FIMA Ch31: Recording

After resting for a while in the afternoon, Xie Jinzhao and the others went to touch up their makeup, and the official recording was about to begin.

Led by staff members, the three guest stars walked through the paths of the amusement park toward the recording location—the Garden Castle.

This was also the reason why the fans had screamed just now.

Seeing his boss seemingly very interested in that area, Cheng Ou said while walking: “I heard this variety show recording has a quota for a live audience. We can go ask the person in charge to give us two spots, so we can go inside and take a look.”

Gu Siyuan nodded, saying with a straight face: “That works. We can observe the reactions of the variety show guests and the audience on-site to make adjustments and refine our technological effects.”

Cheng Ou gave a thumbs-up: “Boss is truly responsible. Not only are your technical skills great, but you also prioritize user experience.”

“Cough cough…” Gu Siyuan coughed lightly a few times and said in a low voice: “Go ahead!”

The old castle wasn’t considered very tall; it had four floors in total.

The fourth floor was just an attic, while the first floor was a massive living room. Right now, the hall was split into two halves and was already packed with people.

On the left side, occupying about one-fifth of the living room, sat a long oval table. The four regular cast members of the show were already sitting at the table, along with several filming cameras set up.

But the right side was bustling. Apart from a massive screen, there were dozens of smaller monitors next to it, transmitting real-time footage from various parts of the castle.

Below the machines, there were over a dozen rows of tables and chairs, totaling over a hundred seats. Most of the seats were already occupied by people. These were the live audience members; they would be the first to see the entire process of the variety show recording in full.

The director would also rely on the real-time feedback from the live audience to edit together the most interesting and exciting highlight clips, which would be broadcasted on TV and uploaded to video websites two weeks later.

When Xie Jinzhao and his two companions walked into the castle…

They immediately saw the dense crowd of heads inside the room. However, regarding everything on the right side, they acted as if it didn’t exist, walking straight toward the long oval table on the left.

From the moment they arrived in front of the castle doors, the recording had already begun.

Looking at the four regular cast members who had arrived early and were sitting at the long table with solemn expressions, Xi Shuang turned her head and muttered somewhat neurotically to Xie Jinzhao: “My god, so scary, is this the legendary Last Supper?”

Xie Jinzhao shot her a glance: “Then why aren’t you, Judas, going to take a seat?”

Xi Shuang: “…”

Is this the demeanor of a modern male traffic star?

But these two lines of dialogue made the people present chuckle.

Teacher Li smiled: “Since you’re here, come over and sit down. We’re about to start drawing lots to form groups and explaining the rules!”

As soon as he finished speaking, as if acting as a foil, a dangerous sizzle crackle sound rang out in the room.

At the same time, a flash of blue light occurred, and a black figure dressed like a Dementor from Azkaban floated right in the center of the long oval table.

The black figure opened its terrifyingly large mouth: “Before taking your seats, the three players must first undergo inspection by the referee team.”

Xie Jinzhao and the others were all startled.

Xi Shuang even jumped straight up, hiding behind Xie Jinzhao: “Ghost, there’s a ghost…”

As someone whose external persona was an aloof and cool “Bking” (pretentious king), Xie Jinzhao gripped his fingers until his knuckles turned white, forcing himself to remain calm as he said: “Seeing how calm Teacher Li and the others are, you know it’s fake…”

Seeing the expressions of Teacher Li and the other three trying to hold back their laughter, Qi Ran also said: “The four teachers were deliberately waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves!”

“Ah… is that so?” Xi Shuang slowly crawled back out, but she still half-covered her eyes before she dared to look at that table.

Teacher Li had clearly already been through this once, smiling mischievously: “Before recording, the director revealed to me that this shoot would be very different. The park introduced some kind of black technology, and the experience would definitely be amazing. Now it seems it’s indeed true. I heard this is just an appetizer. Once the game starts, there will be even more interesting things.”

“…” The other six people.

Don’t say such terrifying things with such a look of anticipation on your face.

This castle was already gloomy to begin with. The sudden appearance of such a figure was scary enough.

Right at this moment, three staff members wearing face masks walked out from some corner. Each holding an instrument, they began to carefully scan the bodies of Xie Jinzhao and the other two.

Following that, watches, cell phones, jewelry, and various small electronic or metal gadgets on everyone were confiscated.

Qi Ran joked: “Fortunately, for ease of movement, I wore sweatpants today and didn’t wear a belt, otherwise it would be super awkward…”

Xi Shuang also nodded with lingering fear: “Good thing I wore seamless underwear, otherwise that would be awkward.”

“Cough cough…”

Although everyone knew Xi Shuang was famous for acting up and speaking carelessly, for a twenty-one-year-old girl to say such a thing on a variety show still made the people seated cough lightly a few times.

At this time, Xie Jinzhao suddenly raised his hand: “Hello, Referee. I would like to ask, is it only the three of us who need to be inspected?”

“Everyone is required,” the black figure stated affirmatively.

Xie Jinzhao smiled lightly: “But when the four teachers were inspected, we weren’t present. You guys are so familiar with each other, what if you held something back?”

The four regular cast members were slightly dumbfounded. Good heavens, a newcomer dares to give us a show of strength right on his first visit.

[This is the real-life version of turning the table while the boss is eating!]

[You, a weak snake, want to suppress the local dragons!]

Many of the variety show fans among the live audience originally didn’t have a good impression of a traffic star like Xie Jinzhao, but seeing this, they also chuckled and laughed out loud.

Coming on a variety show was precisely for this effect. After their initial shock, not only did the four regular cast members have no objections, but they also cracked a few slightly threatening little jokes back at him.

It was a good thing they inspected; upon inspecting, they actually managed to dig out a few items from Wang Xue and Ji Haoying—a small hairpin and an electronic watch.

Despite their attempts to play coy and act spoiled, the items were still firmly confiscated, which elicited another wave of mocking laughter from the live audience.

The director was very satisfied with this, and very satisfied with Xie Jinzhao. This was exactly the effect a variety show needed.

Qi Ran cast a faint glance at Xie Jinzhao. He truly hadn’t expected him to be so good at showing off…

After the re-inspection was completed, that terrifying figure on the round table once again emitted a sizzle crackle sound: “There is a drawing lot cylinder placed in front of me. Next, please have the seven players draw lots to form groups.”

According to past rules, it was usually Teacher Li who went up first to start.

However, after a pause, the black figure’s dark, hollow gaze suddenly swept across Xie Jinzhao’s face, adding: “To show fairness and justice, please have the three players who arrived later draw first.”

Another burst of laughter erupted at the scene. This black-clothed referee was clearly holding a grudge.

Xi Shuang pulled on Xie Jinzhao nervously: “Is this referee a living person? It actually knows how to look at you?”

Xie Jinzhao shook his head with a bitter smile, but didn’t decline either, becoming the first to stand up and draw a lot.

The lots were made of hard cardboard. After Xie Jinzhao pulled his out, the end was painted green.

Right after him was Qi Ran; the end he drew was red. It seemed they were grouped by color.

Xi Shuang had been waiting to the side early on. As soon as Qi Ran finished, she immediately reached out and drew one; the end was also green. She glanced at Xie Jinzhao, feeling anxious inside: “I wonder how many colors there are and how many groups there will be. There should only be two groups, right?”

Xie Jinzhao comforted himself: “Probably…”

While the two were talking, Teacher Li also finished drawing; it was red.

Xi Shuang breathed a sigh of relief: “There should only be red and green groups. Then our group will have at least one more person, that’s great.”

However, the next moment, Wang Xue’s lot came out, and the end was painted yellow.

Xi Shuang and Xie Jinzhao covered their faces, practically wanting to faint.

Quickly, the remaining two people also finished drawing.

Ji Haoying was yellow; Lu Yanyan was red.

The current grouping situation:
Red Group: Teacher Li, Qi Ran, Lu Yanyan.
Yellow Group: Wang Xue, Ji Haoying.
Green Group: Xie Jinzhao, Xi Shuang.

In other words, Xie Jinzhao and Xi Shuang, the two youngest people who were newcomers to a variety show for the first time, were put into one group, and there were only the two of them.

The others cast gazes of sympathy or schadenfreude over to them.

After all, this show eliminated people.

For two people like them, they might not even last ten minutes before directly going “GOGO” (game over). That would mean coming on this episode for nothing, with no screen time at all.

Xi Shuang had zero cooperative or friendly spirit, mercilessly throwing the blame onto Xie Jinzhao: “It must be because you were too arrogant just now and offended Grandpa Referee.”

Xie Jinzhao sighed despairingly: “Let me calm down for a bit.”

[To be young and ignorant of the depths of society!]

Teacher Li smiled, narrowing his eyes into slits. He came over and patted Xie Jinzhao’s shoulder: “Don’t be discouraged. Young people should bring out the same momentum you used to question us just now. You might just be able to survive past ten minutes!”

As the other half of Xie Jinzhao’s former “fairy-like friendship CP,” Qi Ran also stepped forward and said: “Friends are originally birds of the same forest, but when disaster strikes, they fly their separate ways.”

These words had great variety show effect.

The others, including the live audience, all laughed out loud.

Right at this moment, another regular cast member, Wang Xue, raised her hand in protest: “Everyone knows Teacher Li is the best at solving puzzles, and their group even has three people. Aren’t our two groups just delivering free kills? Does the production team have any extra clues to provide?”

The black-clothed referee had clearly prepared for this early on, its metallic grating voice sounding: “For relative fairness, the two groups with fewer members will each possess one special card.”

“That’s great.” The four people in the yellow and green groups breathed a slight sigh of relief.

A staff member walked up carrying a tray. Wang Xue and Xi Shuang stepped forward as representatives of their two groups to draw.

After seeing the contents of their respective cards, Xi Shuang’s expression was good. It was a revive-on-the-spot card, although it only had one chance to be used.

Holding her card, Wang Xue smiled; her expression showing neither joy nor sorrow.

She drew an “Off-site Assistance Card,” which had appeared a few times in previous seasons. It meant she could pick one person from the over one hundred live audience members to become a companion and clear the levels together.

However, previous precedents proved that most of these off-site people were “armchair players”—acting all high and mighty online, giving pointers to the masses—but once the real game started, it would be a miracle if they didn’t drag the team down.

The atmosphere among the live audience was very enthusiastic, with everyone actively raising their hands to express their desire to team up.

The camera swept across the excited faces one by one, then projected them onto the large screen. However, Wang Xue’s eyes darted around, unable to make up her mind.

Right at this moment, her peripheral vision caught sight of something, and she suddenly shouted brightly: “I’ve chosen.”

Teacher Li and the others joked: “Look at her, look at her, this expression is clearly not right. It seems she’s spotted some interesting person?”

Wang Xue chuckled softly, then pointed her finger straight toward the direction of the door, which wasn’t in the camera’s view, and made her choice without hesitation: “I’ll choose this gentleman here.”

Teacher Li was a bit nearsighted and couldn’t see the person’s face clearly. He just said vaguely: “Haha, later when the person comes over, we have to interview Student Wang Xue. What was the reason for choosing that gentleman?”

“Is this something I can say out loud?” Wang Xue first laughed, half-covering her mouth, and then, blinking her beautiful phoenix eyes, answered straightforwardly, “Of course it’s… because he’s handsome!”

Hearing this reason, the gazes of everyone in the production crew, including the other guests whose minds had been wandering just now, all gathered over.

Then, almost everyone’s eyes lit up.

Sure enough, they found that the man casually selected by Wang Xue before their eyes was indeed astonishingly handsome. He even surpassed the several carefully made-up male stars present, possessing an indescribable noble and cold charm.

Xie Jinzhao and Qi Ran, however, blinked strangely.

The assistant director walked over to the selected man with the camera, smiling enthusiastically: “Then this gentleman, on behalf of the production crew, I invite you to join our variety show recording. What do you think?”

“I’m afraid it’s not very convenient.” Before Gu Siyuan could refuse, Cheng Ou was the first to block the approaching camera lens, actively resolving his boss’s troubles.

The assistant director naturally had quick wits and immediately smoothed things over: “Rejected, this gentleman actually rejected me ruthlessly and heartlessly. Has our program become this unattractive now? Sir, have you never watched our Who is the Adventure King?”

“Never watched it,” Gu Siyuan shook his head.

As the saying goes, “fans love to a depth naturally turns to anti-fans.” The over one hundred live audience members, apart from some with connections, were mostly veteran fans of the show. Seeing this, they directly and mercilessly mocked on the spot: “Hahaha, hit a wall, didn’t you? They look down on you. Let’s see if Old Li still dares to brag about being the number one variety show domestically.”

However, at this time, Gu Siyuan calmly spoke up again: “Although I haven’t watched it, I can participate in the game.”

The assistant director finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Cheng Ou looked at his boss in confusion. Why does my ass-kissing always fall short by a breath today?

No wonder they say accompanying a monarch is like accompanying a tiger…

At this time, clearly intending to stir up some drama, the assistant director raised an eyebrow and asked one more question: “Sir, may I ask what prompted you to change your mind?”

“Oh, I saw Xie Jinzhao. I’m his fan,” Gu Siyuan casually swept a glance at Xie Jinzhao by the round table, his tone flat.

The assistant director: “…”

I truly can’t see a single trace of joy and excitement from seeing your idol…

However, the assistant director still very professionally cut the camera shot to Xie Jinzhao’s face, joking: “Our production team is basking in Jinzhao’s light today.”

Xie Jinzhao hurriedly forced out a smile, acting extremely polite towards the camera: “I am extremely honored to have such a handsome male fan.”

Wang Xue also leaned in and chuckled: “What a pity the one who drew the assistance card was my group, otherwise Jinzhao could have fought side-by-side with his fan.”

Xie Jinzhao: “Then I’ll have to ask Sister Xue to take good care of my fan.”

Given Gu Siyuan’s speaking style—where one sentence could anger eight people to death—he highly suspected whether the people in the Yellow Group would end up mutually destroying each other through infighting?

The person in question, Gu Siyuan, glanced at Cheng Ou beside him and said in a low voice: “You and the driver head back first.”

“Okay!” Cheng Ou nodded.

However, before leaving, he stared miraculously at his boss. So you were always here to chase stars? How truly youthful!

Gu Siyuan walked expressionlessly to Wang Xue’s side: “Hello, I am Gu Siyuan!”

As he approached closer, Wang Xue could feel this imposing aura even more. She hurriedly laughed: “Hello to you too, I am Wang Xue. I hope we have a happy cooperation later.”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “Definitely.”

Ji Haoying also forced out a smile: “I am Ji Haoying. The three of us are a group.”

Gu Siyuan: “Mn.”

Xie Jinzhao glanced around, shuffled over to his side, and asked in a lowered voice: “What are you doing?”

Gu Siyuan spoke nonsense without changing his expression: “Came to run some errands, happened to pass by.”

There were cameras everywhere, so Xie Jinzhao couldn’t say too much. He just cautioned in a very small voice: “Later during the recording, it’s best if you speak less. Otherwise, I’m afraid that after the show airs, you’ll have even more anti-fans than I do.”

Gu Siyuan shot him an icy glance: “That’s true. After all, you probably won’t survive past five minutes in the game later. The anti-fans wouldn’t even get a chance to perform if they wanted to curse at you.”

“…” Xie Jinzhao.

Look at this, look at this, just this speaking style… it would be a ghost if he didn’t attract anti-fans.

At this time, Qi Ran also smilingly came over, directly and openly saying: “Brother Siyuan, why did you come here?”

Wang Xue asked curiously: “You guys actually know each other?”

Qi Ran nodded: “We’re neighbors, known each other since we were kids.”

Xi Shuang said in surprise: “Known each other since kids, then why did this big handsome guy say he’s Xie Jinzhao’s fan?”

As soon as these words came out, the scene quieted down.

One could imagine that after the program aired, if this segment wasn’t edited out, Xi Shuang would definitely be heavily torn apart by Qi Ran’s fans, and Xie Jinzhao probably wouldn’t be able to escape either.

However, the program director might like it; catfights bring heat and buzz.

The referee’s voice sounded once again: “Below, the game background and rules will be introduced.”

“Eighty years ago, the Bai family was famous throughout City A. The head of the Bai family married four concubines and had two sons and one daughter. On this day, the most favored Fourth Concubine gave birth to a son. However, when she woke up the next day, she found the newborn dead in the nursery on the third floor…”

“…Now, players, you have time-traveled to the Bai family of eighty years ago. Please help find the murderer who killed the infant…”

“However, in all areas except the main hall, danger may exist. There are a total of three marked weapons in the castle; once hit by a marked weapon, you will die. Additionally, the Third Concubine suffers from leprosy; as long as any part of your body is touched by her, you will die instantly. Lastly, the indoor facilities are old, please watch your step and don’t get into danger…”

“The main hall is your only sanctuary, and also marks the end of the game. Deceased players will be brought down to the main hall by staff members. Those who find the true murderer and possess evidence can come down to the main hall on their own to end the game.”

“Now, the game begins. Players, please head upstairs.”

Under the empty, terrifying surveillance of the referee’s gaze, the three groups went up the stairs in sequence.

Afterward, everyone tacitly split into three directions to begin searching for clues in the mansion.

As an outsider, Gu Siyuan kept a low profile, following Wang Xue and Ji Haoying’s actions.

Xie Jinzhao chose to directly skip the second floor and go up to the third floor.

Since the infant died on the third floor, there would definitely be the most clues left on the third floor.

Xi Shuang actually didn’t want to go. She felt there really was an infant spirit floating around on the third floor, especially after seeing that black technology just now. But if she didn’t go now, she would have to act alone later, which would be even scarier.

Xi Shuang shrank beside Xie Jinzhao, looking around left and right, and said cautiously: “Our group is the weakest, so we must cooperate sincerely and help each other. Don’t abandon, don’t give up!”

“Of course,” Xie Jinzhao nodded with a cold and indifferent face.

Seeing his expressionless appearance, Xi Shuang felt a bit more settled: “Have you played this kind of escape room adventure before?”

“No,” Xie Jinzhao shook his head, but immediately pledged earnestly: “However, I often watch adventure programs, especially Who is the Adventure King. I watch every episode.”

Xi Shuang relaxed a bit more: “Then it seems you still have some experience…”

Right at this moment, the room on their right suddenly erupted with a burst of bang bang bang knocking sounds on the door, accompanied by hoarse, broken laughter, and a faint, almost imperceptible sigh coming from somewhere unknown.

“Ah…” Xi Shuang’s legs went soft, and she almost knelt directly on the ground.

However, she couldn’t.

Because the “experienced player” she thought was beside her directly started screaming like crazy—”Ahhh…”—and then grabbed her shoulders with both hands, hiding behind her.

She couldn’t fall down even if she wanted to; there was no room.

“…” Xi Shuang.

At this moment, the beating and crashing behind the door grew even more violent, even accompanied by the clack clack rattling of the metal fittings on the door frame. It felt as if in the next moment, the door would fall straight down, and the terrifying entity inside the room would rush out and jump right in front of them.

Now, the two of them didn’t even have time to be scared.

Xie Jinzhao panted: “Run.”

After saying that, without waiting for Xi Shuang’s reaction, he lifted his leg, preparing to be the first to rush forward.

Xi Shuang usually acted like she had no brains, but at critical moments, her reactions were agile. With a backhand, she firmly grabbed Xie Jinzhao’s shirt hem: “Take me with you.”

Xie Jinzhao hadn’t even steadied his footing when his running speed was suddenly halted. Stumbling, he dropped directly to one knee on the ground.

As his head lowered, his line of sight happened to align perfectly with the bottom gap of the adjacent room’s door. A distinctly black-and-white eyeball stared straight over from the gap beneath the door.

“Ahhhh—”

Xie Jinzhao screamed even louder than a pig being slaughtered.

Xi Shuang thought something had happened to him when he fell. Just as she wanted to ask about the situation, she ended up directly making eye contact with that black-and-white eyeball too.

“Ah!!!”

The next moment, she directly flung Xie Jinzhao aside, running desperately toward the corner of the corridor, turning directly into an invisible black shadow.

On the other side, the Yellow Group, which was currently checking the situation on the second floor, also encountered their own surprise.

A chef raising a large, bloody meat cleaver suddenly leaped out like a ghost and started desperately chasing Wang Xue and the others, hacking wildly.

Wang Xue and Ji Haoying immediately took off running.

Standing dead center in the corridor with one hand in his pocket, Gu Siyuan quietly watched the running, overweight chef.

Just as the person was about to reach him, he extended a long leg to trip him. The fat man’s inertia was already greater than an average person’s, and his legs immediately lost their stability.

Gu Siyuan turned sideways slightly, dodging his falling motion. At the same time, he rapidly struck out, grabbing his arm with one hand, while his other hand formed a knife-hand strike and chopped down diagonally right on the chef’s wrist. Due to the intense pain, the palm loosened in response.

Clatter… The cleaver fell onto the floor.

With one hand still grabbing the fat chef, Gu Siyuan picked up the cleaver with his other hand and examined it closely.

Then, his gaze suddenly changed. The blade sliced through the air with a whistle, the cold tip pointing straight at the chef still sprawled on the ground: “Go back to where you belong, do not get in my way!”

Without a second word, the chef scrambled and rolled away to escape.

“…” The rest of the Yellow Group.

Is this allowed too?

Since when did NPCs become such cowards?

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