The C-List Shadow Queen

(Revising the story. I'll resume updates once I'm done.) As a high school senior tormented by exam prep every day, Gu Yeye thought she'd never get another chance to step onto that stage for the rest of her life. Then one day, an unknown director she hadn't seen in years told her that the obscure art film she'd made at fourteen, which had never been released, had been nominated for one of Europe's three major film awards this year... Gu Yeye: ...??? The story in a nutshell: A retired trainee goes home to study, but her old work proves powerful and she catches the wave of the times. She's brought back to promote it on a variety show, where her stage presence unexpectedly makes her famous as a rising star. Her popularity boosts the film's box office, her career takes off, and she eventually becomes a legendary Best Actress. Top-tier star boy-band captain x young actress who rose to fame as an idol "She admired the fictional mirage onstage like a Ye Gong who loved dragons, while he carved a mark on a moving boat, waiting to reunite with someone from his past." Content warnings and setting: 1. The first volume focuses on school life and is unrelated to the main plot. You can start with the entertainment industry from volume two without missing much. 2. The heroine's career is the focus, but she is a character who grows over time. She is career-minded, but may not be particularly cool or strong at first. Early on, she is a reserved but passionate fan of the hero. Later, they become equal partners and achieve great things together. The hero won't date anyone while he's in the group. 3. No paid chapters until the story is complete. Updates are slow, but I won't abandon it. The story is 70% complete. 4. The setting serves the story and is entirely fictional. Please don't read too much into it. 5. The main plot is feel-good wish fulfillment, and the setting is too. Every plotline has a happy ending, and the villains meet terrible fates. The heroine always wins in the end, but because of my writing ability, her rise to fame is somewhat winding, so the reading experience may not be as satisfying as you'd hope. Please don't read if that bothers you. 6. This story was dreamed up during the peak of the traffic-star era. The middle sections contain a lot of online public opinion, with all the hostility and chaos that entails. I see it as a snapshot, a piece of amber from an era that's passed. If it's not your thing, don't force yourself to read it. If you're not enjoying it, leave at once. (Or skip straight to chapter 285 and beyond. The later chapters don't go into online opinion in as much detail and focus more on the main plot.) The point of view is extremely biased toward entertainers and fans. If you dislike idols or fans, please don't read. 7. Both leads are each other's first love and have only been with each other. New story: "The Abused Heroine Is Reborn (School Life)": Heroine's perspective: Xia Ange is a third-year student at Guanghua. She's aloof, eccentric, and gloomy, yet has talents in certain areas that even her teachers find astonishing. Her beauty attracts criticism, her talent draws attention, and her eccentric, aloof nature breeds hatred and resentment. She had already decided to endure her way through high school, but the brutal death of an old friend and the increasingly aggressive actions of her enemies finally pushed her past her limit. Just then, fate placed in her hands a notebook containing a mysterious spirit artifact. "If the school can't give me justice, I'll send them to meet the gods myself." Hero's perspective: Gu Lingchen is known as the Child of the Era in the legend of the Yun Sect, and as the Demon King of the Apocalypse to heretics of the Yan Sect. In the real world, he is the youngest son of President Zhiziming and the youngest scientist at the Xia State Academy of Sciences. He died during a coup at the age of seventeen, his soul shattered into countless pieces. When he woke again, his country was about to fall in the flames of war, he had been expelled from the scientific community, and even his name had become an evil thing that could not be spoken. Gu Lingchen: How could life get any worse? Garuda: It certainly can. "Your Highness, all you need is a devout believer of noble blood who willingly offers you her heart, and you can return to the human world." "Simple. When are those old fossils making their move?" "You've misunderstood, Your Highness. We have completely lost contact with Zhiziming. Your only option is the pure-blooded girl who found the object containing your soul." "If you can make her willingly sacrifice her life for you, you can return from the astral realm and save your people from the flames of war." But something seemed a little off... "Your Highness, I must remind you again: you need to win her over, not let her win you over." "...Stay out of it. I have my own pace." With her enemies dying one after another thanks to his help, she discovers that she may have been caught up in an even greater vortex... From the first moment he saw her, he looked past the much-criticized shell she wore and glimpsed the serpent bound to his fate. "Only you and I are alike." Theme: The joys and sorrows of individuals swept along by the raging tide of the times