Chapter 84 - Advertisement

Chapter 84 - Advertisement

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

Crosson Show forums, gossip section.

North Star Technology’s double life-saving capsule promotion would be released in the Azure timezone––at precisely 12 noon.

The atmosphere on the forums had been jubilant and full of cheer ever since the early hours of the morning.

The Scarf fangirls from all walks of life were lively and enthusiastic as they actively produced more grain. The moderators maintained order, and having experienced Wu Jin appearing on the hot search during the previous theme song dance, the management of the entire group was very orderly.

––“This is our idol’s first time acting, and he’s not a professional actor or a model. I hope everyone can be understanding~”

However, nothing could stop the Crosson show’s melon seed eating audience’s enthusiasm.

“As long as they’re in the same frame, we can blow out rainbow farts no matter what it’s like! Also, there’s still the appearance value of that face!”

Even so, the crowd of CP fans, Little Witch fans, and Wei fans were still very nervous.

In 3018, survival shows were very popular. The business value of professional players was calculated by their ability as well as the amount of traffic and popularity they could bring in.

The North Star Technology’s life-saving capsule was the first on-screen advertisement for both people, and it would be a crucial reference for the commercial activities of these two idols after their debut.

Twelve o’clock sharp.

North Star Technology’s main page changed, and the color of the background gradually darkened, shimmering lights flickering across it. The virtual scene was like entering the deep sea, and a silver life-saving capsule floated quietly in the water.

As the cursor moved, the surface of the sea would fluctuate slightly, and the product parameters emerged.

At the top of page, the promotional video finally began as scheduled.

North Star Technology’s virtual traffic soared to the peak. Wu Jin was the first to appear on screen amidst the dense water vapor.

The story began with Wu Jin’s stand alone act.

He and his teammate, who he’d had a secret crush on for a long time, encountered an undersea volcano during their mission. Lava flowed out from the rift and soon heated the surrounding water to 400 degrees, creating a supercritical fluid that melted the instruments they used for the probe.

In the final safe zone, Wei Shi appeared––and gave him the last remaining life-saving capsule.

In the dark sea water, the camera swept over the scene of the two people who looked silently at each other.

Wei Shi’s face was expressionless, but the diving headgear reflected Wu Jin’s face, overlapping with the man’s twisted brows and deep eyes. Wu Jin stood there stiffly, his shoulders clear straight and clear, but seeming to be about to break down any second.

Off-screen, countless Scarf fangirls breathed a sigh of a relief, then suddenly grew excited––

Great!

The effect of the advertising was far beyond their imaginations.

The scene was dark and overcast, and as the camera swept over Wu Jin, the extremely sharp tension from the performance made people completely unable to move their eyes away. Wei Shi didn’t show much expression, but the pressure he exuded could be felt across the screen. He was clearly overwhelmingly aggressive, but he blended smoothly into the scene due to the focus and smooth integration of the lens.

They couldn’t live together, nor could they die together. Someone had to remain alive to send back the experimental data.

Wu Jin finally bowed his head, his eyes red. When he opened the capsule, he turned around and said soundlessly, “Wait for me.”

The life-saving capsule finally opened up.

The interior of the silvery white capsule was far more spacious than an ordinary life-saving capsule. The words ‘Capacity: 2” were enlarged, and Wu Jin abruptly turned around in surprise!

Their vision was suddenly illuminated by the youth’s dazzling smile. Wei Shi was pulled into the life-saving capsule, and the door to the capsule slowly closed&#k2013;&#k2013;

Towards the end of the broadcast, the Crosson forums suddenly went crazy.

Wu Jin’s performance had been too realistic&#k2026; his control over his microexpressions and body was almost enough to make people’s scalps go numb. It even made people unconsciously ignore his good looks as they were driven solely by his emotions from beginning to end.

Conquering acting skills was an almost unimaginable feat for survival show contestants.

“Lovers meme ahhhhhh! My god, I’m clutching at my heart. These big daddy investors understand a little too much, right? The corners of my lips are turning up like crazy!”

“Handing a pen over to the lord playwright! I was caught up in the storm while watching and there are tears in my eyes, full score for eye contact, and more than that for all the interactions! It’s so sweet I’m fainting! I could watch this kind of scene where the two people are less than 0.5cm apart for a lifetime!”

“Little Witch… don’t scare your mama! You’re clearly able to make a living by acting––how could you choose to go and fight in the survival reality shows? Are you trying to be so awesome that I can’t take it anymore? Hugging my Little Witch and shaking his shoulders like crazy!”

On screen.

The advertisement ended in a series of shimmering lights. The North Star Technology double person life-saving capsule appeared again.

The background continued to pan out, showing the sea, and ripples as it sank further to the bottom. Moonlight streamed in from the top of the water, reflecting along the deep blue water and adding a layer of light and shadow over the life-saving capsule where a final freeze frame could vaguely be seen.

They touched, then separated. Wu Jin looked up into Wei Shi’s heroic face, his gaze warm and gentle.

“I can’t praise the Assorted Scarf CP enough wuwuwu! Thank you, Brother Wei for giving the life-saving capsule to our Little Witch! Mama will make the decision––this Little Witch who has been raised to be pale and chubby will be handed over to you! I’m going crazy wanting to press their heads together, it’s too sweet, how come they don’t really kiss, kiss––”

In one corner of the screen.

At the last moment before the capsule closed.

Wu Jin suddenly turned over, his slightly damp clothing outlining the vigorous figure of the youth. He didn’t hesitate to press the man beneath him, and the hand holding the man’s shoulder seemed to tremble. In the moment when the camera swept by, it seemed like there was joy and determination in his eyes.

Between life and death, the emotions that had been brewing for a long time finally broke out in this moment. In this act, Wu Jin, as someone who had loved him for so long, firmly bowed his head and printed a devout brand on Wei Shi’s dry lips…

The hatch closed.

The two of them entangled themselves together inside the silver capsule that floated and sank in the surging sea. Magma gushed out of the cracks and was quickly cooled, solidifying into rocks at the bottom of the sea. The landform shifted, earth shaking, and the rocks, seawater, and debris mingling and disintegrating beneath the warm light––

The camera zoomed out, and a line of fancy text emerged from the bottom.

“Together in the same boat, with the one you love.”

There seemed to be a brief delay of a few seconds in the comment section of the Crosson Show forum.

Fans who were used to typing on their terminal were unexpectedly consistent. No matter what the first half of what they’d written was, the second half only consisted of a long string of illiterate “Aaaaahhhhhhh––”

Crosson Show canteen, lunch time.

Zoe had been interested enough to project the forum page up onto the screen, and the table of four were simultaneously dazzled by the new trend that took over the forums.

“I’ll love these two brothers for the rest of my life ahhhhhhhh––Thank you daddy sponsor! Thank you Crosson Show! Thank you Little Witch and Brother Wei for sending us candy! Originally, I was as tired as a dog from work and exams, but I’m now moved to tears from the candy! This CP fan is exploding from happiness!”

“Thank you Little Witch and Brother Wei for this explosive performance +1! Kiss, they really kissed… I’m giggling foolishly while walking!”

“Thank you Little Witch and Brother Wei +2! Although I know it’s a fake kiss, I’m still totally satisfied! You spoil your fans too much wuwuwu! Mama’s only wish is to see you two get married (Kidding! By the way, don’t go and act inappropriately in front of the real people involved. We should be touched that they did the advertisement at all, and the most important thing is to support my little brother for his debut!) Sending love!”

Zoe nodded in relief and then opened up another post.

“#Scarf Lovers – 8.19 Advertisement. After the hatch closed, Wei Shi calmly locked it from within. Little Witch’s eyes opened wide! Little Witch was trembling! Little Witch cried out desperately, “Didn’t we agree that it was a fake kiss”––Wei Shi undid his pants indifferently and coldly dealt with Little Witch…”

The White Moonlight sniper was unable to catch it and used a burst of hand speed to turn off the screen.

Wu Jin, who often gave birth to children, was frequently ‘dealt with’ like this on the forums: “……”

Zoe coughed lightly and stroked a caring hand over Wu Jin’s small curls.

Wu Jin puffed up his cheeks.

To the side, passing trainees expressed their sincere respect to Wu Jin, but on the other hand, they were a little scared––

Who could’ve known that the script would turn out like this?

What kind of team game was this? It was clearly like choosing fish in front of the chopping board! Contestant Wu and Contestant Wei had been forced into this script by the program producer! Shocked! Distressed! This spicy chicken Crosson Show, not only was it a show, they also had to sell their bodies…

Zoe seemed to want to laugh and quickly encouraged him, “Little Witch’s acting is pretty good.”

Wu Jin shook his head. Before transmigrating over, as a male group trainee, based on the company’s planning, it was inevitable that he would have to do several idol dramas and online dramas in the early stage of his career as third or fourth male leads in order to build up familiarity in the eyes of the audience. In the advertisement, it wasn’t really acting––or in other words, it was a far cry from the old-school traditional acting.

Zoe continued to sigh emotionally, “When the atmosphere is there, our Little Witch can even forcefully kiss other contestants!”

Wu Jin froze: “!!!”

Zoe: “Little Witch, remember to send some snacks to Contestant Wei later on. He cooperated really well with you––Little Witch, eat a bit more. You two have really had it hard.”

Wu Jin agreed noncommittally.

After lunch, Wu Jin avoided the surging tide of trainees and took a less travelled path to the Crosson Show filming group.

The stage manager who was currently gnawing at a watermelon knew that Wu Jin wanted the original unedited footage, and rummaged through his terminal to pass it on.

After Wu Jin left, the little stage manager continued to gnaw on his watermelon as he said to his colleagues, “Contestant Wu is really hard working. He even wants the original footage to go back and hone his acting skills!” He took another few bites and said, “And Contestant Wei, he also came over to obtain a copy earlier…”

One week later, after the launch of the life-saving capsule advertisement, the trainees’ schedule was fine-tuned once again as the fourth round’s theoretical instructor finally arrived from Perseus.

This senior researcher for the ‘Evolutionary Scale’ ecological transformation was a kind-looking woman in her fifties. Her black hair carried a few silver strands, and her long hair was done up in a bun. There were some organic molecular formulae and her lover’s name tattooed on her arm, and a pattern of fine lines appeared around her eyes when she smiled.

Her handouts were very simple, and her teaching methods were gentler than last week’s Blood Pigeon. The virtual screen suddenly lit up, and the words ‘Ecological Niche’ were projected in the center of the podium.

“My name is Xia Wei.” After a brief introduction, the instructor went straight to the main topic, “An ecological niche refers to the position of a certain population within the ecosystem. Or––the minimum spatial threshold for such a population.”

Xia Wei smiled briefly, “From a biological point of view, two stores that have opened on the roadside are exactly the same and form a homogenous competition for the same ecological niche. Two similar variety shows that are shown in the same time period are also in the same niche. On a stable evolutionary scale, any man-made impact can lead to the destruction of a species’ habitat, creating instability in the niches and irreversible consequences.”

The screen changed slightly, and the voting page appeared again.

There was a lot of excitement in the classroom. The hand that Wu Jin was using to take notes paused––huge beasts were abundant in the prehistoric forest, and the page couldn’t fit them all in. The little ancient cat was lolling on the saber-toothed tiger’s belly as it licked its claws, and the saber-toothed tiger didn’t make any big moves. It only flicked a small portion of its tail back and forth.

Xia Wei explained, “It’s like this. Forcing the top rulers of the food chain of various eras into one place.”

Wu Jin thought to himself, the little ancient cat wasn’t at the top of the food chain…

Xia Wei smiled broadly and poked the little ancient cat and the Epidexipteryx that was Thin Fire, “Except for these two.”

The Epidexipteryx ran around with its tail in its hand, and the little ancient cat pawed at the cursor. The saber-toothed tiger immediately got up to bring up the rear.

The instructor closed the page, “Even on the same planet, during the same era, ecological niches might not be able to resist shock due to an instability. In the 19th century, a continent on the blue planet introduced rabbits by ship for hunting. By the end of the 19th century, the rabbit population rapidly grew to 10 billion. Rabbits had no natural enemies––they could run at over 70km/h, three times faster than the Tyrannosaurus Rex––other than the variant Tyrannosaurus Rex that are used in movies for special effects.”

“In order to restrain the rabbits, the locals brought in foxes and wild cats by boat as well. These two species once again invaded the original ecology. By the 20th century, because there were so many predators that affected animal husbandry, human beings had to hunt down the foxes and the cats. At the same time, another kind of predator in the same ecological niche was inevitably exterminated. The innocent, indigenous Tasmanian wolv were implicated and killed.”

“So.” Xia Wei raised her brows, “The ecological niche is today’s topic. Now, please open the handout…”

Four hours, and two segments of classes were over.

Wu Jin closed his notebook and looked up to find that Xia Wei was looking silently at Wei Yan. She seemed to sense Wu Jin’s gaze and turned around to smile kindly at him.

Wu Jin had a kind of illusion that Instructor Xia Wei wasn’t looking at Wei Yan, but seeing something beyond him.

However, Caesar quickly interrupted his thoughts, “Oh, Little Witch, I remember that there are spicy rabbit heads on the menu. Is it today… this class has made me hungry!”

“……” Zoe took Caesar away and compared notes with Wu Jin regarding the clues they already had for the next elimination match.

Red Queen’s theorem, coevolution, natural selection, a prehistoric environment, the biological chain, evolutionary niches, species invasion.

Wu Jin opened up the voting page for the Crosson Show once again.

Zoe: “What are you thinking?”

Wu Jin: “Brother Zoe, I’m thinking… about the invading species in the fourth elimination match.”

Zoe was amused, “Can this be predicted?”

Wu Jin: “Land-dwelling mammals, with a certain amount of field survival and team combat capabilities––but I’m still uncertain.”

Zoe gave him a thumbs up, “Take your time, don’t worry!”

A day of training passed by.

After washing up, Wu Jin lay on the bed and wrote in his training diary. He pulled out Brother Rabbit as he did so and praised, “Brother Rabbit, you’re faster than a Tyrannosaurus Rex!”

The rabbit bounced towards the window and pointed his butt at Wu Jin.

At this time, they were close to the curfew time, and there were a lot of people dragging their feet in the corridor. Wu Jin thought hard and tried to find a reason to go to the big boss’s bedroom for a visit.

If there really wasn’t any valid reason––

Wu Jin rolled out of bed and picked up the rabbit.

“Brother Rabbit, let’s go! I’ll take you around!”

“Brother Rabbit, why are you meowing––”

Wu Jin froze suddenly and turned his head back in a daze.

Outside the window, a black-as-coal cat had pressed its face against the glass. Green cat eyes looked at Wu Jin and the rabbit, and claws scraped against the glass.

Wu Jin instantly recognized this black cat and was overjoyed, “Brother Rabbit, let’s go bring the cat back to big brother!”

Juurensha: Little Witch: !!!! An excuse to see WS!!!