n

n

n

nThat night, the entertainment industry was awash with breaking news.

nFirst, photos of Evelyn, William, and others were leaked. Rumors swirled that Evelyn was tied to a mysterious wealthy businessman, but no one could provide concrete details.

nAlice’s photo sparked a renewed trend for classical fashion.

nAs for William, he was surprisingly dubbed the “Most Handsome Bodyguard of the Year.”

nHmm, it seemed the public mistook him for a bodyguard.

nHowever, these gossip news tidbits were quickly overshadowed by the scandal surrounding Mason.

nBy the wee hours of the morning, another bombshell dropped: renowned writer and playwright Donald publicly gave Joseph the middle finger at an event and declined Joseph’s involvement in his play.

nDespite the late hour, the internet was ablaze, and major platforms were buzzing.

nThis New York Film Festival was certainly a goldmine for media outlets in terms of web traffic.

nAny one of these stories could have been the hottest topic for days on end.

nYet, all these events had taken place on this very night.

nWilliam returned to his home on East 62nd Street. Lacking the urge to sleep, he decided to check out the news, only to stumble upon his own photo.

n“Most Handsome Bodyguard of the Year?” William chuckled. Did he really look so much like a bodyguard?

nOf course, he also saw the news about Mason’s downfall. Skimming through it, he realized it was a classic case of everyone piling on when someone’s down. But the comment section seemed rather intriguing!

nAside from those slamming Mason, there were others criticizing Joseph. Someone even shared a link with a juicy headline: “Shocking: Renowned Playwright Donald Declines Joseph’s Involvement, Gives Him the Middle Finger at the New York Film Festival.”

nWilliam realized that being a spectator,?”grabbing popcorn”, was quite entertaining.

nThe headline was indeed very catchy.

nCuriosity piqued, William couldn’t resist clicking on the link.

nThe content was juicy.

nIn essence, it said that at the New York Film Festival, the famous writer and playwright Donald had refused to let Joseph act in his play. He even declared that he’d rather have a dog play the lead role than Joseph. Accompanying the article was a picture of Donald giving Joseph the middle finger.

nWilliam was present at the scene and knew that Donald’s words weren’t exactly as reported. However, the conveyed sentiment did seem roughly accurate.

nYet, with the spin given by the entertainment editor, Donald’s comments and actions appeared even more brash and aggressive. This made the entire situation more dramatic and heightened the sense of conflict.

nSlyly, the entertainment editor managed to avoid taking sides. They even listed the works of both Donald and Joseph, ending the article by asking readers their opinion on who was in the right.

nWilliam couldn’t resist scrolling through the comments.

nHe had initially assumed that public opinion would be evenly divided on this issue.

nTo his surprise, about 80% of the comments were lambasting Donald, calling him vulgar, while praising Joseph’s outstanding acting abilities.

nSome even dug up that Donald wasn’t exactly a renowned playwright as he was made out to be.

nInstead, he began as an internet novelist, a third-rate writer at best, with some of his previous works bordering on melodramatic romance.

nOnline sentiment against Donald was overwhelmingly negative.

nDonald was painted as a third-tier writer who began his career writing erotic fiction, depicted as a rude, uncouth, and somewhat creepy older man.

nOn the other hand, Joseph was portrayed as a talented actor with a promising future, gentle and a pitiable newcomer to the entertainment industry.

nWilliam was captivated by this phenomenon on the internet.

nThere was no denying that Donald seemed to harbor some bias against Joseph. But wasn’t Joseph just an actor? And wasn’t Donald simply a scriptwriter?

nIf he wrote a script and didn’t want a certain actor to play a role, that seemed reasonable. It seemed extreme for him to be lambasted so severely for that choice.

nOf course, what was more significant was that William shared the same prejudice against Joseph as Donald did…

nThe top trending comment in the section was about organizing a mass report against Donald, alleging violations in his writing content.

nWilliam found this smokeless war rather fascinating.

nIf Donald’s writings were indeed above board, then even if he was reported, what would it matter?

nLaw enforcement wouldn’t act without just cause, right?

nOut of curiosity, William, who wasn’t particularly adept with smartphones, took it upon himself to download a novel-reading app and began searching for Donald’s works.

nSure enough, the comment section was exploding.

nYet, contrary to William’s expectations, many were voicing their support for Donald. Some affluent readers were even generously tipping the author.

nIt seemed that everyone had their own home turf.

nWilliam also noticed a pinned review from Donald himself: “I admit to refusing Joseph a role in the film adaptation of this novel. I felt he didn’t fit the image of my protagonist. However, I no longer hold the rights to this book. Even for the adapted screenplay, I only have the right to give suggestions on casting, not make final decisions. Still, I rejected Joseph as the lead…”

nResponses to Donald’s review were mixed, with many expressing support, but also many jeering.

nJoseph’s fans were quick to ridicule: “You’re just a trashy scriptwriter. Having my idol Joseph act in your screenplay is a huge boon for you. How dare you reject him? I’m going to report you.”

nThe majority of the replies to this comment came from other authors on the same novel platform.

nThese literary types didn’t mince words when it came to insults, with a lot of sarcastic and derisive remarks. The fan who threatened to report was probably fuming in anger.

nWilliam soon noticed something: it wasn’t that the comment section was untouched by Joseph’s fans’ venom. Rather, there were three administrators constantly deleting their negative comments.

nWith thousands of reviews, William relaxed in his wingback chair, thoroughly entertained. These lively reviews seemed even more interesting than the novel itself.

nThe funniest part was that Joseph’s fans apparently organized a mass report against Donald’s novel, aiming to have it taken down. However, the content was a pure historical fantasy, with no violations whatsoever, rendering their reporting efforts futile.

nSo, they resorted to an even more extreme measure: reporting the books of those authors who supported Donald.

nGiven that this was an online novel platform with varied content quality, several online novelists had written content that violated platform rules.

nAs a result, while Donald’s book wasn’t taken down, the books of those authors who came forward to support Donald were banned.

nThis escalated the online feud immensely.

nNot only did the authors get involved, but their readers also jumped into the fray under Donald’s novel.

nImagine the fury of those readers, peacefully enjoying their reads, only to find them suddenly banned.

nThose authors update daily, and some have even been writing for several years. They were banned because of this incident. What Joseph should be grateful for is that these people didn’t directly confront him and physically assault him in person. This is already these authors showing restraint towards him.

nBored, William spent over an hour reading the reviews.

nHe then took a look at Donald’s book and thought it was decent.

nWithout leaving any comment or feedback, he turned off his device and went to bed, curious to see the state of the review section by morning.

nPreviously, he had believed wars were fought with guns, cannons, knives, and swords, where blood would flow like rivers. Today, he got a taste of the wars of the modern era.

nA group of people ferociously arguing online, hurling insults with such venom!

nUpon reflection, perhaps this arose because people’s living conditions had improved so much that they didn’t have much to do. With no actual wars in the world, they might just be acting out of sheer boredom and venting their emotions.

n