This was intimidation, right? It had to be intimidation.
Threatening that if he didn’t hire the kid, he’d plant him in there too!
Under this pressure, the Associate Director worked with astonishing efficiency. Early the next morning, Su Ximu received a same-city delivery.
Inside the envelope was an employment contract and a string of dorm keys.
He had already completed resignation procedures for his previous job, and the new one started in two days.
Although the Tourist Garden didn’t mind him continuing to use the Employee Dormitory, Su Ximu decided that since the new dorm keys had arrived, he’d move today.
His luggage was mostly packed; he just needed to bring his two pots of mushrooms, big and small.
The big pot had four blue mushrooms and one red mushroom.
The small pot in Su Ximu’s hand had only one little green mushroom.
It was truly a magical plant phenomenon. That initial half green mushroom, after being planted, really began to shrink gradually until it became a small mushroom egg.
Two days ago, the mushroom egg burst through its outermost spore shell and became a tiny, trembling little mushroom. The color was still green, but not as vibrant as before—now a very pale milky green.
It somewhat resembled a jade dew succulent Su Ximu had seen before.
Being a tiny pot he could hold in his hand and having raised it himself, it had become his favorite little mushroom.
When moving dorms, Su Ximu teamed up with Blue 242 as usual.
They had handled the resignation procedures together yesterday too.
According to what Blue 242 said, since they had to change jobs anyway, leaving one day earlier meant playing for one extra day—it wasn’t much different.
Blue 242’s luggage looked even lighter than Su Ximu’s. He packed everything into a single backpack. With his hands freed up, he could even help carry the large mushroom potted plant.
When the mushroom potted plant was handed to him, all five mushrooms in the pot trembled violently.
Su Ximu glanced at it and thought it was just normal shaking from walking.
Worried that Blue 242 Leader might find the large potted plant too heavy to carry alone, he stuffed the small potted plant into his bag, hung it on the suitcase, and freed up one hand to support the bottom of the large one.
“Thanks, Xiao Xi. Much lighter now,” Blue 242 said immediately.
“Thanks, Blue 242 Leader, for helping me carry the potted plant~” Su Ximu mimicked his words.
Both of them had already quit their jobs by now, but Su Ximu was used to calling him Blue 242 Leader. Su Wuzi, who was wearing the Blue 242 disguise, didn’t mind, so they kept it up.
The two got on the sightseeing bus and arrived at the Tourist Garden entrance. There, they hailed a taxi and headed toward the program group’s address provided in the hiring contract.
The taxi driver was quite chatty. Upon hearing the address, he spoke up proactively. “Bizarre Island? It’s been super lively there lately. I heard some idol selection show rented out the whole island? They’ve been trending on hot searches several times.”
“Tch, they’ve got money to burn.”
As he spoke, the driver’s expression darkened. He hammered the horn hatefully and overtook the car in front.
But soon, he smiled again. “Still, at least we’ll have something to watch next. Not boring at all.”
Su Ximu pursed his lips and said nothing. He rolled down the window, pretending to feel carsick.
Blue 242 glanced faintly ahead, a red glint flashing in his eyes.
The driver shuddered instantly, fell silent, and stopped recklessly venting his negative emotions.
This new job’s location had complicated roads.
After getting out of the taxi, they still needed to take a ferry to reach the Bizarre Island where the program group was.
Tanzhong City’s terrain was truly complex. Su Ximu still hadn’t figured it out even now.
How could a city that looked like an inland one have such a large sea area, complete with small islands?
The boat chugged along with a whooshing sound, moving quickly. The people on the same ferry as Su Ximu all carried suitcases—they were probably program group staff too.
This time, he no longer enjoyed special treatment as a connected insider. Throughout the ride, the other staff sitting in front of or behind him didn’t spare him a single glance.
The young man in the hoodie with the hood up curved his lips, revealing sweet little dimples, and felt a familiar sense of security.
About ten minutes later, the boat docked. A massive island came into view, its facilities strikingly modern.
At the dock, a huge neon sign stood tall, already flashing even in broad daylight.
A passionate voice boomed from the speakers. “Welcome to Bizarre Island! Please take your positions, everyone. Tonight’s Big Star is about to start recording! Let’s get ready to welcome the trainees!”
Su Xuanxiao, as the eldest brother, had guessed wrong about one thing. This flashy variety show style of Tonight’s Big Star really wasn’t Su Wuzi’s thing.
He had only recommended it here because it seemed suitable, so Xiao Mu could take a temporary job.
Compared to those bizarre weird entities out in the world, all the trainees here should be more compatible for Xiao Mu to get along with.
Under the broadcast’s instructions, the staff gathered beneath the neon sign. Su Ximu and Blue 242 were naturally among them. The program group staff present didn’t all recognize the mushrooms they carried, so their expressions showed no change.
Once all the arriving staff had gathered, the broadcast called out. “Makeup team, step forward to position one on the left.”
Several men and women carrying large toolboxes stepped to the left first position.
“Props Team, step forward to position two on the left.”
A few more people with large toolboxes stepped out.
“Selection Team, step forward to position three on the left.”
Su Ximu perked up, pulled his small suitcase along with the mushrooms, and stepped forward.
Selection Team—as the name implied, it overlapped somewhat with dorm management duties.
According to the job description in the contract, they mainly handled waking up the trainees, taking sick trainees to the island’s emergency room, occasionally spot-checking for contraband, and maintaining daily dorm discipline.
The Selection Team, including Su Ximu, totaled six people.
After the first episode of the idol selection show and the trainees’ initial rankings, each Selection Team member would be responsible for a batch of trainees at the corresponding level.
While the program group on Bizarre Island bustled about assigning duties to the staff…
Real World
Weird Tales Confidentiality Bureau
Dance Practice Room
Amid the strong rhythmic music, Rao Fei stretched his arms, kicked his legs, spun, jumped, sweated profusely, and locked into the final pose on the last beat, throwing a sexy wink at Bureau Chief Zhao across from him.
Of course, in this dance routine, he was just backup. The true center was one of Group A’s members, Wang Xingxing.
Before being selected as a player by the weird dungeon, he had been a big-agency trainee ready to debut.
Next to Wang Xingxing were two cool guys over 185 cm tall—one with red hair, one with silver-gray hair. Following the dance instructor’s guidance, they held their final poses while slightly panting, flashing abs that were insanely handsome—top experts dispatched by the Central Bureau to ensure Bureau Chief Lin cleared the dungeon.
Once the dance ended, Rao Fei looked toward the corner. There sat a delicate young man tearing into a painful split, their target for this dungeon run: the four-protect-one objective, Lin Lan.
He was also the Weird Tales Confidentiality Bureau’s honorary bureau chief, whom they usually addressed as Bureau Chief Lin.
“My legs! My legs are gonna break…”
Their respected Bureau Chief Lin gasped weakly now, looking like he’d been pulled from water.
But Bureau Chief Lin had no choice—who could predict when the super large-scale dungeon in the Weird World would suddenly launch, outpacing their plans.
These veteran players had officially learned via the Weird app yesterday that their dungeon entry was tomorrow at 8 a.m.
No escape—it was this one! Dungeon [Weird 101]! That massive boy group idol draft dungeon!
As everyone knew, idol drafts were huge looks-based competitions.
To ensure Bureau Chief Lin passed the dungeon, this instance scrapped all prior plans from C City Branch and the Central Bureau.
The Central Bureau expert initially pegged as Bureau Chief Lin’s lifeline got ruthlessly cut. No other reason—he was great everywhere else, but 160 cm tall and 160 pounds.
These two cool-guy experts were scraped together by the Central Bureau combing through the entire bureau.
Rao Fei withdrew his gaze and decided to run the dance again.
As for Wang Xingxing, the C-position of their dungeon squad, he quickly adjusted his state, walked up to the pained Lin Lan, squatted down, cupped his still baby-fat cheeks, and sighed. “Sigh, Bureau Chief Lin, seeing you like this really makes me feel insecure.”
He had an 80-year-old grandpa above and an 8-year-old sister below; his parents were over 40 too. He was fully prepared to go down fighting for Bureau Chief Lin.
But this dungeon was truly special.
An idol draft dungeon.
He had already guessed that surviving and clearing it safely meant snagging one of those final debut positions.
No other way to clear.
Solving puzzles or whatever wouldn’t work here.
What puzzles were there to crack in an idol draft?
As for forcing a clear?
Sorry, not enough strength.
Lin Lan panted heavily under the dance instructor’s tough training. “I… I’ll try hard. I… I’ll do my best.”
“You guys… don’t worry. Once we’re in the dungeon, if… if I need to sell out teammates, I will! Sell ’em immediately!”
He knew his mission. Among all registered players at the bureau—or rather, all on record—only he could use that weird item.
Only with that weird item constantly activated could the weird tales dungeon’s random player selection be restricted, avoiding picking the Old Man or children.
“I’ll be heart of stone, ruthless as a wolf, cold against a thousand accusing fingers! One general’s success over ten thousand bleached bones—I will survive the dungeon!”
With the mood set, Rao Fei timely stepped forward with the two cool guys.
The five stacked their palms and shouted their slogan loudly. “Four Protect One combo, go! Go! Go!”
