Surprise! The Supposed Talent Show Was Actually–?!

Chapter 140 - Popularity

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

Crosson’s broadcasting hall.

There were nearly 100 trainees sitting on the ground in a messy fashion––after the fifth elimination match, only 90 people had made it into the next round.

The program producer used a loudspeaker to announce the rules for the next competition, “In the sixth elimination match, according to the old rules carried through over the years, we won’t play a customized map. It will be fixed, and the number of contestants will go from 90 to 50...”

Off-stage, Wu Jin quickly opened up his terminal and looked up the previous year’s Crosson Show competition system.

A fixed map was usually selected from several existing maps. The program instructors would make the choice. The first and second elimination match had been held on fixed maps.

However, for the next elimination match, the map would be much more difficult than it had been for the first round.

Wu Jin glanced over it roughly. The sixth Crosson elimination match––

Last year was a haunted house, and the year before last was a radioactive city... a few years before, settings like a haunted house, an amusement park, a radioactive city, or even a deserted island had all been chosen.

Program producer: “Due to a scheduling conflict with the Stardust Cup survival show, our next game will be in two months’ time. What’s the most important thing to do in between?”

The trainees shouted out the slogan, dragging it out, “Training, training, and more training...”

The program director slapped the table, “Wrong! It’s obtaining popularity!”

There was a whoosh as the two stage staff opened up the virtual projection behind the program producer. There was a series of charts and data that looked very complex, and it had undoubtedly come from the Crosson marketing department.

“The Star Net.” The program producer banged on the table, “It changes with each passing day; thousands of changes. The popularity of the show is mainly concentrated during two or three seasons, starting from the Star League and ending with the Stardust Cup in the Azure division. What does the audience look forward to the most?”

“Professional players! Those who have results, high KA specs (kill rates, assistance rates), and are the ones who lead the team to victory! What are trainees? Trainees are secondary to the audience. Trainees are the little sprouts that come out every season. After cutting off a sprout, there’ll still be more sprouts!”

“In the two months between the rounds, remember, one of the most important tasks is to remain in the audience’s memory! ––How is it done?!”

The projection swished and changed, showing a line of bold text.

Variety show, Star Blog, maintaining one’s character design, stirring up gossip, taking advantage of the popularity of their own battle team.

Wu Jin and the rest of the trainees: “......”

On the stage, the program producer began to introduce marketing case studies of former trainees, “When Big Thin was in our program back then, gossip about him broke out once every two weeks on average. Don’t underestimate the power of a scandal. The audience will go and look for artists’ and internet celebrities’ scandals even if they’re not interested in survival show players!”

“A few years ago, two players from two different teams were reported by over a dozen tabloid newspapers as having entered the same hotel one after another at night. Although they were only discussing the Fluorescent tactics book, the audience was enthusiastic and excited! So, the company’s top management decided to hold a press conference announcing that they were ‘in true love’. On the same day, their fan count on the Star Blog and the share price of the company both rose...”

Beneath the stage, Zuo Botang’s figure froze.

Qin Jinbao: “What’s the matter? The program producer didn’t say clearly that it was your Jingyi.”

Nearby, Ming Yao was holding on to Wu Jin and chattering incessantly. He was very enthusiastic, and who knew what he was discussing. The projection on the stage changed again.

“Of course, if we want to keep up our popularity, we also need to get onto the stage for a variety show!” The program producer had an ambitious expression on his face, “Next weekend’s <Go! Popular Youth> is a precious opportunity that the program group has won for you! Our trainees will perform on the same stage as internet celebrities, artists, trainees, and new models...”

The trainees beneath the podium instantly became rowdy.

The trainees seemed to have all come to life. Their expressions were varied, and their reactions were very different according to whether they had relevant talents or not.

Thin Fire was overjoyed, yet pretended to be modest, “I can also be considered an internet celebrity, a fashionista, and a survival show trainee. I’m versatile, and my style is very flowery...”

Caesar protested, “Perform? I don’t have any skills to offer. At most, I can only sell my body––” His terminal beeped, reminding Caesar that they were still recording. He should pay attention to his words, and this was his first warning.

Wei Yan was still expressionless, but his eyes for a second seemed lost. Red, on the other hand, was very excited, “Do I get a chance to rap&#k2026;”

Next to Caesar, Zoe was looking up the program details for <Go! Popular Youth>. Wen Lin leaned in to take a look, and Wu Jin also poked his head out. At this time, over a dozen cameras were flying through the air, and Wu Jin was smart enough to keep a certain distance between him and the big boss, but his own teammates were safe.

“<Go! Popular Youth> belongs to Snow Leopard Entertainment, and has a rating index of 24.2 (52%) and a network communication index of 36.1 (31%).” Zoe pulled up the page, “Their word of mouth is better than their ratings. It can’t be too bad.”

“In the shooting for variety shows, guests need to compete in specific game segments in groups, and there is cross-industry interaction and cooperation&#k2026; one week before the recording, guests should submit&#k2026;”

Wu Jin immediately recalled the player’s profile page for the Crosson Show, which the team of four had all handed over to the White Moonlight PR team to manage, “Captain, let’s copy ours from our personal pages?”

Zoe looked at Wu Jin for a long time, then made a sound of affirmation. He couldn’t help thinking about what would happen if Wu Jin’s information page was changed to ‘married’....

“No way!” Zoe spoke coldly.

Wu Jin froze, “We can’t-can’t copy it? ...” He immediately nodded. He’d start writing one from scratch after they went back to the dorms to hand in to the program group.

In the crowd, the variety show booklets were distributed one by one. Wu Jin flipped through it roughly and felt that having it made no difference at all.

On the stage, the program producer was busy making a speech and summarizing, “Whether or not you do well is a subjective decision, while traffic volume is objective. However, the objective world is driven by subjective consciousness. I hope you can give full play to your subjective initiative in two months. Alright, next, will the people I name go find the logistics instructor for a final check. They must have washed their hair with shampoo prior to the program. Mao Qiukui––”

Red: “Hey, no, don’t! How come you’re publicly punishing people!”

As soon as the dinner bell rang, the trainees dispersed.

After the game, the dishes in the Crosson canteen were far less varied than they were pre-match. Not only the Crosson Show players, but even the Hyacinth Show players found it unpalatable.

Fortunately, the goddesses of the Hyacinth Show had high requirements for their standards of living. As soon as it came to meal time, Vera carried over the bamboo steamed rice she’d made and walked slowly over to the White Moonlight table.

The goddess generously distributed the steamed rice to the team.

When it was Wu Jin’s turn, she didn’t hide her love for her idol and stuffed him with two extra chicken legs and a spoonful of herbs.

Red, who’d come to get some rice from Caesar, was also given two spoonfuls of steamed rice. He was ecstatic and thanked her over and over again.

At this time, Red was still thinking about the program producer’s call out. He said indignantly, “We survival show players depend on our strength to eat. It doesn’t matter if we wash our hair or not!”

Vera laughed, “Over the past two years, survival shows have become popular and have absorbed more than pure hardcore fans. Some spectators don’t care much about the survival shows, but they still hear about it. It’s better to clean up a little and not destroy the image they have in their minds.”

“That serial article that was quite popular earlier, that crazy one, <Crosson Infatuation: 499 trainees confessed to me after I joined the competition as a female fan in menswear> drew in many fans. Don’t make it so that people start wondering where the Crosson male gods are when we go participate in the variety show. How come they haven’t washed their hair? Why is it different from that article?”

Red pondered, “Even if I tidy up well, my singing and dancing won’t be better than the performer trainees...”

The whole table turned their heads to look at Wu Jin.

Wu Jin: “......” Wait-wait a minute, I can’t win either! It’s been a long time since I’ve danced!

Vera’s smile became even kinder. She glanced over the people from White Moonlight and nodded in satisfaction. The five people at the table, Red included, all had good appearances. All the White Moonlight players were good choices...

Vera’s gaze suddenly paused.

Someone approached them, “Excuse me.”

Red quickly moved his butt and practically clapped his hands to greet Brother Wei and welcome him into his seat.

Wei Shi sat down next to Wu Jin.

Wu Jin had originally been biting at his spoon. His eyes lit up instantly, and he pretended to be calm.

Vera: “......” What are you sitting there for! You’re crowding my Little Witch!!!

Zoe: “......” This person not only likes to put on an act, he also had thick skin! This table was occupied by White Moonlight!

Caesar’s tiger eyes were hospitable and welcoming, “Little Witch, squeeze over, come, come, make room for Brother Wei!”

Seeing the situation, Red quickly changed the topic, “That 499 Trainee article, what does it say, let me take a look...” Red opened up his terminal and read out loud amidst the strange silence:

“Latest update: I cried as I faced two of my lovers and said, Little Thin, Caesar, I love you, but my heart is fair, and it tells me that I also like Little Witch, to the point where I can’t give him up, and also God Wei, Zoe, Botang, and Ah Lin. Giving up any of you would tear my heart in two. It hurts, it hurts so much...”

“Caesar laughed wildly: Baby, how could I bear to hurt you? If I can accept Thin Fire, then I can also accept them.”

The silence became even more strange.

Red was very timely and shifted the topic, “Eh, come, eat eat eat, let’s eat!”

Caesar set down the bowl in anger, “What is this? Isn’t it OOC? Starting up a harem requires some talk about the basic rules. How could I accept that coquettish man? I would just punch him out of Crosson. This thing is even more full of crap than the one about Little Witch having children––”

Everyone at the table: “......”

Wu Jin, who’d almost choked on rice: “......”

Wei Shi handed the water over to Wu Jin, his face expressionless, but the cold lines at the corner of his lips were a little looser.

The post-dinner training time ended at 22:00.

Wu Jin was still required to ‘rest’, so his terminal was unable to open up the training room. He walked around with nothing to do after going over the game with his teammates, and on the way, he twice ran into Qin Jinbao, who was listening to stories, once into Ming Yao, who was singing karaoke, and once into Thin Fire, who was broadcasting live in the woods.

At 21:00, Wu Jin purposely made a trip to visit Lan. This young woman wasn’t very old, but her character was direct. She looked directly at Wu Jin, and before leaving, she spoke proudly, “We’ll fight again next time.”

Fortunately, there was Chu Chu there to lighten up the atmosphere, so Wu Jin and Lan managed the beginnings of a friendship.

Chu Chu and Lan shared a dormitory. Their beds were a mess, and small dresses were piled up into a mountain. She chattered on as when she invited Wu Jin inside but didn’t think of tidying up. Wu Jin didn’t know the cost of these small skirts but felt that Chu Chu really didn’t appear to be anything like a successor to the throne.

At 21:30, Wu Jin caught the Little Pterosaur in the woods and began to wash and brush it beneath the tap.

The little Pterosaur wasn’t afraid of water, but it liked to flutter its wings around when it took a bath, forcing more water into the flower beds in a radius of over ten square meters.

22:00 sharp.

All the trainees rushed back to the twin towers before the curfew. Wu Jin used a fluffy washcloth to wrap up the Pterosaur, carrying it back to the bedroom.

Ming Yao came back from a singing and drinking high. His eyes weren’t focused as he asked Wu Jin, “You’ve washed it, are you stewing it tomorrow...”

Wu Jin declared solemnly that the little Pterosaur was a pet even as he led Ming Yao back to his dorm room.

The little Pterosaur had been washed until it was fragrant, and it hung itself upside down on the drying rack to play when it got back to the dorms.

The black cat looked at the Pterosaur in disdain from where it had taken over the sofa and refused to move. When Wu Jin opened up the door to his bedroom, the little Pterosaur followed behind him with a swish.

After confirming that Brother Rabbit wasn’t in a Peteinosaurus’ regular diet, Wu Jin no longer prevented the Pterosaur from going through the door.

The lights were dim, and Wu Jin realized that his eyesight was now mostly recovered. The training plan prior to the fifth elimination match was stuck to the desk. Wu Jin tore off the schedule and drew out a fresh piece of paper.

The sixth elimination match was 90 to 50. The fault tolerance rate was lower than in the previous round.

With his current strength, he could only achieve a B+. In order to finally stand on the road to a debut––

The sound of the pen rubbing against paper could be heard. Wu Jin wrote down the monthly plan items one by one.

Dynamic target 9 rings.

Memorize the fixed maps.

Advanced melee combat ability.

Buy and give his teammates, big boss, Ming Yao, Brother Thin... as well as Brother Rabbit, the little Pterosaur, and the black cat New Year gifts.

......

The terminal beeped, reminding Wu Jin to check the balance in his personal bank account. Wu Jin glanced at the number and was given a scare.

30,000 credits from the support votes––Wu Jin decided to wait until tomorrow to ask the program producer about whether or not they’d miscalculated the budget for the next elimination match and sent it to him by accident.

After writing out the plan, Wu Jin hugged Brother Rabbit who was bouncing around, rubbing his small round face fiercely against the soft rabbit fur, sending out a comfortable sigh after sniffing the soft rabbit scent. However, when he turned back, he realized that there was a slamming sound from the bed.

The little Pterosaur was trying to peck his pillow.

“Hey, no! This is a health pillow that Secretary Qu bought!” Wu Jin quickly stopped the little Pterosaur, but the little Pterosaur chirped fiercely, clearly very hostile towards the pillow.

Wu Jin picked it up and looked it over, but couldn’t find anything wrong.

The little Pterosaur had an excellent sense of smell and a clever personality. It wouldn’t tear down anything that smelled like its owner. Only a stranger’s items or toys that Wu Jin had given it would cause this kind of destructive behavior.

The bamboo charcoal fiber pillow emitted a light fragrance. After being washed with the little Pterosaur’s saliva, Wu Jin had no choice but to remove the pillow case. Wu Jin touched the little Pterosaur’s head, turned off the light, left the window open for it, and lay down with his quilt.

The evening breeze blew in, and the quilt was comfortable and pleasant.

It was just that his pillow didn’t have a pillowcase––

Brother Rabbit was a warm ball next to his cheek.

It was just that his pillow didn’t have a pillowcase––

Now that they were nearing winter, the air was mixed with the faint smell of camellias.

It was just that his pillow didn’t––

Wu Jin suddenly got up in excitement.

This was a wonderful reason! The youth said goodnight to Brother Rabbit, quietly opened the door, confirmed repeatedly that the captain and Brother Wen Lin had both gone to sleep, and then went to knock on the big boss’s door.

The door opened in response.

Juurensha: ....did WS put something on that pillowcase on purpose. Also that 499 trainees novel is hilarious, someone get Caesar to read the whole thing.

xiin: sounds like a trashy het chinese serial ... the kind with smut (i’d read it but i’d never tell you~)