The Trending List Exploded

You Duidui and Lin Xiang, who had been heading to Huangmei Tavern, had both been caught by hunters. The mission over there had yet to be completed, and time was running out.

There were currently seven runners remaining and four hunters making captures. If Huangmei Tavern's mission was not completed within the remaining forty-four minutes, the number of hunters would increase to five.

"Given the situation, we can only head over there," Gu Wuping reminded them.

"Mm. If there are hunters later, I'll do my best to hold them off. Completing the mission is more important for you guys." Xiao Ming was injured now. While it did not affect his running, it was better to leave more opportunities for others.

Qu An did not object this time. He knew Xiao Ming would definitely be happy if he won, but Xiao Ming's safety was still more important.

And as a friend, he could not say too much. Concern and reminders were fine, but a stronger attitude would be crossing the line.

Guan Jun charged ahead at the front, with Gu Wuping following behind. Qu An and Xiao Ming were two steps slower.

[Where are they going now? The feed just switched through so many cameras. It feels like we saw every runner.]

[We still haven't seen Crycry. Crycry hasn't already been caught, right?]

[Based on the first episode, Crycry, Xiao Ming, and Yi Xiaoda were the best at missions, but judging from those earlier shots, all three of them might be in trouble.]

[I think You Duidui is pretty good at missions too. Too bad she isn't a regular.]

[Xing Tong is decent too, but her luck is terrible. Every time, she only arrives nearby after the mission has already been completed.]

[Lin Shange and Guan Jun aren't that good.]

[The second episode hasn't even aired yet. What are you people talking about?]

[Tsk, the fans are here to whitewash things.]

[Zhong Ka is kind of like that too. It feels like she's been hiding the whole time.]

[You still can't really tell how Lin Xiang is doing.]

[And Meng Na is so goofy. Looking at it this way, there aren't many who can really hold their own.]

[It makes no sense to me that You Duidui and Yi Xiaoda, who are actually good at this, aren't on every episode.]

[Who knows, maybe they'll switch people out? Replacing Lin Shange with You Duidui sounds pretty good to me.]

[Why not hope that You Duidui and Yi Xiaoda will both be around from now on? They know how to play and can draw attention. The show probably wants that too. And with this kind of cumulative format, guest appearances can't really just fly in and out whenever.]

[But You Duidui has another show filming recently too. Sigh, she's just too amazing.]

[Why is the camera shaking again? I feel like I can't see anyone.]

[Is that Guan Jun?]

[I think I saw two yellow figures again. They've run into each other.]

Guan Jun's charging ahead turned into taking the hit first. The hunter at the front spotted Guan Jun first.

Before Xiao Ming could draw the hunter away, Qu An grabbed his uninjured right hand and pulled him aside to hide.

If the fans saw that, they would definitely say they had been fed enough ship fuel.

Guan Jun was caught. Six runners remained, with four hunters.

Xiao Ming felt somewhat frustrated when he saw the notification. Qu An patted his right hand. "If there's a revival later, we'll revive Guan Jun."

"If there is, then let's go for it."

Gu Wuping had already run off somewhere. Xiao Ming and Qu An continued toward Huangmei Tavern.

By the time they arrived, Pang Ba had also reached the place. She was already waiting beside the device, puzzling over the answer.

"You're here! Did you get that clue?"

The buttons were similar to the ones at the Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe—there were four of them, labeled "Magpie Bridge," "Weaving Brocade," "Sell Yourself," and "Start Work."

"It's Magpie Bridge." Qu An answered. When he saw Pang Ba press the button and the display showed "Verification Successful," he relaxed and took Xiao Ming away to hide.

"Sister Pang Ba, hide first. We should be heading to the Interstellar Universe next." It was hard to say whose standing was higher between Qu An and Pang Ba, but Pang Ba was considerably older than Qu An.

As for Xiao Ming, no one knew his age for the time being, so no one had said anything about him calling Qu An Brother Qu.

Mission Two was successful. Qu An, Xiao Ming, and Pang Ba made the list, but unfortunately, He Songyi was caught.

Only five runners remained now, with forty-three minutes left.

Half the time remained, but fewer than half the runners were left.

After learning of the situation, the marshal of the Interstellar Empire swiftly issued the third mission to assist the runners, setting up an obstacle course in the busy district.

Mission Three Notification

A revival card obstacle course has been deployed at Opera Plaza. Pass through the obstacle course without being caught by hunters to obtain revival cards. The difficulty of the obstacles determines the number of revival cards earned.

The so-called Opera Plaza was actually the vast, open area where they had started.

After receiving the mission, the five remaining runners all rushed toward the plaza.

The Pause Room was also set up beside this plaza, so the runners in the Pause Room could immediately see what was happening with the surviving runners.

"They're getting ready to take on a revival mission now."

"It looks like a race against the hunters."

"It seems to be an obstacle race. It feels even harder than simply racing down a straight track."

Only when Xiao Ming and the others arrived did they learn what the obstacle course looked like. There were three different modes in total.

The first type involved fixed obstacles, such as hurdles and other barriers.

The second type involved moving obstacles—mechanical traps that moved.

The third type was like a combination of the first two. It involved inactive hunters that remained still. Once touched by a runner, an inactive hunter would activate and begin capturing people.

The course was thirty meters long. The first ten meters were a straightaway, while the following twenty meters contained obstacles. The difficulty lay in clearing the obstacles without getting caught by the hunter behind them. The hunter would be released after the runner reached the first obstacle.

This setup was somewhat similar to one from an episode last season, but the difficulty was higher.

Clearing easy mode would earn one revival card, and the other modes increased accordingly. Each mode could only be activated once, so the runners had to think it through with extreme care.

Since there were three men and two women present, they could not very well send the women out. The remaining three decided that each person would challenge one mode, starting with the easiest.

To ensure that they could obtain at least one revival card, Qu An, who still had stamina and was fast, would take easy mode. Gu Wuping would challenge medium mode.

As for Xiao Ming, the last one would just be a try for fun.

After Qu An got ready, he entered the course and began immediately. The bell signaled the start, while the smoke indicated the hunter's release.

Qu An found a loophole in the rules. The hunter would only be released once he reached the first obstacle, so he could simply walk through the first stretch.

Everyone was stunned when they saw Qu An walking. Zhong Ka was even reminding him to watch the time.

Xiao Ming also found it a little amusing when he saw the mission requirements, though it felt like they might have been going easy on them.

"There's a bug here. The hunter is only released after we reach the first obstacle, so there's no need to hurry over those ten meters. I'm guessing the original intention of the rule was for us to start once we were ten meters away." He patched the show's loophole for them, though he did not know whether that part would be edited out later.

Would it be?

Of course it would. The production team was not stupid—they could not let such a massive loophole air. Naturally, they discussed it with the guests first.

"See? Xiao Ming is really too suited for this show." The chief director could not help sighing. "Oh, right. Whoever set that rule, fine them first."

Producer Li chuckled. Xiao Ming had originally been someone the partner requested they invite, and Producer Li had initially been somewhat dismissive. Now, he only felt fortunate. "Got it, got it."

But sometimes, people really could not celebrate too early. There the chief director was, overjoyed, when several photos suddenly appeared online—photos of Xiao Ming's injury.

Although the production team had not planned to hide the matter, they had not intended to release it so quickly either. The show was still filming.

However, fans outside the filming site, especially those carrying professional cameras, could often capture more in such open-air settings.

And the dramatic part was that the photos of Xiao Ming were not released by Xiao Ming's fans. Although he had become popular and had a fan support club now, many of his fans had not really begun doing much yet.

His fan base was not stable enough either, because he did not have many works.

The person who released Xiao Ming's photos was a fansite manager for Guan Jun. That fansite manager had originally just posted photos of Xiao Ming's injury on her private account, complaining that the production team's safety measures were not very good.

Then some fans who had only recently started liking Xiao Ming reposted the photos in Xiao Ming's supertopic, and they immediately spread everywhere.

"Full Speed Ahead! Injury" had slowly begun climbing the trending list. At first, only Guan Jun's fans were saying the show's safety measures were poor, wondering whether their own idol might get injured. Their brother had not been in good condition both times he appeared on Full Speed Ahead!

Later, Xiao Ming's own fans began flooding the comments. Passersby who saw the trending topic also felt a little sorry for him.

[What is going on?]

[Full Speed Ahead!, what the hell are you doing!!!]

[I already thought the safety measures were worse than in the first season. I seriously can't take this.]

[Even from that far away, you can see that his palm is a bloody mess.]

[Ahhh, how did my wife get injured when I only stopped paying attention for a few minutes?!]

[What the hell are you doing, garbage show?!]

[Am I the only one who noticed that he still seems completely expressionless? Is he numb from the pain already?]

[My heart hurts for him. His entire palm is bleeding.]

At first, only fans were heartbroken for him. Then, someone else released photos of Xiao Ming bandaging his own wound and continuing with the mission.

Both fans and passersby exploded. Fans of the other guests also felt that their idols' safety was not guaranteed.

[What?! He treated the wound himself?]

[Is this show sick? A guest got injured, and they still made him handle it himself?]

[You can't treat our Xiao Ming like this just because he isn't famous, okay? Do lesser-known young actors not deserve protection?]

[Garbage show, if anything happens to him, you're finished.]

[Xiao Ming's hands are so beautiful. If they scar, or if it's even worse than that... I don't even dare think about it.]

[Peh peh peh, don't jinx it.]

[Why is my wife so pitiful? Do unknown celebrities not have rights? I'm so mad, ahhhhh!]

[If the production team cannot give us a reasonable explanation for this, prepare for complaints.]

[I suddenly thought of my former fave. He was also never very popular, then something happened while he was on a show. The production team just said it was a personal accident and the show bore no responsibility. But he injured his throat—he was a singer. His throat was his life.]

[And there were production teams before whose poor safety measures led to a guest's death. I really...]

A snowball only grew larger as it rolled. Once more and more people joined the discussion, the situation would only become more serious.

The number of fans in Xiao Ming's supertopic and on his personal Weibo both rose rapidly. Many fans were discussing the matter in both the supertopic and under the trending topic.

The president of the fan support club also saw the situation and swiftly came up with a response. She had followed celebrities before. One of her former favorites had always been obscure, then became depressed after an accident. When she watched that drama, Xiao Ming, she felt a sense of familiarity, but she had continued to wait and see.

Until Mermaid and the first episode of Full Speed Ahead! aired, she had not found that familiar feeling again, but she had been won over by Xiao Ming's charm.

The fan group began constantly reassuring fans, while plenty of emotional appeals to harden the fan base also appeared. "Xiao Ming is an unknown celebrity right now and doesn't have much of a fan base, which is why the production team dares to bully him like this. Only when we become a source of support he can rely on, and let the production team and even more people see us, will Xiao Ming have a chance."

"Xiao Ming does not have an agent or agency himself, so there is no one who can help him except us."

"Everything he has was earned through his own efforts. He auditioned for Only Me in the Martial World himself. And for the Mermaid soda commercial, the advertiser and insiders also said he just happened to be there. He only got the opportunity because he was beautiful enough and could act."

"Now that he is on Full Speed Ahead!, with no connections, he can only grit his teeth and keep going. We hope everyone's affection for him is not limited to loving his good qualities, but that you will also wish for him to become better."

Because of this incident, many fans were emotionally stirred into becoming die-hard supporters. Of course, Xiao Ming himself neither understood nor knew any of this.

He simply shut out everything beyond the window, focusing only on completing the mission.

Meanwhile, in the show's control room, the chief director and Producer Li behind the monitors had stopped watching them. They were intensely discussing the sudden situation.

Producer Li frowned miserably. "How about we have Xiao Ming stop filming for now? Things are getting more and more serious. Even the official account is being flooded."

The chief director remained adamant. "No! There's still more than half an hour of filming left. How can we call it off now?! And haven't you seen Xiao Ming's ability? So many missions in the previous episode nearly failed, and Qu An had to carry them all. If that aired, the viewers would have torn us apart."

Producer Li thought for a while, looked at the director, and cautiously asked.