, Lu Chen and Raiden Ei quietly put the groceries in the fridge.
Curious, they leaned in for a closer look—it was a round of Three Kingdoms Kill.
"Ah... it's Lu Chen..." Qiqi was the first to spot him, greeting him with wide, blank eyes.
"You guys keep playing." Lu Chen waved casually, not wanting to interrupt.
"Oh..." Qiqi turned back to her hand of cards.
"The lord is about to lose~" Yae Miko teased Venti with a smug grin.
"Shut it, you rebel!" Venti retorted in full roleplay mode.
Seeing how into it they were, Lu Chen decided not to bring up the system update just yet and followed Raiden Ei into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Tonight's menu was all about fish: spicy boiled fish from Wanmin Restaurant, tuna sushi, and stewed fish soup.
Maybe it was his past life in Inazuma, but Lu Chen had always loved fish. And since the system update seemed to be partially thanks to his efforts, he figured he deserved a little reward.
When dinner was ready, Yae Miko went to check his daily writing output—only to find a manuscript with just forty words on it.
Her cheerful mood, built from a five-game winning streak, vanished in an instant.
"So... last night's special training didn't work after all?"
She furrowed her pretty pink brows, then narrowed her fox-like eyes at Lu Chen with a dark expression.
The devil editor of Yae Publishing House looked ready to drag him into another round of relentless writing bootcamp. But Lu Chen shook his head frantically.
"No, wait—it's not that! The reason I only wrote forty words is because... I've found a better way to finish the task."
"Oh?" Yae Miko raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Let's hear it."
Lu Chen explained the system update and the newly unlocked Soul of a Popular Novelist, earning a series of impressed "tsk tsks" from Yae Miko.
"An ability that instantly boosts writing talent... How mysterious and wonderful..."
Lu Chen thought she'd be happy. Instead, Yae Miko let out a long sigh.
"If all my writers had this, wouldn't I lose all my fun?"
"Huh?" Lu Chen blinked.
Then it hit him—
More than reading great novels, what Yae Miko truly enjoyed was watching writers pour their souls into their work, exhausted and desperate, as she ruthlessly chased deadlines.
"She's totally a sadist..." Lu Chen muttered. Working under her was like being cursed for eight lifetimes.
"Your idea's not bad..." Venti said, popping a piece of tuna sushi into his mouth. "But have you considered how much harder it is to get Songs of the Sea to chart?"
"I mean..." Lu Chen gave a wry smile. "We can at least call Tony and get some support for that. But writing a bestselling novel myself..."
He glanced discreetly at Yae Miko, who was elegantly sipping fish soup. He had no desire to spend another day under her editorial scrutiny.
Plot design and story arcs aside—the real problem was this fox couldn't keep her hands to herself...
Always finding an excuse to cuddle up to him...
"You don't even know what's happened yet!" Yae Miko added. Seeing Lu Chen's confused face, she pulled out her pink phone.
Lu Chen took it from her. He'd given her money to buy it, and sure enough, the case was pastel pink and full of girlish flair.
On the screen, a track by Venti was playing on a major music app. Lu Chen frowned, unsure what she meant.
"The comments," Yae Miko said.
Lu Chen had a sinking feeling. He scrolled down... and sure enough, the comment section was flooded with hate.
"This song isn't nearly as good as everyone says. Must be all paid hype!"
"Mysterious music master? You can see her hands in the MV—clearly a woman. Let me guess, she'll 'accidentally' show her face next and reel in a bunch of thirsty fanboys?"
"Just a gimmick. I listened—it sucks!"
"V.T. used his connections to bully Gu Cheng into leaving Star Light. You guys seriously didn't hear about this?"
"yysy, trash person = trash music."
"Releasing a song at the same time as Gu Cheng? Can't be a coincidence. Poor Gu Cheng."
"Protect Gu Cheng ❤️❤️ Protect Gu Cheng ❤️❤️ Protect Gu Cheng ❤️❤️"
The more Lu Chen read, the more furious he became. He looked at Venti with a deep frown. "This all happened today?"
"Probably." Venti picked up a piece of fish and nodded. "I'm not really sure."
Despite the smear campaign, he seemed totally unbothered—his delicate features as calm as ever.
"C'mon, why so serious, everyone? I'm the one being attacked and I'm not even mad. Don't let this kind of stuff get to you~"
That relaxed, free-spirited aura of his had a way of putting people at ease. Lu Chen took a deep breath and checked the comments on Venti's other songs.
Sure enough, they were filled with similarly vicious remarks. While a few fans spoke out in his defense, their voices were quickly drowned out by the coordinated wave of negativity.
The atmosphere at the table grew heavier. Lu Chen kept thinking about it. The Songs of the Sea album was top-notch—many respected critics had praised it as "a miracle of modern music," "a perfect blend of classical and pop," and "a rare gem that soothes a chaotic world."
So clearly, all the "this sucks" comments were the work of a professional troll army. Most of them were Gu Cheng's fans—hyped up, misled, and weaponized to pin baseless accusations on V.T.
Among them were organizers pretending to "leak the truth," while their real goal was to smear V.T. and sabotage the album launch.
"Gu Cheng's team... are they brain-dead?" Lu Chen handed Yae Miko's phone back and pulled out his own.
He immediately dialed Tony, voice sharp and demanding answers.
Tony was full of guilt, apologizing non-stop and even offering to personally apologize to "Mr. Venti." Lu Chen wasn't having it.
"Spare me the fluff. Just give me the facts."
Tony came clean—this was the handiwork of Jia Shi Entertainment, Star Light's longtime rival. The moment Gu Cheng broke off his contract, he ran straight to them.
In terms of backing, Jia Shi had deeper roots than Star Light. The latter was a rising star, made famous in recent years thanks to talents like Tony and other top musicians.
"Mr. Lu, we're doing everything we can. We've identified bot activity and will work with the music platform to delete the comments. A clarification post will be made on social media. We're trying our best to minimize the damage."
"Minimize?" Lu Chen's voice turned cold.
The warmth around the dinner table vanished—replaced by a biting chill. No one spoke.
Venti gave Lu Chen a conflicted, touched look. Raiden Ei watched with concern—she didn't like seeing him this angry. Yae Miko folded her arms and smiled sardonically as she listened to the speakerphone.
Qiqi looked from one person to the next, still unsure what was going on.
"This has nothing to do with Venti. I won't tolerate any deliberate defamation," Lu Chen said icily. "So don't talk to me about minimizing impact. I want this resolved. If you can't handle it, we will. Got it?"
He didn't wait for Tony's stammering apology—he ended the call and looked back at the group.
Gu Cheng? Backing?
Lu Chen would show him what real backing looked like.