The Laid-Back Beauty Doesn't Want to Pretend Anymore [Entertainment Industry]

[Latest update: A new bonus chapter has been added to the free extra collection. It costs nothing. Writing the new novel has been a bit of a struggle, so its launch has been pushed back to December.]

[The next novel is titled "The Has-Been Boy Band Makes a Comeback." Its blurb is below~]

Original title: "The Useless Beauty Doesn't Want to Pretend Anymore"

Gu Yu has been in the entertainment industry for years, but his popularity has never really taken off. His agency sent him to a talent competition show to boost his profile.

Gu Yu politely declined: I'm hopeless at both singing and dancing.

His manager persuaded him: You just need a pretty face!

Before he joined the show, his manager gave him three golden rules: lay low, mooch off others, and cling to powerful people!

Keep your head down and make it through the show! Shamelessly hog the camera! Have the nerve to latch onto someone influential!

Gu Yu: I just want to coast through one round and get eliminated.

For the Dream, also known as Gu Yu's spectacular public embarrassment.

In vocal class, everyone else sang with both technique and feeling. He opened his mouth and had nothing but feeling, no technique. In dance class, everyone else moved with grace and style. His limbs were stiff as if he were doing rehab exercises. In rap class, everyone else was a rapper, while he was a reader.

He was given the nickname: the useless beauty.

The useless beauty looked at his bottom-ranked position and smiled with satisfaction.

But the night before the next elimination round, the production team released a behind-the-scenes clip.

In the video, Gu Yu stood onstage, a spotlight falling on his handsome, cool face, revealing the reddened corner of one eye.

Tears slid down his cheek like pearls from a broken string. He looked like a fragile crystal doll, beautiful in his brokenness.

Netizens: Gasp... Oh no, I'm falling for him!

That night, the show's official voting site nearly crashed.

The next day, Gu Yu stared at his soaring ranking in silence.

Gu Yu's popularity continued to grow, but so did the doubts, and the internet was flooded with criticism.

[He's got nothing going for him but his face! Why does Gu Yu deserve a debut spot?]

[If Gu Yu doesn't leave, it's an outrage! The entertainment industry really is doomed!]

His manager comforted him: Being hated is still being popular! Keep coasting and keep your head down! The useless beauty is the GOAT!

But the useless beauty himself no longer wanted to keep pretending.

The second team performance. After the third group finished, netizens went wild in the comments:

[Ahhh, the center is amazing at both singing and dancing! He's clearly got A-level skills, so why is he in F?]

[Because that's Gu Yu... the famously useless beauty...]

[??? You call that useless?]

Only later did netizens learn that the so-called useless beauty had ranked first in the entrance exams at ten arts schools, and was the legendary arts-exam god that every aspiring student prayed to before their exams...

On debut night, Gu Yu debuted as the center.

His fans cried out: Gu Yu! You fooled us so badly! Why pretend to be a useless beauty?

Gu Yu: I wasn't planning to debut at first, but then I heard that the contestants who debuted could choose a mentor to collaborate with onstage.

Fans: ???

As is customary on For the Dream, the contestants who make the final lineup get to choose one mentor for a stage collaboration.

After filming wrapped, Gu Yu walked up to Shen Ranxuan and smiled calmly. "Teacher Shen, would you do me the honor?"

Shen Ranxuan gazed at the face he had longed to see every day. His eyes darkened slightly as he asked in a low voice, "Is our game of strangers over, upperclassman?"

Reading tips:

1. A devoted, top-tier-star junior seme x a laid-back, secretly talented beauty senior uke. Age gap, with the seme younger.

2. One-on-one romance, happy ending, no angst. Don't ask, he's a virgin.

3. Part of an entertainment-industry series, but each story stands alone. You don't need to have read the previous books.

4. The talent-show format is inspired by Produce Camp and Youth With You, with some original elements. The characters aren't based on real people, so don't read them that way! No paid voting!

Coming next: "The Has-Been Boy Band Makes a Comeback"

The boy band Victoria trained hard for three years before finally debuting. But the group flopped, and after just two years, they announced their disbandment.

Five years later, a trending topic brought the group back to the attention of netizens.

Seeing the buzz rise rapidly, their agency urgently called the members back and spent a fortune putting together a variety show about the group.

The moment the show was announced, netizens mocked it mercilessly.

"A variety show about a bunch of has-been old men? Even dogs wouldn't watch!"

When the show aired, the five members reunited, leaving everyone stunned.

Netizen A: "Isn't that man with glasses the CEO of Guangyao Media? What is he doing here?"

Fan: "That's Sang Luo, Victoria's leader. A real-life young master! Rich and handsome, you can't go wrong investing in him!"

Netizen B: "Isn't that the musician influencer with millions of followers?"

Fan: "That's our main vocalist, Xiao Han. A real-life Barbie! Beautiful, sweet-voiced, and talented at both singing and songwriting!"

Netizen C: "I know Cheng Yun'an! He's that super popular parenting blogger on XX! The husband of every woman's dreams!"

Fan: "Ever heard of the strongest rapper on the planet? Cool, handsome, and rebellious, V Group's AKA!"

Netizen D: "Holy crap! Why is Jiang Zhixia here?!"

Fan: "Is there anyone who doesn't know our young award-winning actor started out as an idol? One of V Group's visual members and its top seme, Jiang Zhixia!"

Netizen E: "Jiang Zhixia is only one of the visuals?! Is your group out of this world or what?"

Then the final member appeared.

Fan: "Allow me to introduce our group's youngest member, the most powerful visual, doted on by the whole company and the group's biggest boss: Xia Zhi! Our sweet, shape-shifting darling, cute or cool, he's got it all!"

Netizens looked him up and found out he was the youngest professor at XX University.

Netizens: A lineup like this and they still flopped? That's absurd!

After the first episode aired, the has-been old men were officially renamed hidden gems.

Netizens felt both regretful and touched by how the members had kept their close bond and perfect chemistry for ten years.

Then rumors surfaced that the group had disbanded because two members couldn't get along.

The two in question were the group's most popular members, Jiang Zhixia and Xia Zhi.

After the show ended, the production team livestreamed the wrap party.

The actor Jiang, who had a terrible alcohol tolerance, got drunk after one drink.

Viewers in the livestream were lucky enough to see the cold, domineering actor Jiang instantly turn into a sweet, clingy little mochi.

He buried his face against Xia Zhi's shoulder and acted coy.

"Baby, I missed you so much. I was wrong. Please forgive me. Can we start over?"

Netizens: ...Weren't they supposed to hate each other?

If you like it, add it to your collection~ Muah!

Theme: Love what you do, and do it well. Every field has its own path, and every path can be mastered.