Chapter 12: HTSCF CH 011 Overbearing CEOs are a dime a dozen.

A/N: Welcome to the next arc! It is probably not what you’re expecting… lol. Major thanks to my friend Stephanie for betaing this arc. Holy shiz, she really worked hard on this arc guys. In case some of you missed it, a short extra can be found on my website! HTSCF has a Spotify playlist !

 

“Proceeding to the next world ‘Capturing that Tsundere CEO with my Voice’ in 30, 29, 28…” 

 

Unlike in the first world, where Jun woke up in the peace and comfort of his dorm room, he was startled awake by a sudden jolt and a rather big head bump against something hard. 

 

“Ugh…” 

 

Miserably, Jun blinked his eyes open to find himself in a moving vehicle, driving on a dirt road path through some forest. Beside him in the driver’s seat sat a man with short platinum blond hair and an expressionless face.

 

|System, am I being kidnapped?|

 

|If you were being kidnapped, would you be sitting in the passenger’s seat unrestrained?|

 

|It was a joke.|

 

|Haha.|

 

|Nevermind, just relay to me the plot of this world.|

 

|Of course, my dearest Host!| 

 

Sometimes, Jun felt the system had a split personality or, at the least, too many mood swings.

 

This world was that of a BL novel.

 

‘Oh, thank god.’

 

|I wouldn’t get too excited, dear Host. You’re still a cannon fodder.|

 

|…|

 

In any case, the world Jun entered is that of a BL novel. The protagonist of the story is the uke, also known as the shou, named Asher Xavier. He’s an up-and-coming online celebrity singer. At the beginning of the story, he is invited to participate in a variety show to win the chance of being officially signed by an entertainment company. 

 

(A/N: uke/shou, Japanese/Chinese term for the one who “bottoms” in a male/male relationship)

 

This way, he can not only get publicity and gain new fans but would also be able to decide on his company of choice. Of course, this was only if he was able to win the variety show’s game. 

 

As a dual publicity stunt, various heads of the sponsoring companies will also be partaking in the show. With the natural route of events in these kinds of stories, Asher Xavier would win immense fame and fortune, as well as the hearts of viewers and the male lead seme, or gong. In this particular instance, the male lead seme is the tsundere CEO Ezekial Backert. 

 

(A/N: seme/gong, Japanese/Chinese term for the one who “tops” in a male/male relationship)

 

As for Jun’s role, he was naturally a cannon fodder only meant to suffer. His identity within this world went by the name Jun Teruya. Ezekiel is a specific type of gong known as a “slag gong”, and Jun had signed a contract of ‘benefits’ with him, making Jun Ezekiel’s sugar baby.

 

According to System’s data, Jun was chosen to be Ezekiel’s sugar baby because of the resemblance he bore to Ezekiel’s white moonlight, a famous international singer named Paige Lyle. 

 

(A/N: white moonlight is someone’s requited or unrequited pure/first love, the one that got away, the one they can never forget)

 

|What the actual fuck.|

 

|That's how these stories usually play out, dearest Host.|

 

With a sigh, Jun turned to look at the man in the driver’s seat again. Based on the plot’s descriptions, he could only be Sugar Daddy Ezekiel and they were both on their way to the location of the variety show’s filming.

 

‘This guy really is a slag!’ Jun frowned. Not only does he have a white moonlight, but there’s also Jun's current identity and the protagonist shou, and he’s never sincere with any of the three. In fact, despite them having a sugar daddy and sugar baby relationship, the man had never once touched Jun.

 

|But that’s a good thing for me. Good job, System!|

 

|I actually don’t choose the worlds…|

 

|Good job, me!|

 

|…|

 

|So what’s the mission? Based on how the story sounds, it should be Type B?|

 

|Actually, Host… It’s Type A… The don’t get killed until age 19 one.|

 

|The fuck, system!? Isn’t this an entertainment love story!?|

 

|Actually Host, you’re in a murder thriller novel that involves the entertainment industry. Did you not read the plot?|

 

|… I skimmed.|

 

|You should really stop doing that, Host, and do your job properly! Although this time if you fail, you’ll just lose a memory fragment instead of your sense of self, you only have one! And once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. Even if you complete other missions later, you won’t be able to retrieve it.|

 

|… Couldn't you have told me this earlier?|

 

|Teehee.|

 

|What ‘teehee?’ Teehee your ass!|

 

|This system doesn’t have an ass, dearest Host.|

 

|*******************|

 

|What nonsense is that?|

 

|…|

 

You are reading story Falling: How to Survive as a Cannon Fodder at novel35.com

|… Host? Host? Host? Ignoring me? How mean, uwu.|

 

System 00 went offline, and Jun wanted to slam his head into the dashboard. As for the whole murder thriller thing, he quickly reread the plot. 

 

There was a killer on the variety show and (of course) Jun would be his first kill. Filled with regret over how he treated Jun before his death, the gong Ezekiel in the original plot ended up being comforted by Asher, the shou. When Ezekiel was able to let things go and move forward in life, Asher was there for him and... yada, yada, yada. Typical, except for one thing. For some reason, the shou Asher and the gong Ezekiel originally had a BE (bad ending), where they separated without doing anything remotely physical.

 

Odd, but not important. That was none of his business. Jun clenched his fists with a determined look on his face. At the moment, he was already 18 years old, so System 00’s protection period was once again useless. Jun Teruya had been 18 for nearly a year now, so he’d have to survive for another two months. The variety show itself is intended to last a month and a half of filming, so that didn’t sound too terrible.

 

His first step would be, of course, to break up with the slag gong and not participate in the variety show, where all the murders would take place. 

 

‘Yeah!’ 

 

Jun pumped himself up before turning to Ezekiel with an excited face. “Let’s break up!”

 

The car spun out of control, sending Jun to knock against the passenger door before it came to a halting stop. Ezekiel’s face was still expressionless but his eyes were dark and gloomy.

 

“What did you say?” The man snarled.

 

It was at that moment that Jun saw the color of the man’s eyes, an intense deep blue. Unaffected, Jun repeated himself with all smiles. “I said, let’s break up.” 

 

Please, he just came from a zombie apocalypse. What was one tsundere iceberg king overbearing CEO? Was he supposed to be scared of this man?

 

“Impossible.”

 

“Why? You don’t even like me.” 

 

Hearing this, Ezekiel tensed up but didn’t deny it. He put the car back in drive, seeming to have calmed a little from his shock.  “You can’t afford it.”

 

“I can!” Jun could always find some basic full-time job. Though it may not pay well, he’d only be in this world for two months. 

 

“I don’t agree to it.”

 

“What? That’s not fair…” Shivers ran down Jun’s spine as he felt the eyes of a beast sighting its prey. This slag gong couldn’t possibly be the murderer, right? According to the plot, the murderer was variety show participant G. Still, he wouldn’t give up. “Then I don’t want to do the variety show.”

 

“Didn't you beg me to be on the show?”

 

“… Well, I don’t want to anymore.”

 

“Nervous?” Ezekiel reached out to pat Jun’s head and was dodged. His hand hung in the air oppressively, and Jun felt his life being threatened again. After returning his hand to the steering wheel, Ezekiel spoke again. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there with you.”

 

Neither spoke again afterward, not even when they arrived at the location of the variety show’s filming. Upon opening the door, Jun saw that they were still in the middle of some thick forest, trees as far as the eyes could see, and some distance away was a mountain—the epitome of a place to commit murders and hide bodies.

 

|What kind of variety show is this?|

 

|Did you forget, Host? It’s called ‘Sing to Survive!’|

 

|What's with that ‘Survive?’ Am I being mocked?|

 

|Of course not, dearest Host.|

 

“Bullshit.”

 

“What did you say?” Ezekiel had never heard Jun curse before so he was quite surprised. 

 

“… Nothing.”

 

This ‘Sing to Survive’ variety show was mainly a survival show. Throw a bunch of amateur celebrities into a forest and have them survive a month and a half with just the basics the show would give. The only thing they were allowed to choose were the various weapons the show provided. These weapons were to aid in their survival so that they could defend themselves against wildlife and hunt. They were not intended to be used against each other. 

 

‘Sounds like Hunger Games, Singing Edition. Without the killings, of course. Oh wait, people do die, namely me.’  Jun thought.

 

Naturally, the show would work hard to ensure no one would die, and participants were allowed to quit after a week if they chose to. If they appeared to be on the verge of death, the show would also interfere and disqualify them. 

 

Every week, there would be a chance for participants to win some supplies. All they had to do was compose a song and sing it to the audience for a final popularity vote at the end of the week. Whoever won would be allowed to stay in a cabin for a night and receive a week’s worth of supplies. 

 

‘… Ha.’

 

|I believe you can do it, Host! At this rate, just don’t get killed for a week and then quit the show. It’s not so bad.|

 

It wasn’t. For someone like Jun, who had taken a full survival course and had to survive a zombie apocalypse, living a week in a wild forest was easy.

 

The only problem was the show forced each minor celebrity to team up with one overbearing CEO or another. This would give the potential employees and employers a chance to “bond” and of course, for the publicity, be it selling drama, CPs, rot, or otherwise.

 

(A/N: CPs are couples/character pairings fans like to ship. Selling rot is specifically directed at male/male CPs)

 

Seeing the worried look on Jun’s face, Ezekiel reached out again to pat the young man’s head and was pleased to not be avoided this time. 

 

“Don’t worry, I made sure that we’ll be a pair.”

 

Then Jun suddenly remembered one very important detail. Survive a week in a forest with just the bare necessities? 

 

“What about my milk tea!”

 

In a rare instance, Ezekiel’s expressionless face broke and he showed a small smile before leaning in to whisper into Jun’s ears. “I also made sure you’d be provided with milk tea ingredients, but you can only have it when we can avoid the cameras.”

 

Shivering, Jun covered his reddened ears with his hands. Was this how someone behaved toward a bare minimum replacement of a white moonlight? 

 

—

 

A/N: I’ve been trying to average 2K words per chapter and this one was a little bit less… Will try to make it next chapter!

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