Chapter 15: The Art of Fabricated News

Tucked away amidst the endless aisles of merchandise, a surveillance camera blinked faintly. Its lens was fixed directly upon Bai Zhi and her three companions.

Crouching behind the camera, a girl with a cute, short, tea-colored bob and a hat impassively observed Bai Zhi through her camera’s lens, the shutter clicking incessantly.

“What splendid luck! The moment we stepped out, we stumbled upon our very own Bai Zhi, whose popularity at school has soared recently. This issue’s ‘news’ is certainly going to be explosive, Zuo Yan.”

The individual addressed as Zuo Yan by the girl with the tea-colored hair was a rather slender boy, dressed in a shirt, a light jacket, and black trousers. He, too, was crouched beside the camera, his expression a mixture of profound tension and unease.

After a prolonged hesitation, Zuo Yan finally spoke, his voice laced with a certain reluctance as he attempted to dissuade her:

“Su Pei-senpai, I’m not sure this is entirely appropriate…”

“For the average person, this might be considered a crime, but for a journalist, it’s an entirely different matter,” Su Pei calmly rejoined, her tone abruptly sharpening. “Furthermore, when we’re out in public, you are to address me as ‘Senior’!

“No, no, no, even for journalists, unauthorized photography is still wrong,” Zuo Yan countered, his voice filled with exasperation. “Besides, Senpai, you’re not even a legitimate journalist yet; you’re just a high school student, aren’t you?”

“The very moment I embraced the ‘Soul of a Reporter,’ I became a qualified journalist, regardless of external recognition. Zuo Yan, it appears your conviction is still lacking~”

Su Pei leisurely defended her stance, concluding with her customary addendum.

“And remember, when we’re out, you call me ‘Senior’.”

“‘Soul of a Reporter’…” Zuo Yan exhaled a helpless sigh. “I recall those ‘news’ pieces you’ve written, Senpai… they’ve largely borne no relation to actual facts, have they? Can someone truly be considered a qualified journalist under such circumstances?”

“I merely transcribe what I capture, then infuse it with a touch of personal imagination,” Su Pei explained with a shrug. “It’s simply a matter of appropriate embellishment, designed solely to captivate the audience’s attention.”

“And, you’re supposed to call me Se… never mind. A running gag loses its charm after being repeated more than thrice. For today, I’ll make an exception; you may address me as you please.”

‘I hardly think your writing style can be classified as mere exaggeration anymore…’ Zuo Yan silently retrieved and opened a miniature notebook he carried.

“‘Exclusive Revelation! The Forbidden Romance Between the Dean and the Principal!’ when, in truth, those two middle-aged men merely exchanged a few pleasantries after a chance encounter on the street.

Or ‘Fierce Beast Attacks Campus, Several Students Fall Victim to Its Venomous Maw,’ which was, in reality, nothing more than a stray cat that wandered onto school grounds, scratching a few students who attempted to pet it.

But the most egregious one has to be the last: ‘Massive Brawl Erupts Outside West School Gate, Several Dead, Many Injured.’

A teacher genuinely believed that one, frantically rushing outside to investigate, only to discover it was merely two ant colonies clashing, subsequently stepped on by a passing pedestrian…”

As Zuo Yan meticulously recounted Su Pei’s past “news” fabrications, he punctuated his final point with a sharp ‘snap’ as he closed his miniature notebook.

“Forget about ‘exaggerating facts.’ Your stories bear no resemblance to reality whatsoever; from start to finish, they are purely your own fabrications, Senpai. I truly believe that if you were ever arrested for this, it would be no injustice at all, Su Pei-senpai.”

“Even adorned facts remain a form of truth, and this, too, serves as a method for conveying reality to the public.”

As Zuo Yan enumerated her various “offenses,” Su Pei offered her explanation with not a hint of remorse.

“You’re still far too green; there’s a wealth of knowledge you have yet to acquire… Oh, oh, oh!!? Hold that thought for a moment.”

With that, Su Pei abruptly surged with excitement, her breathing quickening perceptibly.

Zuo Yan leaned forward to look, discovering that Bai Zhi, directly ahead, had just converged with a tall, beautiful woman. He could not discern the subject of their conversation.

“Excellent, Bai Zhi! As source material, you are truly beyond reproach, absolutely perfect!”

“Just a little closer, like that… Nice!!!”

A look of curiosity also dawned on Zuo Yan’s face as he murmured to himself, ‘I wonder what Bai Zhi-senpai is discussing with that beautiful older woman…’

“So, you only address Bai Zhi as ‘Senior’? What a blatant display of preferential treatment, Zuo Yan. Not that I particularly mind, of course.”

“However, as a journalist, you remain far too inexperienced, I say! The crux of the matter isn’t what they’re saying, but the ‘fact’ that they are currently conversing so closely! It is the ‘fact’ of Bai Zhi engaging in intimate contact with a woman other than Xia Ranxin!”

“Ahhh! My imagination is overflowing! For the next issue’s headline, let’s simply go with this: ‘Shocking! The Unseen Scandalous Harem of San Academy’s Popular Beauty, Bai Zhi!’ What are your thoughts, Zuo Yan?”

“I think that’s absolute rubbish!” Zuo Yan exclaimed, his face flushing crimson with agitation. “Those two are clearly just having a conversation; there’s absolutely no hint of intimate interaction! Senpai, what you’re doing will only cause unnecessary distress for others…”

“That merely indicates your imagination is rather impoverished, Zuo Yan.”

“No, Senpai, it’s your delusions that are running wild!”

Zuo Yan let out a sigh, tinged with considerable regret.

“Furthermore, I believe that given your distinctive style, Senpai, instead of crafting sensational stories based on real individuals—which are so easily disproven—you would be better served by exploring those enduring urban legends. After all, no matter how much those are exaggerated, there will never be any repercussions.”

“Are you referring to… the ‘Seven Mysteries of San City’ that you’ve been so diligently investigating?”

Su Pei cast a sidelong glance at the boy beside her, her voice tinged with a hint of disappointment.

“Admittedly, for a period, I shared your sentiment, believing it to be exceptional material. I then dedicated a significant amount of time to investigating it, only to be filled with regret once the inquiry concluded.

There was absolutely no justification for squandering time transforming such utterly dull findings into ‘news’.”

“Why? Is it because they are all fabrications?”

“Quite the contrary, Zuo Yan. The ‘Seven Mysteries of San City’ are, without exception, all events that genuinely occurred; they contain not a single false element.”

Su Pei remained intently focused on Bai Zhi through her lens, utterly oblivious to the subtle shift in Zuo Yan’s expression beside her as she continued speaking, lost in her own thoughts.

“From the mass amnesia incident two years prior to the high-speed unidentified flying objects that frequently grace the night sky, every single one of these events has, without exception, genuinely occurred.”

“While it’s true that, apart from the amnesia incident, the remaining ‘Seven Mysteries’ are substantiated only by unreliable, secondhand or even thirdhand rumors, devoid of any direct witness testimonies, it is equally true that anything which has occurred will inevitably leave behind ‘traces.’

Even in the absence of on-site witnesses, these ‘traces’ alone are often sufficient to reconstruct a general understanding of the event’s truth.”

“What’s more, the ‘traces’ of these occurrences are so abundant that they become evident with even the most cursory investigation!”

“Yet, considering it from another angle, despite leaving behind a multitude of clues readily available for deducing the truth, the most challenging aspect—the witnesses themselves—have all been perfectly silenced. Ordinary threats or monetary bribes could hardly achieve such a comprehensive outcome, could they?”

“After all, I interviewed every resident living near the sites of these incidents, and their testimonies contained not a single falsehood; every word they spoke was a fact they genuinely believed from the bottom of their hearts.

While it might seem improbable, after much deliberation, I’ve concluded that ‘memory modification’ remains the sole plausible explanation.”

Su Pei calmly uttered these astonishing revelations, while Zuo Yan, standing nearby, had already become visibly agitated.

“Th-then! Who precisely is the mastermind orchestrating all of this…?”

“Who can say, really~” Su Pei merely shrugged. “The moment my investigation reached that point, I completely lost interest and moved on to seek other material suitable for ‘news’ articles.”

Zuo Yan’s freshly ignited spark of hope instantly flickered and died. “Eh?! Why? But that sounds incredibly fascinating…”

“Zuo Yan… what, in your opinion, constitutes ‘news’ that people find genuinely engaging?”

Opting not to answer Zuo Yan directly, Su Pei instead posed a question that seemed utterly unrelated to their current discussion.

“Eh? Uh… something akin to the ‘Seven Mysteries of San City’?”

“Utterly incorrect, Zuo Yan,” Su Pei declared without a moment’s hesitation. “Only events with an exceedingly low probability of occurrence, those that practically never materialize in reality, possess the power to maximally pique people’s interest.”

“To be perfectly honest, Senpai, I’m completely lost as to what you’re trying to convey…”

“Then allow me to pose the question to you in return: why do you find the ‘Seven Mysteries of San City’ so intriguing?”

“Hmm… because they’re widely discussed?”

“That’s because, beyond San City, urban legends bearing similar titles are almost entirely fabricated.”

Su Pei calmly elaborated on her perspective.

“Only a minuscule fraction might contain a smattering of genuine elements, yet these are so pitiably scarce as to render the entire narrative virtually fictitious.

One can, in fact, ascertain its falsehood the moment it is encountered, without the need for any investigation whatsoever, recognizing it as a tale artificially concocted solely to garner attention.”

“But what relevance does that hold?”

Su Pei’s tone suddenly shifted.

“Precisely because people inherently know such things couldn’t possibly occur in reality, their hearts still cannot help but yearn for the appearance of those bizarre, terrifying, and peculiar phenomena; and precisely because they are definitively fictional, there’s no need to fear actually being entangled in such strange and horrifying incidents. This allows for the safe enjoyment of that peculiar thrill of brushing against the forbidden.”

“It is for these very reasons that urban legends prove so captivating.”

“Because they’re false, they’re more attractive?” Zuo Yan mused, a sudden understanding dawning on him. “I think I’m starting to grasp what you’re trying to say, Senpai…”

“It’s good that you understand.” Su Pei nodded, wearing an expression that suggested a promising student. “Only falsehoods are truly worthy of inclusion in my ‘news.’ Therefore, the urban legends circulating in San City that are confirmed to be true hold no merit for me to write about.”

“Moreover, there are simply too many similar urban legends in San City. As for the ‘Seven Mysteries of San City,’ you can easily find over a dozen completely different versions online… To be honest, the citizens of San City are probably already numb to them; they generate absolutely no buzz anymore.”

“So, in the end, you still revealed your true feelings, didn’t you, Su Pei-senpai? You just stopped pursuing it because you thought it wouldn’t generate enough interest!”

Zuo Yan retorted, “Despite possessing such excellent investigative abilities, you insist on fabricating false reports. I truly can’t tell if you’re wasting or utilizing your talents.”

“Furthermore, that completely contradicts your previous statement about disseminating truth, doesn’t it?”

Su Pei remained unperturbed. “Disseminating falsehoods is also a way of disseminating facts in reverse; please don’t be so rigid, Zuo Yan.”

Su Pei, as always, naturally defended her actions.

“For instance… you see, if everyone believes that everything I write is false, then doesn’t that conversely prove that any news I *haven’t* written must be true?”

“That’s completely sophistry,” Zuo Yan said with a hint of exasperation. “And, you constantly use real people as your material; aren’t you afraid that one day, because your ‘news’ is too absurd, the subjects will retaliate?”

“You needn’t worry about that; my journalistic integrity is exceptionally high!”

Su Pei’s voice was tinged with pride.

“No one has ever managed to catch me; after all, not many people even manage to discover me.”

Zuo Yan broke out in a cold sweat. “In that case, I suggest… Senpai, you should make a quick getaway?”

“Why?”

“Because Bai Zhi-senpai and her group have already spotted us, and they’re heading this way.”

“Oh!!…”