Chapter 36 Fear of Death
'New Star Olympics' is open to any entertainer who has debuted within the past five years. There are 120 participants in total, divided into four teams (red, green, yellow, and blue) to compete against one another.
All the celebrities were seated inside the stadium, waiting for the upcoming draw to determine the team captains.
The host onstage had already introduced the first three captains, selected at random and shown live on-screen.
The first was last year’s double champion in both the men’s short- and long-distance races. With him on the team, at least two gold medals were practically guaranteed.
The second was singer+dancer heartthrob Sang Heng, whose older sister was the youngest Best Actress winner, Sang Ling. He was extremely well-liked within the industry.
The third was Xiao Yue, leader of the girl group AIR, which Tang Yuxia was also a member of.
Only the fourth captain remained to be determined.
Jiang Tao sat in a corner with a bag of toast, eating as she thought about what to have for lunch later. She had to admit, the athletes’ cafeteria here was surprisingly good.
The screen onstage spun rapidly.
Then suddenly, it stopped.
A beam of light shot toward the corner along with the camera.
Jiang Tao looked up blankly, still chewing her bread.
Host: “Congratulations! You’re now the captain of Team Blue.”
Jiang Tao: “???”
She stepped onto the stage in a daze.
The AIR girl group was standing right beside her. Tang Yuxia looked like she was about to cry. She had originally thought that with Xiao Yue as captain, Xiao Yue could bring Jiang Tao onto their team, and they could all be together again.
Who would’ve thought Jiang Tao would end up as Team Blue’s captain?
If not for her loyalty to the group, she would’ve run straight over to Jiang Tao’s team by now.
Once all four captains were present, the host began announcing the remaining rules, “This year’s games consist of nine major events and seventeen minor events. Aside from the final team event, each participant may compete in a maximum of three events.
“Each minor event awards three points for gold, two for silver, and one for bronze. The final team event awards ten points for gold, eight for silver, and six for bronze. The winning group will be determined by the team’s final total score.
“Now, all participants are free to choose their teams. Captains may select their team members, and participants may also choose whichever captain they prefer. Once you’ve decided, come to me to collect your team uniform. Each team can have thirty members, first come, first served.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the athletes below began moving.
The three other captains were especially proactive. Ten minutes later, Team Red was already full, followed by the second and third teams.
Only a handful of participants remained in front of Jiang Tao.
Fang Yiran dragged an unwilling-looking man over and greeted Jiang Tao excitedly. “Jiang jie! This is my good buddy Cheng Jie. We’re here to join your team.”
Fang Yiran and Cheng Jie were both boy-group idols, but since their group had too many members, they had been split up for the competition. Thus Fang Yiran had dragged Cheng Jie over to join Jiang Tao’s team.
Jiang Tao was still eating her bread. “Sit wherever you like.”
Cheng Jie couldn’t help asking, “Aren’t you going to recruit team members?”
Jiang Tao: “Huh?”
Cheng Jie pointed toward the field. “If you don’t go recruit people now, all the athletes who are actually good at sports will get snatched up by the other teams.”
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
The other three teams were already full. The only participants left were people who clearly weren’t in great physical shape. Many were comedians, character actors, and the like. Some were on the heavier side, while others were thin and frail, leaving them with no choice but to join Jiang Tao’s team.
The other three teams were inwardly gleeful.
Team Blue was practically a gathering of the old, weak, sick, and disabled. Looks like they had already secured last place.
When it came time to choose their opponents for the team competition, all three other teams unanimously picked Team Blue.
After all, Team Blue looked like an easy source of points. The team gold medal was worth a whopping ten points!
Team Blue members knew it too. With their builds and physical abilities, they probably had little hope of winning any medals. Most of them had only come to get some screen time and boost their exposure.
But after being rejected by three teams and then treated with such disdain, even the most easy-going among them felt their tempers flare.
“Captain! Let’s crush them!!”
They were fired up and brimming with fighting spirit.
At first, Jiang Tao hadn’t really cared. Winning the championship wouldn’t get her an extra feast anyway, so she figured she might as well treat it like any other variety show.
But after being infected by her teammates’ overflowing fighting spirit—
“Yeah! Let’s crush them!
“We choose Team Red!!”
The other team members: “...”
The teammates who had just been fired up were suddenly cowed again. “We don’t have to go that hard, Captain!!”
Team Red burst out laughing, convinced they had an easy win.
A smile also appeared at the corners of Su Yingxue’s lips.
It had been a long time since she’d seen Jiang Tao, ever since that film set a year ago.
Jiang Tao now looked so different from the person she remembered.
Thinking about all the upheavals around her lately, almost all of them had started because of Jiang Tao. Han Ziheng had gone to prison, which had hurt her reputation and cost her quite a few opportunities. Chu Ruoyu had also become somewhat colder toward her than before. Even Ji Qing had praised Jiang Tao.
Su Yingxue couldn’t afford to lose anything else.
She was determined to win H Brand’s new ambassador position this time!
Jiang Tao sensed something and glanced in her direction, but Su Yingxue had already looked away.
Jiang Tao licked her lips.
This variety show has quite a variety of food.
…
Although Team Blue was fired up, their overall roster was still far weaker than the other teams.
At the moment, the only two Team Blue members with a realistic shot at winning medals were Fang Yiran and Cheng Jie.
Fang Yiran was good at archery, while Cheng Jie had been training in swimming for years and even had a real shot at gold.
Cheng Jie was full of complaints. “Our team is so weak. We’re definitely going to come in last.”
Fang Yiran reassured him, “Jiang jie is really impressive though.”
Cheng Jie was so annoyed that he didn’t even want to talk to him anymore.
So what if Jiang Tao was good? How many gold medals could she possibly win?!
After Fang Yiran spent quite a while trying to reassure him, Cheng Jie finally managed to calm down, and the two made their way back to their team.
Jiang Tao had already finished registering her team members’ information. Although quite a few had only joined to make up the numbers, she had still managed to find several people with some actual training experience: two discus throwers, one former hurdler, and a Northeastern native who had volunteered to compete in skiing.
However, once they started training, the gap between them and the other teams became obvious.
Cheng Jie pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling gloomy again.
He knew about H Brand choosing a new ambassador too, but being in Team Blue, he basically had no chance.
Meanwhile, Fang Yiran had already run over to Jiang Tao.
“Jiang jie, what events are you signing up for?”
Jiang Tao was munching on some corn she’d gotten from somewhere. “Anything is fine,” she mumbled around her food.
Cheng Jie walked over. Hearing that, he sneered. “Quit bragging. All I’ve seen you do these past few days is eat, eat, and eat. You haven’t even trained, and you still dare say you can do anything?”
Jiang Tao blinked. “Then what do you want?”
Cheng Jie: “If you can lead Team Blue to the championship, I’ll kneel down and kowtow to you!”
“That’s not necessary.” Jiang Tao smiled harmlessly. “Just treat me to a meal.”
“That's hardly worth mentioning!” Cheng Jie said proudly. “If you win, I’ll treat you to a whole week of meals. Something different every day!”
Jiang Tao’s eyes lit up.
This time, it was Fang Yiran’s turn to press a hand to his forehead.
Then Cheng Jie watched in stunned silence as Jiang Tao effortlessly broke three of last year’s records.
Cheng Jie: “???”
He stubbornly held his ground. “There’s still the team event!”
The team event required eight participants. Even if Jiang Tao was incredibly strong, there was only so much she could make up for if the other members were weak.
What was more, Team Blue’s enthusiasm for participating in the team event was practically nonexistent.
Aside from them three, the remaining five spots still hadn’t been filled.
So Jiang Tao called the rest of the team members onto the track and said solemnly, “For the sake of victory in this competition, we need to undergo some special training!”
Although these team members had been fiercely eager for revenge at first, after several days of training, their initial fighting spirit gradually faded, and they began to entertain second thoughts.
Which was only natural!
Team Blue was visibly the weakest team. If they were going to lose whether they worked hard or not, then why bother wasting all that effort?
So although everyone showed up, they were more than a little reluctant.
Thus, when the starting pistol sounded, everyone raced off around the track. Two members slacked off and rapidly trailed behind.
Just as they were planning to leisurely jog their way through the lap, a terrifying presence suddenly appeared behind them, like a ravenous beast stalking its prey, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.
The sensation of being watched by something that wanted them dead made the hairs on the backs of their necks stand on end.
HELP!!!!!!
The two of them took off like their lives depended on it, going from dead last straight to the front.
But once they sped away, whoever had been in second-to-last place became the new last place.
And inherited the full force of that murderous glare.
With a howl, the new last-placer summoned every last ounce of strength and sprinted forward.
Under the fear of death, every member of Team Blue ran the fastest they had ever run in their lives.
Even the coach was stunned.
Jiang Tao followed leisurely behind them, notebook in hand, picking out the few members with the most potential.
Not bad, not bad. You guys will be the ones for the team event.
Watching from the sidelines, Cheng Jie was completely dumbfounded.
What the fuckk!!?
How is that a viable method?!
