The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 55: That’s Right, I Am the Tragic Figure Himself!

The chemical reaction produced by these three people's likes coming together was more intense than dropping Mentos into Coke.

He stared blankly at his phone screen, his ears filled with the alternating sharp intakes of breath from Zhao Zhen and Chen Mo.

"Ci-ge... you..." Zhao Zhen's mouth opened and closed, closed and opened, finally managing only, "Just who are you?"

Chen Mo, meanwhile, adjusted his glasses, staring fixedly at Jiang Ci.

Jiang Ci put away his phone, got up from the floor mat, his face a picture of utter despair.

How could he explain?

Say it was because he was too good at playing scumbags, too tragic in his performance, that he managed to break the defenses of these few people?

Who would believe that!

Before he could even think of a proper explanation, a jolt of realization hit him, and he suddenly remembered an even more critical problem.

He had signed with a company, had a boss, but it seemed... he hadn't reported his return to school to his boss at all.

His leave request was made to the *Three Lifetimes Tribulation* production crew.

But now, his ownership rights belonged to Spark Media, to Lin Wan!

It's over.

He didn't dare delay any longer. Grabbing his phone from the table, he scrolled through his contacts for Lin Wan's number and dialed.

The call was answered almost instantly.

Jiang Ci cleared his throat and, before the other party could speak, took the initiative with a tone full of grievance and accusation: "Wan-jie, did you forget to blur my face?"

Accuse the other party first, seize the moral high ground.

On the other end of the line, there was a second of silence.

Immediately after, came Lin Wan's signature cold laugh.

"Blur your face?"

"Jiang Ci, I wish I could take a loudspeaker and broadcast it across the entire industry, telling everyone that this is my person, Lin Wan's person."

"And you? You sneak back to school without a word and go missing. If I hadn't asked Director Li from *Three Lifetimes Tribulation*, I really would have thought the artist I signed had evaporated into thin air after entering the crew!"

Jiang Ci instantly backed down.

He immediately switched to a face of utmost sincerity and remorse.

"I was wrong, Wan-jie! I was wrong!"

"This is absolutely a misunderstanding! The school side is about the graduation play, the stage drama public performance. It's about whether I can graduate smoothly and get my degree certificate,"

"This is too important. I was in a hurry and asked the crew for leave first. I was planning to report to you the moment I got settled!"

His attitude was extremely proper, his tone extremely humble.

The chill on the other end of the phone seemed to ease slightly.

"Graduation play?" Lin Wan's tone carried scrutiny. "Alright, we'll set that aside for now. As for the official announcement, I was planning to do it this way anyway."

Jiang Ci was taken aback: "Huh? So suddenly? You said before we'd wait until *Palace Conspiracy* was about to air..."

"If I announce you after *Palace Conspiracy* makes its official announcement, that's called riding on coattails."

Lin Wan's voice returned to its usual calm and assertiveness.

"My person, Lin Wan's person, doesn't need to ride on anyone's coattails. I want everyone to know that you were already part of Spark before that."

"I've already received word that *Palace Conspiracy* will soon officially announce its release date. This timing is just perfect."

She paused, then changed the subject with a hint of teasing.

"However, I didn't expect that you have some skills of your own."

"Getting Gu Huai, Su Qingying, and Qiao Xinran to like your post simultaneously, that's quite a face you have."

Jiang Ci gave a dry laugh, unsure how to respond.

He couldn't exactly say he'd made them all "heartbroken."

"WeChat." Lin Wan succinctly uttered two words.

"Huh?"

"I'll send your Weibo account and password to you. Log in and take a look yourself. From today on, that is your official public face as an actor."

"Remember my words."

Lin Wan's tone suddenly turned severe.

"You can choose not to speak, to play dead."

"But absolutely, absolutely do not speak carelessly!"

"Do you understand?"

"Understood! Understood! I guarantee I'll complete the task!"

Hanging up the phone, Jiang Ci let out a long sigh of relief.

He looked up and met two pairs of eyes, stunned into a daze.

Zhao Zhen and Chen Mo were still frozen in their eavesdropping postures.

Jiang Ci sighed helplessly and tucked his phone back into his pocket.

"It's complicated to explain. It's just a... small side job."

As soon as the words left his mouth.

"Awooo—!"

Zhao Zhen grabbed his shoulders with both hands and shook him frantically.

"A small side job?!"

"A side job that gets Gu Huai and Su Qingying to carry your sedan chair?!"

"A side job where the woman on the phone sounds incredibly powerful and she's your boss?!"

"Ci-ge! Stop pretending! You have to come clean today! Are you the illegitimate child of some chaebol who's been living in obscurity and now you're finally going back to inherit billions?!"

Jiang Ci was shaken until he saw stars, nearly losing his breath.

On the other side, Chen Mo calmly pushed up his glasses.

He analyzed coolly, "This is a typical precise application of 'information differential potential energy.'"

"This Wan-jie is a master who is deeply versed in capital operations and public opinion psychology."

"Jiang Ci, your commercial value has completed its most crucial primitive accumulation tonight."

Jiang Ci: "..."

He couldn't be bothered with these two roommates who had completely immersed themselves in their own scripts.

He opened WeChat and saw the account and password Lin Wan had sent.

Finding the Weibo app, he logged into the account that, from now on, belonged to "Actor Jiang Ci."

The moment his fingertip pressed the "Login" button.

Jiang Ci's phone began to vibrate wildly.

Buzz buzz buzz—

Countless notifications, pop-ups, and alert sounds.

The phone visibly lagged.

Jiang Ci stared, dumbfounded, at the number in the follower count column.

780,000.

In the mere seconds since he logged in, this number was still jumping wildly by hundreds, even thousands, every second.

781,023... 782,544... 783,981...

The private message icon and the @ mention icon had long since turned into glaringly bright red "999+".

"Ci... Ci-ge... how many now?"

Zhao Zhen beside him craned his neck, swallowing nervously.

Jiang Ci didn't speak, just silently turned the phone screen toward him.

Seeing the number that was still rapidly increasing, Zhao Zhen sucked in a sharp breath and muttered to himself, "Holy shit... I'll be lucky to have seventy-eight followers after I graduate..."

Jiang Ci ignored him. Enduring the phone's lag, he tapped open the private messages.

Instantly, all sorts of bizarre messages refreshed.

[Little brother, look at me! I'm a ten-year veteran fan! (Even though I just followed you three minutes ago)]

[Hello, we are from the Zhuan Budong second-hand recycling brand. Are you interested in a commercial collaboration?]

[Benefactor, I observe that the area between your eyebrows is dark. This is an omen of great misfortune! You will surely encounter bloodshed in the near future! Quickly add WeChat xxxx, this humble Taoist will perform rites to dispel the disaster for you. Friend price, only 998!]

Jiang Ci: "..."

He expressionlessly closed the private messages and tapped open the comments section.

Compared to the chaos in the private messages, the comments section was more like a large-scale observation field of bewildering human behavior.

Various accounts with marketing-style names were posting all sorts of weird "in-depth analyses."

*Shocking! Mysterious newcomer Jiang Ci bursts onto the scene! The untold stories of his past in the capital's circles!*

*Three top stars simultaneously support him! We dug into Jiang Ci's family history for three generations and discovered a shocking secret!*

*Exclusive! Industry insider reveals the inside story of Jiang Ci signing with Spark Media!*

Jiang Ci casually clicked on one and found it was full of phrases like "according to informed sources," "according to unverified information." The content was entirely fabricated, the logic nonsensical, yet the read count was frighteningly high.

And the comments from genuine netizens were even more varied.

[Front row eating melon seeds. So who is this guy anyway? Bought a trending spot?]

[Person above, look at the list of likes before you speak. With this lineup, does he need to buy it? This directly blew up the server!]

[To be honest, I'm sold on the looks in this promotional still! That broken feeling! That melancholic aura! Ah, I'm dead!]

[Blind guess: He definitely played an incredibly awesome role, with explosive acting skills that conquered the big shots!]

Watching these over-imaginative comments, Jiang Ci's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

I'm just a working stiff trying to survive!

He continued scrolling down. The sheer volume of comments was dizzying.

Just then, a comment that had been pushed to the top with many likes accurately caught his eye.

A user with the ID "Microscope Drama Girl" commented:

[Sisters! I have a bold guess! Look at Jiang Ci's expression in this promotional still. It seems calm, but look closely. It contains so much! There's struggle, unwillingness, helplessness at being toyed with by fate, and a hint of determination to press forward even against millions! This is definitely not something a newcomer can "act" out!]

[My blind guess: Jiang Ci himself, in real life, is a man with a story! The reason he moved those three wasn't by acting, but by being "real"! He was acting as himself! He is that earth-shattering, tear-jerking tragic character himself!]

Below this comment, the likes had already broken ten thousand.

[Holy crap! Sister, you've uncovered the truth! Hearing it put this way, it instantly makes sense!]

[No wonder his aura is so unique! So it's a portrayal of his true self! Art comes from life!]

[Wuwuwu, what to do, I feel even more heartbroken for him! I really want to know what he's been through! Brother, don't be sad, you have us now!]

Jiang Ci stared at this comment, stunned.

He blinked, then read it carefully again.

Then, with deep conviction, he nodded heavily.

Right!

That's exactly the reasoning!

This "Microscope Drama Girl" is practically my mouthpiece on the internet! A true confidant!

What I'm acting, isn't it precisely myself, this tragic working stiff being forced by the system to extend his life?

She's absolutely right!

The more Jiang Ci thought about it, the more sense it made. He almost couldn't resist giving this comment a like.

This is the standard answer!

Just as he was immersed in the joy of finding a "kindred spirit" while staring at his phone screen.

"Ding dong—"

At the top of his phone, a new Weibo trending topic notification suddenly popped up.

The words in the title instantly struck his pupils.

#Palace Conspiracy Officially Announces Release Date: First Day of Chinese New Year#

Behind the trending topic tag was a purple-red, startlingly eye-catching "explosive" character.