Chapter 337
Chapter 337
Although Mu Xin had lost points, she had quickly gained some back, so her situation was still fairly good.
Qin Weiyi, who was following the cast with a camera that was not particularly heavy, frowned.
Breaking character cost them points, while a good performance that won the audience’s favor earned points. That gave anyone who had drawn the role of a cast member a major advantage. They did not want to turn on one another, but as staff members, did they have no chance whatsoever to earn Points?
Qin Weiyi felt that there had to be something they had yet to realize.
Mu Xin’s incident was only a brief interlude.
It gave everyone a sense of how Popularity could be earned. From here on, they needed to follow the Script while creating moments the audience would enjoy. Or, judging from Qin Nan’s professional perspective, comedic moments would work as well.
Unfortunately, he was supposed to be taciturn now, which greatly limited what he could do.
While Qin Nan was considering this, the NPCs had already begun playing out the plot together.
“All the patients in the hospital have disappeared. We seem to be trapped here,” one NPC said.
Qin Nan gave a flat hum of acknowledgment. Staying in character was easy, wasn’t it? He only had to imitate Jian Fan.
Jian Fan, on the other hand, had a headache. He knew how to carry a team, but he had never actually tried dragging one down.
“What should we do?” another NPC asked.
“Let’s look for a way out.”
Jian Fan and the other two did not need to participate at all. The NPCs had already moved the plot along exactly as required.
With that decided, Qin Nan and the other two cooperated and began searching for clues.
Jian Fan pondered the problem.
Dragging the team down was not particularly difficult. He certainly knew how to cause trouble. The challenge was doing so without becoming annoying while also gaining Points. That would take some thought.
Jian Fan walked around the room as he considered it.
It was a two-bed patient room with an attached bathroom.
Jian Fan entered the bathroom, his gaze landing directly on the mirror.
The moment he looked over, the head of a long-haired figure, blood pouring from all seven orifices, slowly appeared in the mirror.
Jian Fan froze for a moment.
It was somewhat frightening, but after everything he had experienced in the Realm of Death, Jian Fan was not so easily scared. For the sake of his assigned persona, however…
Jian Fan gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and let out a shrill “Ah!” Then he shouted, “There’s a ghost!” and spun around to run. As he raced through the room, he sent the entire atmosphere spiraling into panic, prompting the others to scream again and again as well.
Qin Nan, meanwhile…
Qin Nan watched Jian Fan and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Dear god. He wanted to gouge out his own eyes.
Besides, Jian Fan’s utterly calm expression as he shouted with his eyes closed was really… not convincing in the slightest. Though perhaps the contrast was rather cute?
Just as Qin Nan had that thought, a notification sounded in his mind.
“Ding! The Player has delivered an outstanding performance and gained 50,000 Popularity.”
Qin Nan was baffled.
Then Qin Nan saw the bullet comments from that segment.
“Fuck, he’s so handsome!”
“Three minutes. I want every scrap of information on this handsome guy.”
“Hahaha, the way he keeps screaming with that completely calm face is hilarious.”
“He’s not scared, but he’s acting scared. I can’t even tell whether he’s actually scared or not.”
“Either way, screaming comes first.”
“…”
Qin Nan fell silent.
Fine. It was a world ruled by looks.
Then again, the real world was the same. Better-looking cast members naturally attracted more fans.
Qin Nan simply could not bear to watch Jian Fan’s performance.
Jian Fan had not expected to earn points this way, either.
All he had done was make everyone scream with him and frighten them even more, successfully dragging the team down for once.
Jian Fan’s scream had worked exceptionally well.
After screaming, he calmed down. Mu Xin recovered after a brief pause as well. The other four NPC cast members, however, were still shrieking one after another, loud enough to shake the heavens. Qin Nan felt as if he were about to go deaf.
“There is no ghost!” Qin Nan had no choice but to shout.
It had no effect whatsoever.
Furious, Qin Nan bellowed again, “Shut up!”
The room fell silent for an instant.
Very soon, however, the silence was replaced by a chorus of whimpering sobs.
Qin Nan fell silent once more.
He was numb.
He turned to Jian Fan and asked, “What did you see?”
Jian Fan replied, “A ghostly face in the mirror.”
At that, Qin Nan walked straight toward the mirror.
They had read the Script, but this scene had not appeared in it at all.
They were trapped inside a patient room and needed to find a string of numbers there to unlock its door.
On that subject, Qin Nan found something else puzzling. Had no one stopped to consider whether it made sense for a hospital room to have an electronic lock?
Back to the matter at hand. The original Script contained no such scene in the patient room. According to the Script, they should not encounter a ghost for the first time until after leaving the room. So why had it happened early?
Why?
Qin Nan truly could not understand it. Could that Script have been fake?
As Qin Nan mulled it over, he also had to think about earning points. Deliberately, he muttered aloud, “That shouldn’t be right.”
Mu Xin moved closer and said timidly in a quiet voice, “I don’t think a ghost should be here, either.”
As soon as she said this, another notification sounded in their minds.
This time, their Popularity increased by 10,000. Neither Qin Nan nor Mu Xin gained any Individual Popularity, however. The Popularity was credited to Lu Jing instead.
The sudden gain left Lu Jing completely baffled.
What had happened?
At that moment, the clip replay began.
The bullet comments filled with laughter.
“It’s the director’s trick. Don’t trust it.”
“Surprise! Didn’t see that coming, did you?”
“Hahahaha, the Script is wrong.”
“…”
They had not known before, but once Qin Nan and the other two saw the bullet comments, they understood.
Even so, they had to pretend they did not know. At least this gave them some room to improvise and create entertaining moments for the show.
Their most urgent task, however, was to leave the patient room.
Since he had already read the Script, Qin Nan immediately put on an act and began searching for the password.
Lu Jing’s plot twist had inadvertently produced a comedic moment.
Everyone clearly knew the Script, yet they pretended they did not and acted as if they had discovered each clue by chance. Laughter flooded the bullet comments while their Popularity soared.
Of course, the Popularity was still credited to Lu Jing.
Qin Nan and Mu Xin played along enthusiastically, but all their work ultimately came to nothing. Everyone’s attention seemed fixed on the trap the director had laid, so in the end, all the Popularity went to Lu Jing.
By the time they left the patient room, Lu Jing had already gained 100,000 Popularity.
Lu Jing remained utterly bewildered. All he could do was stare blankly as System notifications sounded in his mind from time to time.
Wasn’t this game world far too easy? He could gain Popularity just by sitting there?