As usual, the live stream for the archery competition of "Idol Sports Day" was packed with viewers, as popular events always drew fans from all fandoms.
On the field, all the female contestants, regardless of their actual preparation, spared no effort in their outfits. Some even dressed as elven princesses, complete with capes, making the scene a feast for the eyes.
When Gu Ran heard her name called, she braced herself and quietly stepped onto her assigned competition spot alongside her group.
She had originally planned to just coast through today, so she hadn’t put much effort into her appearance—wearing the standard T-shirt provided by the production team, her hair tied up in a messy bun, and her makeup hastily done that morning.
As she took her place, Gu Ran noticed the contestant next to her, who seemed to be a well-known actress. The actress was dressed as an elven princess today, even sporting a delicate crystal tiara on her head.
"Go, Feifei!" Cheers erupted from the audience as soon as the actress appeared.
The commentator announced, "Now stepping onto the field is Zhou Yufei, the reigning champion of the women's archery competition."
Hearing that she was the defending champion, Gu Ran finally understood why Zhou Yufei received such an enthusiastic welcome. Zhou Yufei waved at the audience with a smile before putting on her protective gear and getting into position.
The cameraman immediately zoomed in for a close-up. Zhou Yufei’s cheekbones were adorned with glittering sequins, her voluminous curls cascading down her shoulders, perfectly matching her elven princess theme.
The crowd cheered, and even the commentator couldn’t help but gush, "Wow, Feifei even has such enviable hair volume!"
After focusing on Zhou Yufei, the camera panned to the other female contestants, each with their own unique style, waving and blowing kisses at the lens.
But when the shot finally landed on the "Cat Paw Platform’s Top Beauty," the atmosphere shifted abruptly.
Amidst the sea of elaborately dressed contestants, there stood one girl in a plain production crew T-shirt, her hair in a simple bun.
Most strikingly, her expression was solemn, her brows slightly furrowed, with barely a trace of a smile.
This was the same "Cat Paw’s Top Beauty" who had trended online for "training rigorously for months, aiming for gold."
The chatter in the audience suddenly quieted.
First, because among all the glamorous contestants, they were struck by how effortlessly stunning she looked even in such a simple outfit. Second, as Gu Ran’s serious expression filled the big screen, it dawned on everyone that while the participants were mostly amateur idols, this was still a sports competition—not a beauty pageant.
On the field, the other contestants had been all smiles, but the sight of someone who clearly meant business made their expressions falter, the pressure suddenly mounting.
Over at Cat Paw Live, Gu Ran’s home platform, the stream’s chat exploded when their top female streamer appeared in such an understated look amid a crowd of dazzling idols. After a brief pause, the screen flooded with comments like, "Go, Boss Ran!" "My wife is majestic!" and "Now this is the aura of a true pro."
The referee announced the start of the competition.
The preliminary rounds followed a points system, with each contestant taking turns to shoot, their scores accumulating. The top performers would advance to the finals the next day.
Gu Ran hadn’t even noticed the camera on her, too preoccupied with figuring out how to handle the situation.
Ding Ze had assured her that everyone’s skill level was mediocre at best—that this was all just for fun. But now, to avoid maximum humiliation, she at least couldn’t get eliminated in the preliminaries. She had to scrape her way into the finals, no matter what.
After all, she had practiced seriously for two whole days.
Standing at the far end of her group, Gu Ran was up first.
Hearing the referee’s signal, she gritted her teeth, aimed for the bullseye, and let loose the first arrow of the round—determined to survive until the finals.
...
The first day of "Idol Sports Day" archery preliminaries concluded.
"Big Shrimp Wang" failed to qualify for the finals but scored a photo op with his idols, the nine-member girl group "Starlight Maidens." The image of him standing awkwardly in the middle of them, toes turned inward from nerves, was hilariously endearing. Meanwhile, sharing the trending topics with him was Cat Paw’s Top Beauty, who barely scraped into the women’s finals by a single point.
On the field, Gu Ran checked the scoreboard and finally exhaled in relief when she saw her name among the qualifiers.
Most contestants dispersed to prepare for other events or left if they had no further matches.
In the women’s restroom, Gu Ran was about to exit her stall when she overheard laughter outside.
"Pathetic. Thought she was so impressive, huh?"
"Right? Barely made it to the finals after all that ‘months of training, aiming for gold’ nonsense. How embarrassing."
"Acting like she’s the only one here to compete seriously, then delivering that performance? These streamers really have no place on this stage."
"Totally. Just like that ‘Big Shrimp Wang’ guy—so tacky and uncultured."
Gu Ran paused mid-step, then pushed the stall door open and walked out.
Two girls were chatting while touching up their makeup at the sinks. They froze when they saw her reflection in the mirror.
Gu Ran’s gaze first met Zhou Yufei’s, then shifted to her friend.
A flicker of discomfort crossed their faces before they resumed their activities as if nothing had happened.
Without a word, Gu Ran moved to the adjacent sink to wash her hands. The two girls grabbed their bags to leave.
Just as they were about to exit, Gu Ran called out, "Wait."
She pulled a paper towel to dry her hands, then faced them.
Zhou Yufei turned first, eyeing Gu Ran up and down. "Something you need?"
Gu Ran took a breath. "Congrats on placing first in the preliminaries. Your costume was lovely."
Zhou Yufei blinked, caught off guard by the compliment.
Gu Ran tossed the towel into the bin. "But I’d like to remind you—I’m a streamer, you’re an actress. We each earn our keep. Neither profession is inherently superior. And if anyone here is ‘tacky and uncultured,’ it’s those who gossip behind others’ backs."
Zhou Yufei’s face darkened instantly.
Her friend bristled, stepping forward. "Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!"
Zhou Yufei grabbed her arm, sneering at Gu Ran. "Don’t stoop to her level. It’s beneath us."
They stormed off.
Watching them go, Gu Ran smirked. The hierarchy in the entertainment industry was getting ridiculous. Actors already looked down on idols, and now even streamers—barely part of the industry—were dragged into the pecking order, relegated to the very bottom.
She glanced at her phone again.
The trending hashtag that the vice president had bought for her in the morning had already dropped off the charts. However, her performance in today's finals was clearly far from what the marketing accounts had hyped it up to be.
Gu Ran puffed her cheeks in frustration, thinking that making it to the finals after two days of hard practice was already quite an achievement. She silently wished the vice president wouldn’t casually buy her trending spots—it was too easy for things to backfire.
She then scrolled through her fan group chat and noticed that her fans were unusually active today, as if something big had happened.
Just as Gu Ran frowned and was about to check what was going on, her phone rang.
Ding Ze’s voice came through: "Your fans are fighting with Zhou Yufei’s fans."
Gu Ran: "Excuse me?"
She had just had a tense encounter with Zhou Yufei in the restroom, and now their fans were already at each other’s throats?
The conflict started because Zhou Yufei had placed first in the archery preliminaries today. Her sweet and ethereal "Elf Princess" look should have been trending, but instead, the hashtag for the "Cat Paw’s Top Beauty"—who had nearly been eliminated in the preliminaries—had been dominating the charts. Some of Zhou Yufei’s fans grew resentful and began leaving snide remarks on Gu Ran’s real-time fan page.
Zhou Yufei wasn’t a top-tier actress—otherwise, she wouldn’t have signed up for Idol Sports Day—so her fans took trending spots very seriously.
Meanwhile, the fans of Cat Paw’s number one live streamer were no pushovers either. They fired back at the passive-aggressive comments from Zhou Yufei’s fans, and before long, the two sides were locked in a full-blown feud.
When Gu Ran heard the reason for the fight, she felt like a herd of alpacas was stampeding through her mind: "Her fans didn’t work hard enough to push her hashtag, and now they’re blaming me instead of their own stingy company for not buying her a trending spot? What kind of logic is that?"
Ding Ze sounded just as exasperated: "Since when have toxic fans ever made sense to normal people?"
Gu Ran checked her real-time fan page and, sure enough, found it flooded with Zhou Yufei’s supporters.
Zhou Yufei’s fans had photoshopped side-by-side images of her and Gu Ran from today’s competition—distorting and darkening Gu Ran’s photo while giving Zhou Yufei a soft, angelic glow. They mocked Gu Ran’s lack of skill while also insulting her looks.
The Little Fishies (Gu Ran’s fans) weren’t about to take that lying down. Say our Ran Ran lacks skill all you want, but calling her ugly is unforgivable! Some people treat this competition like a beauty pageant—who are they trying to impress?
They retaliated by posting unedited high-definition screenshots from the event. No matter how much you dress up, our Ran Ran—with just a simple bun—still outshines that over-the-top actress in complexion, features, and even skull structure!
The back-and-forth escalated until Zhou Yufei’s fans shifted the battlefield to Idol Sports Day’s Fan Charging Leaderboard.
The Fan Charging Leaderboard was a revenue-generating scheme by the streaming platform, preying on fans’ competitive vanity. During the competition, fans could "charge" votes for their favorite idols. The leaderboard was divided into male and female categories, updated daily. The top-ranked idol would receive a promotional banner on the platform’s homepage, while the top three fans would win tickets to the live event and autographed photos.
Zhou Yufei’s fans had been relentlessly charging votes for her since the start of the competition, maintaining a solid lead in the female category. Tomorrow’s homepage banner was practically in the bag.
What’s the point of fighting among ourselves? The real victory is seeing our idol’s face on the homepage!
Armed with screenshots of Zhou Yufei’s top ranking, her fans delivered a triumphant ultimatum:
Keep arguing all you want—tomorrow, the whole platform will see our Fei Fei’s gorgeous face!
Elf Princess Fei Fei forever!
LOL, some people trained for months and barely scraped into the finals. Tomorrow, Fei Fei will dominate in both looks and skill!
Meanwhile, Gu Ran’s fan group was rallying the troops. Ran Ran might have lost to Zhou Yufei in the competition, but her beauty never will—and neither will her fans! Charge those votes now—tomorrow’s banner MUST be Ran Ran’s!
It took Gu Ran a few minutes to understand how the Fan Charging Leaderboard worked.
It was essentially a pay-to-win system. Platform members got five free charging points per day, with an additional five obtainable through ads and tasks. Beyond that, fans had to spend real money to buy more points.
Gu Ran frowned as she watched her ranking climb rapidly. The top contenders had already spent thousands on charging points.
She didn’t see the point in this pointless competition, so she made a surprise appearance in her fan group.
Just use the free charging points from your membership. Losing doesn’t matter—don’t waste your money!
From now on, anyone who spends money on charging points will be kicked out of the fan group and stripped of their fan status.
The Little Fishies, who had been gearing up for an all-out spending war: …What?
Gu Ran remained firm, ignoring the flood of "Why?", "Ran Ran, don’t do this!", and "Please let me spend money!" in the group chat. After making her stance clear, she logged off.
With spending banned, Gu Ran’s once-soaring ranking suddenly slowed to a crawl.
As the daily cutoff approached, Zhou Yufei’s fans were already celebrating, smugly inviting Cat Paw’s Top Beauty’s fans to "enjoy their homepage banner tomorrow."
There was still a 500,000-point gap between the two.
The Little Fishies seethed with frustration, but without spending, overtaking Zhou Yufei was impossible.
With ten minutes left, Zhou Yufei’s fans were already picking out the perfect banner photo.
Gu Ran’s fan group was in despair:
This is so infuriating!
Ran Ran, why? I have money to spare!
Ugh… we lost.
@CatPaw’sTopBeauty, don’t think you can just threaten us with expulsion whenever you want! Don’t think you’re so charming and amazing! Next time you pull this, I swear I’ll get on my knees and beg!
Dejected, the banned spenders stared at the leaderboard—until the final refresh revealed something unexpected.
Idol Sports Day Fan Charging Leaderboard (Female Category) — No. 1: Cat Paw’s Top Beauty.
Everyone: …Huh?
Scrolling down, they saw the system display:
Top Fan of Cat Paw’s Top Beauty: wdlpml, Charging Points: 580,000.
The staggering number left them gaping—but when they recognized the ID "wdlpml", the shock was collective.
There wasn’t a single person in the group who didn’t know that name.
So the question everyone wanted to ask—"Why the hell are you charging in like that? Aren’t you afraid of getting kicked out of the fandom?"—never made it past their lips.
Because he wasn’t even part of the fandom to begin with.
