Even if Hopkin doesnât mention it, the show will have tried to make trouble for Bright.
This Outsider doesnât know his place, and does not see the show as something he should respect. Besides how he is generally uncooperative and being a troublemaker all the time, just the fact that he hid his strength is enough to dish out a good amount of punishment for Bright.
They remember clearly that when Bright and Beast were performing by fighting in a duel, they went at each other for quite a long time. So long that the show had lost its patience and ordered Beauty to blow the stage up. Then when it came to an actual life-or-death situation, he took care of Beast in just two moves. Direct and efficient. He has always been acting; he is quite the shrewd one.
The show allows contestants a small amount of trickery and deception, but when it is severely impacting the shooting of the show, or is uncontrollable, it is very dangerous. The show will never tolerate it.
While the show is angry, they are wary of the high social position of the patron Bright has. They donât want to overdo it and get on his wrong side. Now even the patron has said so, then theyâll not go about it lightly and give a thorough âbody checkâ to Bright.
Bright has been waiting for the showâs retaliation since the end of the fourth episode. Now that he is suddenly summoned, he realises his punishment is here.
Inside, outside, above, below. His every orifice and every crack has been invaded by machinery in one way or the other.
Itâs not just the pain either, itâs mainly the coldness and fear brought about by the cold metallic devices. It sends a chill down your spine like facing a non-human monster. Feeling like if it uses a bit more force, that needle probing in your nose can puncture your eyeballs and your frontal lobe, making your mentally retarded or killing you immediately.
Just a bit over 10 minutes and he already feels as if he has missed by inches the scythe of the reaper several times. His own insignificant life being in the hands of the show is making him feel completely insecure.
Not just his life either, but also his dignity.
An extremely short and soft tube penetrates the inside of his little one. It feels as if it were alive and is sliding along his urinary tract and his ejaculatory ducts, making its way into his balls and his bladder, squeezing out what it is seeking.
Brightâs body check experience is extremely unpleasant. Lying on the operation table, his bone marrow, blood sample, intestinal juice, skin tissue, nail clippings, etc. retrieved from him by medical or scientific researchers in their white coats. It feels like his great tragedy of a fleshlight is waving his hands at him.
Itâs just a few steps away from his great physical transformation.
This feeling is the worst.
Through the screen, Hopkinâs gaze is locked onto the reaction of Bright. His attention is undivided and his eyes unblinking, as if completely fascinated by the man.
A gentle-looking middle-aged scholar-like figure wearing square glasses walks next to Hopkin, standing beside him, and says, âthis number 199 is quite unusual, being able to stay calm like this. He has extraordinary endurance.â
Hopkin turns his attention to him, nodding in greeting, âDirector.â His tone is flat and disaffiliatory. The aristocrats are only this polite with each other when interacting with others of the same status.
Few people know that the âDirectorâ is both his job and his nickname. It is just like âGentleman,â or âStatistician,â theyâre the codename for the Inner City residents who hold the powers and privileges.
The Director cordially greeted Gentleman, then their topic of discussion shifts again to number 199. His tone cannot be said to be disappointed or some other emotion, âthe body check is not revealing any unusual data points.â
Hopkin seems to have predicted this, and gives a cold affirmative âMm.â
The Director, slightly surprised by his reaction, questions whether his impression was wrong, and that actually, Gentleman is not particularly interested in number 199? Then the Director asks, âI heard you went to look at the site, how was it?â
The truth slipping by the tip of his tongue, Hopkin swallows it back down. He decides to let Bright go this time, as his way of acknowledging him having saved him back in the studio. Besides, revealing the answer to the mystery this early makes the game uninteresting.
Hopkinâs expression remains unchanged, not hinting at any of his emotions, and gives his advice, âwatch the Wolves. The military has very limited influence over them. Their movement patterns have quite a lot of suspicious points, showing that they are planning something in secret.â
The Director looks at him, as if surprised even he has not dug more information up. While the Director suspects he has not revealed everything, he is not in a position to pressure him. He thanks Hopkin politely, his voice full of confidence, âthose castrated dogs canât put up a fight.â
âI have overstepped.â The aristocrats says insincerely.
âNot at all. Thank you for your concern.â
In the show, the way to survive is to stay collected. If that canât be done, then acting dumbfounded and shocked stiff is a good idea too.
George is looking dumbfounded at his leader, like a retard, âcut the part of Beautyâs arrow shooting?â
âThe Beautyâs character setting is a whore. Weak and debaucherous, yet capable and resourceful, do you want him to scare the audience away by suddenly becoming a good fighter being good at archery?
George then points at the camera and reasons his way with upper management, âbut, if it were not for that arrow, Bright would have run away! How do I even edit this? The battle scene is already short in time, cutting it even further wonât just make the actions unconnected with each other, but there wonât be any clip left in the first place.â The difficulty is too high!
âYeah, why was he running away?â The leader asks in retort, âthe Wolves were hunting for him and he had to run for his life. The upper brass needs this covered up, so the inexplicable part must be cut!â
George looks reluctant. This job is impossible.
The leader is suppressing all reluctance violently, âit is clear that Bright is more wary of Beauty than Beast. This is too incongruous. The Beauty only needs his beauty. Little mind games make him cute and is a good addition in to his appeal as long as it feels like the power to control him is still in our hands. Being too smart stresses people out instead, making people too afraid to have delusions of screwing him.â
âWho gives a fuck about thatâŚâ George has a look of anxiety on his face as he looks at the screen, thinking about how to cut and edit so that it looks perfectly natural, which means the audience doesnât notice and laugh at them mockingly.
The leader then encourages him back after discouraging him, ânumber 199 is having a body check just downstairsâŚâ
Before he can finish speaking, his staff member has run away like the wind in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a spinning chair.
The leader, as if sighing, remarks, âbecoming a fan is to dive deep into the ocean.â
George only regains his sanity and realises he shouldnât be so excited when he has run a fair while already, then he slows his steps down a bit.
He was supposed to be an anti-fanâŚ
Oh, maybe Iâm just here to look at him and critique his appearance, criticise his stupidity and give him a good sarcastic remark. Yes, thatâs it!
Finding an excuse for his own actions, George then speeds back up again.
Heâs not the first onlooker to arrive. The show has strict management not just over the contestants but also the staff members. For confidentiality and control, the show forbids any interaction of the staff members and contestants outside of work contexts. The staff may have detailed knowledge on the contestants, being able to recite their every characteristic from memory, and knowing their three sizes, but this understanding is very unilateral. The contestants know nothing about the staff. Thereâs countless screens and a camera between them. So, whenever thereâs a chance for them to physically interact, the staff are always enthusiastic.
When George makes his way to the medical room, thereâs already a fair amount of people surrounding the windows.
âHeâs so attractive. I want to sleep with him.â A female staff member is peering inside through the glass, her sight filled with obsession. George knows her, sheâs the leader for the clothes department. Right now the clothes department doesnât have a lot to do. Theyâre only needed at the latter stages of the competition or when thereâs a special photoshoot opportunity, so theyâre pretty relaxed right now, and came to spectate early.
âDo you guys think he can make it to the end?â
âEh, itâs hard to say. The contestants this season are all pretty strong.â
âItâs going to be a pity if he dies in the middle. That big guy is almost 10 inches long !â
âI heard itâs two hours a go! Itâs regretful heâs not a modelâŚâ
George feels this group of ladies are spouting nonsense. Itâs going to be a true waste if he becomes a model!
George believes firmly that there is no one here that understands the man more than him. Bright is taciturn and powerful. He knows to lay low and endure when facing danger. Heâs also good at reading the atmosphere and the situation, capturing every opportunity he could. Like a good hunter, every time he catches one, it will be a lethal hit.
If you have to describe it in terms of an animal, heâs a wild tiger living alone, naturally adapted to the arena that is nature, to kill for a living, to dance with death, to experience ruthless battles and slaughters every day. Tending to his wounds alone, moving onward in the rains of blood and the winds of rot.
Thinking like that, his right hand starts trembling from all the inspiration that is hitting him as an editor.
âAh, the leaderâs here. Time to scarper!â
Hearing his coworkerâs warning, George looks away from the perfect muscles on the man, feeling regretful inwardly. He still doesnât manage to interact with number 199.
Seeing Hopkin in the medical room, Bright is slightly surprised, but he is truly happy.
The last time, he hasnât managed to restrain his little one from saluting to a stranger who is a clean freak and is repulsive to interacting with others. This left a bad taste in their mouths and even if it wasnât intentional or on purpose, he still is a bit worried and apologetic about that.
Though the timing and situation of meeting at this time is not particularly suitable, Bright still feels pleased and shows Hopkin a kind smile to hide his own embarrassment.
Embarrassed because he just experienced a full-scale body check and hasnât had the opportunity to dress up yet. Also with the stimulation of the machinery, his little one is half-awake. When Hopkin came in he was waiting for it to calm down.
Luckily, Hopkin looks disinterested without any expression of disgust.
âI brought an educational needle shot for you. Thereâs everyday knowledge, basic academic knowledge and a certain amount of experience on production techniques. Do you want to do it yourself or should I call someone?â
Even though he has to stuff books into his head until it hurts every end of semester and prayed countless times to God for such a wonderful invention, is this thingy which solves all your educational needs with a single shot really fine?
All that purports to be fruitful without effort has its underlying risks.
Bright is troubled and in distress.
On the one hand, heâs afraid this will affect his way of thought, like brainwashing or hypnosis. He doesnât know if this might overwrite his core values of socialism, making him forget things like âall men are born equal,â or âall power belongs to the people,â making him into a standard citizen of the City. This is the main reason why when Hopkin and he talked about this the last time, he made an excuse that he doesnât have to money to inject the educational shot.
On the other hand, he realises that Hopkin is probably worried about him holding himself to the fact that he owes him, so he repays him himself in a way he thinks is appropriate. This attitude that just screams âdonât mess with meâ is peculiarly attractive to himââOh, am I a masochistic top?
In this world, things that familiarise themselves with him makes him feel dangerous, and things that doesnât make him feel safe.
Bright dodges the question of having a shot, and with a joking tone, âif youâre like that, Iâd think youâre trying to draw a clear boundary with me, and one-sidedly end our current relationship.â
Hopkin looks at him with his deep, dark eyes, as if to say, thereâs a relationship between us?
Bright would respond, we can have any relationship you want as long as thereâre no needles involved!
Authorâs notes: Itâs not that Bright doesnât trust Hopkin, he just hates needles hahahaha.