Mermaid
An electronic voice played on the radio: "Attention, candidates. You have three minutes to read the questions, write them down and save them. You will enter the answer room in three minutes."
Along with the test questions, the candidates will also be given their room numbers. Next, the candidates will stay in an independent answering room for ten days of dream-building.
Coincidentally, Shang Jingyan's number is [Group A No. 0018].
X71 is obviously a product of advanced technology, but it has been tainted with feudal superstition by "Building 18", and people keep muttering: [Not auspicious. ]
[Maybe 18 is my lucky number.] Shang Jingyan was amused.
Three minutes passed quickly, the door of the question-drawing room opened, and people poured out like a tide. No one spoke loudly in the corridor, but there was a constant stream of whispers, and the candidates had different expressions.
Shang Jingyan spotted a few faces in the crowd that he had seen at the party, including Luo Zhiyu. She looked thoughtful, and it was hard to tell whether she was confident or nervous.
During this time, if the examinees wanted to, they could find out what questions others had picked. But Shang Jingyan was determined not to do such a thing.
If other people’s problems are more difficult than yours, will you underestimate your enemies?
If other people's things are simpler than yours, wouldn't that make you unhappy?
But obviously, someone didn't think the same way as she did - she saw Guan Gaoyang.
His girlfriend didn't ask, and looked like "I'm just here to hang out", and was still chewing gum.
But Guan Gaoyang grabbed Shang Jingyan and asked the people in the same question-drawing room to confirm again and again. Originally, he just had a somewhat fortunate look on his face, but after asking, he was immediately overjoyed and couldn't suppress his pride. He glanced at Shang Jingyan from a distance.
——That expression alone is saying: Just watch carefully, I think I have it secured this time!
"The topic that Director Shang picked is so difficult!"
In the live broadcast room, Ao Qingxue exclaimed in amazement.
Generally speaking, there will be three different dream-building questions in an entrance examination, called the ABC papers.
The three questions this year are all very literary in style, and it's obvious that the preferences of the question setters are not very down-to-earth.
The theme of Group A is the one that Shang Jingyan drew, and the sentence structures of the remaining two groups are almost the same.
Theme of Group B: "A blessing from heaven, a gift from destiny."
Description of the question:
[Have you ever seen light from the sky in the darkness? Have you ever encountered someone helping you when you were at your lowest point? Some people are gifts from fate to us, and they are worth cherishing. ]
Theme of Group C: "Delayed punishment, revenge of fate."
Description of the question:
[Have you ever seen someone make a bad decision and not be punished? In the world of creation, you can take up arms and compose a war song. ]
“The other two groups also seem to be stream of consciousness at first glance, but after careful analysis, they are all easy to understand.”
Ao Qingxue sorted out the questions, "Group B is the most general. The love story of 'the destined person comes to your rescue' has been overused. It's easy to create something new, but the hard part is to innovate and stick to the topic..."
"Group C has the smallest scope, and the topic is all about 'revenge'... Well, isn't the easiest thing to associate with the topic of chasing your wife to the crematorium? There are also topics like rebirth, revenge, slapping a scumbag in the face, and gaining love. I think Group C is the easiest to shine, as it has enough story and conflict."
Only Group A is the most confusing and the most difficult to arrange the rhythm.
What is the cycle of fate? Wouldn't that mean there would be a lot of repetitive plots?
With a total show time of only three hours, how can one convincingly show that the protagonist "takes risks again and again"?
Although it is said that "the ending is either success or failure", if the plot is really made that the two protagonists fail to fall in love in every life... then this story is too meaningless, right? It feels lonely after reading it.
[My head hurts just listening to Qingqing's analysis. It turns out that I can't be a dream builder...]
[It's so funny, the host can analyze it, but I'm different. When I saw the question in Group B, my first reaction was: defeat the childhood sweetheart by falling from the sky.]
[Hahahaha, no one would really understand it this way! The childhood sweethearts draw their swords (dog head).]
[Why do we have to wait ten days? I'm so anxious. I really want to see what Director Shang is thinking at this moment. She must not have a brain as white as goose feathers like ours.]
[Pfft, I found a bright spot. Guan Gaoyang is here too. He drew the questions from Group C.]
[Fuck, that expression really annoys me, is he provoking Director Shang? ? ]
Of course, Ao Qingxue's live broadcast room was full of Shang Jingyan's fans, and their blood pressure rose when they saw this.
[It's just a bit of luck, why are you so proud? ]
[I just don't understand, why is he so angry? It's normal for dream builders to participate in the same theme event, why does he have to hold a grudge against him? ]
[I guess there is some interest involved behind this, disgusting, just like Oren.com, it is not a good thing. ]
[The downside of drawing questions in separate papers is that we have to score and compete together, which is so unfair...]
[This is already the fairest approach. In the early years when there was only one question, there was a scandal of question leakage. The split question at least increases the cost for those with bad intentions.]
[Ahhh, seeing Bai Ri Gao Xuan so proud makes me so angry! What should I do? I'm so worried about Director Shang.]
Like the candidates, the invigilators at the examination centers also have to work hard for ten days.
Main control room.
"Oh my, why are all the candidates crying? They just got the questions..."
"It's not his fault. If I had drawn Professor Zu's Group A questions, I would have been upset too."
The two invigilators on duty were also discussing the question-setting style of this examiner who parachuted in from the main galaxy.
The chief examiner's name was Zu Lingwei, a professor at the Capital Star Alliance's Dream Building University, and she specialized in historical subjects.
Originally, when everyone was predicting the questions, they were all guessing in the historical direction. Who knew that the questions would turn out like this in the end? None of them had anything to do with history.
The invigilator felt that it was not her fault, as it was precisely because her style was so recognizable that people deliberately avoided her.
Supervisor A: "The first day is always the most tense. Candidates can't relax and think."
Supervisor B: "Yes, there are always some who stay up too late. Last year, I met a candidate who had a syringomyelia attack and was sent to the hospital..."
The candidates shown in the surveillance video all had solemn expressions. Even the candidates in Group C, who thought they had drawn easy questions, gradually calmed down after entering the room.
Supervisor A: "Who do you think is good? I think the newcomer who starred in "Evil Spirit" is good, but she seems to have been in a bad mood just now."
Supervisor B: "Shang Jingyan, right? I hope she can let go of her worries. According to my observations over the years, those who relax on the first day often achieve good results in the end..."
As they were talking, suddenly, an out-of-place surveillance screen caught their attention.
The candidate in the picture looked around after entering the room, sat in front of the screen and the instrument, adjusted his seat to the most comfortable position, then yawned sleepily, stood up and took out the bedding from the cabinet.
Invigilator AB: “?”
What, what are you doing with the quilt?
The next moment, the candidate made his bed, set the alarm, put on an eye mask, and fell asleep quickly and peacefully.
Invigilator AB: “…”
Are you a little too relaxed?
The two looked at the name on the label: Group A, No. 18, Shang Jingyan.
Well, isn’t this the person they were just talking about!
After a long while, Supervisor B said, "Director Shang is truly a remarkable person."
Invigilator A: "...I cried my ass off. She even remembered to put on the blindfold!"
As soon as the dream-building topic came out, the tag immediately became the number one hot search in the galaxy and was hotly discussed across the entire network, with its popularity not inferior to that of the essay questions in the college entrance examination.
Shang Jingyan's fans were worried and dissatisfied about the topic selection, but the program crew outside were all grinning from ear to ear.
What we want is for the audience to fight, what we want is drama!
However, not many people actually came to follow the live broadcast, because the dream builders were just taking closed-door exams for the first ten days. After entering the room, the camera could only capture the candidates' house numbers, and it was difficult for anyone to be interested except loyal fans.
For ten consecutive days, the discussions from all sides never stopped. Bloggers and dream builders took turns to play with the questions and were keen to discuss what kind of works would appear in the exam.
So far, there are four dream builders that the audience pays the most attention to:
Group A: Shang Jingyan, Group B: Hua Feitian, Group C: Noel, and Group C: Guan Gaoyang.
The first three people were the most popular candidates for the entrance examination, and coincidentally, they were drawn into groups ABC.
The combination of various factors makes it difficult to determine who will win the first place. The results of the "Who do you think is the best" poll on each website are different, and the three are almost evenly matched.
Guan Gaoyang's name is not as well-known as the first three. He attracts attention half because of the inflated fame of Oren.com and half because of gossip - his girlfriend is Hua Feitian.
Hua Feitian debuted the earliest among the few. When she was 12 years old, she measured an astonishing mental strength value of 98 points. She started out as a scene designer, and began to dabble in short stories at the age of 15. Now at the age of 18, she has created two long dramas.
Logically, she should have taken the membership exam long ago, but Hua Feitian was extremely rebellious and declared that she would be a freelance dream builder for the rest of her life.
Hua Feitian’s fans all know her information by heart. This girl comes from a wealthy family, but her parents spend their time in debauchery and have a bunch of illegitimate children. They rarely take care of her, which led to her current personality.
This time she was willing to participate in order to accompany her new boyfriend Guan Gaoyang.
Fans are worried about Hua Feitian. When she announced her relationship, they had many complaints about Guan Gaoyang: This person has no fame and no works. What is there to like about him?
For several months, they saw that Guan Gaoyang was a nobody, and only reluctantly accepted him as the partner of their dream builder because of his success in the dream building exam. The only thing they asked for was that Hua Feitian would not get carried away and hide her shortcomings so that her boyfriend could perform well.
Other than that, there weren't many newcomers worth noting. Of course, in the past, there were occasionally some dark horses in the entrance exams, which were a big hit with the media.
Ten days passed quickly.
During these ten days, the doors of the examination rooms were opened every day, and candidates announced palely that they would give up the exam. However, the doors of Shang Jingyan and others' rooms were always closed, and it seemed that they were dreaming hard.
Finally, the eleventh day.
Capital Star, a live broadcast platform.
"Sisters and brothers! It's almost time for the Exile Galaxy entrance examination to show your works. Let's take a look at the potential talents this year."
An anchor lay down in the holographic cabin with great interest.
Her name is Jiang Xindong, and she is one of the food bloggers with the most traffic on the platform, but she also occasionally broadcasts live the works of Dream Builders.
As she spoke, more than one live broadcast room was carrying out the same activity, all of which were audiences who had registered in advance to participate in the review session.
Generally speaking, the exiled galaxy is synonymous with backwardness, and people in the mainstream galaxy are too lazy to read what works are there, let alone take the rookie exam.
However, since the entrance examination of the Exile Galaxy is much earlier than that of other galaxies, and it is during the off-season when there are no major competitions in the mainstream galaxies, it has received some attention over the years.
Dream-building companies in mainstream galaxies like to observe talents at this time and poach them from exiled galaxies in advance.
Many dream builders in exile galaxies also regard the entrance examination as a stepping stone to enter the mainstream vision. As long as they are eye-catching enough, they may get opportunities even if the final ranking is not ideal.
When the time came, works on the official website of the Exiled Galaxy Dream Builders Association popped up like mushrooms after a rain, with a long list under the three categories of ABC.
Although it was randomly assigned, the audience also had a chance to click into the group they were interested in. Jiang Xindong had already set his sights on the revenge theme of Group C, and the spirit ball of light pushed forward.
"Oh! I couldn't get in."
Jiang Xindong said in annoyance, and when he looked carefully, he found that he was assigned to a work playback room of Group A.
Title: The Möbius Sea
Type: Movie; Duration: 2 hours and 50 minutes; Age rating: 20+.
Copywriting summary: She was drawn into this Mobius Sea again and again.
The number of people watching the live broadcast decreased significantly. Jiang Xindong sighed: "What a cool introduction, it's equivalent to saying nothing..."
It seems that there is no explosive content at all, and the 20+ rating makes Jiang Xindong afraid that she will see incest and other plots. She is not biased, but it is a pity that a group of viewers have been screened away.
[It looks like it's ocean-related. Who will be the protagonist? A mermaid? A marine scientist?]
[Why do I feel like this has the temperament of a bad movie. 】
[Haha, if you name yourself Gao Leng, you will either be a big shot or a loser. ]
There were sporadic comments.
To ensure fairness, all works are anonymous, without even any labels or categories, so viewers cannot have any expectations.
The movie opens with a blue sky, very quiet, no background music, only the gurgling sound of bubbles. Jiang Xindong watched for a while and recognized that this should be the perspective of a fish.
It swam among the corals, and the seabed was in sight - but for some reason, the seabed looked devastated.
The corals were covered with black scars, the seaweed was a burnt yellow, and in the abyss of the seabed one could vaguely see huge whales being eaten... From the perspective of an emotionless fish, there was an added hint of inorganic coldness.
Suddenly, a female voice appeared outside the screen: "...It must be you."
A plain white hand stretched out, and Jiang Xindong noticed with his sharp eyes that there was a Möbius-shaped tattoo on the back of the hand.
The perspective switches to the third person, with the original small fish being caught by the tail by the hand, moving its fins in vain.
The perspective is upward, showing the whole body of the character——
Just as the commentators had guessed, this was a mermaid.
She has long black curly hair, crystal blue eyes, pale skin, and a huge peacock blue tail. She is beautiful in every way.
Everyone is equal in the entrance examination, and the actors are modeled within the scope of the examination room. Therefore, how to dress the character depends entirely on the aesthetic taste of the dream builder himself.
Jiang Xindong's eyes lit up because of this. In just the first few minutes, she felt that the creator was skillful, and the appearance of the protagonist increased her expectations for the story.
[It's so good! Will Miss Mermaid be the protagonist? ]
[It turns out to be a fantasy fairy tale. I am looking forward to it. 】
[I declare that this face-chasing person is in love, and the mermaid is going to marry me prprprpr! ]
Behind the mermaid is the outline of the palace building, which is also dull and gloomy as if it has been destroyed. In such a decayed scene, she looks even more beautiful and radiant.
Next, through a few shots, the audience learned the background of the story:
The mermaids have lived in this sea area for generations, but recently due to some unknown pollution, their ancient homeland has become no longer suitable for living.
The tribe has temporarily moved away from this sea area due to pollution. The heroine is the only fish left in the huge pearl palace. She is the princess of the mermaid tribe and the next king.
Not long ago, she rescued a human male who fell into the water during a storm, gave him beads that allowed him to breathe underwater, and the two fell in love.
Then she learned from the man that he was a researcher at an oceanographic research institute. He went out to sea on a research vessel, but they encountered a storm and the ship was in a shipwreck. All the crew members died, and he was the only one floating by holding on to the wooden board. He thought he was going to die, but he met a mermaid.
The pollution in the sea is most likely from the research institute, so the heroine and the hero prepare to sneak into the research institute to investigate the truth.
Although the narration was clear and the male lead acted very handsomely, Jiang Xindong still had the illusion of stepping on empty air, and the barrage of comments felt the same way.
[Ah? Has the story of how the hero and heroine met and fell in love already been told at the beginning? Then what will be filmed next...]
[No matter what, maybe it’s the process of falling in love again and again, let’s wait and see. ]
[But the encounter was indeed very romantic. Just think about it, the researcher met the mermaid princess when he was desperate. ]
Before parting, the heroine took the hero to swim to a sunken ship. The sunken ship had been in the sea for who knows how many years, with a thick layer of sea creatures covering its surface, and the dark cavities were like ominous eyes.
She tied the tail of the small fish at the beginning to the mast of the sunken ship with her hair.
"I'll untie you when I come back."
It is not difficult to guess that this is some kind of ritual of the mermaid tribe, symbolizing the commitment before the journey.
If it can't come back, then the little fish will naturally have to wait for death. It keeps struggling to swim away, but it can only be trapped within the length of a hair.
And on this mast, there are countless corpses of small fish tied, from new to old. The ones nearby still have flesh on them, but the ones in the distance are gradually rotting and turning into fish bones. There is no end in sight, turning the mast into a huge soul-calling banner.
They drifted with the sea water, occasionally making sounds, like snow-white wind chimes in the deep sea. But these beautiful wind chimes were condensed with death, and they were a bit creepy to look at.
[It's so funny, so many dead fish, it seems that the completion rate promised by the heroine's tribe is not high. ]
[Sure enough, these words are all flags. But I don’t think this story is very fairy-tale-like. The mermaids’ ritual is so cruel. If you fail to complete it, you have to sacrifice a fish life…]
[It seems that black curly hair is a characteristic of this mermaid species, and the hair tied to the corpses is also black. ]
Although the comments vaguely felt that something was wrong, they were still unaware of the crisis and were happily complaining.
Only one comment suddenly flashed by:
[Uh, wait a minute, I think I recognize whose work this is... Damn!! Is it too late for me to quit now? ]
Jiang Xindong saw that it was a viewer of IP in Exile Galaxy.
[You must be kidding. How can a new artist’s style be so strong that he is recognized within a few minutes of the show? ]
[Why did you quit? Is it because you are famous for being ugly? ]
The IP's answer surprised the audience: [No, this new artist's work is very good. But... hey! You will know when you watch it later QAQ]
The mermaid heroine and the hero set off together.
From a distance, when the two of them emerged from the sea, they saw the research institute that the male protagonist mentioned. It was a huge cylindrical building, with a pure white exterior, reflecting brilliant gold in the morning sun.
The heroine felt a little uncomfortable leaving the water suddenly. After coming ashore, the fish tails of their race can transform into legs by themselves, the blue scales fade away, and the tail fin turns into ankles.
"Do you need my support?" The hero gently put clothes on the heroine and took her hand to help her stand up.
The heroine also thought she needed help, but when she stood up, she was stunned. She took only two steps and became smooth and natural, without any awkwardness. But she had clearly never walked ashore before.
This is just a small detail, perhaps just to show that the heroine has a strong ability to adapt. But because of the barrage just now, Jiang Xindong felt a little uneasy for some reason.
The male protagonist's work badge was still there, and he entered the research institute with his mermaid girlfriend. He said to the public that he was washed ashore by the ocean current, rescued by a kind person, and gradually fell in love with the other person during the recovery process.
The "kind-hearted person" in this statement is the heroine, and except for the location, it is not a lie.
His colleagues were very surprised and surrounded him in amazement. They didn't expect that he could survive such a big storm and find love.
"Let's go." After dealing with his colleagues, the male protagonist whispered to the female protagonist, "You can stay here as my family member and secretly investigate the pollution in the sea area."
The heroine stared at the "8"-shaped logo that can be seen everywhere in the institute and asked, "What does that mean? It looks very similar to my inheritance tattoo."
"That's the 'Mobius strip'. Our director is particularly enthusiastic about it and has even launched a research project, but I don't know what it is." The male protagonist shrugged and explained to the female protagonist what a "Mobius strip" is.
The heroine nodded and said "oh" obediently.
The mermaid princess, who came ashore for the first time, could not hide her curiosity about the human world even though she had responsibilities and secrets in her heart. She followed her boyfriend, looking around and observing everything in the institute, her eyes full of novelty.
The male protagonist led her to the dormitory, gave her a tablet, told her to do whatever she wanted and to look around the floor freely, and then he left in a hurry - he had been away for several months and had a lot of work piled up.
Previously, his colleagues thought he was gone, but now that he is back, the work has of course been returned to him.
Since the heroine couldn't figure out how to use the tablet for the time being, she simply stood up and put on the hero's white coat and walked tentatively on this floor. The hall of the staff dormitory was made of glass except for the floor, which was filled with dark blue sea water, and even fish swam overhead.
I don’t know if it’s because of the research institute, but those fish look so weird, like deformed alien creatures.
There were bright spots of light in the sea water, which together with the waves shone on the heroine, making her beautiful face look gloomy.
[Oh my god, I'm going to have a fear of the deep sea. ]
[The color palette of this dream builder is so gloomy that it makes the whole film look weird. ]
[The background music is also SOS, which makes people feel creepy! ]
The heroine was leaning close to the glass to carefully observe a wounded fish. At this moment, the BGM suddenly became sharp, and the glass reflected a figure wearing a gas mask, standing behind the heroine like a ghost.
Jiang Xindong was caught off guard and before he could even utter a scream, he saw the figure raising the fire axe and smashing it hard on the heroine's head!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
