CHAPTER 48: CHAPTER 48: THE FIRST TO MAKE A MOVE IS——

"Whew—"

Jumped in, and was barely caught by someone inside, managing to stand firm.

Only after jumping in did I realize, it wasn’t empty inside, several photographers were already poised with their cameras ready.

As soon as she stood firm and looked up, two lenses were thrust right in front of her.

Mu Qiu feigned a breathless pause, giving an awkward smile to the camera.

"Alright, actually, the train is already slow enough to simply step onto."

Her hands, clad in black leather gloves, grasped the iron door of the carriage. The tank top was a bit cold in the blowing wind, with a few strands of her long ponytail floating in the shot, her smile somewhat forced.

After saying that, she slightly lifted her chin in thought, then added, "But I still have to say, friends, do not climb or jump off trains, it’s threatening and could incur fines."

The liveliest guy among the lively bunch next to her called out again, "Get ready, here comes the second jump."

The train rolled past the platform, about to pass an abandoned rooftop ahead.

In the movies, this is depicted as a terrifyingly tall rooftop, with a gap in between at least ten meters deep, practically a small cliff.

But here, it’s just a small drop less than two meters, jumping down would barely take any effort.

Mu Qiu initially didn’t really want to follow the storyline, she really just wanted to hide and watch everyone go at each other, but seeing the group around her all jumping down, they reached out for her when she hesitated.

She had no choice but to follow along with the plot.

Jumping from the train onto the rooftop terrace, she had just steadied herself when the guy who reached the rooftop first cheered, "Third jump! Third jump!"

"......" I wonder which performing arts academy this fixed NPC was found at, their spirit is impressive.

The rectangular, hollow building, with an inner courtyard-like opening, and at the bottommost level, there’s a net to catch whoever jumps down.

In the movie, this is where the heroine bravely made the leap, beginning her acceptance into the fearless faction.

Mu Qiu walked over and leaned over the edge of the courtyard to look down, expecting to see a miniaturized version of a courtyard, but amidst her peering...

A glimpse and the visual effect was high enough to make her dizzy with vertigo.

"The director’s out to get me! This high?!!!"

She quickly shrank back, advising the diligent fixed NPCs beside her, "You don’t have to go all out like this! Let’s discuss, draft a scheme, and just go through the motions! We don’t all have to jump, just accept me, alright?"

The fixed NPCs seemed brainwashed, ignoring her earnest advice, continuing to cheer and deciding the order of who would jump off the building.

Mu Qiu was about to plead earnestly again when she caught sight of a tall, lanky figure approaching from the corner of her eye.

She turned her head, surprisingly seeing Li Yang.

Li Yang was holding onto a ding-dang cat helium balloon, standing outside a group of excited young men, peeking in. Seeing her, he hesitated for a moment and then walked towards her.

As he approached a step, Mu Qiu backed away a step.

"Isn’t this my personal movie channel? You’ve crossed over to the wrong one."

This wasn’t the Li Yang from the pilot episode, he even happily jiggled the helium balloon’s string, stepping closer to her.

"There are just too many stories happening on the rooftop, space is limited, crossing over to the wrong channel was inevitable."

Mu Qiu opened her mouth but couldn’t find any words to counter.

He stepped closer again.

"Stop," Mu Qiu gestured for him to pause, "Don’t come any closer, keep your distance."

Li Yang looked innocent, "Why? We can form an alliance."

Before joining the reality show, he brushed up on many programs and found the alliance aspect quite interesting. He hadn’t used it in the first episode, but now he finally got to, and he was quite excited.

Mu Qiu looked at him warily, "No need. Before knowing the other’s strength, I think forming an alliance isn’t the first choice."

Li Yang tugged at the balloon string again, "Really not forming an alliance? How about you think it over, I think my abilities aren’t too bad."

"Really?" Mu Qiu glanced at his outfit, "Your clothes aren’t even as impressive as mine, where’s your confidence from?"

Li Yang tugged at his suit, feeling dejected, "If I knew my previous interviews would impact this, I definitely wouldn’t have answered in the artsy film direction."

"What’s your movie?"

"The Pursuit of Happyness."

"...... Then you should have gotten a tan."

Li Yang looked at her with gloomy, aggrieved eyes.

Mu Qiu rolled her eyes slightly, then comforted him, "It’s okay, in this movie, you can survive quite long."

"Thanks, want to ally?"

"No."

"Then don’t blame me for being ruthless and cruel."

Li Yang tied the balloon onto his wrist with a swift motion, taking a long stride that almost brought him right in front of her.

Mu Qiu didn’t expect him to suddenly make a move, and she turned to run.

[Oh my gosh, my Yangyang is actually the first to make a move! Impressive!]

[Pulled an athletic genre, awesome]

[Is it time to start moving already?! So exciting!]

[Yangyang has learned to lie!]

[Yangyang! Not yet started!]

[My goodness, the whole bullet screen is calling him Yangyang, has the stage prince Li Yang vanished already?]

[Hasn’t even started yet, right?]

[Am I really about to see business suit parkour?]

Running halfway around the inner court, Mu Qiu remembered, turning back while backing away, shouting to Li Yang, "Wait, the bell has to ring to start the contest! It hasn’t started yet!"

Li Yang: "It’s okay, I can wait around like this until the bell rings, waiting for the rabbit."

"!"

Can "waiting for the rabbit" be used like this?

And just like that, after another couple of circuits, it was clear Li Yang truly intended to wait for the rabbit until the bell rang, as he wasn’t really running but just playing along, chasing her.

She was so angry that the group of fixed NPCs (spirited young guys) then began mocking her, the "altruistic faction" little girl, inviting others to prep for the jump into the courtyard.

"Third jump! Start! Whoever is last doesn’t deserve to enter the fearless faction!"

And with that, they just started jumping straight down!

One after another, like dumplings, and inside only cries of joy rang out, no sounds of fear at all.

Standing three meters away from Li Yang, Mu Qiu peeked inside the courtyard again.

She felt, given their reactions, the courtyard couldn’t be that high. It made sense, since this rooftop was just a pseudo height of two to three meters, how high could the courtyard be? Maybe that sight before was a prop arranged by the crew to make it look taller.

After figuring this out, Mu Qiu analyzed her current circumstances while running.

If she stayed on the rooftop, she would certainly be "waiting for the rabbit" for Li Yang when the bell rang, and then she would surely be forcibly "eliminated." She didn’t think a tank top and work pants would give her more combat prowess than Li Yang.

So, jump it is.

"Hold up, Li Yang, let’s talk this out."

She halted, keeping her eyes on Li Yang’s every move, slowly positioned herself at the edge of the courtyard. Sitting down lowered her center of gravity, making the impact smaller when she’d jump down onto the cushioning net or mat below.

Li Yang stopped, barely out of breath, untied the obstructive helium balloon and handed it to the photographer behind him.

Mu Qiu glanced at the balloon, suddenly remembering, did the protagonist in The Pursuit of Happyness actually have a rooftop scene?