Beta: Stephanie
The participants of the variety show were a total of nine small celebrities paired with nine overbearing CEOs. Some of the celebrities were female, some male. The Overbearing Ceo Faction were all male, save for one woman. The competition kicked off with an introduction of each of the pairs as well as a breakdown of how the variety show would operate.
There would be 9 teams total, and they would be decided randomly in the first week. After that, participants would be allowed to trade team members if they wanted. In the case someone wanted to quit the game or was disqualified, the team as a whole would be forfeiting the competition.
Once the teams were decided, they were all assigned a "base location." Depending on their luck, it could be a good location or not. With the way things went for cannon fodders, Jun's team was, of course, assigned the worst possible location, a cave on the outskirts of the forest and nowhere near any source of water.
Teams were allowed to move around if they were capable of it and settle down at any other free location. To keep things entertaining, the only requirement for bases was that they be 3000 meters, about 2 miles, away from each other.
They were allowed to choose 3 weapons. Regarding this, the show was quite generous. There were all sorts of goodies, from tranquilizer guns to short swords. They didn't have to select exactly 3 weapons nor were they required to choose any. The weapons were ostensibly for survival, but Jun suspected they wanted to increase the drama by teasing the possibility of violence.
Lastly, each participant was given a backpack with some necessities, such as a Swiss knife, matches, rope, water, food bars, and so on.
Picking up a bow and arrow set and a dagger, Jun walked away to stand at a distance to watch everyone else, his eyes stopping at a seemingly innocent-looking boy with soft blond hair and an angelic face. It was participant G, the future murderer. However, since Jun is a cannon fodder, he didn't feel like he could trust any of the other competitors either. Even if participant G was the murderer, that didn't prevent everyone else from being potential death flags. This kind of show was just asking him to die.
'Isn't giving out weapons just making the murder thriller part of the story too easy?'
|Yes, but the murderer doesn't use any weapons to kill, remember?|
|...|
|Host?|
Jun was too busy wondering how Ezekiel managed to sneak in his milk tea ingredients and was eyeing the man's backpack with suspicion. He saw Ezekiel choose to skip out on the weapons and was confused. Was the man just planning on surviving using only the meager food supply provided?
An eyebrow raised, Jun watched Asher Xavier step over to greet Ezekiel with starstruck eyes and a hand held out. "Mr. Backert, I'm a huge fan..."
The poor protagonist Asher was unexpectedly ignored by the male lead Ezekiel, his hand hanging in the air.
Then again, this storyline was not your standard dynamic. Ezekiel's interest in Asher was only triggered as a result of Jun's death. Maybe there never was any chemistry between the two, which would explain the BE. Jun saw the disappointment on Asher Xavier's face change to one of determination then disdain when Ezekiel walked over to stand next to Jun, simply choosing Jun over Asher by his behavior.
At the very least, Asher Xavier seemed to have an interest in Ezekiel and some unexplained hatred towards Jun. Or was it his destiny to be detested because of his status as a cannon fodder?
Once everyone was done with their weapon selection, the host made a brief speech then sent each team on their way one by one in the order of their team number, followed by a personal camera bot. For convenience, the teams were assigned a number, and Jun and Ezekiel were Team #4.
'If that's not a death flag, I don't know what is.'
(A/N: In both Chinese and Japanese, the number "4" is pronounced the same way as "Death.")
Like it was his home he was strolling through, Jun casually strolled into the direction of their team base, Ezekiel following behind with a thoughtful expression. Each team knew where the other teams' bases were, and to make things interesting, sabotaging and stealing supplies wasn't exactly prohibited. As long as no one tried to kill another participant, pretty much anything was allowed.
Jun was thinking of skipping on the cave and just camping out. Along the way, he kept an eye out for potential prey. The food bars provided would maybe last a week if appropriately rationed, but why eat those when you could eat some real meat? Though he doubted his cooking skills, it was still worth a try.
After some time spent examining his surroundings and making a mental map of the area, Jun spotted a pheasant and shot it down in one go.
|Nice shooting as always, dearest Host!| System 00 gave Jun two thumbs up, and the sight of it in his mind almost made him walk into a tree. Jun wasn't sure where the thumbs came from but it was nice to have encouragement.
"You shoot so well, like an arrow right through my heart!"
Jun froze and shut his eyes, a shiver running down his entire body and he felt the air around him freeze over. Why did that cheesy, teeth-grinding way of talking sound so familiar? Was he being haunted?
"What's wrong?" Ezekiel asked, upon noticing Jun's strange behavior. It appeared Jun was the only one who heard that.
"Stop ignoring me. I know you can hear me."
Taking a deep breath, Jun opened his eyes and turned around to face the owner of the voice just to be flabbergast.
The one who spoke was a semi-transparent man, his head of black hair a little past his neck, but the most notable feature were those familiar golden eyes. Those same eyes were currently focused on Ezekiel with much contempt.
"What's wrong?" Ezekiel repeated.
The owner of the voice responded, "Who is this bastard? Wait, isn't he that pervert?"
|System, why can I see ghosts? Isn't that supposed to be the protagonist shou's thing?|
|... I don't know. Perhaps it has to do with your soul.|
|Hmm.|
"It's nothing," Jun said, then went to retrieve the pheasant he'd shot. Next, he would need to find a source of water to skin and clean the meat. One of the teams was next to a river so as long as he followed in their direction but stayed far away from them, he could find a camping spot for the night.
He continued to ignore the ghost following behind who kept calling out to him.
Sometime later, Jun found the river and chose a flat boulder close to the water to start the skinning process. The only problem was he couldn't suppress his disgust. The entire time his expression of revulsion was being live broadcasted by the camera bot, and some of the audience who were watching Team #4 couldn't help but laugh and comment.
Viewer #5856725: Poor boy, he looks like he's about to puke!
Viewer #2443646: I'm about to puke too.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow: He's got guts. Get it?
Mr. Right: The person upstairs, can you not?
Ezekiel couldn't watch anymore after he saw Jun's face go from white to green back to white for the nth time and took over the skinning process.
"Why don't you go collect some firewood instead?" He suggested. With a relieved expression, Jun gladly spirited away.
Mr. Right: You can skin me any day, Ezekiel.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Upstairs, are you ok?
Viewer #2443646: ...
Oblivious to these comments, Ezekiel quickly prepared the pheasant meat to be roasted. Around the time he finished, Jun came back with some branches and sticks to set up a small fire. After adding some of the provided seasonings, Ezekiel started to roast the meat with Jun sitting across from him watching.
All was peaceful until the ghost spoke again, a hint of jealousy in his tone. "So what if he can roast a bird? I can probably do it too."
For some reason, Jun highly doubted that. He stood up and walked away, knowing the ghost would follow him.
"Where are you going?" Ezekiel asked with a frown.
"I need to do a number 2."
He didn't, but that was the only excuse that could guarantee their camera bot wouldn't follow him. The showrunners were fine with violence but would respect the competitors' privacy. Jun appreciated that. He didn't want to be caught talking to himself—er, the ghost.
A distance away, Jun leaned against a tree with his arms crossed. "Who are you?" He asked the ghost.
The sun was setting and the sky was turning a dull orange. As for the ghost, he was becoming less transparent. "It's me, Theo."
|System, I don't seem to recall such a person in the plot?|
|That's because there isn't.|
|... Is this another plot hole?|
|Well, you're not supposed to be able to see ghosts, dearest Host!|
|...|
The ghost named 'Theo' was saddened from not being recognized, but he continued to smile patiently. "We went to high school together for a year, and I kept asking you to join my band Solar Eclipse. Theodore Rey, remember?"
"... Um."
It was difficult taking the place of a cannon fodder without receiving their memories. Other than relying on what was provided by the plot, there wasn't much else, so details like Jun Teruya's high school life were vague. Not to mention, this ghost never appeared in front of the protagonist so why was he here?
Despite the lack of a response, Theodore moved on and floated over to put his arms around Jun. "So who is that bastard?"
"My sugar daddy."
Theo spat up some ghost blood and Jun moved to the side in disgust, he didn't want ectoplasm all over his clothes.
"Haha, I think I might have heard wrong..."
"No, you didn't. He's really my sugar daddy."
With a pitiful, pleading look and some fake tears, Theodore reached out a hand and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Jun's ears. "If it was a sugar daddy you wanted, I can do it too..."
"No, it's ok. We'll be breaking up in a week, if not two months at most anyway."
"Really!?" Theodore was delighted. "Then after, you'll be my sugar baby?"
"Pfft... no." This way of joking and flirting was so familiar, Jun couldn't help being amused. Did that perverted bastard follow him to this world? Was it possible?
|It's possible, dearest Host.|
|You're basically telling me that's him.|
|No comment.|
"Then how about joining my band?"
"Aren't you dead?" Jun asked, confused.
With abundant eagerness, Theodore held Jun's face. It was strange, but he could feel the ghost's touch, though it was a bit cold.
"Do you want me dead? I can do it. Then I could be by your side all the time."
"No thanks." Jun shook his head solemnly. Who would want to be accompanied by a ghost for life? He already had an extra voice—the system—in his head. "So you're not dead? Then how...?"
"Right now, I'm in a coma. I can wake up anytime, but..." Theodore gave him a possessive hug and directed a warning gaze at something in the distance. "I think it's best if I stay with you until the end of this show."
"Do what you want."
" You're the best! So join my band after?"
"Can't."
"Why not?"
"I'm tone-deaf."
"You do realize this show involves singing, right?"
Jun gave Theodore a look. "You think I didn't try to get out of it?"
What was he supposed to do? Jump out of Ezekiel's car earlier? Then he'd just be lost. That didn't sound too bad. Maybe he should have done that. But what about the milk tea? Could he wander around lost for a month or two without milk tea? Impossible!
|Host... You're really hopeless.|
—
A/N: Milk tea forever lol!