Chapter 347
Chapter 347
“That’s right. The other three variety shows can coexist perfectly well. Qi Xu could invest in this program and naturally invest in another too. There’s no conflict there. But while he’s connected to all three of those shows, that connection directly contradicts the theme of our Escape Room. Surely the Escape Room scriptwriter didn’t hate Qi Xu so much that they invented a story where he died at eighteen?”
Qin Weiyi also felt there was a serious problem.
After considering what he had heard, Qin Nan said, “It’s not impossible. But if that’s what happened, what grudge did the scriptwriter have against Qi Xu? Besides, Qi Xu was a sponsor. Was Escape Room really bold enough to offend someone with his financial clout?”
Jian Fan listened to their discussion, then finally said, “The autobiography.”
“Hmm? What about it?” Qin Nan asked in confusion.
Jian Fan continued, “There’s an introduction to Qi Xu on one of the pages.”
“What does it say?” Qin Nan asked again.
The book was still in Mu Xin’s hands. She flipped back several pages and saw what Jian Fan meant.
She stood frozen in place.
“Qi Xu, 1988-2033.”
In other words, Qi Xu had already died in 2033.
They did not know what year it currently was in this space.
But since the year of Qi Xu’s death had been recorded, that proved he was already dead.
Then… how had Qi Xu invested in these three programs?
Had he remained obsessed with making money after death and insisted on investing in more shows?
No.
Mu Xin flipped forward several more pages and found the relevant introduction.
“In 2015, Qi Xu invested in Love Connection. That same year, Qi Xu invested in Parenting Diaries. In 2018, he invested in The Leisure Inn.”
Mu Xin shared her discovery.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
“So what time period are we actually in?” Yellow Hair was completely bewildered.
These three variety shows were not from the same year, yet they had participated in filming all of them during the same period. And if this point in time came after Qi Xu’s death, had they returned to the past to film the variety shows?
The issue of the timeline left everyone utterly confused.
Qin Nan could not make sense of it either.
The entire thing was a chaotic stew of timelines. Even with his wide-ranging knowledge, he could not come up with a reasonable explanation.
He could only place his hopes in Jian Fan.
“Jian Fan, what do you think?” Qin Nan asked.
Jian Fan shook his head.
He had no opinion. There were too few clues.
While they discussed it, Xie Cheng also finished filming his first episode and withdrew from the show.
Yellow Hair glanced at Xie Cheng and said, “The second episode will probably begin soon. Let’s set this aside for now. Are we really limited to filming according to the rules? There are only three episodes in total. We don’t have many chances.”
This was a matter of life and death.
However, Jian Fan could not give Yellow Hair an answer either.
“We don’t have enough clues,” was all he could tell Yellow Hair.
Yellow Hair was discouraged, but he knew there was nothing they could do.
All he could do now was hope Jian Fan would find more clues during the next episode.
In the time it took them to exchange those few sentences, Xia Zeqin emerged as well.
With all four variety shows finished filming, the panda robot appeared once again.
“First, congratulations to everyone for successfully completing the first episode and emerging in good health.”
Wait–
Emerging in good health?
Did filming a variety show put their lives at risk?
Escape Room was at least somewhat connected to danger, but how were the other three dangerous? Besides, they had encountered no problems while participating… Had they simply been too lucky?
The panda robot continued speaking.
“The Popularity of all four variety shows has now been calculated. The results will now be announced. The Leisure Inn: 1,350,000 Popularity. Parenting Diaries: 1,390,000 Popularity. Love Connection: 3,990,000 Popularity. Escape Room: 9,700,000 Popularity.”
“Fuck,” Yellow Hair exclaimed on the spot.
He looked at Jian Fan’s group as though staring at a pack of monsters.
Compared with The Leisure Inn and Parenting Diaries, their nearly four million Popularity had already seemed incredibly impressive. Then Jian Fan’s group of five showed them the true meaning of there always being someone better.
With just a little more effort, they would have broken ten million.
The panda robot was not interrupted when a Player spoke. It continued.
“Escape Room achieved the highest Popularity and receives a ten percent bonus, bringing its total Popularity to 10,670,000. The Leisure Inn receives a penalty and loses ten percent of its Popularity, bringing its current total to 1,215,000 Popularity.”
“The Player with the highest Individual Popularity in Escape Room is Lu Jing, who earned 3,030,000 Popularity and may receive one random item.”
Yellow Hair heard this and exclaimed, “Fuck,” again.
“Brother Lu, you’ve risen to greatness,” Yellow Hair marveled.
Lu Jing scratched his head in embarrassment. Even now, he had no idea where all his Popularity had come from.
There was nothing strange about Lu Jing achieving that amount of Popularity.
His inspired idea had landed perfectly.
Then Jian Fan, Qin Nan, and Mu Xin had cooperated to bring its effect fully to life. Since the entire effect originated from Lu Jing’s stroke of inspiration, the three cast members received only part of the Popularity, while the largest share went to Lu Jing. As a result, Lu Jing alone earned more than three million Popularity.
After the panda robot finished speaking, an image appeared in midair.
Several gift boxes shifted randomly between different forms before finally stopping on an utterly ordinary wooden box.
The wooden box soon descended into Lu Jing’s hands.
“Brother Lu, hurry and open it,” Yellow Hair urged.
At the same time as Yellow Hair spoke, the robot issued another notification. “Filming for the second episode will begin shortly. Players, please prepare.”
As soon as it finished speaking, all twelve Players were drawn into their respective variety shows.
Yellow Hair was baffled.
How had they been given any time to prepare? They had not prepared in the slightest. He had not even seen what random item Lu Jing had received.
No, that was not all. They still had many important matters to discuss. Yellow Hair felt as if he might cry.
What was all this?
At the same time, Lu Jing and the others had entered their variety show too.
The robot had not deceived them.
There truly was a preparation period.
At least Qin Nan and the others were now together with Lu Jing in a lounge.
Qin Weiyi looked around. Seeing that Lu Jing still held the wooden box, he immediately urged, “First, let’s see what it is.”
They were not filming yet, so it did not matter. If they delayed any longer, they would be unable to talk to each other again.
Hearing this, Lu Jing hurriedly opened the box.
Inside lay a card.
Lu Jing took out the card, handed it to Qin Weiyi, and asked, “What does this do?”