Chapter 145

unedited

In Qi Jing’s dictionary, the last few days of a year could be described with just one word—rush.

The kind of where despite the already extreme fatigue, you still need to accelerate and push forward.

Their workload was already plentiful even during the usual times, but in those few days, it would easily double. Everyone from the news team wished they could master the art of cloning, with one clone to dispatch on the business trips, another one to leave behind to write their year-end report, and one more to get off work and spend time with their loved ones and children.

Unfortunately, Qi Jing was unable to clone himself, so he had to multitask. While on business trips, he would write the report while in a car, then call back home in the spare time between the interviews to check on his lover as well as their cat and dog ‘children’. Reflecting on this, he couldn’t help but sigh with emotion—taking two days off to go to Beijing with Shen Yan back then was so wise of him. Afterward, he found himself deep into the abyss of endless work, unable to find even a bit of free time.

“No matter what, I will be back before the New Year.” Qi Jing gnashed his teeth after hearing Little Return Date’s dissatisfied meows and Big Goose’s dejected bark, making a promise to Shen Yan.

“No need to be in a rush, do it at your own pace, we’ll be waiting for you.” Shen Yan smiled at the other end of the call, comforting him in a gentle voice.

Even though Shen Yan told him not to rush, Qi Jing still committed all of his energy to finishing the work. To prevent himself from getting distracted, he stayed away from the forums, from Weibo, QQ. He stayed offline for a little over a week, putting anything related to online voice acting on hold for that time.

Trully, the second coming of ‘god of playing dead’—

During that time, the discussion about their visit to Beijing gained some popularity online, especially after their photos from the introduction event got spread around.

Fortunately, with someone as popular and handsome as Tan Zixian there, it helped to shift the focus away from them. There were fewer people talking about him and Shen Yan than they anticipated, perhaps because the fans didn’t get fixated on their looks. Aside from that, Qi Jing also portrayed their relationship as very ‘friendly’, and with both of them making it public that they both have an IRL boyfriend, there wasn’t much room left for people to indulge in fantasies. As a result, soon everyone’s interest in gossip gradually died away.

With the 2D world remaining uneventful, it provided him with just the right opportunity to focus on his real life matters.

Or at least he thought so before he received that message from Ning Xiaoxiao.

Ning Xiaoxiao: Senior, I know that you don’t like to check QQ when on a business trip, especially if it’s for something related to online matters… But I think that you might have to come back for a bit.

Qi Jing: What happened? Can’t you type it through a SMS?

Ning Xiaoxiao: …An SMS won’t be enough, I need to send a file to you. It’s an MP3 audio file.

Qi Jing: Eh? If you need to send me a file then maybe it’d be better if you waited until I’m back. Right now, I’m using the company laptop, so I don’t want to log on my private QQ or download personal files on it, you understand.

Ning Xiaoxiao: …Senior, I understand. But I still think that it’d be better if you listened to it quickly… I’m serious.

This lass was always so happy-go-lucky around him, but for her to insist so much despite knowing that he stayed far away from 2D talk when busy with work, it really was unusual.

As luck would have it, he had a two hour lunch break, providing him with an opportunity to rest for a while in a guest house before the next interview. Curious yet a tad confused, he opened his QQ.

He wouldn’t have known if he didn’t open it, but as soon as he did, the little trumpet icon in the lower-right corner kept chiming non-stop. It seemed like there were a lot of people who had left him messages, which wasn’t surprising as he hadn’t gone online for quite a bit already. He didn’t think much about it and first ignored the other people’s messages, directly clicking on his Junior’s account, March Bamboo Shoots.

Don’t ask for my return date: I’m here, Xiaoxiao. So what happened? Spit it out.

March Bamboo Shoots: Senior… About this…

Don’t ask for my return date: Hm?

This lass didn’t give any details, continuing hemming and hawing, so he had no idea what she wanted to tell him. Qi Jing waited for her to speak, yet didn’t get any explanation. Instead, a request to send a file suddenly popped up in the right corner of the chat window. It was the file she mentioned she wanted him to listen to before.

The file name was: “Christmas Special—⟪Trap⟫ Episode 2 teaser”.

So that’s how it is. Qi Jing laughed in spite of himself.

He thought about how early he sent the dry recordings for the second episode at the time, but because Bronze Sparrow Terrace kept delaying on his part, the production of the second episode didn’t progress at all. Later, they had a fall out during the competition, with the drama getting so big that he and a couple of staff members ended up quitting the ⟪Trap⟫ production group. And the result? While still holding the karaoke streams and activities with fans, this great god, who allegedly didn’t have time to record, suddenly finished recording it all, and it was ready for a release?

The sheer thought felt like a mocking.

Without thinking much, he shook his head with a self-deprecating smile and clicked ‘refuse’. Day 1 words 1008/1263

Don’t ask for my return date: And here I thought it was something important… Turns out the second episode for it is coming out soon. But I don’t care, I already quit the production crew, so it doesn’t concern me at all if or when they want to release it.

March Bamboo Shoots: …

March Bamboo Shoots: …

March Bamboo Shoots: …No, Senior, you should listen. I’m almost certain about it, but I still want you to listen to it.

Don’t ask for my return date: ?

March Bamboo Shoots: I think that… I… heard your voice in there. I’m not 100% sure, so you should listen to it yourself… _(:з」∠)_

Ning Xiaoxiao’s final sentence caught Qi Jing completely off-guard. His brow furrowed subconsciously, and he sat straighter in his seat.

His voice? It appeared in the teaser for the second episode of ⟪Trap⟫?

What was this situation?

At that moment, Ning Xiaoxiao once again sent him the MP3 file, and he hastily accepted it. The file wasn’t big, maybe around ten megabytes, so it didn’t take long for it to get sent. However, watching the progress bar moving to the right bit by bit still left him with a sense of unease, as he had a bad feeling about it.

Finally, he finished downloading the file. He immediately wore the headphones and double-clicked to open it.

‘Teaser’ refers to an edit published before the official release of an audio drama for publicity. A few plot highlights would get chosen from the new episode, then edited along with a BGM. It was something like a six, seven minutes-long trailer.

Aside from the publicity for the release, teasers could be also sent early during the holidays for the fans to enjoy.

The teaser he was listening right now was for the ⟪Trap⟫ production crew prepared for the Christmas celebration, one they rushed to release for the Christmas eve. It being available for downloads got announced during Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s Christmas Eve party event on his YY channel, causing the shrieks of joy among the crowds of his little fans.

Initially, nothing sounded amiss in this teaser. It was simply a continuation of the plot from the first episode: the reappearance of the supposedly dead police officer, the internal conflict in the mafia, the emotional breakthrough between the two main characters, and so on…

Even though Qi Jing had already quit the production,he still had some recollection of those scenes and lines when listening to it since he had already finished recording for the second episode before.

The new Shou chosen by the production crew for the main character was decent overall, although his voice was a bit too sweet and cloying. However, if judged based on that sound designer girl’s understanding of a ‘flirty Shou’, then he could pass. But in terms of the acting skills, Qi Jing didn’t know if it was because he listened to the voice acting competition like ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫, which featured all kinds of skilled actors, but this new actor didn’t evoke any of that ‘Oh, I also want to try acting with this person’ kind of feeling.

He continued listening patiently.

After a hurried succession of all kinds of plot snippets, just as the third second just started, a very familiar gasping sound entered his ears—accompanied with faint whispers, rising and falling in intensity, overflowing with a captivating allure. It, sounded, so, familiar…

“…What the hell…”

In his state of shock, he could only squeeze out those three words out of his suddenly dry throat. Only then he realised that he was wringing the headphones cable in his hands, almost breaking it on the spot.

It was indeed his voice.

It was a part of the dry recordings he handed over before for the second episode, the one where the main characters had sex.

It was mainly just gasping, with one or two lines murmured in between, but this voice was too characteristic—the moment he heard it he knew it was him.

This time it wasn’t just his own dry recording, as it got edited together with Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s recording—a final product of the post-production.

And Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s lines could be heard very clearly.

“Why do you have to torment me so? Hm?”

In the original novel, this line of dialogue was meant to reflect the police officer’s despair and longing. He was tangled in a mess of love and hate towards the other man, unable to let go even in the midst of intense, deep entanglement, unable to restrain the pain he felt. “Why do you have to torment me so”—it was meant to be delivered with a hint of a sob, his voice hoarse among gasps as he muttered to himself, emphasising this poignant and beautiful scene.

Yet Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s voice was like that of a dominant high above, with a haughty hum he added at the end on his own accord. Coupled with those self-indulgent gasps, it created an atmosphere straight out of an erotic BDSM porn.

“You… let go of me…” This one later on was Qi Jing’s line.

Due to the difference in opinions that arose during the first episode, as well as to maintain the integrity between his character in the first and second episodes, he recorded each line in three versions with great care. One version remained faithful to the original plot, depicting the character’s struggles and distress. Another version followed the directions from Bronze Sparrow Terrace and his team. The third version served as a compromise, finding the middle ground between those two, partially retaining the soul of the original and while accommodating the Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s and his supporters’ preferences.

Now, in this teaser, the sound designer actually used the version he didn’t want to get used the most—the flirty Shou one.

He had to disguise his voice, portraying a played up struggle while secretly lusting for more, making it especially seductive.

Such a long sex scene actually took over two-thirds of the whole teaser, which was completely uncalled for.

As it turned out, the lines selected by the production crew for the scene were all quite explicit, with a clear implication in that direction and accompanied with all kinds of appropriate sound effects. No wonder the sound designer for ⟪Trap⟫ was currently thought to be one of the best in the audio drama community. Aside from her editing skills, the imagery she created was also incredibly lifelike.

So lifelike, that it sounded as if he really got pushed down and screwed by Bronze Sparrow Terrace—

BANG!

By the time he snapped back, he realised he had already stood up and slammed the headphones on the desk. His shoulders were trembling uncontrollably with fury.

The first episode also had some smut in it, but it was much less explicit than this.

At that time, he wasn’t thinking much about it. After all, it was just voice acting, and there was already nothing he didn’t play before, and it wasn’t his first time voicing a sex scene. He didn’t have anything against doing this, so he just treated it as doing his job.

After recording it and listening to the demo, he still didn’t feel strong about it, as he knew that this so-called sex scene was nothing more than just a result of two recordings getting combined in a post-production. Therefore, when he learned that the second episode’s scene was even longer and more explicit than the first one, he still didn’t voice any objections and intended to approach it professionally, staying true to his voice acting spirit—even if the other person was Bronze Sparrow Terrace, whom he had no favourable impression of.

However, after seeing through that guy completely, he momentarily felt nauseating when listening to this scene—especially since the other party didn’t seek his consent at all.

“That’s disgusting.” His voice was trembling, as were his shoulders when he repeated through gnashed teeth, unable to find another way to describe his feelings right now, “Disgusting…!”

He had already publicly left the production crew, so on what basis did they have the audacity to use his recordings!!

He had also publicly severed his ties with Bronze Sparrow Terrace, yet they still went ahead and created such a lengthy teaser insinuating him being pushed down and screwed humiliatingly beneath that guy—what kind of malice was that!!

His hands were trembling too hard and he couldn’t even touch the keyboard, so he just fumbled around shakily on the desk, anxious to grasp something. In the process, he accidentally knocked off the pen that was within his reach on the desk, causing it to roll and fall to the floor with a clatter. All he could do was to clench his wrist with the other hand, trying his best to control that burning fury within him and avoid letting it completely swallow his reason.

Since he took so long to reply, he gave Ning Xiaoxiao quite a scare. She thought that maybe he would lose control and act without thinking, so she kept spamming him with messages asking if he was there.

He closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down for a bit before he was finally able to type—although he still had to correct the mistyped words quite a few times.

Don’t ask for my return date: …It really is me in that sex scene.

March Bamboo Shoots: !!

March Bamboo Shoots: Senior, are you crazy?? Why would you agree to let them keep using your recordings and release a teaser like this, don’t you find it revolting!? （╯‵口′）╯︵┴─┴

Don’t ask for my return date: I didn’t agree to that.

March Bamboo Shoots: !!

Don’t ask for my return date: I have never agreed to that. I presumed that as long as I quit the production crew, all of the recordings I already handed in would get scrapped.

March Bamboo Shoots: Of course the recordings should all get scrapped after a VA quits, isn’t that obvious!? Fuck, wait… You mean that they used it without asking for your consent?? Didn’t they find a new VA already? The plot-focused scenes from the beginning were also played by him, so why the hell would they choose to still use your recordings for such a shameful scene??

Don’t ask for my return date: Hehe.

He was so full of anger that he laughed instead. He had no idea how to react aside from laughing coldly.

The reason?

Wasn’t it clearly just to retaliate—from the perspective of him, so deeply disgusted by this scene, this method of retaliation was remarkably effective, so effective that he genuinely felt like puking for the first time.

【This situation already got spread around on the forum.】

When his Junior told him the last bit of bad news, he wasn’t surprised at all, and even felt indifferent about it. These were just the inevitable consequences that were bound to crop up.

Opening the forum headpage, he was immediately met with a popular post hanging there right away—”Have anyone listened to the Christmas Eve Present from the ⟪Trap⟫ production? That smut scene… I’m so confused.”

The post got published three days after Christmas.

As this teaser started off only shared in the small circle of Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s YY channel, it only got passed on later between the fans until it reached the non-fan listeners. Three days later, it finally went full circle around the audio drama community, and it was then when someone finally couldn’t help and started asking questions. By the time Qi Jing saw that post, the thread already had hundreds of replies.

【Original Post】:

So, as the title says.

Has anyone else, like me, happily downloaded the teaser for the second episode of ⟪Trap⟫, only to heart that long smut scene… and feel like the Shou VA there… was the original VA, Don’t ask for my return date?

【Comment 1】:

The teaser for episode 2 of ⟪Trap⟫ is out now??

Hmm, I haven’t been following the discussions lately since there was so much drama after the first episode. Turns out this thread was so active these days because of the teaser release.

But am I remembering it wrong that Don’t ask for my return date had already left this audio drama? Could it be that they’re still using him in the second episode and only changing the VA in the third episode?? (Posting in the thread while waiting for a download is a great habit indeed…)

【Comment 2】:

Replying to the friend from the first comment, I also remember that Don’t ask for my return date had already left the production, the second episode wasn’t supposed to be voiced by him.

【Comment 3】:

Σ(っ °Д °)っ So! I’m! Not! Alone!

Shaking hands with the OP! I got so spooked when I heard that smut scene, it’s clearly Don’t ask for my return date’s voice! Even though he has barely any lines and it’s mostly gasps, I have no doubt about that voice belonging to him!

But, but… It seems like he’s only for the smut part… I can’t makes less and less sense the more I think about it…

【Comment 4】:

Holy crap… After seeing this thread I rushed to download it, and after listening to it, I have to say…

After knowing about the drama between Bronze Sparrow Terrace and Don’t ask for my return date and listening to this smut, I’m cringing so hard!!

Return Date-sama, aren’t you embarrassed!?

【Comment 5】:

Cringing so hard!! +10086

It’s clearly so awkward, yet he still agreed to let them use his recording, isn’t Don’t ask for my return date being a bit too much of a pushover?? Did he really compromise with Bronze Sparrow Terrace?? = =

Perhaps because he had already let off some steam before, he was already numb enough to feel nothing as he coldly read the course of how this gossip developed.

About the first hundred replies were all people making sceptical conjectures. But as it went further, some comments started speculating whether he made amends with Bronze Sparrow Terrace, and even some fans of Bronze Sparrow Terrace came out to taunt him, saying things like ‘Don’t ask for my return date had realised his wrongs, so he came back to grovel at our God’s feet’.

It was as if he was staring at a screen filled with black squares instead of characters, each one representing something he knew, but didn’t want to know that. In his eyes, those squares all blurred into pitch black darkness, just like the growing gloom in his heart, at the verge of a collapse at any possible moment.

However, suddenly six of the rectangles lit up before him—it was an ID, one he knew very well. It only lasted a moment before they made the words on the screen once again clarify before his eyes.

He couldn’t help a startle, eyes going wide from astonishment.

【Knives cutting in from four sides】:

…To actually release something like this, is the current producer of ⟪Trap⟫ really so shameless??

As the previous director of ⟪Trap⟫ audio drama, I initially never intended to involve myself with the new staff leaving the team. However, when a friend of mine told me about the content of this thread, I couldn’t bear it any longer!!

Who gave you permission to use the recordings Return Date submitted for the second episode??

Just who gave you the permission??

Everyone up there wants the behind-the-scenes tea, huh? Fine, I’ll tell you guys!!

When that Sir Bronze Sparrow Terrace delayed and didn’t submit his recordings for half a year, Return Date had already finished recording for the second episode and sent everything to the previous producer and me. At that time, I finished editing all of the audio and sent it to the sound designer (which is also the current producer). I originally thought that we’d soon be able to start working on the second episode, but it turned out despite her best efforts, the previous producer didn’t manage to make Great God submit his dry recordings no matter how much she pushed. She tried for a whole half year, but there was nothing she could do. That’s why even before Return Date even left the production, the second episode was still getting delayed.

As for what happened later, everyone is already aware, and the reason for Return Date’s leaving the production. Some of our staff who still didn’t leave at that time even felt guilty for wasting his recordings for a long time!

When I listened to that supposed teaser for the second episode, I actually slammed my mouse while cussing—how dare you guys continue using Return Date’s recordings!?

This openly posted reply instantly caused sensation.

“Knives…”

Upon seeing this, Qi Jing felt a pang of emotions, and a good half of the towering negativity in his heart collapsing like a sand, while the tightness in his chest eased up by quite a bit. Knives, being a straightforward and loyal girl as she was, could have chosen to stay out of the situation and avoid getting caught up into a drama after leaving the production.

Yet she was still willing to stand up for him, even at the of publicly offending the staff members with much more popularity and resources than her.

He was so grateful. From the bottom of his heart, he was so, so grateful to this girl.

And because she was known to be one of the original core production members, people were willing to believe her once she spoke up, so the situation took a big turn after this, with a lot of onlookers expressing their support for her below.

Under this huge pressure, the current producer and sound designer A Lifetime’s Lock had to make her counterattack.

The two of them began questioning each other, tit for tat.

【A Lifetime’s Lock】:

Knives cutting in from four sides, you already left the production, so what are you looking for attention on the forum for? Is it because now that the second episode is about to get released, you started regretting leaving, so you came back to get a piece of pie? ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Let me be honest with you—dream on!

You didn’t direct the second episode, I found a new director myself. You also aren’t its producer, but me! So I’ll do whatever I like with the dry recordings, you have no say in this.

【Knives cutting in from four sides】:

I don’t care about your ridicule, I just want to ask you one thing—when you used Return Date’s dry recordings to make the teaser, did you ever ask for his consent??

【A Lifetime’s Lock】:

Why would I have to ask him for permission? That’s ridiculous.

If he had already submitted the recordings to the production team, he essentially acknowledged it became the property of the production team, including the rights to use them. If he didn’t want the production team to use it, then why did he submit it in the first place? By giving us the recordings, he was clearly giving us the permission to use it?

【Knives cutting in from four sides】:

Are you out of your mind?!

Don’t you know that he has already quit the production?? When he left, it means that he took back his recordings. Don’t you understand this much?!

Using something without authorization=theft, understood?!

【A Lifetime’s Lock】:

Did he say that? When did he even mention taking back his recordings? He didn’t.

He hasn’t even spoken up, so why would an ex-staff member like you come forward on his behalf? Is he some great lord or something? Why do you want to please him so desperately?

Heh, I simply made a teaser before Christmas for the girls in our channel to enjoy. Let me ask you, who doesn’t love to listen to some spicy bits? Who wouldn’t be excited about it? So why don’t you just stop being nitpicky, huh? The reason why I had to compromise and use Don’t ask for my return date’s recordings is because the new VA said that he currently can’t record a smut scene, and I always make a Christmas gift every year, so I had to make do with Christmas Eve almost there.

Either way it’s just a teaser, it’s not like it’s the actual episode. And it was only meant for the fans in our YY channel and we didn’t even post in on the forum. It’s your own curiosity that made you download it, yet you’re actually complaining to me about being unhappy with it?

For such a melodramatic and attention-seeking VA like him, I’m actually doing him a favour by using his recordings for the smut. I wouldn’t even bother using it for the actual episode even if he begged me~

When he read to that point, he suddenly lost all of his interest in continuing reading.

He silently closed the page, grabbed his coat, and decided to take a walk outside. He hped that the December wind, with the 3D world’s sense of reality, would dissipate his 2D world frustrations. He wanted to go back to being just his usual self, ‘Qi Jing’.

It was all such a joke.

He had always believed that there’s no reason to get angry or quarrel with people on the internet. Ironically, he kept making exceptions to his own beliefs.

The reality is that when put behind a screen, some people’s ugly side can grow exponentially. They pour all their malice over other people without feeling a slightest bit of remorse. When a human interaction gets simplified into an interaction between mere symbols and characters, they no longer think it a big deal when delivering a blow. After all, they can’t see the blood or tears being shed, so they can just continue smiling while stabbing.

Indeed, Qiu Tianyang’s advice turned out to be true in every aspect.

“I want to go home…”

He walked for a kilometre or two along the banks of a small river outside of the guest house, then suddenly, he said those five words.

Without thinking too much, his hand reached for the phone in his pocket, calling that number. But he suddenly realised that it was still that guy’s working hours, so he quickly hung up after a short hesitation. Just as he was about to put the phone back into his coat pocket, that man actually called him back.

“Hello? Qi Jing?”

For him, this man’s voice was like his winter-specific medicine—the moment he heard it, he would instantly feel warm, making him break into a smile without realising it. The only regrettable thing was, his smile right now was a bit forced. It was the first time he wished the quality of the microphone in his phone wasn’t as good, he didn’t want that man to hear it.

“Mhm, it’s me.” He did his best to use his usual tone, smiling lightly, “Maybe go back to work… I’m sorry, I will call you sometime later.”

“Qi Jing,” Shen Yan stopped him in a low voice, not letting him hang up, “What happened? You sound listless.”

—Sure enough, he noticed.

Qi Jing smiled, then sighed. He finally admitted honestly, “Mn. I’m just in a bad mood, everything else’s fine.”

Shen Yan just listened all that time, not saying anything for a long time. Just as Qi Jing was about to suggest hanging up again, Shen Yan spoke up slowly, “Is it because of the teaser for ⟪Trap⟫?”