Chapter 207 - Recording
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The corridor was full of hurried footsteps.
“At the end of the six performances, the player rankings will be released in reverse order. After the rankings are announced, the restrictions on fighting will be lifted, and the King of Hearts will hide using Tucker’s skin. After the rankings are released, he’ll definitely make a move––”
The door to Rap Cla.s.s 2 slammed open!
Inside the room, Wu Jin’s two former roommates both stared with wide eyes, “The King of Hearts wasn’t eliminated?”
On the sofa, Raphael nodded to Wu Jin. Nicholas’s low ranking elimination must mean that the King of Hearts had advanced. It was an either/or situation.
At this time, the rankings were announced up to #58. After one of the roommates was announced, the watch continued to announce:
––“57, Rap Cla.s.s 2, Tucker.”
The room immediately exploded.
When they’d dispersed, neither Tucker nor the King of Hearts had appeared. The conclusion was obvious.
From beside Raphael, the newly arrived person who often teamed up with him for the Crosson Show, looked curious. “Is the King of Hearts so powerful?”
The two roommates expressed, “Yeah! He turned the 100-into-60 round into a G.o.d-level mode!”
This new ally looked at ‘Leica’ with great interest. It seemed that he could barely recognize his figure, but was unable to confirm it, “Eh, is this Little W––”
Raphael reached out and covered his ally’s mouth.
From beside Leica, the tall trainee’s face suddenly turned cold. He blocked the other person behind him in a protective gesture.
Raphael nodded to Wu Jin, “I know. Be careful.”
Wu Jin fist b.u.mped Raphael across the empty s.p.a.ce, then closed the door and left with Wei Shi.
Inside the room, Raphael’s new ally quickly exclaimed, “It’s him! I recognize him! We can still see a bit from the shape of his face, and our Crosson only has one small round face!”
The two former roommates were curious about the man beside Wu Jin, “Was that Brother w.a.n.g Ping’s original teammate? Is he also from the Crosson Show? Brother w.a.n.g is so strong, his teammate can’t be any worse––”
Raphael: “Not just ‘not worse’. He said thoughtfully, “If qualifying in this compet.i.tion relies on canva.s.sing CP popularity, they will definitely win.”
The roommates’ mouths dropped open wide.
Raphael: “Also, the person Leica brought in. The King of Hearts can’t beat him.”
Roommates: “……!!!”
The rankings were announced up to #36. Wu Jin looked through a few rooms and wasn’t surprised to find that the King of Hearts’ hiding ability was almost perfect.
24th place, Wu Jin as Leica.
12th place, the always stable Raphael as w.a.n.g Shu.
2nd place––The big boss who’d controlled the field in Rap Cla.s.s 1 and only said the two words ‘ha-ha’. His disguise ident.i.ty was the trainee ‘Zhu Lan’.
In the narrow corridor, the idol talent show cameras and the Crosson Show cameras moved through the whirling light and shadows at the same time, arriving at the spot where the two were talking.
Wei Shi’s face was cold as he looked at the youth who’d been beaten black and purple like a rag doll by the King of Hearts. After learning that the King of Hearts had gone through Wu Jin’s pockets, he’d bullied the little rabbit that he’d raised up for getting felt up by strangers.
Upset.
Not happy.
Wu Jin was still jumping around, full of fighting spirit, “This is me against him. Brother Wei, don’t intervene.”
Wei Shi narrowed his eyes.
Wu Jin spoke solemnly, “I want to fight and win against him on my own!”
The Crosson Show’s live stream room.
Seeing the Scarf CP on the same screen after a long time set the audience boiling over immediately. The hardcore Crosson fans who’d woken up to watch the broadcast were all excited as they held up k2018;Beat up the King of Hearts, eat Little Witch’ CP flags.
“How come mama’s two sons are dressed up like this? But even if your face changes hundreds of thousands of times, in the vast sea of people, you are you, just you!”
“How did these two form a team? When did they get together? Where’s the camera, where’s the camera––”
Backstage. Several small editors looked at each other. This elimination match that was sponsored by Floating Entertainment itself hadn’t managed to capture the context for their alliance. The Crosson program producer was extremely distressed, “You didn’t give them a camera shot? If you don’t shoot them, how will we satisfy the rich CP fans?!”
“To you, we just missed a simple camera shot, but for the fans, what you missed is the plot line where the players’ feelings are advancing by leaps and bounds! What if these two actually got together while they formed the team?! What if they proposed while forming the team?! What if––”
The backstage was chaotic for a while, but the Scarf CP forums were welcoming a new set of memes. After the news that ‘the Scarf CP had signed separate contracts after graduation, the CP members fly solo’ had gone out, they didn’t want to miss out on a single shot of the two of them now in the same frame.
“Entertainment parody, previous life to this life. A little useless trainee kills their way up from Rap Cla.s.s 2, 96th place, and encounters the top ranked 2nd place. The top ranked 2nd place wanted to have the little trainee as soon as he saw him…”
“Wei Shi – K – Wu Jin beautiful love triangle in the entertainment circle, two emperors and one empress…”
However, these messages were soon cleared up by the moderators.
The front page of the forums held a huge ‘K Ban’, which was then explained by the management, “K is a top cla.s.s trainee in the professional arena. Little Witch hasn’t yet made his debut, and the K Ban is there to protect Little Witch. We reject any pairings with him. Why? The Stardust Cup area is already having a huge quarrel. The King of Hearts has too many girlfriend fans, so this isn’t allowed.”
“The most important thing for a survival show player is strength. Only when Little Witch is able to beat the King of Hearts up, n.o.body will be able to catch him and tie him up anymore.”
“Why can’t we? Based on Little Witch’s growth rate, he can’t do it now, but there will come a day when he can.”
“Now? You’re asking about now? Regarding the King of Hearts, there’s naturally another solution––”
“Brother Wei, beat him up!!!!”
In the live stream studio.
Blood Pigeon went over the fighting on the nine square grid once again, “The King of Hearts’s fighting experience is far superior to that of Contestant Wu and Raphael. It’ll take at least two years for them to catch up to this level of muscle reaction speed and proficiency, but their use of combat weapons was very interesting.”
“As Little Witch said, the information they have on hand wasn’t equal.”
Ying Xiangxiang nodded and switched to to the virtual screen in front of her, “At present, based on the League support votes, the King of Hearts is first with 24%, followed by Little Witch, Wei Shi, Wei Yan, Zuo Botang, and player Jin Canshuo, a second tier player from the Stardust Cup…”
“So, in the second round of the game,” Ying Xiangxiang smiled. In the middle of the screen, a pair of special poker cards appeared, “The game rules will change. Any trainee can use any means in order to canvas votes.”
“We call it––the real talent show.”
The seventh elimination match arena.
The players gathered together again, and the stage was turned upside down.
Only 59 of the top 60 were there, and Tucker was missing. Wu Jin’s sight swept through the crowd; the King of Hearts could be any one of them.
The original stage with six equal parts was now divided into three parts, and the scene was divided into a dance ball, a castle, and a jungle.
The theme for the 60 into 12 compet.i.tion had been determined.
Wu Jin thought it over carefully. Amongst the three literary masters, only Andersen wrote fairy tales for children. Wilde’s adult fairy tales didn’t need to be mentioned, and the Brothers Grimm were collectors of folk tales. The first edition of Grimm’s fairy tales was full of horror and blood.
‘Choose Andersen’ – Wu Jin mouthed the words silently to Wei Shi.
On the stage, the AI director soon appeared, smiling broadly as they arranged for the 59 trainees to draw for new props.
It was a deck of 54 player cards. There were more players than cards, so another set of 5 cards was added in.
The card in Wu Jin’s hand was a 3 of Hearts. His luck was basically always like this.
The big boss showed his card, a 9 of Spades. Wu Jin’s eyes opened wide. The red heart in his hands was normal, but the spade in the big boss’s hands was a little deformed.
The top rose up sharply, like the triangle for delta. There was a small line of text beneath it.
9 of Spades.
[ Upward Triangle ] Increase camera time by 9 seconds.
Wu Jin looked down at his own card.
3 of Hearts.
[ Red Heart ] Water army ‘likes’, 30,000 times.
Wu Jin: “……”
After the 59 cards were issued, the players were all in a daze. On the stage, the AI continued smiling as they announced the rules for the 60 into 12 round. The program would be switched from a live broadcast to an edited recording. After each episode, 12 people would be eliminated based on audience votes, and the round would end after four episodes.
Of course, dead players would automatically count as being eliminated.
Of course, the cards must be used before the program was broadcast.
Of course, a player’s unused cards could be taken if a player was killed.
Wu Jin suddenly came back to his senses.
“There’s more than one way to play 60 into 12.” Wu Jin leaned in close to the big boss’s ear and whispered, “Stir up popularity, seize the ident.i.ty of players who are above the safety line, and––”
“Raising up fodder, then replacing them.”
Wei Shi’s ears moved slightly.
As the crowd clamored, Wu Jin spoke faster and faster, “Just like the previous round, those ranked at the bottom are eliminated, and those at the front are promoted. The safest way to play is to remain around the promotion level. In the first round, we save our props. I’ll remain at around 24 while you stay in the top three. As for the cards, we’ll try to save them until the last round, 24 into 12.”
“Also, the program is recorded.”
Wu Jin narrowed his eyes slightly, and the scene with the preliminary materials flashed across his memory one after another.
“We have to s.n.a.t.c.h camera time at all costs, and the shots must match the character designs.”
Wu Jin chattered on, talking like a small balloon that was letting out air right next to Wei Shi’s ear, “If the camera catches a highlight, I’ll use the 30,000 water army likes to keep it up. It’s better to use up one resource than two. We’ll push you up first, and when there’s enough popularity, I’ll suck some blood! We also need to pay attention to the details of the camera. The fan circle is just like a magnifying gla.s.s––”
Wei Shi’s ears were numb. He reached into his pocket and rubbed his fingertips over the test paper.
Wu Jin: “For example. In front of the camera, if you bring me food, you’ll be forming a CP with me. If you don’t bring me something to eat, then you’re trying to tear down our CP and going it alone. If you bring me something to eat twice, it’ll be equivalent to you tearing down your character design and becoming sticky and overboard, but if you continue not bringing me food, it’ll mean you’re washing yourself clean of the CP fans. So, you have to pay attention in front of the camera––”
Wei Shi turned his head.
Wu Jin’s eyes were crystal clear, “Ah, hey, Brother Wei, did you get all that?”
Wei Shi didn’t say a word. He reached out fiercely and stuffed the 9 of Spades directly into Wu Jin’s hand. The thick calluses that were a permanent fixture swept across the youth’s damp, soft palm.
Wu Jin’s eyes opened wide. He pulled out his 3 of Hearts with a swish and very consciously handed it over, “Oh, that works! We’ll trade and exchange ownership!”
After the props were distributed, the performance selection began.
Anderson and Grimm’s fairy tales were crowded with large numbers of people, while in comparison, Oscar Wilde’s popularity was remarkably low, with a pitiful number of people choosing him.
Wu Jin followed the big boss into the crowd and prepared to receive his stage part for Andersen’s fairy tale. The theme for this part of the stage was the color scarlet, and there was a trainee shouting, ‘Andersen, Little Red Riding Hood! Who doesn’t know this?!”
“……” Wu Jin: “That’s one of Grimm’s fairy tales. What a coincidence, Brother Caesar!”
In any case, the carefree Caesar eventually followed the large Andersen army into the training room.
The AI cameraman lifted up a sign, signaling the start of the first phase of recording.
Wu Jin speculated that, like any idol talent show, the first segment after obtaining the script was nothing more than fighting for the position of team leader, grabbing the c-position, and dividing the plot up into parts.
The training room was also dominated by the color red.
There was a simple curtain in the middle, blocking out a blackboard and a series of props on the ground.
Wu Jin glanced over it and fell into thought.
The little mermaid, red. It was possible.
The ugly duckling, evolving into a pink flamingo, red. Also possible.
……
The curtain was pulled away by the AI cameraman.
A pair of severed legs stood in a pool of blood. There were a pair of bright red dance shoes on the feet.
Dance group, 60 into 20, performance theme.
.
Hans Christian Andersen.
Juurensha: Ohhhhh, I like this fairytale!
xiin: QAQ why are these fairy tales so dark