Invisible pretentiousness is the deadliest.

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and decided to name his company "Cosmos."

Registering a company would take about half a month, so Zhou Yi had no choice but to wait patiently.

After returning home, he opened the resumes sent via email and replied to the candidates who interested him, inviting them for interviews.

Zhou Yi scheduled the interviews for 7 PM on the weekend at the Huaihai Business Building he had rented earlier that day.

When Jiang Ruolan received Zhou Yi’s interview invitation, she didn’t hesitate for long. She immediately booked a flight back to Huaihai for the next morning.

Since she was planning to return to the country anyway, she figured she might as well take this opportunity.

After wrapping up her tasks, she began packing her luggage.

Zhou Yi’s strongest support was about to come online.

After handling these matters, Zhou Yi realized he really needed to buy a computer—dealing with things on his phone was far too inconvenient.

That evening, Huaihai TV’s nightly news aired a segment about Zhou Yi’s donation earlier that day.

On Weibo, countless curious onlookers had gathered just to see if he really looked as handsome as the photos Wang Lan had posted.

Because of this, Huaihai TV’s viewership even saw a slight bump.

Those who had previously accused Wang Lan of photoshopping her pictures were now proven wrong, and clips of Zhou Yi’s interview went viral again.

[How can someone look this good even under Huaihai TV’s HD cameras? I can’t imagine how stunning he must be in real life.]

[As a famous saying goes, the human psyche consists of three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. I’ve got the first two, but I think little brother here can give me the third.]

[There are four levels of spiciness: mild, medium, extra spicy, and "hubby, I’m coming for you~"]

[My period was two weeks late, but it finally came out—through my nose. Thank you, handsome, may you father eighteen children in this lifetime.]

[God, which window did you close for him? Oh wait, it’s the chat window between me and you, wuwuwu.]

[Can you all stop being so shallow? Has no one noticed that besides being tall and handsome, he’s also rich? What kind of college student donates 500,000 yuan in one go?!]

[You’re even shallower—has no one noticed how genuinely kind-hearted he is?!]

The comments were flooded with playful banter and praise, most of them gushing over Zhou Yi’s looks. Some even found their way to Wang Lan’s Weibo, where they learned the backstory after seeing people accuse her of editing the photos.

Wang Lan’s original post had already reached 100,000 likes, and marketing accounts naturally jumped on the trending topic.

Soon, countless posts featuring Zhou Yi’s photos popped up across Weibo.

Some marketing accounts deliberately stirred controversy to drive engagement, with headlines like "Who’s More Handsome: Zhou Yi or [Insert Celebrity Name]?" or "Zhou Yi vs. [Insert University]’s Heartthrob—Who Wins?"

This wasn’t yet the era of obsessive fan control, so most comments under these posts were from casual netizens. Even when fans of certain celebrities tried to dominate the conversation, they couldn’t fully suppress opposing opinions.

Under the marketing accounts’ posts, fans and casual viewers were at war.

Casual viewers would say: "I think Zhou Yi is hotter."

Fans would snap back: "Are you blind? My idol is way better-looking!"

Fans would insist: "My oppa is clearly more handsome, what’s wrong with your taste?"

Casual viewers would fire back: "You’re the ones in denial, your bias goggles are ten layers thick."

Rival fans of other celebrities would chime in: "I also think Zhou Yi is better-looking than [Insert Celebrity]."

Original fans would then accuse: "Who paid you to shill for him?"

The comment sections devolved into chaos—fans, anti-fans, and neutral netizens all clashing, none willing to back down.

This was just how the internet worked. People could turn even the smallest disagreement into a full-blown war.

And that was exactly what the marketing accounts wanted. Arguments meant engagement, and engagement meant profit.

They knew exactly how to stir the pot.

The core issue was that celebrity fans loved silencing dissent. The moment a casual viewer expressed a differing opinion, they’d get dogpiled. But would netizens take that lying down? Of course not.

Deep down, fans knew this behavior only hurt their idols’ reputations. But once they got worked up, they didn’t care about consequences—winning the argument was all that mattered.

Marketing accounts even dug up old photos of Zhou Yi posted by his admirers in Huaihai No.1 High School’s forum, slapping exaggerated nicknames on him for clickbait titles.

"Most Handsome College Student in History," "The Ultimate Campus Heartthrob," and similar headlines dominated the scene.

And just like that, Zhou Yi went viral.

Some fans even created a super topic for him. Of course, it was started by girls from Huai University who had a crush on him—they were the only ones who could snap candid photos of him on campus and share his daily life.

The super topic’s photo album contained many pictures Zhou Yi himself had never even seen.

The super topic quickly gained followers, and many netizens began urging Zhou Yi to open a Weibo account.

At this time, without short-video platforms, Weibo was the biggest hub for online traffic. Countless influencers had risen to fame through it.

Zhou Yi considered whether he should join Weibo to grow his fanbase. More followers would mean faster accumulation of "Heartbeat Points," and there was no real downside.

As he mulled over the Heartbeat Points, he opened his system panel to check his stats.

The numbers stunned him.

[Name: Zhou Yi]

[Level: LV21 (Gold)]

[Wealth: 90,067,000 yuan (Wealthy)]

[Appearance: 100 (Unmatched)]

[Combat: 100 (Unrivaled)]

[IQ: 200 (Genius)]

[Reputation: 60 (Minor Celebrity)]

[Attribute Points: 856,650]

Mission Progress:

[Xia Qiuzhi’s Regret Value: 60]

[Chu Han’s Regret Value: 100]

[Su Ning’s Regret Value: 60]

[Comeback Progress: 50]

[Heartbeat Points Earned: 456,433]

[Admirers: 1 (B-Tier Character: Su Man)]

[Achievement Unlocked: Against All Odds]

[Acquired Skills/Items: Photographic Memory / Basic Medical Skills / Star of Arts & Entertainment]

[Current Ranking: 40,095]

[System Store: Unlocked]

Zhou Yi was once again shocked by his balance.

90 million...

After the initial surprise, he could only marvel at the power of the internet. Just his looks alone had earned him this much goodwill. Opening a Weibo account seemed like a solid plan.

Meanwhile, Huaihai TV received calls from talent agencies asking for Zhou Yi’s contact information—they wanted to sign him and mold him into a star.

From every angle, he was a young man with immense potential, and they aimed to secure him before competitors could.

The task of reaching out to Zhou Yi ultimately fell to Wang Lan, as she was one of the reporters who had interviewed him and exchanged contact details.

Plus, since her Weibo post had started the buzz, her superiors deemed her the most suitable person for the job.

Personally, Wang Lan didn’t want to see a kind and pure-hearted young man like Zhou Yi enter the entertainment industry.

She knew exactly how toxic that world was—otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen journalism.

But for Zhou Yi, this could be an opportunity. She decided to relay the offer and let him decide for himself whether to sign with an agency.

That night, Zhou Yi received Wang Lan’s message.

Regarding the offer to join the entertainment industry, Zhou Yi replied that he had no immediate plans to do so.

He didn’t outright reject the idea—if he changed his mind later, he could always reconsider.

For now, he’d just open a Weibo account, post some photos, gain some followers, and earn Heartbeat Points. Becoming a celebrity was far more complicated, and he’d rather focus on finishing university first.

Hearing Zhou Yi's refusal, Wang Lan once again felt it was somewhat expected.

It seemed Zhou Yi wasn’t a shortsighted young man—he was rational.

After turning down Wang Lan, Zhou Yi immediately registered a Weibo account and posted his first update in the super topic.

However, he did so under the identity of "Zhou Yi’s assistant," not as himself.

The Weibo ID he chose was simply 【Zhou Yi’s Assistant】.

Some things just come off as pretentious when posted by the person themselves, whether it’s selfies or flaunting wealth.

Yet, these were necessary to attract female fans.

So, he needed a third party to do the boasting for him.

The most lethal kind of flex is the subtle one.

If he was going to flex, he might as well go all the way.