Chapter 552

Chapter 552: I am a Writer – Night of Revival (5)

Translator: Lonelytree

“A stroke of genius is our show’s most popular segment, it is well beloved by our viewers.” Since it had not yet reached the time for advertisement, Oscar needed to continue with his rambling, “It is very important to perform well in this segment... because most of our contestants are eliminated due to their less than stellar performance during this particular segment...” he glided slowly on the stage and had some eye contact with the audience members, that way his monologue would appear more natural and less forced. “And today... on this stage for the night of revival, only one of the constantans has the chance to join the final. In other words... we are going to eliminate not one person but six.” He used a very serious tone to repeat this nugget of information that everyone had already known again but it did not feel out of place. “But assuming... one will be able to score well in this round, then essentially... that person has already extended one of their legs into the door of the final already.”

When he spoke, the timer on the big screen had already ran for 2 minutes. Of the seven writers, six of them had already picked up their electronic pen and started to work on their assigned panel. Only Feng Bujue...used both of his hands to cup his chin, his head was tilted back 45 degree as he studied the ceiling. Who knew what he was doing? Thinking or just acting cute.CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m

[This kid... what is he planning this time...] Oscar saw this from the corner of his eyes and instantly he had a bad feeling in his stomach. [Or rather... he has already given up...] he thought to himself, [or he is trying... to buy some sympathy votes from the audience?]

[No... neither of these sound like him.] Oscar thought for several seconds and soon denied these two hypotheses. [Hmm... based on his personality, the truth is probably is... he believes going to the final will be so troublesome so he is purposely getting himself eliminated.]

After he figured that out, the small surprise and confusion in Oscar’s heart were swept away. At that moment, he could not help but smile because it suddenly dawned on him... how ironic the whole situation before him was... something that some people would go to even unethical ends to grasp was on the other hands a burden others could not shake however hard they tried...

...

The 10 minutes soon passed. During this period, Oscar had gone down the stage to rest for several minutes, drank some water and had his make-up repaired. The 3 minutes that he had spent rambling on stage was more than enough to fill in the gaps between the advertisement. The rest could be filmed later if needed. Other than that the set director (different from the time when Brother Jue came to the show for the first time, Director Pei had came to the studio to direct the scene himself this episode) had interacted slightly with the audience to give them some notices on what to pay attention to during the next shooting. It was not until the timer on the big screen had dropped down to 30 seconds that Oscar once again walked back to the stage.

“Attention all units, be on the ready.” Pei Ran notified the crew through the communication channel.

“Welcome back to... I am a Writer—night of revival. I am your host, Oscar.” After resting for a few minutes, Oscar had returned to his vibrant self. “Thank you for your patience to wait through the advertisement... Now let us look at how much time we have left for this round...” The main camera now panned over to the big screen and gave it a close up.

“We still have 21 seconds left.” Oscar continued, “Are you like, as nervous as you can be?” With that, he slid over to the contestants’ seat. “But I believe those who are most nervous... must undeniably be our seven writers, I wonder how their writing progress has gone so far...”

Then what followed was a confused and rather sudden silence. These 10 few seconds would be the work of the post editors. When the film was being edited, this part would be spliced into several parts and while the timer was counting down, the camera would interpose the close up of the several contestants and pair it with very intense background music... to create this kind of feeling of ‘your television will explode when the timer runs out.’ For some unknown reason, even though this editing formula had been used again and again in many different variety shows, it still worked every time.

“Time’s up!” When the countdown was over, Oscar ended it with this and then he turned to the big monitor and said, “Let’s not waste any more time... let us turn to the monitor... for the random number.” 7 arabic numbers started to rapidly spin on the screen. Several seconds later, the number 6 settled on screen.

[Hah... this has to be another method of behind the screen manipulation...] Feng Bujue thought to himself. [During this round, it is clear that the advantage will be bigger, the latter you are announced because they will have more time to think... and the first person will be the unluckiest. During the voting period, the stories of the latter contestants would have already washed away the audience’s impression of the earlier contestants’ stories already.] His eyes involuntarily wandered over to Pei Ran. [I should have not expected something less from Director Pei... this is very well done. Naturally the last one to be announced... will be Fire in the Night. Hmm... if it was me, I would also have two other contestants between Soda’s turn and Fire in the Night’s turn. If Soda was placed second to the last and the direct comparison was made between him and Fire in the Night, the contrast will only be unbeneficial for the later...] Brother Jue’s mind was working very fast, all these thoughts only festered in his mind for 3 seconds.

“Finally, Li Si crossed the finish line.” Feng Bujue’s story was reaching its end. “Once Zhang San woke up, he turned back to look... Eh? How come Li Si has disappeared?” He used a tone that was reserved for a class of kindergarteners and continued in a cartoonish voice, “Oh no, how could this be! Li Si has already crossed the finish line. Once Zhang San saw that, he was breaking in nervous sweat but he knew even if he chased after the man now, it would not change the result that Li Si has already won this race.” He shook his head and sighed, “Aiz... this is such a thought-provoking story...”

“Director... We should call the security...” Oscar turned his head around and talked into the mic which had switched to the staff channel.

“I don’t think it’s necessary...” Pei Ran replied, “He has already finished his story already, even if you chase him out now, it is already too late...”

“No... I mean, we better have the security be ready.” Oscar lowered his voice to say, “What if the audience members throw objects onto to the stage or charge up to the stage, at least the guards will be able to secure the peace...”

“it will be fine... Just try to brush over this.” Pei Ran said, “I know you have the ability to overcome this...”

“Overcome this fuckery?! Aer you kidding me?!” Oscar cursed at the director through the mic, “Even a kindergartener can tell this is the story of hare and the tortoise!”

“Calm down... you need to calm down...” Pei Ran comforted in a calm voice, “Just cherry pick the good things from the story, if you really can’t do that, just try a few jokes and change the subject...” This part where Oscar whispered into his mic would naturally be edited out so he hissed for 3 full minutes into the mic. 3 minutes later, after Oscar had adjusted his emotion and expression, he switched the mic back to the hosting channel. “Ha ha ha...” He laughed, a laugh that was as fake as it could be. “Bujue... your story... overall... sure is educational...”

“Boo—” The audience responded with a thunderous boo. This time all the audience were booing Brother Jue. Those that came to support him, some had already left in a fury while those that remained basically turned from fan to haters, they tore up his banners and joined those who booed him.

“Ha ha... That’s only natural, it was a story based in the race between the hare and the tortoise.” Feng Bujue smiled shamelessly and responded with ease.

“Who do you think you are to act like this?!” Suddenly Fire in the Night who sat next to Brother Jue demanded loudly. This was the first time such a thing had happened... On the history of I am a Writer, there had never been a situation where the contestants got into direct conflict. Oscar was a very good host, normally... it was he who decided who should speak at which moment and what should be done next... this was all being handled by him as the host. But now things had gotten out of his control.

“Be on your toes, all unit. Do not stop, keep on recording!” Pei Ran’s excited voice rang in the staff communication channel. Looks like... the director was happy to see this development.

“No matter the purpose behind your presence here, please do not use this kind of attitude to desecrate this sacred stage!” Fire in the Night used a severe tone to address Brother Jue while glaring at him.

“oh?” Feng Bujue turned around and looked at Fire in the Night with a sarcastic smile. “is this stage that sacred?” Then Brother Jue suddenly stood up. Near the stage, the several security guards were covered in cold sweat. They were all thinking. [No way... do we really need to intervene...]

Feng Bujue crossed the two steps to stand before the seat of Fire in the Night and placed both of his hands on the latter’s control panel. He leaned his face close to the other man’s face, looking the latter right in his eyes...

Facing Brother Jue’s action, Fire in the Night was instantly flustered... Initially he wanted to use his supposedly judicial statement to win himself some brownie point and at that same time, push the person who was the second on the online popularity pole down a peg. It was a plan that would kill 2 birds with one stone. But to his surprise... Feng Bujue left his seat and crossed right to stand before him. Based on his posture... he was asking for a fight?

Fire in the Night was around 30 and he was impeccably dressed. Even though he was in a tailored suit, it barely covered his beer belly. On the other hand... Even though Feng Bujue looked thin, due to this systematic training recently, he was tall and imposing and the muscle was visible under his sleeves; combined with his towering height, he would not be on the losing end in a fight...

[Hey hey... what is going on now... If you really punch Fire in the Night, this is not something that can be solved by the security guard, he might sue you in civil court...] Oscar thought worriedly.

“If this stage is that sacred...” Feng Bujue looked right into the man’s eyes and said darkly, “... then how is it that you are sitting right here?”