My agency went bankrupt before I even got on stage.

"Ace vs Ace" is one of the top variety shows in China, with each episode garnering over 100 million views. To be a guest on "Ace vs Ace," one must at least be a top-tier celebrity or a popular idol.

Logically speaking, "Morning Star" only consists of the top nine trainees in the second order. These nine trainees, who have not yet officially debuted, have no right to appear on the stage of "Ace vs Ace". But who can blame them when the capital behind "Morning Star" is powerful.

Although the nine trainees didn't participate in the entire episode of this variety show, and their total script time was probably only about ten minutes, it's important to remember that these are top-tier celebrities. If they perform well, they'll attract countless casual fans. And that's exactly the effect that "Morning Star" aims to achieve.

Therefore, in the past two days, when everyone was eating together or meeting each other, Lin Fan noticed that many students were looking at him strangely, and the atmosphere in the live broadcast room had also changed.

[Seven-Colored Black: Oh dear, didn't Lin Fan say he didn't want to debut? Then why not give such great resources like "Ace vs Ace" to other trainees, to give them more opportunities? Like our brother!]

[Heartless: Exactly! He's been trending so many times already. Since he said he doesn't want to debut, why is he just occupying the spot without contributing? Isn't this a huge waste of resources?]

[82-year-old Fat Otaku's Happy Water: Haha, he thinks he can just not debut because he doesn't want to? That's so naive! He's been building up this persona all along, okay? All those trending topics about not wanting to debut? It's obviously bought! If he really didn't want to debut, he would have refused to participate in this "Ace vs Ace" recording when the rankings came out!]

……

Various entertainment agencies and anti-fans have joined the fray, all targeting Lin Fan, who doesn't have an agency. This is the umpteenth time this has happened. After all, the other eight trainees have powerful backgrounds and professional PR teams and fan clubs to control the comments. Only Lin Fan can be suppressed at will. They're definitely picking on the weak!

However, Lin Fan does not have a management company, but he has his own fan base. When his fans saw that someone was controlling the comments and smearing Lin Fan, they immediately came out to fight back.

[Deadly Scissors Hand: Hehe, that's hilarious. Although our Fanfan doesn't want to debut, she has such good public appeal that even before we've put in much effort, casual fans have already voted her into a debut position. Since this is the result of our collective hard work, why should we give it to you royalists?]

[Born Entertainment Reporter King: No, they're not even royalty. The real royalty have already made it to the top ranks. These are just paid shills who eat grape skins!]

[You're a disgrace: I knew it! You can't even get your idol to the top, yet you're yelling at us to give up our resources. To put it bluntly, even if we're just sleeping at home, we have no obligation to give up our spot!]

……

The live stream and SuperBlog were in an uproar, once again turning into a battleground.

Lin Fan was unaware of the situation outside, but the strong scent of lemons filled every corner around him.

With the activation of the "Mandatory Skill: Gossip Expert," Lin Fan understood the source of the citric acid in just the time it takes to eat breakfast.

"Hmm, this is because of jealousy!"

Lin Fan knew exactly what he wanted, and he also understood that he was indeed blocking other people's path to wealth... no, their path to their dreams.

The world is bustling with people coming and going for profit. Blocking someone's dreams is undoubtedly blocking their money. What I don't want is what those 29 students want most. Therefore, I must make a decision now.

"Teacher Liu, is it mandatory to participate in 'Big Ace'?" Lin Fan thought for a moment and decided to ask his PD Liu Jia before making a decision.

"Yes, we have to participate. After all, the program previews have been released. Both the Super Blog of 'Morning Star' and the Super Blog of 'Big Ace' have already previewed the next episode."

PD Liu Jia, who hasn't appeared in a long time, said that he can finally take care of things. He had been too relaxed before. Compared with other PDs who have to work hard to worry about their trainees, he was just on vacation and could just watch Lin Fan slack off and sleep whenever he wanted.

Truly easy to manage!

"Was my name mentioned in the show's trailer?"

Liu Jia said, "That's definitely not the case. The announcement is just that nine trainees will be recording the show. Its key purpose is to maintain mystery; it won't reveal each person's name."

Liu Jia didn't actually say it directly, but how could a top-tier variety show like "Ace vs Ace" possibly reveal the names of trainees who haven't even debuted yet? What would the other guests participating in the show think?

"Can I transfer my spot to someone else?"

Lin Fan's eyes lit up. He really didn't want to participate in that variety show. Although he already had over 400,000 followers, and appearing on that show could bring his popularity closer to 1 million, that was only a theoretical value.

The script was only a dozen minutes long, and in between, I had to sing the theme song of "Morning Star" again. There was also a game segment, which was prepared for the top three. That is to say, I and five other people would just shout "666" from the audience during the game segment!

In other words, on average, each person's screen time is estimated to be less than 30 seconds. The top three are a little better off, with each person probably getting about a minute of screen time.

For a shot that lasts less than thirty seconds, I have to rush from Huahai Island to Shanghai early in the morning, then take a bus to the TV station, rehearse nervously, walk around the stage, go over the script, and then wait tediously for the recording to start, which lasts for more than ten minutes. During this process, I have to keep smiling and shouting "666" the whole time! After the recording is finished, I have to rush to catch a bus and then a flight back to Huahai Island.

Hmm, is this what they call rushing to get all the gigs?

Am I crazy or what? Why am I working so hard for a few seconds of screen time? How much popularity can those few seconds of screen time bring me? Can it even cover my 60 yuan deficit? If not, Lin Fan said he really didn't want to rush things like this.

Since the students' names had not yet been announced, Lin Fan had another idea in mind.

"Transfer to someone else?"

PD Liu Jia was dumbfounded. What kind of bizarre move was this? "The announcement has already been released, how can I forward it?"

"That's easy, I'm not feeling well!"

Lin Fan clutched his stomach, instantly switching into acting mode: "The food on the show hasn't been very good lately; I keep getting stomach aches!"

PD Liu Jia, his face darkening, asked, "Are you serious?"

Your acting is way too exaggerated!

"Of course I'm serious, Teacher Liu, look at my innocent face!" Lin Fan blinked his big, bright eyes. "However, I have one condition!"

"I knew you weren't that simple!"

PD Liu Jia rolled her eyes at Lin Fan, annoyed. Although Lin Fan was easy to manage, every time something happened, it was a big deal that caught her off guard. This matter was too big for her to handle, so she had to call the chief director over.