Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Worried about his job and salary, Su Ximu, who hadn’t rested at home for long, set off early the next morning with an uneasy heart. He caught a ride with his eldest and third brothers to the port leading to Specter Island.

After everything that had happened, even though he now knew that the colleagues he had worked with for many days on the island were probably not human, some lingering old thick-skinned tendencies from the past still stirred within him. Su Ximu decided to give it a try and see if he could save his job.

If that didn’t work out, at least he could try to get some of his pay back.

That was his main thought. He didn't have much keeping him in the real world anymore. From now on, he would likely spend a long time living here.

After all, life was life wherever you lived, wasn't it?

Just like his eldest and second brothers—they weren’t always such powerful supernaturals. Back when his eldest, second, and third brothers were starting out, no one, human or creature, came to help them.

But him? On his second day in this world, his third brother had already helped him get a job.

Plus, with the job he found together with Group Leader Lan242, he now had two job experiences.

As time went by, he would gradually adapt to this world.

Arriving at the port, Su Ximu got out of the car and waved back at his eldest brother, showing his independence: “Eldest Brother, Third Brother, I can go by myself. I know the way. You two go ahead and take care of company matters. If I need to go home later, I can take a taxi.”

Inside the car, Su Jianglou opened his mouth, asking hopefully again: “Xi Bao, are you sure you don’t want Third Brother to go with you?”

Su Ximu shook his head again. That morning, he had overheard Third Brother’s tourism group employees calling him. Third Brother had his own things to do. Besides, Su Ximu wasn’t a child heading off to school who needed a parent to accompany him.

Su Jianglou's hopeful look faded, and he could only offer a final, uneasy reminder: “Xi Bao, once you’re there, don’t worry about anyone else. If the production team refuses to pay your wages, just call Eldest Brother. We’ll withdraw our investment.”

“Or you could go as a representative of the Su family investment firm. That might make things easier.”

Hearing this, Su Ximu suddenly remembered that Eldest Brother had indeed invested in the production team not long ago. He instinctively glanced at his eldest brother, who was sitting on the other side of the car.

To his surprise, his eldest brother, who he always thought was mature, steady, and strictly professional, actually nodded slightly in agreement.

In that moment, Su Ximu—whose values were still those of an honor student from the real world—vaguely sensed the many temptations he might face on his path to growth.

Didn't they say they'd let him start his own business with low or no-interest loans, just like Third Brother? How did Eldest Brother suddenly turn into a ruthless businessman?

***

Twenty minutes later, Su Ximu used his strong willpower and resisted the temptation of going as an investment representative. Once again, he bid farewell to his eldest and third brothers, resolutely turned around, and boarded a ship that was just about to depart.

Su Ximu chose a seat in the corner. After boarding, he initially got lost in his own thoughts.

While talking with his eldest and third brothers earlier, he had thought about it more. By now, he was mentally prepared to likely lose his job if he didn’t use investment pressure on the assistant director.

After all, nearly a month had passed since he last left the production team.

If he were the assistant director—if an employee under him had been absent for so long without resigning—he would definitely have to hire someone else to fill the position.

According to the rule that pay is cut in half for resignations before working a full month, his 800 yuan would become 400 yuan.

Then, subtracting the penalty for absence without leave…

As Su Ximu leaned against the ship’s window, calculating, a surprised voice suddenly reached his ears: “Selection Manager Su, you’re back?”

Selection Manager Su?

Hearing the address, Su Ximu looked up and saw Wang Xingxing sitting in another corner.

Wang Xingxing seemed to be accompanied by several staff members from the production team.

On the other side, seeing that he hadn’t mistaken the creature, Wang Xingxing grew even more excited when Selection Manager Su turned to look his way. He waved enthusiastically, stood up, and walked over.

The staff members traveling with Wang Xingxing showed no reaction.

As long as Wang Xingxing didn’t lose his mind and try to jump off the ship to escape the instance, they didn’t care what he did on board.

So, Wang Xingxing smoothly made his way from the eastern corner of the cabin to the western corner and plopped down in the seat next to Selection Manager Su.

Among the many trainees in the production team, Su Ximu was quite familiar with Wang Xingxing.

Seeing Wang Xingxing take the initiative to sit beside him, Su Ximu temporarily set aside his thoughts and greeted him: “Wang Xingxing, are you just returning from outside too?”

Aside from performances, weren’t trainees forbidden from leaving the island?

Sensing Selection Manager Su’s confusion, Wang Xingxing tugged at the performance costume he hadn’t yet changed out of: “The production team said another variety show invited me to make a guest appearance. It’s called ‘Happy Family,’ and it seems pretty popular too.”

Wang Xingxing mentioned popularity, but what he really had in mind was the appearance fee offered by the “Happy Family” production team.

Those damn instance creatures!

They just sent him to guest on a show without even mentioning the appearance fee!

Not to mention, he had filmed over a dozen ads during this time—and there was no sign of any advertising payments either!

He had secretly tried to find out: the money did exist, but it had all been pocketed by the assistant director, who had since been promoted to director!

If this were the real world, he would definitely try reporting the production team for tax evasion.

Su Ximu hadn’t been back for long and hadn’t caught up on the recent episodes. But just from Wang Xingxing being individually invited to another show, he could guess that Wang Xingxing’s popularity ranking was likely still very high, just as before.

Sure enough, before Su Ximu could ask, Wang Xingxing—never one to stay quiet—volunteered the current rankings of all the trainees.

He remained firmly in the top spot, ranking first in popularity.

Second place was Peng Jia.

Also a member of Wang Xingxing’s “four-support-one” team. Perhaps his cool, aloof demeanor inexplicably appealed to the idol-chasing fanatics in the anomaly world, propelling him to second place.

Wang Xingxing also knew the trainees in third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth places, though he wasn’t very close to them.

Fifth place went to Peng Jia’s younger brother, Peng Xu, who looked 80% similar to his brother and was equally icy and cool.

As for the ninth and final debut spot, it was currently held by Rao Fei.

Like Director Lin, Rao Fei had no foundation in singing or dancing and was cramming at the last minute. But at least Rao Fei’s physical fitness gave him an edge, and his progress, though rushed, was significantly faster than Director Lin’s.

Speaking of Director Lin, Wang Xingxing had been so worried recently that he was losing hair by the handful.

As the competition was winding down, Wang Xingxing realized that Director Lin was utterly, undeniably unnoticeable!

He couldn’t understand it—Director Lin wasn't unattractive. On closer inspection, his features and aura were on par with Peng Jia’s, just giving off a different vibe.

How could he possibly have such an unnoticeable presence?!

Based on his experience, this type of personality trait is absolutely taboo in the entertainment industry! Especially for professions like idol celebrities, which rely on personal charm, it's even more undesirable.

Just think, in a group of five, seven, or ten members, there will always be one person whose name the audience can't remember.

Even if that person dances until their legs are ready to collapse on stage.

That can't be good.

To save Director Lin with his invisible presence, it became clear that relying on just one person's efforts wasn't enough. The "four" in the *four-protect-one team* also put in a lot of effort.

Wang Xingxing even went so far as to create a "bromance promotion" schedule.

On Mondays, it was him and Director Lin.

On Tuesdays, Peng Jia and Director Lin.

On Wednesdays, Peng Xu and Director Lin.

On Thursdays, Rao Fei and Director Lin.

On Fridays, Peng Jia and Peng Xu returned, forming a "sandwich" with Director Lin, creating a love triangle.

On Saturdays, he strategically revealed that he and Rao Fei had some ambiguous history in the past, giving the audience in the supernatural world a shock of lovers turning into rivals!

On Sundays, the ultimate love triangle: the unknown trainee and his popular admirers.

After this series of moves, they finally managed to barely get Lin Lan through the 45-to-21 elimination round.

But now, as they approach the do-or-die moment of the 21-to-9 elimination, Lin Lan's ranking still isn't ideal.

When reporting the name of the trainee ranked 13th in popularity to Selection Manager Su, even though Wang Xingxing tried hard to hide it, his tone inevitably carried a hint of gloominess.

Lin Lan.

Su Ximu remembered that name.

He was among the trainees who went to the supermarket with Rao Fei and Wang Xingxing that day.

Sensing Wang Xingxing's brief moment of gloom, Su Ximu thought that Wang Xingxing must be very close to Lin Lan.

Wait.

At this point, he couldn't help but pat his head, feeling like he was still missing something.

Since his memories had fully returned, he was clearly aware that he had a tendency to overlook abnormalities around him. But after more than a decade of subconscious habit, if he wasn’t careful, his thoughts would still easily drift off track.

As Wang Xingxing continued reporting the rankings, Su Ximu’s gaze gradually became distant as he carefully pondered what exactly he had missed.

After thinking for a while, he finally grasped a clue and realized he might have overlooked some abnormalities among the trainees. Suddenly, after finishing the rankings, Wang Xingxing changed the subject.

"Selection Manager Su, after you took leave, no new selection manager came to the third floor. Now that you’re back, are you here to end your leave? Tomorrow is our final stage performance—would you like to come watch?"

"Selection Manager Su?"

Before Selection Manager Su took leave, when Wang Xingxing first saw Selection Manager Su’s potted plant arrangement, if he had to chat with him like this, he would still feel a bit scared.

But now it didn’t matter.

The four-protect-one team.

When they first named the group, they were already prepared for the outcome.

So now, Wang Xingxing was quite calm.

"Hmm?" Su Ximu responded when called, after a moment's pause, before asking, "Did you say someone requested leave on my behalf?"

Wang Xingxing nodded, "Yes, it was that person who was always with you before... um... Group Leader Lan242?"

Blue 242’s name was a bit hard to remember, so Wang Xingxing thought for a moment.

"But after helping you take leave, that Group Leader Lan242 left too. I don’t know if he resigned or also took leave."

At this, Su Ximu’s attention was completely diverted.

He thought about Group Leader Lan242’s tone, attitude, and expression when he smiled at him.

A small suspicion formed in his mind.

As for Wang Xingxing’s invitation, he hesitated slightly, "Well... I need to go ask the production team about the leave first, and also check if they need extra help on the day of the performance."

Otherwise, working for less than a month, taking almost a month off, and then going to watch the performance the day after returning from leave would be... quite awkward.

Wang Xingxing spoke confidently on behalf of the production team, "They’re short-staffed, definitely. The production team has been super busy these days."

As a talent show-style supernatural instance, the production team knew very well that the so-called nine debut spots were actually just nine contestant slots for surviving and clearing the instance.

There was no such thing as the group debuting and continuing to make money after the show ended.

It was a one-shot deal.

So of course they had to make the most of this final opportunity to profit.

At the end of the invitation, Wang Xingxing spoke earnestly, "Selection Manager Su, actually, if this weren’t part of the show, I’d really like to be friends with you."

"Back then, the cafeteria meals were too high in calories, and we didn’t have enough popularity points to buy things at the supermarket. We were planning to tough it out until the first rankings announcement. I still remember the first energy bar you gave me was chocolate-flavored."

"I was afraid I wouldn’t have any more to eat later, so I saved it carefully. There’s still one left in my dorm room now."

"I…"

When he reached the last sentence, Wang Xingxing’s voice wavered almost imperceptibly, but he quickly covered it up and casually changed the subject, leaving his sentence unfinished.

He wasn’t very old—in the real world, he would be in college.

No matter how much psychological preparation he’d made beforehand, when it came down to it, he would still feel scared and want to escape.

But these feelings were something he couldn’t share with his teammates.

Somehow, though, when facing Selection Manager Su, he almost revealed his true feelings.

But actually, that wasn’t appropriate either.

Humans and supernatural beings were ultimately two different forms of life. There was no empathy between them.

Just like the eliminated contestants before—before being eliminated, they had gained some fans through the show.

They would vote, attend live shows, and shout "I love you" to the trainees on stage.

They enthusiastically watched those trainees head toward their demise.

They vigorously waved glow sticks and support banners but never actually extended a hand.

After Trainee #44 was eliminated, Wang Xingxing realized that when he went off the island to film the show earlier, he had probably seen the fan club president who had initially cheered for #44 in his own fan chat group.

Her smile was still the same, but she had simply changed her support sign from #44 to him.