Chapter 662: Fan Fiction Forces the Official's Hand

If Hearing Li Ang could hear the 【King of Drama】's roar, he probably wouldn't be able to help laughing out loud... If you had to say why, it would inevitably be a dimensionality-reduction strike on the level of worldview.

There's no other way to put it — regarding the main preferences of various audience groups, under the massive data and summarization of the "fast-food era," they had long since been figured out crystal clearly.

Men mostly prefer the loser-rises-up, pretending-to-be-a-pig-to-eat-the-tiger trope, enjoying the thrill of breaking free from the constraints of rules, succeeding in the underdog-overcoming-the-strong, the weak-defeating-the-strong; while the core formula for female-targeted stories is "being seen in a different light" — no matter how others are treated, when it comes to me, it's always special.

Although this summary isn't absolute, the vast majority of ordinary people really do fall for this kind of thing.

Therefore, when Hearing Li Ang learned that both shows today were romance dramas, and after looking through the small town's household registry confirmed that seventy percent of the audience present were women, this battle for control of the drama world no longer held any suspense.

The mature formulas from the fast-food era, although generally not very "nutritious" in value, for people encountering them for the first time, their killing power is absolutely off the charts — used to pour into these audiences who had never been baptized by industrial saccharin, it's guaranteed to hit the mark every single time.

More critically, to create a good drama, you need foreshadowing hidden like a snake in the grass, storylines with proper setup-development-turn-climax, introspective character monologues, and so on and so forth — only after all of this is done, and then unleashed all at once in the final ending, can it bring the audience a thoroughly satisfying experience.

However, while the 【King of Drama】 was controlling the male and female leads to head to the beach at night, preparing to have them encounter cloud haze and miss the starry sky, thereby leaving a promise to come back and see the stars another time — at this moment, "Mr. Joseph" had already bought a full two hundred and fifty carts of fireworks, preparing to spell out Agatha's name in the sky.

As for the snake-in-the-grass foreshadowing? The promise to come back and see the stars next time?

Are you kidding me?

When Hearing Li Ang's five hundred loyal guards lit up a full two hundred and fifty carts of fireworks and finished blasting them with crackling sounds in the sky, even the moon was nearly blasted out of sight — how could there possibly be any promise left? Promise to come back next time and sniff gunpowder?

The later masquerade ball, the Great Artist's former residence, Green Snail Mountain Park, and so on all followed the same logic.

Over here they're still tepidly preparing to get to know each other, while over there they're already holding ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine roses in their hands, murmuring "you are the last and most beautiful rose," with several hundred Gao Xin hired professional hype-men forcibly shoving it in your face.

After finishing this whole routine, even if "Mr. Joseph"'s forced face-shoving ultimately didn't work out, the 【King of Drama】's arranged scenes of getting to know each other better and slowly opening their hearts were absolutely, positively, a hundred times more guaranteed not to work — and instead became a powerful contrast.

On one side, gaining affection relies entirely on chatting, advancing the plot relies on making a fuss, giving small gifts requires manufacturing, and even a date requires detouring around traffic; on the other side, there's preparation everywhere, always one step ahead, looking up there's fireworks, looking down there's flowers received.

Over here they're still tepidly feeling out the situation, too embarrassed to even say they have feelings for you; over there sweet words are already in their mouth, property deeds, car titles, and household registries are held in their hands, they've literally printed you in their eyes, and even a hundred years from now they're preparing to be buried in the same little box with you... So tell me, if it were you choosing, who would you pick?

……

"If I were Agatha, I think I'd probably choose Mr. Joseph?"

Accompanying the muttering that made the 【King of Drama】's eyelids twitch nonstop, a pale pink heart-shaped bubble quietly emerged from the drama world.

As the three thousand-plus souls composing the drama began continuously shifting toward "Mr. Joseph," the 【King of Drama】's control over the drama world had already reached a very dangerous tipping point.

And Hearing Li Ang, who was inside the drama, neither could control these souls nor had the energy to restrain or suppress them — the will of the large audience began slowly awakening. Although this will had not yet recovered complete self-awareness, it had already begun vaguely exchanging some simple thoughts.

With the appearance of the first bubble, before long, some heart-shaped bubbles with relatively powerful souls also began popping out with bubbling sounds, eagerly declaring:

"Yeah yeah, Mr. Joseph is so devoted!"

"I also choose Mr. Joseph! Although he's not as handsome as Elijah, he really makes it impossible to refuse."

"What a pity, it would be great if he could be a bit more handsome."

"Yeah yeah."

"Nonsense! Who says Mr. Joseph isn't handsome?"

Just as the audience was unconsciously discussing Hearing Li Ang's looks and expressing their little regrets, an angry big red bubble puffed up and loudly burst out:

"Do you people have any taste? What Mr. Joseph has is called a high-fashion face!"

And with the appearance of the big red bubble, more and more bubbles began puffing up along with it.

"Yeah yeah, Mr. Joseph is very handsome — not the kind of handsome from facial features, but a very unique aura!"

"Right right right, especially those eyes, so captivating!"

"Sisters, good eye! When Mr. Joseph kneels on one knee holding roses, in others' eyes there's a sky full of fireworks, but in my eyes there's only you — that gaze really kills me!"

"Actually, after looking more, you can discover Mr. Joseph isn't the kind of looks that are stunning at first glance, but the more you look the more good-looking he gets!"

"Exactly exactly!"

With a bunch of big bubbles taking the lead, the new bubbles that followed also began bubbling crazily.

"Yes yes yes."

"Mr. Joseph is just so handsome!"

Amid the 【King of Drama】's completely dumbfounded expression, the scattered "World Wills" that had been in a dormant state began slowly gathering, and gradually reached a consensus that "Mr. Joseph is actually very handsome."

And in the drama world, Hearing Li Ang, who was currently coaxing Agatha to go meet his grandmother, also, with the recognition of the pink bubbles, inexplicably received a slight adjustment to his looks — clearly the features were still those features, the brows and eyes were still those brows and eyes, but for some reason the more you looked the more pleasing he became.

His already quite outstanding eyes, even more so, just as some bubble insisted with its bubbling, seemed to contain a cluster of star rivers within them, faintly giving off a strange feeling that just one glance would make you want to drown directly inside them.

Wait... the drama world even plays like this?!!!

Watching the drama world, where Agatha began unable to help sneaking peeks at Hearing Li Ang as his looks explosively improved, the "Master Wilde" outside the drama painfully grabbed at his own hair, already so pent up he was about to go crazy.

This... this isn't drama! This isn't drama at all! This kind of messy, chaotic stuff is a desecration of great theatrical works! This... this... this — how can so many people like watching this?

Watching above the drama world, as the pink bubbles cheered at the male and female leads... as the male supporting character and female lead embraced for the first time, and went into uncontrollable frenzied screaming when the female lead accidentally walked into the bathroom and saw "Mr. Joseph"'s rain-soaked upper body, the 【King of Drama】 only felt the world spinning.

N... no! Absolutely not! If this continues... I'll turn into... turn into his appearance!

Looking at the text emerging on his white suit, looking at the plot that had been deleted and rewritten in large chunks under the will of the drama world, the 【King of Drama】's face couldn't help but reveal an expression of terror.

And when his arm slowly flipped open like a page, revealing the script of "Twelve Days Together," and the label "Mr. Joseph" in the character column — 【Male Supporting Character · Clown No. 1】 — began uncontrollably slowly blurring, shifting toward 【Male Lead · No. 1】, the 【King of Drama】 finally couldn't hold back any longer, trembling as he grabbed the thin threads controlling the soul puppets, and began desperately yanking the plot back.

Kicking "Mr. Joseph" out completely is no longer possible now, but... but at least the ending has to be the same! Must preserve as much of the original as possible! At the very least there has to be a wedding! The female lead also has to marry Elijah, he can at most be male second lead! Otherwise... otherwise...

……

"You two aren't suitable!"

Under the dumbfounded stares of a bunch of bubbles, Mr. Joseph's originally kind and gentle grandmother, upon hearing that her grandson was preparing to marry a tavern waitress, couldn't help but darken in expression, and said with no room for refusal:

"Joseph's future wife must either be the daughter of the Grand Duke of Black Forest, or the princess of the Travel Thrush Kingdom, or at the very least a relative of the Prime Minister of the Lower House — marrying you is absolutely impossible!"

Faced with the pressure from his own grandmother, Hearing Li Ang, firmly holding the infatuated domineering-CEO persona, immediately refused with absolute determination:

"For all these years past, I never knew what I truly wanted, until I met Agatha, my boring life finally had its brilliance! So no matter how you oppose, I must definitely..."

"Cough... cough cough..."

"..."

No way? You're starting to play this trick too?

Under Hearing Li Ang's somewhat dumbfounded gaze, the old grandmother, who just moments ago had a rosy complexion and a strong healthy body, suddenly turned pale, then pulled out a snow-white silk handkerchief, covered her mouth, and began coughing violently.

After a bout of heart-wrenching wild coughing, the haggard-looking old grandmother put away the bloodstained handkerchief, and without mentioning her own condition, bit her lip and said with a face full of stubbornness:

"In short... no! Not as long as I'm still here! In this manor, either she's gone or I am—pick one!"

"..."

Damn, instant terminal illness in one second?

Stunned silly by this sudden shower of melodramatic nonsense, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but say darkly:

"Then I'll leave! Since this manor..."

"Cough... cough..."

"Since this manor can't accommodate Agatha..."

"Cough... cough cough!" (loudly)

"Can't accommodate Agatha, then I might as well..."

"Cough cough cough!" (extremely loud!)

"I'll just leave!"

"Cough cough cough cough cough!!!" (deafeningly violent coughing!)

"..."

"N-no... that's not necessary!"

Just as the old grandmother was coughing up blood so hard it seemed her heart was being torn out, while regurgitating blood into her handkerchief with a hacking 'kak kak', the tearful Agatha beside her directly ripped off the necklace Hearing Li Ang had given her, shoved it forcefully into his hand, then turned her head away and said with a hardened heart:

"Mr. Joseph, I... I have my own pride! If I stay with you, I won't just ruin your family—I'll become a prisoner of your love... you... you may be very good, but this isn't the life I want! Goodbye! No! Never again!"

"Wait!"

Hearing Li Ang turned around, ready to grab her, but under the boost of 【King of Drama】, Agatha, whose setting was that of a frail and delicate body, somehow ran with the super speed of a hundred-meter sprinter, darting straight out the door.

And a certain old grandmother, who had already coughed her white handkerchief into a red one and looked like she could pass away at any moment, bizarrely exerted a terrifying strength rivaling that of a demonic muscular man; the withered hand gripping him was clamped tighter than an iron vise, impossible to break free no matter what,

Caught off guard, Hearing Li Ang could only watch as the princess-playing Agatha, trailing afterimages from her high-speed movement, blaze a trail out of the manor and, in the pouring rain, charge headlong toward the beach... the very place where, once you went, you'd encounter mysterious bandits and get dragged back to be married!

No way... you're just forcing it that hard? Do you even care about dramatic logic anymore?

"Waaah, it's really so sad!"

As the ganked Hearing Li Ang temporarily went offline, watching the plot within the drama world that was either leaping forward... or rather, taking a nosedive, the bubbles that had originally been entirely pink suddenly each took on a gray haze.

And as Hearing Li Ang was put under house arrest by the grandmother, and Agatha went to the beach in the rain to watch the stars and got captured, and the pure-hearted second male lead "Elijah," to save the goddess of his heart, chose to sacrifice his freedom and go home to marry, they began to sob one after another.

"Waaa! The grandmother is really so evil, lovers can't be together!"

"On one side is his lover, on the other his grandmother—Mr. Joseph has no choice either..."

"Right, right, but Mr. Elijah really is quite great."

"Mm-hmm, he who loved freedom so much actually agreed, to save Agatha, to go back and accept the family-arranged marriage, spending the rest of his life as the caged bird he hated most."

"Thinking about it that way, Mr. Elijah doesn't seem so bad? At least he's not bad-looking? And he's gentle?"

Th-this is... could it be... is the reversal finally coming?

Watching the bubbles that had vaguely drifted back in considerable numbers, the 【King of Drama】, who had been shivering all over from his own overly crude script-mangling, couldn't help but be overjoyed; on a face paler than a white suit, a flush of excitement suddenly surged up.

Yes yes yes! That's right! You foolish audience finally see it clearly! That damned "Mr. Joseph" is nothing but a buffoon! Elijah is this drama's only male...

"Elijah the homewrecker!!!"

Accompanied by a furious roar, the big red bubble that had previously stepped forward to defend Hearing Li Ang's looks puffed out once again, bellowing in full fury:

"So despicable! Taking advantage of someone's misfortune to destroy the feelings between Mr. Joseph and Agatha!"

And with her lead, a large batch of Joseph fans also exploded in outrage, red tinged with pink bubbles rising and falling with a 'bubbling' sound.

"Sisters! You have to stay firm! Don't forget Mr. Joseph is the male lead!"

"Being so wishy-washy like this—are you worthy of Mr. Joseph, who's still at home fighting the grandmother?"

"Elijah only lost the freedom of his second half of life—Mr. Joseph lost love!"

"Waaah, my poor Mr. Joseph!"

"Snatch her back! Go snatch Agatha back!"

No! No! Again! Again!!!

In the 【King of Drama】's horrified gaze, large swathes of will-bubbles that had just swung to his side once again flipped back in unison, beginning to stand up for "Mr. Joseph."

And with a furious roar from the big red bubble, seventy-five percent of the red bubbles 'bubbled' in unison, then raised their rather abstract little chubby hands, swaying and hollering:

"Wedding crash! Wedding crash!! Wedding crash!!! Wedding crash!!!!"

(End of chapter)