Surprise! The Supposed Talent Show Was Actually–?!

Chapter 10 - Score

translator: xiin

editors: butter & juurensha

Wu Jin was slightly out of breath under the magnesium lights.

He was still in the same standard kneeling position he had been in ten seconds ago, his body tilted forward slightly, his left elbow on his left knee, his line of sight aligned with the machine gun’s sight.

The camera perfectly captured the teenager’s side profile.

The fine curls were slightly damp from sweat, and he looked like a knight from ancient times as he knelt there. His gaze was ice-cold and solemn through his narrowed eyes, both focused and dashing.

The atmosphere in the arena instantly peaked.

The ladies weren’t stingy with their screams as they cheered for Wu Jin, the number of scrolling comments on the public screen skyrocketing.

The director appeared delighted and made an on-the-spot decision, “Quick, nip the lights. Plug in an advertisement right now!”

Even Caesar was clicking his tongue in praise as he patted Wu Jin’s shoulder, “Great job, bro!”

While they were on camera for a survival show, a contestant’s perceived character was significantly tied to their camera performance. It really hadn’t been an easy task for a little white rabbit like Wu Jin to reach this level within a week.

Although he still wasn’t very familiar with guns, his performance was sufficient to bluff others.

Wu Jin had finally stood up, but he was knocked unsteady by Caesar’s pat, and his cheeks were slightly flushed.

That kneeling position that had amazed the entire arena just now had been in imitation of Wei Shi’s shooting position during that early morning training room session.

According to big boss’s analysis at the time, if the audition had been held to evaluate their ability to survive in a battle royale, then this evaluation match judged their potential performance in a survival show.

The three judges would give their evaluations based on technical ability, tactics, and camera performance. In other words, ‘survival’ accounted for one third, while ‘showmanship’ accounted for two thirds.

Wu Jin had tried to argue that ‘tactics’ was also a survival and combat related component, but he had been unhesitatingly overruled by Wei Shi.

Did pre-selected maps where reference materials were provided actually require tactics?

The desert map had appeared on the Crosson Show eight times. Wei Shi had drawn out and compressed the data from all eight maps to its essence and fine-tuned Wu Jin’s tactical positioning.

As for his shooting––

In the quiet summer night, Wei Shi had pulled Wu Jin over. “Remember. I’ll only demonstrate once.”

The lights in the training room were bright, appearing cold and harsh as they shone on big boss’s body. Wei Shi went from a casual stance to a kneeling position within three seconds, his aura instantly filling the room with an oppressive pressure.

“What are you stunned about?” Wei Shi raised his eyebrows.

Wu Jin got up in a hurry, sat up straight, and watched carefully.

“......” Wei Shi ordered, “Stand over here. Learn.”

——

The lights came on again.

The judges panel had already announced the group’s team score on the stage for Crosson’s evaluation match. All four players qualified.

Zoe and Caesar: A, support Wen Lin: B.

The camera finally turned towards Wu Jin.

There were three mentoring judges on the Crosson Show. Among them, Blood Pigeon, who had retired from the professional survival show scene two years ago, was responsible for tactical guidance. One of the other two judges was a temporary member of the panel who had been specially invited to judge practical combat ability, and the last judge was in charge of evaluating on-camera performance.

The three score sheets were handed over to Blood Pigeon. The retired veteran, who had first fought in survival reality shows nearly twenty years ago, looked at Wu Jin, “Number 300012, Contestant Wu.”

Wu Jin quickly stood upright.

Blood Pigeon pulled out the first score and opened his mouth, his tone kind, “Very good talent. Gun skills are relatively raw. It can be seen that you have put in some hard work, but you require more practice. Out of fairness for other players, combat ability––C. Any objections?”

There was a stir amongst those in the arena who were suckers for a pretty face, and Wu Jin felt slightly disappointed but quickly adjusted his thoughts. He promptly shook his head and bowed to express his thanks.

Wu Jin didn’t reject this C. If it hadn’t been for an entire week of repeated training, he would have at most only been able to achieve an E or an F.

Although––Wu Jin swept over Area A that was some distance away through the corner of his eyes. There were a few scattered players seated there, and it was the area closest to Area S. Wu Jin’s small curls drooped slightly; he was going to let the big boss down.

Blood Pigeon brought out the second score. “Tactical design.” He paused, then finally showed a smile, “No flaws. A.”

Wu Jin was stunned, but his eyes sparkled. His cheeks heated up as he somehow managed to stand still even though he was clearly so happy he could barely hold it in. This appearance made people really want to look at him more.

Wu Jin’s individual average had now been pulled up to B, so the final grade was very crucial. Blood Pigeon raised his eyebrows, “On-camera performance... Teacher Ying, I’m very curious about why you gave out this score.”

The Crosson Show’s performance instructor was the only female judge. She was a famous actress named Ying Xiangxiang. She looked especially glamorous sitting there amongst a group of survival show contestants with her small stature and delicate make-up. However, everyone understood that this actress must have more to her than just her looks in order to have maintained her position as a mentor and judge for three consecutive seasons.

“An eye-catching performance invites the camera to focus on it.” Ying Xiangxiang was smiling widely, “There are sixteen camera positions on this stage. Just now, when all the cameras were focused on his face, I determined that it was appropriate to give this score.”

Ying Xiangxiang pulled her score card out of Blood Pigeon’s hands and displayed it in front of the camera for everyone to see. “S. Perfect. There’s no doubt about it, this was a peak S level performance.”

Fireworks burst out into the air from the stage and a wave of applause surged up like a flood. The information displayed on the screen was updated instantly:

Contestant 300012 Wu Jin. Combat ability: C, Tactical design: A, Performance: S. Final score: A.

Wu Jin’s eyes flew wide open in surprise.

Caesar excitedly looped an arm around Wu Jin’s shoulders, his expression full of incredulity, “Little Witch, how did you do it? It’s only been seven days! Damn! You––”

Blood Pigeon signed his name on the evaluation form, then, amidst the shrill screams from the audience throughout the venue, he moved mouth to form the words, “Keep working hard.”

The transparent staircase leading to the contestants’ new seats lit up and White Moonlight Entertainment’s trainees all bowed to the audience before making their way up.

After the camera moved away from the judges panel, Ying Xiangxiang laughed lightly and leaned away from the microphone to whisper, “It’s a pity that judges can’t buy the first glass of champagne for the contestants.”

Blood Pigeon: “... You should ease off a little.”

The next group’s performance was about to begin. In the contestant area, the few of them made their way up and parted with Wen Lin at the entrance to Area B.

Wu Jin finally bumped shoulders with this quiet teammate of his in comfort. Wen Lin laughed cheerfully, “No need to see me off. I’ll come find you when I get promoted next week.”

Zoe nodded decisively, sending Wen Lin on his way with his gaze.

After the remaining three people went to Area A and exchanged greetings with their future classmates, Caesar and Zoe heaved a sigh of relief and quickly unfastened their heavy combat jackets.

When Wu Jin turned back to look, his two teammates were sprawled out over their seats. They had already entered casual mode, their gazes filled with inexplicable glee.

Caesar gave an evil laugh, adding a touch of indescribable strangeness to his face that originally could have been considered handsome. “Little Witch, come here! Sit here with your big brother. I’ll teach you something good...”

Zoe suddenly thought of something, “Hold on, Little Witch, have you reached adulthood?”

Wu Jin nodded in confusion.

“That’s good.” Zoe was relieved. He snapped his fingers, opening up the screen in front of the seat.

There appeared to be an auction on the screen, with the price list constantly refreshing.

“It’s already at 8000 credits,” Zoe sighed emotionally, “Thinking back to my glass of champagne that year, that auction only went up to 2000.”

Wu Jin was horrified to discover that his contestant number was there in the auction information. At this time, the price had already soared like mad and was now at 20,000 credits.

“Relax, they’re not auctioning contestants.” Zoe explained, “The auction is for the qualifications to buy the contestants their first glass of champagne. Of course, the key point isn’t the champagne itself.”

Caesar: “Hehehehehe...”

Among the three of them, Caesar’s champagne stopped first, at 7000 credit points, and the waiter soon delivered a crystal, high stemmed glass full of amber liquid. A small envelope was placed at the bottom of the tray and a light lipstick print could be seen at the seal.

Wu Jin: “......” Hold on, this, this seemed to be...

Caesar was very satisfied as he accepted the tray, laughing like a 1.8 meter tall fool. He opened the envelope with a faster hand speed than he had when shooting, then raised his head after a long while, “About that, what time is the evening curfew for the trainee dormitory?”

Wu Jin: “......”

Even Zoe was a little surprised, “So fast? Are you even human? The event ends at six o’clock, and the entrance is locked at ten, leaving four hours in the middle.”

Caesar was regretful, “Only four hours. How could that be enough.”

Zoe: “... Then are you going or not.”

Caesar nodded, “What are you saying, of course I’m going!” His hormones must have erupted after he said so, as he went to ask the waiter, “How can a gentleman allow a lady to buy him a drink? I’ll cover the credits, but help me tell that cute little elder sister that I’m not leaving tonight until I see her.”

The second glass of champagne went to Zoe. This sniper, who had fought and competed on the Crosson Show for two seasons, had doubled his value this time. The envelope included with his champagne had no exaggerated lipstick print.

“It’s a contact number.” Zoe took out his terminal and added it. Based on the other party’s portrait, it seemed to be a sixteen or seventeen year old youth.

“What a pity. I never make a move on minors.” Zoe raised his brows and was a little depressed. “Forget it. I’ll help him with his homework later.”

Caesar was currently chugging down his drink, “Perhaps they only look young, like Little Witch. Little Witch, how much is your champagne going for?”

Wu Jin was staring blankly at the screen. “Sixty thousand.”

Caesar almost spat out his champagne, “Sixty thousand? Are they crazy?!” He then remembered, “You haven’t updated your player profile yet, right?! Damn, that’s troublesome. Both men and women are going to go for it now.”

Wu Jin looked back in horror, “I, I, I...”

Zoe seemed to be deep in thought, “Little Witch, have you ever had a girlfriend?”

Wu Jin shook his head repeatedly.

“Boyfriend?”

Wu Jin’s head almost turned into a rattle-drum from all the shaking.

Zoe showed an incredulous look. Seeing that Wu Jin was frightened enough to turn into a quivering quail, he immediately changed his expression to a comforting one, “It’s okay to refuse. Remember, you’re a contestant. They’re just buying you a drink, you’re not obliged to send one back.”

––But then, Zoe changed his tune.

Wu Jin’s first glass of champagne had already been pushed up to 100,000, finally coming to an end when some rich tycoon stepped in and abruptly shot the price up to 140,000.

“It’s a little excessive.” Zoe’s tone was dry.

“Little Witch, do you want to ask the company for an advance and pay it back?” Caesar was also worried, but he was clearly also reluctant to part with that one hundred and forty thousand. “How about Zoe and I go in your stead?”

Zoe kicked Caesar’s butt just as the waiter delivered the champagne and envelope to Wu Jin.

“Or maybe the rich tycoon only wants to become friends with you!” Caesar consoled him, but his expression was filled endless curiosity, “Open it and take a look.”

Wu Jin opened the envelope. In his heart, he was really using all his strength to spit on this spicy chicken program group.

The Crosson Show took a 20% fee from the champagne auction. He really had no idea how long it would take to pay back those 30,000 credits––

Caesar and Zoe were both stretching their heads over animatedly when Wu Jin abruptly closed the envelope.

“Show me show me show me!” Caesar kicked up a fuss.

Wu Jin swiftly stuffed the envelope into his pocket.

“What did it say? What are you blushing about?!” Zoe was also anxious to know.

“Just, congratulations on qualifying.” Wu Jin answered very honestly.

Caesar cried out exaggeratedly, “One hundred and forty thousand just to congratulate you on qualifying? Do the rich have so much style now? Is there no room number? Not even a contact number?” He gave a sad cry, “So high-class. Little Witch, be careful. Don’t get swallowed alive by this person. It must be a veteran lover––”

Wu Jin said in his mind, nonsense! It’s not!

His expression was full of delight as he pulled out the enclosed note and looked at it again.

Congratulations.

––Wei

Juurensha: Woooow so smooth, so classy Wei Shi! Also, I really love Zoe and Caesar.

Butter: This sounds like the novel is about to turn into a Sugar Daddy novel.... Daddy Wei Shi...

xiin: NO. NO DADDY KINK. NO NO NO NO!!!! Also, in case you guys missed it, Zoe is male! male! male! Important things have to be said three times~ all the contestants in the Crosson Show are male.