Thriller Paradise

After break time was over, the recording was called to resume again. In this small break of about 10 plus minutes, the main director Pei Ran had come up with another not so bad idea. He decided to leave the second part of the Q and A to the last round of voting pole, instead of continuing it now. That way… even if there was any accident that happened then, it would not have mattered that much, at most they could just cut off this whole part of the segment alongside with the words that Oscar had said earlier. They would just assume there was only one question during the Q and A segment this episode.

"Alright, thank you to all of our contestants for their brilliant answers." Oscar continued from where he left off earlier and followed up with the rules to move the show forward. "After this break, our professional team of judges has already completed their discussion and has reached a consensus. Now we will combine both of the scores of our seven contestants that they had gotten during the first round of Spinning a Tale and the second round of A Stroke of Genius and line up their ranking. Now please… turn your attention to the big screen." Oscar said as he raised his single arm to point at the big screen at the side of the stage, the angle of the main camera also panned over there as well. On the screen, it was listed from top to bottom the penname of the seven writers, in front of each contestants' penname, there was an Arabic number written in a circle. The actual content was as follows: ① Fire in the NIght,② General Fei, ③ Rose Saw,④ Soda,⑤ Spring Breeze, ⑥ Yamcha,⑦Bujue.

[Hmm… So it has already been fixed huh…] Feng Bujue thought to himself. [During the first round, the contestants who got the first, second, fifth and sixth place were all hidden and now the second round, they have added the element of the manipulation of the 'team of professional judges', this way… how many votes the audience has casted actually does not matter at all anymore. I believe during that break earlier, the related vote numbers and the percentage data has been cleaned up by the logistic department already, so the production crew is confident enough to show everyone the current ranking among the writers…]

"And what you see above the current ranking of the various contestants in today's special return episode. I wonder if it matches the expectation in your mind…" Oscar turned to the camera and said, "of course, this is not the final ranking, because…" At this point, the spotlights on the stage suddenly switched off, only one remained and it appeared to fall straight down from the sky to shine directly on Oscar. "…because we still have one ultimate duel during the last round." Oscar followed up the first half of the sentence, he clapped his hands to get people's attention and then pointed right at the camera, "And that this the third round—Finishing Touches!" Oscar then quickly recited the rules of the third rules.

Similar to the last time when Brother Jue came to compete on this show, the rules of Finishing Touches did not change this time. The production crew would give each writer a random envelope (but now from the looks of it, it was not random at all) and inside the envelope, there would be a stack of A4 papers. These papers would have an eunuched webnovel that had around 10000 words. Other than that, there would be attached a general framework that was summarized by the editor team of I am a Writer's crew, in this framework, it would include the characters, the worldbuilding, the general plot and so on. The writers had 90 minutes to read the general framework and the actual book and then come up with an ending for this book.

The basic premise of this round… was to consume and digest the general framework as fast as you could and then familiarize yourself with the writing style of the original writer by reading the book itself. Then you would have to mimic this writing style and at the back of the last chapter of the book, continue to wrap it up with a more reasonable ending chapter for the story. Objectively speaking, this was indeed the most difficult round in this show. The round of Spinning a Tale was a test of writing ability, the round of A Stroke of Genius was a test of creativity, and this third round… tested far more than these two skills. Within the short limited time, the writers had to read, to understand, to think, to draft, to be quick, to be good and the most important thing was… the product had to match the writing style of the original author.

To be a ghost writer for another person's work and furnish it with an ending was perhaps the most difficult task in the writing world. Epics like Lord of the Rings aside… this was a normal webnovel with normal writing capability and normal creativity in the writing process, who would have confidence that they would furnish it with a very good ending? After all, the original author failed to do that already, but you were given the task that they had failed to do but not only that, you have to make it look like the continuation was seamless, the ending was actually how the original author intended it to end, that was even harder than hiking up to the sky.

Therefore, we would have to carry with us a heart of understanding with regards to HBO's treatment of Games of Throne's final season. After all, that written by the producers of the show, the actual series had not been finished by George R. R. Martin yet. Erm… well, that appears to have departed quite far away from what we were discussing earlier.

Anyway, back to the show…

"… The grading standard will be similar as before. The result of this round of Finishing Touches will be 40 percent of the overall result and thus in other words, the result from the previous two rounds would add up to 60 percent of the overall result…" After Oscar finished going over the rules, he then moved on to explain the rating standard, "in this round, the live audience members will still only be able to cast one primary vote and there is no vote for your second favorite contestant. Our professional team of judges will naturally be a part of this round's result as well. Their opinion will take up one third of the result and the two thirds of the result…" He turned to the audience and said in a serious tone, "Will be decided by your honorable and important choice…"

Then Oscar followed it up with a series of slogans that he had memorized, he would repeat the same thing during every episode, they included the rating standard of the team of judges, their professional background, and the various difficulties they had to go through when they were doing the summarization for the seven books. The audience very cooperatively gave their splattering of applause. During this whole pointless manoeuvring, several production crew members walked onto the stage under the cover of the darkness and handed seven envelopes to the seven respective contestants.

Several minutes later, when Oscar was done what he was supposed to say, he finally announced, "Okay… I believe everyone also cannot wait any more than I do, so I shall stop talking. The third round, finishing touches… starts…" he habitually paused for two seconds before saying, "now!"

Just as he finished, a large countdown timer appeared on the big screen. The time now was 89: 59. At the same time, on the small monitor where the audience member would use to cast their votes, there would appear a controllable window. Through it, one could check respectively the seven novels that the seven contestants were 'randomly' assigned and their attached general framework. This was a new format that the production crew adopted a few episodes ago… because many audience members reflected that it was quite boring dry waiting for this one and half hour, they had nothing else better to do. In the earlier episodes, the title of the seven contestants' books would be shown one by one on the big screen but reality proved that the effect of that was not that good, so… it had been changed to this way. This day, the live studio audience would be able to freely read and view the 7 novels in their own free time within the time limit and look over the many general frameworks. They would be able to have the same amount of information given to the contestants and at the same time, they could read to pass the time.

…

10 minutes after the start of the third round, backstage, at the dressing room for Feng Bujue's 'friends and family." Due to the recording needs of the show, the contestant had to stay inside a specific dressing room to receive the interview and recording in isolation so the production crew had given each of the contestant's followers (their assistant, bodyguards, driver, friends and family) a different dressing room.

Dong dong—Feng Bujue knocked on the door twice. No one answered the door but someone did come forward to pull the door directly open.

"Why aren't you focusing on the competition like a good contestant? Why are you wandering about instead?" It was as if An Yueqin already knew it would be Brother Jue on the other side of the door before she even opened it so the first thing that came out of her mouth was an admonishment.

"What's the hurry… I can sneak back to the stage in the last 20 minutes and everything will be fine." Feng Bujue shrugged and replied.

"If I have known you would have made such a huge mess of everything…" Li Ruoyu's voice came from behind An Yueqin, "… then I would not have come in the first place." These were the only two people who came to support Feng Bujue although they were not technically there for that particular reason. Ruoyu used the reason 'I decided to repay you for your favor' and drove Brother Jue to the tv station and then refused to leave after that. An Queqin though was there for business purpose. After all, she was now Brother Jue's assigned editor. After seeing how Feng Bujue had performed in the previous episode, she felt like she would have to be there in person or else she would not rest easy at home…

Earlier, the two of them had been watching the situation at the stage through the live television in the dressing room. So when Brother Jue left his seat to sneak to the back stage, they naturally saw it as well.

"Hey, hey… you can't just leave me here and go home on your own before the show recording ends." Feng Bujue tilted his head and told Ruoyu who was sitting on the couch through An Yueqin. "Today, you suddenly came to my house with your car to offer me a ride, so I was in such a hurry to leave, I did not bring my wallet and my travel card with me."

"is now the time to worry about something like that?" An Yueqin also tilted her head to block Brother Jue's line of sight. "at the very least, you are the special invited author from our magazine. Have you ever considered the chain effect that it might cause from how you have reacted in today's episode?" Feng Bujue did not react directly, instead he first looked left and right first to ensure there was no cameraman following him and then he slid into the room and casually closed the door behind him… Finally, he lowered his voice to reply, "Keep the voice down… I know what I am doing. There is a plan."

"What kind of plan could it be?" An Yueqin said pointedly, "you really think I do not know? You have already seen through the fact that Fire in the Night has been decided by the higher up that he will win and go to the final tonight, so you are trying to make fun of him, aren't you?" As she said that, she turned back to walk to the couch and sat down next to Ruoyu.

"hah! Do you look like that I kind of boring person?" Feng Bujue shrugged both of his hands and answered in an innocent pout.

"of course you do." The two persons on the couch replied at the same time.

"Hmm… dear ladies… if I am not mistaken, you two must have met each other less than a few hours but you have already bonded like glue and I have a feeling the reason for that is because of me and it will not be to my benefit as well…" Feng Bujue made a strange expression and then took a half step back as if warding off evil.

Ruoyu raised her phone, "We have already exchanged email addresses…"

An Yueqin also raised her phone, "We have also exchanged some information about you as well…"

The two girls' expression were very even but the presence behind them were steady like mountain, pooling like a spring water, their intention was looming like hulking shadows, it intently brought a very bad feeling in Feng Bujue's stomach.

"Hmm… As long as you forgive me for any offense that I might have done, we can still be good friends…" Brother Jue said in a tone that he had never used before. He was so serious.

"Aiz, enough, stop wasting time talking nonsense. I know you have must some plan of your own." Ruoyu sighed, "But you better do not push it too far."

"When the recording is over, if you are unable to regain your personal image and reputation." An Yueqin added, "Then even I can't help you anymore. You better be prepared to face the music, probably a much higher editor at the company will come to talk to you."

"Ah… don't you two worry…" Feng Bujue walked to the couch on the other side of the room in a very relaxed manner and sat down. He then turned to the tv screen on the wall. "I will give everyone an answer that they will be satisfied with…"

…

When there was only 20 minutes left to the round of Finishing Touches, Feng Bujue very casually walked out from the dressing room. During this past hour, he basically spent it playing on his phone and chatting with the girls while the other contestants were busy writing, reading and trying their best. Honestly… Everyone at the scene had all already given up to make the man cooperate with the recording. Therefore, when he told the director earlier that he wanted to go to the back stage to rest, Pei Ran did not even attempt to stop him…

"Yo, Oscar, you have finished recording the interaction part with the audience?" After Feng Bujue returned to the stage, he still did not return to his seat but ran to the side of the stage to find Oscar who was repairing his make up to chat and make friends.

"Yes, even the advertisement and the later monologues have all been done recorded already." Being controlled by a stylist, Oscar did not dare to even move a muscle. Even when he was thirsty, he needed to find the gap when the stylist was taking a break. "Eh? Where did you come from? I did not see you on the stage earlier."

"I went to the back stage to have a small chat with two friends of mine and since I was there, I decided to take a break." Feng Bujue said, "It is too hot on the stage, it felt like I am being cooked under the stage lights…" he leaned forward to look a closer look at Oscar, "Speaking of which… this make up on your face, if you stand under the lights any longer, I bet you can pull it off at the end of the night like a mask already."

"Well, you aren't wrong there…" Oscar chuckled. "Well… what can I complain about, this is part of the work." He paused for moment, "By the way, Bujue… even if you do not care about the result of the competition, but the way that you are acting is still not… so well… is it…" His expression shifted slightly, "The last you were here, you used the excuse of 'I do not like this book' as an excuse and refuse to write even a single word for the third round but this time you have not even read the book at all…"

"That is because I have already read it before." Feng Bujue cut the man off, "So I do not need to read it again."

"Hah?" Oscar was clearly not expecting that answer. Feng Bujue immediately smiled to explain, "He he… it's like this, the book that I got I realized I have already read it once a long time ago. One hour ago, I used about 10 minutes to reminisce the whole content of the book through the framework provided and have already come up with the draft for the final chapter." He shrugged. "based on my estimation, I can finish this chapter in less than 15 minutes. So… I decided to go back stage to take a break, collect my thoughts before I come back to complete the writing."

"Ha ha ha…" Oscar also laughed. "That does sound like what you would do."

"From the perspective of those who do not know me, I am sure this will be perceived as a very arrogant behaviour, right…" Feng Bujue said.

"That is only natural, why would you expect everyone to know what you are thinking." Oscar responded reasonably.

"Oh, right. The reason I have come to you is because I have a favour that I need from you." Brother Jue chose this timing to bring this up. "After we have finished the recording for this part, can we start the recording of the confessionals with me? I want to go ahead of the other contestants." He paused for a second before adding, "I have something else I need to attend to later so I need to leave early."

"Oh~ of course, that is no problem." Oscar said, "I will go and notify the director about this later. I am sure he will be fine with it."

"Then I will forever in your debt. Thank you so much." Feng Bujue said rather politely. "Then I shall return to my seat now."

"You better hurry back. You do not have much time left." Oscar reminded him. Brother Jue smiled and turned to leave. Oscar looked at the man's back and thought to himself, [one moment he would chase you like a mad bull but the next moment, he will be all smiles… you really are one hard individual to read…]

…

"Welcome back to I am a Writer—Night of Revival!" When the countdown was over, Oscar once again return to the stage and facing the camera, he started to professionally begin his performance. "Without much ado, let us welcome the time to reveal the writing for the Finishing Touches!" He swiftly moved to the first contestant's seat and resumed, "Following the usual rules, we will begin from our first contestant…"

The latter process went off smoothly and it followed the sequence nicely. All the writing of the contestants appeared one after another on the big screen and next to them there were the general framework of the book that they were tasked to finish the final chapter of. Oscar gushed with praises as he went down the row. He was indeed a very good host and during this most intense part of the show, there was not one empty second that was left unfilled with interesting moment. And the writing that was provided by the contestants all had relatively high standard. Of course… compared to the standard of the episode of I am a Writer—please Roast me, it was still slightly weaker. After all, this was a return episode, in terms of the contestants' capability, they naturally could not be compared to the episodes where every contestant was the best of the best in the field. After 20 minutes, finally Oscar came to the sixth contestant's seat…

"Then… let us see what contestant Bujue has one in this round." When Oscar said that, the content that Brother Jue used 15 minutes to write already showed up on screen.

"Our main character died just like that…" That was the first sentence that was written by Feng Bujue in the final chapter. When most of the people in the audience saw this sentence, they had started to boo already because it was hard for them to imagine anything good would have followed from a sentence like that…

But to be fair… this was not Brother Jue's fault at all. The book that he was given was essentially a book with a horrendous ending. The original author indeed had written the main character to his death in the previous chapter. Even though the author's writing was not bad and he had painted the main character's death as glorious and as touching as he could but it could hide away the fact that this was a 'sudden death'. Since his main character had died, the author suddenly ended his story and there was no more update after all. One had to admit that… the envelope that Feng Bujue was 'randomly' given was indeed scarily difficult. The books that other people had gotten either had a meandering plot that gone nowhere; or the author was too ambitious and had given up half way; only his book… before the author eunuched the book, he did not forget to kill off his own main character. Technically speaking this was worse than an eunuched novel because for an eunuched novel, at least the 'ending' was open, one could continue with anything plot that they wanted but for Feng Bujue's book, it was a mix of both, there was basically nothing that he could have done to continue the story…

However, Feng Bujue still managed to come up with a relative continuation to the ending within 20 minutes.

"As the main character of a story dedicated to him, he sure has led quite a saddening and even at moments laughable life. There are still many things that he had set out to do but had not done, there are still many aspirations beyond his reach, but one day Death has come for him without warning and without mercy…" At this point, the audience still carried a suspicious attitude with them because they could not guess what would come next.

"But perhaps… this was his destiny. Along this ride, he has given us many laughter and tears, we cheered along with his success and we pitied his failure. His bravery has inspired us and his weakness held up a mirror to our own. He struggled in pain, he grew up in aversity; he allowed others to move him around like a puppet and moaned like a sick patient, he tried to conduct himself like a saint but he could not resist his innate greediness. He was saintly yet very human, he was clever but not exempt from the human follies, he had a single pure love in his life but he had many different lovers… His whole like was like a clown, a life of contradiction, just to ask a smile from us.

But when you peel back these surface layers… he was nothing but just a human, a human being that live in our imagination. The meaning of his presence was just to provide us with temporary entertainment. One day, we will all forget about him just like how we will forget characters who are much more memorable than him. Death is not his ending, his ending is not that different from the other main characters… because in the end, they will all be forgotten and that is the real ending."

At this point of the paragraph, there was a page break.