Hearing Sarah Clark's words, Emily Harris didn't know why she suddenly felt a sense of relief. Maybe she hadn't even realized it herself, but after meeting Eric Carter in real life, she didn't really want beautiful things to end badly.

Those discussing Eric Carter included Sarah Clark's trio, as well as the eliminated Ethan Wright, who was talking about it with his buddies.

“Damn, I don't know where he plagiarized that so-called original work to beat me, sneak attacking, no sense of sportsmanship. The next round's format is a designated song, just wait, you'll be eliminated.” Ethan Wright cursed, completely ignoring that heavenly humming.

A few anonymous buddies chimed in, “Pretty boys who rely on their looks to get by, what do they know about singing,” “Maybe there's some inside deal,” “Bro, we'll stand up for you, when the show airs we'll diss him,” and so on. From the standpoint of being good friends, it's fine to side with your own, but from Eric Carter's perspective, that's just being a jerk.

Whether it's praise or insults, the person involved can't hear any of it. Eric Carter was staying at a hotel in Star City, not going out, researching the system's achievement list, while the production team was also warming up the show online.

Mango TV: [“Rock never dies, nor will it wither, Lin-style rock is coming your way”~@Sarah Clark_passionate performance #IAmASinger# October 4th, 20:00 on Mango TV, exclusive online broadcast at 22:00, let's meet in music!]

Even though he had dropped out of the top three, the show's promotion still centered on Sarah Clark—after all, he was the traffic magnet.

Online, people were discussing why there was no news about a surprise guest this time. In previous promotions, the surprise guest was a key selling point and generated a lot of buzz, but still not as much as the masked king. The singer show was already halfway through, while the king show was just starting to feel fresh. Besides, since their show just started, of course they had to spend money to create hype.

It was around two or three in the afternoon, and the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Eric Carter was in the hotel's smoking area, finishing another cigarette. In his two days in Star City, besides being hungover and eating spicy food, he had developed a new habit—

[Smoking King (Suddenly sees a fiery sickle in the sky, it's the Jade Emperor coming to smoke.)

Smoking *1, 1 personality coin★

Smoking *5, 2 personality coins★

Smoking *10, 3 personality coins★

Smoking *50, 4 personality coins★

Smoking *100, 5 personality coins

……]

Before crossing over, he wasn't a heavy smoker either—he only smoked when clients wanted to during business meetings. The original host didn't smoke at all.

Eric Carter activated Smoking King, and in two days smoked two and a half packs. Any more and he really couldn't handle it, but he had saved up 10 personality coins.

“Smoking, drinking, and probably other bad habits in the future—these aren't good examples. We need to be a young idol who embodies the core values of socialism.”

“Being blacklisted, and the past suicide attempt with sleeping pills, that's a weapon. There’s even proof of depression, right?” Eric Carter confirmed in his memory.

The original host had only gone out a few times, one of which was to buy sleeping pills. But sleeping pills are prescription drugs, requiring a doctor's note. So the original host bundled up tightly and went to the hospital, was diagnosed with severe depression, and got some medication and sleeping pills.

All of these are physical evidence and can be used. Because of severe depression, is it reasonable to smoke, get drunk, and do other things?

Even if you drank water from the Ganges, you’d still have to shout in the graveyard—this is the Ganges!

“If I manage to make a comeback, I’ll have to encourage my fans to smoke and drink less, since it’s bad for your health. As for me, it’s only because I was wronged, cyberbullied, and hit with severe depression all at once.”

Eric Carter noticed that the system had many strange items, like the world’s best stomach medicine—basically things that could repair bodily harm. Thinking about it, it made sense: if there weren’t these props, and you hadn’t completed many achievements, the host’s body would have collapsed.

If you’re dead, you can’t enjoy a comeback—something Eric Carter absolutely couldn’t accept.

“System bro, I want to draw a blind box.” Eric Carter said in his mind as he returned to his room from the smoking area.

Six boxes immediately appeared in his mind, and he had to check the prize pool—

【World’s Most Beautiful Hands】

【Voice of Despair】

【Poetry Collection: Stray Birds】

【‘Backlight’ Gift Pack】

【‘Faith’ Gift Pack】

【Special Grand Prize: Vitas’s Vocal Talent】

“What does it mean to have a poetry collection as a reward?” Eric Carter asked, especially since it was Tagore’s Stray Birds.

[There is no Tagore in this world.] the system replied.

In other words, he could plagiarize. Eric Carter recalled that the difference between this world and Earth started after the nineteenth century. Tagore was a nineteenth-century figure, so it made sense he didn’t exist here. But…

“I’m supposed to be a singer. Wouldn’t it be weird to write poetry?” Eric Carter asked.

[Music creators need to write their own lyrics, so what’s unreasonable about writing a couple of modern poems while you’re at it?] the system retorted.

“Uh…” Eric Carter opened his mouth to argue, but it seemed he couldn’t refute it. It really did make sense.

He didn’t pay much attention to the music scene, but thinking about it, if the three lyricist legends Huang Zhan, Zhuang Nu, and Qiao Yu published a poetry collection, it would be totally normal. Going further, Fang Wenshan writing modern poetry—or even classical poetry—wouldn’t be surprising at all.

Whether it’s modern poetry or classical poetry, you can’t just plagiarize at will. Many modern poems carry personal marks and the context of their times; you can’t just write them casually.

But since it’s a whole poetry collection, he could take his time with it.

Chapter 12: Plan B