Chapter 30: The Rival Always Wants to Taste Him Again [30]

Chapter 30: The Rival Can't Stop Wanting Another Taste of Him "30"

447 scrolled through more comments and said cheerfully:

"Honestly, you gotta admit—this gave him a massive flood of attention, but it also brought him a flood of hate."

"Some people just can't stand seeing others win. The second Lin Ran blows up, they gotta spew insults and say some really nasty stuff."

"There are also plenty of level-headed people questioning how he could possibly crank out so many works in different styles in such a short time—scripts one minute, songs the next, novels after that..."

"Nobody's accusing him of plagiarism yet, though. They all figure he bought the works or hired ghostwriters."

"They think the Lin family is just throwing money at building his hype."

"Of course, there are even more people hyping him up. Lin Ran's been riding high in the clouds these days... Xiao Momo, should we start moving on our plan?"

Even after all his marveling, 447 still remembered to ask.

No matter how many worlds they'd been through, the power of the internet still never failed to blow his mind.

A person could blow up overnight and become a legend, or crash into the dirt just as fast.

Shi Mo scrolled through the comments, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, and said slowly:

"No rush, let's hold off a bit longer..."

"Oh, and Xiao Qi, bury those rational comments. Once any backlash starts, push them all down."

447 blinked: "Why? People doubting Lin Ran is a good thing for us."

Shi Mo shifted, already backing out of the game and tapping into the trending topics that had blown up. He scrolled through what people were saying and what Lin Ran had been up to lately.

"Idiot, it's to shut people up and blow this whole thing up even bigger."

"Someone might just see a video and casually drop a skeptical comment without thinking twice about it."

"But if there's a cover-up, it easily triggers people's defiance—they'll remember the incident and remember the person."

"That way, when the backlash finally comes for him, it'll hit that much harder."

Shi Mo let out a soft sigh and gave 447 a squeeze.

447's eyes lit up at that and he immediately moved to act.

But before he could make a move, Shi Mo grabbed him.

The familiar motion, the familiar hold—447's body went rigid instantly.

447: [QAQ]

"X-Xiao Momo... you're sober right now, right? You're not gonna eat me, are you?"

447 was about to cry, his voice shaking as he asked.

Shi Mo: "..."

Dead memories suddenly came back and bit him in the ass.

Shi Mo coughed lightly, feeling a rare twinge of guilt: "Of course not. That was just an accident—I happened to get drunk. You don't need to worry about it."

447 sniffled, trying to hold his tears back:

"Xiao Momo, I swear, I'm never letting you drink again!"

Seeing 447 like this, Shi Mo felt like messing with him. He sighed softly, putting on a slightly hurt tone:

"But what if I really want to drink? Would Xiao Qi tie me up?"

447: [!!!]

Help!

He didn't want to go soft, but Xiao Momo was being all cute with him!

447 squirmed and hesitated for a long while before finally saying:

"If... if you really have to drink... then I'll lock myself in the little dark room!"

He didn't like the little dark room much, but at least he wouldn't get chomped in one bite by a drunk Shi Mo.

Shi Mo gave 447 another squeeze and chuckled softly. He didn't say anything, but he clearly looked thrilled.

Once he'd had his fill of squeezing, he let go: "Alright, go do your thing."

447 chirped happily: "On it!"

Shi Mo shook his head and logged into his burner account, opening a group chat with over twenty people in it.

The group was dead quiet—the last message was from over a month ago.

Shi Mo cast his eyes down and sent a message:

"You've all seen what's been going on online, right?"

"Everything ready? It'll be your turn soon."

The moment his message went out, replies came flooding in.

Ye Zi: "Don't worry, I'm all set! That damn thief! I'm not letting him get away with this!"

Xin Ping Qi He: "I'm ready too, but seriously, can I really not just string him up at his front door?"

Xin Ping Qi He: "My script that I spent five years polishing! He just swapped the protagonist's name and claimed it as his own original work!"

Guan Shan Hai: "Same. He stole my song, and then he went and changed my melody! And he made it sound so bad!"

Guan Shan Hai: "Damn him, I never should've listened to that crap he sang! A knockoff is always a knockoff, trash is always trash—it's an insult to my ears."

Ye Zi: "Thank god for A Mo. Otherwise, we'd have no idea what to do right now."

Jiu Jiu: "Yesterday I made a burner account and commented on his video calling him out for copying. His brainless fans not only went off on me but also reported me until my account got banned."

Jiu Jiu: "Honestly, it's hilarious."

Ye Zi: "But for real, I'm dying to know—where did he even get all this stuff? Is it really like what people online are saying? Does he have some kind of system?"

Xin Ping Qi He: "I really want to string his system up at his front door too."

Jiu Jiu: "Don't worry, he won't be acting all high and mighty for long. Let him enjoy it while it lasts—after all, the higher he climbs, the harder he'll fall."

Shi Mo watched the discussions in the group but didn't send another message, just a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips.

Lin Ran, relying on having lived a few more years than others, knew what the future held and which things would go viral.

He thought that by getting a second chance, he could help himself to those things ahead of time.

What he didn't know was that those were all works painstakingly crafted by others, pieces their creators had revised over and over.

These things had been around long before he even knew about them—it's just that the final versions hadn't hit the public eye yet.

And every single one of these people was an original creator who, in the broken plotline, had been falsely accused of plagiarism by Lin Ran and his mindless fans.

Although they had entered the plotline early and couldn't outright destroy Lin Ran, it still bought him time to prepare.

He gathered these people together, got their works out there ahead of schedule, and registered patents.

He also deliberately held back their buzz, keeping them out of the public eye—all for today.

Even the script Lin Ran was scrambling to film now—they'd already started shooting it a year ago.

Otherwise, how could Lin Ran have failed to find a single actor available for that production?

It's just a pity that someone who was clueless in their past life wouldn't get much smarter after being reborn.

Even so, Lin Ran still only thought about short-term gains and noticed nothing wrong.

Shi Mo lowered his eyes and logged out of his alt account.

It wasn't like nobody had a problem with what he was doing—he'd just kicked those people out of the group chat.

He was helping them as a side thing—what really mattered was his own mission.

If they wouldn't cooperate, he wasn't going to baby them.

Besides, now that he had built up such massive hype for Lin Ran, with all that heat and traffic,

when the original creators finally stepped forward one by one with hard evidence, that flood of attention and wealth would all land on them.

They would end up with even more than they originally had.

But just as he switched accounts and saw the message that popped up, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"A Mo, let's grab a meal together tomorrow."