Love? The Reborn Me Just Wants to Obtain Rewards
Chapter 914 - 378: If You Won’t Accept Face Given, Then Go to Die

Chapter 914: Chapter 378: If You Won’t Accept Face Given, Then Go to Die

After Su Huai’s harsh words spread, the situation spiraled out of control.

In late December, Penguin Video publicly removed "Battle Through the Heavens" from their upcoming drama list. Shortly after, the production team announced, "due to post-production reasons, the planned release schedule has been postponed."

This was their final act of defiance—stalling.

In the entertainment industry’s playbook for dealing with unexpected troubles, the most passive yet cost-effective option is silence and delay.

Commonly known as: playing dead.

In modern society, with news cycles moving quickly and countless trending topics, most netizens can’t keep their focus on one issue for long. If you stall until the buzz dies down, there’s always a chance for a comeback.

President Chen and others decided to proceed with a bare-bones release, but even a bare release requires strategy.

Pushing forward amid the chaos risks getting ripped to shreds in criticism, so it’s better to delay and gauge the audience’s reaction.

The result...

An overwhelming flood of comments like "Penguin chickened out," "Admitting it without a fight," "The final product must truly be too awful to show the world."

It was all noise.

While it didn’t make it to the hot search rankings, every related topic ended up flooded with collective mockery, with no signs of public sentiment calming down.

The kind of trending topic that usually fizzles out in 72 hours persisted for seven days without a hint of subsiding.

"This show’s doomed to fail."

President Chen shook his head, ceasing to struggle.

When the masses mock something en masse, there are typically three outcomes—

One: The quality turns out surprisingly strong, and unsuspecting viewers find unexpected brilliance, leading to a strong rebound and eventual reversal.

Two: The quality is mediocre, and critical audiences nitpick relentlessly, turning what was originally a 6/10 piece into a 4/10 disaster.

Three: The quality is abysmal, crushed into oblivion.

Not even the most optimistic person dared to believe "Battle Through the Heavens" could be the first category.

In truth, trashy dramas and films can still make money. Nail the marketing, deceive the audience into watching, trick businesses and investors into sponsoring, pocket the money, and walk away... Like those diet pill commercials?

But the problem with "Battle Through the Heavens" was that even the marketing couldn’t proceed. The hype was sky-high, but it was all about laughing at it.

"Mr. Su really didn’t show us any mercy..."

The head of the marketing department grumbled irritably, to which President Chen shot him a glance and replied coldly, "Why should he show me mercy?"

The meeting room fell silent.

"Whether you face it head-on or back off, it’s the same knife—air it!"

After dragging it out until late January, "Battle Through the Heavens" finally launched as-is.

Six episodes were released on the first day, garnering immense attention and quickly getting roasted until it trended on the hot search.

This time, even money couldn’t suppress the buzz.

One wave of PR attempts was drowned out, and another emerged immediately, leading to endless back-and-forth battles on the trending list.

The comments on Penguin Video’s bullet screens were downright brutal: the female lead got slammed for being "too ugly," the costumes and set design got accused of being lazy, and the special effects were ridiculed as outright scams... It was all criticism.

By the time Xiao Dong’s "fighting spirit turns into a horse" signature scene from episode five aired, the backlash exploded to new heights.

Yu Rongguang even tried hiring some paid commenters to salvage things, hoping to control the narrative.

["’Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don’t look down on a young man!’ After watching the first two episodes, it’s crystal clear that the Glory Team’s reputation is well earned! Pacing is snappy! Effects are stunning! The real-life locations are breathtaking! The story is so gripping! Originally, I feared the adaptation would ruin it, but after watching, I feel the changes fit the TV format better and work within reason! The actors’ acting skills are solid! I’ll definitely be following this show closely!"]

["Glory Team has super dedicated production with loads of real-world scenes from all across the country—full-scale monster models and high-quality special effects! You can tell they put real effort into this! ’Battle Through the Heavens’ might be different from what you imagined, but it definitely won’t disappoint—caught the Penguin live stream! The pacing of the first two episodes is quick and exhilarating!!!"]

But droves of original novel fans cursed the production team to the heavens.

The insults became so vile that some users had their accounts suspended, permanently losing access to platforms like Weibo and Douban.

None of this could salvage the 3.3 debut rating.

Believe it or not, the average episode data on the first day wasn’t that bad—almost 40 million views, the kind of buzz only smash-hit dramas pull off.

However, no sponsors fell for it, leaving this mega-IP stripped bare without any monetization.

No new subscriptions, no member conversions—it all amounted to zero.

In less than three days, Penguin pulled the show from homepage recommendations altogether, abandoning it entirely.

What followed was blame-shifting and finger-pointing.

Director Yu led the charge on Weibo, breaking industry taboos to exonerate himself.

"I am just a director. The only thing I can do is shoot the episode diligently, following the allocated budget, using the assigned actors, adhering to the predefined script, ensuring the quality of the production.

I’ve done that and have no regrets.

As for the rumored 800 million investment, I don’t know anything about it. It’s possible that some investors inflated their stakes and profited by reselling it?

Anyway, the funds allocated to production were less than a quarter. If the special effects turned out mediocre, that’s not on the director’s team."

After these remarks, Xingyu got swept into the storm as well.

Initially absent from the investor list, Xingyu’s name was added halfway through production, only to be removed when the drama was released—a swift cameo and exit.

As a result, numerous netizens speculated whether Xingyu fell into the category of "certain people."

In response, Xingyu issued a statement.

The phrasing couldn’t have been more cutting.

"When ’Battle Through the Heavens’ dragged us into the project midway, we thought we’d stumbled upon a pot of gold.

We rushed over excitedly, only to discover—hell no—it was a squashed pile of crap.

Turns out, some people specialize in this type of thing, so we negotiated with them to transfer the stake. Tearfully, we took the money, hopped on the train, and ran away overnight.

But we didn’t get away, instead clinging onto this ridiculous mess.

Well, since things have gone this far, let’s talk this out properly."