A Popular Idol Changes His Persona Every Day - Chapter 8

A mouthful of old blood stuck in Ruan Zhi’s throat.

“Do you dare to not use such… such chuunibyou lines?”

The System whimpered in his head: “Oh, come on, don’t a lot of girls nowadays like this kind of vibe?”

With his back to the Movie Star, Ruan Zhi made a face like he was grinding his teeth.

“I am not a girl!”

Ruan Zhi said: “When is this Overbearing CEO mission going to end?!”

The System sighed: “My child, you still haven’t grasped the true essence of our Anti-OOC System!”

Ruan Zhi: “…What do you mean?”

The System let out a sigh and explained: “Our system was born specifically to prevent characters from doing things that fall outside their established personas. Our goal is to ensure that characters fulfill their roles diligently.”

It paused to give a very human-like throat-clear: “So, the more you resist it, the longer the mission will take. The more you integrate the persona into your life and act exactly as that persona should, the easier it is to complete the mission.”

Ruan Zhi understood: “You mean, the more I act like a real Overbearing CEO, the faster I can get through this script??”

The System gave a long “Mhm” in agreement: “You should have noticed when you ‘jumped the gun’ earlier. Our system doesn’t actually have rigid rules for a host’s lines. As long as you stick to the persona—as long as your expression, movements, and tone fit the character—we won’t interfere too much, and we can even let you end the current persona early.”

Ruan Zhi nodded slowly.

This meant he had to change from being passive to proactive. He had to forge himself into a qualified Overbearing CEO to accelerate his way through this ridiculous task.

After this brief meeting between man and machine, Ruan Zhi finally saw the light: “I understand, System.”

The OOC System immediately snorted: “You devil, what did you just call me??”

“…Xiao Ling (Little Zero),” Ruan Zhi took a deep breath.

He closed his eyes and said softly in his heart: I know what to do.

As the guests headed toward their agreed-upon residences, the cameramen followed.

The host, having finished reading the script, hurried to Director Wang’s side. “Director, this isn’t working. A TV station in T Province already interviewed the Movie Star at his home before. If we film it again, the audience has already seen it—there’s no novelty. Plus, we finally managed to book the Movie Star, but letting him stay at his own place feels like we’re missing a hook for viral content.”

Wang Chuan leaned back, arms crossed as he stared at the laptop screen. His brow furrowed into deep ridges as he nodded silently, clearly considering the same issue.

The screen in front of him was showing the split-screen livestream of Ruan Zhi and Du Cangsheng.

The host and Wang Chuan were old partners and had discussed this before.

The focus of this season’s Love Battle was the Movie Star. In today’s entertainment industry, “Male Beauty” reigned supreme; fans of male celebrities were more fanatical and had higher “stickiness” than those of female stars. To capture the ratings for this season, they had to capture the hearts of the audience and the fans.

The crew knew perfectly well that many viewers were here specifically for Du Cangsheng. Although Ruan Zhi’s follower count on Weibo was actually higher than Du Cangsheng’s, “traffic” today wasn’t just about follower counts—it was about industry achievements.

On that front alone, the triple-threat superstar Du Cangsheng had already won.

However, revealing a side of a star that was completely different from their usual public persona has always been a major draw for reality shows.

So, they had naturally hoped Du Cangsheng would stay at the home of the “Idol King,” who had no major works and relied purely on variety show fame.

One was a polite, cool, and mature Movie Star; the other was a cute, energetic young boy. Having the Movie Star live at Ruan Zhi’s house and integrate into an environment that completely clashed with his vibe would better reveal his behind-the-scenes personality.

But currently, things were going against their wishes.

The host frowned, trying to think of a way to get the two of them to swap houses again.

But before he could come up with a plan, the middle-aged director suddenly slapped his thigh and burst out laughing. A look of delighted surprise filled his face, and wrinkles of mirth appeared at the corners of his eyes. “Hahahaha, this is killing me!”

The host hurried over to look.

After a long moment, he turned red from holding back his laughter and managed to choke out: “We’ve truly found a treasure!”

Now that Ruan Zhi was clear on his goal, he prepared to take action without wasting a single minute.

The black car was driving straight toward Du Cangsheng’s house. It seemed Du Cangsheng didn’t live in the city center; they were circling the outskirts rather than heading toward the downtown area. There weren’t many pedestrians.

When they passed a commercial street in the outer district, Ruan Zhi looked at the rows of shops and a plan formed. He immediately said to the driver: “Master, stop the car.”

Once away from the directors, the celebrities were the ones being served by the staff. The driver immediately pulled over to the curb.

The sudden stop caused the driver, the cameraman, and Du Cangsheng to all turn and look at him. Even the audience behind the screens and Wang Chuan stared intently at Ruan Zhi.

Under the collective gaze of everyone, the “Idol King” pointed coldly at the commercial street. He then pulled a black card with purple patterns from his wallet and, with his chin tilted up, flicked it into the Movie Star’s hand.

“For these three months, you are my man. Therefore…”

The youth’s light brown hair fell softly against his flawless, exquisite cheek. In the yellowish shadows of the car, his beautiful peach blossom eyes looked deep and sexy. He parted his thin lips and coldly spat out a sentence—

“Here is ten million. Don’t bother coming home until you’ve spent it all.”

Cameraman and Driver: “! Holy crap, ten million.”

Wang Chuan: “Hahahahaha.”

Du Fans: “Wow, our Dudu can take the rest of the year off now QuQ.”

Ruan Fans: “Baby! Wake up!!”

On the other side of the lens, the Movie Star stared blankly at Ruan Zhi for two seconds. He looked down at the black card in his hand, and his expression seemed to shift.

The Movie Star’s eyes sparked slightly.

He looked at Ruan Zhi with a burning gaze and asked softly: “No need, I—”

But before he could finish, Ruan Zhi interrupted him.

Ruan Zhi tilted his chin slightly and narrowed his eyes. His soft, boyish voice, under a deliberately lowered pitch, finally carried a hint of cold indifference:

“I have never tasted the flavor of rejection. Very well… you have successfully caught my attention.”

The author has something to say:

Ruan-Zhi-mon Super Digivolve -> Super Ruan-Zhi-mon!