The system makes me so beautiful that I don't care about anyone else's life or death.

Gu Cai's heart sank.

He clenched his fists tightly, trying his best to control his emotions.

He took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound calm.

"Do you...hate me?" He suddenly felt a little scared. "Was it because I lost my temper with you when you were my assistant that you..."

"I really disliked you back then."

Su Ran's honest answer made Gu Cai feel a chill in his heart. He couldn't quite describe the feeling; for the first time, he felt as if a pair of scissors had cut his heart in two, and a sense of regret spread throughout his body.

"It was that kind of annoyance towards unruly children, but over time, that annoyance has disappeared."

"And what about you now?" Hearing Su Ran's words, Gu Cai felt reborn, and his eyes lit up.

"What kind of answer do you want?" Su Ran squinted at him.

What do you think of me as a person?

“Immature, bad-tempered, and a bit arrogant,” she said without hesitation.

"Isn't there anything you like about it?" he asked, his voice tinged with grievance.

"Have."

"What is it?"

"He can compose music and is talented."

"Anything else? Am I not good-looking?"

"Not as good-looking as me." She emphasized sincerity.

"..." Gu Cai was speechless, unable to tell whether Su Ran was joking or not.

He looked at Su Ran. Although she was wearing a plaid scarf that covered her from neck to chin, and a black mask that covered half of her face, her eyes were so stunning that he wanted to be captivated by them.

He laughed suddenly.

"Su Ran, you are truly special," he whispered.

Su Ran lowered her eyes, took off her mask and scarf, and sure enough, saw Gu Cai's dazed eyes.

"Do you like this face?" she asked casually.

"Is this important?"

“It’s important. I want to know if you would care about me this much if I had an incredibly ugly face.”

Gu Cai was stunned.

Su Ran stared at him quietly, her eyes indifferent.

Gu Cai paused for a moment, took a deep breath, looked directly into Su Ran's eyes, and answered earnestly, "Su Ran, your appearance is not what I care about. What I like is you as a person, your personality, your talent, and your unique charm. No matter what you look like, it won't affect my feelings for you."

These words were tantamount to a confession on the spot. His face and neck turned bright red, and he dared not look at Su Ran again, for fear of receiving a rejection message.

Upon hearing this, a complex emotion flashed in Su Ran's eyes. She turned her head to look out the window and said softly, "I used to think so too, but later I realized I was wrong."

Gu Cai looked at her slender figure. Although she was tall and slender, she seemed lonely and weak at this moment for some reason.

A strong urge to protect him welled up inside him.

He walked over and stood beside her, hoping to make her figure look less lonely.

"Su Ran, no matter what you've been through, I'll always be by your side, supporting you and accompanying you. As long as you turn around, no matter when or where, you'll see me standing behind you. Give me a chance to protect you, okay?"

Su Ran did not answer, her gaze drifting into the distance, deep and complex.

Gu Cai's heart skipped a beat.

The scenery outside the window is beautiful, and the young boy and girl standing by the window make the scenery even more dreamlike.

After an unknown amount of time, Su Ran turned around and looked into Gu Cai's eyes.

"Sorry, no." The tone left no room for refusal.

She left immediately after she finished speaking.

The boy stood there forlornly, head down. In no time, his eyes reddened, filled with helplessness.

Su Ran's official photos went viral online.

Before long, she received numerous calls from talent scouts inviting her to sign with entertainment companies.

This includes Yu Ran Entertainment Co., Ltd., which is signed by Guiyin.

She initially didn't want to pay attention, but one of the companies caught her eye.

"M Entertainment Co., Ltd."

She had vaguely heard that this company mainly made virtual idols, and the most popular virtual idols were Tianye and Xiaohu, which were under their management.

They collect human voice sources and use advanced VC equipment to project virtual artists onto the screen, aiming for a system that will never collapse.

These are not the key points.

The key point is that the virtual character Angel, which was recently introduced in the company's profile, is almost identical to the outfit worn by the ghost voice in a certain episode of "Hana Yori Dango".

But you can't sue him for violating his portrait rights, because Ghost Voice never shows his face.

[Host, we've found out. The person in charge of this company is surnamed Mei. They've been collecting your audio data to use on this person named Angela. Apparently, they plan to release it as a blockbuster product at the end of this year.]

"Ha, to fabricate a fake version of myself, that's really hilarious."

[Host, I've looked at their chat history. This Angela is different from other virtual artists; they've hired a real person to operate her.]

"Real people operating? What does that mean?"

[It seems this is to make Angela more human, unlike other virtual celebrities who are so rigid. Angela is already undergoing testing, and judging from the chat logs, it seems to be working very well.]

How do real people operate it?

[A real person mimics the host's every move.]

In a flash, a name flashed through Su Ran's mind—Shi Youyou.

How could that be? Shi Youyou is still in a mental hospital.

According to the system query, she watches music variety shows like "Hana-Kimi" every day.

Wait a minute... something's not right.

She wasn't looking at pretty girls.

She was watching ghostly sounds!

Just as I thought of this, my phone rang.

It is vermilion.

"Heroine, something has happened to our skin-smoothing pills. A group of people claim that they were disfigured after using our product and are now demanding compensation from us. It's already made the news."

"Isn't our test report the best proof?"

"Recently, the testing agency has been spreading rumors that a certain element in our product can cause damage to human skin, and major skincare companies have joined forces to suppress us in their marketing efforts."

"Which skincare companies?" Su Ran asked calmly.

“M Group and Yuhua Group are industry leaders. The emergence of our SR has infringed on their interests, and now they want to wipe out SR! Some people within the company have even turned against us, claiming that our product has indeed concealed some facts. This veiled statement has already caused our company's stock price to fall.”

Zhu Hong was almost in tears. She had wanted to help the heroine run her business properly, but she never expected to encounter such a thing so early on.

"It's M again... Don't worry, I'll think of something."

After hanging up the phone, Su Ran opened her phone app and, sure enough, SR Group was trending on social media.

[A product that works so quickly is definitely suspicious; I certainly wouldn't dare use it.]

Yes, a relative once recommended a product that worked really well; her skin became smooth and supple in less than a week. But not long after, her skin suddenly broke out in rashes. This skin-smoothing pill must have the same effect.

I bought a lot of boxes, but as soon as the news came out, my mom threw them all away. Luckily, they were quite cheap, so it wasn't too bad.

……

Su Ran dug her nails into her palm.

The reason the cream pills were so cheap was because she wanted to do something for girls like herself, but she never expected that a completely fabricated news story would throw away her good intentions like garbage.

As we continue watching, thankfully a small group of people still believe in SR.

[My face was badly burned before, and even if the face cream could cause serious burns, it wouldn't be as bad as my burns. I'm rooting for the face cream this time!]

The girl photoshopped pictures of her burns, making her face look grotesque and unbearable to look at. Some of the photos were even banned by the platform because they were too unbearable to look at.

The girl captioned the post: "No matter what, I believe in SR, I believe in the Fat-Reducing Pill, because it gave me hope to live again."

Su Ran's fingernails, which were clenched tightly in her palm, finally loosened.

There are still people who believe her.

She never regretted bringing the Creamy Skin Pill to the world.

She called Zhu Hong back.

"What do M and Yuhua Group want?"

"Formulas for hair-nourishing pills and hair-darkening cream."

"You're dreaming! Arranging for me to meet with them."

"Heroine, are you really going to give them the formula?"

"Are they worthy?"