“I wish to be able to still see you from now on. If there’s something I can do, please do tell me about it.”
This is the first time Bright is flirting. It sounds forced, stiff, unnatural. He does not expect it to be received well.
The elementary education of the City has still affected him in some sense. Not passively, but he actively embraced the change.
The fundamental reason lies in how citizens of the City treat lust. They do not have the concept of ‘Lust is the worst of all evils.’ In this world, ‘lust’ refers to a sort of greediness. It means excessive desire of something, but does not mean lustful. The meaning is similar to ‘corrupt’ in “ Neither riches nor honours can corrupt him “. They seem to treat human’s emotions and desires plainly. They obey them. They indulge in them. They let them guide them by the nose. They pursue satisfaction for their desires the whole life. If they do not get satisfied, they fall into pain and anxiety. They will sacrifice everything without principles to achieve their goals.
Greediness is a beast that can never be satiated, like Taotie , never knowing moderation, never able to fill it up; however, if he can tame it and use it, does it mean he can possibly make the citizens of the City obey him in a deferential manner?
Bright stems his thoughts that are darkening and darkening. His sense of morals stops him just as he is about to veer off the path. He has avoided a long gaze into the abyss.
He pulls his attention back onto Hopkin, who appears to have been shocked senseless by his actions.
When Bright is certain he has failed, Hopkin’s thin lips curl upwards. His voice carries a playful tone to it.
“Anything goes?”
Of course not. I’m not an omnipotent deity. Bright tells him frankly, “I promise I’ll do what I can. You know that I value your presence and our relationship. If there is something I can do that will convince you of that, I’ll try my best.”
“I’ll consider your proposition. We’ll be in contact.”
Hopkin exits the medical room after saying that. He is afraid he’ll lose control and tear apart his pretensions if he stays any longer, to enjoy the delectable prey. He tells himself that it is not the right time yet. The grape is not ripe enough.
Besides, there’s an irritating guy outside.
“Gentleman,” the Director appears to disapprove of how deeply immersed Hopkin is in his game, “number 199 is a property of the show.”
“The whole show is a property of Inner City residents.” It’s not just yours, Hopkin warns indirectly. The Director is just someone the Inner City chose to organise things related to the show. The old man has stayed long in this position and is looking ambitious. He seems to have falsely perceived the show as his own property, seemingly losing the ability to discern the priority of things.
“Yes, it belongs to the Inner City.” Nor is it yours.
“And I have the right to enjoy the amusement brought forth by one contestant,” Hopkin gives an insincere chuckle, “like what you do to each Champion of the Season.”
The Director liked to play with the perfect works of art he creates. He molds contestants with potential into the shape he wants. He arranges them like marionettes in his own script, preparing them on all aspects. Whether it’s their body, their personality, or their reputation, he makes it so that they’re ‘ready’ for his consumption, ‘worthy’ for him to partake. He is proud of that and thinks of it as part of his achievement.
The Director suppresses his rage and perks his lips. He says in a suggestive manner, “oh, I sure hope number 199 can last until the end now.” He seems to suggest he will fight for the right to number 199 with Gentleman.
The Gentleman ignores his provocation, and says in a plain tone, “I believe in your experience and insight; I hope it will be so.”
Seeing how Bright has come back without losing a limb or two, Wolfie is very surprised, “I thought you’ll be there for a day at least, being punished and then getting treatment and all that.” He’s currently stuffing his face full of meat. Bright never allows him to bring food back to the dormitory when he is there.
“Don’t eat on the bed.” Bright scolds him. He sneaks a peek at the roasted meat Wolfie is having. The latter speeds up eating with guilt. He opens the windows to disperse the smell before throwing the rubbish outside the dormitory room.
Then Bright starts feeling a bit better. He is allergic to the meat in this world. Wolfie has learned about that having lived with Bright for a few days.
“Weird…” Wolfie mumbles before asking Bright, seeing how his expression is softening, “the staff didn’t screw with you?” How he is putting it is way too suggestive. There’s no telling what people will misunderstand if they hear that.
Bright replies, “it’s just a body check.” He tells Wolfie to report the latest information to Alpha. Their previous agreed-upon strategy of maintaining animosity on the surface has worked. They have calmed the show down for now, having endured the crisis.
Wolfie returned quickly, then relays the “maintain the status quo” reply Alpha gave to him. He thinks about it a bit, before saying, “I don’t know what you talked about with Leader to make him decide to work together with you and keep your secret. But the failure of the operation means they’ll be punished by the military. Fulfil your part of the agreement or I’m not letting you get away.”
Bright ignores Wolfie’s warning. The werewolves agreed to ally with him not just because of their common interest, but mainly because the werewolves have seen a value they can exploit on him——He is able to enter the Inner City. The secret to werewolf production is hidden in the Inner City. Bright has to steal the technology for them, while the werewolves have a way to get rid of the bracelet.
This alliance is very weak. The werewolves can always try to obtain the technology for increasing their ranks with other methods. Bright can also always try to find another way to open the bracelet. They are also currently facing a great amount of their respective external pressure. Their enemies and they have too great a disparity in power. What they can do is limited. It can be said they’re having a hard time just keeping themselves safe.
For now, Bright can only look out for each other to the extent of his ability. He will not sacrifice his own interests for them, and believe they will do the same thing.
For the most time, he’ll have to fight alone. Like being taken to a body check this time, the werewolves couldn’t do anything to help. And the punishment the military will dish out to them is probably something out of his reach as well.
Let’s wait and see.
After the fourth episode aired, the website for the show has been the target of a malicious attack by hackers, and had to shut down for an hour. The animal protection groups were outraged by the cruel animal torture occurring inside it and decided to take action in this extreme manner.
At the same time, those contestants that have acquired a large amount of points, ranking above others have had widespread attention. Especially Grizzlybear Andy, who is the top-ranking contestant right now with the most points. His body is agile and large. He is easy to anger and irritable, so he is called Grizzlybear. In the fourth episode, he massacred a whole family of pumas. From their two males, to their seven females, and even their three juveniles, none were spared.
The show, trying to stir up trouble, cut and mixed a few clips that showcased the ability and creativity of the contestants. The videos on Grizzlybear where he won when pincered by two male pumas and how he twisted and crushed each and every bone throughout the body of the juvenile pumas bit by bit had a large amount of views.
In contrast, the contestants who did not have many points did not receive much attention, except for Bright. It’s not known who, but some professional has cut an episode of him intermixed with a Bengal tiger, painting him the figure of a lonely, fierce tiger.
Bright has never interacted with any tigers, but the video editing was perfect. It’s like he is an actual tiger that hunts and lives in the forest.
One shot he is traversing in the green underbrush, the next second a beautiful, healthy big cat jumps out into the camera. The brown and white creature with black stripes lunges forward at its prey. It captures the neck of the herbivore in one fell swoop. The camera zooms in onto a close-up of the eyes of the predator, and when the camera zooms back out, the eyes have become the man’s. They’re the same brown eyes that give the same cold light. The video that is synced is precisely the shot where he killed Beast. His strong hands grasp his head, and with a powerful twist, Beast has lost his life and his head droops down unsupported.
Precise, lethal, efficient. There was no filler and no action was wasted. This is the perfect art of killing!
As the whole concept and production of the video are fresh and independent, it managed to surface its way through the ranks without attack or suppression from the animal rights groups.
They are both about taking lives, but Bright and Grizzlybear Andy represent the two extremes of it. And so naturally they are put together in comparison by the audience.
One emphasises the process, the other the objective.
The audience has easily distinguished the contradictions on Bright. He is powerful enough to quickly dispatch Beast who is known for his physical prowess. He is still far above the average even if he is not part of the best, yet he can’t even last against Bright, which is telling of how strong Bright is. And yet, Bright never massacres or slaughters. Throughout the shooting of the reality show gauntlet, he has only ever killed one person, and it is a justified retaliation due to being hunted.
Some male viewers are chastising his cowardice, his timidity, his softness; he’s some sissy who’s had his balls castrated. On the other hand, his actions have won goodwill from many female audience, who enjoy the furry, cute animals by instinct. They are absolutely turned off to the likes of Grizzlybear Andy, and are instead fans of the ‘affectionate boy’ trope.
“I want to ride on that big tiger.”
“You’re not alone.”
“+10086”
Grizzlybear also sees the video, then he proclaims, “I want to try and see how breaking the bones of an adult tiger feels like.”
Bright is stumped, “…”
The animal protection groups are having endless conflicts with the show. They not only attacked the website of the show, they are also coercing the public to start boycotting the show. The show also retaliates, and the situation fires up. This is reflected in the show in the form of the fifth episode, where their target is still to attack animals with a different theme to it.
On the vast grasslands, Bright and Wolfie worked together well and managed to surround a herd of wildebeests. They then picked the most lean one and skinned and dissected it. They made a fire and had a roast, managing to enjoy a great feast.
Bright has also increased his level in cooking in the apocalypse zombie game. His techniques are professional. Even when they have only limited ingredients and tools, he managed to cook something delicious with some crude salt and wild ingredients they picked up on the way.
“You’re eating meat?” Seeing him tear a leg out and put it in his mouth, Wolfie is surprised.
Bright laughs, and uses the chance to clear up the misunderstanding people have of him, “I like to make my own meals.” God knows what kind of meat the other people will cook for him to eat.
Wolfie eats his fill and feels satisfied. Under the drive of delicious food he is fired up, “let’s go hunt zebras!”
“Zebra meat is tough, the texture is not as good as beef.”
“Antelopes?”
“The meat is distinctively gamey. It’ll be troublesome to eliminate.”
The two continue to rack up points as they continued their open-air picnic.
Nearing the end of the episode, when Bright thought he could slack to the end, an accident occurs.
On the grasslands without horizons, the wind howls and the grass are blown low onto the ground. A strange looking, tall beast with a weird head heads for them from far away. After looking at him in detail Bright managed to discover that it is just a strong-looking, muscular man who is wearing a new coat of fur recently ripped from a Savannah Highmane, and also wearing the complete head of the lion on his head. The man is soaked in what might be his or the animals’ blood. He looks just like a monster with a lion head and a human body from far away.
“There’s no tigers on the grasslands, so I’ll have to make do with you.”