Clown Game
Chapter 196 - 184 The Truth and the Reward

Chapter 196: Chapter 184 The Truth and the Reward

Tsujido Yuto left the room that had been converted into a bar.

TV-kun had just finally announced that Chen Xiao was the winner of the competition. As the opponent... or rather the loser, Yuto naturally had no reason to stay any longer.

Chen Xiao poured himself a glass of what looked like an expensive drink and tried a sip...

"Ew~" he immediately made a disgusted face, "To be honest, I know this drink is definitely top shelf, but... it really doesn’t taste as good as a sweet soda."

On the TV screen, that line segment once again converged into an expression—(◞‸◟)

"Actually... the ending wasn’t supposed to be like this..." TV-kun hesitated and said.

Chen Xiao put down his glass, his tongue wriggling in his mouth to wash the taste of the alcohol off his taste buds, "Oh? Is that so... Sorry about that."

He apologized with his words, but his expression was one of total indifference.

TV-kun sighed helplessly, "My original intention was for you to build a story using limited plot elements... I must say, you and your opponent shaped the story far beyond my expectations, I thought it would be more enriched... But, you completely negated it all in the end."

Chen Xiao smacked his lips, "Oh? Then why did you still declare me the winner? Hehehe..."

He said, laughing, but by his look, it was clear he already knew the answer.

Indeed...

"Because, I feel what you said was the actual truth, and what I thought, was just a boring story," TV-kun said, his tone filled with woefulness... :"I’m just an anomaly, a TV set, though for some reason, I have thoughts, but my thoughts are confined within the frameworks I have experienced... Every day I broadcast insipid films, repeating those mindless plots, that’s all there is to me. So, I wanted some truly good stories, stories that would astonish, delight, and make one feel the time spent was worthwhile! But... now I understand that ultimately, stories are just stories, and the real things will always only exist outside of them. Just like you said..."

At this moment, Chen Xiao interrupted indifferently, "Ah? What I said? What did I say? Did I say that all these shots are rubbish, or this story is as boring as a pile of shit, utterly meaningless? Hmm... I seem to have indeed said those... but that’s all nonsense, actually, I think the story’s not too bad..."

Σ(☉д⊙) "Huh?" The TV set blinked, "But then why..."

"Because I ran out of chips man!" Chen Xiao interrupted again, "That damn kid had twice as many chips as me! Of course, I had to think of something! If I was in a story, the readers of that story probably wouldn’t want me to lose to such a tastelessly tacky guy, right?"

He spoke nonchalantly, as if it were none of his business, "As for what you just said... stories having no purpose? Cut it out, stories are more real than reality..."

"But... stories are all fake..." (｡í_ì｡)

"Ah, I know, stories are fake, movies are fake, novels are fake, right...

So what about reality then?

Is it everything we face every day?

Crushing pressure, exploitative bosses, work you loathe to the bone but have to trudge through day after day, year after year just to survive, until you become nothing more than a beetle that can’t look up! Such a life... yeah, pretty real, huh.

Ah... forget watching movies, stop reading novels, they are all illusions, you might as well work more with that time, earn some money!

Yes, with that time you indeed could earn some money,

Humans created money, and then became enslaved by it. Labor was originally a voluntary act by people to become wealthy, but it became a dependent act to barely hang on to survival.

Society has become like this, and yet we are to dive back in, turning into true zombies.

Love, redemption, compassion, dignity, justice, pleasure, introspection, humility, morals...

These things... have been squeezed out of place by ’reality,’ ultimately finding refuge only within so-called ’stories.’

"These... how much are they worth?"

Chen Xiao muttered to himself in a low voice while on the TV screen... those expressions kept scattering and reassembling, not settling for even a second, and finally, turned into a line that fluctuated with the gentle tone of his voice.

"So... just keep spinning your tales, stories are often truer than reality itself. Oh, by the way, do you remember that female writer I mentioned? Though I have no clue what she writes about, I think you two would get along well~"

At this point, the TV also finally showed an expression:

(*’ v`*)

"Hmm... this feels really good~~~~ but if that’s the case, then you can’t really be considered the winner of this competition..."

"Oh... so?" Chen Xiao chuckled and asked.

"So... as the fair party in this competition... within the limits of my capabilities, I can try to get you some ’extra’ goodies!"

Chen Xiao’s eyes sparkled slightly... like a thief eyeing a fat, naive tycoon, he leaned forward and whispered, "Hmm... like what..."

"Like... I know in Area A, there are many combat supplies available, if I just manipulate things a bit, maybe the reward for this competition... won’t just be Grade B anymore."

Hearing this... Chen Xiao was also slightly surprised: "Ah? Manipulate? But... how can you manipulate, being a household appliance~?"

At that moment...

"Ahem~" the TV cleared its throat a bit: "Well... I’m not just any household appliance, you know..."

As soon as these words were spoken

the TV screen dimmed down

and the next second, all the lights in the bar began flashing rhythmically! Following that, the coffee grinder also began slowly rotating, the numbers displaying the temperature on the fridge started changing, overall, every electric device in the entire bar seemed to come to life all at once.

This wondrous scene lasted for a short while, then with a "snap," the TV screen lit up again.

"I can access any electric device via the electric current!"

While saying this, it quite magically blinked an eye... ξ(＞◡❛)

Seeing this series of magical operations, coupled with the dynamic emoticon, Chen Xiao was so shocked that he didn’t know what to say for several seconds. After a while: "Err... then why do you stay in the TV...?" he asked, and the next instant, he answered his own query: "Alright... the TV has speakers and can display expressions, it definitely suits you the best!"

The TV seemed very pleased with the compliment, appearing extremely happy. (￣︶￣)↗

"Well... let’s cut to the chase, can you get me some... um... Grade A stuff?"

"Of course... though I’m not entirely sure what I can get, oh, you can also choose a Grade B reward according to the rules, at least that way you can pick weapons, defensive gear, medicinal serums... or even points."

Chen Xiao stared with dead-fish eyes, speaking in a half-dead tone: "No kidding, of course I want Grade A stuff, what’s the difference between a person without dreams and a salted fish?"

The TV changed its expression

ヾ(￣▽￣)... please hold on~

Afterward, this expression "swooshed" off the screen’s edge

...