novelraw Chapter 163: Scoring a Trending Topic
Chapter 163: Scoring a Trending Topic
Riley quickly took a big step back, exclaiming, "Oh my god, you scared me to death!
"I told you we should have split up. If I hadn’t been standing so far away, that arrow would’ve hit me for sure!"
Her words made the staff member for the third challenge flinch and back away. So did Chloe Sterling and Ethan Shaw, who were waiting off to the side. After all, they didn’t have Riley’s quick reflexes. If that arrow had been aimed at them, they wouldn’t have been able to dodge it.
Holly Summers started crying again. She covered her face and bawled her eyes out, tears and snot streaming everywhere.
[Seriously, even as a Holly Summers fan, I can’t say she looks pretty right now.]
[I’m starting to wonder if Holly Summers did that on purpose... Sorry, my bad for thinking it.]
[You’re not the only one.]
[I’m a fan, but seeing her cry like that... my image of her is suddenly shattered...]
[This girl is such a jinx. I should probably un-stan. What if she passes her bad luck to her fans? I don’t want to eat bird shit.]
That’s right. Today, Holly Summers had landed a trending topic: Eating Shit.
[I already dropped her as a fan. Right when she ate shit.]
[BLEGH~ You two posters above are messed up! Can we please not talk about that? Fuck, that’s so disgusting.]
Chloe Sterling and Ethan Shaw were having a great time watching the drama unfold. But since they were on a live broadcast, they had to stifle their laughter, which was incredibly difficult.
"How much longer are you two going to stand here?" After failing a challenge, contestants had to wait half an hour before their next attempt, so the pair was just waiting for their time to be up.
Chloe caught her drift. "Five more minutes. Riley, can you help us out?"
Riley replied, "I haven’t even passed this challenge myself. What makes you so sure I can do it?"
"Of course I’m sure! How could a little archery possibly stump you?"
’This is the woman who can hunt with nothing but pebbles!’
Riley pinched her cheek. "Tsk, you can’t lose any more weight. You’re too thin. Not as fun to squeeze."
Chloe: ...
After getting her fun in with Chloe, Riley picked up the bow and arrow. The bow that Holly Summers couldn’t draw was as easy as a rubber band for Riley to pull back. She didn’t even seem to aim before loosing the arrow. With a THUD, it hit the bullseye.
"Wow! I knew it! Riley, you really have studied archery!"
Riley: ... ’You guessed wrong. I actually haven’t!’
"Alright, I’ll shoot one more for you, and then you’ll have passed. Hurry up and get going. You don’t want to still be here at noon when you should be at the summit."
The staff member said, "Um, Ms. Perry, I’m afraid that’s not allowed."
Riley asked with a grin, "Why not? Is there a rule that says people can’t help each other?"
"But the rules state that one of the team members has to hit the bullseye to pass."
Riley said, "Okay, I understand. Come here, Chloe. You shoot it yourself."
Chloe said, "But I can’t even draw the bow. Irving’s a bit better, but he’s never accurate."
"Don’t worry, I’ll guide you. The rules say one of the team members has to hit the bullseye to pass. It doesn’t say they can’t have help."
Chloe was thrilled. She gripped the bow and got into her stance. Riley placed her hand over Chloe’s, and with a gentle push, the bow was drawn taut. Then, Riley said, "Release."
The feathered arrow shot out with a SWOOSH, landing dead center in the bullseye.
Chloe laughed with excitement. "Hahaha, I really hit it! Riley, you’re amazing!"
Ethan Shaw asked the staff member, "So, does that mean we’ve passed this challenge?"
The staff member was at a loss. ’What else can I do? If I make these two keep waiting, they won’t make it up the mountain by this afternoon.’
"You pass, you pass." ’Now hurry up and get out of my sight.’
Holly Summers, who had just finished disinfecting her scrape and applying a bandage with the staff’s help, desperately wanted to claw that smug look off Riley Perry’s face. ’Doesn’t she know we’re in a competition right now? How dare she help the other team!’
’I’m so pissed!’
Furious, Holly Summers couldn’t stand to look at the trio’s smiling faces. She stomped off and headed up the mountain, determined to be the first to reach the summit. After all, the first-place winner in each episode also won five hundred thousand.
But would Riley Perry really let her get her way?
There were five challenges on the way up the mountain. The fourth was to play a song within fifteen minutes. Since they were on a mountain, only five instruments were provided: a Chinese flute, a vertical bamboo flute, a zither, a guqin, and a guitar. But Holly Summers couldn’t play any of them.
Riley Perry had never touched a musical instrument in this world, but she had learned back when she was in The Elysian Sect.
The guqin was her specialty.
She had no intention of pretending to be a beginner. After looking over the sheet music once, she began to play.
Her first few notes were a little rusty; after all, it had been a long time since she’d played.
After a single measure, her playing became fluid. The melody flowed from her fingertips, and she quickly finished the song, "Forlorn Frown," leaving everyone wishing for more.
Standing off to the side, Holly Summers gritted her teeth. ’How can she play the guqin too?’
’Suspicion began to bubble up inside her again. How is every single challenge something Riley is good at? The production team must be in on it with her!’
’That bitch!’
...
「A villa in Dragonspire.」
Iris Weldon had just come downstairs when she heard the beautiful melody of a guqin. She looked around and traced the sound to the kitchen. "Lane, what are you watching?"
Auntie Lee jumped in fright, the kitchen knife nearly flying out of her hand. "I-I-I... I was watching a live stream, Madam. I-I’ll stop. I’ll turn it off right now."
She frantically reached for her phone to turn it off, but a slender hand beat her to it. On the screen, a girl in a tracksuit sat poised on a set of stone steps. Before her was a guqin, and the beautiful music was flowing from her fingertips.
"Lane, what show is this?"
"It’s Go on an adventure together. It’s live all day. The one playing the guqin is named Riley Perry."
Auntie Lee carefully watched her employer’s expression. The moment the Madam showed the slightest hint of displeasure, she would immediately apologize and shut her mouth. After all, she had been caught watching a live stream on the job. ’I’m so scared I’ll be fired.’
"She has quite a presence!"
To be honest, her tracksuit wasn’t at all suited for playing the guqin, but the moment she sat down, she exuded an ethereal aura that made you completely ignore her clothes and just get lost in the beautiful music.
"Yes, yes! Madam, you have no idea. Riley Perry is a total hidden gem! She’s so multi-talented.
"In the first episode, she did this sword dance, and oh my gosh, it was absolutely stunning. That clip has over a hundred million views now.
"And she can get deer and monkeys to listen to her! And, and, the day before yesterday, she was helping fix home appliances! She’d fix one and it would be completely silent, good as new. She made over a thousand in just half a day..."
After this long spiel, the other busy staff in the kitchen were speechless. Lane really had some nerve. It was one thing for her to be constantly trying to get them to like Riley Perry, but now she was trying to convert the Madam into a fan too? Where did she get the guts?
Oh, they soon found out. The Madam herself gave her the guts.
"So, where can I find her videos?"
Auntie Lee immediately helped the Madam download the live streaming app, as well as various other apps where she could find short clips of Riley Perry. Their conversation moved from the kitchen to the living room.
"She’s that talented? You’d never know just by looking at her."
Although her own daughter ran an entertainment company, and a seemingly successful one at that, Iris had never paid much attention to the outside world due to her health, let alone recognizing any of these minor celebrities.