[Synopsis]
On an ordinary workday, after his usual bit of slacking off, Zhu Jiashu had just walked out of the restroom when he suddenly realized there was an unfamiliar corpse lying at his feet.
H-He'd transmigrated?
There was a card on the body. He had just picked it up and read the words "Mentor Pass" when an electronic voice suddenly sounded in his mind:
"Congratulations! You've become a strategy mentor on Escape in Progress. Help the students debut as a group! But as a mentor, you can be eliminated if your popularity is too low, too! Please return to the mentor's seat within ten seconds, or you will die immediately. 10, 9, 8..."
What the hell was this? They were forcing him into it, too!
He put on a show of calm as he rushed out of the restroom, but the student profiles he was reading in his mind made him jolt with alarm:
The initial center position was a powerhouse from an infinite-flow story who had just returned from an escape dimension;
Student No. 2 was the famed founding emperor from history three thousand years ago, who had risen from slavery;
Student No. 3 was playing the gentle, mature type, but inside was a scheming true young master who had been reborn as a triple-crown film emperor;
Student No. 4's soul belonged to the future interstellar era's invincible Federation Marshal;
Student No. 5 was the greatest sword cultivator in the cultivation world; Student No. 6 was a possessive, devoted ability user who had transmigrated from a zombie apocalypse...
Hold on, hold on. He was supposed to mentor these people?!
He was doomed!
.
One of the mentors, who was also the host, finished introducing this season's students to the audience from unknown planes. The main camera and spotlight then slowly turned toward the last mentor, who had hurried over.
"Now, let us introduce this season's most mysterious and most unusual guest..."
The comments in the livestream had already begun complaining:
[Who is this guy? He looks so dazed. Where'd they find this random nobody?]
[I've never seen him on the rankings. What's so mysterious about him? It's just a gimmick for the show.]
[My guess is he'll die on the first night, hehe.]
[Poor guy. Is this season going to use a "first mentor to die" plot to get trending? Looks like he's done for.]
His palms were clammy, his back soaked through. Zhu Jiashu knew nothing about this place, but he straightened his back on instinct and did everything he could to keep his fingers from trembling.
He still looked dazed, but when the camera turned to him, he slowly smiled.
With gentle shyness, even a hint of awkwardness, he brushed the loose hair by his ear with fingers stained with the corpse's blood. "...Hello, everyone. I look forward to working with you."
Before everyone's eyes, as he raised his hand, a mentor pass slipped to the floor as if by accident.
The name on it was blurred and twisted, until it finally turned into a bloodstained line of text: "Zhu Jiashu."
His features were refined, his head bowed and eyes lowered as he spoke politely. But when he lifted his lashes, his eyes were pitch-black, unfathomably deep.
His voice was exceedingly gentle, yet it carried a sticky sweetness and a malice that seemed about to spill over.
[…Holy shit.]
[...Where did the production team dig up this powerhouse?!]
[I checked, and the originally scheduled mentor didn't have this name. So... did he kill this season's original mentor right in front of everyone at the start?]
[Is he showing off for us? Damn, that's bold! I'm hooked!]
.
First Speed was a talent show broadcast to the Myriad Worlds. After five previous seasons, the audience had lost interest, and the show was beginning to decline.
Without exception, past mentors had been top experts from different planes. The students, meanwhile, were contestants who had regrets and wanted to live their lives over again. They entered the battle royale to compete fiercely for the final slot that would let them debut reborn.
In the five previous seasons, the most popular contestants had always been the students, with the top spot changing hands among them. But this season brought an unexpected twist: the hottest name turned out to be a black-haired, black-eyed mentor.
Not only was he a sensation in his own right, he also propelled the entire show to the number-one spot on the Myriad Worlds' trending charts.
◆ As always, the protagonist is the center of attention. No CP, no romantic pairings, but there will be plenty of scenes centered on the protagonist from supporting characters' perspectives. The author just loves watching him show off in front of everyone (shy).
◆ Plot-focused, with livestream comments in a supporting role. A delusion-inducing style: the story of an ordinary person (?) who stumbles into an escape-themed talent show, pretends to be a mentor, never gets exposed, and leaves after accomplishing his goal.
◆ The protagonist is a great actor. He relies on his brain early on and becomes a true powerhouse later. His confidence is top-tier from beginning to end (.).
Guiding Principle: Love will eventually make your dreams come true.
