“Brother Jue, this part will be cut when it's officially broadcast, right?” Xiao Tan asked.

“Cut it and broadcast what? It's not like they'll let me rewrite it,” Feng Bu Jue replied.

“There's nothing particularly commendatory or derogatory about this passage,” Bao, the Civil Servant, said. “There's really no need to censor it.”

“During the post-match interview, they also asked me why I wrote this part,” Feng Bu Jue continued. “I just asked them back, why can't I write it?”

“Oh? There's a post-match interview?” Xiao Tan asked.

“Yeah, after the match, each writer has to record a separate interview. During the interview, the staff will directly play some scenes from the program and then ask questions from the side,” Feng Bu Jue replied. “This interview will eventually be edited into many clips, interspersed throughout the broadcast, just like the voice-overs that often pop up in those reality shows.”

“Oh? So those comments that pop up in the middle of reality shows are all recorded like this?” Xiao Tan asked.

“That's common sense, right?” Bao Da Ren said from the side.

Feng Bu Jue also added, “What did you think those scenes were…”

“Uh…” Xiao Tan was speechless.

“But, this preliminary cut doesn't have those scenes,” Feng Bu Jue said. “Only the official broadcast version will.”

As the three were talking, Oscar in the video had already diverted everyone's attention with a rambling tangent, and then he said, “So, the tense moment has arrived, it's voting time!”

The camera turned to give a panoramic view of the contestants' seats.

Oscar continued, “The seven hundred audience members present, at this moment, you can vote on the small screens in front of you. Each audience member has one first-choice vote and one second-choice vote. Please cast your first-choice vote for the contestant you think performed the best in this round, and your second-choice vote for the contestant you think was second only to that contestant.” He explained, “The index for the first-choice vote is 1, and the index for the second-choice vote is 0.5. When the indexes are the same, the number of first-choice votes determines the outcome. Also, the voting time is two minutes, and you cannot cast both votes for the same person. Now… voting begins!”

Immediately afterwards, tense and intense background music sounded in the venue, and the camera gave each of the seven writers a close-up in order.

Oscar wasn't idle either, he had to find something to say. “The first round is usually the most unpredictable. Except for Bu Jue, who is on this stage for the first time, the other six writers have all taken first place in this round before.” He paused. “So far, only Ba Shan Ping has won the first round as a newcomer, but… that was our first episode, and all seven contestants in that episode were newcomers.

“Since then, no new contestant has ever won the first round. I wonder if this pattern will be broken by contestant Bu Jue today…”

Two minutes passed quickly, and Oscar called out at the right time, “Time's up!” He took a breath. “Okay, as usual, we will announce the first place, second place, and last place in this round.” He looked at the big screen. “I'll announce the… second-place contestant first…”

The camera switched continuously again, and Oscar's speech was also full of ups and downs, deliberately delaying and whetting the audience's appetite. “He is…” As the music stopped abruptly, a writer's pen name jumped out on the big screen, “I Want to Go On Stage!”

The video then repeatedly showed I Want to Go On Stage's facial expressions at that moment in a distorted manner three times. But this guy was wearing sunglasses and had a mop-top hairstyle, so even if the expressions were slightly different, it was difficult to tell.

Afterwards, the director maliciously replayed the expressions of the other contestants when the second place was announced, one by one. Of course, everyone seemed relatively calm, hesitating for a second, and then putting on a relaxed smile as they started to applaud along with the audience.

Only Feng Bu Jue continued to watch the situation develop with a death-like expression, spacing out. He looked like an office worker who had just clocked in in the morning and was already looking forward to getting off work. If it weren't for the sake of his salary, he would have wanted to leave immediately.

“Congratulations, Brother Chang,” Oscar said, turning his head. “How is it? Are you satisfied with this ranking?” he asked.

“Actually, I originally thought I should only be in fourth or fifth place,” I Want to Go On Stage said with a smile.

“Then who do you think should be in the top three?” Oscar asked another potentially offensive question.

I Want to Go On Stage answered bluntly, “Well… I think it should be Brother Ping, Xuan Tian, and… Bu Jue. I think their passages were all better than mine.”

“Oh?” Oscar's reaction was indeed quick. He immediately turned to Vegetables and Fruits and asked, “Cai Gua, what do you think?”

“In my mind… um, the top three should be Brother Ping, Xuan Tian, and Brother Chang,” Vegetables and Fruits replied. “I might be at the bottom.”

“What about Uncle Soda then?” Mo Bu Xiang said to Vegetables and Fruits at this time.

Her tone and expression were obviously joking, and Oscar laughed, “Soda, it seems Mo Mo's implication is that you're definitely going to be at the bottom this round.”

Soda also said with a smile, “Are you going to announce the last place next?”

Oscar said, “Um… that's right.” He pointed to the big screen. “Let's see, the last place in the first round… is…”

As expected, Soda was at the bottom without any controversy. Although Feng Bu Jue's passage wasn't easy to evaluate, at least he finished it, and he wrote quite a bit. But Soda's nonsensical sentences could only be considered half-finished products.

Without the director reminding him, the cameraman did what he had done before again…

“Okay, I think… Soda should have expected this result already,” Oscar said.

Soda just nodded and smiled.

“So… the tense moment has arrived.” Oscar immediately turned to the big screen again. “Who is the winner of the first round today? Is it Ba Shan Ping and Xuan Tian Zong, who are generally favored by our writers, or Bu Jue, who is on this stage for the first time? As popular contestants, do Cai Gua and Mo Mo really have no chance?” In coordination with his lines, the camera also went to these contestants in order. “The results… will be revealed after the commercial break…”

There was another cut here. In the next scene, Oscar directly read the name on the big screen: “The winner of the first round is… Ba Shan Ping!”

Cheers and applause erupted from the audience.

“I think everyone, like me, is deeply impressed by Brother Ping's description of the characters,” Oscar said, and the poem that Ba Shan Ping had just written was shown on the big screen again.

After that, there was an abrupt transition. Oscar's position changed, and he said loudly, “I'm sure everyone has been waiting for a long time. Let's move on to the second round showdown—Stroke of Genius!”

“See, that part just now is where they're going to cut into a large chunk of interview content. At that point, they should cut in each contestant's comments on the results of the first round,” Feng Bu Jue said to Xiao Tan and Bao Da Ren.

Xiao Tan replied, “What place were you in the first round anyway?”

“I don't know,” Feng Bu Jue said. “I didn't ask later.”

“Quiet, watch the rules,” Bao Da Ren signaled them to be quiet.

The TV screen showed the detailed rules of the second round, and then Oscar said, “The first round is over. From the current situation, Ba Shan Ping is one step ahead, I Want to Go On Stage is close behind, and Soda is temporarily in last place. After the second round showdown, what kind of dramatic changes will happen to the rankings?”

As Oscar spoke, he strode up to Feng Bu Jue. “Bu Jue, if I were to tell you now that the form of the second round showdown might be very beneficial to you, would you believe it?”

“The expression on your face right now is like you just walked out of a pyramid scheme meeting… so my initial deduction is… the content of the second round showdown is indeed very beneficial to me,” Feng Bu Jue replied with narrowed eyes.

The audience burst into laughter from the bottom of their hearts, and Oscar smiled awkwardly. “Contestant Bu Jue is indeed a writer of detective novels, and he is indeed quite humorous.” He quickly took two steps away, away from Brother Jue, and once again felt deep regret for talking to Feng Bu Jue.

“In the second round…” Oscar shifted the topic back to the right track. “Our seven writers will see…” He waved his arm. “This passage of text.”

On the big screen, a passage of text that wasn't very long appeared: [Ding Yi, an ordinary company employee, comes from an average family. A relative is seriously ill and urgently needs a large sum of medical expenses. One day, Ding Yi picks up a treasure. Ding Yi eventually saves that relative.]

Oscar looked at the passage of text and said, “Please, writers, create an outline based on this passage of text, so that it becomes a relatively complete story.” His gaze turned to the contestants' seats. “The time limit is ten minutes, now… begin!”

Although he shouted "begin," none of the seven contestants moved, each was thinking.

“If writing style is makeup, then creativity is the connotation of a novel. These two can also attract readers,” Oscar continued, reciting to the camera. “The judging criteria for this round is the degree to which the plot is attractive. The contestants will eventually tell the content of their conception in a spoken manner. In other words, this round's showdown has nothing to do with writing style, it only looks at creativity.” He paused and said, “Personally, I think… Bu Jue, as a mystery novelist, will definitely surprise us when dealing with this kind of short story.”

The scene turned to Feng Bu Jue, this guy was staring blankly, still as a stone Buddha. It was not known whether this was deep thought, or spacing out.

“Mo Bu Xiang and Soda often have very good performances in this round as well,” Oscar said again. “I wonder what the result will be today?” he said. “According to the results of the online voting, Stroke of Genius is the segment that the audience of this program is most looking forward to. In each episode, our seven writers will bring the audience seven wonderful stories, whether ingenious, terrifying, connotative, or suspenseful. Although the shining points are different, each story is extremely attractive without exception…”

He rambled on for a while, and finally it was commercial time. Since this version had no commercials, Xiao Tan and Bao Da Ren directly ushered in the long-awaited moment of announcement.

The announcement process for this round wasn't in the order of one to seven, but rather randomly drawn, so the contestants ranked sixth and seventh couldn't be sure of slowly thinking. They also had to complete their conception within ten minutes, in case they were drawn first.

“So, the first contestant to announce is…” Oscar pointed to the big screen again, the huge Arabic numerals from one to seven flashed continuously, and finally stopped at “4.”

“Mo Mo, please begin,” Oscar said directly without further ado.

The console in front of the contestant was in free input mode in this round. Not only could the contestants write text on it, but they could also draw sketches, such as character relationships, or even maps or objects. When the contestants spoke, they could look at the drafts and organize their language. Of course, they could also write a short story directly on the operation screen like writing a composition, and then read it out. Originally, there was no fixed form for an outline, anything was fine.

In Mo Bu Xiang's story, Ding Yi was a twenty-nine-year-old woman who had a musical dream since she was a child, but in the end she still entered a mediocre life. It wasn't until Ding Yi's fiancé became seriously ill that her life changed. Later, she picked up a magical flute that could move everyone who listened to it to tears. In the end, she not only saved her fiancé, but also regained her dream.

Her story was very short, and it only took three minutes to tell it. With the emotional background music on the scene, several audience members in the audience took the opportunity to burst into tears, and the cameraman naturally wouldn't miss these shots, giving them a few seconds of close-up each.

“Um, Mo Mo has once again brought us a wonderful story. It seems uneventful, but it has a heart-warming power. She has once again proved that the plot of a story doesn't necessarily need exaggerated characters or intense conflicts to be attractive. As long as there is true emotion, this story will have its soul.” Oscar recited a string of comments like a poetry recital, and then began to reveal the next contestant.

In this round, the writers basically brought the stories into their own fields of expertise. The topics given in the Stroke of Genius segment are always very open. Ding Yi's gender, age; the identity and illness of relatives; the use and origin of treasures, etc… it can be said that there are countless ways to expand, with a high degree of freedom, so it is very convenient for writers to create. If they are interested, they can prepare several good outline stories before recording, and then just put them in.

Soon, the writers finished speaking. The best performance was probably Soda. The master of horror was indeed powerful. In ten minutes, he came up with a tortuous and somewhat suspenseful plot, and the introduction of the proposition was not out of place.

Finally, it was Feng Bu Jue's turn.

For some reason… Brother Jue was also the last to appear, even under the premise of random announcement.

Generally speaking, it is more advantageous for a writer who announces the outline last in the second round. Although the contestants should have thought of the content within ten minutes, and they can no longer touch the console after others start announcing, they can completely revise and improve the plot in their minds during the extra time.

At this time, the audience was also looking forward to Feng Bu Jue's performance. There were three reasons: first, Oscar had said those irresponsible remarks about mystery novelists beforehand, second, Brother Jue was the last to appear, and third, this guy's bizarre performance in the first round was still fresh in everyone's mind…

“Um…” Feng Bu Jue crossed his arms and frowned.

Oscar came to his side and glanced at his console. He was shocked at the time, thinking: It's actually a blank screen! The other contestants at least wrote half a screen, didn't they? What's going on with you? No one has ever submitted a blank paper in this segment! The guy who instantly wrote the biography of General Jin before the age of thirty-three in the first round can't squeeze out a single word now! What does this mean!

“Uh… Contestant Bu Jue, it's your turn,” Oscar said, already mentally prepared for the other party to announce his withdrawal.

Unexpectedly, Feng Bu Jue took a deep breath, leaned into the microphone, and without looking at the screen of the console, began to speak at a fairly fast pace: “Ding Yi, thirty years old, single, an ordinary company employee, working at the grassroots level, living a zombie-like life like most office workers. Until one day, his second cousin's son's classmate's uncle was suddenly diagnosed with an incurable disease and needed to be sent to Earth for treatment in order to survive.”

“Wait… sent to Earth? Is this still a human story? Aliens who are capable of interstellar travel are losing to earthlings in terms of medical capabilities? And by the way, what does the uncle of a classmate of a second cousin's son have to do with Ding Yi? Just let him die, okay?” Oscar couldn't help but complain in his heart, and the expression on his face changed to a certain extent.

Feng Bu Jue's narration continued: “But going to Earth requires a lot of money, which neither he, his second cousin's family, nor his second cousin's son's classmate's family can afford. At this moment, Ding Yi picked up a pair of magical dance shoes. This treasure awakened his long-sealed memories. The long-lost sense of justice and mission all returned to his mind. It turned out that twenty years ago, Ding Yi's identity was… the superhero of the Cosmic Young Superman League—Breakdance Hero.”

“Break-what-plane… Break-what-hole… Dance-what-hero! Please, someone kick him off the stage!” Oscar was going crazy.

“Ding Yi first contacted their Outerwear Star's colony on Earth, India,” Feng Bu Jue continued.

“So the A-San aren't earthlings? Is that the setting?”

“His old friend—Tap-Dancing Weirdo, lives on Earth.”

“How did a young superhero with that name fight against the cosmic evil forces when he was a child?”

“Then, they successfully used their superpowers to help Ding Yi's second cousin's son's classmate's uncle with smuggling.”

“Superhero my ass! Justice my ass! They're engaging in interstellar smuggling because they don't have money! What's the point of all your settings?”

“In the end, Ding Yi's second cousin's son's classmate's uncle received proper treatment from a local old military doctor and was able to recover,” Feng Bu Jue said finally. “And Ding Yi's story has just begun… Having awakened, he joined the Cosmic Adult Superman League. The name Breakdance Hero appeared in people's sight once again, and a long-dormant evil force in the galaxy is also stirring again…”

He stopped abruptly at this point. For some reason, everyone on the scene who heard him tell this story had a strange, painful expectation in their hearts, hoping that he would continue to tell it…