CH 1.01

Leaving the airport at ten o’clock and then taking an hour to go from the airport to Huatian Hotel. Fu Yichen could still be able to sleep comfortably and then participate in the audition at nine o’clock the next morning. Of course, this was the original plan provided that he didn’t get blocked by fans at the airport for two hours.

Fu Yichen took off his sunglasses and threw his bag on the bed. He then turned to his assistant standing behind him, “Go and take a rest. I’ll handle the other matters.”

An apologetic look flashed on his assistant, Xiao Tian’s face. He couldn’t hide the exhaustion on his face, “Then Brother Chen, you should also rest early.”

After a two-hour-long flight, they were stuck at the airport for more than two hours. Then it took another hour for them to reach their hotel from the airport and now it’s a few minutes after one o’clock in the morning. Not to mention a little girl, even a tall and fit man like Fu Yichen was unable to hide his exhaustion. 

After Xiao Tian left, Fu Yichen took a simple shower and fell on his bed. His slender limbs almost filled the bed with the charm and strength of a grown-up man. However, at this time Fu Yichen was unable to hide the tiredness and annoyance on his face which made him feel a little downhearted. 

It was hard for him to sleep in the middle of the night. Fu Yichen rolled over, laid on his back, and suddenly let out a sigh of relief.

Physical fatigue was the other reason for his exhaustion, his main reason was that he was mentally drained. To be honest, the overwhelming crowd of fans almost drowned him and he was trapped in that crowd for more than two hours, unable to move. 

Of course, if it was his own fans then he wouldn’t be that exhausted. He happened to be on the same flight as a popular senior. That popular senior that had no intersection with him can be said to be a role model for their generation and was simply a benchmark for all their peers. Their popularity could be seen from tonight’s scene.

Before graduation, Fu Yichen had already started acting and was in the industry for about four to five years. In the past few years, he had received no less than a hundred plays. As long as he has the chance to play, he wouldn’t pass it. Unfortunately, the role he plays normally is either a sidekick or a supporting role. His acting was always on the edge1, so his reception has been lukewarm for the past five years. 

It’s not because Fu Yichen was unable to act. On the contrary, Fu Yichen has great skin. His height of 1.85 meters allows him to perfectly display his tall and well-proportioned figure. His handsome face and gestures show the calmness and admirable demeanor of a grown-up man. 

Such external conditions were absolutely excellent in the entertainment industry, not to mention that he was a diligent person. Even if he were to play a supporting role, he would give his best to play his role but unfortunately, he still has not met his Bole2.

Brother Xu, Fu Yichen’s former agent once said that Fu Yichen definitely had a talent for acting. If he was given the chance, he would definitely become a hit and a blockbuster. But the problem is that Fu Yichen was too rigid and straight, unyielding and stubborn. Sticking onto his principles. 

In the big dye vat of the entertainment industry3, there are many mixes of fishes and dragons4. His character isn’t suitable for a place like the entertainment industry and opportunities for artists were their top priority5.

Fu Yichen admits that what Brother Xu said was right but he doesn’t agree with him. He insists on his own unyielding principles. So he will still have to persevere even if his reception is lukewarm. But occasionally in the dead of the night, he will quietly smoke a cigarette or make an inaudible sigh, just like his current situation. 

Who doesn’t have their own dreams? 

There are only a few people who can insist on realizing their dreams.

Fu Yichen tidied up his mood, turned on his side, and grabbed his cell phone that was placed by the bedside. His tired body was now extremely active and he was unable to sleep. So he simply swiped Weibo and browsed Tieba6. 

For an actor who is seriously lacking in resources, sometimes opportunities could be stumbled upon in these places. With the rapid development of the internet, online literature has developed into an unprecedented position, especially online novels which are greatly sought after and loved by young people.

Various themes such as fantasy, time travel, rebirth, ancient times, futuristic…

Some that Fu Yichen had never even heard of. However, drama adaptations have pushed all of these to the highest point and more and more popular novels are being adapted into TV series and put on screen. 

Be it online dramas, TV dramas, or even movies and animations, more and more novels were being adapted and put on screen. In this process, not only has it brought in new blood and new prospects into the film and television industry, it has also allowed online texts to gain an unprecedented development. This was actually a win-win process, even giving a large number of artists the opportunities to stand out.

This is the reason why Fu Yichen pays attention to these things. Of course, he has also read some online novels.

During his years on campus, there were millions of novels with ten millions of words. He would turn off the lights and hide in the quilt every night to read. But it has been years since then and he hadn’t had the time for many years. 

Currently, online novels were not as good as previous literary works. Not only are the qualities a mix of good and bad, some even spread negative energy with their bad views which is why Fu Yichen was no longer willing to waste his time on it.

On the other hand, in the face of increasingly younger and wider audiences of online readers, many novel websites have lowered the thresholds for authors which directly leads to authors whose ability is unstable, so the works released are naturally a mix of fish and dragons7.

As he was scrolling through his phone, a post suddenly caught Fu Yichen’s eyes. It was a post with an eye-catching title, ‘Mary Sue should all die!’. He could feel the strong resentment across the screen and the post showed that the number of reads had already reached more than 250,000 and the number of replies reached as much as 100,000.

Fu Yichen raised his brows and clicked on the post with some curiosity. It could clearly be seen that it was a rant post and the object of the ranting was one of the popular types of online texts, Mary Sue romance novels. 

Fu Yichen flipped through it casually and he saw words such as ‘Mary Sue authors are mentally retarded’, ‘brainless’ and ‘broken three views’. Following this post, Fu Yichen found a post with a very simple and rude name, ‘Anti-Mary Sue alliance’. 

This post opened the door to a new world for him. There were tens of thousands of posts in it, all complaining about Mary Sue novels. The Anti-Mary Sue alliance state that today’s romance novels couldn’t be read any longer, they are all filled with Mary Sue characters who have no logic and broken three views. 

The topic on Fu Yichen’s screen is full of Mary Sue and all Mary Sue should die. 

This is probably the reason why this group of people gathered in this post. They were able to freely complain about Mary Sue Novel’s various unreasonable mental retardations, all kinds of broken logic, and distorted three views. All kinds of neuropathic texts…

Fu Yichen even read a few of the novels mentioned. The most popular novels that they were ranting about were ‘Devilish School Grass wants to Chase Me’, ‘Domineering Billionaire Husband, Please Be Gentle’ and ‘Three-Year-Old Empress Dowager Going Against the Sky’. This isn’t Sky-Defying… This title is more Heaven-Defying from how Mary Sue these novels are.

The corners of Fu Yichen’s mouth twitched and he was a little irritated. His eyes were looking at the strange post. Even if he didn’t pay much attention to them, the titles of the books alone blinded him. He couldn’t imagine the brain structure of the authors that wrote these sorts of things.

After a general scan of the post, it could be seen that this kind of post with these sort of book titles had around tens of thousands of replies. The resentments of those in the anti-Mary Sue alliance could be felt across the screen.

Fu Yichen looked through the post as if he was looking at a funny joke. Time passed and soon it was already past two in the morning in the blink of an eye. Drowsiness soon struck him before he knew it and he fell asleep at some point. His slender limbs lay casually on the bed with his mobile phone in his hand. His phone screen was still on and the content displayed on the screen was still the anti-Mary Sue Alliance post that he was looking at previously.

After a while, a white light flashed in the silent room. But the sleeping Fu Yichen didn’t notice it at all. It soon disappeared as if nothing happened, as if it was just an illusion.

The next day, Fu Yichen woke up to an unfamiliar voice. The moment he opened his eyes, Fu Yichen could only feel that today’s quilt felt very comfortable and soft. But there seemed to be an unfamiliar figure standing at the corner of his half-opened eyes which made him feel a little weird. As if he was still in a dream, seemingly awake but also asleep.

“Master, please get up. Breakfast is ready.” 

The respectful and pampering sounding voice seemed a little old but kind. It felt strange but quite intimate. Fu Yichen sat up straight from the bed all of a sudden but the next second, he froze.

He was not in his hotel room. He was in a very spacious and brightly lit room, equipped with an eye-catching wardrobe, lighting, and bed, all of which exuded an extravagant smell of corruption8 and standing beside his bed was an old man in a neat suit. The old man was looking at him with absolute respect and indescribable doting. 

Fu Yichen swallowed unconsciously, completely in confusion towards his situation. The old man standing beside his bed bent down towards him with a grin on his face and in a respectful tone said, “Master, you are finally awake.”

Fu Yichen’s heart jumped once more. He was pretty sure he didn’t know the old man but he was also equally sure that the man was speaking to him, ‘What the hell is going on? Is this a dream?’

Before Fu Yichen could speak, the old man skillfully picked up the clothes on the hanger that was by the bed and walked towards Fu Yichen, “Master, breakfast is ready. It’s your favorite steak.” The old man stretched out his hand as he spoke, seemingly wanting to help Fu Yichen dress.

Immediately, Fu Yichen’s conditioned reflex blocked the clothes that the old man was going to hand over and blurted out, “I don’t like steak.” After speaking, he was stunned. It’s not that good to be so rude on their first meeting.

The old man was stunned for a moment but he soon regained his smile. Fu Yichen saw him put his clothes in front of him respectfully, “I’ll let Uncle Zhong prepare something else.” 

The corner of Fu Yichen’s mouth twitched again, ‘What’s going on?’ He was completely stunned but the more he had to face such an unfamiliar situation, the more he had to remain calm. No matter what situation he was facing, he should always remain calm.

It wasn’t until the old man bowed, went out, and closed the door that Fu Yichen breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment though, a sudden voice that appeared made him shudder.

[Hello, welcome to the world of Mary Sue Novels. This is the Mary Sue Reversal System.]

A mechanical tone sounded out. It sounded a little strange.

Fu Yichen quickly determined that he was the only person in the room and there were no robots or anything similar. However, the voice definitely came from the room he was in. No, more precisely, from his mind. Immediately, Fu Yichen’s nerves tensed up.

“Who?” 

[You have been bound to the Mary Sue Reversal System. From now on you will live and die with the system, don’t panic or be afraid, okay?]

The mechanical voice said once more, replying to Fu Yichen’s question without any emotion. But the last ‘okay’ didn’t seem to hold any intentions of comforting him, rather a word filled with a bit of disgust. The words ‘Mary Sue will die!’ unconsciously appeared in Fu Yichen’s mind. 

“What is this thing?” Fu Yichen tried his best to calm down. Although he wasn’t too focused, he could clearly hear the three words Mary Sue9. It reminded him of the post he had just read. The situation he is in right now should definitely have something to do with it. He could only think properly once he calms down.

[The system is not a thing.] The mechanical voice spat out. It sounded very strange, [This is the Mary Sue Reversal System. All Mary Sue should die!]

Fu Yichen raised his eyebrows. Sure enough, his situation is really related to that post. But how to explain his situation? His current situation is terrifying and he is very confused. 

Fu Yichen took a deep breath and slowly calmed himself down, “Then please explain, what’s the current situation? What are you? And what are your intentions?” 

basically very average, not good enough to make him a male lead

The thing that fits him the most. Like someone giving him the perfect role that is suitable for him

Basically saying the entertainment industry isn’t clean at all

Ordinary people and people with actual talent

He’s too clean and doesn’t want to get himself a golden thigh

Basically like Twitter for Baidu users. You post stuff there

Good and bad, they are unable to tell

Meaning super fancy that you swear it’s probably money earnt from doing corruption

MaLi Su in Chinese, so it’s three words