The Harder I Tried to Get Myself Killed, the More Famous I Became

When the not-quite-famous actress Qiao Zhenzhen was eighteen, she got bound to a superstar System. However, the superstar System had a bug. Affection +1, money +1 Hate +1, money +100 Qiao Zhenzhen took the high road and chose the first option: she would become a superstar loved by everyone! Then she spent five years penniless, scraping by on the bare minimum (...) In the fifth year, she looked at her leaky rental apartment, her pathetic bank balance, and her boyfriend getting cozy with a middle-aged rich woman, and finally bowed to reality: If she couldn't become a superstar, becoming a rich woman wouldn't be so bad either! She wanted people to hate her. She wanted to make money! Furious, she dumped her boyfriend, signed up for a variety show, and willingly became the supporting actress meant to make the female lead shine. The female guest dieted and exercised religiously, eating only a tiny bite of each dish. Qiao Zhenzhen refused to waste food, wolfed down everything, and waited for viewers to scold her for not keeping an actress's figure. Viewers: Respect food! Reject body-image anxiety! Qiao Zhenzhen: ? The female guest showed off her wealth, buying bags, clothes, shoes, and makeup, spending money like water. Qiao Zhenzhen whipped out a calculator, stacked discounts and coupons, and got skincare products originally priced at 200 yuan for just 13.28 yuan. She waited for viewers to call her stingy. Viewers: Girls, let's go! Follow Qiao Zhenzhen's lead! Qiao Zhenzhen: ?? The female guest praised a hit boy band's song for its deep meaning and refined style. Qiao Zhenzhen wrote a thousand-word essay tearing the song apart and calling it awful, waiting for fans to scold her for having no taste. Fans: What a literary genius! You said exactly what we were thinking! We think it's awful too! Qiao Zhenzhen: ??? As the show aired, Qiao Zhenzhen grew more and more famous. Watching her Affection score keep rising, she panicked. She decided to play her trump card and insult herself: I dumped my ex because I thought he was too poor! She waited for netizens to call her a gold-digging snob who looked down on the poor. Instead, a young heir from a wealthy family invited the production crew to film at his home. Facing the glamorous female guest, the handsome man didn't so much as glance her way. He took out a family photo and introduced the woman in it to Qiao Zhenzhen with a faint smile: "The woman in this photo is my mother." Qiao Zhenzhen: "..." So the middle-aged rich woman was his own mother. That bastard pretended to be poor and fooled me! Netizens dug up their history: Oh wow, Qiao Zhenzhen's ex-boyfriend was actually him! So all that talk about her looking down on the poor was just saying one thing and meaning another? This pairing is kind of sweet! Looking at her Affection score soaring overnight, Qiao Zhenzhen was stunned. Stop shipping us! Please, just hate me! I really don't want to be famous!!! *No real-life person is the basis for any character. Please don't associate them with actual people. *An out-of-fashion premise, written for my own enjoyment. Anything goes. Theme: Be true to yourself