Chapter 336
Chapter 336
Once Zhou Jingying settled on the Script, staff members finally appeared before Yellow Hair and Lin Junruo as well and explained the rules of their variety show.
Those two variety shows each had five Players. The other two, however, each had only one.
Xie Cheng had drawn the role of a child cast member, while all the other roles were automatically filled by NPCs. Thus, from the very beginning, he went straight into filming the show.
An NPC acting as his father stayed by his side. Together, they met with the staff, listened to a brief introduction, and immediately entered the filming stage.
Filming would begin with the production crew visiting their home.
Xie Cheng had to pack his own luggage, introduce everything he was bringing on camera, and answer a few questions from the production crew.
His assigned persona was an adorable child, so he had to display something endearing or it would count as breaking character.
As a man in his thirties, Xie Cheng was not skilled at acting cute. Even though he was the only Player in this variety-show world, he still found it embarrassing. Yet he could not break character.
After turning it over in his mind, Xie Cheng devised a strategy for himself.
He would play a child trying to act like a solemn adult.
As for acting like a solemn adult, he would not need to pretend at all.
With a perfectly serious expression, Xie Cheng packed his belongings into the suitcase and introduced them one by one. Everything went smoothly, but none of it suited an adorable child’s persona. Thus, as he reached the end–
“That’s all the luggage I’m taking. It’s all inside my suitcase… case,” Xie Cheng said, pausing abruptly before forcing out the final word.
Suitcase-case.
Repeated words for the win.
Another successful day of acting cute.
Xie Cheng did not know how effective it had been. He only knew that he had successfully disgusted himself. Unable to stand it any longer, he pushed his suitcase toward the door, the tips of his ears inadvertently tinged pink.
Just as Xie Cheng was regretting his performance, a notification sounded in his mind.
“Ding! The Player has delivered an outstanding performance and gained 20,000 Popularity.”
Xie Cheng was puzzled.
The System voice sounded again. “Clip replay available. Bullet comments may be viewed.”
As soon as the System voice faded, a light screen appeared before Xie Cheng, replaying the scene of him packing his luggage. A few bullet comments drifted across it from time to time.
There had not been many comments at first. Then–he repeated the word.
“Hahahahaha, suitcase-case! That’s so cute.”
“A little kid trying to look all serious is just too adorable.”
“He’s embarrassed! He’s embarrassed!”
“His ears are red.”
“Xie Cheng: I’m a grown-up now, so I have to be serious. Ah, how did I accidentally repeat a word again?”
“…”
Xie Cheng was baffled.
He could not quite grasp what these people found so appealing.
His moment of embarrassment had actually earned him Popularity?
Xie Cheng went numb.
Oh, no, that was wrong. He had to repeat the word. Xie Cheng went numb-numb.
Elsewhere, Xia Zeqin was also making rapid progress.
The other cast members on his show had likewise been generated automatically as NPCs. Playing the part of a caring older-brother figure, Xia Zeqin presented himself as gentle and refined from the start. When he later met the other cast members, he readily stepped in to help them. His gentle, considerate behavior immediately earned him some Popularity.
He had not gained as much as Xie Cheng in any single instance, but he had earned it more often. By the time Qin Nan and the others were only just preparing to begin filming, Xia Zeqin had already gained 25,000 Popularity.
Qin Nan knew nothing about how the others were doing.
Once they had drawn their items, the staff finally led them out to join the main group.
Qin Nan finally saw Jian Fan and Mu Xin again.
The show had six permanent cast members and one guest star. In addition to Qin Nan and the other two, the System had automatically generated four NPCs.
The group assembled.
As the director, Lu Jing followed the Script and explained the basic situation.
Their theme this time was a hospital building late at night.
The seven cast members were doctors at the hospital, and on this particular day, it was their turn to keep watch overnight. During the first half of the night, everything was no different from usual. But when midnight arrived, the hospital lights flickered once before going completely dark, and every instrument in the hospital stopped functioning. Stranger still, all the patients had vanished without a trace. Only the seven of them remained in the entire hospital building.
They all lost consciousness. When they awoke, they discovered that they were trapped inside a patient room.
The night… went on.
After learning the backstory, the seven cast members were blindfolded with black cloth and led by the staff into a hospital building.
As soon as the staff brought them inside, they left at once.
Qin Nan was the first to yank off his blindfold. The instant he could see again, the scene before him caught him so unprepared that he shuddered in fright.
“Fuck.”
They were inside a patient room. With the power out, it should have been pitch-black, yet an eerie red light kept flickering in the distance. At first glance, it really was rather frightening.
Mu Xin had not even removed her blindfold when Qin Nan’s reaction startled her.
After she took it off, the sight before her startled her as well. She quickly recovered, however, and remembered her assigned persona.
“Boohoo, this is so scary. I’m scared, scared! Big Brother Qin, you have to protect me,” Mu Xin said as she sidled up to Qin Nan.
Qin Nan fell silent.
To Qin Nan, Mu Xin’s behavior was more frightening than the red light ahead of them.
Just then, a notification sounded simultaneously in everyone’s mind.
“Due to a Player’s Character violation, 5,000 Popularity has been deducted. Current variety-show Popularity: -5,000.”
What had happened?
Qin Nan looked completely bewildered.
Mu Xin, meanwhile, awkwardly fiddled with her bangs.
Her notification was different from everyone else’s, so she knew the reason for the deduction.
It was because–
“Character violation. The persona calls for coyness, not manipulative affectation. As the infraction is minor, 5,000 Popularity has been deducted. Current variety-show Popularity: -5,000. Player Popularity: -5,000.”
Jian Fan was clearly surprised as well.
Then he recalled Mu Xin’s performance just now, turned his head, and fixed his gaze squarely on her.
Mu Xin gave an awkward smile and looked up at the ceiling, then down at the floor, stubbornly refusing to speak. Then, remembering that she had to remain in character, she extended her hands and timidly touched her fingertips together. Looking thoroughly guilty, she said to Qin Nan, “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
Her voice was sweet and soft, making her rather adorable.
Mu Xin immediately heard another notification.
“Ding! The Player has delivered an outstanding performance and gained 20,000 Popularity!”
“Clip replay available. Bullet comments may be viewed.”
Everyone could see the replayed clip.
And so, they watched Mu Xin deliver her first line with a hint of manipulative affectation. At that moment, a sea of ellipses drifted across the screen.
“…”
“Oh my god, I can’t breathe. That’s so affected.”
“She’s giving off manipulative pick-me vibes.”
“I can’t take it. This is awkward.”
“I’m out. I can’t watch this.”
“…”
All right. Now everyone knew why they had lost points.
In the next second, Mu Xin began apologizing guiltily in a delicate, coquettish voice, exactly like a sweet young woman acting cute. The bullet comments changed at once.
“I’m sold again.”
“She’s so sweet.”
“I want to hear her go boohoo again.”
“…”
All right. Everyone understood now.