Eastern Sports Arena.

When the entrance opened at nine in the morning, the venue was packed to capacity in less than half an hour. Most of them were fans who had come to support their idols, holding colorful banners in their hands. The competition had not yet begun, but they were already scanning the field everywhere for a glimpse of their idols, their cheers growing louder and more fervent.

Star Sports Meet was a celebrity competitive sports program jointly organized by M&E Media and the Sports Channel. With retired national team coaches serving as referees and a host of stars participating, the show's ratings hit a new high in its first season due to the massive traffic it brought. The partners, riding on the momentum, launched a second season, inviting many young starlets and heartthrobs, making it unrivaled among programs in the same time slot.

Some artists in the entertainment circle who were still in their developmental stages would mostly accept any invitation they received for the sake of exposure. Although their status couldn't compare to A-list celebrities, the combined popularity of all their fans was a considerable force.

The cameras in the arena were already in position, and the participating artists were warming up backstage, roughly divided into a men's group and a women's group. The most eye-catching among them were Shen Xilin, one of the nation's four little starlets, and Su Ge, the lead singer of the currently popular TR Boy Band. The cheering colors for these two each took up half of the audience seats, a truly magnificent sight.

Before the competition began, the backstage area was a hive of activity. There were a total of 32 people in the men's archery group. The first ranking round was already over, and the subsequent elimination round was about to begin.

"Quick, quick, is everyone here? And the camera positions, stage manager, hurry up and confirm them!"

"Makeup artist, makeup artist, Yali's eye makeup is smudged, touch it up for her quickly, it's almost her turn to go on!"

Su Ge was practicing archery backstage. He ranked first in the qualifying round and was considered a hot favorite to win this year. Coupled with his solid popularity, he had been trending on search engines frequently in just a few days, showing signs of breaking out of his circle. The coach was also paying close attention to him.

Everyone was busy with their own affairs, but on a long bench in a rest area not far away, a man was lying down. He covered his eyes with the back of his hand as if sleeping. He was wearing a blue tracksuit, clearly also a participating artist, but no one among the people coming and going seemed to notice him.

The overhead lights poured down, brightly illuminating the corner of the rest area, but the man lying on the bench seemed to be trapped in a muddy nightmare, unable to pull himself free. His body curled up uncontrollably, accompanied by slight twitches, his hair already slightly damp with sweat.

"Xi Nian has been deceiving his fans for so long. Turns out he not only has a terrible character, but he also bribed paparazzi to slander his rivals. No wonder he rose up so fast!"

"I'm gonna puke, I'm gonna puke. And he's a Best Actor. Could it be he also climbed up through improper means? How deep must his connections be?"

"I always found it strange. Xi Nian has had no negative press since his debut, it was just abnormally clean. Turns out he's cut from the same cloth as Lu Xingzhe."

The number one actor of the new generation, this was what others called Xi Nian.

The most notorious paparazzi in the entertainment circle, this was what others called Lu Xingzhe.

No one knew how these two, who should have had nothing to do with each other, became entangled. All they knew was that not long after Xi Nian won the Best Actor award, someone suddenly posted online exposing all sorts of scandals from when he first debuted. Overnight, his reputation was in tatters.

The computer screen glowed in the dark, and an overwhelming flood of negative press kept popping up, threatening to drown him. At first, it was just deep dives into the fact that Xi Nian had previously bought off paparazzi to suppress competitors. Later, it gradually evolved into various other versions: the casting couch, plastic surgery, being a diva...

Some were true, some were false. Some things Xi Nian had indeed done, some he had not, but none of it mattered now. When he ascended to the Divine Platform, he was covered in glory; when he fell to the bottom, he was likewise covered in filth.

People in the entertainment circle probably all have such a day. When you're lukewarm, no one cares. When you become famous, countless pairs of eyes will be on you, reaching out from the shadows to push you into the abyss.

Xi Nian had just won an international award last month and was at the height of his success. However, someone, for unknown reasons, acted in secret, thoroughly investigated his past, and overnight, exposé posts sprang up like mushrooms after rain, impossible to suppress.

Xi Nian sat in front of the computer for a long, long time. His phone, placed silently on the desk, vibrated continuously. Countless calls came in, and then, because the battery ran out, it returned to silence.

"Was it you?"

His voice was deep and hoarse, his gaze indifferent. No one could imagine that the gloomy man before them was the spirited, newly crowned Best Actor, Xi Nian.

Beside him stood a young man in a black hooded sweatshirt, his figure mostly hidden in the darkness, his presence extremely faint. When he wasn't speaking, you would hardly notice his existence.

Hearing Xi Nian's words, the young man raised a hand to pull at the brim of his hood. His complexion was paler than most, but he had a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes, though their color was too deep, giving the impression that he was not to be trifled with. It was, in fact, the notoriously infamous paparazzi of the entertainment circle, Lu Xingzhe.

He stared motionlessly at Xi Nian for a good while before finally reacting, as if he had heard some kind of joke, and suddenly laughed out loud: "Why?"

Why did he think it was him?

Lu Xingzhe laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight. He bent over, propping himself up on his knees, took a breath, and asked with a half-smile, "Just because you kicked me away after using me, so I held a grudge and wanted to get revenge on you?"

His hands were long and slender, clean, with thick calluses at the joints from holding a camera for too long. But it was these hands that had lifted Xi Nian from an obscure little star to an A-lister, and had also done all his dirty work for him.

Lu Xingzhe reached out and tapped the computer. Due to the excessive force, the screen rippled slightly. On it was the scandalous photo of Xi Nian and the popular actress Qiao Zhi embracing late at night on the street: "This was your gift to me."

Lu Xingzhe looked at him, a playful smile on his lips, and mouthed silently: "I'll give you one too, it's only polite to return a favor..."

Xi Nian had shown no emotional fluctuation from beginning to end, but upon hearing this sentence, he suddenly shot up from his chair. He raised his hand, grabbed Lu Xingzhe's collar, and slammed him hard against the wall. His aura was extremely oppressive as he questioned in a deep voice, "Was it really you?"

Lu Xingzhe's throat was seized, making it hard to breathe. The hand hanging by his side clenched and unclenched, but ultimately did nothing. He looked up and saw Xi Nian staring at him with bloodshot eyes: "...It was me."

Lu Xingzhe smiled like a madman, wild and triumphant, speaking words of unknown truthfulness: "It was me."

"Don't you want to be a big star the most? Don't you care about your future the most? Don't you want to get rid of me even in your dreams? I just won't let you have your way..."

They were vermin in the gutter, they were grasshoppers on the same rope, forever destined to rot in sunless corners, never to see the light of day in this lifetime.

Lu Xingzhe deliberately stomped on his sore spot. Xi Nian grabbed his hand, expressionlessly pulled him over, and pushed him down onto the sofa. Then he pressed his knee against Lu Xingzhe's left leg, slowly applying pressure downwards, and asked back in a deep voice, "What about you? Is there nothing you want?"

Lu Xingzhe had a disability in his left leg. This action instantly drained the color from his face, his body convulsing in pain. Xi Nian pressed close to his ear, one hand slipping under the hem of his shirt, but it brought no warmth, only endless ice.

Lu Xingzhe, with a sudden burst of strength from nowhere, began to struggle desperately, only to be held down firmly by Xi Nian again.

"Didn't you come here today wanting me to fuck you?" Xi Nian pressed him onto the sofa, bit his earlobe hard, causing a dense wave of stinging pain, his breath scorching as he reminded him with a hint of vengeful meaning, "You were so eager before, what's with the act now..."

The sofa, the bed, the floor here—all had once borne the traces of their lovemaking. Xi Nian had touched this body of Lu Xingzhe's countless times, and it was Lu Xingzhe who had forced him to.

A foul and shady paparazzi, trying to bind someone with the fame and fortune of the entertainment circle. How laughable it would sound if it got out.

For some reason, Lu Xingzhe suddenly stopped struggling at his words. He squeezed his eyes shut, cold sweat rolling down his forehead, and hugged his left knee, curling into a ball on the sofa, suppressing the ragged breaths caused by the pain.

Xi Nian looked down at him from above, paused for a moment, then slowly released his hand.

For some reason, Lu Xingzhe could still smile in such a situation. He lay limp on the sofa, pale and weak, yet with the same old vile and triumphant look, his eyes narrowed, cunning as a fox: "If you want to fuck me, you should've said so earlier. It's not like I'd disagree."

As he spoke, he reached out and wrapped an arm around Xi Nian's neck, forcing his head down, and kissed him in a near-biting manner. Teeth and lips collided, the taste of blood spreading, bringing nothing but pain.

Cold sweat trickled down the side of Lu Xingzhe's pale face, his dark eyelashes wet and sticky.

This was the first time he had kissed Xi Nian.

Because Xi Nian didn't like kissing Lu Xingzhe.

Xi Nian stared at him fixedly, his fingertips tightening, then without warning, he shoved him away. The wrinkles on Lu Xingzhe's collar slowly smoothed out, becoming neat again.

For some reason, Xi Nian suddenly took a step back, his figure falling back into the darkness. The night view outside the floor-to-ceiling window made him look incredibly lonely, ephemeral for a moment.

The trending topics online were still constantly updating, countless curses and jeers piling up into a mountain. It's hard to make a person, but all too easy to destroy one...

Xi Nian had only been in the entertainment circle for a few years, yet he had already obtained things others might never get in a lifetime: prestigious awards, popularity. With his exceptional looks and decent acting skills, he had pocketed them all.

However, the precondition for obtaining all this was inseparable from Lu Xingzhe's help. After all, no one would have thought that these two people from completely different worlds had once been together.

Whether it was false affection or mutual exploitation.

Xi Nian had established a firm foothold in the entertainment circle with his help. Now that he was famous, he wanted to kick him aside. Thinking about it, it was only human nature. After all, no one would like a notoriously infamous paparazzi, especially when that paparazzi held all his secrets.

Xi Nian's goal had been clear from the very beginning. Since he had entered the entertainment circle, he would never be one of those who just blended into the crowd.

He was ambitious,

He was calculating,

He climbed his way up with all his might—

He also took the wrong path.

There's no such thing as a wall that doesn't leak. The things Xi Nian had done, one by one, added up to become the last straw that broke the camel's back. Like a skyscraper crashing down, it was beyond saving.

Not even Lu Xingzhe could.

"Get out."

The night air was cool. When Xi Nian said this, his tone was calm, vaguely reminiscent of how he was when he first debuted, like an uncut gemstone, indifferent to everything, before he was soaked in the big dye vat of the entertainment circle, his original appearance no longer discernible.

Lu Xingzhe didn't move. He maintained the posture he was in when he was pushed away, with a slight trace of blood on his pale lower lip. After a second or two, he slowly stood up from the sofa, a strand of hair falling from his temple, looking inexplicably disheveled.

The room was silent for a moment.

Lu Xingzhe barely steadied himself, and due to his unstable center of gravity, he took a small step back. He reached up to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled nonchalantly, "I was originally thinking of watching your pathetic downfall, but forget it, it's boring."

Perhaps because he had left in a hurry, there was a faint trace of dust on the knee of his pants from a fall. His shoulders were bare, and the camera that was always with him was also missing. He turned and limped away.

Lu Xingzhe was a cripple.

No one knew why he would drag his crippled leg back to find Xi Nian when the entire internet was cursing him.

Perhaps it was to admire his miserable state after falling from the divine platform, or perhaps it was for something else...

The dream gradually faded.

The light in the rest area flickered, making a crackling electric sound. This sound, for some reason, stimulated Xi Nian, and a certain inorganic, cold mechanical voice echoed in his bizarre dream.

[Ding! Scumbag target discovered]

[System binding...]

[Binding successful, initiating reformation program...]

Hearing this, the man lying on the long bench suddenly began to breathe rapidly. His fingertips clenched unconsciously as if someone were strangling him, desperately wanting to break free from something. Finally, he shot up from the bench, his pupils constricted—

Like a drowning man finally breaking the surface.

A faint blue ball of light quietly landed in front of him.

[Ding! Host?]

“...”

The air was completely silent.

Xi Nian slowed his breathing but said nothing. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and sat quietly where he was, ignoring this strange thing.

Even though the other party had given him a second chance to start over.

[Ding! Dear Host, what happened in your past life is over. This is a brand new start. I hope you will reform well and become a new person. The System will be here to supervise you!]

Reform well, become a new person...

Those who knew it was because Xi Nian was a scumbag understood, but those who didn't would have thought he'd committed some crime.

This thing that called itself the Scumbag Reformation System was quite mysterious. Other than shouting some uninspired chicken soup for the soul in his ear every day, it rarely revealed any information. Xi Nian only vaguely knew that it seemed to want to reform him, but he knew nothing beyond that.

'Reformation?'

Xi Nian thought, 'There's nothing to reform.'

Some people are born kind, some are born vile, and he happened to be the latter. There was no need to forcibly change anything.

Seeing its first host displaying his usual indifferent expression again, System No. 009 felt a little troubled. Its round, blue body trembled like jelly, and it checked the host's data once more.

In his past life, Xi Nian had been unscrupulous in his pursuit of fame, ending up with a ruined reputation and committing suicide by jumping off a building. Just before he died, he was coincidentally selected by an Interstellar Executor for reformation and was given a chance at rebirth.

This was just the beginning, the very starting point.

The System hoped he would make a different choice.

Xi Nian seemed not to have detached himself from the emotions of his past life and didn't want to talk to anyone. He had no idea how annoying the System in front of him would be in the future. He covered his eyes with the back of his hand, seeming to intend to sleep again. However, just then, a tall, thin man suddenly rushed into the rest area, looking around as if searching for something. When he saw Xi Nian, he became even more furious and slammed the long bench with a newspaper he had rolled into a tube.

"Xi Nian, the competition is about to start, and you're still sleeping here?! If you don't want to make it, pack your things and get lost now, you'll save me some trouble!"

The man had high, thin cheekbones and a shrewd face, looking difficult to get along with. Xi Nian sat up straight, narrowing his eyes. He found him somewhat familiar. After rummaging through his long and messy memories for a long time, he belatedly recalled that the man in front of him was his manager from when he had just debuted, Sun Ming.

An unknown nobody had no say, not to mention that Xi Nian at this time could be considered hopelessly obscure. Sun Ming managed five artists, none of whom were particularly famous, just muddling along. Xi Nian was one of them.

In this season of Star Games, a total of 32 people participated in the men's archery group. In the ranking round, Su Ge was first, and Xi Nian was last. They were assigned to the same group to PK in the elimination round.

The two were artists from the same entertainment company. If not for the fear of affecting Su Ge's time in the spotlight, Sun Ming probably wouldn't have bothered to care even if Xi Nian missed the competition.

Xi Nian was thinking about something, but in Sun Ming's eyes, it was disobedience. He raised the newspaper in his hand and slammed it on the edge of the chair, "Can't you hear me talking to you? Are you deaf or mute? You got lucky this time, kid. Later, during the match with Su Ge, remember to use him to get a few shots..."

Before he could finish his words, he was caught off guard by the man's dark eyes, and his voice died away—

Sun Ming had never seen such a pair of eyes before, dark and churning, hiding countless negative emotions, but upon closer inspection, they were just empty.

Xi Nian slowly rose from the long bench, his tall figure extremely oppressive. His eyes held a lingering gloom that hadn't dispersed, sending a chill to one's heart.

Sun Ming unconsciously swallowed and blustered, "You... why are you staring at me? Hurry up and go warm up!"

At this time in his past life, Xi Nian had not yet learned archery, and with an injured wrist, his scores were a mess. He was the only contestant in the men's group to miss the target completely. When the show became a hit, he was treated as a joke by netizens, a world apart from Su Ge, which was quite embarrassing.

Xi Nian had forgotten the final result. In any case, he was eliminated in the PK round. It took him several years to shake off the label of a pretty-boy artist. Meeting Sun Ming's gaze, he picked up his jacket and turned to leave without a word.

Su Ge had already finished warming up and was sitting to one side, discussing something in a low voice with the coach. He glanced up inadvertently and saw Xi Nian, but then looked away as if he hadn't seen him, treating him like thin air. There was no mockery or disdain, but it was more piercing than either.

Xi Nian paid him no mind and walked into the practice room to pick up a recurve bow. He put on his finger tab, wrapped the bow sling, and checked the equipment. He showed no sense of urgency, seeming to have little interest in the upcoming competition.

Xi Nian tested the draw weight of the bowstring, then took out an arrow. Only then did he draw the bow, nock the arrow, and aim at the distant target, squinting his eyes to adjust his position bit by bit.

The practice room was quiet, a stark contrast to the clamor outside.

Time ticked by relentlessly. A slight soreness had already appeared in his arm muscles from the excessive tension. He narrowed his eyes, his fingertips twitched, and he finally released the bowstring—

"Whoosh!"

With a faint sound of something cutting through the air, the afterimage of the arrow flashed past, shooting straight towards the target with unstoppable momentum, hitting the bullseye dead center. The fletching was still trembling slightly.

A perfect ten.

The door to the practice room was ajar, and no one saw this scene. Xi Nian subtly moved his wrist, then put down the bow and arrow, turned, and left, his warm-up complete.

The competition was about to begin, and the cheers on the field grew more and more enthusiastic. Almost the entire crowd was chanting Su Ge's name. After all, with the first place PK-ing the last place, the result was a foregone conclusion.

Some meddlesome netizens had already started a thread online, placing bets on who the champion of the second season would be. Su Ge's fans were not to be outdone, voting and boosting his stats everywhere, the thread's replies increasing at a visible rate.

"If there are no surprises, the champion of the men's archery this year will be Su Ge. He was in a shooting club in high school, so he's a bit better than the second-place Yu Fan."

"Su Ge looks so handsome when he shoots an arrow, ahhhhhh! The arrow didn't hit the target, it hit my heart! The Pacific Ocean is the drool I shed for him!!"

"By the way, who is this number nine PK-ing with Su Ge? What's his name? Xi Nian?"

"It's Xi Nian, the only one in the men's group who missed the target. Su Ge competing against him, isn't that like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito? I know stars aren't professional athletes, but can the production team screen the guests next time? He can't even hold the bow steady, did he come here to be a clown?"