The call time was 5:00 AM.
Fog machines hissed against the edge of a broken bridge set.
The scene: Lin Wan discovers a drowned woman's body… that looks just like her.
Jiang Yue was calm.
Hair pinned back. Costume tailored to flow when she ran.
She'd memorized the lines, rehearsed the blocking, and triple-checked the camera angles.
Everything was ready.
But from the moment the director yelled "Action!"—something felt off.
"She wasn't supposed to die like that," Jiang Yue whispered, kneeling beside the mannequin body.
"She wasn't even supposed to be here."
The camera zoomed in.
Her fingers hovered above the corpse's face, shaking slightly.
Suddenly—she laughed.
Not scripted.
Not human.
A high, cold, broken sound that cracked like glass across the set.
Everyone froze.
Even the boom mic operator flinched.
The director blinked. "Cut."
Jiang Yue stood up, confused.
"Did… did I go off-script?"
The assistant director stared at her like she'd grown fangs.
"You don't remember?"
An hour later, the director pulled Zeyan aside.
"We watched the footage back."
He showed the clip.
Jiang Yue's performance was flawless—haunting, grief-stricken… wrong.
At 02:36, her pupils dilated. At 02:41, her smile twisted unnaturally.
At 02:44, she spoke in a voice not her own.
Zeyan narrowed his eyes.
"That's not Jiang Yue. That's an overlay."
"We didn't apply one," the director said, alarmed. "And she never re-recorded any lines."
[System Alert: External Data Insertion Detected]
Location: Set Server – Node 3
File Altered: Scene_19_MainCam.B
Manipulation Type: DeepSync Overlay – Voice + Expression Graft
Risk: Public Leak = Career Damage / Rumor of Possession or Mental Breakdown
Suspected Source: NovaLine Side Channel / Anonymous Contractor
Meanwhile, Jiang Yue sat alone in the soundproof prep room, watching the scene for the fifth time.
She didn't remember laughing.
Didn't remember touching the corpse's face with both hands, as the clip showed.
She only remembered cold.
And silence.
[FL Psychological Integrity Scan]
Status: Stable – No Mental Breach
Suggested Action: Use Internal System
Playback (Safe Copy) to compare Real vs Broadcast Feed
Cost: 1.1 PP
Action Taken: Yes
The safe copy played.
Jiang Yue gasped.
In the real version, she cried.
In the broadcast version—she smirked.
"They're using me," she whispered.
"Like a haunted doll."
Zeyan initiated a Level 2 Set Lockdown—citing equipment irregularities.
While security ran interference, he accessed the central terminal.
There, hidden under a "temp audio test" file, was a code signature:
YRQ-59A-RED
"Yan Ruiqing's override marker," he muttered. "She planted a ghost in the footage."
[System Path: Counter-Ghost Protocol Unlocked]
Module: Reel Redemption – Truth via AI Sync
Duration: 6 Hours
Effect: Reconstructs FL's Real Performance Using Inverse Deep Learning
Cost: 3.3 BP + 7.1 PP
Bonus:
– Ghost Leak Immunity
– Reputation Fortification (+0.015)
– Forensic Rights to Sue for Digital Defamation
Zeyan looked at Jiang Yue.
"You're not cursed. You're targeted. That's different."
She nodded.
But her eyes lingered on the altered screen.
"Still… it felt real."
That night, the repaired scene was re-filmed.
This time, Jiang Yue added a line on her own.
It wasn't in the script.
"They'll say I imagined it. They always do.
But just because no one else sees the ghost…
Doesn't mean it isn't there."
The director kept the line in.
Everyone agreed it gave the scene a layer of terror they hadn't expected.
And Jiang Yue walked off set, voice hoarse, heart pounding—
But unafraid.
[System Update:
Scene Status: Saved
FL Stability: Stable
Public Image Risk: 0%
New Skill Fragment Gained:
"Presence Echo" – Subtle Haunting Effect When Speaking Emotional Lines"
Effect: +4.2% Audience Retention during Monologues]
Across town, Gu Yuxi watched the original "ghost" footage leak onto a private gossip server.
She clicked Delete before it reached the surface web.
Su Cheng raised an eyebrow.
"Protecting her now?"
"No," Yuxi said, flat. "She's not ready to be a monster yet. But if she ever becomes one…
I want to be the one who made her."