Possessed No More: The True Star Returns to Claim Her Throne

Chapter 204: The Show’s Theme Goes Off Track Again

Riley Perry had the wild boars line up neatly, then answered Director Warren’s question with utmost sincerity, "To trade for points."

Director Warren: ...

Jenson was incredibly sharp. Every time Riley Perry came to find Director Warren, his camera would discreetly focus on the director, capturing all of his wild expressions. After the first two episodes aired, the internet was already flooded with reaction memes of him.

’Looks like he’s going to be contributing more reaction memes today.’

"You, you, you... hurry up and let these boars go."

Riley Perry waved her hand in refusal. "No, no, no. All these boars together weigh at least twelve to thirteen hundred pounds. If the four of us split the points, we’d each get six or seven hundred. If I let the boars go, are you going to give me the points?"

Director Warren gritted his teeth. He’d never imagined a guest would be able to catch something as big as a wild boar. They hadn’t brought a scale to the island that could weigh something that was three or four hundred pounds. And now this blasted girl was insisting on trading the boars for points. How was he supposed to do that?

’Isn’t this making things difficult for old Tank?’

"No trade!"

Riley Perry stood her ground. "Director Warren, you’re not being reasonable. The mission rules state that any food found on the island can be exchanged for points or supplies. Are you perhaps suggesting these boars aren’t food?"

Director Warren was so mad he started scratching his head.

"Director, why exactly won’t you trade with me?"

Director Warren decided to just throw in the towel. "We don’t have a scale! Because we don’t have a scale that big, how do you expect me to make the trade?"

Riley Perry looked at Director Warren with disdain. "You should have said so earlier! Just leave a small problem like this to me."

Director Warren immediately leaned in close. "What’s your idea?"

"How many staff members are there on the island in total?"

Director Warren immediately started counting on his fingers. "There are thirty-two staff members in total. But for this season, I also brought on twenty retired soldiers for security. Add me and my assistant, and that’s fifty-four people in all."

Riley Perry nodded. "That’s quite a few people."

"What are you planning?"

"Add the guests, and that’s sixty-two people total. A single boar of over three hundred pounds will yield about two hundred-plus pounds of meat after butchering. That’s more than enough for one meal for so many people. We could have another meal tomorrow and just about finish it."

Director Warren: "You want to butcher a pig right here?"

He was in absolute disbelief!

’Are all young girls this fierce nowadays?’

"I don’t want to butcher it either, but you don’t have a scale, right? So we butcher it, cut it into pieces, and weigh them. After we weigh it, we can stew it and eat."

Director Warren: ... ’Are you kidding me? Even if catching wild boars isn’t illegal right now, how could we actually butcher one in front of the audience?’

Just as he was about to refuse, his assistant ran over and shoved a tablet in his face. "Director, Director, the viewers are all saying they want to see the pig butchering! Look, the donations have already passed 200,000, and they’re still coming in! And they’ve all specified that if we don’t butcher the pig, they want their money back!"

Director Warren took the tablet and glanced at it. ’Holy crap!’

In the time it took to have this conversation, the donation amount had already surpassed 300,000.

Of course, that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that the number of viewers in the livestream was climbing at a visible rate.

He gritted his teeth. ’Ah, screw it. Who cares about the risks? The ratings are what matter. Attracting viewers is the most important thing!’

After convincing himself, Director Warren turned and started yelling for people to scrub the pots and boil water.

He had never butchered a pig himself, but he knew you had to scald it first to remove the bristles.

The young assistant was grinning from ear to ear. He was a city boy through and through. He’d eaten pork, but he’d never seen a pig being butchered, and he was excited, too. As soon as Director Warren gave the order, he went to help out—or rather, to join in on the excitement.

Two of the four cameramen were quick on the uptake and aimed their cameras at the bustling crowd, moving closer themselves.

But Director Warren wasn’t a fool. Why would a big old boar be as tasty as a young one?

Riley Perry just clenched her fist at Director Warren. Director Warren instantly piped up, "These two big boars are just too large. Even if we butcher them, we definitely won’t be able to finish them. Let’s just agree on a weight. I’ll value them at seven hundred pounds for you, how about that?"

Riley Perry shook her head. "No deal. I’d say these two boars are at least a thousand pounds combined. Seven hundred is way too low. I think I’ll just butcher them after all!"

Director Warren: ...

Director Warren was so exasperated he could have spit blood!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Seven hundred and fifty pounds, tops!"

Riley Perry just stared at him fiercely. Director Warren changed his offer again. "Eight hundred pounds! Not a single pound more! Take it or leave it!"

Riley Perry took it.

’After all, while the two boars were big, each one was definitely under four hundred pounds. As long as I’m not losing out, it’s fine. Did I really expect to get the better of Director Warren?’

As for the fruits, mushrooms, and wood ear fungi they had carried back, they decided to keep all the mushrooms to eat over the next two days. The wood ear fungi were a different story. That stuff had to be dried before it could be eaten, and since it was still damp, they decided to trade it all for points.

And just like that, the four of them struck it rich.

Fruits and vegetables were one point per pound.

Meat was two points per pound.

One thousand four hundred and fifty-two pounds of wild boar were exchanged for 2,904 points.

The ninety-three pounds of fruits and vegetables the four of them had picked were exchanged for 93 points, bringing the total to 2,997 points.

Riley Perry insisted on splitting the points evenly among the four of them.

Felix Sherman and the other two, feeling they had already profited immensely, absolutely refused. In the end, they only agreed to take 400 points each, just so they could exchange them for some useful supplies from the director over the next two days. The rest went to Riley Perry.

So she herself ended up with 1,797 points.

The exchange had just been completed when the water on the other side started boiling. For this trip to the island, Director Warren had brought along chefs—two master chefs, in fact. After all, the show wasn’t short on investment, and the director wasn’t about to let himself suffer.

Riley Perry borrowed a set of knives from one of the chefs.

Normally, it would take several burly men to hold a pig down and keep it from struggling, but she didn’t need that!

She could just make the pig lie down obediently.

But, thinking of the livestream audience, she figured they would definitely want to see an authentic pig butchering. So, Riley thoughtfully had someone find a rope to tie the wild boar up.

At that, the wild boar started squealing its head off.

The number of viewers in the livestream chat grew and grew. [Holy shit! Is this even allowed on a livestream? Isn’t the channel going to get banned?]

[I don’t care if it gets banned or not, what I really want to know is how a young girl like Riley Perry knows how to butcher a pig?]

[Ugh, you must be new here. Even though I’ve never seen Riley Perry butcher a pig either, she’s a master of obscure skills. Isn’t it normal for her to know how?]

[Director Warren, promise me, don’t you dare pan the camera away! Don’t you dare!]

[I’m always hearing people talk about ’pig-butchering feasts.’ Even though I can’t eat it, at least today I get to see one!]

Unfortunately, no matter how many people in the livestream chat clamored to see the pig being killed, there was no way Director Warren would let the camera point directly at the boar.

When Riley Perry’s knife pierced the boar’s major artery, blood suddenly sprayed out. Someone had already placed a large iron basin under the pig’s neck, and all the blood flowed into it.

A chef had put salt in the basin, and before long, the blood would coagulate.

It wasn’t until after the boar had been scalded with hot water and was being de-bristled that the camera showed it again.