Originally, after a brief discussion, the production team decided to offer each of them 20,000 yuan, paying to ward off trouble, and in exchange, ask them not to leave the instance immediately after completing the task.
The purpose of this was to ensure the ratings didn’t drop too low and to maintain the reputation of the childhood variety show.
As long as the guests stayed in the instance, even if they were just chatting idly, some viewers would definitely stick around out of curiosity.
This way, the show would last longer and not end in just forty minutes.
At the same time, the ratings wouldn’t drop too low, preventing the people of Nick Star from ridiculing them.
Two birds with one stone.
But Su Yan saw right through their intentions, which was why she suggested streaming themselves sleeping.
If the guests didn’t leave but no one said a word, the audience definitely wouldn’t stay.
After all, who would want to watch someone sleep for an hour?
Su Yan basically smashed the production team’s little scheme, “You want us to work for you for that little bit of money? No way!”
“Of course not, what do you think?”
Lan Jing looked a bit flustered, gritting his teeth as he asked.
Because it was a live broadcast, the audience on Nick Star was watching his every move.
So even though Lan Jing was already angry inside, he still had to put on a pleasant face and act like he was negotiating nicely, looking especially composed.
Su Yan used the gentlest tone to say the harshest words, “Fifty thousand. Then you can have the production team contact me, and I’ll act as the temporary Host later. I guarantee everyone will be satisfied.”
Cao Jing was silent for a few seconds, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.
The offer jumped from 20,000 to 50,000 per person—why not just go rob a bank?
“It’s not that you…”
Lan Jing tried to argue, but Su Yan interrupted him directly, “Otherwise, forget it. We don’t need that little bit of money.”
Lan Jing glared at her angrily and then fell silent.
Su Yan knew he was negotiating with the production team, since he definitely couldn’t make this decision on his own.
After a while, perhaps not wanting to drag things out any longer, Xu Jing finally nodded briskly, “Alright, we’ll do as you say. But if more than half of you leave, then the contract is void, and you’ll only get the 100,000 yuan for completing the task.”
Su Yan naturally agreed. Since she had accepted, she had to make sure the ratings were maintained.
If more than half of the 500 live viewers really left, then she couldn’t in good conscience take that hush money.
Besides, that money was basically extorted anyway.
Xu Jing took off something like an earpiece from her ear and handed it to Su Yan, explaining, “Put this on your ear. If anything unexpected happens later, the production team can contact you in real time. Anything you say, the production team can hear and respond to.”
Su Yan put on the earpiece, thinking of that 50,000 yuan, and smiled contentedly, “Happy cooperation.”
Xu Jing looked a bit reluctant, thinking to herself, Only you seem happy about this. Right now, I just want to stay as far away from you as possible.
Even though she was thinking this, she still had to keep up appearances.
Lan Jing forced a smile and nodded, adding emphasis to his words, “Hope our cooperation goes smoothly.”
The two quickly reached an agreement, leaving the audience utterly baffled.
“What are these two playing at?”
“Haha, what? Fifty thousand? Is that fifty thousand yuan?”
“They just raised the price like that?”
“Say what you will, but I only heard one thing—after being a guest, a solver, and a planner, Yan-jie now has a new identity: Host A.”
“Who cares? Just give her a 666 and call it a day!”
After the negotiations were done, Lan Jing hurriedly slipped away, as if afraid that sticking around Su Yan, this little demon, would get him extorted again.
Seeing him leave, Su Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She turned back and reported the situation: “After we clear the level, each of us will get 150,000 yuan, but we must stay in the instance until the game ends automatically. Of course, you each still owe me 20,000.”
“No problem, no problem!” Everyone nodded wildly, so excited they could barely speak.
What a sudden windfall! Fifty thousand yuan for one hour—what a huge profit!
Sending the big boss to negotiate was the right move after all!
After a while, “Si” walked over, asking in disbelief, “Yan-jie, big boss, how did you negotiate that? Why are they giving us fifty thousand yuan for free?”
Since Su Yan was getting the money, she naturally had to handle things well.
She smiled and said, “The production team has a conscience. They know the initial misunderstanding was caused by the Host’s mistake, so they’re willing to compensate us generously.”
The director behind the scenes nodded approvingly, thinking this person at least had some conscience, knowing to speak for them in front of the audience. If she took the money and still dissed others, that would really be ungrateful.
“Si” wasn’t truly foolish; of course he didn’t believe Su Yan’s nonsense.
But seeing her warning look, he opened his mouth, then ultimately said nothing.
In a clash between big bosses, he, a mere bystander, wisely chose not to get involved.
Very soon, the first round of the game ended.
According to the rules, the Shapeshifters reverted to their original forms.
Xin F’s original form was a bit like a slime, a pale green jelly-like substance.
Su Yan thought if it were pink, it might actually be cute, but pale green… no, thanks.
When the Shapeshifters changed back, they were all stunned.
Once they transformed into objects, it was like entering a closed state—they couldn’t sense any changes in the outside world, so they had no idea they’d been stuck to the floor with glue.
Shapeshifters are a race that loves to bounce and hop.
As soon as they changed back, they wanted to jump up. But who would have thought, upon waking up, that they’d suddenly find themselves unable to move, no matter how hard they tried?
Shapeshifters can speak, but their language is very different from human speech.
Anyway, in Su Yan’s ears, it all sounded like “I’m here.”
Now, with the Shapeshifters furious, the whole field was filled with cries of “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here,” echoing nonstop, as if Siri had become sentient—truly brainwashing.
Su Yan almost got a headache from the noise, seriously suspecting these Shapeshifters were actually cursing them.
How else could they speak so fast?
Since the production team still needed the guests to keep up the ratings, they didn’t plan to use this to punish them.
After a short while, Lan Jing hurriedly came out.
“I’m here, I’m here, I’m here,”
“I’m here, I’m here, I’m here, I’m here, I’m here, I’m here!”
“I’m here, I’m here,”
“I’m here, I’m here,”
In short, after a round of conversations Su Yan couldn’t understand at all, the Shapeshifters finally stopped shouting and withdrew into themselves.
Su Yan marked their positions one by one, then happily began the second round of the game.
Since the Shapeshifters were now glued in place, they knew that no matter what they transformed into, they couldn’t escape the guests’ eyes, so this time they were extremely perfunctory.
Of course, even if they were slacking off, they still wanted to express their attitude.
When Su Yan and the other guests walked out of the storage room, they were all stunned—because on the field there were eleven identical flesh-colored pillows.
Su Yan had glimpsed these pillows in the previous round.
The design was just too odd—they were shaped like a hand, but the gesture was unmistakably a middle finger.
She didn’t know what others thought, but the audience absolutely loved it.
“Hahahaha, such sassy Shapeshifters!”
“Definitely slacking off now!”
“That’s some naked contempt.”
“Hahahahahaha!”
“Quick, spam the public chat to show your disdain for their shenanigans!”
Su Yan chuckled helplessly, then, along with the other ten guests, matched up each Shapeshifter and easily cleared this round.
By the time they reached the third round, everyone repeated the same trick as before. S
u Yan laughed and said, “Since we’ve already got a guaranteed win and can’t leave anyway, why not play a little game to pass the time?”
The other guests didn’t know about Su Yan’s deal with the production team, but they still gave her face and nodded, “Sure! What game?”
Su Yan had already thought of a plan and answered, “Let’s play story relay. Everyone should be able to play this. The rule is: the next person has to continue the story logically, and the plot can’t have contradictions. If anyone finds a contradiction, they can interrupt and point out the inconsistency to eliminate that person. Also, if someone can’t continue the story, they’re out.”
“This game is too easy, isn’t it?”
“Si Nian” complained.
“Who can’t tell a story? I think we could go for an hour and still not finish.”
Su Yan explained, “Telling a story isn’t hard. The real challenge is eliminating others! Making it so no one else can continue is the fun part.”
Seeing everyone still unconvinced, she raised the stakes, “Whoever wins in the end, everyone else has to give them five thousand yuan. In other words, the winner gets a reward of forty-five thousand yuan.”
Everyone, who’d been looking uninterested, perked up immediately at her words. Seeing their fighting spirit, Su Yan even decided that if possible, they’d just seal each other’s mouths shut.
That’s the charm of money! Su Yan couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional.
“Everyone form a circle. I’ll start, then we’ll go clockwise. You have ten seconds to continue the story, and each person can only say three sentences. If you can’t, you’re out.”
A minute later, a small circle was formed.
Su Yan cleared her throat, then began, “This is a ghost story. I’m an office worker, and it’s late at night. OK, your turn, Number 07.”
With her first sentence, she set the tone for the whole story—a scary ghost tale.
From the last instance, she knew that Nick Star had no ghost stories.
So using one for the relay would definitely attract everyone’s attention.
The audience was indeed hooked.
“Ghost story? What’s a ghost story?”
“This game sounds interesting! Hope there are surprises.”
“Ahhh, this woman is at it again!”
“One person telling a ghost story isn’t enough, now she has to drag the other guests into it! What a devil!”
“First person? Doesn’t sound that interesting.”
“First person perspective really brings you in!”
As the starter, her main goal was to set the story’s tone and keep it on track, while from the second person onward, the only goal was to make it impossible for the next person to continue!
Girl Number 2 thought for a few seconds, glanced at Boy Number 3, then gave a devilish grin, “I’m still in the office dealing with paperwork. Just then, I suddenly saw a sanitary pad in the trash can.”