Chapter 6 Album Preparation

The forum was divided into several sections, including casual discussion, strategy sharing, and black market trading. Fang Zhuo first read through the forum rules and found that replying to questions and creating new strategies could earn a considerable amount of points, which could be used to purchase weapons and various superpowers in the system shop.

The forum's black market also supports exchanging points for cash, but the prices are incredibly high, making it too low-value for today.

He searched for posts about the entertainment dimension, and the first popular post that popped up was about the BC35 Star Federation.

[LZ: I used 1,000 points to get a pass card and finally escaped from BC35.]

Nineteen business owners have died before me, which should be a record in the system. Does anyone want to hear the details?

[Don't keep me in suspense, tell me already. [1 point already awarded]]

[19? Seriously? Show us the management calendar. @Administrator, please close this post immediately if it's false information.]

[Replying to the comment above, it's highly likely to be true. You yourself know how hard it is to accumulate 1,000 points. These top players are usually specially selected by the main system and are much more experienced than the bunch of talkative, boastful "King of Glory" players on the forum.]

[LZ: Let me start with the background. The core supporting characters of BC35 have been reborn. There is more than one reborn person, at least a group.]

They must have known about the management's existence, or they probably thought we were the kind of people who came to correct the plot, so they were extremely sensitive to agencies that approached other main characters, almost to a pathological degree.

I barely managed to bind with a minor idol in the second week after entering the world, and just when I was about to make him famous, he committed suicide by jumping off a building... Before his suicide, he sent me an urgent email with only nine words written on it—]

What does the nine-character message mean? Waiting for your reply [1 point already donated]

[Wow, that's creepy! OP, you really know how to create suspense!]

[Post by someone suffering from constipation who hasn't been able to poop for a week [1 point awarded]]

[LZ: The email contained nine handwritten characters: 'If I die, you will be fine.']

After his death, the police found thousands of abusive emails in his inbox. The sender must have known he was in a bad mental state and kept emphasizing that if he didn't terminate the contract, they would bankrupt his company.

The surveillance video also captured him secretly meeting someone the day before his death. That person was wearing sunglasses, a mask, and a hat, and never appeared on the camera...

The day after his accident, I used a card to escape from that dimension.

[My hair stood on end, don't tell ghost stories.]

I found several other posts about BC35 on the forum—

[Is there anyone kind enough to give me points as a reward? I've run out of cash, and I don't want to die.]

[I'm completely desperate. Does anyone know how to complete the interstellar entertainment industry dimension that deviates from the main storyline?]

[I haven't eaten for three days, haha, I've actually been reduced to begging on the streets after clearing more than ten different worlds.]

The original poster wasn't lying; this is indeed on Demon difficulty.

[This thread has been posted for over two months, has anyone managed to complete BC35?]

Fang Zhuo scrolled to the last post, but no one else jumped out to share their experiences. Although information about BC35 was very limited, it was most likely the world he was currently in.

This post was featured on the homepage and was one of the few hot posts marked as such. It earned the original poster a total of 49 points, a very rewarding amount.

Fang Zhuo posted a new thread in the discussion area: [Newbie live stream: one-life speedrun of BC35, progress updates will be irregular]

More than a dozen notifications popped up in the background instantly. He didn't care what kind of uproar he would cause on the forum. He leisurely switched to another page, searched for a few short videos on anti-pyramid schemes and mental health on the StarNet, and posted them in the Giant Entertainment artist group.

A flood of messages popped up in the group chat saying "Received," and Qiao Ankuang took the opportunity to message him privately: "[Boss, are you free? Could you come with me to the Ancient Blue Star Music Museum?]"

The two met at the ship station, and from Qiao Ankuang's rather embarrassed description, they learned that the initial two million had been spent on the very first day.

Fang Zhuo believes he is already quite willing to invest, but artists who are passionate about music are clearly even more generous when it comes to spending money.

“I bought a sample track of the guqin from a private collector, changed my recording equipment, and also bought an xun. Do you know how hard it is to buy an xun?”

Qiao Ankuang became extremely talkative when talking about these things, and even put his fingers to his lips as if playing a musical instrument.

"It's an instrument from the ancient planet Blue Star thousands of years ago. It almost got lost, and I had to visit five or six private music stores to finally buy a replica."

Qiao Ankuang pointed to the music museum not far away and rubbed his hands together: "Boss, I'd also like to rent a replica of a set of chime bells. It's on display here now."

Fang Zhuo smiled and pointed to himself: "You want me to get the exhibits out for you?"

He put one hand in his pocket and said, "Teacher Qiao, I think it would be better if we came in the middle of the night. Stealing it out sounds more feasible than borrowing it."

Qiao Ankuang felt like he wanted to disappear into the ground after hearing what he said.

Fang Zhuo thought for a moment: "Can your recording equipment be used elsewhere?"

Although Qiao Ankuang didn't know why her boss asked this, she still nodded honestly: "Of course."

Fang Zhu patted the other person on the back and went in first.

"Hello, I am a director of Giant Entertainment. We would like to sponsor the museum in the name of the company. Could you please contact your curator directly to discuss the specific amount of sponsorship?"

The receptionist glanced at the newcomer, then quickly nodded: "This way, sir. Please wait a moment in the meeting area. Our manager will be here shortly."

While waiting, Fang Zhuo quietly observed the details of the reception room's decor.

This place hasn't been renovated in at least thirty years. The fabric on the sofa edges is curled up, and the light fixtures still use the previous generation of smart switches. Overall, it's very old and worn.

Although the music style of the ancient blue planet has a fixed audience in today's society, young people rarely take the initiative to come to the museum to learn about the culture behind it. The daily operation of the museum still relies on meager government funding.

He was confident that the amount he proposed would not disappoint the other party.

The curator was an elderly woman in her sixties, accompanied by two young assistants.

Fang Zhuo stood up first and greeted the other party, getting straight to the point: "Hello, our company is planning to release a promotional short film to popularize the music of the ancient planet Blue Star, and we plan to sponsor your museum with 20 million yuan."

“You need to provide a venue for our staff to conduct a week-long shoot and music sampling. We mainly want to borrow the chime bells. We can also share the final product with you free of charge.”

"We will also release a traditional Chinese style music single at the same time. If it is convenient for you, we can release it together. Your company only needs to be credited."

The old lady and her assistant exchanged a glance.

How much, twenty million?

All they need to do is provide a venue, rent out the chime bells for a week, and even the music can be credited to their museum. They can also give them promotional videos for free.

Did this money come so easily?

The government only allocates eight million a year for their daily operations, and if they spend even a few hundred thousand more, they have to write a long report and submit it. The other side just handed over more than two years' worth of their museum's budget in one go. What a soft-hearted god of wealth!

The old lady was laughing so hard her wrinkles were showing; in her eyes, Fang Zhuo had now become a golden money tree.

She smiled and gave her assistant a meaningful look—someone, treat our sugar daddy like royalty.

Not only the curator, but even Qiao Ankuang's eyes widened. If he had known that the boss could casually pull out 20 million, he should have bought all the other small wind instruments in the music store last time.

Fang Zhuo shook hands with the curator, and both felt they had gotten a great deal.

They had just signed the sponsorship contract when the museum gathered all the staff who were on duty that day. A dozen or so people quickly set up the largest special exhibition hall, which not only contained chime bells, but also thoughtfully placed various hard-to-obtain musical instruments such as qin, xiao, sheng, etc.

The hall was bathed in soft yellow spotlights, making everything shine. The walls were adorned with calligraphy and paintings, while the floor was covered with a vintage carpet featuring auspicious cloud patterns.

The entire room seemed to have been transformed into a banquet hall from thousands of years ago, with even the air filled with a faint scent of incense.

Qiao Ankuang was stunned. He carefully put on gloves and touched the huge chime bells.

It was much larger than he had imagined; the stand was taller than an adult man's head, and the surface of the clock was covered with intricate patterns, making it awe-inspiring to look at.

"Director, may I knock on it?"

The old lady kindly handed him a small, exquisitely crafted metal hammer: "Don't be shy, you can use all the instruments here as you please, and we have professionals to take care of their maintenance."

Her assistant behind her bit her upper lip, looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, and tried hard to suppress a laugh. Just last week, the old lady had thrown a small tantrum because a child touched the chime bells. Sure enough, no one can stick to their principles in the face of absolute financial power.

After exchanging pleasantries with the old lady and politely seeing off the museum staff, Fang Zhuo made a phone call to Qin Yi:

[Have the four camera bodies and nine lenses I ordered for you last night arrived? Come to the Ancient Blue Star Music Museum; we need you to shoot a four-minute music video.]

Before Qin Yi could reply, Qiao Ankuang interjected, "Boss, are you really going to make a short film? I thought you were just saying it to fool them."

Fang Zhuo leaned against the shelf, his gaze sweeping around the room: "Don't you think it's a waste not to use this place for filming?"

Qiao Ankuang deeply agreed.

Qin Yi moved quickly. She arrived at the museum at nearly five o'clock in the afternoon. Normally, the museum would have already closed for the day by then, but there were two men in sharp suits standing at the entrance, as if they were waiting for her. They bowed slightly to her.

"Are you Ms. Qin? Please come with me."

Qin Yi nodded cautiously, feeling somewhat apprehensive about the overly enthusiastic welcome.

Once inside the museum, she walked through the VIP backstage passage, passing many rare exhibits that were not open to the public. Along the way, she was given plenty of water and snacks by the staff, which made her feel incredibly flattered.

Upon arriving at the main exhibition hall, the effect was even more dramatic. The room suddenly became very bright, bathed in a golden glow.

The room is furnished with various wooden shelves, on which are arranged all kinds of classical musical instruments, resembling the workshop of an ancient musician.

Qin Yi couldn't help but exclaim "Wow!" and didn't know what to do with her hands and feet. She asked Qiao Ankuang, "Does our boss have such a wide network of connections?"

Qiao Ankuang was packing up his recording equipment and physical computer, intending to complete the rest of his work in this exhibition hall.

Upon hearing this, he gently rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, making a money gesture.

Qin Yi immediately raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly.

Before coming, she thought there was nothing worth photographing about a bunch of musical instruments that had been obsolete for thousands of years. But when she actually saw the actual chime bells displayed in the center of the exhibition hall and looked at the patterns carved on the pipa handle, she felt an instant burst of inspiration. After assembling the scimitar arm, she took a slow-motion shot focusing on a part of the pipa.

She had already conceived the entire storyboard for the music video in her mind, and while filming, she casually sketched and drew in the virtual machine to fill in the details.

Fang Zhuo had no interest in supervising his subordinates' work. He had already returned to his apartment and was lying in the bathtub, opening the post he had made on the system forum that morning.

Within just one day, hundreds of replies appeared, drawing out all the long-time forum operators. Some criticized him for being arrogant, while others expressed sympathy, and still others bet on when his account would be deleted.

This post with its exaggerated title earned him a reward of 57 points. Regardless of whether the comments were just for fun or mockery, the points that ended up in his hands were the real reward.

Although the previous poster who cleared the entire dimension using cards didn't reveal much information, it was all crucial—

Firstly, it wasn't just one person who was reborn; Ruan Zihan also had other helpers.

Secondly, the other side's methods are clearly not honorable, and they don't care about causing deaths; if pushed too far, it could be very dangerous.

He must at least have the means to protect himself.

He browsed the system points shop for a while. The items he could exchange for with these points were limited. He couldn't carry obvious weapons, but other offensive abilities were quite expensive.

After looking around for a while, he finally used 40 points to redeem a feature that seemed somewhat useless.

[Congratulations, host, you have acquired the superpower [Bang, Hand at Will]: When you make a shooting gesture with your right hand, you only need to silently say 'bang' in your mind to fire a bullet.]

This bullet will simulate a real-world ballistic trajectory, with a firing velocity half that of a physical bullet and a propellant charge half that of a physical bullet, but it can cause temporary cardiac paralysis for ten seconds upon impact.

[Note: This ability is a one-time use ability; it will be invalidated after one use. Please use it with caution.]

Although this ability can only be used once, its advantage lies in catching the opponent off guard, making it easy to achieve a surprise effect if they are attacked.

At 11:30 p.m., Fang Zhuo had just finished giving gifts in Jian Yujing's live stream when he saw the opposing side's counterattack trending on social media.

[@GossipAuntie: #TongQingluPhotoFake #ITOUCHGirlGroupBossSuspectedOfOrganizingProstitution #TongQingluRat-likeCelebrity #TongQingluPlasticSurgery]

Someone on the forum dug up old photos of the shopping mall girl who has recently become very popular, and she looks completely different from her latest photos.

Is it that the fan site admin heavily photoshopped the image, or is Sister Tong just tired of doing all that work? Sister, stop making makeup tutorials and just post a video sharing information about plastic surgery hospitals and doctors instead!

[Can I say that the stage photo taken by the fan site admin is indeed quite clear? But that only means it wasn't photoshopped or filtered, not that it wasn't edited. I feel like the previous comments section was misled.]

[If this woman really looked like her in the photos, she would have become famous long ago.]

[A little-known fact: even plastic surgery requires a good foundation. This person has a very good foundation; even if they went on a cold operating table a hundred times, they could never look like the person in the photo.]

[Suspected of being an older, struggling influencer who's self-promoting himself; you'll understand why he's become famous if he doesn't even dare to do live streams now]

[Get out of Star Entertainment for photo manipulation!! You've deceived my feelings!]

A note from the author:

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