FLME Ch31.2: Battle Royale Recording

The great magician has a habit of writing in his diary, perhaps due to his long and tedious life. He worries he might forget important things, so he always writes down what he remembers.

Daniel Li and Yi Ming gathered around the table and finally finished reading the thick diary.

Yi Ming let out a long sigh, rubbed her sore shoulder, and straightened up, “So, we four and the princess knew each other before this?”

Daniel Li, who is the great magician and the “person” in this diary, has always been sentimental and quickly immerses himself in his role. After reading the diary, he had already assumed the identity of the great magician, with a brooding expression on his handsome face.

“Yes.” He flipped through a few pages, still looking worried, “We’ve known each other for at least nine years and are very close.”

Seeing his expression, Yi Ming immediately became alert, “You can’t act on emotion. Don’t let your feelings get the better of you and run off to the princess…”

Daniel Li shook his head, half amused and half exasperated, “I won’t get that carried away.”

“…That’s not certain,” Yi Ming muttered.

She remembered previous shows where Daniel Li had suddenly defected due to the storyline. Having worked with Daniel Li before, she knew he was extremely sentimental.

Daniel Li: “I won’t. I already promised you.”

This thick diary was obtained after they worked together to solve a secret room’s mechanism. Yi Ming’s condition for helping was mutual information sharing and alliance without betrayal.

Daniel Li agreed.

“Look here.” Yi Ming pointed to the last page of the diary, “The princess was ‘kidnapped by the demon king,’ but this is clearly the dragon’s castle. Could it be a mistake?”

Daniel Li pondered for a moment and shook his head.

“The show wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake. This means there’s more to it.”

Yi Ming nodded, “And the diary says the hero and the dragon became friends, so the dragon shouldn’t be the bad guy.”

Daniel Li suddenly asked, “Who is this season’s hero? He might be the key connecting all of us.”

Yi Ming thought for a moment.

“Yu Wen.”

–

Yu Wen walked to the banquet hall.

In the hero’s journal, there was a hint from the production team: You are the center of the event.

When he showed it to Jian Heng, he tore out that page. The poetry collection Jian Heng handed over also had a missing hard page.

These core pieces of information couldn’t be easily shown.

Jian Heng’s poetry collection was messy and disorganized, with only two effective pieces of information among the poems before the last few pages.

【Oh, hero!

Embarked on his journey;

Once again,

Once again,

Saving the princess from danger;

This boy who befriends dragons;

Still pure at heart!】

Once again?

Befriends dragons?

【The beautiful princess coveted by the dragon;

The mighty hero conquers peril;

But,

Nine years later,

The demon king descends;

These southern and northern kingdoms! None are its match!

The hero team battles once more;

None return,

None return;

What is the fate of the heroes?

What is the fate of the heroes?

The flowers dancing in the sky, please hear my wish;

Please bless them, and may they one day return safely…】

Yu Wen arrived at the banquet hall and looked around.

He had just left the study to check the main hall, thinking that “you are the center of the event” might not only mean from a macro perspective but also hint that his storyline could find clues in the castle’s central area—the banquet hall.

The hall, with its elegant medieval style, had stained glass windows covered by something, blocking out the light. The portraits on the walls seemed like solemn sculptures, silently observing everything.

He compressed his space by leaning into a corner formed by the stairs. Sure enough, a ghost bird couldn’t detect him and fluttered in front of him.

Ghost birds were remotely controlled by staff. So before acting, Yu Wen sincerely said to the bird, “I’m sorry.”

He then extended his sword and brought the bird down.

Staff: “?”

During filming, everyone had their roles. The fact that Yu Wen exploited a bug hadn’t spread yet. The staff controlling the ghost bird took off his headset, put down the remote control, and looked at his team leader in a daze.

“Leader, he took my bird… and smeared ink over its eyes…”

These high-tech brass birds were waterproof, but their scanning parts were the eyes. Smearing ink over the eyes meant a significant drop in scanning sensitivity. If the ink was thick enough, the bird would be blind for the entire show.

The staff member spoke with a hint of grievance.

Everyone only had one little yellow bird… and he hadn’t played enough. Now he would have to sit and watch on the monitor for the rest of the day… Wait a minute.

Was he off work?!

On the other side, the director was worried in front of the monitor.

The first episode of every season meant a fresh start. He wanted to make it good and give the audience a strong impression. The script for this episode was a tearjerker, designed to move the audience. So far, everything was going according to plan…

Except for Yu Wen!

If he continued like this, all the NPCs would be out of a job!

The key point was, the director could sense that Yu Wen was actually holding back for the sake of the show’s presentation—otherwise, he would have disassembled the device at the bottom of the sword sheath for analysis.

The director saw Yu Wen had just put a screwdriver in his pocket!

Everything could only be attributed to some mysterious element around Yu Wen.

To save the progression from danger, the director made a tough decision after careful consideration.

“Bring in the human NPCs,” he pointed at Yu Wen, “mainly for him.”

The director’s expression almost directly said: Give him a hard time!

“Also, speed up the storyline with the bard.”

–

Yu Wen skillfully caught two more little yellow birds flying in front of him, smeared them with ink, and released them.

The banquet hall was simply arranged, with a long dining table in the center and candle stands on both sides. It looked somewhat empty at first glance. There was no chandelier overhead, only a circle of glass decorations.

Yu Wen’s gaze lingered on the glass decoration.

It was a dragon.

The dragon’s body coiled, wings folded, its appearance vividly lifelike. Even in slumber, its fierce aura was palpable. The pressure could be felt even from afar, hinting at how terrifying it would be upon awakening.

However, its angry horns were wrapped with a circle of delicate protrusions.

It looked like a flower wreath, or perhaps a crown.

In the dim candlelight, Yu Wen couldn’t see clearly, but it seemed familiar.

After a moment, he lowered his head and looked at the badge on his chest.

Around the badge were similar protrusions.

Wisteria flowers.

Symbolizing loyalty and friendship.

He looked up again, in the darkness, at the dragon’s eyes.

The stained glass depicted it, creating a lifelike dragon head. Its eyes were tightly closed, but at a certain moment, the candlelight reflected off the glass, giving the illusion of a tear.

Although the dragon sculpture was fierce and terrifying, its face was detailed enough to show inexplicable sadness upon closer inspection.

Why was it coiled here?

To occupy?

Perhaps not.

The young hero stood silently, gazing calmly at the dragon above, his eyes serene and slightly compassionate.

The dragon’s head extended towards him, its eyes closed but seemingly ready to open at any moment.

Old friends reuniting.

The camera silently recorded this scene.

The director took a sharp breath, thinking that the ratings for this episode were secured.

Although Yu Wen knew nothing for now and might have just glanced by chance, that glance was a heart-stirring destiny for his storyline!

Mysticism! This kid has some mysticism!

Director: “Good, good, having him is a blessing for us…”

He instantly forgave Yu Wen for exploiting bugs. If he liked it, let him do more!

He instructed the execution team, “Reduce the number of NPCs in that secret room later… don’t scare our Xiao Yu.”

The assistant director suddenly spoke while staring at the screen, “Lao Yan, he didn’t go to the secret room in the hall.”

Director: “Why? Couldn’t find it?”

“No… he didn’t even look,” the assistant director hesitated, “he seems to have found another clue and went back to the study.”

–

Yu Wen pulled out a book from the bookshelf and flipped to the page he had glimpsed.

Jian Heng’s poetry collection revealed several crucial pieces of information: First, he had heard of the hero team’s story and knew their end was no return; second, the hero led the hero team at least twice.

The broadcast mentioned the hero team comprised four people: the hero, the great magician, the dwarf, and the elf.

There was also a princess held captive in the castle.

Five people.

But there were six guests this season, so who was the extra one?

Clearly, it was Jian Heng, the wandering bard with his lute.

He was an observer, a recorder.

Moreover, he might not be in the same time and space as the others.

“The time here is frozen,” the hero’s journal stated.

In the stagnant time, a wandering bard stumbled into the castle and was eventually trapped by the magic cast over it.

This was the bard’s storyline.

Now it seemed that the hero’s journal clearly stated that the great magician and the elf had already died, and Daniel Li and Yi Ming were playing them, indicating that at least two of the roles the guests received were not living beings but spirits.

The status of the others was yet to be determined.

The bard was the last to arrive at the castle since his poetry still contained hearsay about the hero’s story.

Yu Wen quickly flipped through the book. In this bookshelf was a chronicle he had glanced at earlier. The contents only recorded up to the broadcasted time, which was “the twelfth year of William I’s reign.” After learning from Jian Heng that the hero team had fought twice, he immediately realized that the chronicle would at least record the events of the first expedition.

That was the past of the hero team.

He found it.

【The second year of King William I’s reign.

October 13: The hero team assembled.

The third year of King William I’s reign.

January 21: Successfully rescued the princess; the hero team returned.

January 22: The king awarded the hero team with honors and titles.

May 14: A dragon suddenly appeared.

May 15: The hero declared the conquest of the dragon, vowing loyalty and friendship with wisteria flowers on its horns.

…

The twelfth year of King William I’s reign.

March 28: The demon king appeared; the princess went missing.

April 13: The hero team set out again.

September 11: No one returned.

December 1: The dragon guarding the palace disappeared.】

The chronicle ended there.

Yu Wen closed the chronicle and leaned against the fireplace, pondering. What was known now was that the broadcasted information was somewhat misleading. The director’s team tried to mislead them into thinking the hero team was a temporarily formed group, but that wasn’t the case. They had known each other for at least nine years.

Additionally, the broadcast referred to this as “the dragon’s castle,” while the chronicle mentioned a demon king. This wasn’t a mistake. The change of the castle’s owner… had significant implications.

The most critical thing now was to find out their end, or more accurately, the cause of their deaths, since everyone mentioned, “I can’t get out.”

What was the magic that enveloped the castle like continuous mountains? What kind of magic could trap an entire hero team here?

Yu Wen put the chronicle back in place, and a flash of insight hit him.

He paused and hesitantly thought:

If the people appearing now were just shadows of the past…

What about the dragon?

The dragon that guarded the palace, came to the distant forest, transformed into a glass sculpture on the dome, watching every inch of this place, eternally guarding…

Was it dead or alive?