Editor: Whiteflare
The main point was, even though they all knew that the two of those didnโt line up, there was not a single person there who wanted to return their tickets. Everyone just held their breaths, waiting for the follow-up with their ears perked up.
And so, the follow-up came.
โRight, I still have yet to properly give you thanks for coming just to cheer for me that timeโthank you.โ Crossing the bridge noodles was the first to speakโnot in the youthful voice he usually used to voice-act in dramas, but in his actual, natural voice. It still sounded young, but it was apparent that he was a young adult man. If one was to compare him to water, he would certainly be clear water infused with mint.
โNo need to be so polite,โ The tone of Qi Jingโs reply was as if he spoke with an old friend, light and leisurely, โIf anything, I have to thank you for refuting the rumours about me under the gossip postโcheering on for you is merely my returning the favour.โ
โThat gossip post about me and you was clearly heading towards bringing your name down later on, so as a person involved, me coming out to refute it was just a matter of course.โ This phrase from Crossing the bridge noodles was said in such a calm tone, that there was no intent to attack anyone to be heard, aside from those who were too obstinate and used to hating to realise this.
โThatโs true as well.โ Qi Jing said with a chuckle.
Audience 1: ฮฃ(ใฃ ยฐะ ยฐ)ใฃ…
Audience 2: ฮฃ(ใฃ ยฐะ ยฐ)ใฃ… Eh? Eh eh eh?
Audience 3: ฮฃ(ใฃ ยฐะ ยฐ)ใฃ So it turns out that Little Noodles and Donโt ask for my return dateโฆ they actually came here as friends??
Audience 4: Holy crap!! The reality really shook me!! Wait waitโฆ My mind is so blank that I canโt think straightโฆ But, about them knowing each other and even having a good relationship, I kinda feel really happy about it!!ใAs a Time Limit shipper Iโm so hyped, I want to go run circles downstairsใ
Audience 5: Helpโฆ Return and Crossing the bridge noodles were actually so close?? I remember that post, I think it was about Return sowing discord between him and the great god Bronze Sparrow Terrace or something.
Audience 6: Remembering that post +1. Seeing both of the people involved coming out to clarify it, Iโm suddenly so excited and happy~ \(โงโฝโฆ)/
But those listeners didnโt know that at this point, the true highlight of their show was still ahead.
โI feel like itโs because we never played main roles together that the rumours of us being in a conflict keep cropping out outside there.โ Qi Jing smiled slightly before suddenly changing the topic.
โDidnโt we already have a collaboration though?โ When Crossing the bridge noodles said that, the entirety of the audience bursted into exclamations of surprise, asking where the post thread for this drama was or where it could be downloaded. But his following words disappointed all the Rice Noodles Fans. โItโs a pity though, the producer still didnโt have time to officially make this news public.โย
โBut the strange thing is, the names of the main characters from this drama are just the same as our IDs.โ Qi Jing faked a musing.
โWhatโs even more strange is, the producer actually sent our lines separate from each other,โ Crossing the bridge noodles continued lukewarmly, โAnd they even sent us the wrong scripts, with the one you got meant for me, and me meant for you.โย
โSo thatโs how it was?โ Qi Jing raised his voice, showing a surprised reaction, โNo wonder then, and here I was just thinking why am I the one cursing myself.โ
The audienceโs appetite got instantly whetted, just as did their interest.
Audience 1: o(โงโฝโฆ)o Aaaah! Begging everyone for this drama with the character names based on the main actorsโ IDs!!ใWhat is even that producer thinking, sending the wrong scripts?? This feels so weirdโฆใ
Audience 2: o(โงโฝโฆ)o Could it be an IRL ship audio drama?? I just canโt be this happy as a Time Limit shipper!!ใcovers faceใ
Audience 3: The one above, buddy, you probably guessed it wrong~ Return Date has clearly said that he was cursing himself in it, so it doesnโt seem like a ship audio drama, and more like a fightโฆ Aaaaaah, in the end what is that drama, this curiosity is about to kill me! Begging to publish the script! Even a small paragraph is fine!
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
โSnfgsbcf rffwr nfgs lcafgfrafv lc ilrafclcu ab la, rb tbk jybea la, Rbbvifr?โ Hl Alcu rbeuta tlr bqlclbc mbegafberis.
โSince the scripts got swapped, then we might as well go on with how it is now. Letโs try acting it out together, shall we?โ Crossing the bridge noodles also agreed magnanimously.
โFine, then letโs begin from meโโย Qi Jingโs eyes curled up in a silent smile as he opened the picture he got back in a day from Jade Butterfly, using the classic โdelicate and superficially pureโ tone of a scheming concubine from the TV dramas, as if throwing a fit, โWhat kind of joke is that?! Who would want to play together in the same drama with someone as shameless as you, Donโt ask for my return date, and tarnish their good name?โ
Ktf jevlfcmf kjr vewyragemx.
Crossing the bridge noodles immediately replied in a mocking tone, โCrossing the bridge noodles, now that you consider yourself as godโs official CP, you suddenly dare to behave like Her Majesty the Empress? Such an excellent VA as me, of course I would get much better and popular than you. Iโm just not as shameless as you and donโt run around clinging to people, so I never got a chance to collaborate with the god. Now that I finally got such a huge backer like Bronze Sparrow Terrace, I need to fully utilise this opportunity.โ
Ktf jevlfcmf kjr jujlc oijyyfgujrafv.
Qi Jing had a hard time holding down his urge to laugh, but he still persevered in maintaining the resentful ladyโs toneโโEmpress in the Palaceโ style.ย โHumph~โ He even added a nasal hum, like a living display of a princess syndrome, โI know youโre cooperating with Bronze Sparrow, so youโre probably about to get popular from now on, but do I, with the amount of my fans in five digits, have to rub off some of your popularity? Whatโs more, the sheer thought of being in the same production crew as you makes me feel sick and all of the staff members who know me are aware of that.โ
Ca atja wbwfca tf qjerfv obg j ilaaif, atfc rjlv, oliifv klat lwwfcrf qglvf, โPo flatfg wf bg bcf bo atfw lr lc atf qgbvemalbc mgfk, sbe mjc obgufa jybea rajslcu lc la!โ
Audience 1: โฆ
Audience: โฆThatโs so much information at onceโฆ _(:ะทใโ )_
Audience 3: โฆI seem to have realised somethingโฆ _(:ะทใโ )_
Audience 4: โฆI also remembered somethingโฆ A few months ago, there was a similar rumour passed secretly between the staff members in the circle, so Donโt ask for my return date got kicked out of a lot of drama teams. This rumour got passed really far, I even secretly rejoiced in the fact that I didnโt look for him before.ใNow that I remembered it, I only want to cryโฆ Lord Donโt ask for my return date, Iโm begging for your forgiveness TATใ
Audience 5: So right now, are theyโฆ theyโre being sarcastic with it on purpose?? Aaaaah!! I canโt calm down now, begging for the truth!! (โฏ๏ผ๏ผฟ๏ผ)โฏโงโง
Audience 6: Honestly, when I first heard this gossip, I thought that it was either Donโt ask for my return date courting disaster, or Crossing the bridge noodles. But now that I got enlightened by hearing thisโฆ Hehe, listening to that, itโs probably someone using Bronze Sparrow Terrace to set them against each other? โฎ(โฏโฝโฐ)โญ
Them getting set against each otherโthere were sure many clever people among the audience, they got the clue very quickly.
In the end, it didnโt matter if Bronze Sparrow Terrace, as a driving point of the conflict, knew about being used or not. They would make this โpoint of conflictโ unable to ever appear in the gossip about them again, no longer letting it be used as the reason behind their โlove affair catfightsโ; the rumour about their so-called mutual jealousy would collapse on its own.
At that time, Crossing the bridge noodles raised his voice proudly, as if all mighty and lofty in his contempt, โAnd what about it? Are they even remotely as plenty as Bronze Sparrow Terraceโs fans? As long as he turns towards me, his fans would follow his suitโthe majority of Crossing the bridge noodleโs fans like Bronze Sparrow Terrace, so when the time comes, they would all switch sides, heh.โ
This โhehโ of his got โheh-edโ so very confidently, so frivolously, that hearing it made oneโs palms itch, ready to give him a slap.
Qi Jing on the other hand assumed a wronged toneโthe must-have of every superficially pure darlingโas he murmured instinctively, โIn a wordโฆ I wonโt give up Bronze Sparrow to anyone else.โ
Crossing the bridge noodlesโ contempt reached its highest, โHeh, boy, you are so delicate, making yourself seem so pure, using your lovely and pitiful looks to earn the Great God’s doting, just seeing this makes me sick.โ
Their exchange stopped at that.
The audience was completely dumb.
โPfftโฆโ Suddenly, one of them couldnโt keep himself from laughing anymore and bursted out in loud laughter and the other followed, laughing to his heartโs content. Two completely different, yet equally clear and pleasant voices resounded together and only then everyone woke up quickly from their shock among their laughter.
Audience 1: ๏ฝ\(โงโฝโฆ)/๏ฝ Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaโฆ
Audience 2: ๏ฝ\(โงโฝโฆ)/๏ฝ Hahahaha, I finally got it!!
Audience 3: Hahahaha, canโt stop slapping my desk!! It sure is a wholly new way to start an introduction!!ใI also suddenly got itโฆ Heh, some spheres sure are messyใ
Audience 4: It should have been a very serious topic, but I just canโt! Whoever wrote these lines from behind the scenes, what the hell were they thinking, hahahahaโฆ
Audience 5: (/โงโฝโฆ)/๏ฝโดโด Aiyo! Those two are just too funny! Impersonating each other to curse themselves out, hahahaha!
Audience 6: (/โงโฝโฆ)/๏ฝโดโด I donโt know why, I used to be a passerby โMossโ shipper, but now Iโm proclaimingโIโm now officially a โTime Limitโ stan!
This much plot development should be enough.ย Qi Jing skimmed through the comments in the chat, his voice returning back to usual as he said, laughing lightly, โEnough with it. In fact, today we wanted to make use of this occasion to say this to the producerโif youโre listening, of course.โ
Crossing the bridge noodles continued with the rest of his thought, โThe script wasnโt too shabby, just remember to not send the wrong one next time.โ
The corners of Qi Jingโs lips curled up, โAlso, if you were planning to produce a drama like this from the beginning, thenโฆโ
At that moment, out of the two of them, one laughed, the other snickered, both of them finishing the last bit tacitly.
โSorry, you chose the wrong leadsโโ
Audience 1: Aoaoawoooo!!
Audience 2: Aoaoawoooo!ใNo can do, just howling like a wolf!ใ
Audience 3: (*่ธโ*) Aoaoawoo! This random plot twist is just soโฆ Iโm really beginning to feel for those two!! It can be said that even without participating in the audition, Bronze Sparrow Terrace got slapped, pfft.
Audience 4: โญโฎ๏นโญโฎ What is it with me being both sad and happy?
Audience 5: โญโฎ๏นโญโฎ Both sad and happy +1ใLighting a candle for myself, a past Moss shipperใ
Audience 5: โญโฎ๏นโญโฎ Both sad and happy +2ใAs someone who didnโt know better and scolded Donโt ask for my return date for the sake of Little Noodles I really am about to die from shameโฆใ
โOkay, this should be enough to clarify everything for everyone, so letโs continue.โ Qi Jing smiled slightly, then went ahead to concede to Yang Chunqu, โOtherwise the host would be at a loss of what to do.โ
Crossing the bridge noodles hummed in agreement, but he didnโt leave immediately, suddenly calling out to Qi Jing lightly. โReturn Date.โ
โHm?โ
โI had said so before on weibo, and today I will say it again.โ As he was leaving, Crossing the bridge noodles just had to drop the heavy artillery without much care in the world, giving an unhurried, ambiguous chuckle, โCompared to Bronze Sparrow Terrace, I like you more.โ
That emphasis on the โyouโ really did let oneโs imagination go completely wildโ
The Time Limit shippers erupted in howls.
The Moss shippers cried, their hearts in shatters.
And Qi Jing facepalmed in silence.
Noodles-kunโฆ Youโre doing this on purpose, aren’t you?
โThank you for your confession of friendship,โ He took advantage of the course of this conversation and said, โI hope that your real boyfriend wonโt get jealous when he hears this.โ
โYou too,โ Crossing the bridge noodles heard the hidden reverse flirtation in his tone and laughed calmly, โI wonโt make a scene anymore, you too say hello from me to your boyfriend.โ
Information overload, information overload, information overloadโฆ
The key words, the key words, the key wordsโฆ
For now, there were only those two phrases in the listenersโ brains, buzzing around incessantly.ย This huge information overload was impossible to stomach at once. He believed that tomorrow, it would get analysed bit by bit by the folks in the forumโit was bound to nourish the fields of gossip in the online VA circle well. Aside from that, the post thread for โTime Limitโ was probably going to grow another page or two.
And as for someone who had nothing to do with the online VA circle like Yuan Zhengming, he could only silently type out in the chat, โAre you guys making fun of me?โย
But he really didnโt expect that those two really were about to have funโan earnest, but also unconstrained โfunโ.
Even though โFang Yishengโ didnโt actually get his POV in the original novel and was only described through the othersโ characters observations, he could still be said to be the hardest role to grasp in the fifth instalment of โชOrder to End the Heavensโซ in terms of the changes in his psyche.ย ย Each and every move of his got described by the author in great detail, only his mind didnโt.
That was because โFang Yishengโsโ character settings portrayed him as an โunfathomable manโ in the first place. For the contestants, a role like this could be said to be especially vague, with quite a lot of freedom of interpretation. If playing a different role could be said to be like writing a conventional essay with strict guidelines, then playing this character was like writing proseโnot letting it lose its essence while taking some creative liberties was quite a tricky matter.
Even after many years, whenever Yuan Zhengming recalled the performances of these two, he would still pull his hair and fume while complaining to others that โThey really were making fun of me.โ
Donโt ask for my return date was No.7, Crossing the bridge noodles No.8.
They were lined up closely one after another, so the contrast was naturally even more acute.
First of all, in the characters introduction provided by the competition, โFang Yishengโ was mentioned to be โCold and noble with arrogant temperament, ruthless when necessaryโ. But they didnโt provide any clear guidelines as for how these characteristics were meant to be embodied, as even in the original novel, he was only depicted through show-donโt-tell.
Qi Jingโs voice sounded noble by nature, everyone who listened to his previous two auditions knew that, but when it got paired with this role, it was still a bit too warm. But at the same time, his voice also had a conniving undertone to it, which was very suited for the shrewd and cautious side of this character.
Crossing the bridge noodleโs voice quality was cool, so he could completely embody that โcoldnessโ in its fullest when he remained solemn, but it also sounded too clear and pure. Just looking at the roles he usually took, he wouldnโt be able to play a man well-versed in the bloodstained depths of the court.
Yuan Zhengming really wished he could just smash those two into one.
Their strengths and weaknesses were plain to see, it was easy to foresee the effects of their acting and that would best be avoided.
After all, a competition is a competitionโeveryone would need to do their best to stress their good points while covering up their drawbacks. Currently, no matter if it was No.7 or No.8, neither of them was ideal, and their way of thinking was probably the same as his, to do their best to meet in the middle.
Orโฆ at least thatโs what he thought at first.
A/N:
Peddling, peddling, peddling the Time Limit ship~
T/N:
Lucilla: Gobbling, gobbling, gobbling down the Time Limit~
Whiteflare: hahaha give my regards to your boyfriend LOL
Moar pls เฒฅโฟเฒฅ
Thanks for the chapter ( โงะโฆ)
Hahahahahahahahah thank you for the chapter!
Wonder if the internet sleuths will uncover butterfly
Snork, what an intro
That was epic! Thanks for the chapter!
great chapter once again!~
Sorry I forgot who Yuan Zhengming was? Can someone tell plz.
Thx for the chapter
๐
Yuan Zhengming is the voice acting director for the game~ ๐
Ohh… now I remember. Thx
I am really bad at remembering names of people.
Gorilla-sensei? (Equally bad with names :’D)
Yuppp, every-monkey-reference-possible sensei xDD
Hahahaha, that was so much fun to read >D
Thx for the ch (ใ หใ ห)
Looking forward for more (((o(โกยดโฝ`โก)o)))
Possibly the best part of this novel?? I love it when the characters show off their relationship and lmfao poor gorilla sensei
Thanks for the chapter <33
These two! Their interaction was Gold!!!
They should do stand up comedy XD
Noodles! I am so sorry for misjudging u before!๐
LMAOOO THIS IS GOLD
(/ฯ๏ผผ) they must’ve have a lot of time for chatting so casually and openly in the midst of the competition. In front of different audiences, in front of the organization’s people. Skskskks. And the audince just eating up, reacting properly and echoing/supporting ๐ญ
At the very least, I guess we can sigh now in relief with them dispelling the rumors and coming out of the closet. Again, why there ๐ some of their fans and va circle as a whole, as mentioned in previous chapters, don’t even dominate or watch the competition.
This line is a good one for gently refusing an ambiguous “confession”: “thank you for your confession of friendship”! hahahahahahaha I laughed too hard, Qi Jing is really on point there…
AHHH SO MUCH HAPPINESS. I FEEL SO MUCH HAPPINESS