A Socially Anxious Person Gives Up Pretending

[The complete novel costs only 1.24. All VIP chapters have been thoroughly revised and are extremely different from pirated versions. Please support the author by reading the official edition. Bonus side stories are listed in the chapter titles.] Xu Jiaxing is handsome, but he's socially anxious and stays home all day. Before long, the only person he sees regularly is his next-door neighbor. His neighbor, Duan Qishan, is tall, handsome, and a good cook. He's rather aloof, but Xu Jiaxing finds him comfortable to be around. Xu Jiaxing is a faceless singer who has built up a following over the years. But making a living online is getting harder and harder. Newcomers are catching up with him with ease, and he has fewer and fewer advertising offers. Advertisers see his low view counts and push his rates down. One day, as he stands on the balcony frowning into the breeze, he spots Duan Qishan coming out after a shower, wrapped in a bath towel, his abs exposed as he dries his hair on the balcony. The sight is so appealing that Xu Jiaxing makes a bold decision: if he gets a million likes, he'll sing on camera! Who knew the video would go viral overnight? There have been more and more cases of voice-focused streamers getting exposed as frauds, so countless people want to see him embarrass himself. He reaches a million likes and immediately goes cold with dread, helplessness, and regret. But there's no getting out of it. A promise is a promise. So he forces himself to sing on camera, too scared even to look at it. As soon as the video goes up, the comments section is flooded. "Look at the mess you've made. You should've used your good looks from the start. I only just followed you." "What's he mumbling as he sings? His lips look pretty soft." "Has the streamer finally realized what the internet is really like?" "Not showing your face was the right call. I can't even tell what he's singing." "Was something bothering you all those years you kept your face hidden?" (Follow) After becoming an overnight sensation, Xu Jiaxing is approached by a suitor about working together, and his quiet neighbor suddenly loses it. Notes: 1. Blurb dated July 29, 2025. A 100,000-word novella. 2. The ending of the VIP chapters sparked a lot of debate. I read all the comments and didn't delete any. Since many questions were raised, I extensively revised the VIP chapters. I'm not the most skilled writer, so thank you for your understanding. I hope you enjoy reading, and I'll keep working hard to write a good story. Note dated October 2025. 3. This is far from a polished, serious work. Comments are welcome, but please respect other people's work and don't compare them. Please don't recommend this novel under other stories. If you like it, feel free to leave a comment; if not, don't force yourself. Theme: Every second is precious