Chapter 74 Grand Entertainment [Player Chen Su exits the game.]...
A sudden gale arose during the night, followed by a torrential downpour, accompanied by thunder and lightning.
Shi Yu couldn't sleep because of the thunder. He tossed and turned until midnight. He had a feeling that the finals tomorrow wouldn't be as easy as before, but he knew that the reason for his insomnia wasn't the finals tomorrow.
"Knock knock knock".
Shi Yu knocked on the door of the side bedroom. Shen Su was still awake. A bedside lamp was on, and Shen Su was leaning against the headboard reading a book. The warm light outlined his tall and handsome profile.
"The thunder is a bit loud. Can I sleep in your room?" Shi Yu asked.
Chen Su paused in his reading, raised his eyes, and looked ahead.
Shi Yu stood at the bedroom door wearing a snow-white nightgown. The nightgown was loose, and her two white, jade-like collarbones could be clearly seen below the collar. Perhaps because she had just gotten out of bed, her hair was messy and a tuft of hair stuck up on top of her head. Compared to her usual neat and tidy appearance, Shi Yu looked somewhat adorable at this moment.
In fact, Shi Yu looked like this every morning when she woke up in his arms for the previous few days.
Pure and flawless, like a blank sheet of paper.
It makes you want to corrupt him.
"No." Shen Su's tone was stiff, and then he moved his gaze away even more stiffly.
Shi Yu stood there for a few seconds, probably not expecting to be rejected, but in the end she turned around, closed the door, and left, leaving behind a somewhat dejected "Oh."
The viewers in the live stream were exasperated.
[Aaaaaaah! Your wife's practically handed to you and you're turning her down?! Shen Su, are you impotent?! If you're not good enough, let me have her!]
【If Shen Su doesn't want me, I do! Come on, pack my wife Yu Yu and bring her to my bed!!!】
You'll regret it if you stay up all night! I guarantee you'll regret it!!!
[Shen Su is definitely going to regret this, because Yu Yu is already in my bed.]
[What are you thinking? My wife, Yu Yu, is clearly in my bed!]
Even just eating a peanut...
...
As dawn broke, the remaining 65 trainees faced the final stage.
The current ranking of trainees by popularity score is as follows:
First place: Shi Yu
Second place: Zhao Fu
Third place: Yun Yi
Fourth place: Liu Zhuangzhuang
...
Eighth place: Qi Xue
Ninth place: Qiu Xiaoyuan
...
15th Place: He Yiran
Sixteenth place: Chen Mo
...
The finals were not held at the training base, so the company sent several buses to take 65 trainees to a mountain.
This is a desolate, uninhabited deep forest, with lush vegetation that blocks out the sun. Underfoot, weeds grow rampant, and cliffs are steep. A slight misstep could send you plunging into an abyss. Unknown dangers lurk deep within the jungle.
Jerry stood on a slightly open grassy area, flashing an eight-tooth smile at the camera: "Good morning, fellow trainees and viewers! Welcome to the Shengjing Entertainment Trainee Grand Final!"
“Yes, our final stage is no longer limited to a small stage…” Jerry turned to the side so the camera could capture the rolling mountains behind him, “The whole mountain is our trainees’ stage to showcase themselves!”
"Now I announce the rules for the finals: The finals will last for 24 hours. It is 9:30 now, and the finals will officially begin at 10:00 and end at 10:00 tomorrow. The finals will be broadcast live in the entire time. Each trainee will be followed by three hidden cameras throughout. Trainees can do whatever they want in this mountain, and the audience will vote for them based on their performance."
"Voting Rules: At the start of the finals, each viewer in the live stream will receive three free votes. After that, one free vote will be awarded for every hour of live stream watched. In addition, viewers can also exchange real money for votes to send to their favorite trainees. Viewers can cast multiple votes for the same trainee or cast them separately for different trainees. Each vote will accumulate one point of popularity."
"After the finals, the top seven trainees in terms of popularity will debut as a group!"
"Alright, these are the rules. We'll be here to pick you all up at 10 a.m. tomorrow. You have ten minutes left, so you can use that time to stretch or find a place to go."
"The finals will officially begin in ten minutes!"
After Jerry finished explaining the rules, he boarded the bus, and the other staff members followed suit. Then, one bus after another headed down the mountain road.
The morning sun enveloped the rolling mountains and forests, and the empty mountaintops were filled with people.
Today, all the trainees are wearing the same blue and white uniforms: the boys are wearing shirts, vests, and trousers, while the girls are wearing shirts, vests, and skirts, just like Shi Yu did on her first day in this instance.
At that time, however, the people around Shi Yu did not look at her with hostility and malice.
A group of people slowly surrounded Shi Yu.
It was not yet 10 o'clock, and the finals had not officially started, so they simply surrounded Shi Yu and did not do anything to him for the time being.
Led by Zhao Fu, the group consisted of more than twenty people. Zhao Fu felt that there weren't enough people and intended to recruit others to target Shi Yu.
"It's already the finals, so I, Zhao Fu, won't hide it anymore. My main mission has changed after the update to 'must get first place and debut as the center.' Of course, I believe that there are others besides me who have also gotten this mission."
"Judging from the rankings these past few days, I think everyone understands that as long as this person is alive, no matter how hard we try, we can't surpass him. Only when he dies can we have a chance to compete for first place. Only when he dies can this game be fair!"
It's not very credible for Zhao Fu to say this alone, and Zhao Fu himself clearly knows this. He put his hand on Yun Yi's shoulder beside him, openly announcing to everyone that Yun Yi has joined his side, "Right, Brother Yun?"
Yun Yi looked at Shi Yu, and Shi Yu looked at him as well. After a few seconds of eye contact, Yun Yi said without changing his expression, "Brother Zhao is right. No matter what happens in the future, we should unite for now."
From the very first day they entered the instance, before the stage was replaced by violence and bloodshed, Yun Yi was the most powerful person there, a fact that everyone could see. If it weren't for Shi Yu's almost superhuman performance, Yun Yi would have rightfully been number one, both in the initial stage and in subsequent rankings.
Many people here actually acknowledge Yun Yi's strength on stage and scoff at Shi Yu, who rose to power through connections. Seeing that Yun Yi was siding with Zhao Fu, a few people hesitated for a moment before walking forward as well.
One person stepped forward, then a second, a third... and a tenth. People came forward one after another, and almost everyone gathered around. Except for Qi Xue and Qiu Xiaoyuan, Liu Zhuangzhuang and He Yiran did not come over.
One of Zhao Fu's henchmen said to the four men with dissatisfaction, "What's wrong with you guys! Do you want to be our enemies?"
Just then, the loudspeaker in the tree announced: "The finals have officially begun. Good luck to all the trainees!"
Qi Xue and Qiu Xiaoyuan ignored the underling and turned to walk down a mountain path. Liu Zhuangzhuang and He Yiran also left on different paths. The underling just grumbled and ignored the group that had left.
After all, their most important task right now is to kill Shi Yu.
.
On the mountain path, after walking for a while, Qi Xue asked Qiu Xiaoyuan, "Aren't you going to take care of your cousin anymore?"
"My brother just typed Morse code and said he has a solution, and told me not to worry..." Despite saying this, Qiu Xiaoyuan still looked worried, and her steps involuntarily slowed down.
Qi Xue glanced at Qiu Xiaoyuan for a few seconds, sighed, and turned away.
“Let’s go. It’s the finals now, so we don’t mind exposing this little bit of our relationship. Besides, we’ve already openly stood against Zhao Fu. If we run into him elsewhere later, he won’t let us off the hook either. Why don’t we go back and see if we can help him in any way?” Qi Xue said, taking a few steps forward.
"good!"
Qiu Xiaoyuan's voice was clear and crisp.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
.
As the morning sun bathed the mountaintop, Shi Yu, surrounded by the crowd, spoke calmly: "I don't know if everyone paid attention to the rules just now. Jerry only said that the top seven trainees in terms of popularity could debut as a group, but he didn't say what would happen to the other trainees."
Aren't you curious about what will happen to the trainees who rank seventh and below?
Even though everyone was wearing the same uniform, while others looked like they were wearing sacks, Shi Yu somehow managed to exude the air of a young master from a prestigious school.
The golden morning sun danced on the tips of his hair, making his handsome face seem to glow.
Just looking at that handsome face, some players already felt a sense of reluctance to hurt him. Shi Yu's subsequent words further swayed their resolve.
"Everyone's main mission is probably to debut as a group. For some of you, the main mission is to debut as number one. Since you can't surpass my ranking, you want to unite and kill me. But even if you kill me, you will still fight to the death for number one."
"Besides, there are over sixty of us here, but only seven spots for debut. No matter what, some people will not be able to get a debut spot. And what will happen to the trainees who don't get a debut spot? Elimination? Or will they stay in the game forever? Nobody knows."
"The original time for the dungeon was 90 days. Do you know why it was suddenly shortened?" Shi Yu asked this question, and the people around her were silent for a moment. Shi Yu continued, "Because I told Lu Chengjing that I wanted to debut as soon as possible, and 90 days was too long, so he shortened the time for me."
The crowd looked at each other, and they all saw shock in each other's eyes.
Although they already knew that Shi Yu was a cheat-like character, the players were still incredibly shocked to learn that Shi Yu could influence the behavior of NPCs, because this had never happened before.
At least they hadn't heard of it.
"During my last three-person stage performance, Xiao Jue suddenly appeared on stage to cooperate with me. Can you guess why?" Shi Yu asked again.
“Because he gave me three mentor help cards.” Shi Yu had a faint smile on his lips. As he spoke, he raised his head slightly, his chin and neck lines were perfect, like a beautiful kitten spoiled by its parents. “I used one, and I still have two left. I can summon Xiao Jue here at any time.”
"With my relationship with Xiao Jue and Lu Chengjing, I can pass the finals even if I do nothing."
“But you’re different…” Shi Yu’s gaze slowly swept over the surroundings. Apart from Zhao Fu, many people hesitated. Shi Yu continued, “Lu Chengjing is the president of Shengjing Entertainment. His identity is crucial in this instance. He can change the rules for me, and naturally, he can also fulfill some other wishes for me…”
Having said that, Shi Yu didn't continue. He had enough leverage, so he directly stated his conditions.
"Who among you is willing to protect me and get me through these 24 hours? In exchange, I can guarantee that even if you don't get a debut spot after the finals, you'll be able to leave this instance safely."
Some hesitated and then put away their weapons, some took a few steps back and stopped surrounding him, and of course, some still had doubts: "Why should we believe you?"
“There have been players like this before. They would lie to everyone and say they could carry everyone through the game, but in the end, they would wipe out the entire team and complete the game themselves. Even if you can get NPCs to do things for you, who can guarantee that you won’t change your mind at the last minute?”
"Yes! How can you prove you're not that kind of person? Why should we believe you?"
...
Shi Yu let everyone question her for a while before slowly speaking: "I have no way to prove that my morality is not problematic, but now it seems that you have no other choice, do you?"
Everyone fell silent.
That makes perfect sense.
“You chose to believe me, so at least I can give you some promises, but what can Zhao Fu promise you if you follow him?” Shi Yu continued to raise his profound questions.
Now it was even quieter around us.
After a moment of complete silence, someone raised their hand.
"I...I believe you! I'm willing to be your bodyguard!" the boy said as he walked towards Shi Yu.
Shi Yu recognized him as the boy who received number 99 on the initial stage. His name was Chen Mo, and his dressing table was to Shi Yu's left. He was an introverted and quiet boy.
Shi Yu was somewhat gratified that he was the first to step forward, and he gave Chen Mo a smile.
However, the smile froze on the corner of his lips before it could fully bloom.
"Bang--"
With the sound of gunfire, Chen Mo stopped in his tracks. The next second, dark red blood gushed uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth. He fell straight forward with his eyes wide open, as if he didn't understand what had happened.
Zhao Fu swept his gun across the crowd and coldly announced, "This is the fate of traitors. Let's see who dares to step forward now."
Chen Mo died with his eyes wide open, pierced by a bullet in his heart.
Zhao Fu has no moral bottom line. For him, killing someone is as easy as killing a chicken. This is not an exaggeration. No one would dare to gamble with their life.
Those who were eager to try stopped in their tracks, and no one dared to move forward.
Zhao Fu brandished his gun and circled the crowd before finally pointing the dark muzzle directly at Shi Yu's face. He smiled and said, "Kid, I underestimated you. I didn't realize you had any negotiation skills."
"Since that's the case..." Zhao Fu's smile vanished, and a murderous glint appeared in his eyes, "Then you might as well die quickly!"
Zhao Fu understood the principle that "villains die from talking too much."
He pulled the trigger as soon as he finished speaking, without the slightest hesitation.
"Bang--"
Gunshots echoed through the mountains and forests, startling a flock of birds into flight.
Qi Xue and Qiu Xiaoyuan, who had just turned back from the mountain path, happened to witness Zhao Fuchao firing a shot at Shi Yu's face.
"No--"
Before Qiu Xiaoyuan could even finish screaming, she and Qi Xue watched helplessly as the bullet veered off course and struck a tree behind them just before it reached Shi Yu's skin.
Qi Xue: "..."
Qiu Xiaoyuan: "..."
Before the gunshot, a red origami crane icon appeared above Shi Yu's head.
[Item [Origami Cranes] Schrödinger's Luck +1 activated - from Shi Yu.]
Zhao Fu stared at his gun for two seconds, puzzled, then took a few steps forward and fired another shot at Shi Yu. This time, the distance between the two was reduced to one meter, but the bullet still managed to deflect a sharp curve in front of Shi Yu and hit the ground...
"Wh...what!" Zhao Fu staggered back a few steps as if he had seen a ghost, staring at Shi Yu with terrified eyes, his hands gripping the gun trembling. "What is that! What are you doing!"
Zhao Fujin had been playing the game for two years and had completed hundreds of dungeons. He considered himself well-informed and had never seen such a strange item before.
"As you can see, I am favored not only by NPCs, but also by the system."
That's really infuriating.
Although this is indeed true.
The dark muzzle of the gun was pointed at Shi Yu again, but this time Zhao Fu's hand holding the gun was shaking like a leaf, and he couldn't aim accurately no matter what he did.
As Shi Yu spoke, he walked forward at a slow and leisurely pace. With each step he took forward, the crowd receded like a tide.
The person holding the gun was Zhao Fu, the person looking fierce and menacing was Zhao Fu, but Shi Yu's face was as beautiful as an angel's, yet she seemed a hundred times more terrifying than Zhao Fu.
“I advise you not to fire this shot.” Shi Yu walked up to Zhao Fu and gently pressed down on Zhao Fu’s gun. “The first two bullets missed and hit the tree and the ground. As for where the third bullet will go…” He paused deliberately and gave Zhao Fu a cryptic smile. “It’s hard to say.”
Zhao Fu was so frightened that his legs went weak and his hands went limp, and he dropped his gun on the ground.
After saying this, Shi Yu turned and left.
The crowd automatically made way for him.
When Shi Yu saw Qi Xue and Qiu Xiaoyuan turn back, he nodded to them from a distance and then walked towards them.
The three of them walked along a mountain path behind them.
The biggest crisis at this point in the game comes from the players.
Now that Zhao Fu has been dealt with, it seems there is no danger left.
Shi Yu wanted to summon Chen Su so that he could meet up with Qiu Xiaoyuan and the others. The four of them could enjoy the scenery and go camping, since the mountain scenery was quite nice.
A warning message popped up when he used the help sign—
Trainees are not allowed to use the mentor's help card on the final stage!
Shi Yu was stunned for a moment.
At the same time, the two "help" cards he had for his mentors also became invalid.
Shi Yu didn't think much of it. After all, he had already used a lot of cheats in this instance. If he could still use the mentor help card in the finals, it would be too unfair to the other players.
If it's invalid, then it's invalid.
Anyway, you only need to wait 24 hours to leave the instance.
.
Meanwhile, at the training base, in the instructors' dormitory.
Xiao Jue was holding his car keys and about to leave when he suddenly felt a splitting headache and his vision blurred. The tables, chairs, and furniture in front of him seemed to be spinning in his eyes.
After his vision cleared, Shen Su found himself back in his study in reality.
A new system message appeared in the game panel—
[Guest player's game time is up; player Chen Su has logged out of the game.]
It's raining outside the window in the real world too.
The vast sky seemed to have a hole in the middle, lightning tore through the clouds, and torrential rain fell, making the sky as dark as night even though it wasn't dark.
Last night, there was just as much rain and terrifying lightning.
Last night, Shi Yu came to his room carrying a pillow.
He shouldn't have refused.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com