Chapter 2: The Path of the Star God Begins!

After eating a bowl of noodles by the roadside for just one yuan and twenty cents, Fang Xinghe returned home and sat at his desk, rubbing his hands as he opened the interactive interface of his father.

Rebirth Grand Gift Pack, open for me!

Five dazzling effects flashed across the screen, and the gift presented was a choice between two options.

[You can choose to raise one attribute to 99 points, or raise two attributes to 90 points.]

Good, good, very nice!

The system’s rules for adding points were as follows—

[Below 50 points, 100 starlight value to increase an attribute or ability by 1 point.]
[50-59 points, 10,000 starlight value for 1 point.]
[60-69 points, 100,000 for 1 point.]
[70-79 points, 1 million for 1 point.]
[80-89 points, 10 million for 1 point.]
[90-99 points, 1 star-glory value for 1 point.]

Star-glory value is a high-level energy refined under special circumstances from extreme positive emotions, thus possessing the power to break through talent limits and step into the sacred domain.

A talent of 90 is a monster, 95 is super divine, and each point beyond that becomes harder and harder, every increment transcending the limits of human potential.

“If I raise two attributes to 90, I can save 111 million starlight value.”

“If I choose a single attribute, I can save 9 star-glory value.”

“Star-glory value is clearly harder to obtain, but the problem is, my overall demand for it is much less…”

“Lacking key information now, it’s better to set this aside for the moment.”

Fang Xinghe couldn’t yet judge whether a huge sum of starlight value was harder to acquire, or if just a few hundred points of star-glory value were more elusive.

He glanced at his own attributes but didn’t rush to decide, lowering his head to write and sketch.

Before acting, he tried to consider thoroughly; when making decisions, he didn’t indulge his emotions, trusting logic and data—this was Da Fang’s habit.

Xiao Fang, on the other hand, was pure recklessness.

Thus, the newly reborn Fang Xinghe became more rounded in character, possessing both meticulousness and boldness.

Skr~

……

The current entertainment industry ecosystem was utterly different from what he knew from the future.

A vertical dissection of thirty years of entertainment history revealed a spiral process of development, expansion, evolution, then decline, before rising again.

To speak fairly, without any filters, the entertainment industry of the future outstripped that of 1998 by more than a single magnitude in terms of technology, special effects, costumes and props, content breadth, audience aesthetic standards, and the average quality of all practitioners.

Of course, that era also had obvious dilemmas.

On the surface, capital tried to control the manufacture of popularity, then popularity forced creation, but the quality of newly popular idols declined steadily.

The real deadlock, however, was demand running wild.

The full development of entertainment methods led to increasingly refined public needs, and overly segmented demands deprived the whole world of the soil needed to produce national idols.

In the future, every small circle was separated by walls.

A current youth idol film could make Li Erpeng famous overnight across the country.

Twenty years later, youth idol productions would be watched by only a handful.

Even a hit like "Frenzy" only had tens of millions who followed the whole series, while its coverage paled in comparison to "The Wild Princess Finds Her Father."

Because every track had different demands, breaking out became increasingly difficult.

All new top idols then, in essence, were products of small circle celebrations, so when old stars gradually declined, no one could take their place.

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Thus the old guard lingered on, the new generation remained trapped in their circles, the scene was intense yet not intense, fan circles and the masses drifted further apart.

The rampant presence of paid trolls stemmed from the fact that circles were too closed, needing outside forces to break the information cocoon.

But now, things were different; now was a truly wonderful era.

Rotten, which made it good.

The beauty of yin and yang in balance—nothing could be more marvelous.

Fang Xinghe smiled with a hint of meaning and continued his professional market analysis.

At present, it could be called Entertainment Industry 1.0, whose notable feature was a barren main market, incomplete rules, and everything upside down.

In this version, the T0 profession was clearly singer.

With just one hit song, you could tour the entire country, earning five thousand to tens of thousands per show, a guaranteed minimum of over a hundred thousand a year.

1998!

Even unknown nobodies could earn so much; the kings and queens at the top were even more impressive.

According to the news, Queen Wang’s endorsement fees were already in the tens of millions, while actors who didn’t release songs had to scrape by, unable to even get side gigs.

Truly pathetic, in bold letters.

Fang Xinghe’s desk was littered with bootleg tapes; a quick glance revealed that kids of this era enjoyed music thoroughly.

Queen Wang in her prime, Yehe Nara newly crowned, Zhang Yu and Ren Xianqi exploding with output…

Fang Xinghe had no memory of this era, yet seeing the song lists on the tapes, every title felt strangely familiar.

Still, he passed on the singer profession.

These deities had already developed the Chinese music scene nicely, no need for him to play savior.

Besides, trying to gain fans through singing was an idealistic, low-return option.

Peeling back the lucrative façade of singers, what lies beneath?

Listening to music is short-lived, weak in emotional resonance, and low in projection as an entertainment mode.

A song lasts a few minutes; no matter how touched one is in the moment, it’s over when it’s over, and most people forget it within half a day.

Fans’ love for songs rarely transfers to the singer, so singers must produce more high-quality works over longer periods, repeatedly deepening goodwill to retain fans.

This is completely different from actors—a classic role can linger in people’s hearts for a lifetime.

For example, that someone, right?

So there’s really no need to copy a bunch of songs for money, stealing others’ livelihood; focus and clarity are better.

When starlight value becomes abundant, then max out singing skills, occasionally perform a song to stun the entertainment circle—that’s for later.

The second profession Fang Xinghe passed up was actor.

Being an actor was great, but unfortunately his age was wrong.

At the advanced age of thirteen, any role he played was meaningless; too many performances would only erode his mystique and malleability.

The benefit of being a child star was public favor, the downside was failure to attract fans, since the disconnect between childhood and adult roles meant changing both actor and audience.

Liu Yifei was not an exception; although she debuted young, her roles were all adult characters.

The three TF boys were not exceptions either; they belonged to a different category—cultivation idols.

Cultivation idols first appeared in Japan and were the easiest route to die-hard fans.

Later, among the three TF boys, the two with few works actually relied on die-hard “mom fans” to hold out for years.

Because cultivation is the strongest mode of emotional projection, bar none.

If Fang Xinghe were thrown into the TF group in 2013 and given three years, he could become an unprecedented super top idol.

But there’s no “if”—the current entertainment industry simply doesn’t have those conditions.

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Without an advanced internet, the problem of fan participation cannot be solved.

So the TF group isn’t impossible to replicate, but must be done in the right time window.

Each era has its own signature traits; the power of the times is always worthy of reverence.

“To become a good actor? Inevitable. But not now…”

Muttering to himself, Fang Xinghe picked up his pen and wrote two bold characters.

Not interested in being a singer, unable to be an actor, no wind for idols—so he knew exactly what he should do now: study.

Study everything he would need in the future.

In his previous life, Fang Xinghe could never understand those who, despite having ample space, insisted on rushing ahead. Planning, enduring, preparing, and waiting for a truly good opportunity—wasn’t that a necessary quality for doing great things?

Some people’s restlessness was simply inexplicable.

In any case, Fang Xinghe could endure, could conceal his ambitions.

From now on, begin preparing for adulthood!

Build up strength quietly, then amaze the world—bring a higher-dimensional shock to this era…

Fang Xinghe tore the written page from the notebook, tossed it into the ashtray, and set it alight, his movements unhurried.

Just as it burned, the front door was suddenly thrown open.

“Damn, boss, what are you doing? Smoking and setting something on fire?”

Three people burst in, Xiao Fang’s closest friends: Liu Fu, Dang Tao, and Yu Xiaoduo.

Boss—such a term full of the era’s flavor.

Da Fang wasn’t used to it, but Xiao Fang was.

They had keys to the courtyard and came over every so often, so Fang Xinghe wasn’t surprised. He lazily asked, “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

“Drinking!” Liu Fu shouted, waving a beer bottle and skewers. “It’s the weekend, just managed to squeeze two hundred yuan out of my dad, gotta celebrate!”

Dang Tao bounced into Fang Xinghe’s room like a big monkey, “Boss, were you… damn!”

Fang Xinghe ignored him, but Dang Tao, seeing the notebook and pen on the desk, suddenly reacted dramatically, “Boss, what were you writing? You weren’t writing an essay, were you?”

Yu Xiaoduo joined him, his clear eyes full of innocent stupidity, “Bro, are you finally making a move on Fang Yuting?”

“What are you even talking about?” Fang Xinghe was full of question marks.

Dang Tao, looking as if he could see through everything, declared confidently, “You must’ve heard Fang Yuting is entering that New Concept competition, wanted to join in quietly. Otherwise, why would you destroy the evidence as soon as we arrived?”

“Hm?” Something flashed through Fang Xinghe’s mind, “Wait, what competition?”

“The First New Concept Essay Competition! The one Teacher Fang mentioned!”

Yu Xiaoduo nudged Dang Tao, “Dang Tao, when the teacher announced it, big bro was in trouble and missed school…”

“Oh! Right…” Dang Tao scratched his head, “Then what were you writing? A love letter? That’s not like you.”

Liu Fu, outside, finished setting up and shouted, “Stop dawdling, come on! Xiaoduo, put on the new rented disc!”

He didn’t hurry Fang Xinghe, but Fang Xinghe rushed over, grabbed a beer, and took a deep swig.

The New Concept Essay Competition!

So the first one was this year?

Finally, he knew how to begin his journey as a Star God!

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