In the blink of an eye, it was mid-September. On Monday, Xu Baichuan sent an early message to the group: “This Saturday, 9 AM flight to South City, variety show recording starts at 8 PM, returning to Jiangzhou Sunday at 8 PM. I’ll post flight information in the group.”
As celebrities who were still students, they had to make good use of every weekend. They needed to gradually get used to such tight scheduling.
However, experiencing their first “weekend fly-in-fly-out” booking, all five were quite excited.
Fu Fei said in the group: “The fuller an artist’s schedule, the more popular they are, hahaha. We’re gradually improving!”
They had originally thought that since Shengyao had hastily debuted their makeshift group, they wouldn’t make waves so quickly. But with their debut stage at the tenth anniversary concert plus the comedic trending topic from their first variety show, their small unknown group was gradually gaining traction.
Tan Junwen asked in the group: “Xiao Fei, have you ever played a real-life escape room? Should we do some preparation beforehand?”
Fu Fei honestly replied: “No. I usually only play mobile games or PS single-player games. Real-life murder mystery games or escape rooms require organizing friends to play together, which seems troublesome, so I’ve never tried.”
Tang Che said: “I haven’t played either.”
Of course, Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian had also never played escape room games, so this variety show remained unfamiliar territory for all five of them.
Their experience of losing all three rounds on “Red-Blue Competition” wasn’t pleasant. Everyone has competitive spirit—who likes to keep losing? Although that episode had excellent “comedic effect” and trended on social media, they didn’t want to always leave a “funny” impression.
None of them had expected their manager to book them for “Desperate Escape Room,” which was quite popular among deduction/battle-of-wits variety shows.
Completing an escape room required intelligence and teamwork.
This variety show had a completely different style from “Red-Blue Competition.” It emphasized tension, excitement, and brain-burning challenges.
If they continued to act clueless in the escape room and make various “rookie mistakes,” viewers would call them “a bunch of idiots.”
Different variety shows had different audiences, so they needed to quickly understand how this new show worked and adjust their mindset accordingly.
Mo Xun assigned tasks in the group chat: “We still have a week. Everyone should watch all the previous episodes of ‘Desperate Escape Room’ to get a basic understanding.”
In the following days, after returning from dance classes at the company each evening, they would cast the show to the living room TV and watch “Desperate Escape Room” together.
The show had already aired seven episodes, and they would be participating in the eighth.
They quickly went through the previous episodes and found no obvious pattern for completing the challenges.
Mo Xun said: “Each episode has a different theme, judging from the settings, they seem to be custom-made. No wonder they only release one episode per month—the set design takes time.”
Fang Yinnian theorized: “They probably found an empty house specifically for making escape rooms, changing the wallpaper and furniture for each new theme. If we could know the structure of this house in advance, completing the challenge would be much easier.”
Mo Xun smiled: “They definitely wouldn’t reveal the internal structure beforehand—that would be like getting a map with a god’s-eye view.”
Hearing this, Tan Junwen scratched his head: “I saw some large-scale escape rooms in previous episodes. If we encounter a maze, I’m doomed—brothers, save me!”
Mo Xun patted his shoulder: “Don’t worry, we won’t abandon you.”
Tang Che said: “I wonder if there will be NPCs chasing us?”
Fu Fei couldn’t help feeling excited: “Escape rooms have different fear levels—mild, medium, and severe. Hehe, I hope we don’t get a severely scary one!”
Fang Yinnian: “How scary is ‘severe’?”
Fu Fei scratched his head: “I’ve never experienced one, so I’m not sure!”
Mo Xun said: “Xiao Fei, search for information about types of escape room mechanisms. We should memorize them—it might be useful.”
Xiao Fei was always at the forefront of following information, so he was also excellent at researching. He quickly sent a Word document to the group chat: “Common escape room mechanisms—everyone can study up a bit.”
Everyone immediately opened the document and started reading.
They couldn’t just charge in blindly when recording this kind of variety show.
Getting wiped out on Red-Blue Competition could be laughed off. But if they were immediately eliminated in Desperate Escape Room, viewers would only comment “they’re so bad.”
Fang Yinnian carefully went through the common types of escape room mechanisms, then examined the previous episodes in detail.
It had to be said that the production team was very creative.
The previous episode had a vampire theme, transforming the escape room into a dark European castle-style setting with blood stains all over the walls and NPCs chasing the guests, frightening two participants almost to tears.
Who knew what awaited them this time?
The reason “Desperate Escape Room” was so popular, besides the fresh feeling viewers got from each episode’s different theme, was another factor—
It was also livestreamed.
Few variety shows were livestreamed nowadays, with most being pre-recorded. But livestreaming horror escape rooms had an advantage—an extremely strong “immersive experience.”
No one knew whether the guest participants would complete the challenge, and following them in real-time through the escape room kept viewers on edge.
The weekend was approaching quickly.
Although the five had done some preparation in advance, not knowing the escape room theme meant they had absolutely no confidence before officially entering.
Friday evening, everyone packed their luggage in advance.
Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian again shared one suitcase. This brief weekend trip would only keep them in South City for two days, so they didn’t need to bring many changes of clothes. Mo Xun’s small carry-on suitcase easily fit all items for both of them.
Saturday morning, they departed for South City with their manager.
On the way, Xu Baichuan instructed: “The theme and rules of Desperate Escape Room change with each episode. Before recording begins, the production team won’t reveal the escape room contents to anyone, ensuring they capture the guests’ most authentic panic and fear.”
“Many people in the industry want to go on this show but don’t dare to. After all, it’s easy to lose control of your expressions in scary places, resulting in a bunch of embarrassing photos.”
All five laughed—expressions of fear definitely don’t look good in photos. Especially for celebrities who need to maintain an elegant demeanor or aloof image, screaming and breaking down in an escape room could cause their “image to collapse.”
Fu Fei said excitedly: “I’m not afraid of embarrassing photos—our FTM is already becoming known for memes anyway.”
Tan Junwen smiled and said: “Exactly, we need to provide more material for fans to make memes.”
Xu Baichuan said: “Don’t worry about maintaining an idol image—just play freely. Completing the challenge isn’t a strict requirement; many guests in previous episodes couldn’t finish it either.”
This statement made everyone feel much more relaxed.
After all, it was just a variety show, not a real “die if you fail” battle royale. They could stay calm and cooperate with teammates—of course, it would be best if they could complete it.
Mo Xun asked curiously: “Brother Xu, this escape room show seems quite popular. Given our current fame level, how were we able to get such a good resource?”
Xu Baichuan explained: “You guys got lucky. The guests for September had already been arranged, but something happened, so I picked up the leftovers.”
The five immediately perked up.
Fu Fei hurriedly asked: “Who were the original guests? There are so many guest participants each episode—surely they couldn’t all have issues at the same time?”
Xu Baichuan looked back at the five: “You’re right, they did all have issues at the same time. The original guests were the Sonic boy band, but they couldn’t come because of a music festival. The production team needed emergency replacements, so I used my connections to secure this opportunity.”
The five: “…”
This was the five’s first direct encounter with the fierce competition in the entertainment industry.
Many opportunities were fleeting. Especially for endorsements and variety shows—if you don’t take them, someone else will.
With FTM’s current popularity, they definitely couldn’t have gotten such a good variety show opportunity on their own. This was originally Sonic boy band’s resource, but due to scheduling conflicts, they temporarily gave it up. Manager Xu had extensive industry connections and immediately seized the opportunity when he got the news.
The five didn’t know what to say. If Sonic could have come, the production team definitely wouldn’t have considered them, right?
Xu Baichuan smiled slightly: “Don’t feel embarrassed. Since you’ve already gotten the variety show, just try your best to seize every opportunity.”
“You performed especially well on the last variety show, and Taohe actively reached out to invite you to record a special episode. Do you know how happy I was when someone actively sought me out to invite you as guests for the first time?”
The five could understand their manager’s feelings. Parents fighting for resources for their children versus children performing so well that resources actively seek them out—these were completely different experiences.
Powerful managers were the ones who had the initiative to “choose resources.”
Was Sonic’s scheduling conflict genuine, or did they abandon this escape room episode because they had high popularity, abundant resources, and something better came along? They weren’t privy to the inside story.
But the other group’s withdrawal gave them a chance to gain exposure.
Picking up leftovers wasn’t bad either.
Fu Fei smiled and scratched his head, saying: “If we manage to become popular, will more resources come looking for us?”
Xu Baichuan said: “Of course. I look forward to the day when producers come begging me to let FTM appear on their shows, rather than me begging them.”
The five exchanged glances, silently kindling a flame of passion in their hearts.
They would definitely try their best to seize every opportunity.
***
They departed for the airport in the morning and arrived in South City at noon.
This was Fang Yinnian’s first visit to South City.
Looking through the window at the skyscrapers and bustling traffic, he could hardly contain his excitement throughout the journey.
The streets of this city were very clean. This thriving first-tier city was no less impressive than Jiangzhou, and its entertainment industry was highly developed.
South Star TV’s headquarters was also located in this city—one of the top-rated provincial television networks nationwide.
National hit music variety shows like “Song King,” “Heavenly Voice,” and “Music Time Machine” were all created by this TV station.
Fang Yinnian had followed many South Star TV music shows, and music competitions were what he most wanted to participate in. However, they weren’t yet qualified to join music competition programs.
Today’s recording of “Desperate Escape Room” actually had close ties with South Star TV—it was a “web variety show” jointly created by South Star TV’s director-producer team and the Taohe video platform.
Internet variety shows couldn’t be broadcast on television and were issued a “Network Distribution License” by the General Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, so the content review was relatively more lenient.
Horror-style variety shows had a limited audience, and broadcasting them live on television might frighten elderly viewers and children, leading to complaints. To preserve some of the thrilling content, the production team chose to broadcast online, which perfectly catered to this variety show’s target audience.
The show streamed on the Taohe video platform, with one episode per month, every mid-month Saturday from 8 PM to 10 PM.
After the five arrived in South City, Xu Baichuan arranged their hotel check-in. Since the recording time was late, everyone could rest at the hotel for the afternoon.
On the way to the hotel, Fang Yinnian saw many girls holding fan support items and asked curiously: “So many fans—is there some event happening?”
Xu Baichuan said: “Our hotel is near South Star TV station. Many variety shows record on weekends, so you can see fans on these two streets almost every day.”
Fu Fei gossiped: “The new season of ‘Heavenly Voice’ is about to start, right? Plus there’s the drama promotion variety show ‘Saturday Billboard’ and the popular dating show ‘Heart-Fluttering Voice’—they’re all recording in South City recently, so there will be many big celebrities.”
In a city with a thriving entertainment industry, celebrities came and went, and fans often gathered offline to support them.
FTM currently had no offline fans. Even though their studio account had released their schedule early, no fans came to meet them at the airport. After all, they were just starting out—their fan support association hadn’t even been officially established yet, and few people were willing to attend offline events.
They didn’t go out in the afternoon, staying at the hotel to study various escape room materials.
At 7 PM, they arrived early at the recording site.
The “Desperate Escape Room” production team didn’t provide costumes, so guests brought their own. The five wore the sportswear previously custom-ordered by Xu Baichuan.
White with amber-colored stripe decorations, simple and stylish, with the FTM team logo printed on the back. The long-sleeved, long-pants sportswear allowed for easy movement and would also protect them from scrapes while running.
The styling was simple and was completed in half an hour.
The five followed their manager to the recording site.
Then, everyone was stunned—
The recording venue was a five-story building.
So extravagant! They actually had an entire building dedicated to recording a variety show!
Xu Baichuan explained: “This building was funded by South Star TV some years ago. The interior has been completely gutted to create bare rooms. Each episode’s escape room features newly designed rooms and mechanisms—they’ve invested quite a lot of money.”
