HAGLTP Chapter 2

Xiao Lu directly posted all the music scores, demo recordings, and various edited versions he had helped Xiao Keyang with over the years on social media. He even included the occasional impromptu creations that Xiao Keyang showcased on programs, a massive pile of documents was thus brutally slapped onto the public’s face.

He added a comment: “Plagiarize? I never need to.”

In an instant, not only in Yao City but everyone following the music scene exploded.

“Is he talking nonsense? How could Xiao Keyang not compose? Does he need someone to ghostwrite for him!?”

“Yeah, it’s definitely slander from a plagiarism dog, deliberately throwing dirt on Keyang, shameless!”

“I don’t know about the rest, but I heard a segment of an impromptu performance, and Xiao Lu’s level is much higher than Xiao Keyang’s.”

“That’s just playing; it doesn’t prove anything.”

“Keyang was improvising; Xiao Lu might have practiced for a long time before recording.”

“Do you remember that song ‘No.77’? Xiao Keyang won Best Male Singer with it, but he never sings it live because it doesn’t really suit his vocal range; the high notes are forced, and the low notes lack a bit of fire. But Xiao Lu’s version has both high and low notes done exceptionally well, it could almost be said to be a perfect fit.”

“Now that you mention it, I recall the theme song of ‘Double-Sided Mirror’ was also said to have had a live flop from Xiao Keyang, and he stopped singing live after that.”

“This, this was just him not being in good shape…”

“Anonymous, because I’m in the industry. I can responsibly say I’ve seen Xiao Lu teach Xiao Keyang how to sing more than once; Keyang was off-key in the first few attempts

.”

The video was shot casually, but it clearly showed the side profiles of Xiao Keyang and Xiao Lu, while Xiao Keyang’s intermittent and slightly off-key singing of the theme song from ‘Double-Sided Mirror’ indicated his unfamiliarity with the song.

Then came Xiao Lu’s demonstration, which was immediately much better; even though the video quality was poor, it could still grab people’s ears fiercely.

Ironically, the lyricist and composer of this song was clearly credited to Xiao Keyang.

“Ha, a singer-songwriter? How can he sing his own song like this?!”

“My dad sings better in the shower.”

“Wow! This is solid evidence!”

“Keep washing, come on, come on.”

“Fake, the video is fake, the data is fake; it must be the opposing side targeting Keyang!!!!”

“You’re talking nonsense! Isn’t it embarrassing to wash like this? Boohoo, I can’t believe I liked such a thing; my life is tainted…”

After this video, a large number of similar videos were released, documenting the truth of the creative relationship between Xiao Lu and Xiao Keyang at different times and places.

It was as if everyone suddenly had a conscience, working together to hammer Xiao Keyang down.

“Original works must not be tarnished!”

“Xiao Keyang get out of the music industry!!!”

While the online storm raged, the boy in the baseball cap was indifferent, but the turmoil in his heart was about to break through the cap and surge forth.

He knew this newcomer was troublesome, but he didn’t expect the other party’s power to be so fierce.

That was the protagonist! The most over-the-top character in the entire story, who had a scandal exposed at the very beginning that everyone wanted to condemn; how would the plot unfold from here?

What kind of grudge did the protagonist have? Did he dance on your ancestor’s grave?

At this moment, the boy in the baseball cap was already not far from the protagonist Xiao Keyang, and he could clearly see the sudden pallor on the other’s face, which seemed to mix with a hint of guilt and fear.

Tsk, it seems this gossip is indeed true…

Meanwhile, people around the world were frowning, pressing down their hearts.

The alienation was quietly spreading.

【Death Countdown: 00:09:00】

·

While everyone was busy watching the excitement of Xiao Keyang, Xiao Lu was heading in the opposite direction from the protagonist.

Yao City, where the original character was, was a paradise for musicians, with street performers visible everywhere, music halls lining the streets, and the resident singers in bars possibly being future superstars.

Several giant screens stood tall, with popular artists taking turns showcasing their charm to the city.

But paradise also had its dirty corners, like the alley he was currently in.

Dirty and dim, the ground was littered with trash, empty bottles were scattered everywhere, and there were many discarded syringes, proclaiming the hidden depravity of musicians.

“Warning: Please correct the plot immediately and head to the protagonist’s location.” The system 10000 reminded in a flat tone.

This was the third time Xiao Lu had heard it.

【Countdown: 00:03:00】

Xiao Lu slightly furrowed his brows, ignoring it.

His body temperature was continuously rising, a sign that his immune system was trying to combat an unknown source of infection.

At this moment, he felt like a frantic rabbit was stuffed inside his chest, constantly crashing around, trying to break through the bones and muscles to embrace the outside world.

The alley in front of him seemed to split into two, sometimes separating and sometimes overlapping, making it hard to tell which way to go.

“Hey, brother, all alone?” Suddenly, a voice came from ahead.

Enduring waves of dizziness, Xiao Lu raised his head and saw three men not far ahead, looking like standard criminals, as if they had “I’m not a good person” written on their faces.

In the middle of the three was a chubby boy about fifteen or sixteen years old, surrounded by some unknown powder, his face bruised and swollen, clearly having been beaten.

The leading man smiled and spoke to Xiao Lu: “We’re just about to form a band, and we happen to need someone. You look good.”

But the chubby boy suddenly shouted, “Don’t be fooled! They’re selling illegal drugs, hurry—”

Before he could finish, one of the thugs stomped on his stomach, forcibly cutting off the boy’s unfinished words.

Since the lie was exposed, the thug leader stopped pretending: “Playing music costs a lot of money, and you coming out to cut off people’s financial paths at this time is just asking for death.”

Is it fair to say that Yao City is indeed a paradise for musicians? Even the criminals are a music city limited edition, appearing particularly fresh and refined compared to others who only know how to fight and kill.

Before Xiao Lu could respond, the other two men surrounded him, glinting metal flashing in their hands, clearly hiding weapons.

At this moment, the system 10000 also stepped in.

“Three warnings ineffective, activating punishment mode 001: Electric shock.”

Suddenly, a jolt of electricity surged through Xiao Lu’s body, bringing a sharp burning pain.

Xiao Lu bit down hard on his lip to keep himself from crying out in pain; his back bent, and he pressed his hands against his knees to keep from collapsing, but cold sweat had already silently trickled down his temples.

“Please correct the plot immediately and head to the protagonist’s location.” The voice of system 10000 was extremely cold in his mind.

【Countdown: 00:01:29】

“What happened to this guy? Is he on drugs?”

“On drugs? Isn’t that just right? Looking at him, he might be planning to ‘restock’; he must have cash on him that’s hard to trace.”

“Maybe he’s sick?”

“Just dying like this isn’t bad; it saves us the trouble.”

The two thugs stood not far from Xiao Lu, looking like they were enjoying the show.

Xiao Lu hung his head, but his expression was not the panic and despair others thought; he said in his mind to system 10000: “I refuse.”

What responded to him was another round of electric shock.

After enduring the pain, Xiao Lu’s breathing became heavy, but a smile appeared on his face.

He realized that the system wouldn’t easily kill him; even the punishment was in a way that wouldn’t affect his actions. This system seemed to care a lot about the repair of the plot.

Does this mean that repairing the plot has some benefits for it?

For this benefit, the system was willing to enslave a large number of people to work for it and wouldn’t let them die easily, only using punishment and possible rewards to make them obedient.

Like raising livestock.

Seeing Xiao Lu repeatedly refusing to change, the voice of system 10000 rang out again: “Activating forced body takeover.”

Xiao Lu immediately felt his body muscles becoming uncontrollable, as if preparing to turn around and run wildly toward the protagonist’s location.

An unnamed rage surged from his heart. First, he inexplicably lost his memory and was bound by this rogue system, then he was made to be a stepping stone for the protagonist, and now his body was being forcibly controlled.

He hated being controlled; this system had angered him.

Accompanied by the anger, a faint green mist quietly spread in his mind, seeming real yet unreal. As the mist spread, Xiao Lu seemed to see his conscious world, which was a chaotic darkness, but there was a sudden warm white light ball floating.

Almost instinctively, Xiao Lu felt that this was the system 10000 that had been making noise in his mind.

As he locked onto the light ball, the mist seemed to have found its prey, quickly pouncing toward the light ball, tightly wrapping it.

The light ball tried to struggle but seemed caught in a spider’s web, unable to break free; the struggle became less and less intense, and after a few breaths, it could no longer move.

His body returned to Xiao Lu’s control, and he tried to move his fingers, feeling no obstruction at all.

Xiao Lu couldn’t help but wonder what that mist was. Why did it appear in his mind? But it felt strangely familiar.

Before he could think further, the countdown reached zero.

The alienation suddenly intensified, and the world before Xiao Lu turned blood red, with countless voices roaring at him in different languages, their words intertwining into a dull buzz.

Every muscle felt like it had its own will, and Xiao Lu’s body began to convulse uncontrollably.

“Hey, hey, hey! This guy looks off!” One of the thugs became alert.

“Is he possibly carrying some highly infectious disease?”

“What do we do, boss?”

“Kill him, then get out of here. This is a gray area tolerated by the Public Security Bureau; a few deaths are just minor matters.” The boss said casually, then looked at the powerless chubby boy, reaching for his weapon at his lower back.

Hearing the order, the two men raised their arms, preparing to kill the writhing Xiao Lu.

Unexpectedly, the boy in front suddenly raised his head, his eyes blood red, with a fierce light flashing in them like a beast.

The two were startled and instinctively pulled the trigger.

But the person who had been convulsing in place suddenly vanished, and before the two could comprehend, they each felt a sharp pain in their necks, and their vision plunged into darkness.

The boss, who was about to kill the chubby boy, suddenly felt something was wrong. Relying on years of experience, he immediately dodged to the side.

A sharp wind brushed past his ear, and the boss’s heart skipped a beat; if he had been a moment slower in dodging, perhaps…

He turned around abruptly, just in time to meet a pair of blood-red eyes, fierce and full of murderous intent. Who would have thought these belonged to a human?

What was wrong with this kid?!

Did he escape from some illegal lab?

He immediately regretted provoking the other party; if he had known, he would have just tricked him or left directly.

The boss’s thoughts raced, and his body reacted quickly, raising his gun to prepare to fire first.

But the beast-like claws had already gripped his head, then slammed it hard against the wall, a dull thud echoed, and the boss’s hands went limp, his body sliding down.

The alley fell silent.

Then, the blood-red eyes turned to the other side, locking onto the trembling chubby boy on the ground.

The chubby boy’s face was bruised, but he still clapped with a desire to survive: “Wow, you’re so amazing! I, I, I admire people like you so much…”

But his voice was dry and trembling, sounding more like he was about to cry from fear than admiration.

However, the person in front of him showed no reaction, only walking toward him, each step sounding like the death knell.

The chubby boy thought today might be the unluckiest day of his life.

He just wanted to buy the latest flavor of chips, but unexpectedly ran into three drug dealers who almost silenced him. Now that he had barely survived the silencing crisis, it seemed like the next situation was even worse?

Unfortunately, he never got to eat the chips, the chubby boy thought sadly, closing his eyes to await death.

“Get up.” The voice was right in front of him.

The chubby boy trembled as he opened his eyes, discovering the owner of the blood-red eyes was looking down at him.

A pale hand reached out to him, fingers like slender bamboo, a hand that would look beautiful dancing over piano keys.

He hadn’t noticed before, but this person was surprisingly young, probably only two or three years older than him, yet his aura was completely different, exuding a kind of almost arrogant freedom and unruliness, like a night breeze drifting through the mountains, coming and going alone.

It seemed he wasn’t someone who would kill innocents indiscriminately.

“Is your leg broken?” Xiao Lu tilted his head, looking at the chubby boy’s tear-streaked face with curiosity.

“No—” The chubby boy came to his senses and with a sudden burst of energy, he leaped off the ground.

He patted his butt, then touched his round belly and chest, realizing that aside from some superficial injuries, he was actually fine, and he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The chubby boy wanted to thank his savior, but he found that the dark figure had already walked quite a distance ahead. He hurriedly ran up and blocked the other’s path.

“Is there something?” Xiao Lu didn’t want to talk.

At this moment, his mind was filled with various complex information, constantly bombarding his consciousness, and he had to expend a lot of effort to barely stay awake.

At the same time, he had to suppress the restless system, leaving him with almost no room for thought. Even after just killing three scumbags, he had no energy to feel any emotional impact.

Simultaneously, he felt a surge of power in his body; the pain from the fever and the burden on his heart had also lessened.

But this change made him more vigilant; if he lost his reason but had a powerful body, what was the difference between him and a beast?

The chubby boy pondered his words: “You seem unwell? Do you have nowhere to go? Want to come to my house?”

Xiao Lu pointed at his somewhat ferocious blood-red eyes: “Are you sure?”

The chubby boy mustered his courage to meet his gaze: “Y-yes, my mom said a man should repay kindness.”

In the end, Xiao Lu still followed the chubby boy named Huang Sansheng. At this moment, he indeed needed a place to rest temporarily to endure the upcoming period of alienation.

As they passed a glass wall, he suddenly caught a glimpse of someone inside, sitting leisurely in a chair, even raising a wine glass to toast him.

But when he stopped to take a closer look, he found nothing; it was just a reflective glass wall.

“What’s wrong?” the chubby boy Huang Sansheng asked.

“Nothing.” Xiao Lu shook his head, enduring the storm in his mind as he continued forward.

“Brother Lu…” Huang Sansheng hesitated behind him.

Xiao Lu turned to look at him, signaling him to speak quickly.

“The direction you’re going… is wrong; this path is a dead end, and it only leads to a public toilet, the kind without doors or walls.” The chubby boy said with difficulty.

Xiao Lu: “…”

Out of a desire to survive, Huang Sansheng wore a look of desperation and added, “If Brother Lu wants to go, I can be your door!”

Xiao Lu: “…No need.”

Isn’t that just a pit? Blocking one side still leaves three sides exposed; he didn’t have such unique tastes.