The team names the characters while half-comatose—— 14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YvyBxOYaG
then the boss walks in with pizza and “good news”?14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlWDW9EtYo
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGgP0alSTA
Noon, meeting room.
The table was buried under post-its, rough sketches, failed name drafts,14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgDwmylxWw
and the dried tear stains of someone who had clearly given up.
After an entire morning of mental warfare, the crew had finally——
finally——settled on the main characters’ names.
The moment both names were written on the whiteboard, silence fell.
No cheers.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYV62sV1u7
No nods.
Just that hollow sense of:14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zyxpVhm8i
It’s over… I’m alive?… We’re never gonna finish this…
Just as someone was mentally calculating how far the drop was from the window——
Creeeak——
The door swung open.
The boss entered, cheerful as ever, like he’d just come back from a holiday in another dimension.
He carried two giant, steaming bags of pizza,14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zPfb4TUWW
and spoke in a near-sing-song tone:
“Hellooo my lovelies~ Guess what I brought~!”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9cOT7j2mJ
“I got looooots, eat up! Don’t be shy! You’ve all worked soooo hard~”
No one moved.
The manager looked up, took the bags, and peeked inside one of the boxes.
“These just happen to be all your favorite flavors. Don’t tell me we’re just the excuse.”
“You just couldn’t finish them all by yourself, huh? But still wanted a bite of everything?”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEfmuANROD
The art lead stabbed, deadpan.
Three pairs of eyes locked onto the boss.
“W-What? No way…”
He quickly slid the pizza boxes onto the table and clapped his hands.
“Anyway! I’m here to bring you all some gooood news~!”
The room temperature dropped instantly.
“So, uh… our dear client——”
His pitch started to rise.
“They don’t even care if we don’t finish tomorrow!”
“Because they’re super! Happy! With the script! So——”
“They handed over the planning rights to us!”
He beamed like he’d just found an Easter egg, waiting for the cheers.
But the room stayed silent.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4tGFMSzcJ
Absolutely dead silent.
A vein popped on the screenwriter’s forehead.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLPdG57kfp
“I didn’t even need to get up early today.”
The art lead smiled—a soft expression that somehow radiated pure murderous intent.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7fqR6lCBB
“Oh? You seem very pleased with yourself.”
The manager didn’t even bother replying.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFA0VC4YXeY
He had moved past the point of sarcasm and into quiet resignation.
Only the director, after three seconds of silence, let out a subtle breath of relief.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsA4CtYAICJ
Thank god... that almost tanked the whole thing.
Sensing the mood wasn’t quite matching his imagined “this is the part where you cheer, right?”” moment,14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXP21TKrWbB
the boss scrambled to add more.
“Wait wait wait—there’s another piece of good news I haven’t said yet!”
His smile turned even more forced and fraying at the edges.
“So, not only does the client love the script——”
“They also suggested two potential actors! People they think are perfect for the leads!”
“And since you’re casting anyway—if these two work out, we can jump straight into filming!”
The air in the room… shifted. Just a little.
The director looked up, voice steady. “Are they bringing investment?”
“I don’t care.” The screenwriter shook his head —— too tired to even muster anger.
The art lead licked a strand of cheese off the crust. “Oh? Hope they’re hot, haha.”
The manager scrolled through his phone. “Well, that’s surprisingly useful of you.”
The boss finally allowed himself a little smug grin.
“Great! I’ll show you their profiles——see what you think!”
Then, he swiped to the next page on the tablet.
Two headshots appeared.
One had an icy gaze and a straight-backed posture;14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrstMj6pGE9
the other, clear eyes and a soft smile at the corners of his lips.
Beneath the images, bold names were printed:
Shen Yanxing Jiang Zhilin
All four fell silent.
The director spoke first.
“…At least the names were our decision. I guess.”
“Otherwise, I would’ve thrown my pen at his face.”
“At least they’ve got the looks to make my props shine. I’ll take it.”
"I’ll go handle the schedule."
“So you guys do like them~”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw60dH54k0U
the boss beamed.
All four turned to glare at him in perfect sync.
“I’ll, uh… go grab some drinks for you! Haha…”
The meeting room door slammed shut, leaving behind four people,14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0YKB6Q7YC
two new names,14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsYcgVb0K2
and a dozen slices of rapidly cooling pizza.
The director stared at the names Shen Yanxing and Jiang Zhilin, thinking for a moment.
Then quietly jotted a few notes into his notebook:
Casting in progress: Shen Yanxing, Jiang Zhilin14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmk5QIeGeC
Fate alignment: Miserable × Even Worse
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