Amidst the thunderous cheers and applause, Mu An slightly bowed his waist and gentlemanly extended his hand to the young girl.
Shen Ling'er's lips curled into a faint smile as she unhesitatingly placed her delicate jade-like hand into his large palm.
The lights gradually dimmed.
The duet performance finally came to an end.
[Shen Ling'er's happiness emotion surge +50. Congratulations, you have received the reward [Fortune +50]!]
…..
After another round of the host's commentary, Wang Mingxuan was ready to take the stage.
"Next, please welcome the top star Wang Mingxuan to perform an original song — Such a Painful Love."
His fans, who hadn't yet been 'unboxed,' were already celebrating wildly in their heads.
- [Brother, you're the best in the world! Brother, pure love is unbeatable!]
- [What nonsense about pure music? Wait and see, my brother will show you what real music is!]
- [Ahhh! How lucky am I to hear Brother Mingxuan's new song? Sisters, come listen quickly!]
Wang Mingxuan confidently walked onto the stage.
Although his head was bandaged due to an injury, it didn't stop him from fantasizing about certain things in his mind.
'After I finish singing this song, I'll confess my deep feelings to Shen Pan'er. She'll definitely be moved to tears, right?'
Meanwhile, Mu An and Shen Ling'er had changed outfits and returned to the audience seats.
By the way, Shen Ling'er had worn her most expensive gown during the earlier performance.
This showed how much she valued that performance!
Or rather, how much she valued her first duet performance with Mu An?
"Brother, that was amazing! You're so good, Youbai!"
Youbai immediately expressed her feelings to the man.
But the little girl quickly realized that Shen Ling'er was sitting nearby and cleverly added, "Sister played really well too!"
"Thank you!"
Shen Ling'er politely thanked her.
To avoid drawing attention, she was still wearing a mask and a baseball cap.
And since Mu An had mentioned Youbai to her earlier, the girl wasn't too surprised by the little girl's presence.
Back to the stage.
"Ahem, ahem, next, I want to dedicate this song to someone very important!"
As the song's prelude began, Wang Mingxuan said dramatically.
Everyone wasn't stupid—they sensed something was up.
They inexplicably felt that a big scandal was about to unfold.
Mu An shook his head.
He naturally knew what this kid Wang Mingxuan was trying to do.
He immediately took out some earplugs and handed them to the women.
They were the same kind of earplugs used earlier in the concert hall, capable of intelligently filtering out unwanted sounds.
Like certain noises.
"What's this...?" Su Zhirou asked, a bit puzzled as she took the earplugs.
"Put them on! You'll need them later!" Mu An said with a mysterious smile.
Nearby, Gong Youbai and Shen Ling'er obediently put theirs on.
Although they were a little curious, out of absolute trust in the man, they followed his instructions without hesitation.
[Using [Cancer's Agony Experience Card *1]! Target: Fake Young Master Wang Mingxuan!]
[[Cancer's Agony Experience Card] used successfully! Now taking effect...]
[[Cancer's Agony Experience Card]: Don't ask. Just know it's like feeling a hundred types of cancer pains all over your body]
Pain, pain, pain—extreme suffering that spreads from the body to the mind, making one wish for death.
It causes inhuman screams until complete unconsciousness!
Duration: One hour!
——————
Singing? Showing off? Confessing?
Mu An sneered inwardly.
'Not even the Dragon King or Divine Doctor can show off in front of me, so why should a mere fake young master be allowed to act so freely?'
At the same time, Wang Mingxuan was confidently preparing to start singing.
This song was arranged by a top industry master hired at great expense by his company.
The quality was guaranteed, and it might even have a chance to compete for this year's Golden Melody Award.
Besides, he had been practicing this song diligently lately and had already mastered it perfectly.
Everything was set for him to make a stunning debut on today's stage!
But...
…..
If nothing unexpected happened, then something unexpected happened.
Wang Mingxuan raised the microphone and brought it to his lips.
Just as he was about to sing with deep emotion, a bone-deep pain exploded across his entire body.
He didn't even know where it hurt—he just knew everything hurt.
So much that his voice trembled and he couldn't stop a scream from bursting out.
"AAAAAH—"
Like a vengeful ghost crying out for blood.
That first scream went through the microphone, then through the hundred-million-yuan sound system, and blasted across the entire venue.
Even outside the venue, in a park several kilometers away, it could still be heard clearly.
Sharp. Piercing. Unbearable.
Instantly, the entire crowd fell silent.
All cheers seemed to be erased with a single button—gone in a blink.
The next second, the whole place exploded.
- [What the hell? I waited forever—thought he was building emotion—and he just dropped a steaming pile on me!]
- [Holy—my brain is still buzzing. I always said sometimes having too good sound equipment isn't a good thing!]
- [Top idol? Entertainment is really letting any random cat and dog in these days. I support the government cracking down on these useless clowns hogging public resources!]
Of course, some of Wang Mingxuan's brain-dead fans still defended him no matter what.
- [What do you idiots know?! Everyone makes mistakes! My brother Wang Mingxuan just got too nervous and messed up a bit—stop barking!]
- [At the peak you get fake supporters; at dusk you witness faithful believers! Brother Wang Mingxuan, we'll support you forever!]
- [As expected of my brother! That wasn't a scream at all—those were the cries of his unyielding soul! He's letting all of us know how hard he's worked to get here!]
People argued nonstop.
Most assumed it was just an accident.
But they didn't know—this wasn't the end.
On the contrary, it was only the beginning.
That first scream was like a battle horn.
Even more miserable sounds followed through the microphone.
"AAAAAAH—"
"Ah—ahhhhhh—"
His face contorted. He dropped to his knees, smashing the floor with his free hand like a madman.
Yet the microphone, as if glued, never left his mouth, steadily broadcasting his howls in all directions.
Of course, this 'glue' was Mu An's 'helpfulness' at work in the dark.
Everyone went dumb again.
They covered their ears and put on the legendary 'pain mask.'
It just… couldn't be explained anymore.
It was almost completely impossible to explain.
That first scream could still be called an accident.
But what about the endless, rising-and-falling, ear-splitting wails afterward?
There was only one explanation:
Wang Mingxuan was deliberately doing some abstract performance art!
Backstage, the director team and audio crew were stunned too.
What the hell was he doing?
Were these the lyrics?
They couldn't understand why rehearsals had gone fine—and why the live performance had suddenly turned into this.
Even many of Wang Mingxuan's fans were speechless.
But yes, there were still a few brain-dead fans who kept cheering without a brain.
- [So good! Too good! These vulgar people just don't know how to appreciate real music! Brother Wang Mingxuan, keep going—we'll always support you!]
- [Forget how it sounds—just seeing brother makes me the happiest person alive!]
- [What do you know?! The song is called 'Such a Painful Love,' okay?! Brother is using his whole body to interpret it!]
In truth, many people misunderstood Wang Mingxuan.
It wasn't that he didn't realize how awful those screams sounded.
He tried to pull the microphone away— but it was like it was stuck with the strongest industrial glue, fixed at his mouth, impossible to throw off.
At this moment, Wang Mingxuan was completely broken.
The agony came in relentless waves, smashing into his fragile nerves until he couldn't think straight.
His limbs, his mouth—nothing obeyed him anymore.
They each followed their most primal instincts.
Brain: Pain! It hurts too much!
Limbs: Pound! Thrash! We've gone totally insane!
Mouth: I want to say "Shut up, snow leopard!" too—but I really can't!
In the end, the pain reached the point where the brain triggered its self-protection mechanism.
In other words, Wang Mingxuan was literally hurt into passing out.
Thud—
The 'equally tormented' microphone fell to the ground and released another sharp burst of electric screeching.
And that minute-plus 'performance' finally ended.
If it hadn't ended, the audience—already clutching their ears—would have gone insane.
Faces pale, eyes unfocused.
Anyone who didn't know better would think they'd been subjected to some inhuman torture.
In reality, that endless 'noise' really was a kind of inhuman torture.
- [Damn it! I've never hated a song this much, and I've never hated a person this much either! What 'Such a Painful Love'? He was clearly singing 'Such a Painful Cancer'! He perfectly acted out what cancer patients suffer—so real it looked genuine!]
- [He should be grateful this is a country ruled by law, or I'd rush up and chop him ninety-nine times and let him taste what suffering really is!]
- [You call that singing? That 'sable-haired' guy on stage was doing an exorcism! Is this what celebrities are like now? If that's the case, even Old Huang from my village could be a star! What? Who's Old Huang? Old Huang is the dirt dog at our village entrance!]
- [Boycott fan-circle culture! These days any demon and monster can come out and scam money. Please get out already—stop polluting my still-pure ears!]
As expected, after being tortured like that, the crowd was furious.
At this point, if any brain-dead fan dared to defend Wang Mingxuan, they'd be swarmed and punched into silence.
Of course, you couldn't call it a beating—it was clearly 'helping them return to the right path.'
This was true helpfulness, and a heartfelt 'education of love' from the masses!
Even if accountability came later… 'the law does not punish the many' aside, in the chaos, how could the 'educated' person even see clearly who hit them?
In contrast, Mu An's group of four was relatively lucky.
With their black-tech earplugs on, they didn't suffer any 'mental attack' at all.
During the chaos, Su Zhizhou saw how pained everyone looked and took her earplug out for just a moment.
Just that moment nearly scared her into feeling like her skull was splitting, and she hurriedly put it back in.
"Celebrities really can be any kind of freak these days, huh?"
The girl muttered angrily.
[From Su Zhizhou's anger, emotional fluctuation +20. Congratulations, you have obtained the reward: [Proficiency +3000]!]
After that, since the backing track was still playing, people didn't know what was going on with Wang Mingxuan lying on the stage.
They even assumed it was part of his performance and didn't pay too much attention.
But soon, staff realized something was wrong—calling him repeatedly through the earpiece got no response.
When they went up to check, they discovered he had actually passed out, and urgently sent him to the hospital.
For a gala with this level of attention to turn into such a farce—it was a spectacle for everyone to laugh at.
Without even thinking, you could tell the internet would already be cursing nonstop.
The director team got flamed, and Wang Mingxuan—the one responsible—got flamed even harder.
Several trending topics about him shot up immediately.
Things like:
"Top Idol Wang Mingxuan—Super Hard to Listen To"
"Entertainment's #1 On-Stage 'Ritual' Torture Performer"
"Such a Painful Cancer"
To some extent, Wang Mingxuan really did 'farm' traffic.
After all, even black fame was still fame!
[Because of your 'warm-hearted' operation, top idol Wang Mingxuan has completely socially died. Not only did he pass out from extreme pain, but the song 'Such a Painful Cancer' directly went viral across the whole internet. He was condemned by countless people and gained countless haters. Effeminate attribute +2. Protagonist fortune -1000!]
[Congratulations, you have obtained the rewards: [Fortune +500], [Proficiency +50,000], [Double Emotion Rewards Temporary Experience Card*1]!]
Mu An only smiled without speaking.
'As a villain, I really am a professional.'
'See? Just now I casually helped a protagonist explode into nationwide fame again!'
'Me, Mu An, the true 'viral internet celebrity producer'—who wouldn't be jealous (envious) after seeing this?'
...
Envious??!!
Do you even hear what you're saying?!
The following are statements from the victims:
Long Haotian: ???
Brian Henry: ???
Wang Mingxuan: ???
...