7:00 PM
H-Dik Entertainment’s “Fire Debut Battle” live stream.
The comment section was buzzing with excitement as fans eagerly awaiting the new group’s debut discussed animatedly, messages flying by like snowflakes.
【Go check the official website! The list of participating trainees is out!】
【…Wait! Gu Nanci??? How did that disgraced, talentless pretty boy who got kicked out of his group end up in Dik’s debut battle!】
【Die, Gu the pretty boy! Die, Gu the slacker! Die, Gu the thief! Disqualified idols shouldn’t tarnish the holy ground of the entertainment industry!】
……
“Gu Nanci, you useless trash who got expelled, still have the nerve to debut?”
Inside the private room, a young man with a twisted expression held a half-meter-long wooden stick, glaring furiously at the slender figure half-collapsed on the floor.
“You’re just a bastard our Gu family pitied and threw scraps to.”
“But what now? My dad chose you for the Feiyue group, Dik specifically wanted you for the debut battle, and even Qianqian likes you!”
Gu Xiao roared, “Why! Why does everything go to you!”
Swinging the stick with force, he struck the frail figure on the ground heavily.
The boy on the floor let out a muffled groan; unnoticed, the back of his head slammed against the windowsill before hitting the ground with a thud.
Instantly, blood began to spread.
“Let’s see you act arrogant now! Let’s see you steal my debut spot! Let’s see you seduce Qianqian!”
“Worthless trash who can’t do anything but sell your face! Just like your short-lived mother!”
“Since you love taking shortcuts so much, as your brother, I’ll make it happen for you!”
Completely oblivious to the abnormality, Gu Xiao, as if venting his anger, looked maniacal, striking harder and harder without pause, delivering over a dozen consecutive blows.
Watching the person on the floor gradually weaken, Gu Xiao panted heavily, threw the stick aside, and beckoned to his lackeys at the door.
“Is the camera set up? Carry him over, take off his clothes. Later, bring someone in to take some provocative photos!”
“You’re so determined to become a star to fulfill your sister’s wish, right?”
“Hah! A scandalous photo star is still a star. This fame will surely make you notorious across Linbei City! Across the entire Hong Kingdom!”
After giving the orders, as if already envisioning Gu Nanci’s downfall, Gu Xiao laughed triumphantly and left.
Within seconds, a terrified voice from one of the lackeys echoed:
“He… he’s not breathing…”
“Could it be… he’s dead?”
“Someone’s dead! Ahhh!”
Everyone screamed and fled in panic.
In an instant, the room fell eerily silent.
Unnoticed, the fingers of the person lying in the pool of blood twitched slightly.
After a long while.
Blood-stained long eyelashes fluttered, and a pair of clear, bright eyes suddenly opened.
It hurts…
The agony of displaced organs.
Regaining consciousness, Gu Nanci hissed, his delicate brows tightly furrowed, then his pupils abruptly contracted.
…These hands!
Porcelain-white, slender, and radiantly smooth.
No needle marks large and small, no emaciation from illness!
Gu Nanci looked around in a daze.
The surroundings were completely unfamiliar.
Not the sterile white hospital room, not the cold ventilator, not the previous life where he couldn’t control his body and felt his vitality slipping away bit by bit.
Ignoring the pain, Gu Nanci got up and ran to the private room’s restroom.
Splashing cold water on his face, the already dried bloodstains washed away completely.
Gazing into the mirror, he saw a “young man” nearly 1.8 meters tall, with impossibly long legs and an astonishing physique that could rival top models.
Most speechless of all was that face.
The skin was lustrous and porcelain-white, the features exquisitely and richly beautiful—every line seemed painstakingly drawn by a divine hand.
It was breathtakingly beautiful, flawless to the point of perfection.
This was a stunning, god-like visage rarely seen in the world, one that could drive anyone to madness!
And… it looked exactly like herself in her previous life, before illness had worn her down, when she stood at the peak of her world tour, full of ambition and vigor!
Gu Nanci froze in place as fragmented memories flooded her mind.
In this world called the Hongluan Continent, this body was also named Gu Nanci.
However, unlike the Gu Nanci from Blue Star—a prodigy who rose to fame young and dazzled the entire world as a top-tier idol—the original owner of this body was undoubtedly the entertainment industry’s top “pure black” celebrity.
She couldn’t sing or dance, was notorious for being a mere pretty face who coasted along, and was publicly expelled from her group for bullying teammates and having a rotten character, becoming the first idol in Hongyu Entertainment’s history to be blacklisted across the internet.
It was no exaggeration to say that anyone involved in Hongyu Entertainment would curse at the mere mention of her name.
Yet, what no one knew was that this disgraced idol, nailed to the pillar of shame and spat upon by the masses, had been forced onto the stage—a girl disguised as a boy.
The original owner had a twin brother named Gu Nanjue.
The two were separated in childhood. The brother was adopted by their uncle, Gu Zhaofeng, while the sister was raised by a civilian relief organization.
To fulfill his sister’s childhood dream, Gu Nanjue secretly signed a contract to debut in the group “Feiyue,” using Gu Nanci as his stage name.
But on the night of his debut, Gu Nanjue mysteriously disappeared.
Unwilling to pay the breach-of-contract penalty, their father accidentally found the twin sister, Gu Nanci, and forced her into the industry through a mix of threats and intimidation.
A frail, sickly girl with congenital illnesses, surviving only with the help of relief organizations, suddenly thrust onto the stage as a singing and dancing idol?
Unsurprisingly, the original owner became a stage disaster.
Unable to sing or dance, sometimes too physically weak to even complete a full event.
Yet, these truths could never be made public.
Otherwise, the substitution would be exposed.
And then, the astronomical five-million penalty would ruin both siblings for life.
So, silently enduring, the original owner was subjected to overwhelming verbal abuse and endless personal attacks under the guidance of public opinion.
Even extreme haters who chased her offline, hurling insults and rotten fruit, along with various anonymous dirty packages, cursed letters, death threats…
In the end, she was accidentally killed by the jealous Gu Xiao.
The year she entered the industry, the original owner was only sixteen.
Already born weak and sickly, she faced the world’s malice head-on.
Gu Nanci suppressed the suffocating sense of empathy and took a deep breath:
Don’t worry, I will live well.
For the injustice you endured, misunderstood and slandered, and for the stage dreams you could never achieve.
For my own regret of not staying at the peak longer, not spending more time with my fans.
For the stage we both once loved passionately.
I will live well!
And stand in the brightest spotlight!
Gu Nanci clenched her fist, her gaze resolute.
The debut battle, is it? She would definitely win it beautifully!
Ding-ling, ding-ling—
On the table, a relentless, life-or-death ringing interrupted Gu Nanci’s thoughts.
As soon as she answered the call, a torrent of curses erupted:
“Where the hell have you been, you little brat! The show is about to start filming! The director called me directly!”
“You promised to come, and now you dare to go missing? Do you think five million isn’t enough for you and your brother to pay back?”
“You have ten minutes! Get in front of the camera right now! Or don’t blame me for coming over to slap you!”