Chapter 4 – Lights, Camera, Survival
The set of Stars and Survival was chaos barely contained.
They had been bused to a rugged, temporary studio lot on the outskirts of the city, dominated by vast, open space and harsh directional lights.
Camera drones zipped through the air like oversized mechanical insects, their buzzing adding a persistent whine to the atmosphere.
Producers, wired with ear pieces and clipboards, moved like hyperactive generals, barking last-minute instructions to crew members scrambling with tripods and reflective screens.
Contestants lined up, each wearing the same forced smile of calculated optimism, a mask hiding varying degrees of financial desperation.
They were all has-beens, never-weres, or D-listers trying for one last shot at relevance.
When Xiao Xi arrived, having paid the taxi driver her last fifty units of currency, the buzz on the set didn't stop—it simply shifted key.
Murmurs spread like wildfire among the crew and the other contestants, punctuated by the click of hidden paparazzi cameras.
"Isn't that Xiao Xi?
The one who ruined that massive beverage endorsement last year by showing up drunk?"
"The one with the worst reputation?
Did she seriously bribe someone to get on this show?
Who still hires her?"
"She looks… surprisingly put together.
For her."
She ignored them, her face a serene mask of indifference, though her internal world was anything but peaceful.
The System, which had been dormant during her commute, suddenly beeped furiously, a persistent, aggressive sound inside her head.
[Negative luck field detected. Host is losing 10 Luck Points per minute due to surrounding malice and reputational damage.]
[Current Luck: -210... -220... -230...]
This is a trap, Xiao Xi realized immediately. Her very presence in this environment, fueled by the memory of the original Xiao Xi's toxic past, was actively draining her life resources.
She was hemorrhaging points before the challenge even began.
"Then I'll steal some back," she murmured under her breath, a challenging edge in her voice. The way to survive this show was not through polite behavior, but through strategic friction.
Her gaze swept over the crowd, systematically analyzing her competitors. She was searching for a specific signature—the one mentioned by the System as a "high-value Luck Target."
And then she saw her.
Standing slightly apart from the main group, practicing a few nervous breathing exercises, was a bright-eyed rookie actress.
Her name, Xiao Xi recalled from the novel, was Lin Yueran—the true, sweet-tempered female lead.
Lin Yueran radiated an almost physical golden aura in Xiao Xi's system interface, a warm, soft glow that made her seem utterly untouchable by the negativity around her.
The System obligingly flashed a reading over Lin Yueran's head:
[Target Luck Detected: 8000 points. Transfer possible through emotional triggers—immediate reputational shock or perceived victimhood.]
Eight thousand points. A massive fortune, enough to stabilize Xiao Xi's trajectory for weeks. And the best way to steal it was by making Lin Yueran the victim of a public, emotional scene.
Xiao Xi smirked. "Let's test how this works. Time for a controlled accident."
She walked toward the refreshment table, purposefully taking a glass of brightly colored juice. She feigned a stumble—a tiny, sudden lurch forward that looked clumsy and accidental—and the juice went flying. It splashed squarely onto the front of Lin Yueran's pristine white t-shirt, spreading a shocking red stain across her chest.
Lin Yueran flinched dramatically, her breath catching in a gasp. The camera drones, sensing conflict, swiveled immediately toward the action. The sudden silence on the set was deafening.
Xiao Xi immediately adopted the perfect expression of distraught clumsiness. She launched into a smooth, overly earnest apology, her voice trembling slightly with manufactured distress.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry! I am such a klutz, please, let me help you.
Are you okay?"
The scene was perfect. The hateful Xiao Xi, caught in a moment of public failure, ruining the innocent rookie's entrance.
The cameras were flashing blindingly, capturing Lin Yueran's wide, shocked eyes and the red stain of the juice.
The results were instantaneous.
A frantic notification chimed within her mind, a high, rewarding bell sound:
[Trigger Successful: Target Lin Yueran suffered sudden reputational loss/victim shock.]
[+200 Luck Points acquired.]
[Current Luck: -30.]
The massive deficit had been nearly wiped out.
The system worked exactly as she suspected: causing immediate, visible drama that centered on the protagonist—and making herself look like the villain—forced a luck transfer.
The audience's immediate, negative reaction to her clumsy "attack" paradoxically fed her system with the points needed for survival.
"Showtime," she whispered, offering Lin Yueran a genuinely warm, if slightly dangerous, smile.
The game was no longer about survival, but calculated offense.