translator: xiin

editors: celtic & juurensha

Wu Jin didn't realize that he had been filmed from head to toe by six or seven cameras even before he had woken up.

The process of prying contestants out of the capsule had always been simple and crude:

Open the lock, issue them a qualification certificate and, at most, hand them a cheap towel before sending them away on the spot.

At the moment, however, the director's careful movements were nothing like breaking open an egg and digging someone out of it. Rather, it was more like cautiously retrieving a beautiful mermaid from a pearl scallop sh.e.l.l.

--After having become accustomed to the grizzled and dusty faces who clutched their guns to them and made rattling sounds as they snored, the Wu Jin who was still in the life-saving capsule was simply like aesthetic grace sent down from heaven.

Even his feet and neck were glittering, translucent, and extremely lovable.

Inside the life-saving capsule, the sleeping juvenile's eyelashes fluttered, and he finally, slowly opened his eyes.

His pupils were a pale amber and had a slight trace of glittering dampness, reflecting the clear blue sky as well as the omnipresent cameras. It was probably because he was still in a daze after just waking up, but he looked so lovely that it made others unable to bear disturbing him.

"Contestant 300012?" The director had a gentle expression on his face as he spoke.

Wu Jin was still dazed; he unconsciously rubbed his cheek against the rabbit, and it seemed that he thought it was a pillow.

There was the sound of sharp inhalations around them, and several of the female stage a.s.sistants who had stretched out their heads to peep suddenly pressed hands against their chests as they felt their hearts quiver from zthe cuteness.

The director looked at the roster: "Wu Jin… Contestant Wu?"

Wu Jin's pupils refocused. He blinked, then nodded obediently.

"How is your body? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?"

“I…” The youth's voice was carried a slight nasal tone from his extended sleep and his eyelashes never stopped fluttering as he finally took in the scene spread out before him.

In the place where open s.p.a.ce met with the gra.s.slands, the small plane that had ejected him yesterday was sitting on the tarmac. A little under half of the billboards had been replaced, and the remaining ones all had an additional line of black text printed on them--

"Crosson Reality Show Season 42 Sponsors.h.i.+p! Limited Investment, Unlimited Returns!!! For more information, contact x.x.x-x.x.x-x.x.xX"

Wu Jin: "!!!"

As Contestant Wu woke up, the crowd huddled in front of him burst into noise and excitement. Someone handed Wu Jin a qualification certificate, someone else kicked up a fuss about taking his temperature, and yet another person hastily rushed to hand him a towel.

"Make way, make way!"

"Why is it a disposable towel? Quickly change it to cashmere for this contestant! Come, Little Witch, how about you wrap yourself up in this towel and come out for a photo… Right, right. Your sense of the lens is pretty good!"

Wu Jin looked down at the qualification certificate. The words 'Qualification for the Second Round' threw him into an instant panic, "I, I actually--"

The program producer suddenly b.u.t.ted in, "Pack up, pack up. Let Contestant Wu leave the scene first! Several sponsors have already offered a deal and are waiting to sign an advertising endors.e.m.e.nt contract! We won't confirm the deals today, since the contracts can't be signed without the actual person present. I think the price can be raised again if it's postponed for a while!"

The crew members were all very clear about the situation as they bundled Wu Jin, rabbit and towel included, into the car neatly and quickly. They even stuffed two face masks inside before they left.

After the door closed, the director sighed continuously:

"It's a once-in-century high appearance value type contestant! We'll be relying on him to save our program group's audience ratings!"

Within the self-driving suspension car, the young rabbit was still curled up asleep.

Wu Jin casually stuffed it into the water cup holder. His thoughts were a chaotic mess.

Had he really hit someone just now?! Also, where did big boss end up? If he went back now, would he still be able to make it in time for the idol talent show… Had his agent been looking for him all this time…

And this car--

Wu Jin fell into a daze.

Regardless of whether it was the suspension vehicle, the life-saving capsule, or even the laser gun with A12 engraved on it, they were all far beyond his scope of technological knowledge.

After entering the city, it started to rain in the world beyond the window. There were no traffic lights at any of the intersections; the countless suspension cars seemed to be controlled by a central system, flas.h.i.+ng with taillights of all colors as they flew at varying heights.

The car pa.s.sed by a tall building and a billboard in the distance showed the current time and date.

3018.5.23, 6:15 AM.

Wu Jin blinked, then turned his head back and sat properly in his seat. He conscientiously and seriously did four sets of eye exercises.

By the time he looked outside again, the billboard had already disappeared into the distance.

The current day's newspaper was placed inside a storage compartment inside the car door. The paper had a blue tint to it, and the feel of the machine-pressed material was unusually delicate. The big headline on the front page was composed of a line of large letters--

< federal="" amendment="" to="" the="" anti-smuggling="" act="" in="" 3018.="" illegal="" residents="" may="" receive="" stricter="" penalties="">

Wu Jin's amber eyes finally blew wide open: 3, 3018?!!!

The suspension car stopped at the entrance to a building with a flas.h.i.+ng sign that read 'White Moonlight Management Entertainment Company'. The lady with the black hairnet was waiting at the door with a wide smile on her face.

Wu Jin felt a little top-heavy as he got out of the car. It took him a long time to remember what he was supposed to be doing and turn back to remove both the rabbit and the newspaper from the car.

As they pa.s.sed through the long, long corridor, Wu Jin's expression was incredulous as he looked towards the right.

The woman's voice was warm as she asked, “What are you looking for?”

"Re, registration office." Wu Jin stuttered, "The place where the forms were filled out before the compet.i.tion."

There were a total of six rooms on the left side of the dimly lit corridor. As for the registration office to the right--

There was no registration office to the right at all, only a smooth stretch of wall.

The lady followed his gaze, "The room there was torn down decades ago in order to build a training ground. Didn't you fill out the form in the hallway before coming over?"

She seemed to have recalled something, "Right, when you handed me the registration form earlier, there were quite a few extra things on it. They looked quite old. Here, let me give it all back to you."

The stack of paper that was handed back to Wu Jin was pitifully dilapidated, and only the words on one or two of the inner pages could still be deciphered.

It was precisely the contestant entry form for the idol show that he had spent a full three months preparing for. The paper was blurred and yellowed, like paper that had gone through many years of wear and tear.

Wu Jin fell into a daze, "This is the XX Idol Talent Show that I originally signed up for…"

The lady smiled lightly, "The XX Idol Talent Show is the name the Crosson Reality Show went by several centuries ago! Although it's the same program, we now select professional survival contestants, and the compet.i.tion system has changed a lot. Well, congratulations on your successful qualification, but you need to rest."

“My last name is Qu. Little Witch can call me Secretary Qu. Come, I'll give you the keys to the dormitory first."

At seven o'clock in the morning, the dormitory building was peaceful and quiet.

Wu Jin lay on bed in a state of despair, but soon bounced up and flipped open the newspaper.

Federal Amendment To The Anti-Smuggling Act in 3018. Illegal Residents May Receive Stricter Penalties--How had they made it stricter? Ahhhhhh!!!

Two minutes later, Wu Jin looked up from the newspaper in despair.

This was a relatively small single person dormitory. It was furnished in a very surreal, science-fiction style. There was a virtual screen on top of the desk that was currently playing an advertis.e.m.e.nt for XX machinery. Wu Jin reached out in a daze--his fingertip pa.s.sed straight through the holographic projection without encountering a screen.

And just then, a computer-like console popped up on the desk.

Wu Jin fumbled around for a good while before figuring out how to input commands to the computer, and then a series of entries quickly showed up in the search window:

Unregistered residents, or federal illegal residents without ident.i.ty chips, were usually dealt with in two ways: repatriation or mining.

Naturalization could be applied for if one had a work visa, or through marriage…

The Crosson Reality Show was a survival show with a long history, and it was the platform with the highest viewer traffic for Azure Compet.i.tion Zone trainees to debut on. (#9 on the weekly hottest search ranking, the 42nd season audition was currently underway, the official program would begin broadcast in a week's time.)

White Moonlight Entertainment was a well-known survival show management company in the Azure Compet.i.tion Zone. It ran the White Moonlight Battle Team, which had twelve professional players signed under its banner, and thirty trainees.

White Moonlight Entertainment's recruitment notice: Alive, and can fight.

XX Performance Entertainment recruitment notice: Skilled in more than six styles of modern dance, and one style of cla.s.sical dance (National Dance, Hip Hop, Break Dancing). Must have a federal ident.i.ty, have an undergraduate or above degree from an art college…

"……"

Wu Jin struggled to clear out the search records. His brain was sluggish and refused to function properly.

He had watched quite a few science fiction movies and was quick to accept terms like 'interstellar', 'federal', and so on.

The most urgent problem, however, was that without a chip or an ident.i.ty, he would have to go and mine coal if he couldn't find a job.

Being an idol was no longer an option, since all the skills he had before--the modern dances from the blue planet had become cla.s.sical dances a thousand years later. The issue of his origins was also still pending…

It seemed that he only had one way out.

Laid flat on the table was the < azure="" compet.i.tion="" zone="" crossen="" reality="" show="" white="" moonlight="" entertainment="" trainee="" cla.s.s="" c="" contract="">.

White Moonlight Entertainment's recruitment notice was 'alive, and can fight'.

Wu Jin considered it carefully. Optimistically speaking, at the very least, he satisfied half of the requirements!

Compared to how he couldn't even satisfy 25% of the requirements for the performance idol conditions, he could be considered barely qualified with 50%…

The little trainee experienced a moment of depression. He thought about it and thought about it some more, then splayed out onto the bed with a thump.

It was impossible to go back. He had to hide his illegal resident status and could only lock down the job he currently had in his hands before thinking about anything else…

After nine hours of continuous fighting, the sleepiness he could no longer resist finally launched a successful attack.

Wu Jin yawned and closed his eyes, his brain whirring with thoughts of work, ident.i.ty registration, gra.s.slands, stray bullets, rabbits, and big boss.

How great would it be if he could be as amazing as big boss!

Wu Jin flipped over and spread out like a starfish on the bed. His quilt was a mess, and he fell into dreamland amidst a fog of confusion--

Suddenly, he was startled awake and into a state of vigilance. It felt as though a large, furry bullet had hit him right in the face. Wu Jin quickly rolled over, imitating the move Wei s.h.i.+ had taught him to use in order to dodge, and forced his tired eyes open--

"d.a.m.nit! Don't jump on my face, silly rabbit!!!"

Wu Jin slept in fits and starts, and when he woke up, the dormitory terminal showed two new notifications.

Secretary Qu had sent him a floor map plus an information manual, then told Wu Jin to gather together with the rest of the trainees in the training room in half an hour to begin preparations for the next match.

Wu Jin followed the map and went all the way to the canteen, asking for two wraps.

The day's entertainment news was being broadcast on the holographic screen of the canteen.

The audition stage for the Crosson Reality Show was over, and the program producer was gus.h.i.+ng as he spoke in front of the camera. On the shortlist to the side of the screen, were four people, including Wu Jin, from White Moonlight Entertainment.

Wu Jin looked at it for a long time and was surprised to discover that he couldn't find Wei s.h.i.+'s name under any management company.

Big boss… seemed to have entered as an individual contestant.

The style of the news being broadcast changed, and it began to introduce the Crosson Show's compet.i.tion system this year--Trainees would be evaluated on their performance by the management companies as a group, and they had implemented a pa.s.s system based on a committee of judges.

Wu Jin understood the situation.

The big boss had said before that in a survival reality show, the audience didn't want to see people lose their lives in one shot. They wanted to see entertaining player interaction.

If the audition had been put in place to test the contestants' strengths, then the upcoming matches were there to tap into each contestant's individual value.

Only, a group a.s.sessment--

Wu Jin bit into the remaining half of a wrap and thought about exactly how he should prepare for the upcoming matches while searching for the training room.

The big, dark door was slightly ajar at the end of the corridor, and the sound of voices came from within.

Wu Jin hurriedly finished up his wrap and knocked politely at the door before walking in.

Four lines of sight immediately s.h.i.+fted his way.

The three other trainees that had been chosen for the Crosson Show were powerful, muscular, and looked like three towering hills as they sat there on the carpet.

The instructor froze for a moment when he saw Wu Jin, then grinned, "Okay, we're all here. Now--Let's form a temporary men's team. Come on, how about first choosing someone for the c-position."

Juurensha: Little Witch is so practical! And are wraps going to be his trademark favorite food?

Celtic: *nods* Little Witch is very practical and adapts quickly.

xiin: wraps are important. *gnaws on one*