Adhering to their usual professional attitude during program filming, Ah Yun and the others immediately asked the nearby staff if they had been taken to the wrong place. However, several accompanying staff members assured them that everything was in order while they continued to assist the six guests in finalizing their makeup and carefully confirming their specific positions for the opening of the program. Once all the arrangements were reconfirmed, these staff members left, leaving the six guests standing bewilderedly in the empty studio.
"Five, four, three, two, one—begin!" With a sudden countdown by a cold female voice, all the lights in the studio went out.
About three seconds later, when the lights came back on, a deafening roar of cheers erupted around the six guests, who stood stunned by what they saw. Because at this moment, the cramped studio where the six of them had been had vanished. In its place, the six guests appeared in pairs on two circular platforms located in a spacious space. Below these two high platforms lay darkness, resembling an abyss where air currents were occasionally sucked in, with no visible bottom. And above the two platforms in the air, there was a gigantic grandstand at least forty meters high.
As the two teams of six suddenly jumped from a relatively normal world into this fantastical theater, their faces were filled with surprise. As for Haoyun and the others, they were simply furious, feeling like cursing. Because they were all too familiar with this large circus stage where they had been forced to perform when they first arrived at the Fragrant Nebula. Thinking of this, coupled with their miserable experience performing in the circus, Haoyun and the others suddenly had a very ominous feeling.
"Welcome, everyone, to watch a brand new episode of the large-scale mischief-themed reality challenge show—'Fate and Challenge'!"
Just as the six guests were still amazed by the magical scene before them, a smug voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Subconsciously, everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw another floating platform where a woman stood wearing a pink lace-trimmed dress adorned with white question mark patterns.
"Hello, everyone! I'm the host for tonight, you can call me the Countess! Oh—haha! I miss you guys so much!" Using the handle of a white sun umbrella as a microphone, the woman greeted the countless audience members wearing red long-nosed masks on the floating platform above.
The woman was none other than the creator of the Fragrant Nebula—Countess Gogolnikyeva herself.
Seeing the exaggerated actions of the Countess, Haoyun couldn't contain his anger. At the same time, he was also very surprised by the Countess's appearance: "Her—why is she here?"
"All these places are created by her. It's not surprising that she comes and goes here at will. However, could it be that there is some kind of announcement for the upcoming challenge show? So she's hosting this program in person?" Dao Lao analyzed calmly, realizing that the upcoming challenge show was definitely fraudulent.
"If Heaven has a road, you don't walk it; if Hell has no door, you break in! Watch me tear you apart, you bitch!" Dream Jia glared angrily at the Countess, cursing incessantly. If she weren't trapped in her own body again, Haoyun believed that Dream Jia would definitely rush forward and fight the Countess.
"Alright, Dream Jia, don't get too excited. We're still trapped in our bodies, even if she sticks her head out for you to hit, you won't reach her, right?" Haoyun comforted.
"That's right. The Countess appearing in person is not unexpected given that she's the creator of this world. But her appearance seems to be too self-centered and like a charlatan, right?" Haoyun thought.
After the Countess finished her long opening speech, the program finally entered the main topic.
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The Countess raised her hand to silence the cheers from the audience and continued, "The theme of this Fate Challenge is—Redemption. Due to well-known reasons, the guests in this issue have become the most controversial figures of the moment. Therefore, they are constantly trying to wash away their shame and start afresh."
"Our 'Fate and Challenge' program team has heard the voices of the guests and the earnest call of the public, so we are here once again to fulfill our mission. We have meticulously designed a set of challenges for this episode, providing these guests with an opportunity to redeem themselves. As long as they can pass this challenge, they can use the valuable opportunity they've earned and once again witness history. We hope the guests will cherish this opportunity, overcome their inner demons, redeem themselves, and regain their glory!" The Countess spoke passionately.
"Redemption! Redemption—!" Hearing this, the audience at the scene began to rhythmically clap their hands and cheer in unison to encourage the guests.
The Countess stood proudly on the floating platform, satisfied with the response. She then made a downward motion with both hands and continued, "Whether the six guests will have the opportunity to make a wish and be reborn from the ashes, or whether they will ultimately fail and continue to be despised by the world, let's wait and see! Ba-la-ba-la-ba—oh—haha!"
As soon as the Countess finished speaking, a beam of strong light suddenly shot up from the dark abyss below the crowd. The light stopped at the same height as the platform where the guests stood and quickly formed another platform of the same size in the air.
With excitement, the Countess introduced, "Next, let's take a look at the first challenge—'Run, Unlucky Ones'! The first challenge is very simple. As long as three guests can overcome all obstacles and ride unicycles across a hundred-meter-long steel wire, the challenge is considered successful. There is no time limit or restriction on the number of attempts. Regardless of how many attempts are needed, as long as all three guests can reach the opposite platform, it counts as a successful challenge! So, isn't this challenge very simple?"
"Three guests? But aren't there six of us here?" Ah Yun asked in confusion after hearing the Countess' introduction.
"Yes, three! Originally, the program intended for you to team up with three invited flying guests to complete the challenge together. However, just a moment ago, it was heard that you and the other side almost got into a fight in the lounge." The Countess pointed to the three members of the Unlucky Immortal Troupe and explained mysteriously.
"Oh—?" Upon hearing this, the audience couldn't help but let out a delighted and gossipy exclamation.
Continuing in a seemingly serious tone, the Countess said, "Later, I learned that there has always been deep mutual resentment between these artists, which led them to always dislike each other. So, after emergency discussions by the program team, we unanimously decided to temporarily cancel the plan for the six guests to team up and challenge together, and instead changed this challenge to a team confrontation mode! The Unlucky Immortal Troupe will be the challengers, and the three guests from the Divine Beast Entertainment Co., Ltd. will be the hunters!"
"Yay!" After hearing the Countess' explanation, the audience immediately stood up and cheered, praising the program team's unexpected arrangements and expressing their excitement for the upcoming showdown.
The Countess once again raised her hands in satisfaction and then continued, "Now, let's have both sides prepare! Because the competition is about to begin!"
Then, the third floating platform that had just appeared shot a silver light towards the platform where Ah Yun and the others stood. The bright silver light quickly faded, transforming into a straight steel wire, connecting the two platforms. Then, the two platforms began to move to both sides, stretching the steel wire between them. Along the steel wire, there were platforms similar to relay points appearing at intervals.
The platform carrying the Countess descended between the two platforms where Ah Yun and the others stood, and she said while looking at the lengthening steel wire, "The challengers only need to ride unicycles along this hundred-meter-long steel wire to reach the opposite platform to succeed in the challenge. Of course, you can only use unicycles to complete this challenge. If you dare to proceed on the steel wire in any other way, it will be considered a violation of the challenge rules. You will be immediately declared to have failed the challenge and will receive the appropriate punishment."
"Of course, to reduce the difficulty of the challenge for you, the program team has also prepared a temporary safe point every ten meters. After reaching the temporary safe point, you can take a temporary rest to adjust your condition and better prepare for the next segment of the challenge." However, although the Countess said this was to reduce the difficulty of the challenge for Ah Yun and the others, Haoyun couldn't help but judge from the evil smile on the Countess' face that this statement was definitely not trustworthy.