The Novelist Forced to Become Famous - Chapter 359

Chapter 359

The cruise ship had a total of 10 floors, with the livestreaming location being on floors 7 to 10.

The 7th floor was the guest room area, the 8th and 9th floors had various settings like conference halls, ballrooms, and gyms, while the 10th floor had a swimming pool, a helipad, and a super large terrace.

The guest rooms were both where the guests would stay during the livestream as well as pre-arranged settings.

During the livestream, the camera crew would not follow the guests into their own rooms, as those were completely private areas. However, if a guest entered another guest’s room, the viewers could see the other room from that guest’s perspective.

As such, viewers did not have an omniscient viewpoint, and could only choose to follow a particular guest, having a limited perspective.

If they chose the wrong person to follow, they might end up watching nothing for a long time.

The camera followed Jian Jing to Room 4, and once she entered, the shooting ended.

Jian Jing closed the door and first observed the overall environment.

Compared to the formal guest rooms downstairs, the setting guest rooms were equally luxurious, but had some intriguing details: a Buddha statue, lush greenery, an old radio, a brass lamp, and some woven objects.

There was no television or WiFi, only a landline telephone.

It had a strong retro vibe.

Jian Jing walked to the window and saw a paper bag on the desk.

Opening the bag, she found the background setting and character information.

The story took place in November 1982, and the well-known Asian tycoon Dan was about to celebrate his 70th birthday.

He had been married once before, with his late wife leaving him two sons and a daughter. Sadly, his wife passed away from an illness ten years ago, and not long after, the tycoon took a young and beautiful second wife.

Additionally, he had a deceased sister who left behind an adorable nephew, and her husband with whom Dan was close and often visited. His former wife’s brother and family also maintained contact with him, frequently visiting his home.

Dan also had several long-time friends, whom he invited to attend his birthday celebration.

Jian Jing’s character was the fiancée of Dan’s younger son, a former dancer and a socialite who moved among the wealthy elite. She had worked her way up to become the younger son’s fiancée through much scheming. However, Dan did not approve of this marriage, threatening that if his son married her, he would receive none of his inheritance.

But the younger son remained headstrong and brought his fiancée to his father’s birthday party nonetheless.

Jian Jing: *confused black person emoji*

What luck, to draw such a character.

She opened the closet with a blank expression to find it filled with revealing and provocative outfits, the kind of trashy attire that would get a side character killed off in the first three episodes of a thriller.

But since she had already drawn this role, she couldn’t back out.

Jian Jing pinched her nose and tried on the clothes, finding that most fit her well, except for the evening gown. But it didn’t matter, as filming would start tomorrow, so she could have the props team alter it tonight.

The next step was to familiarize herself with the room.

She rummaged around, finding some files.

After reading through them for a while, she had a good grasp of the situation and hid them again.

In the meantime, a staff member knocked on the door and handed her a list detailing the new identities of all the guests.

She thanked them and took out a pen and paper to review the story setting.

Dan – NPC.

If she guessed correctly, this was probably the character played by Daniel, and there was an 80-90% chance he would be the victim.

She went through the others, matching them to their roles.

Wife: Kumiko Terauchi [Japanese] (Persona: High society wife)

Sister-in-law: Ran-er Kim [Korean] (Persona: Student)

Eldest son: Connor Lee [Singaporean] (Persona: One of the financial group leaders)

Eldest son’s wife: Valeriya [Russian] (Persona: High society wife)

Second daughter: Zhang Xue’er [Chinese] (Persona: High society heiress, painter)

Second daughter’s husband: Liu Sau-chi [Korean] (Persona: Art gallery owner)

Younger son: Min-cheol Park [Korean] (Persona: Spoiled rich kid)

Younger son’s fiancée: Jian Jing [Chinese] (Persona: Dancer, socialite)

Sister’s husband: Wu Lie [Chinese] (Persona: Lawyer)

Nephew: Jiang BaiYan [Chinese] (Persona: Financial group executive)

Former wife’s brother: Andrei [Russian] (Persona: Unemployed)

Former wife’s brother’s son: Wataru Kojima [Japanese] (Persona: College student)

Dan’s friend: Hiroto Ishikawa [Japanese] (Persona: Retired military)

Dan’s friend and singer: Linnaer [Thai] (Persona: Famous singer)

Dan’s friend’s son and personal doctor: Raj Sharma [Indian] (Persona: Doctor)

Those were all the people attending Dan’s birthday party.

Unless there was a surprise, they were all potential suspects, likely with inheritance as the motive for murder.

Just look at who they were – the former wife was gone, but her brother and family were still hanging around; the sister was gone, but her husband and family were still leeching off Dan; the three children and their spouses; the new wife and sister-in-law… even more dramatic than the Jiang family feud.

Not bad for a reality show, the conflicts were set up quite nicely.

Jian Jing mocked as another knock came at the door.

This time, a staff member brought in a large box: “Please draw a capsule toy.”

Capsule toys? Interesting, they were really embracing the cultural experience.

Jian Jing felt around the box, confirming the capsules were roughly the same size and weight, before randomly selecting one.

“Enjoy the game,” the staff member said as they closed the door.

She tossed the capsule toy, twisted it open, and out fell a chocolate.

She peeled it open and tasted it – overly sweet.

The chocolate had way too much sugar, definitely made by Americans.

She twisted open a bottle of mineral water and drank while opening the peephole on her door.

Outside, staff members were knocking on each door, having every guest draw a capsule toy. All the capsules looked identical, indistinguishable to the naked eye.

She gulped down two mouthfuls of water, thinking that the selection of the murderer was beginning.

Based on the previous European season, the producers claimed they didn’t know who drew the murderer role, making it an open-ended game. But was this really okay to do?

As everyone knew, reality shows always had scripts.

She would need to be careful and not overestimate the producers’ sense of propriety.

Before the official livestream, a preview played.

The host introduced their process: “To make the show more exciting, dear viewers, we’ve designed the best confidentiality procedures.”

“First, please watch as each person draws their role number, filmed in one continuous take, with the drawings completely random and no one knowing which number they would get,” the host said as the screen showed the guests drawing numbers.

“This number not only represents their identity but also determines the order for the second drawing,” the host continued. “The identity of the murderer is hidden among the fifteen capsule toys – oh, I’m sure you’re very curious about how we decided on the murderer. This was randomly selected by our consultant, Scott, the winner of the King of Reasoning award.”

A recording began to play.

November 1st, Scott’s home.

“Hi, I’m Scott, welcome to my home.” Scott held up a specially made key. “Do you see this key? This safe can only be opened with this one key. If forced open, the safe will lock permanently and become impossible to open.”

He shook the unique key: “Next, I will randomly select one of the balls. The person who draws that ball will become the murderer.”

The camera filmed from 360 degrees to ensure the lock and safe were intact.

Then, Scott carried the small box into a room.

Fifteen minutes later, he emerged, letting the staff move out the re-locked box, and in front of the camera, placed the only key into a specially made container.

That container was then also locked.

“This box will be sent to the headquarters of ‘King of Reasoning’, where the director, screenwriter, and producer will each lock it before it’s sent back. I’ll open my own lock,” Scott pushed up his glasses with a smile. “This ensures that no one will know the real answer until the truth is revealed.”

The camera panned, beginning to show the subsequent encryption process.

The locked safe was sent to headquarters for storage, while the box was sent to the office, where the director, screenwriter, and producer each locked their own lock. They kept their respective keys, with the entire process supervised by notary officials.

Finally, security seals were applied, and each person signed their name.

Afterwards, the box was returned to Scott’s house, where he unlocked his own lock, leaving the remaining three locks in place.

The camera cut to the next day.

From every angle, the wooden box was verified to be intact, with the security seals on the front exactly the same as before.

The three people unlocked their own locks, and the director took out the only key to open the safe, retrieving the box with the security seal still intact.

The camera followed the crew members all the way to the door of the guest who drew number 1.

Valeriya, who drew number 1, untied the security seal as instructed and drew a capsule toy.

Next came numbers 2, 3, 4… and soon, number 15 had also drawn their capsule.

The screen flickered with a “zzzzt” sound, and a countdown appeared.

The story was about to begin.

The next day’s afternoon was free time.

Guests could freely explore the sets on floors 7-10, familiarize themselves with their scripts, and rehearse with their co-stars as needed.

Jiang BaiYan was lucky, having no trouble communicating with Wu Lie, and the father and son pair quickly finished their few scenes together.

Jian Jing, on the other hand, was in agony. Her fiancé was Korean, and while they could barely communicate in English, he was a man nearly forty years old.

Apparently, there was quite a gap between being in one’s thirties and late thirties.

Min-cheol Park, thirty-seven, was a handsome and accomplished man with a successful career. Apart from working a bit too much overtime and being a bit too strict with deadlines, he was almost flawless.

Yet, no matter how well he dressed in a suit, there was always an inescapable sense of generation gap.

She wanted to call him “Agassi” (young man), not “Oppa” (older brother/boyfriend).

“Miss Jian, nice to meet you,” was the first thing he said to Jian Jing. “I never expected to have such a beautiful fiancée.”

Jian Jing: “…”

Min-cheol Park shamelessly examined her, though thankfully not with too much aggression. However, his skeptical and suspicious gaze was also unpleasant. “Perhaps the game has already begun.”

“So?” Jian Jing replied reluctantly.

“Who could be the killer?” he asked.

Jian Jing dryly replied, “It’s meaningless to discuss the killer before a case has even occurred.”

“No, no, I think this is when the killer is most likely to reveal themselves.” Min-cheol Park showed a reporter’s keen observational skills as he scanned the crowd. “Those who disappear are far more suspicious than those willing to socialize.”

“Because they’re plotting?” Jian Jing thought about it and became interested in the conversation. “Do you think the person who drew the killer role has a script?”

Min-cheol Park smiled wryly. “Are you trying to probe me? If I had to guess, even if there is a script, only the killer would have it. What do you think?”

Jian Jing was noncommittal. “Perhaps.”

“Why are you curious about this?” Min-cheol Park asked her in return.

“Just asking.”

Mr. Park smiled, clearly not believing her, but he didn’t probe further. After chatting briefly, he left.

Jian Jing walked into the dining hall and poured herself a glass of champagne.

There, her group of friends were also bonding, though their settings as longtime acquaintances clashed with the Japanese English and Thai English, leaving both looking a bit contorted.

“Hey, can I get through?” The Russian girl Valeriya asked.

Jian Jing stepped aside.

Valeriya grabbed a bottle of vodka, swiftly opened it, and took a swig straight from the bottle.

Jian Jing: “Tsk.”

“Want some?” Valeriya offered amiably.

Jian Jing shook her head, unable to resist asking, “Can dancers drink alcohol?”

“No problem, I don’t have any performances coming up.” Valeriya answered breezily. Then she spotted the other Russian, Andrei, and waved. “Want some?”

Andrei shook his head and asked, “Have you guys seen Wataru?”

The two girls shook their heads in unison.

The tall and burly man said irritably, “I can’t find him anywhere.”

“Were you looking for Mr. Wataru?” Kumiko Terauchi, playing the wife, joined the conversation with an apologetic smile. “He seems to be feeling unwell and has been resting in his room.”

“Unwell?” Valeriya brushed back her bangs, half probing and half joking. “He didn’t draw the killer role, did he?”

Jian Jing recalled her impression of Wataru Kojima and quipped, “It’s also possible he’s just being a recluse.”