The studio air felt different today. Not colder—just… off. Jiang Yue couldn't explain it until she opened the latest shooting schedule.
Scene 41: Lin Wan receives the key to her dead sister's apartment.
She remembered filming that. It was intense—subdued grief layered with denial. She had delivered the scene in a single take, the rawness of it sticking to her ribs long after the director yelled cut.
So why had the scene been marked as "revised"?
Jiang Yue flipped through the digital script. Her name wasn't on it. Her character had no dialogue. Only camera instructions remained, labeled "wide angle," "close-up on object," and "cut to reaction (optional)." Optional. Her face—optional.
Her Inbox had no update notifications. No writer's note. No alert.
Just one overlooked system message time stamped 3:19 AM:
[System Notification: FL Asset Tag Removed from Scene 41-A Beta Version]
Reason: "Creative Realignment, Episode Runtime Reduction"
Request Source: Internal Proxy – Flagged: Unverified Access
She didn't bother knocking. She stormed into the editing suite.
"Pull Scene 41," she said, calm but cold. "The version being sent to broadcast."
The editor hesitated. "I-I thought you weren't in that one—"
"Now."
The screen loaded. And there it was.
Someone else's face. Her body—same stance, same movements—but not her. The frame was too smooth. The eyes too empty. A deepfake.
Her voice remained, but the image was a lie.
Zeyan was there within minutes. He didn't need more than ten seconds.
"Trigger a Level-3 scrub," he ordered. "Full trace on file origin."
The system's voice responded instantly:
[Scene 41-A Anomaly Detected]
Tampering Type: Deepfake Layering
Source: Third-Party Subcontractor
Payment Proxy: Y.R.Q. Holdings
Yan Ruiqing.
Jiang Yue sat in silence as the implications unfolded. Not just cut from a scene—but replaced. Erased.
"They want you out of your own story," Zeyan said.
"They don't want me to exist," she corrected.
He didn't ask permission. He uploaded the untouched original to a secure fan channel, a subtle leak disguised as an innocent "comparison post."
" Unseen Footage Leak: Jiang Yue's real performance in Scene 41 was CUT and REPLACED?!
Here's the raw reel.
Compare for yourself.
#JusticeForLinWan"
The post went viral within minutes.
Ten thousand shares.
Then a hundred thousand.
Then trending globally.
The studio released a rushed statement: "Due to an error in post-production…"
No one believed it.
In the eye of the digital storm, Jiang Yue uploaded a single side-by-side video. One version: the real her, trembling, haunted, real. The other: the ghost version. Her caption was only one sentence:
"I don't need to be your favourite. I just want to be seen for what I did."
She said nothing else. The audience did the rest.
[Public Favorability Surge: +0.0391]
[FL Fanbase Surge: +1.3M in 18 hours]
[New Skill Fragment Gained: "Camera Ghost Immunity" – Scene Signature Lock]
In a private conference room far away, Gu Yuxi smashed her coffee against the wall.
"She made a glitch into a glory medal."
Su Cheng leaned against the door.
"You wanted her to disappear. Instead, she became unerasable."
Meanwhile, Ruiqing watched the dashboard in silence.
"She survived deletion," she murmured. "Then let's see what she does when we delete something real."
At SkyInk, Zeyan activated a new system protocol.
[System Module Unlocked: "Stage Sovereign Protocol"]
Function: Interview Control, Emotional Defense, Strategic Line Override
He toggled access: Share with FL
That night, under the stars, Jiang Yue sat on the balcony with her phone. No camera. No lights. No script.
Zeyan messaged her:
"We're rewriting everything they tried to delete. Scene by scene. And they're running out of erasers."
She smiled.
"Then let's start writing in ink."