TTIG Chapter 33.1

[Trending Again]

 

The web variety show “Desperate Escape Room” varied in duration for each episode. Most guests took two to three hours, with some unable to complete it even in three hours, but FTM broke the record, completing it in less than an hour and a half.

 

With plenty of time remaining, the director excitedly said: “Quick, control room, give FTM a brief interview!”

 

Teams with remaining time after completion could be interviewed to fill time and help viewers better understand the episode’s guests.

 

The mechanical voice in the game hall was actually the control room speaking in real-time.

 

After receiving the director’s instructions, the control room immediately spoke: “Congratulations to all challengers. As the team that broke the completion record, the system will conduct a brief interview with you.”

 

The five exchanged glances—apparently another impromptu procedure.

 

System: “First, please introduce yourselves to the audience?”

 

Mo Xun smiled and said: “Hello everyone, we are…”

 

The five said in unison: “FTM group.”

 

The five began making simple self-introductions. Having practiced interview responses many times, they appeared natural and poised on camera.

 

Besides FTM fans, most viewers watching the variety show didn’t know them, only knowing they were an idol group.

 

Through the interview, viewers discovered this group’s uniqueness.

 

They were a harmony singing and dancing group from Shengyao Media, and had just debuted last month?

 

FTM’s outstanding performance in this episode aroused many viewers’ curiosity. Comments in the livestream floated continuously like snowflakes—

 

“A harmony group? Following them!”

 

“A fresh boy band that just debuted? This group is impressive!”

 

“I was confused listening to their analysis, decided to watch a replay.”

 

“As a loyal viewer of Desperate Escape Room, this is the most satisfying episode I’ve watched.”

 

“The five coordinate really well, and crucially, no one dragged the team down.”

 

“666! Thoroughly enjoyed it!”

 

“See you at the beginning, I’m going to rewatch now~”

 

Meanwhile, Xu Baichuan, watching the livestream backstage, was so excited he almost jumped up—he never expected FTM to break the record!

 

He heard Director Liu’s appreciative voice: “Old Xu, this group you’re managing is impressive. Listening to their analysis and reasoning, they truly have clear thinking and rigorous logic, especially that Fang Yinnian and Tang Che.”

 

When his own “children” were praised, Xu Baichuan couldn’t suppress his smile.

 

But he still tried to control his emotions, managing his expression to smile modestly and say: “Our Tang Che is from Jiangzhou University, and Yinnian also entered Jiangzhou Music Academy with top academic scores—these two really do have excellent grades.”

 

Of course he would praise them when given the opportunity.

 

Do other boy bands have scholars like ours? No.

 

Director Liu had previously seen FTM’s profile and had already noticed these two’s schools, but good academic performance doesn’t necessarily translate to good reasoning in an escape room. Without strong psychological resilience, even top university scholars might scream in fear in an escape room.

 

But FTM’s Fang Yinnian and Tang Che were truly both intelligent and calm.

 

Fang Yinnian’s observation skills were exceptionally sharp, with most clues being organized and analyzed by him. Tang Che was also outstanding in data calculation, information recall, and logical reasoning. These two deserved the most credit for completing the escape room so quickly.

 

Of course, Mo Xun’s command coordination was indispensable. As the captain, he made decisive decisions at critical moments—arranging simultaneous searches of upper and lower floors with information relay, saving an immeasurable amount of time.

 

Xiao Fei served as the screaming atmosphere group and message-relaying light controller.

 

Tan Junwen’s analysis of the paintings and his complete drawing of the villa’s internal spatial structure also contributed significantly to the final correct answer.

 

Director Liu remarked with emotion: “It’s the first time I’ve seen a group with such perfect coordination.”

 

Five people, and none could be missed.

 

Together, they functioned like perfectly meshing gears, operating flawlessly.

 

The escape room designer excitedly said: “They actually found all the clues and sorted out all the logic. This is the first team to achieve 100% clue collection since our escape room show began!”

 

Initially, the production team wasn’t eager to have FTM as guest participants. They had originally invited Sonic, a boy band with skyrocketing popularity.

 

Sonic was a male group born from this year’s talent show “Light of Dreams,” gaining massive fan support even before their official formation. Their most popular all-around ace, Qu Yan, had 10 million Weibo followers.

 

FTM’s most-followed member, Fang Yinnian, had only 500,000.

 

The gap between 10 million and 500,000 is an insurmountable chasm. In the entertainment industry, this marks the difference between a first-tier celebrity and an obscure eighteenth-tier nobody!

 

What variety show would pass up a first-tier guest to invite an unknown eighteenth-tier?

 

However, this escape room had a music-themed plot, requiring guests like singers or idols with some understanding of music.

 

Sonic had to attend an international awards ceremony and couldn’t adjust their schedule. Xu Baichuan learned of this and contacted the production team through his industry connections.

 

Xu Baichuan asked for a very low appearance fee—the treatment for small nobodies in the entertainment industry was negligible—only seeking an opportunity for the young men to gain exposure on variety shows.

 

The production team calculated carefully—inviting this group would be cheap! They could save a significant portion of the budget. Moreover, the five were reasonably good-looking and they wouldn’t need to find additional guests, as the five could directly enter the escape room.

 

Both parties quickly reached an agreement and signed a contract.

 

Before recording, everyone thought these five rookies would be constantly screaming in fear, making rookie mistakes, creating some laughable moments for audience entertainment. If the viewership reached 80% compared to the previous episode, it would be considered passing.

 

No one expected these five would coordinate so impressively!

 

Each of the five had distinctive personalities and areas of expertise. Watching them play the escape room was not only thrilling, exciting, and funny, but viewers could also feel a sense of “teamwork spirit” in their coordination.

 

It was like watching a team tackling a dungeon in an online game.

 

When they finally deduced the truth, it actually became exhilarating!

 

Director Liu excitedly stood up and firmly shook Xu Baichuan’s hand: “Not only did your group break the fastest completion record since ‘Desperate Escape Room’ began airing, but you might also break our viewership record!”

 

Nearby, a colleague from the PR team suddenly said: “Director Liu, it’s trending now.”

 

Director Liu turned around: “Is marketing buying trending spots this quickly?”

 

The PR colleague hurriedly said: “We haven’t had time to buy any! FTM broke the record so unexpectedly that we haven’t even prepared press releases. It’s trending because of netizen discussions—currently at number ten on the entertainment rankings and still rising!”

 

The producer and director quickly gathered around to look at the trending rankings on the PR colleague’s computer.

 

The trending topic, created through viewer discussions, didn’t even include the host’s name.

 

The topic was full of praise.

 

“FTM is super awesome!”

 

“Watching this group complete the escape room was really interesting.”

 

“They have tanks, healers, an atmosphere team, and deduction specialists, with such seamless coordination—truly a team, ordinary people couldn’t pull this off~”

 

“Our small unknown group has made it!”

 

“I like Fang Yinnian, he’s good-looking and especially smart~”

 

“I’ve grown to appreciate Tang Che, he calculates area and remembers information so quickly!”

 

“Does anyone like Mo Xun? An outstanding captain with leadership abilities, and he’s physically capable too—using the mop to wedge the mechanism open was so quick-thinking!”

 

“I like confused Tan Junwen hahaha, getting lost in circles killed me, but he’s also reliable when it counts~”

 

“Am I the only one who likes the golden-haired atmosphere coordinator Xiao Fei? Hahaha he screamed the most tragically throughout—without him, who would even know this was a horror escape room!”

 

“Let me recommend our small unknown group, welcome casual viewers to follow~[Debut Stage Video Link][Red-Blue Competition Variety Show Link]”

 

“Those who like shipping CPs can join our #MagicCubeWorld# super topic, this CP is super shippable, and they gave lots of sweet moments in the escape room variety show!”

 

“I’ve decided to become a fan of the FTM small unknown group starting today. This boy band is special—I’ve followed them and look forward to their future success!”

 

On the trending topic’s real-time square, information refreshed almost once per second, too fast for the eye to follow.

 

What did this indicate?

 

Real people were actively discussing it!

 

You could spend enormous amounts of money buying trending topics, even to the number one position, but if no one cared, it would quickly drop off.

 

This kind of topic, elevated through spontaneous discussion by numerous viewers watching the show, represented the most authentic “viral heat” generated by real people.

 

Today was Saturday, with many variety shows and dramas airing. The entertainment rankings trending topics were fiercely competitive, changing every few minutes. For FTM’s topic to break into the entertainment top ten through organic attention was incredibly impressive!

 

Director Liu was so excited he was gesticulating wildly: “Quick, quick, notify marketing to boost it further, release more video clips for promotion! Get the official blog moving!”

 

The producer said: “I’ll request approval from Taohe leadership to feature this episode of ‘Desperate Escape Room’ on the homepage tomorrow, Sunday, for another round of promotion.”

 

“Yes, yes, yes, after all, it’s a record-breaking episode, worthy of strong promotion!”

 

“FTM group sets ‘Desperate Escape Room’s’ fastest completion record,” the marketing woman was also excited. “I’ll write press releases immediately, find some impressive images and video clips to send to various media outlets and marketing accounts. Once the marketing matrix is fully engaged, we’ll release the press releases across all platforms simultaneously!”

 

“Good, this episode has many highlights and will definitely become a classic escape room. Have the editing team release some behind-the-scenes footage too!”

 

Xu Baichuan: “…”

 

He suddenly felt an urge to tear up—the feeling was like when an underappreciated child unexpectedly becomes the top scholar?

 

The kids had truly done well, and he as their manager felt extremely proud.

 

At this moment, after completing the brief interview, the five members of FTM were brought backstage by staff.

 

Fang Yinnian said softly: “Catherine was so talented. Why would she give her compositions to her boyfriend? I don’t understand this kind of relationship-obsessed thinking.”

 

Tang Che coldly remarked: “Although Nina killed Catherine, don’t you think Allen was the most hypocritical and despicable person? Unable to write songs himself, stealing others’ work, and juggling two relationships—absolutely disgusting.”

 

Tang Che’s disdain for the cheater was written all over his face. Fang Yinnian nodded in agreement: “Cheaters are indeed disgusting. The scriptwriter had quite an imagination.”

 

Tan Junwen said with a smile: “Stories originate from reality. Perhaps in real life, there are also scumbags who steal others’ work and juggle multiple relationships.”

 

They chatted while walking forward.

 

Upon reaching backstage, the five immediately stopped their discussion. Mo Xun led everyone in a polite bow: “Thank you for your hard work, Director Liu.” “Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”

 

Director Liu walked up with a smile, patted Mo Xun’s shoulder and said: “You’re the ones who worked hard. Well done, boys!”

 

He gave them two thumbs up.

 

Being praised was certainly pleasant, and smiles appeared on all five faces.

 

Xu Baichuan stepped forward and said: “President Yang, Director Liu, I’ve ordered milk tea for all the staff, which will be delivered shortly. Thank you to the production team for giving us this opportunity.”

 

The variety show producer Yang Zhi’s face darkened slightly, remembering his initial disdain for the small unknown group during negotiations, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

 

But in the entertainment industry, having thick skin was essential.

 

Yang Zhi extended his hand with a forced smile, saying: “Old Xu, there’s no need for such formalities. I hope we’ll have the opportunity to continue collaborating in the future?”

 

Xu Baichuan caught his implied meaning, shook his hand, and smiled: “Looking forward to our next collaboration. Thank you, President Yang. I’ll take them back now.”

 

Yang Zhi waved enthusiastically: “Alright, goodbye. Take care on your journey!”

 

Xu Baichuan led the five to the van and handed a plastic bag to Mo Xun, who recognized each teammate’s phone and quickly distributed them.

 

Fu Fei’s phone was in a cartoon rubber case shaped like a small yellow duck. He hurriedly opened it to check Weibo while asking: “Brother Xu, we broke the record this episode—does that mean we did pretty well?”

 

Xu Baichuan smiled broadly: “More than just ‘pretty well.’ Do you know how many episodes of ‘Desperate Escape Room’ have been filmed?”

 

Fang Yinnian said: “We’re Season 2 Episode 8, plus the previous season, that’s a total of 20 episodes, right?”

 

Xu Baichuan nodded: “Correct, you broke the overall record across all 20 episodes.”

 

All five froze in unison.

 

The overall record?! Damn, brothers, that’s impressive!

 

Fu Fei excitedly said: “So we’re now the overall record holders?”

 

Xu Baichuan’s smile grew even more pronounced, his mouth corners uncontrollably turning upward: “Yes. The previous record holders were some quiz competition winners invited last year, with a completion time of 1 hour and 48 minutes.”

 

“That episode, ‘Puppet Mechanical City,’ has been repeatedly watched by viewers and now has over 100 million views.”

 

“Today, you’ve replaced them as the new record holders.”

 

“Taohe will definitely feature the show prominently with extensive promotion, and the production team’s marketing matrix will quickly follow suit. You’ll see information about FTM breaking the record everywhere—on all entertainment news websites, media public accounts, Weibo marketing accounts, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and other related recommendations.”

 

“Large numbers of viewers will be attracted to watch this episode. For at least the next six months, viewers will continue to revisit this episode. Those interested in FTM will search for you and follow you.”

 

“Just imagine the impact this will have!”

 

The five: “…”

 

They could hardly believe it.

 

When they first came to the escape room variety show, they were worried about not knowing how to play, embarrassing themselves, or making fools of themselves.

 

So they spent a week specifically studying this variety show, memorizing solutions to common mechanisms, and making all possible preparations.

 

Unexpectedly, during the actual recording, the five coordinated remarkably well. Mo Xun and Yinnian as one team, Tang Che and Junwen as another, with Xiao Fei flexibly relaying messages and controlling the circuit breaker—simultaneously searching upper and lower floors to gather clues at maximum speed.

 

Temporary guest teams wouldn’t coordinate as seamlessly as they did. Nor would they risk their own elimination to protect those around them at critical moments.

 

Because those guests aren’t true teammates.

 

But they were companions who spent days and nights together. They trusted each other and were willing to confidently entrust their backs to one another.

 

Perhaps it was precisely this subconscious trust that allowed them to fully believe in their teammates without any “objections” when coordinating.

 

The five working together achieved super high efficiency.

 

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