If it were some other funny guests like them, they’d probably at least pretend to rush over and break up the fight.
But everyone here was already used to the two of them short‑circuiting, so they just rolled their eyes, treated them like air, and walked off.
Of course, the main eye‑roller was Shu Ran.
The others didn’t roll their eyes, but they still didn’t wait for them; they just went around them and walked a long way out, and only then did Cheng Zhirang turn back and call them.
"Qiuqiu."
Still just those two simple syllables, but Mu Qiu instantly sheathed her sword, dumped Guan Yu, and ran after him.
"Hey! Coming!"
When the whole group got back to the rundown temple, Shi Yuhuai was drinking water.
The eight of them stood there completely blocking the door. The way they came barreling in, plus two people rolling up their sleeves, made it look like they were here to kill someone and silence them.
He shifted his kneeling position so he wouldn’t have to look at them, and at the same time tightened his grip on the chain locked to his wrist, closing his eyes.
A whole bunch of people rushing over to stare at him—there was absolutely no way that meant anything good.
But he hadn’t expected that this "not good" could actually be this not good!
Mu Qiu, Guan Yu, and Shu Ran bared their arms, walked straight over, grabbed the chain on him, and roughly started unlocking it.
Mu Qiu: "Brother Huai, don’t be scared, we’re just switching you to a different place."
Shi Yuhuai struggled, trying not to let them touch his hand, and stared in fright at the staff behind the camera: "I can still be moved?!"
The staffer tried not to laugh and nodded: "Brother Huai, this episode you just don’t have human rights and don’t have the ability to move; you can only be locked in a small black room. As for which small black room you’re locked in, that’s negotiable."
Shi Yuhuai: "......Liars!"
While undoing the chain, Guan Yu soothed him: "It’s fine, Brother Huai, I heard that place is even cooler. Sure, it’s a bit damper, a bit narrower, a bit dirtier, but it’ll be easier for us to see you!"
Shu Ran chipped in with a sarcastic drawl: "Just go there and enjoy yourself! Serves you right for going to such lengths to slack off and coast!"
The three of them were acting rough and looked vicious, sending a chill down Li Yang’s back.
"Why does Sister Shu Ran feel like she’s poisoning a concubine who lost in the palace fight, while personally sending her to the cold palace on the Emperor’s behalf?"
Song Weili: "...And somehow that’s spot‑on."
Xu Jihua joined in using their particularly... distinctive way of describing things, and came up with an even more vivid metaphor:
"A pure maiden being forcefully taken by three burly men."
An Zhou looked at him with genuine admiration: "You’ve assimilated into them."
"......It’s not exactly willing assimilation."
Just as the three violent "burly men" were about to have their way, that gentle, cute electronic voice popped up again.
And this time, the announcement was downright bizarre.
"Good morning, guests. Seeing as a certain mission NPC has been missing for a long time, the balance has been broken, allowing mechanical electronics to awaken intelligence. Your unlucky director has already been replaced by me. From now on, I’m in charge here, and the rules are rebooted!"
"The original three‑hour game plan has been scrapped. Based on the final version of the story you just came up with, I’ve added story NPCs with memories for you. You must complete your personal information according to the NPCs’ hints and create stories that fit better."
"Also, please welcome special returning guest Zhu Qi joining the mission NPC lineup to fill the vacancy. Among the nine of you, one person is my embodiment, having taken over the fixed NPC Shi Yuhuai’s body. I don’t want to exist merely as an electronic voice, so I need your power to help me defy fate."
"While you’re performing the three stories, you also have a final mission—discover me, find me, become me. Each of the three stories will have separate broadcast points, voting points, and scoring points, happening simultaneously and being scored simultaneously."
"But only one of the three stories is the central story, and in that central story, I’m the sole main character with the heaviest presence. Create the most brilliant story, win the most votes, and get the highest main‑character score—the person with the highest score within the group that has the most votes is me. I’m the ultimate winner of this episode."
"When the game ends, there will be generous gifts. Everyone, enjoy the game~"
The final line actually came out in a seductive domineering‑lady voice, making everyone break out in goosebumps.
The information dump was enough to stun anyone. Mu Qiu and the others stopped trying to drag people around and instead traded blank looks.
Li Yang: "What’s going on? What does it mean... the unlucky director was replaced?"
Guan Yu: "Listen, you can leave out the ’unlucky’ part."
Song Weili: "I’m totally lost—what does this mean? The previous rules don’t count anymore?"
Shi Yuhuai: "Does this mean I can finally stay quietly in the small black room?"
Mu Qiu stayed silent for several minutes, then finally scrunched her face in disbelief and summed it up:
"The robot gained sentience and is planning to pick out a host by grabbing people to play games, so it can get a legal citizen identity? I thought this episode was some kind of crash‑course performance summer camp, but turns out it’s actually a sci‑fi infinite‑flow channel——"
An Zhou: "Mu Qiu, you seem to sort of get it—help us analyze?"
Mu Qiu scratched her head: "I’m about to be lost too. Here’s what I think I understand: this dominatrix voice has redrawn the rules on top of what the director said earlier, but overall it’s still the same—three stories, the one with the most votes wins.
The difference is, Brother Huai seems to be utterly useless now, Zhu Qi got added in, and our three stories might be linked; we also have to compare which story fits the main character’s life experience best and pick out a main character.
Then apparently one of us is a mole, aiming to become that key main character. But figuring out who that main character is depends entirely on the audience’s votes and scores. In other words, that mole is voted out by the audience."
The more she talked, the more muddled she got; her own neurons were tying themselves in knots.
But someone else could also follow the logic. Guan Yu quickly picked up and gave a rough summary in simpler terms.
"Basically, she locked us in here to play a game. After we clear it, we’ll have a main character that everyone likes, and then she’ll become that most popular main character, turning from a disembodied electronic voice into a human, thoroughly replacing our unlucky director."
Li Yang’s brain turned once and caught the key point: "So are we supposed to follow her lead and finish this final mission, to produce a perfect host? Or do we go against the grain and rescue the unlucky director instead? If we rescue him, that means there can’t be a most important main character?"
"The latter sounds kind of tough," Guan Yu said, plopping down on the ground. "Even though it feels like following this dominatrix voice’s instructions to finish the mission is actually not finishing it, I propose that nobody rescues the director."
The director sitting in front of the monitors: "......" What a wonderfully filial niece I’ve got!
Xu Jihua’s brows were already twisted into knots. Covering his eyes, he said, "It’s over, I still don’t get it. It just sounds so complicated."
"I don’t think we have to get it. Just take it one step at a time. Anyway, this is the second‑to‑last episode; coming in last or first doesn’t really matter anymore," Shu Ran said.
"Makes sense......."
"Hello, everyone!"
A tall figure came running in from outside, with a familiar voice and a familiar running style.
The human motor vehicle Zhu Qi had arrived.