The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 161: Completely Hated Online? I’m Researching How to Die Even More Terribly!

The office of Spark Media was brightly lit.

Lin Wan did not immediately announce this news that could shake the entire industry.

She understood Hou Hsiao-hsien's working style. Any attempt to jump the gun before the official announcement would be an affront.

She instructed the PR department to handle it low-key and wait for the flowers to bloom.

However, there are no walls in the entertainment circle that don't leak.

That very night, several posts quietly surfaced in the deep waters of major entertainment forums and gossip accounts.

"Inside scoop: The male lead for Hou Hsiao-hsien's new film 'The Lurker' has been finalized. It's not Xiao Ran, as previously rumored online."

"Shocking scoop! The National Little Brother failed his audition! The role was snatched by some 'Heartbreak Smile' male star!"

At first, it was just small-scale discussion.

But soon, Xiao Ran's massive fanbase was precisely funneled into these posts.

In an instant, the pot boiled over.

"What the hell? Our Ranran prepared for a whole month, and you say someone just snatched it?"

"What gives that guy surnamed Jiang the right? Just because he got popular with one BE role? Can he even compare to our Ranran?"

"There's definitely something shady going on! That woman from Spark Media must have used some underhanded methods!"

"Sisters! Let's storm Jiang Ci's Weibo! Make him cough up the role!"

Angry fans, like a tidal wave, frantically flooded into Jiang Ci's Weibo account, which had just blown up because of the "Heartbreak Smile."

The comments section was instantly overrun.

The atmosphere in Lin Wan's office was oppressive.

The phone of the PR department head rang off the hook, call after call.

"Sister Wan, the opposing fan group is too organized! Our comment control can't hold up at all!"

"It's not just the fans. A huge number of paid posters have joined the fray. The topic's heat is being artificially boosted!"

Just as Lin Wan was directing her team, trying to extinguish this public opinion fire ignited by fans, an even more insidious force quietly entered the arena.

A group of marketing accounts, at the same time, posted "exposés" with almost identical wording.

"Exclusive Reveal! The inside story of how Jiang Ci landed Hou Hsiao-hsien's new film! Not acting skill, but crooked methods!"

"Informed sources reveal that during the audition, Jiang Ci interpreted the protagonist Shen Qingyuan as a cold-blooded psychopath."

"This bizarre interpretation unexpectedly 'pleased' the equally eccentric director Hou Hsiao-hsien."

"Is this a maverick approach to acting, or a true reflection of the actor's own mental state?"

The wind of public opinion was instantly shifted.

What was previously just fan circle infighting now had its spearhead precisely aimed at Jiang Ci's "acting skills" itself.

A brand new, maliciously crafted hashtag was forcefully pushed onto the trending list by the power of capital.

#JiangCiPsychoticActingSkills#

This hashtag, alongside the #JiangCiHeartbreakSmile from a few days ago, formed a bizarre synergy on the trending chart.

One, shattered and poignantly beautiful.

The other, dark and insane.

Combined, the image of a "dangerous artist with an unstable mental state, liable to erupt at any moment" was clearly outlined.

"I knew that smile of his looked off! Turns out he really is sick!"

"So terrifying. Could it be that when he acts in tragedies, he's just being himself?"

"Boycott problematic artists! Don't let a psychopath pollute the big screen!"

Lin Wan watched the endless stream of unsightly comments scrolling across her computer screen, her body trembling with anger.

"They've gone too far!"

Her assistant stood to the side, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Lin Wan knew this was the capital behind Xiao Ran personally entering the fray.

They were willing to suffer eight hundred losses themselves just to completely kick Jiang Ci out of the "The Lurker" project.

Just as Lin Wan was at her wits' end, on the verge of exploding, in a hotel suite in the capital, Jiang Ci remained completely oblivious to the storm raging outside.

He sat cross-legged on the carpet, the script for "The Lurker" spread open before him.

Sun Zhou was pacing anxiously nearby. The dark trending topics on his phone screen were painful to look at.

"Ci-ge, look at this! The internet is practically shredding you to pieces!"

Jiang Ci didn't even lift his head.

He held a pen in his hand, his gaze intensely focused, meticulously drawing circles on a specific page of the script.

Sun Zhou leaned over to look.

That section of the plot described the protagonist Shen Qingyuan, after his identity was exposed, being tortured inhumanely by the enemy until he was beyond recognition.

Jiang Ci had drawn a heavy circle under the line describing "his fingernails were pulled out one by one."

Then, next to it, he had written a few words in neat handwriting.

"Extremely high BE concentration. Can be prioritized for development."

Sun Zhou: "..."

He felt he was about to stop recognizing the two letters "BE."

Seeing his own artist so absorbed in researching "how to die more tragically," Sun Zhou gave up struggling.

Back at Spark Media, in the president's office, Lin Wan's anger gradually gave way to calm.

She asked her assistant to leave first and leaned back alone in her executive chair.

She knew the opponent's goal was to completely tarnish Jiang Ci's reputation.

To force Hou Hsiao-hsien, even before filming began, to abandon Jiang Ci under the pressure of public opinion.

Lin Wan's ability to think clearly returned.

She picked up her phone and dialed Sun Zhou's number.

The call was answered almost instantly.

"Si-Sister Wan..." Sun Zhou's voice was full of helplessness.

Lin Wan didn't offer him any comfort.

Her voice was terrifyingly calm. She only asked one question.

"What is Jiang Ci doing?"

The question stunned Sun Zhou. He instinctively glanced at the person sitting cross-legged on the carpet not far away.

He reported truthfully.

"Sister Wan, Brother... he seems completely unaware..."

"He... he's studying the scene in the script where the protagonist gets his nails pulled out..."

*Beep—*

Lin Wan hung up directly.

She leaned back in her chair, looking at the ceiling for a long time.

Then.

"Pfft."

An uncontrollable soft laugh escaped her lips.

Followed by increasingly unrestrained, loud laughter.

"Hahahaha... Hahahahahaha!"

Her laughter echoed in the empty office, carrying a kind of exhilarating madness.

The assistant outside the door, hearing this bizarre laughter, was so scared her hair stood on end, thinking her boss had finally been driven insane by the overwhelming wave of black PR.

However, inside the office, Lin Wan's laughter stopped abruptly.

She had found the opponent's most foolish and fatal flaw in this public opinion war.

They simply did not understand Jiang Ci.

They were using the logic of a traffic star, the tactics of fan circle brawls, to attack a... technical school actor with a uniquely wired brain.

A bold, borderline crazy idea exploded into form in her mind.

No whitewashing, no comment control, no denial.

Instead...

Crown him!

Lin Wan abruptly pulled out a clean sheet of A4 paper from her drawer and picked up a pen.

The pen tip descended.

Five powerfully written, large characters appeared on the white paper.

[Surgical Precision Acting]

After writing it, she picked up her phone and pressed the intercom.

"PR department, everyone, emergency meeting in my office in five minutes!"

Five minutes later, in the Spark Media conference room.

The PR director's eyes were bloodshot. His core team members also looked ashen-faced.

They had been battling all day, but the opponent's offensive was like a tsunami. Their small team simply couldn't hold up.

"Sister Wan, we can't hold on."

The PR director's voice was full of powerlessness.

"The other side has gone all out this time. The scale of their paid posters is at least ten times ours."

"And the hashtag #JiangCiPsychoticActingSkills has been locked on the trending list. We can't get it down even if we spend money."

Lin Wan listened quietly.

She wasn't furious or despairing, as everyone had expected.

She gently placed that sheet of A4 paper with the writing in the center of the conference table.

Everyone's gaze was instinctively drawn to those bold characters. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Surgical precision... acting?"