Chapter 359
Chapter 359
Strictly speaking, Xia Zeqin should not have been able to carry out that plan.
The shop’s items were limited.
Even redeeming every one of them would only yield three million Popularity, which would be nowhere near enough. But there was still one episode left, with far too many unknowns. Besides, there was another item.
The Points Mall had an item called a Handheld Sign. It cost only 10 Points, could be redeemed ten times, and was described as an ordinary fan-support item.
Its description said nothing about increasing Popularity or anything else. Jian Fan, however, suspected that the Handheld Sign might be useless in their hands, yet produce entirely different results in Xia Zeqin’s.
In any case, they had to stay on guard against him.
Fortunately, although Xia Zeqin had a plan, Jian Fan had also guessed what he intended. This time, Xia Zeqin had lost again.
At the thought, the corners of Jian Fan’s mouth lifted slightly.
He would make Xia Zeqin regret choosing to lurk at his side.
Everyone had their own thoughts, but none of that affected the panda robot.
“One member of the group with the lowest Popularity will be erased. As Parenting Diaries has only one member, the System has automatically selected Player Xie Cheng…”
Xie Cheng went pale at the robot’s words.
There was no room left to struggle. It seemed he could only wait for death to come.
But just then…
Yellow Hair charged straight up to the panda robot. “I want to use the Copy Card! And I want to exercise the right granted to the group in first place!”
The panda robot broke off.
It seemed annoyed at the interruption and wanted to continue, but Yellow Hair kept shouting.
After he repeated himself several times, the panda robot appeared to give up.
It changed tack.
“Information confirmed. Love Connection has the highest Popularity this episode and may select one member to join its group. Information confirmed. Copy Card use requested. Player, please confirm: do you wish to use the Copy Card?”
“Confirmed!” Yellow Hair said immediately.
He was afraid that if he hesitated even a second, the robot would go back to erasing Xie Cheng.
He could have waited until after Xie Cheng was erased to make the request, but what if the man could not be brought back?
If they asked Xie Cheng to join them after his erasure, the Realm of Death might be unable to produce him. That would also create a System bug and achieve their aim. But Yellow Hair still hoped they could all stay alive.
The panda robot emitted a red light as it initiated its program. “Please select the content to be copied.”
“I want to copy the first-place group’s ability to choose a teammate to join us!”
The panda robot: “…”
It stalled for a moment, clearly not having expected anyone to try this.
But the Copy Card listed no restrictions, so Yellow Hair’s request was valid.
In the end, the panda robot used the card. “Copy Card used. Love Connection may now select two Players to join its group.”
Hearing this, Xie Cheng was surprised. A powerful surge of hope rose inside him.
Perhaps he still had a long road ahead of him!
“The five Players in Love Connection, please make your selection.”
“Xie Cheng! Xia Zeqin!” Yellow Hair said at once.
To Xie Cheng, those words sounded like heavenly music. Soon, however, he was puzzled. Why choose Xia Zeqin?
These people clearly did not get along with Xia Zeqin. Why would they choose him?
Xia Zeqin raised an eyebrow when he heard his name.
His gaze settled unerringly on Jian Fan, and he laughed. “Your idea?”
Jian Fan looked at him without saying more.
Xia Zeqin quirked his mouth. “Interesting. Fine, then. Let’s play a little longer.”
Jian Fan looked away.
After hearing Yellow Hair’s selection, the panda robot repeated it. “Players Xie Cheng and Xia Zeqin selected. Do the other four members have any objections?”
“No.” All four answered almost in unison.
“Selection complete.” The panda robot quickly announced the result. “Player Xie Cheng and Player Xia Zeqin will join Love Connection.”
Everyone let out a breath of relief.
Xie Cheng reached out and tapped Yellow Hair’s shoulder with his fist. “Thanks, brother,” he said feelingly.
“Hey, it’s nothing. If you want to thank someone, thank Jian Fan. We’re all following his lead.” Yellow Hair did not take the credit.
Xie Cheng turned to Jian Fan and thanked him too.
Jian Fan merely gave a quiet “Mm,” with little reaction.
Meanwhile, the panda robot continued.
It resumed the statement Yellow Hair had interrupted.
This time, no one interrupted it. Instead, the panda robot stalled all by itself.
“One member of the group with the lowest Popularity will be erased. As Parenting Diaries has only one member, the System has automatically selected Player Xie Cheng for erasure. Beep! Alert! Alert! Unable to select Player Xie Cheng! Beep! Player Xie Cheng selected. Beep! Alert! Player Xie Cheng does not meet the criteria for erasure.”
Then the panda robot began beeping nonstop.
Just as Jian Fan had predicted, they had made it glitch.
Yang Zhen found the sight immensely satisfying.
Then she looked at the book in her hands and pushed it back into Mu Xin’s.
“You keep this.”
The autobiography probably contained important clues. For now, her group had no use for it.
Mu Xin did not stand on ceremony.
The panda robot sounded its alarm for several minutes, then simply rebooted.
After restarting, it did not sound the alarm again. Instead, it skipped that part and moved straight on to the next stage.
“Filming for the third episode will begin shortly. Players, please prepare.”
As soon as it finished speaking, all twelve Players were sent into the shows.
Just before they vanished from the lounge, they distinctly heard another shrill alarm.
“Beep! Alert! Alert! No participating members detected in Parenting Diaries or The Leisure Inn!”
“Beep! Alert! Love Connection has exceeded its member limit!”
“Beep! Alert! Love Connection’s members do not meet the requirements for erasure.”
“Beep! Alert! Beep! Beep!”
“Program malfunction. Rebooting.”
“Beep.”
“Reboot successful.”
“Beep! Alert! Conflicting information! Correct the data as soon as possible! Beep! Initiating System self-repair.”
“System repair in progress.”
“Repair successful. No removable bugs detected.”
“Beep! Alert! Conflicting information! Correct the data as soon as possible.”
“…”
Jian Fan and the others had left too quickly. They heard only the alarm, not the robot’s repeated announcements. If they had heard them, they probably would have been… very happy.
At that moment, however, all twelve Players had already entered their shows to begin filming.
Xia Zeqin and Xie Cheng’s roles had changed.
They were still guests, but now they were special guests on Love Connection.
The show was about couples dating, though, and these two were both men. The storyline immediately hit a snag.
Yang Zhen did not concern herself with that. She provided the Scripts as usual. Everything after that was Zhou Jingying’s problem.
Zhou Jingying, meanwhile, looked at the new guests.
Thinking a little more broadly, she felt Xia Zeqin and Xie Cheng could date each other too. But considering the possible punishment or other consequences, she buried that dangerous idea deep in her heart.