The game at Nancheng University ultimately ended in a draw.
Although Quentin, Yan Qiao, and Ji Sheng all found their targets within the specified time, the other teammates were just too unreliable.
Whether it was bad luck or bad brains, except for Ji Xu, none of the Inferno members on either team succeeded, each one standing at the meeting point with their heads hanging low.
Originally, they were secretly competing with the four trainees from NS, but in the end, they were utterly defeated in just one game.
Although the competition between boy groups mainly focuses on stages, awards, sales, endorsements, and such aspects, the war among boy group fans is not limited to these; a PK game in one variety show episode is enough to cause an uproar.
The most embarrassing thing was that this round of the game was not a competition between the NS trainees and Inferno, but rather the two groups were split up and assigned to two different teams. In other words, while Quentin and his team played steadily and turned the tide, these Inferno guys were just dead weight, dragging both teams into a draw with their mediocre performance.
Fortunately, there was still Ji Xu, who barely managed to preserve the last shred of dignity for Inferno.
On the way out of Nancheng University, the guests got into separate cars again, and their respective accompanying directors also seized the opportunity to interview them.
“Quentin, how were you so sure that Yan Qiao was the target you were looking for?”
“Because he best matched the clue characteristics.”
Quentin explained methodically: “The last clue, ‘x,’ was on the bus stop sign, representing that the target’s location was the unknown variable x, meaning this target had been moving.”
“Finding someone who never stops moving within an hour is too difficult, and the physical characteristics given in the clues were too broad. I assumed that the location clues the other guests received were fixed, so why was mine the only one that was unknown? Could it be that ‘unknown location’ itself is a clue.”
Quentin was not stingy with his words when elaborating on his thought process; he spoke much more in this interview than he did in the post-interviews for NS.
“From the omniscient perspective of this round, the director is the planner, the other ‘lovers’ are NPCs, and we are the players. The planner could determine the NPCs’ positions but not the players’ positions. Therefore, ‘unknown location’ refers to the players.”
“Coincidentally, many people were wearing black T-shirts, but all the guests recording the show today were wearing black Ts. The appearance-related clues I received fit most of the guests recording today quite well. Among them, I initially thought the ‘buckwheat noodles’ clue might refer to skin color, but after ‘x’ came out, I guessed that buckwheat noodles referred to the name.”
Quentin paused, then added: “During the game, these were all just guesses, and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but in the end, it was Yan Qiao. So, I suppose my reasoning wasn’t too problematic, right?”
The accompanying director gave a thumbs-up: “Absolutely correct.”
Although Quentin was very successful in his career in his past life, in fact, he had little experience recording variety shows, even less than Ji Sheng and the others.
He had participated mostly in talk shows, and that was only after his company persuaded him to go a few times to promote new songs and albums. As for a variety show like Cat and Mouse Game, he had only watched a little and had never been involved.
Quentin was always confident in his areas of expertise, but he remained cautious and humble regarding things he rarely dabbled in.
So, after receiving affirmation from the accompanying director, he felt much more relaxed. The joy of finding the unexpected ‘lover’ from the vast crowd washed over him belatedly.
And the interview was not over yet.
“Quentin, you probably don’t know this, but you’re the guest who used the code words the least. You only failed once before successfully finding your target. So, we’re very curious: what were you thinking when you realized you had found the wrong person?”
The accompanying director didn’t hide the amusement in his eyes as he spoke, cheerfully waiting for Quentin’s answer. But after half a minute of silence, the other party still hadn’t said anything.
He cleared his throat twice and tentatively asked, “Is it difficult to answer?”
Quentin shook his head: “I’ve already answered.”
‘Answered what? You haven’t said a single word… Wait, does the silence mean you weren’t thinking anything at all?’
The accompanying director hesitated: “You… you’re quite funny.”
Quentin didn’t say anything. He really hadn’t been thinking anything at the time. Mistaking someone wasn’t a big deal, and besides, that man’s attitude was quite good.
He even felt that the man looked a bit familiar; maybe he had seen him before at a performance venue. And that man probably recognized him.
But there was no need to mention these thoughts in front of the camera; it was enough for him to know.
…
Longhu City was a newly built comprehensive shopping center in Nancheng Economic Development Zone, covering an area of approximately 150,000 square meters. Although it hadn’t officially opened to the public yet, the infrastructure was largely complete, and some areas had entered a trial operation phase.
The Cat and Mouse Game production team had cordoned off the area of Building B2, and the final name-tag tearing game would take place inside this five-story building.
Before the game started, the twelve guests were taken to different positions by the staff.
Quentin was sitting outside a dessert shop on the third floor, seated in a chair with a glass railing behind him, from which he could overlook the fan-shaped area on the first and second floors. Directly below him was a blind spot. “I wonder what Yan Qiao and Wen Xinyi are planning.”
“Should I regroup with my teammates?” Quentin believed that the essence of the mouse team’s strategy lay in “hiding,” and that cat-and-mouse chases were merely a last resort.
If the cat team didn’t have a random location update every ten minutes, Quentin might have tried to disguise himself as a member of the Cat team, blend in with them, and walk along with the Cats.
But with the random location updates, who knew if he would be randomly selected? If his location happened to update just as he was walking among the Cat team, wouldn’t that be a live-action rendition of catching a turtle in a jar?
The vast indoor space of the shopping mall was empty and bright. With the sound of a whistle from the broadcast announcement, the final round officially began.
Perhaps to narrow down the targets, or perhaps due to insufficient manpower from the accompanying directors, only a cameraman followed beside Quentin.
The moment the whistle sounded, Quentin instinctively wanted to crouch down, bend his knees and move forward in a crouched position.
But just as he slid off the chair, it suddenly occurred to him: if he assumed this sneaky, hiding posture and ran into other guests, or was spotted by guests on the upper floors, wouldn’t that be too suspicious?
So, he silently stood up, dusted his clothes nonchalantly, and walked forward openly and confidently with his cameraman.
Before finding a suitable hiding spot, he had to adopt the identity of a cat team member. The premise to fooling others was to fool himself first!
The cameraman silently carried his equipment, watching the person in the lens, slightly surprised.
Quentin didn’t know this, but his accompanying director had watched NS after the guests for Cat and Mouse Game were invited and were deeply impressed by him.
His cameraman also had a daughter just starting middle school. She watched every episode of NS without fail since it first aired and was one of Quentin’s earliest long-time fans, her bedroom was filled with all sorts of merchandise.
And these two staff members, whether actively or passively getting to know Quentin in advance, had experienced quite a shift in their perception of him from the morning shoot until now.
One aspect was his looks, the other was his personality.
Anyway, neither of them expected that the top 1 of NS, who was rumored to have deep connections, consistently trended weekly, and was very popular, turned out to be a clear-headed, calm, and steady well-behaved student.
He had no arrogance whatsoever, was genuine, not proud, and not overly sensitive. Apart from being a bit spacey, he was good in every way. Even when spacing out, he had his looks to carry him.
Quentin was completely unaware of the filters others placed on him. He suddenly realized that he seemed to be having a bit of bad luck today.
He had walked from the starting point, and within twenty minutes, he had already run into four people!
The key was that everyone wanted to walk with him. He tried to find excuses to break away, but as everyone knows, Cat team members aren’t afraid of walking with others; only mouse team members are afraid of getting their name tags ripped off.
So, Quentin couldn’t be too obvious when making excuses. In the end, he only managed to shake off two people. Ji Sheng and Ji Xu still ended up walking with him.
The three of them chatted casually for a few minutes. As they talked, Ji Sheng couldn’t hold back anymore and took the initiative: “I’m on the cat team. After winning the first round, I drew a clue about a mouse team member. Want to exchange?”
He didn’t rashly try to probe Quentin and Ji Xu’s alliances. Everyone had very few clues right now, and asking wouldn’t reveal much. Who would be stupid enough to admit to being a mouse team member? Once a mouse’s identity is exposed, they’d be waiting to be swarmed by cats.
Ji Xu hesitated, glancing at Quentin: “…The clue I got is also about a mouse team member.”
Ji Sheng raised an eyebrow and teased: “Why are you looking at him? Your clue isn’t pointing to him, is it?”
“No, no!”
Ji Xu quickly shook his head, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, and smiled: “Brother, I’m a newbie, I don’t really know how to play. How should we exchange clues?”
“The clues are all on slips of paper; just exchange the slips directly. It’s not easy to fake this stuff anyway.”
“But we can’t be sure if what the other person says is true or false, right?” Ji Xu’s eyes were sincere. “What if you’re on the mouse team and you drew a cat team clue, but you said the opposite? We wouldn’t be able to tell, and what if we misunderstand a real cat team teammate?”
Ji Sheng snorted with a laugh: “So, you suspect I’m lying and think I’m a mouse?”
“How could I? I’m just giving an example. Exchanging clues right now is pointless for us. It’s only useful to discuss them with real teammates.”
Ji Sheng didn’t absolutely have to exchange clues, but since the three of them were walking together, having something to discuss was better than having nothing.
But he didn’t expect Ji Xu to be quite stubborn despite his sunny and gentle appearance.
“It is useful. How can it be pointless?”
Ji Sheng wasn’t a particularly patient person, but the two in front of him were both newcomers who had just come of age, almost kids by entertainment industry standards.
Moreover, he naturally respected strength and appreciated talented peers. For example, Quentin, in his eyes, was a genius idol, a rising star.
If he and Quentin were from the same company, after learning that they were recording Cat and Mouse Game together, he would definitely have arranged a dinner invitation to get familiar with him in advance.
Yeah, that’s right, it was differential treatment. The entire Inferno group wasn’t as meaningful as Quentin alone.
So, he patiently explained: “Regardless of whether we’re lying or not, the clues themselves are real. Do you both understand what your clues refer to? The three of us can discuss together; many hands make light work. Maybe we can successfully decipher them.”
Quentin could see Ji Sheng’s attention towards him. After thinking for a moment, he played along and said, “Mine is a photo, a black silhouette of one of the guests. I really didn’t recognize who it is.”
Ji Xu said helplessly, “Brother Ji, Quentin, it’s not that I don’t want to exchange, but exchanging really doesn’t benefit me. I already know who my clue refers to.”
Ji Sheng was very surprised: “You know?”
The faction clues in Cat and Mouse Game were generally quite difficult, usually hard to solve alone. Most people used the clues as an aid during the name-tag tearing process to confirm their guesses about other people’s identities.
Solving the answer directly… that was really rare.
Ji Xu answered ambiguously: “I just happen to be quite familiar with the person my clue refers to, so I could see it.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the broadcast announcement rang out…
“Ding dong, random locations have been refreshed. Please check them.”
