Equilibrium Rate

An original setting, with a social structure made up as I go. A mystery crime story set in the entertainment industry, with a bit of nonhuman cultivation thrown in.

A border patrol ship is lost in international waters, and the bloodstained "Golden Bough" reappears in the world. An old case from eight years ago destroyed half the command division. Only Xiao Heng remained, carrying its name and the ashes of the dead, as he entered the military and rose through the ranks.

But the tide of blood had not yet receded. Eight years later, an explosion ended his career in the field. The callsign he treasured was handed to someone else by his superiors, and the spirit he'd had as a young man was all but extinguished.

So he left the service and started over, relying on his good looks to break into the entertainment industry. He eventually made his way into the Drama Research Institute, diligently filming dramas and appearing on variety shows.

The entertainment industry really is a den of iniquity. He accidentally became famous, but one case followed another: a haunted set, an actress who fell to her death, a new actor who vanished without a trace, and corpse after corpse.

Lust, obsession, blood feuds. There is no balance on the scales.

The sins that drag people down are a bottomless mire. The faintest kindness in the human heart cannot forge a shield to protect us.

Better to sharpen our arms and go forward together.

When Xiao Heng first met the newcomer who had replaced him, he was full of displeasure. But his uncooperative injured leg suddenly buckled, and he tumbled straight into the newcomer's arms. This ill-fated bond followed them from case to case. There was no escaping it.

"Isn't insubordination a tradition in this department?" Yan Jun brushed a fingertip over his cheek.

"Wouldn't you call that sexual harassment in the workplace, General Yan?"

Yan Jun: old-school gentleman, secretly a bit of a beast in fine clothes, devoted to health and wellness, willing to take a demotion for love.

And Xiao Heng: rebellious to the core, obsessed with duck preserved in soy sauce, refuses to wear long johns, the team's beloved "retired" striker and current actor.

Updates Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Thank you so much.

What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.

Theme: Roses are hard to cultivate.