Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

The celebration banquet in Jakarta had just ended when trouble struck.

"Brother Gu! Look at this!"

Wang Min kicked open the door to the operations room, her face flushed, and she lost the composure she had as the dean of the academy.

She slammed a Huawei MatePad Pro onto the table, with two videos playing side-by-side on the screen.

On the left is a video posted by Iqbal three days ago, titled "Jakarta Street Food Challenge," which has garnered 2.6 million likes.

On the right is a video posted an hour ago by an unknown account. The title is the same, and the content is almost identical, even mimicking Iqbal's head-shaking motion.

The difference is that the main character has been changed to a greasy-looking stranger, and the video production is also very rough.

But this counterfeit product garnered over 300,000 likes within an hour.

The logo of Nanyang Media is shown below the video.

"Not just Iqbal!" Wang Min swiped the screen, her voice hoarse. "Siti's 'Stray Cat Diary,' and the street dance boy's 'Rooftop Freestyle,' all our viral videos were copied by them within 24 hours!"

On the large screen in the operations room, backend data showed that traffic was decreasing.

All of Xingchen's top influencers are experiencing a decline in traffic, with some seeing drops exceeding 40%.

The Indonesian team members stared at the downward-sloping data curve, and no one spoke.

This is not just plagiarism, it's robbery.

Gu Ming walked in carrying a glass of iced Americano, seemingly oblivious to the heavy atmosphere in the room.

He glanced at the screen, his eyes expressionless.

Here it comes. Shen Guodong's methods are the same as always. Attacking me through low-cost replication? He doesn't know my purpose. He thinks he's attacking my internet celebrities, but he's actually helping me filter out truly valuable people.

"What's the panic?" Gu Ming took a sip of coffee. His voice wasn't loud, but it quieted everyone down.

"Just a bunch of elementary school students who can't even copy their homework properly."

"Let them copy. Not only let them copy, but help them copy even faster."

"Huh?" Wang Min didn't react, and neither did the others.

What does he mean by that?

"Brother Gu... I didn't understand..."

"You don't need to understand," Gu Ming said, putting down his coffee cup. "You just need to execute."

"Pass the word: starting today, all top influencers will halve their content update frequency. All the saved budget will be invested in supporting newcomers."

"What?" Wang Min's voice rose. "Half the market share? Isn't that just handing it over to them?"

"The market?" Gu Ming laughed, a cold laugh. "I am the market."

"I don't care about the traffic of one or two internet celebrities; what I want is the power to define the rules of this industry."

Before anyone could process what he had said, an employee in charge of public opinion raised his hand, his face pale.

"Boss... something even more serious than plagiarism has happened."

He projected a video onto the big screen.

In the video, a heavily made-up woman, using a style similar to Siti's, is filming a vlog about Jakarta's nightlife.

The content is vulgar, contains many sexual innuendos, and the comment section is terrible.

The video is tagged with #StarryMade# and #SitiStyle#.

"The Indonesian Ministry of Communications just sent a warning email demanding that we rectify the vulgar content on our platform, or the platform may be shut down."

This is worse than plagiarism; it's an attempt to completely destroy Xingchen's reputation.

Wang Min swayed, almost losing her balance. She had poured her heart and soul into the academy, but now it was being corrupted by these things; she didn't know what to do.

"very good."

As Gu Ming looked at the woman posing seductively on the screen, the corners of his mouth grew increasingly cold.

"The fish is finally getting anxious."

"Since they love copying so much, let's give them a feast that will kill them if they copy it."

He turned around and picked up the whiteboard marker.

"Now, immediately gather our core local screenwriters and creative staff."

"Hold a top-level creative leak conference."

……

three days later.

A rumor has spread in the chat groups of various MCN companies in Jakarta.

"Have you heard? Starry Sky Holdings is making a big move!"

—"It seems to be a short drama series about ancient Indonesian mythology, called 'The Cursed Princess,' and it has a large budget!"

"I've read a few pages of the draft; the script is very promising! It tells the story of a princess who betrays the gods for love, and is ultimately cursed and turned into a stone temple!"

"This is personally overseen by Gu Ming; it's said to be Xingchen's most important project next year!"

This news also reached Annie Lin, the owner of Nanyang Media.

She sat in her office overlooking Jakarta's CBD, listening to her subordinates' report, and gave a cold laugh.

Gu Ming? Just a lucky nouveau riche. Thinks he can succeed overseas like he did in China? This is Indonesia, my territory!

"Creativity?" she scoffed dismissively. "In the face of capital and distribution channels, creativity is worthless!"

"Pass the word! Concentrate all resources and funds, and start filming 'The Cursed Princess' overnight!"

"I want to get ahead of him and make this idea my own!"

"I want him to know what the rules are on this land!"

Nanyang Media Group began full-scale operations.

They poached the best local special effects team for three times the price and quickly built a magnificent palace set. They brought in the hottest celebrities, but gave them less than a day to understand the script.

They only care about speed.

A week later, the Nanyang Media version of "The Cursed Princess" was launched with great fanfare.

With its exquisite costumes, props, special effects, and popular celebrities, the first episode garnered over ten million views within an hour.

Lin Anni looked at the rising data, picked up her red wine, and smiled.

She imagined Gu Ming's reaction when he saw the data.

However, she didn't see it.

The StarCraft Jakarta operations room was very quiet at this moment.

Gu Ming stood in front of the big screen, watching Nanyang Media's live broadcast data surge to 50 million.

His face was calm.

He slowly raised his hand.

"Time is up."

"close the door."

"Unleash the dogs."

……

Just as Nanyang Media's celebratory champagne was being opened...

At the same time, all official accounts under Star Holdings released a brand new short drama.

The title is—

The Cursed Princess: Director's Cut.

Many netizens clicked on the video.

The core story is the same, but the quality of the version featuring stars is completely different.

The video has a somber tone, restrained composition, and classical aesthetic.

There are no magnificent palaces, only an ancient temple that has stood for thousands of years in the wind and rain.

The female lead is a new actress, and her eyes convey both stubbornness and sadness.

The outcomes were also different.

In the Nanyang Media version, the princess is redeemed. In the Xingchen version, however, when the prince arrives at the temple, the cursed princess controls the temple's giant stone, burying both the prince and herself underground.

A line of small text slowly appeared on the screen.

"I love you, so I will never allow you to see my ugly appearance after I've been cursed."

This is a tragedy about love and dignity, with more depth than the Nanyang version.

Nanyang Media produces idol dramas, while Star Holdings produces works that resemble works of art.

The audience hadn't even reacted yet.

The official account of Starry Sky published a long article titled "A Letter to Mr. Thief".

The article included pictures and videos. These included Gu Ming's time-stamped script manuscript, notes made by the creative team for researching ancient costumes and etiquette, and storyboard sketches that matched the final cut. There was even an audio recording of Gu Ming deliberately guiding the screenwriters to discuss the scrapped happy ending at a creative meeting.

The evidence is very strong.

Public opinion reversed instantly, with Nanyang Media accused of commercial plagiarism.

Subsequently, the Indonesian National Cultural Heritage Protection Association and the Royal Historical Society of Yogyakarta, together with more than a dozen prestigious cultural scholars, issued a statement at the same time.

In their statement, they praised the Starry Sky version of the short drama as a respectful reinterpretation of their country's traditional culture.

At the same time, they condemned Nanyang Media for distorting and desecrating the national cultural treasure, deeming it "a blatant trampling on the feelings of 100 million Indonesians!"

It’s over.

Lin Anni looked at her phone, which was filled with condemnations of Nanyang, and saw that the company's stock price had plummeted by 80%. She slumped in her chair, her face ashen.

She understood. It was all a trap.

She thought she was the hunter, but she was actually the prey.

The following day, the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and the Commercial Crime Investigation Department formed a joint investigation team and entered Nanyang Media.

Lin Anni, as the legal representative, was restricted from leaving the country and her passport was confiscated.

Things seem to have calmed down.

Late at night, Gu Ming's phone rang.

It was an encrypted text message from someone he had planted in Jakarta.

"Boss. Lin Anni sent a message through an intermediary, wanting to see you."

"She said she was willing to hand over all of Shen Guodong's plans in Indonesia, the mastermind behind it all."

"I only ask that you help her gain her freedom."

Gu Ming walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at Jakarta.

The city lights were reflected in his pupils.

He slowly typed out a line of text.

Tell her.

"What I want is to establish a set of rules."