Chapter 7: The Mercury Chronicles

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"First Public Appearance After Scandal, Cheng Cheng Responds: All Allegations by the Woman Are False!"

"Falling Out? Cheng Cheng Hints at Clash with Xianghe Entertainment in Interview!"

"Once a Top Celebrity Abandoned by Former Agency; Should Stars Still Uphold Public Morality?"

"Cheng Cheng Restricted from Speaking by Xianghe Entertainment! What’s the Hidden Truth?"

"Appearance Confirmed! Cheng Cheng in Good Condition, Firmly Addresses Scandal!"

"Breaking! Cheng Cheng Announces Collaboration with Bilibili Content Creator; Action Coming by Tomorrow at the Latest!"

Within less than an hour, one report after another surged onto Weibo’s trending topics, with the hashtag #ChengChengAppearance# quickly climbing to the top of Weibo’s hot search list, causing an online uproar once more!

“What do you mean by ‘false’? So, what? You’ve dated and done it, haven’t you?”

“False doesn’t mean it never happened, nor does it mean no cheating occurred, or that he never insulted senior artists. ‘False’ is such a convenient response—anything can be labeled false if even one punctuation mark is off.”

“Playing word games!”

“He’s been hiding for nearly half a month, suddenly shows up—feels like a conspiracy. Is he testing the netizens’ reactions?”

“Get lost!”

“Now it’s dogs biting dogs.”

“But I’m more curious about his claim of collaborating with a Bilibili creator. What kind of collaboration? Someone from Bilibili should provide evidence, then maybe it’s all staged?”

—

“Those paparazzi sure are quick!”

Cheng Cheng scrolled through his phone, eating grapes, clearly pleased.

He didn’t care about the online attacks at all because by now he had fallen into a self-proof trap—unless evidence surfaced, no matter what he said would be wrong and open to criticism.

His decision to accept the interview wasn’t to clear the air but to build momentum for upcoming joint posts.

Yesterday’s Weibo post, after a day of brewing, had earned him 15,389 points.

Cheng Cheng regretted that netizens’ suspicions seemed to veer in another direction; few thought he was mentally unstable. Otherwise, with such huge traffic, he could have gained even more points.

Looks like he’ll have to act crazier from now on to cement his image as a madman in the public’s mind—that’s the most efficient way to rack up points.

After washing his hands and performing a ritual before the lottery draw, Cheng Cheng couldn’t resist trying his luck again.

He summoned the system and said, “System, give me a ten-draw!”

The phantom of a spinning wheel appeared before him.

This time, the prize pool had expanded: besides the ever-present energy pills that occupied half the pool, there were magical eye drops, beginner English skill books, acting experience books, beginner driving skill books, beginner hacking skill books, beginner cooking skill books, a deluxe gift pack of the movie “Monkey King: Hero Is Back,” a deluxe gift pack of the song “Mercury Chronicles,” and more.

Cheng Cheng’s understanding of the system deepened—the prize pool changed each draw but always contained two or three grand prizes.

The results came quickly. Luck wasn’t on his side this time; he missed both the “Monkey King” and “Mercury Chronicles” packs, which was disappointing.

He only got four energy pills, a terminally ill patient imitation sticker, a height-increasing pill, a drop of magical eye drops, a singing experience book, a beginner driving skill book, and a beginner English skill book.

The terminally ill patient imitation sticker: upon use, allows one to mimic a terminally ill patient for 24 hours.

Height pill: increases height by 1 cm after consumption.

Magical eye drops: can be targeted to enhance understanding of a specific gaze or expression.

Could these magical eye drops be considered a means to boost acting skills?

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If one wanted to play an emperor, they could heighten their grasp of “domineering” and “contemptuous” looks.

Want to play a delicate, lovable character? Enhance understanding of “pitiful” and “adorable” expressions.

To portray a rogue, deepen grasp of “free-spirited,” “passionate,” and “unrestrained” gazes.

Could these enhancements be applied in real life?

Cheng Cheng fantasized: if he collected enough magical eye drops and focused them all on mastering the “seductive” look, could a single glance make people worldwide throw money at him? Would everything go his way?

“Heh heh heh~”

Thinking of this, Cheng Cheng couldn’t help but chuckle.

He decided to set the thought aside for now.

Unwilling to give up on missing the “Monkey King” and “Mercury Chronicles” packs, he tried single draws again.

No luck! Energy pill.

Again! Still no luck! Another energy pill!

Once more! No luck again! Yet another energy pill!

Oh no!

Cheng Cheng grew frustrated. With only two thousand points left, just two single draws remained. If luck didn’t turn, he might miss out on the “Mercury Chronicles” and “Monkey King” packs forever. Who knew when they’d appear next in the prize pool?

“Miracle from a single draw!”

Cheng Cheng shouted, “One more time!”

“Whoa, golden light!”

Suddenly, the virtual panel before him burst with golden light.

Eyes fixed on the prize, Cheng Cheng watched until the glow faded, revealing the “Mercury Chronicles” deluxe gift pack!

“Hahaha!”

At last, he’d drawn it.

Then, with the remaining thousand points, he drew once more and got another magical eye drops.

Great!

Though he missed the “Monkey King” pack this time, he promised himself they’d meet again.

After using the height pill, terminally ill patient imitation sticker, singing experience book, beginner driving skill book, and beginner English skill book, Cheng Cheng’s personal stats updated to:

[Host: Cheng Cheng.

Points: 1379

Age: 21

Height: 181 cm

Weight: 69 kg

Appearance: 88 points.

Singing: 67 points.

Acting: 45 points.

Dancing: 77 points.

Skills: Beginner Taekwondo, Beginner Driving, Beginner English.

Inventory: Magical Eye Drops ×2, Appearance Pill ×1, Hair Dye Pill ×1, Terminally Ill Patient Imitation Sticker, Energy Pills ×10, “Mercury Chronicles” Deluxe Gift Pack.]

Still far from impressive, but progress was evident.

Cheng Cheng vowed to fill the skills section completely and raise all stats above 90 points someday.

He decided not to use the “Mercury Chronicles” pack immediately; saving it for bedtime would help use up his energy and promote sleep.

Cheng Cheng gave himself a mental thumbs-up: “I’m really clever!”

Ring ring ring—

The phone rang. Cheng Cheng saw it was Tang Fang calling again.

Answering, before she could speak, Cheng Cheng asked angrily:

“Why haven’t you changed your name yet? Why do I still have you saved as Tang Fang? Don’t you know that name is unlucky?”

Tang Fang’s momentum faltered. Her initially aggressive tone weakened, even sounding a bit hesitant:

“The company saw the online articles. Director Wang asked me to ask you why you violated company rules by responding privately again. This harms both the company and you.”

Cheng Cheng sounded puzzled: “I didn’t respond, did I? I only said the company won’t let me respond. Does that count as responding? Then if I skip meals today, does that mean I ate?”

“Wait a minute~” Tang Fang was confused by his logic, not understanding how those two compared. “What are you talking about?”

Cheng Cheng earnestly explained: “Look, the company says I responded, but I clearly told the reporter the company forbade me from responding. If you think the company’s logic is correct, that means being forbidden from responding counts as responding. So skipping meals today would also count as eating. See? The sentence structure is the same! Forget it, you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

Tang Fang felt scorned.

Now, she increasingly doubted Cheng Cheng’s mental state.

No sane person would say things like that.

She kept telling herself: Don’t stoop to the level of the insane, don’t stoop to the level of the insane...

“In any case,” Cheng Cheng said, “I haven’t broken any company rules. Don’t slander me. I said ‘false’ but didn’t say which parts of her story were false. If the company thinks I’m wrong, they can take me down anytime.”

Tang Fang laughed bitterly: “Nobody wants to take you down.”

Cheng Cheng said: “Suing is fine too. Fish die, net breaks. But I advise you to tell the company to part on good terms! I’m already ruined. If the company wants to mess with me, I don’t mind taking a few people down with me. I have plenty of dirt—if you want, I can name a few: animal abuse, messy personal relationships, and that one family connected with prostitution.”

“Hey, hey, hey~” Tang Fang hurried to interrupt, fearing a recording. “None of that’s true, and it won’t come to that, it won’t!”

Cheng Cheng said proudly: “You better hope it doesn’t come to that. I’m an insider and an artist with Xianghua Company. No matter how outrageous my revelations are, there’s always some truth. Many are real facts and will stand up to scrutiny.”

“I’ll try to bring up the contract termination online. Maybe the company will suppress it and we’ll keep cooperating, right?” Tang Fang was confused how she ended up coaxing Cheng Cheng.

Cheng Cheng snorted arrogantly: “I don’t want to work with Xianghua anymore, hmph~”

Tang Fang wiped cold sweat from her brow and whispered: “Then what’s this collaboration with the Bilibili creator about?”

“Not telling you! Guess yourself! Heehee~” Cheng Cheng hung up.

Tang Fang put down her phone, spread her hands, and looked at the others in the office, saying:

“I wasn’t wrong, was I? He definitely has mental issues now.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Points +8

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