The night had grown deep. The livestream had ended, and everyone was in their rooms. Some had fallen asleep, others were still applying makeup, while a few were lost in idle thoughts.
Little did they know that this would be their most peaceful night. From here on, they would live in constant fear and trepidation, until death finally came for them.
Sha sha sha...
Cen Yueyue finished writing the last character and leaned back in her chair. In front of her lay a notebook.
The alarm on the bed began to sound. She got up and went to the window, gazing out at the endless darkness before drawing the curtains shut...
No one noticed that the crossbow in the hallway had disappeared.
Thump, thump, thump...
Footsteps echoed in the corridor...
"Who's there?"
The man opened the door to find the hallway empty. No one had knocked.
Was it someone's prank?
Frowning, he closed the door and lay back down on the bed, then turned off the light.
Suddenly!
He sensed the sound of breathing. His eyes flew open, and he was struck with terror, his hair standing on end. He sat up in bed in panic, raising his hands.
"Don't... don't kill me!"
In the darkness, someone was aiming a loaded crossbow directly at his head. He couldn't make out the person's features, but death was imminent.
"Thwack..."
The sound of something being pierced. The man's hands fell limply, and the dark figure vanished completely from the room, as if it had never existed...
The next morning.
[Wow, everyone looks so good! The movie queen is gorgeous, and I'm in love with the mature beauty. I've been waiting since I woke up just to see this livestream.]
[Haha, look at that stray hair sticking up on Nangong Yi's head. It looks so cute! Damn, I wish I were that strand of hair.]
[Is the filming finally starting today? I'm so curious to see who gets paired up with who. Director, please lock in the double star combo!]
[Waaah, Zou Yunshu, Mommy won't let you date anyone!]
[I'm only concerned about what happened to that scumbag couple from last night. Even though I don't like the Bubble Gum girl, I'd hate to see that pair of jerks hurting anyone else.]
As soon as Xie Er'lan came downstairs, she saw Nangong Yi preparing breakfast nearby. She smiled coyly and approached him affectionately.
"Make one for me too, please."
Having co-starred in several dramas together, their relationship was naturally quite close.
"Sure," Nangong Yi nodded.
[Oh my, there's definitely something going on between those two, right? They're a couple, aren't they?]
[They must be dating on the company's dime, right? I'm so jealous.]
[If these two don't end up together, just kill us all.]
[Look at that, they're just like an old married couple. Tsk, so natural. Nangong Yi is usually cold towards others, but he's different with his own people. He didn't even hesitate for a second.]
[I've heard rumors that Nangong Yi actually has feelings for someone else. You're all shipping the wrong couple.]
[The person above must be toxic. Please don't bring unsubstantiated gossip into the livestream.]
The comments were getting lively again, but the clever viewers noticed that Cen Yueyue had been standing on the stairs, staring at the crossbow.
"Hey, why are you still standing there? Didn't your admirer make you breakfast?" You Xichun winked at her suggestively, seemingly determined to play matchmaker.
But as she looked around, she couldn't spot Yuan Shumo. She couldn't help but furrow her brow.
What was he doing? She was trying to be his wingman, but he wasn't even making an effort. He was missing out on a great opportunity to impress by making breakfast.
"Ah, I guess I was overthinking it. Maybe he's given up," Cen Yueyue said.
[Ooh, the hints are starting. What a sneaky move.]
[Directly labeling him as an admirer, then clearing things up later if there's a misunderstanding. Oh, that's cold-blooded.]
[The Bubble Gum girl doesn't seem easy to fool though, right?]
[Not only is she not easy to fool, she doesn't look easy to mess with either. Is it just me, or does she seem a bit oxygen-deprived this morning?]
"Don't you think something's off?" Cen Yueyue asked.
"Off? Oh, you mean about him giving up on you? Well, actually..."
"The arrow next to the crossbow is missing. Who took it? When I saw the crossbow yesterday, it was facing the other way. Someone has moved it."
[Whoa, how did she notice such a small detail? Is she serious?]
[I... I'm going to check the replay to see if that's true. I remember it being shown on camera.]
[Is it really necessary to be so nitpicky? Even if someone played with it, so what? It's not like they went and killed someone, right?]
Meanwhile, Cen Yueyue wasn't finished speaking.
"The crossbow has been moved, and the arrow is gone. Someone used the crossbow to shoot something. The arrow is still in whatever was shot. Either they didn't want to remove it, or they couldn't."
She seemed lost in her own thoughts, supporting her chin as she pondered.
You Xichun: ...
"What are you two doing standing here?" Zou Yunshu asked, having finished washing up and coming down the stairs. She found the two of them blocking the way.
"Oh, Cen Yueyue says someone moved the crossbow," You Xichun explained awkwardly.
"It has been moved. It's facing the opposite direction now."
You Xichun: ...
Come on, are you two crazy? This is a dating reality show, why are you concerned about this? Can't you focus your energy on the men instead?
[I can almost see the criticism in the pure girl's eyes. It's hilarious, like a pro gamer trying to carry two newbies – it's just impossible.]
[I talk to you about men, and you two talk to me about a moved crossbow? Are you out of your minds? Haha, she must be ranting like crazy inside.]
[Come to think of it, Zou Yunshu and this Bubble Gum girl have quite a bit of chemistry. You shouldn't be too rigid about gender. If we're talking about romance, a close friendship between girls isn't out of the question.]
[To the person above, can you ship just anyone? Why don't you ship that scumbag couple then?]
[I do ship them! I've even come up with a couple name: The Double Scum Alliance.]
Meanwhile, You Xichun found an excuse to slip away. She decided to wait until Yuan Shumo came down before saying anything more.
Cen Yueyue went downstairs with Zou Yunshu.
Heating up some bread for breakfast wasn't a difficult task for Cen Yueyue. Paired with milk, everyone started to eat their breakfast as they came down.
"What's going on? Is someone still not down yet?" the director asked as he came downstairs. He counted heads and realized one person was missing.
Once the filming crew was all present, they were supposed to get into character immediately. They had gotten up early to have time to put on makeup, yet someone was still sleeping in?
"Director, I'll go call him," Yu Jieqi volunteered.
The director nodded and waved for him to hurry.
Yu Jieqi jogged upstairs and arrived at Yuan Shumo's door. However, instead of knocking, he just kept looking at the time on his watch.
[What's he doing? Why isn't he knocking?]
[Are you naive? You don't think only girls can play mind games, do you? He's just trying to delay things to make the director dislike Yuan Shumo even more.]
[Damn, who knew there could be so much strategy in just waking someone up?]
[The competition between guys is fierce too. I thought he was just the funny guy without much scheming, but I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover.]
[Is the director deliberately not telling them, letting them show their true colors? This is exciting.]
[How do you know this isn't all scripted?]
[Yeah, most variety shows these days like to arrange this kind of drama to boost ratings. Our Jieqi is probably just playing along.]
[Where did this delusional fan come from? You're trying to defend this?]
At this point, Yu Jieqi started knocking on the door. After knocking a few times with no response, he knocked for a long while before finally going back downstairs.
By now, the others had finished their breakfast.
"Where is he?" the director asked, his face darkening.
"I knocked for a long time and called out to him, but he didn't respond. I guess he's in a deep sleep," Yu Jieqi reported.
A deep sleep?
Great. The director's face grew even darker.
