The team names the characters while half-comatose—— 211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksnVe4UpUc
then the boss walks in with pizza and “good news”?211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyotpXLZ9s
211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3TbYDX7V1
Noon, meeting room.
The table was buried under post-its, rough sketches, failed name drafts,211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRngKEBy1Ih
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ533BOThCDf
No nods.
Just that hollow sense of:211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbqKWAWnOk
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,211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWeiVCVN3G
and spoke in a near-sing-song tone:
“Hellooo my lovelies~ Guess what I brought~!”211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡks5RJBjIuP
“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?”211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN56W4W9e6g
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaC5hXzgP7
Absolutely dead silent.
A vein popped on the screenwriter’s forehead.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsQPqH1HaP
“I didn’t even need to get up early today.”
The art lead smiled—a soft expression that somehow radiated pure murderous intent.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVQqXHevkO
“Oh? You seem very pleased with yourself.”
The manager didn’t even bother replying.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrh2RGBWaBY
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4xnKHnKZq
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,211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvq5LnaAXK
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;211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitfYq3w0Es
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~”211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyIJ4hgjmc
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,211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEX0678oNR
two new names,211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHpDrCNjL9
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 Zhilin211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdBGEBxtUm
Fate alignment: Miserable × Even Worse
and then Add to home screen.