Rich Side Character Goes Viral for Gossiping on a Laid-Back Reality Show Ch. 1

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City A, Inside a Café

The air was thick with the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Sitting by the window, a girl with sleek, shoulder-length black hair stared ahead, her round almond-shaped eyes shining brightly. Her fair skin, full red lips, and overall delicate features made her look effortlessly refined.

Right now, her gaze was locked onto the guy sitting across from her, completely mesmerized.

The guy was rocking a stylish black-and-white lettered baseball jacket, his handsome face lightly touched up with makeup. But despite his good looks, he showed obvious impatience.

"Yu Qianxia, how many times do I have to tell you? You're just not my type. Stop following me around!" Lu Jianchen said, his voice laced with frustration.

Hearing that, a flicker of sadness crossed Yu Qianxia's face. But deep down, she felt oddly calm—probably because she'd been through this exact scene way too many times.

And the weirdest part? She was sure she didn't even like Lu Jianchen.

But it was like some mysterious force was controlling her—every time she saw him, she just couldn't help herself.

And now, before she could even process it, Yu Qianxia was watching her own hands reach out on their own.

This was seriously freaky.

No matter how hard her brain tried to stop it, her body just wouldn't listen.

Her hands inched closer and closer to Lu Jianchen's large hand resting on the table. Her eyes were practically pleading for help, yet deep down, an overwhelming sense of danger surged in her chest. It felt like if she didn't stop this now, she would completely lose control of herself.

The instinct to save herself kicked in, growing stronger and stronger—until suddenly, her breath hitched, and a sharp pain shot through her head.

A flood of memories rushed into her mind.

And just like that, she finally understood.

She was living inside a novel.

And not just any character—she was the classic cannon fodder, the designated loser written specifically to make the female lead shine.

In the upcoming reality show 'Let's Go Travel Together', in order to highlight the female lead's kind and gentle "white lotus" persona, her character was set up to be dumb, toxic, and completely love-obsessed.

Jealous of Lu Jianchen for defending the heroine, jealous of the heroine's high popularity, jealous of how everyone adored her, and jealous of how big-shot sponsors kept handing her resources on a silver platter...

Basically, her entire personality was built around pointless jealousy.

Then, after running around scheming against the heroine like a clown, her tricks would get exposed by sharp-eyed netizens, and she'd be torn apart by the entire internet.

Blacklisted by the entire internet was bad enough, but her ending? She actually gets run over by a crazy anti-fan!

Yu Qianxia could hardly believe what she was seeing. Was this really her fate?!

[Ding—]

Out of nowhere, a robotic voice echoed in her mind.

[Congratulations, Host! You have unlocked the original storyline. From now on, the Melon-Eating System will be at your service!]

Yu Qianxia was already shaken by the whole I'm-just-a-side-character-in-a-novel thing. So when a system suddenly popped up, she barely even flinched. In fact, she accepted it surprisingly fast.

She quickly asked in her head, [What kind of service?]

Unlike a typical monotone AI voice, the system spoke in an upbeat, exaggerated tone—oddly making her feel a little cheerful.

[Simple! Just eat melons with me and trade them for 'Awake Time'!]

Yu Qianxia blinked. [Huh? What do you mean?]

The system patiently explained, [Even though you've unlocked the storyline, you still can't control your body. That's because your luck value is way too low—it's currently sitting at a solid 1. Your bad reputation and all those haters have seriously messed up your luck.]

[Only by restoring your luck to 100 can you completely break free from this doomed character setting and tragic ending.]

Yu Qianxia frowned. [But if I can't even control my body, how am I supposed to fix my luck?]

[That's where I come in!] the system chirped. [We're gonna eat melons—aka gossip—and in exchange, I'll give you temporary control over your body.]

[Every day, I'll give you three chances to eat some juicy drama. The crazier the gossip, the more 'Awake Time' you'll earn.]

[So during that time, you need to work hard to turn things around. And don't worry—I'll help you clean up your reputation and rebuild your luck!]

As soon as the system finished speaking, two lines of data popped up in front of Yu Qianxia out of thin air.

[Character Awakening Time: 5 minutes. Please eat melons within 5 minutes to extend your control.]

[Current Luck Value: 1]

Yu Qianxia blinked and suddenly realized—she could move on her own again!

Across from her, the man furrowed his brows. Just as the girl's hand was about to land on his arm, he instinctively raised his own hand to swat hers away. But before he could, Yu Qianxia moved even faster.

Like she had just touched something disgusting, she jerked her hand back in an instant.

The shift happened so fast that Lu Jianchen was momentarily stunned when he caught the unmistakable look of disgust in her eyes.

[Host, you only have five minutes of clear-headed time. Whose melon do you want to eat?]

Yu Qianxia glanced up. [Let's go with Lu Jianchen. What kind of dirt does he have?]

[Ooh, good choice!] the system replied excitedly. A few seconds later, it delivered the juicy gossip. [Wow! Turns out Lu Jianchen has been secretly in love with someone for three years! He's actually joining this variety show just for her!]

Yu Qianxia's eyes flickered. She muttered in her mind, [Secret crush?]

[Yep! Three years ago, at a product launch event, Lu Jianchen fell head over heels for a newly debuted actress.]

[Host, do you want to dig into his secret crush's story too?]

[Since it involves another person, you'll need to use up another melon-eating opportunity.]

Yu Qianxia already had a pretty good guess about who this so-called secret crush was. And since she knew quite a bit about her already, there was no need to waste another chance.

[Nope, I'm good,] she rejected without hesitation.

Just then, the system suddenly gasped in excitement, like it had discovered some breaking news.

[Oh wow! So this meeting wasn't just a coincidence—Lu Jianchen actually leaked his schedule on purpose, hoping you'd show up! And get this—there are paparazzi waiting right outside the café, all set up by him!]

All credit goes to the original author
Feel free to pinpoint us if there are any grammar error or typos
Please don't use Guazi's translations to re-translate in other languages

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