Chapter 119.2 Merfolk Shore
the audition venue was packed, with nearly the entire student body in attendance.
faces filled with eager anticipation, brimming with aspirations for the future. they remained oblivious to the fact that this concert they were willing to give everything for might very well become the first grand stage for the awakened merfolk king’s slaughter performance.
those who hadn’t been selected, or even those who didn’t qualify for a seat, turned out to be the lucky ones.
all along the way, wen shi dialed the phone repeatedly, but it remained unanswered.
currently, most of the people were crowding outside the academic building. the student union was issuing number cards, and wen shi received one. his gaze kept scanning until he finally spotted the person he was searching for. he pocketed his phone and walked over.
the wandering corpse was truly eye-catching. in the midst of the crowd, he had the urge several times.
the kind of urge that would truly dig into someone’s heart.
the wandering corpse didn’t like the sun and didn’t like waiting. today, everything he didn’t like was aligning.
he kept pushing forward, catching people’s attention, and instantly receiving a barrage of mockery.
the student council didn’t issue him a number card either. the wandering corpse’s open class video from that day had been privately circulated. he was a casualty of the conflict between new and old students. it was said that the principal almost vomited after watching. a student council member, curious about just how unpleasant it could be, went to the surveillance room and checked, but they couldn’t even endure the first couple of sentences.
the member copied the video and privately shared it with classmates as a way of venting frustration. why should they, who had struggled so much to be admitted, have to contend with special admissions students who could enter without an exam? what was most infuriating was that this year’s concert didn’t restrict new students from participating.
the senior students didn’t believe that the new students had the ability to get their performances selected, but the number of audience seats was limited. the school had separately allocated some seats for new student attendees.
the wandering corpse served as a focal point for conflict, and the senior students viewed him as a trigger to incite public anger, attempting to convince the school to reduce the number of seats allocated to special admission students.
“singing as if hitting a ghost wall, and he has the nerve to sign up.”
“damn those special admissions students.”
“his skin color doesn’t even look healthy. he look like a ghost.”
wen shi: “……”
what kind of poor outcast script was the wandering corpse following?
“make way, please make way.” before the bloodshed disaster befell the students, wen shi pulled the wandering corpse out from the crowd of people hurling curses.
with his eyes scanning around, wen shi led the wandering corpse onto a small path and took out the【nightingale voice changer】, fastening it onto his uniform’s collar.
“i got this during my class representative quest,” wen shi read out the usage instructions to him, “before you perform on stage, just activate it. you’ll have a brief moment of ethereal vocal chords.”
right as they were aiding in cheating, the sound of rapid footsteps echoed from behind.
the corners of wen shi’s mouth slowly curled up, knowing that the person they were waiting for had arrived.
he heeded arlon’s advice to understand the map before battle. therefore, wen shi thoroughly familiarized himself with the route from the faculty dormitory building to melodic harmony building. among the three mentors, only lily had a weaker sense of time. occasionally, she would be a minute or two late for class. the auditions began at three o’clock, and students arrived early. lily didn’t have a tradition of arriving early, according to wen shi’s observations.
the sound of high heels was quite distinctive. when the lively lily saw wen shi, her expression became somewhat subtle.
seizing the opportunity, wen shi’s gaze filled with questions as he stepped forward. “you clearly saw it yesterday, so why didn’t you…”
lily didn’t want to get entangled in this matter. special admissions students was no different from livestock to her. she cut off wen shi’s accusations directly, “it’s not like you lost a piece of meat by being assaulted. the school has already decided for you to participate in the concert.”
with the incident already happened, mr. ruan couldn’t possibly run over to explain anything to lily. they could only mitigate the damage in a timely manner and take advantage of the situation to push him in.
mr. ruan had originally intended for wen shi to participate in the concert. it was just that he wanted to use the situation to make wen shi do something for him first. unexpectedly, the situation was turned around.
wen shi: “so do i still need to participate in the auditions later?”
“no need.” lily was in a hurry. she waved her hand dismissively and said, “mr. qi’s class is planning a large-scale musical. you’ll go play a rock when the time comes.”
“……”
lily walked past wen shi. when she saw the wandering corpse, her expression couldn’t hide her disgust. every time she saw that face, the familiar singing voice would boom in her mind. the notes seemed like they could flip over one’s skull at any time.
when lily had walked away, wen shi handed the previously obtained number card to the wandering corpse. “go stand in line. you’ll astonish everyone with your performance.”
he covered all bases, “the principal will definitely find you privately afterward. when that happens…”
in hushed tones, wen shi gave a few instructions, and the wandering corpse responded with a couple of affirmative grunts.
【the wandering corpse’s loyalty to you +0.1】
after the wandering corpse left, the whole path seemed to have only wen shi, but he turned his head towards a large tree behind him. ji yuanzhi jumped down from the tree, holding a camera with long ears in his left hand.
not queuing didn’t mean he wasn’t doing anything else. ji yuanzhi came to copy images, recording these students’ habits to facilitate the later substitution.
“quite rare.”
what he referred to as rare was wen shi’s efforts towards the wandering corpse.
anyone who knew a bit about this person would understand that when he helped others, he would surely gain something in return.
wen shi’s investment in the wandering corpse was virtually without cost considerations. if he had initially decided to use the nightingale voice changer for himself, there wouldn’t have been a need to employ backdoor means to secure a spot for the concert. now that his goal was achieved, the cost was essentially offending mr. ruan to the point of no return.
wen shi knew what he was thinking. when he had left the office yesterday, the system kept notifying him of the decrease in mr. ruan’s favorability. he ended up choosing to block them.
“isn’t it only natural to treat your own war general well?” wen shi countered with a smile.
ji yuanzhi: “if you genuinely cared, you wouldn’t deliberately engineer coincidences.”
it was clear that he wanted the wandering corpse to know that he would rather ‘sacrifice himself’ and give him the only item he had won.
“i suppose your war general must be quite moved, gaining a fair amount of favorability.”
no, you’re mistaken this time.
in his eyes, my ‘sacrifice’ is only worth 0.1 favorability points.
wen shi had to grin and bear it, saying with a forced smile, “yes, indeed.”
my favorability has ‘surged’ a lot.
a coin appeared out of thin air in his hand, and wen shi got to the point directly, “golden dad, are you surprised that the wandering corpse is willing to lip-sync to get selected? after all, he seems very devoted to music.”
the last time he used this address was when he held the position of high priest. ji yuanzhi was so surprised by being addressed like that, it was as if he had heard a blaring radar.
wen shi fired two consecutive questions, “does the wandering corpse really lack self-awareness?”
beautiful singing brought enjoyment to people, which was why it was defined as good singing. from this perspective, the wandering corpse’s singing was completely lacking, only causing pain to others. but pain was also a kind of ability.
what the wandering corpse needed wasn’t music, but a broader stage to appreciate the contorted expressions of the audience. coupled with his abilities, the audience wouldn’t even want to leave.
to put it plainly, he just enjoyed observing others’ pain.
and in a certain sense, the situation of those spectators was much like players in an instance.
without needing any prompting from wen shi, ji yuanzhi also realized the origins of the wandering corpse. peng lu’s willingness to be turned into a corpse was the most outrageous part.
the coin gleamed brightly under his fingertip. wen shi smiled. “peng lu told me before he died that the price to be paid lies ahead.”
with his defiant nature, the wandering corpse’s loyalty, even if greater than zero, was defined as【he really adores you】.
wen shi had always wondered why a’sang, who had no intentions of trading with the game, was summoned, and even why a’sang was treated so well with no restrictions on his strength in the game.
a’sang had a simple nature, and since he couldn’t consume those crystals himself, he would naturally think about improving the strength of those around him. the wandering corpse, of course, became his first choice. a’sang’s arrival allowed the wandering corpse to successfully advance as a corpse guard.
when it came to something associated with the word “game,” wen shi was always cautious.
the true extent of the connection between the wandering corpse and the game, as well as peng lu’s role in this matter, was something he couldn’t ascertain. however, the current wandering corpse was like a blank slate, just like song yan.
wen shi’s fingertip glided slowly along the grooves of the coin’s pattern, emitting an unexpectedly intriguing sensation.
to prevent excessive attention from the game, he didn’t delve deeper into the matter but shifted the conversation towards the task at hand.
“the wandering corpse is a valuable asset. a singing voice isn’t the same as academic achievement. it can be improved within a few days.” wen shi’s tone remained composed. “i’ve instructed that if the principal privately questions, the wandering corpse should subtly indicate having paid respects to king asa.”
here it comes!
a foreboding feeling suddenly surged within ji yuanzhi.
wen shi: “dad, your camera is quite impressive. with your skills, i’m sure you can capture this scene during the audition without anyone noticing.”
once the recording was released, all students would know that king asa possessed the power to turn decay into miracles.
“imagine this: if the wandering corpse can transform his blood-curdling singing into a heavenly melody, then what can’t i achieve?”
with a slightly raised chin, wen shi’s eyes shimmered with a peculiar light. he saw a predictable future, envisioning a scene where, regardless of the school’s attempts to prohibit it, a frenzy of worship for king asa would still sweep through the campus.
“…even the principal, who is barely a match for the merfolk king, would have an unforeseen reaction if he starts believing in the existence of wusa kingdom.”
returning to the topic of the wandering corpse, he was like a hawk awaiting the sight of its prey. although his loyalty had only increased by 0.1, it would surely rise further once he successfully passed the audition.
one【nightingale voice changer】brushing up the wandering corpse’s favorability and advertising the wusa kingdom, killing two birds with one stone.
the coin, glinting with a cold light, was tossed into the air. wen shi gazed at the smooth side, a playful smile dancing in his eyes.
【wangcai bank】calculated that his future survival rate was low due to the many uncertain factors around him. however, these uncertainties would eventually stabilize, persistently and willingly bowing to him.
“……” glasses slipped a bit down his straight nose. ji yuanzhi felt it was time for a new pair of frames. lately, his glasses had been sliding off more frequently.
so, was the adolescent in his chuunibyou phase now starting to choose the path of rational decadence?
he wanted to say something to stop him, but what was infuriating was that this plan, however absurd, had no loopholes.
the wandering corpse was the ideal spokesperson for this brand. it was simply a royal flush.
wen shi sighed helplessly, “to come to this point, i also feel helpless.”
he had fabricated a bunch of stories in front of his family, and now that the words were out, no matter what, he had to secure a kingdom for a’sang.
ji yuanzhi didn’t adjust his glasses, instead, he pressed his forehead.
“human effort alone isn’t enough, financial power is also necessary.”
wen shi looked at him and smiled, “we can use merfolk as a money bag. with the sudden appearance of king asa, it’ll divert the principal’s attention and be beneficial for them too.”
merfolk have the edge of the abyss food processing factory and surely other industries as well. in one succinct phrase: they didn’t lack money.
“i’ll find an opportunity to talk to mr. ruan, see how to guide him into supporting us.”
the wandering corpse fulfilled his dream on the stage, the merfolk got a breather, and his kingdom established—like mentioned before, everyone had a bright future.
in each instance, wen shi pursued truth, kindness, and beauty. and he indeed accomplished them too.
ji yuanzhi: “……”
a single voice changer, truly played in someone’s hands to the fullest.
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