Most of the people present were greeting each other, so he couldn't be an exception. He walked over to Ju Jingyi, looked at her with a mournful expression, and his tone was full of dissatisfaction.
"Didn't you say you weren't sure if you were coming? You didn't even tell me when you came; I could've helped you buy a ticket!"
"This... listen to me explain. I really received a last-minute notification. Originally, the contract my company showed me was for three phases, but perhaps my performance during the first recording was a bit good. They swapped it out for a new contract, directly changing me from a guest to a permanent resident. This is my first time being a permanent resident on a show, and I was so excited that I forgot to tell you. You wouldn't mind, would you?"
Looking at Ju Jingyi's slightly guilty yet eagerly hopeful expression for forgiveness, the small bit of emotion in his heart instantly vanished without a trace. He couldn't help but reach out and gently poke her forehead: "No, how could I mind? Knowing you're here to participate in the recording, I'm too happy for words. Now you're a permanent resident just like me; that's great, really great."
She feigned a cry of pain and rubbed her forehead: "Hiss~ that hurts!"
"Really? I don't think I used much force. Quickly, put your hand down and let me see if there's a mark."
"I was just teasing you; I'm not that delicate."
Apart from Yi Yang Qianxi, the other accelerating teammates were completely engrossed in the joy of exchanging pleasantries. No one paid attention to the sweet interaction between these two, and neither did the cameras, because the official recording hadn't started yet. It would only begin after most people had finished chatting.
Soon after, Xu Ke walked over, holding a megaphone in one hand and a script in the other. He raised the megaphone and shouted, "Alright, everyone, look this way. Next, I will introduce the rules of the opening game. Unlike the solo combat of the last episode, this time requires teamwork."
"The name of this game is — Mental Calculation Countdown. Among the 17 accelerating players present, 5 lucky individuals will be chosen by drawing lots to participate in the game in front of the Hunter box. There are two buttons on the facility in front: the left one starts the timer, and the right one stops it. There is a counter on top of the Hunter box that will display the specific time."
"When the start button is pressed, the counter will begin to run and will disappear after three seconds. What needs to be tested next is everyone's ability to count seconds. For example, if 8 seconds is chosen, the final time displayed on the counter must be between 08:00-08:99 to be considered successful. Less than or more than that will result in failure, and the Hunter will be released."
"The total time you need to count is 60 seconds. If successful, you will have 60 seconds of hiding time. Alright, without further ado, please proceed to the drawing area next to the facility."
Because Xu Ke spoke too quickly, some people didn't quite understand the game rules and stood there in a daze. Jia Nailiang was among them; he walked over to Yi Xing and quietly asked, as he didn't want others to know he hadn't understood the rules.
"Yi Xing, did you understand all the rules Director Xu explained?"
"Of course I understood, Xiao Liang Ge, you didn't understand, did you?"
"Shh! Keep it down! Don't let others hear."
"Uh... you... it's fine. Let's go draw lots first, and I'll explain it again after we're done." Yi Xing looked at the sneaky man in front of him, at a loss for words. He, for one, thought Xu Ke's explanation was very easy to understand; he just didn't know if anyone else was on the same level as Jia Nailiang.
"Alright, alright, I feel much more at ease with you here."
Each accelerating player was divided into several groups and took turns going to the drawing area. Among the 17 slips, only five were marked with numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, representing the order for the countdown. Yi Xing unluckily drew the slip with the number 5. The four people before him had all participated in the first recording, and when they saw it was him last, they all breathed a sigh of relief, seemingly full of trust in his abilities.
Yi Xing looked at the slip in his hand, unable to come to terms with it for a long time, thinking: he should probably stop participating in games involving luck from now on; he had no connection with those two words.
It had always been like this since he was a child; when given a two-choice question, he would always pick the wrong one. For a while, he even suspected that he had used up all his luck during reincarnation, which led to his current predicament.
He clapped his hands to call the first four lucky individuals over to discuss the upcoming strategy. He asked each person how many seconds they were confident they could count. Chen Ou, the first to go, unhesitatingly chose 10 seconds. With one person setting an example, the other three also chose 10 seconds, not to be outdone, leaving a full 20 seconds for the last player to go.
"You guys really put the hardest part on me!"
"Hey, Xiao Xing Ge, how does that saying go?" Wang Junkai draped his arm over Wang Yuan's shoulder, urging him to quickly finish his sentence.
"With great power comes great responsibility! We all believe you can definitely do it!"
Well, these two were like a crosstalk duo, one line after another, giving Yi Xing no chance to interject. He looked at his two younger brothers, somewhat exasperated, and patted their shoulders, saying,
"Alright, alright, stop talking. A mere twenty seconds, a piece of cake!"
"Okay, I'm going!"
After Chen Ou finished speaking, he adjusted his mental state and strode towards the facility ahead. He was less than 4 meters away from the Hunter box. Behind him were waves of cheers from everyone. When the surroundings quieted down, he slammed the button. The numbers on the counter moved, and after three seconds, the Hunter's Eye appeared.
He used his fingers to calculate the specific time, relying on his intuition to add a finger for every second that passed. When he felt it was almost 10 seconds, he forcefully pressed the stop timer button, assumed a starting posture, and turned his head to stare at the counter, not daring to breathe.
The red numbers appeared on the screen: 10:03. He had succeeded, luckily, and the scene immediately erupted in a burst of enthusiastic cheers.
"Not bad, Chen Ou Ge, worthy of being my own endorser! You've got skill." Wang Junkai walked forward and bumped shoulders with Chen Ou, as he was the second to go.
"My mission is complete; the rest is up to you guys."
Wang Junkai, Wang Yuan, and Shen Mengchen's countdowns went smoothly, successfully completing their counts with scores of 10:25, 10:48, and 10:52 respectively. This string of successes greatly boosted the team's morale, while an invisible pressure settled on the shoulders of the last countdown player.
On his way to prepare for the countdown, Yi Xing first reminded his teammates behind him: "I'm not very confident about 20 seconds; remember to be ready to run at any time."
"It's okay, we believe in you!"
"Right, you were the previous MVP!"
"Yi Xing, come on, I'm here... we're here waiting for you to come back!" Ju Jingyi walked forward and made a 'fighting' gesture.
Hearing his teammates' encouragement, Yi Xing was instantly filled with confidence. Carrying their expectations, he slowly walked towards the Hunter box. Standing in front of the machine, he took a deep breath, letting his heartbeat stabilize. This time was much closer than last time. A moment later, he reached out and decisively pressed the start timer button.