Mr. Planner Wants to Play a Game with You

"Korean Wave Entertainment?" Black Calice repeated in a mocking tone. "Do you have a grudge against them?"

"I do, but also absolutely none," Chen Shang replied with a smile.

"Alright then~ If you want me to destroy their database or disrupt their cash flow, all it takes is a few keystrokes," Black Calice drawled, her voice turning languid, steeped in an arrogance that was hard to ignore. "But if that's your idea of a game, your adorable little sister will receive two packages with bombs tomorrow."

Chen Shang responded unhurriedly, "Because it's just too boring, isn't it?"

"You're sharp. So, I expect you to come up with a challenge that actually interests me," Black Calice instructed coldly.

As they spoke, Chen Shang had already pulled a notebook from his bag, its pages filled with plans he'd devised during class.

"What I need you to do is simple: bring down Korean Wave Entertainment's top star—Jin Yuchuang."

He casually typed the name into his phone, and a man's photo quickly appeared on the screen.

Short chestnut hair, strikingly handsome features, and eyes accentuated with heavy eyeliner that exuded a cold, rebellious charm. On his face was the quintessential idol's smile—seventy percent aloof, thirty percent gentle.

Though tall, his limbs were almost unnaturally slender, and in a tailored suit he resembled nothing so much as a sentient bamboo stalk. Yet, some of Night Axis City's girls were drawn to this fragile, boneless kind of cool oppa.

"Jin Yuchuang, male, twenty-five, Korean Wave Entertainment's leading male star and the backbone of the company. His popularity among the women of Night Axis City is rising by the day."

"Besides actively participating in variety shows and modeling gigs, he's starred in several manga-adapted idol dramas, including 'The Clown on the Giant's Shoulder,' 'Your Underworld Military Academy,' and 'Necromancer of the Night.' His fans have crowned him the 'Emperor of Two Dimensions.'"

Chen Shang opened a Gudupedia entry and began a formal introduction.

"Oh, I know him," Black Calice interjected, sounding bored. "I watched that 'Clown on the Giant's Shoulder.' To take a protagonist steeped in sorrow and turn him into a flat-faced idiot obsessed with flirting—you have to be truly hopeless."

Clearly, Black Calice did not hold Jin Yuchuang in high regard.

Interrupting her complaints, Chen Shang continued, "Jin Yuchuang is about to debut in a new series. I think it's called 'Nuclear Rebirth: When 2077 Comes, Show Your True Colors.'"

"So what?" Black Calice retorted.

"He's at the center of the entertainment world's attention during the pre-release hype," Chen Shang said, a smile playing at his lips. "Don't you think now is the perfect time to stir things up?"

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"Simple. I need you to set up as many accounts as possible that can auto-post and leave comments online twenty-four hours a day."

"I see. You want me to manufacture an army of trolls to tear down Jin Yuchuang's reputation," Black Calice replied calmly, as if she had already seen through everything. "You could just go to Bald Monk for that. Doesn't he sell those fully automated posting machines?"

Chen Shang sighed suddenly and couldn't help but remind her, "I see you… truly don't understand."

"What do you mean? Understand what?"

"First, the auto-posting software sold on the black market can indeed evade hacker detection, but only when it comes to second-rate hackers," Chen Shang explained. "If I'm going after Korean Wave Entertainment, I'm taking on Xu Group, the biggest conglomerate in Longmen District. With their resources, they'll deploy the top hackers and assassins on the market. The auto-posting machines Monk sells are nothing but toys to professionals like them."

He paused, then added, "But to you, those so-called top hackers are little more than slightly more entertaining toys themselves."

"Zihahaha~ You really know how to flatter," Black Calice cackled, her laugh so shrill that Chen Shang had to hold the phone away from his ear.

"Second, you misunderstood my intention right from the start," Chen Shang said with feigned mystery. "I'm not asking you to troll him, but to praise him. I want you to use the accounts to shower him with the most over-the-top, saccharine adulation!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Black Calice sounded genuinely confused. "You want me to create accounts and pose as his fans?"

"That's why my game will definitely interest you~" Chen Shang scratched his head and replied seriously, "Isn't a game a failure if the players can see through it from the start?"

"..."

There was a brief silence on the line. Then Black Calice's voice came again.

"You'd better not be playing me, or you'll regret it."

"Relax, my IQ is at least one point, I'm as clear-headed as ever~" Chen Shang whistled and laughed. "I'll send you the posting content in a bit. Can you give me an email address?"

"I've already added my contact info to your phone," Black Calice replied, then hung up without another word, leaving only a series of busy tones.

Judging by her tone, it was clear she didn't understand his plan at all, and her mistrust was palpable.

But the fact that she was willing to share her contact information showed she was intrigued.

After ending the call, Chen Shang checked his contacts and indeed found a new entry labeled "Four-Leaf," complete with a strangely suffixed email address.

He sent the pre-prepared Word document to Four-Leaf’s inbox. Before long, the other party confirmed receipt and messaged back:

"Why is this Word document so big?"

"Since you’ll be using multiple accounts to post nonstop for twenty-four hours, isn’t a little more content normal?" Chen Shang typed in reply.

The document contained dozens of templates and over ten thousand lines of praise, enough for dozens of accounts to post flattering messages about Jin Yuchuang for forty-eight hours straight without repeating themselves.

The next moment, the screen flashed, and those few email exchanges vanished from the inbox, as if remotely deleted.

Black Calice was meticulous—she would never allow anyone to keep traces of her involvement.

Having finished, Chen Shang packed his bag, pulled on his goggles and mask, and prepared to head home.

The most direct way to destroy someone is to keep them submerged in failure.

Chen Shang could easily use his contacts as a game planner to hire a top assassin to eliminate Jin Yuchuang.

But that would be far from "catastrophic," and could never shake the Xu Group's authority.

What he wanted was to lift a man to the highest peak of the roller coaster—then watch as he plunged, powerless, into the abyss.

In truth, Chen Shang’s reason for targeting Jin Yuchuang was not a whim of a mischief-maker.

Jin Yuchuang was the leading man of Korean Wave Entertainment, and the company belonged to the Xu Group.

In other words, Jin Yuchuang was closely connected to Xu Qing, the second male lead.

In the game, Jin Yuchuang was one of Xu Qing's chief lieutenants. If Xu Qing was the Demon King, Jin Yuchuang would be one of the "Four Heavenly Kings."

He often used his position to help Xu Qing pursue female characters, and made life difficult for any player who tried to rival Xu Qing.

Therefore, if he wanted to bring down Xu Qing, Jin Yuchuang had to be dealt with first.