After participating in Battle of the Stars, Gu Yi hadn’t paid any attention to Zhu Yu’s movements. He didn’t even know about Zhu Yu’s copycat performance of Explosion until long after the show had ended.

In fact, Gu Yi couldn’t quite understand Zhu Yu’s obsession with constantly comparing himself to the original Gu Yi. Within Vic, Zhu Yu had been a top-tier Team A member. The original Gu Yi was just stuck in Team J. In terms of resources, it was clear that Shao Jing heavily favored Zhu Yu.

Gu Yi didn’t bother asking for updates on Shao Jing. Instead, it was Liu Wei who brought it up: “Jin Yang’s ranking jumped a lot this time. He might make it into Team A.”

That jogged Gu Yi’s memory—Jin Yang was also under Shao Jing. Back then, all of Shao Jing’s resources had been funneled into Zhu Yu, leaving nothing for the others.

Zhu Yu had deemed Shao Jing no longer useful. But now Jin Yang had surged ahead, stepping into the very space Zhu Yu used to occupy. From Gu Yi’s perspective, the irony was thick.

At this point, Gu Yi’s participation in the Vic popularity rankings was essentially meaningless. Sun Youming had discussed this with him in detail. They had chosen to maintain his contract with Xingyao Entertainment for two reasons: one, Sun Youming’s reputation in the industry made it inappropriate to poach talent outright; and two, Gu Yi still needed to keep up his idol career, and Xingyao gave him the most autonomy to do that.

Xingyao didn’t offer him anything—but they also didn’t interfere. In the end, that wasn’t such a bad deal.

Gu Yi himself found it more convenient this way. At least during CROWN’s active period, he didn’t want any unnecessary complications.

…

Under the Vic popularity poll hashtag, the fan wars were heating up.

Team A was undeniably Vic’s top-tier unit, but even among them, popularity varied wildly. Last year’s #1, Li Zhiyuan, had filmed three dramas in a single year—his acting gigs put him at the top in terms of screen resources. Second place, Tong Shu, and third place, Zhu Yu, had both landed variety shows on satellite TV.

If Gu Yi hadn’t burst onto the scene, this would’ve been Vic’s most impressive year ever.

At this very moment, if one looked closely at the hashtag for Vic’s year-end poll, they’d notice something strange—all the fanbases were silently avoiding one name.

Jin Yang was currently ranked 10th. His fans were rallying around the slogan “Guarding #10, break into the circle.” Li Weichen, ranked 8th, was pushing “Fight for #7, chase #6.” It was as if the 9th place slot simply didn’t exist.

【 “How do you even compare?”】
【 “Battle of the Stars was huge, and Vic’s released tons of albums. But did any of them outsell Summer Bloom?”】
【 “Not even a tenth of it.”】

Even Li Zhiyuan’s fans had gone silent.

Li Zhiyuan had acted in three idol dramas, playing both male leads and second leads. He was already half out of the idol world and well into acting.

In fanwars with other Vic stans, Li Zhiyuan’s fans had always acted smug, calling themselves “actor fans” and refusing to engage with lowly idol stans.

Last year, no one could argue.

But this year?

No matter how popular Li Zhiyuan was—could he touch the film industry? Could he land a role in a Sun Youming film?

Obviously not.

So what was there to be proud of? Was Gu Yi out here flaunting himself?

And so—though Gu Yi never walked the “martial world,” his legend still echoed through it.

calling my big brother to deal with you!”

^[1]T/N: Even though Gu Yi didn’t actively participate in the chaos and infighting of Vic’s internal politics and fan wars (i.e., he didn’t insert himself into the group’s clout … Continue reading

He had essentially become Vic’s own “You Know Who.”

The kind of name no fan dared bring up lightly—but the moment things got serious, they’d yell: “I’m

…

Gu Yi hadn’t returned to Xingyao Entertainment in a long time.

Vic members had a dedicated stage used for interactions with fans, and the annual popularity poll took place there as well.

Gu Yi had only stepped on that stage a handful of times. In his memory, it had always been occupied by members who ranked in the upper half.

Seating was still arranged by last year’s rankings. Since Gu Yi was in Team J, he quietly made his way to his designated seat after entering the venue.

Team J’s seats were furthest from the stage. The lights didn’t even reach this far. Compared to Team A’s dazzling crystal thrones, Team J’s seats were narrow, almost cramped. Gu Yi even felt a little boxed in.

The members of Team J were Vic’s most obscure group.

They had almost no team activities throughout the year. Most of them didn’t even know each other. Unlike the animated chatter happening in the other team zones, the area around Team J was completely silent.

No one said a word.

Until—one of Gu Yi’s teammates glanced at him and suddenly blurted out:

“Gu Yi!”

The sound rippled through the seating area like a stone tossed into a still pond. Everyone turned to look. Even the interacting Team A members paused to glance back.

Ever since the poll began, Vic members and their fans had been speculating: Would Gu Yi actually show up this year?

Now all the members were seated. The audience was in place, waiting for the final results. The collective gaze of the other members was so direct that the staff naturally followed their line of sight—only to find Gu Yi, sitting quietly in the last row.

He wore the same uniform as everyone else. His expression was calm, without a hint of arrogance. At first glance, he looked like just another ordinary member of Team J.

In Vic, the expression of someone who had “made it” was entirely different from someone still struggling. Breaking through meant having mainstream recognition—you no longer had to claw and scratch for fans like the others.

It came with a certain innate confidence.

But Gu Yi’s demeanor was subdued.

If you hadn’t seen him on the Battle of the Stars stage, you’d never guess that this was the centre of CROWN.

Ever since Gu Yi’s rise, Vic’s members and fans had privately wondered: Xingyao had promoted so many people—why was Gu Yi the one who blew up?

Some top-tier fans chalked it up to luck. They claimed Xingyao had simply given Gu Yi the Battle of the Stars opportunity. If someone else had been given that chance, they’d be just as famous.

But now, even though the camera caught only a fleeting glimpse, it was enough to place Gu Yi side by side with the rest of Vic—

“The contrast is… kind of brutal.”
“Honestly, his styling isn’t even as sharp as it was on Battle of the Stars.”

Away from the polished battlefield of mainstream entertainment, the top Team A members still exuded unrestrained presence on Vic’s stage. By comparison, Gu Yi seemed far more understated.

And yet—even so—his glow couldn’t be hidden.

In that moment, the fans finally understood why Gu Yi had risen to fame.

…

The members of Vic were all feeling complicated emotions.

Back when Gu Yi was still in Team J, they had all easily outshone him in terms of popularity. No one had taken him seriously.

But Gu Yi’s meteoric rise had caught everyone off guard. Before they even realized it, he had climbed to a place they could only look up to.

Some had studied his path to fame—it looked, on the surface, like a string of coincidences, a journey full of unexpected turns. And precisely because of that, no one could replicate it.

Li Zhiyuan cast a glance at Gu Yi, then gave Tong Shu a slight nudge. Tong Shu immediately turned his gaze to Zhu Yu. Of all people, Zhu Yu probably resented Gu Yi’s success the most.

But… with Zhu Yu losing resources, it meant their own shares might increase a little.

There were too many mouths and not enough soup at Xingyao Entertainment. Zhu Yu’s current state said it all—even a top-ranking member couldn’t laugh until the end.

Tong Shu had once been paired with Zhu Yu in the “Remaining Numbers” CP. While the pairing had solidified Zhu Yu’s popularity, Tong Shu had also reaped significant benefits.

Of course, once Zhu Yu began to fall in the ranks, Tong Shu gradually reduced public interaction with him. His fans were quick to catch on—mentions of Zhu Yu became fewer and fewer.

There was even a rumour circulating in Tong Shu’s fan group: supposedly, Tong Shu had always disliked Shao Jing’s favouritism. Back when Gu Yi was still in Team A, Tong Shu had been the only one willing to talk to him.

A new CP supertopic had quietly emerged from this—called “TongYi” (a blend of Tong Shu + Gu Yi).

CP fans chimed in, saying: “Sure, it’s an ice-cold ship in the Arctic, but it’s so good to ship.”

Gu Yi’s fans: “…”

After Battle of the Stars ended, the “Memory” CP (Gu Yi x Ji Chi) rarely got mentioned. Though the friendship between Gu Yi and Ji Chi remained, fans had shifted their attention to the work itself.

Summer Bloom had opened their eyes to CROWN’s limitless potential.

What’s better than romanticizing pairings? Creating great works together.

Fighting side by side. Meeting at the top. That was the real CP energy!

Gu Yi, meanwhile, had no idea about this sudden CP business. His manager in Vic was Liu Wei. And although Tong Shu was also under Liu Wei, the two of them had never interacted beyond the professional minimum.

Yang Ting: “I haven’t even been CP’ed with Teacher Gu yet! What’s he got that I don’t? Have you read The Analysis of CP Archetypes?”

Just thinking about it made Yang Ting fume.

Even if the supertopic had fewer than 50 fans, he was still annoyed.

So one night, without saying a word, Yang Ting secretly infiltrated Tong Shu’s fan group.

What a guy. Yang Ting had to admit, Tong Shu was truly a “Sea King”—out of the 200+ members in Vic, Yang Ting suspected he had a CP with at least 100 of them.

“TongYi” wasn’t even high on the ranking list.

Tong Shu’s fans were scattered across multiple CP supertopics and barely paid attention to this newly sprouted one.

After two whole days of lurking, Yang Ting managed to become the supertopic’s moderator. He thought he could delete the topic once he had control—only to discover that moderators had no such power.

So instead, every morning, like clockwork, he posted pictures of lions on the African savanna.

Half a month of this, and the number of followers in the supertopic dropped to five.

Gu Yi: “…”

When Yang Ting urged the other CROWN members to use their alt accounts to join the topic and enjoy his lion spam, they were all deeply moved… but still declined.

…

Every year, Vic’s popularity rankings were joined by other entertainment companies, who used the stage to showcase their “resources”—in other words, selling dreams.

Members went up in order of their rank. Those at the bottom didn’t get to speak—they were only shown briefly on camera.

Overall, the rankings didn’t shift much from the year before, aside from a few unexpected changes.

Sure enough, 10th place went to Jin Yang. Zhu Yu had fallen just behind him, landing at 11th.

But 9th place… wasn’t Gu Yi.

Neither was 8th.

Nor 7th.

And when 6th place was announced and Gu Yi’s name appeared on the screen, the members in the top five felt no urge to celebrate. 【 】

【 “Sure, Gu Yi was the centre on Battle of the Stars, but now he’s back in Vic getting stomped. Vic is truly the Number One Illusion Group. 🐶”】

【 “Honestly… what’s the point of him staying at Xingyao Entertainment? The whole thing is awkward.”】

【 “Please. Vic has its own internal ecology. Just because you’re popular outside doesn’t mean you’re popular here.”】

↑ Occasionally, posts like these would pop up, but few people agreed with them.

No matter whether Gu Yi’s name showed up in Xingyao’s announced resource collaborations or not, he remained calm throughout.

【 “Teacher Gu is the picture of grace.”】

【 “Grace +1. Xingyao screwed him over and he’s never even said a bad word publicly.”】

【 “Even if he’s not fully signed with Xingyao anymore, how many times have they dragged him out to boost this year’s poll? Have they no shame?”】

【 “My first New Year’s wish: Teacher Gu, please leave Vic!”】

【 “Leave! Leave! Leave!”】

【 “I sat in front of the TV just to catch a glimpse of Teacher Gu—and this is what you show me?”】

Liu Wei was embarrassed when she saw him.

“I tried to fight for you,” she said. “But the company…”

Gu Yi simply nodded. “I understand.”

Xingyao invested in him, but he only ever saw a fraction of the returns.

From a business perspective—yeah, it really wasn’t worth it.