Cassius scrolled through the comments under the trending topic and stopped on the most-liked Weibo post.
"I'd give anything to be Cassius for just one day!"
It had over a hundred thousand reposts. The replies were pure chaos.
"+1!"
"Count me in!"
"Share the experience!"
Cassius stared at the screen, caught between laughing and crying. His own people and everyone else were showing their true colors on this one.
His phone buzzed again. Jennifer.
"Hey, I saw the news. You okay?"
"Still standing. Dealing with it."
Cassius typed back.
Thank God nothing had come out about him and Jennifer. It was just a fake couple thing—still under control.
"Want me to post something supporting you? I can say you're a total pro and would never mess around."
She followed it with a devil emoji.
Cassius: ???
Jennifer was clearly here for the drama.
If she were in front of him right now, he'd have to lay down some domestic discipline.
Too bad she was too far away.
"Don't post anything yet. We don't need that right now."
Cassius replied with a knife emoji, annoyed.
Jennifer didn't text back. She just sent a string of kiss emojis.
Meanwhile, the online storm was picking up speed.
#CassiusGetOutOfHollywood was sitting at number three on U.S. Twitter trends.
#ProtectTheBestCassius had claimed the top spot on Weibo.
The contrast was almost surreal.
At the exact same moment, he was getting dragged through the mud in America while being treated like a national treasure back home.
"Rob, I'm going live."
Cassius stared at the flood of negative comments scrolling across his screen and called Rob, laying out his plan.
"Now?" Rob sounded stunned. "What are you even gonna say?"
"Nothing. I'm just gonna show them what my day actually looks like."
Cassius stood up. "If they won't believe the statements, let them watch for themselves."
Going live right now would also send a clear message to the haters: no matter how hard they come at me, I'm still gonna do my thing. That's how confident I am.
"It's risky. It's live. One wrong word and—"
"Still better than sitting here taking hits."
Cassius checked the time. "Two p.m. sharp. Keep it going until tonight. Call NASA and see if they'll let me stream from the simulator."
"You think they'll agree?"
"Nolan will make it happen. He wants this cleaned up more than I do right now."
He hung up and started getting ready.
At exactly two in the afternoon, Cassius went live on both Twitter and Instagram at the same time.
The title was simple: "A Day in the Life of Cassius."
The moment the stream started, the viewer count jumped from a few thousand to fifty thousand. Ten minutes later it hit two hundred thousand.
Cassius appeared on screen in a plain workout shirt, standing in his living room.
"Hey everyone, it's Cassius. There's been a lot of talk about me online today. Some of it's true—like the fact that Anne and I spent seven hours in her hotel room running lines. Some of it's bullshit—like the sleeping-with-fans stuff. Since you're all so curious about my life, I figured I'd just show you."
The chat exploded instantly.
"He's live!"
"Let's see how he spins this!"
"Supporting Cassius!"
"Get this trash out of Hollywood!"
Cassius ignored the comments and picked up his phone.
"First stop—the gym. Actors have to stay in shape, especially when you're shooting sci-fi."
He walked and filmed at the same time, heading into the estate's private gym.
It was quiet at this hour, but a couple of residents recognized him and started snapping secret photos.
"Four strength sessions and three cardio days a week."
Cassius set his phone up and started warming up. "The movie has a lot of physical scenes. Gotta be ready."
He knocked out a few pull-ups, form clean, muscles flexing.
The chat started veering off-track.
"This body is dangerous!"
"No wonder Kristen and Anne both—"
"Shut up, upstairs!"
After half an hour he wiped the sweat off. "Next up—NASA training center. Got simulator work today. But before we go, let me answer a few questions."
He picked up his phone and scanned the chat.
Someone asked: "You and Anne really just running lines?"
"Really."
Cassius nodded. "We're prepping for Nolan's new movie. We've got a ton of scenes together and need to get the chemistry right. If you want proof, I can show you some of our notes later—just can't spoil anything."
"What about the fan chat logs?"
"Fake."
Cassius's face turned serious. "I've already got lawyers on it. Faking evidence and defamation is illegal. And by the way, a lot of those so-called 'proofs' floating around are Photoshopped. Be careful what you believe."
"What about the contract relationship with Kristen?"
That one started flooding the chat.
Cassius went quiet for two seconds.
"Fake. It was just a fun little role-play between us. Like landlord-tenant stuff. Fake it till you make it. Or the classic 'your husband doesn't need to know' vibe—"
The chat went nuclear.
"666, this streamer's seen it all!"
"Old dog, teach me your ways!"
"Look into my eyes and tell me where the resources are!"
Cassius grabbed his car keys. "Let's go. NASA time."
On the drive over, he kept the stream going.
"Right now I'm gonna teach you what to do if a Dodge Warhorse ever stops in front of you and you want to drive it away."
He killed the engine at a red light, then walked everyone through the full startup and takeoff sequence.
"Bro, tell me where you're parking that thing—I'm on my way!"
"You're delusional. Do I look like I can afford a sports car?"
"Learned another useless skill on the internet!"
At the next red light, the car next to him rolled down its window. The driver yelled, "Cass! I believe you!"
Cassius waved back in thanks.
The chat lit up: "Is this staged?"
When they reached the NASA training center, Nolan had clearly pulled some strings.
A staff member led him straight into the simulator area.
"This is where we train for the movie."
Cassius pointed the camera at the massive simulator pod. "We spend four to six hours a day in here learning how to operate the spacecraft."
Instructor Robert stepped into frame and greeted him.
"Robert's my NASA coach. He can confirm I've been training here every day for the past few months. No time for any of that other nonsense."
Cassius turned the camera toward him.
Robert nodded. "Cass is one of the most dedicated actors I've ever trained. His logs are in the system—six hours a day, every single day, no exceptions."
"You hear that?"
Cassius looked back at the camera. "I'm exhausted every night. All I want to do is sleep. Where would I even find the energy for scandals?"
The chat started splitting.
"Okay… that actually makes sense."
"Keep acting!"
"Is the coach in on it too?"
Cassius changed into his training gear and climbed into the simulator.
The feed switched to the interior camera.
"Right now we're simulating docking with the space station."
He worked the controls while explaining. "Every button has a purpose. Hit the wrong one and the mission fails. I have to stay completely focused."
For the next thirty minutes he ran through the full docking sequence.
His movements were smooth and precise—nothing like a beginner.
Viewer count broke five hundred thousand.
The chat started filling with comments.
"Already over the wall, currently outputting!"
"fan brigade reporting in!"
"Take that, haters! This is what real professionalism looks like!"
Cassius paused, then grinned. "I see the comments. Thanks, everyone back home. Quick reminder though—be safe when you're using VPNs."
That sent the chat into overdrive.
"Cassius knows about VPNs?!"
"Dead. The official warning is the most lethal one."
"Reported the guy above me."
Cassius finished the training and stepped out into the rest area.
The viewer count had crossed eight hundred thousand.
The chat war was in full swing.
Supporters and haters were going at it hard.
"Great acting can't hide a shitty personality!"
"Which eye are you using to see his 'shitty personality'?"
"How do you explain the seven hours in the hotel?"
"Work! Work! You slack off for seven hours at your job?"
"Contract relationship = confirmed scumbag!"
"Now he's really cooked!"
"Who even believes this?"
"Believe it or don't—I don't care!"
Cassius watched the flood of messages and suddenly spoke up.
"I've noticed something. The people who believe me are usually the ones who've actually watched my work. The ones who don't are usually the ones who've only seen the gossip. What does that tell you? It tells me that the work speaks louder than the rumors."
He paused. "So here's what I'm gonna do. After this stream ends tonight, I'm running a giveaway on Twitter. I'll randomly pick a hundred people and send them merch from my projects. If you still don't believe me, that's fine—but you should still wear the clothes."
The chat went wild again.
"This is just PR damage control. Don't fall for it. I actually need a hoodie though—where do I sign up?"
"Me too! I'm a fan, I want in!"
Cassius looked at the messages and laughed. "Time to head home and cook."
He drove back, stopping at the store for ingredients.
"Kristen's been on set a lot lately, so I'm cooking for myself."
Cassius set his phone up in the kitchen. "Making a simple steak with salad."
He cooked while chatting like a food vlogger.
"A lot of people think actors live these glamorous lives. Most of the time it's just grinding—training, shooting, memorizing lines, meetings. Sometimes you work sixteen hours straight and come home too tired to even talk."
The steak sizzled in the pan.
"So when people say I'm juggling multiple women at once, they're really giving me too much credit. If I had that kind of energy, I'd rather just get more sleep."
"I'm not some time-management genius!"
The chat lit up.
"Hahaha, so real!"
"Fellow wage slave here!"
"Actors are just workers too!"
Once the steak was done, Cassius sat down to eat.
The viewer count broke one million.
The chat suddenly started spamming the same message.
"Kristen just posted!"
Cassius picked up his phone.
Kristen had retweeted his stream with the caption: "Watching my personal chef cook. Tastes way better than when I do it!"
After he finished eating and cleaned up, he went back to the living room.
"Stream's almost over. Just a few last words."
He looked straight into the camera, expression serious.
"I'm an actor. My job is to play the role well. I try to keep my private life low-key, but sometimes that's not possible. Today's stream wasn't about proving how innocent I am. I just wanted the people who actually care to see the real me."
He paused. "As for the people who won't believe me no matter what—I can't do anything about that. Time will prove everything. My work will prove everything. Thanks to everyone watching today, whether you support me or not."
The stream ended.
Final viewer count: 1.2 million.
Cassius shut everything down and let out a long breath.
Rob called right on cue.
"Numbers are in. Peak viewership 1.2 million. Average watch time forty-five minutes. The hashtag #CassiusLive is trending worldwide. Positive sentiment went from thirty percent this morning to fifty-eight percent now."
"And get this—fans organized themselves. They're VPNing over and flooding every platform with comments. Their coordination is insane."
Cassius opened his laptop.
Wherever the topic came up, comments were everywhere.
They came with English translations attached.
Some were even written in broken English on purpose.
Organized rebuttals. Clean breakdowns of Cassius's filmography and achievements. Someone had even made a long infographic comparing the timeline of his career against the rumors.
The comments section had turned into an actual battlefield.
"fans have arrived. No grass left standing!"
"English isn't great, but the insults are on point!"
"Haters, prepare for the socialist iron fist!"
"I love this comment section energy. Strangers going at each other like mortal enemies, mouths full of poison, but it's the purest kind of fight—no hidden agendas."
"Upstairs nailed it."
Cassius smiled as he read through them.
He opened Weibo and posted: "I see you all. Thank you. But stay safe—don't push yourselves too hard. When the movie comes out, I'll treat you all to a screening."
The replies exploded instantly.
"I'm crying. He actually cares about us!"
"Not tired at all! Fighting feels amazing!"
"Already over the wall and hunting down the haters!"
"Cassius, fly free. If shit hits the fan, we've got your back!"
After the stream ended, the public opinion started shifting in Cassius's favor.
The live stream had worked surprisingly well. The NASA training footage, the casual cooking, and that self-deprecating "time-management master" bit had made a lot of neutral viewers feel like he was genuine.
The sheer combat power of the fan army had also stunned a lot of Western netizens.
Those "already over the wall, currently outputting" and "socialist iron fist" comments, paired with memes and long infographics, were pushing the haters back on their heels.
Rob even got inquiries from a few PR firms asking how he'd orchestrated this international fan coordination.
"It wasn't me. They did it themselves."
Rob sounded exhausted over the phone. "Cassius has way more popularity in China than we realized. They've got this term—it means 'one of our own, so we protect them.'"
Cassius was at home reading the script when he heard that and laughed.
One of our own?
The metaphor actually fit pretty well.
The morning after the stream.
Rob called early.
"You checked Twitter yet?"
He sounded excited.
"Not yet. I just woke up."
"Look now! Your fans are going hard!"
Cassius opened his phone.
Twitter's top trend: #CassiusFans
He clicked in. The pinned post was a long infographic in English, breaking down every rumor with evidence.
Night-light script incident — attached: hotel living room security cam still + coffee shop receipt + script notes.
Sleeping-with-fans chat logs — attached: Photoshop analysis, jagged edges, lighting mismatch, timestamp errors.
Contract relationship — attached: Kristen's cooking stream and photos of her stuff at his place.
Get out of Hollywood — attached: Cassius's box office numbers, Nolan's quotes, and the NASA coach's statement.
Every line ended with a short, brutal rebuttal.
"No body of work? Rely on hype. Got the work? Rely on skill. @Cassius lets the work speak. Haters let their keyboards speak. That all you got?"
The post had over a hundred thousand retweets. The comments were flooded with bilingual replies.
"Facts and receipts. I'm convinced."
"I was neutral before. This chart turned me into a fan."
"Where'd the haters go? Why so quiet all of a sudden?"
"Probably learning . Can't understand the posts otherwise."
Cassius kept scrolling and found something even better.
A fan had made a highlight reel cutting together all of Cassius's fight scenes from different movies, with subtitles: "If I had time to mess around, I'd rather get in a few more training sessions."
The comments were full of "hahaha" and "this is too good."
The haters' comments were now being ratio'd by replies.
"You're right, but Cassius's Green Lantern: Rise of the Azure Dragon made $870 million worldwide."
"Oh yeah yeah, Cassius has bad acting, that's why Nolan cast him as the lead."
"Getting desperate now? No work of your own so you have to drag others? Pathetic."
Cassius couldn't stop smiling.
He opened his DMs and saw tons of messages from fans giving him battle reports.
"Cassius, don't worry. We've got the battlefield under control!"
"VPN tutorial updated to 3.0. Safe and stable."
"Want us to go tear into the haters? We're professionals."
Cassius quickly replied: "No need to curse anyone out. Just stick to the facts. Stay safe."
His reply got screenshotted and posted in the super topic.
"Cassius told us not to curse—just use facts."
"What do we do then? I already had my Zu'an dictionary ready."
"Facts only? Fine. I'll switch to a gentler vocabulary."
From then on, the tone shifted.
Hater: "Cassius only got famous because of his face!"
Reply: "You make a very good point. So you believe Nolan only casts based on looks and not talent? Your understanding of cinema is truly unique~"
Hater: "Contract relationship confirmed!"
Reply: "Thank you for your concern, but I think you might be confusing role-play with actual contracts? Would you like me to recommend some legal textbooks for you?"
Hater: "people get out of Hollywood!"
Reply: "Hollywood was built by immigrants. This comment could be considered racist. Your statement may be illegal. I suggest you delete it~"
Every reply was polite. Every reply landed like a knife.
American netizens had never seen this style before.
In their online culture, fighting meant dropping F-bombs and B-words—straightforward and crude.
But this passive-aggressive, sarcastic-but-polite, fact-dropping style completely threw them off.
It was like throwing a punch into a pillow and getting smacked in the face by the pillow on the rebound.
Pretty soon some of the haters started breaking.
"Can you people just speak normally?!"
"What kind of new insult style is this?!"
"I'd rather you just curse me out directly!"
netizens replied: "We're not insulting you at all~ We're simply having a reasonable discussion with you~"
Followed by a smiley face.
American netizens were losing it.
What started as a one-sided slaughter had turned into a full-blown cultural export event.
People started studying the replies.
"What the hell is a Zu'an dictionary?"
"Is 'passive-aggressive' an idiom?"
Someone even made a thread asking: "How do you elegantly clap back at netizens?"
The top reply: "You can't. They're professionally trained. Unless you learn how to be passive-aggressive too."
Then someone actually tried.
"You're absolutely right~ So your life must be very successful, huh~"
Someone immediately corrected them: "Grammar's off. It should be 'your life must be very successful, right~'"
"'Huh' isn't passive-aggressive enough."
"Thanks for the tip!"
"You're welcome. Try harder next time~"
Cassius was laughing so hard his stomach hurt.
He opened Weibo and posted: "I saw you all. Thank you. But stay safe—don't push yourselves too hard. When the movie comes out, I'll treat you all to a screening."
The replies flooded in immediately.
"I'm crying. He actually cares!"
"Not tired at all! The fight feels amazing!"
"Already over the wall and hunting down the haters!"
"Cassius, fly free. If shit hits the fan, we've got your back!"