David had been troubled lately.
His daughter Emma seemed to be acting more and more strangely.
Ever since she lost the gold medal in the math competition, she had grown increasingly gloomy.
She was usually well-behaved and sensible, but David knew she was not the kind of child who could easily let things go.
Losing that medal had hit her hard.
David had been looking for a chance to make it up to her, or at least find something that would cheer her up.
Just then, a commercial came on TV.
The screen showed a quiet, secluded forest.
“Have you ever dreamed of exploring an unknown and mysterious place? Have you ever wanted to accomplish something no one has done before?”
As the narration ended, Liam emerged from the shadows of the woods with a bear cub beside him.
“Hidden within this forest, where no one has ever set foot, are mysterious creatures and dangers lurking everywhere.”
The camera suddenly cut to another angle.
Liam spun around sharply as several mysterious silhouettes flashed through the depths of the forest.
“If you can overcome these dangers and hardships with me…”
As the narration continued, Liam pushed through dense brush and cleared one obstacle after another, while the dark shapes of various monsters kept appearing around him.
At last, he climbed a towering rock face and crawled into a cave.
“We’ll claim the mysterious grand prize waiting at the end!”
Liam lit a torch, revealing a treasure chest deep inside the cave.
The image froze just as the chest opened in a dazzling burst of golden light, and a line of text appeared on the screen.
“Registration closes on April 1. Children who wish to participate should send a letter to the TV station in advance.”
The commercial ended, leaving David deep in thought.
His daughter’s school was organizing a field trip soon.
In her current mood, there was a good chance she would get into an argument with her classmates, and this TV show looked far more interesting than that lousy field trip anyway.
So he called toward her bedroom.
“Emma, I just saw a local TV show looking for young guests. That school field trip doesn’t look like much fun. Why don’t you go on this instead? Then my daughter can become a big TV star.”
Inside her bedroom, Emma was busy planning how to deal with the boy who had taken her gold medal during the field trip.
When she heard that she could appear on television, she immediately found herself torn.
Proud by nature, the thought of going on TV and showing everyone what she could do thrilled her, but she was reluctant to give up her revenge on that boy.
“Emma, have you decided yet? I know someone at the TV station. I’ll make sure you get the grand prize.”
That settled it.
Emma threw open her bedroom door, ran over to David, and hugged his leg.
“Daddy’s the best. I love you.”
Having a smart child was wonderful, but a child who was too smart could also be troublesome.
Only then did he remember that he still had not told his daughter what kind of show she would be joining.
Still, it was only a children’s program.
It probably would not be much different from a field trip.
…
Meanwhile, at the TV station, James’s desk was piled high with letters from viewers.
He and Liam spent a long time going through them.
The letters came from all kinds of people.
Some viewers thought the show was incredibly entertaining.
Others furiously complained that it was having a bad influence on their children.
There were even people in the industry who wanted to discuss filming and special effects techniques.
James set down a letter and said excitedly, “Your show is a huge hit. I can’t believe this many people are writing in just to curse us out. I’ve never experienced anything so wonderful.”
Liam shook his head regretfully.
“It’s just a shame there’s nothing useful in any of them. People these days have no curiosity at all.”
“The fact that you’re still alive is mysterious enough. Forget about that for now. We need to choose the guests for your new show.”
Liam nodded, and the two of them pulled out a small stack of letters from the pile.
These were all from people hoping to participate in the program.
“I think we should use local kids for the first episode. It’ll be easier for them to travel back and forth, and if anything happens, it’ll be easier to contact their parents.”
James nodded, then handed Liam a file.
“This is my friend’s daughter. Her name is Emma. Put her on the show.”
Liam picked up the file and immediately frowned.
“A girl? I thought the kids interested in this kind of show would mostly be tough little boys.”
James shrugged.
“Kids these days will think of anything and try anything. It’s nothing surprising. By the way, a production this big is too much for you to handle alone. I’m assigning a part-time female college student from the station to go with you and help with the filming.”
Liam was about to say he could manage on his own, but then he remembered there would be girls participating in the program.
Having a female crew member around would indeed make some things more convenient.
“Actually, since one girl already wants to join, we might as well find a few more.
James strongly agreed.
“That does sound interesting. Let’s see if any other girls wrote in. If there really aren’t any, I’ll bring my niece along to fill out the group.”
After they finalized the list, Liam was about to return to the forest to prepare the location when James stopped him.
“Take that part-time student with you. It’ll give her a chance to get familiar with the site too. And I’m telling you, she’s a big fan of yours.”
I have adult fans?
That caught Liam’s interest.
He followed James into the workroom.
Before James even had a chance to introduce them, a blonde girl came scrambling toward him.
“Wow, Mr. Liam, it really is you! My name is Taylor. I’ve been following Exploring the Truth the whole time. Your filming techniques are absolutely brilliant.”
So that was what she was a fan of.
Before Liam could even feel disappointed, Taylor continued.
“I heard Heather talking about you, so I came straight over to work here part-time. My biggest dream is to track down serial killers who still haven’t been caught and do a whole series of exclusive interviews with them. I hope I can learn something genuinely useful from you.”
What an interesting woman.
Taylor’s courage was exactly what Liam wanted.
If he ever found himself in a dangerous situation where he could not spare a hand to operate the camera, she would be perfect for the job.
“No problem. I can teach you everything I know.”
“Yay!”
Taylor jumped up excitedly.
“All right, we should get going. We can film some footage of ourselves setting up the location ahead of time and use it as behind-the-scenes material during the show.”
…
On the way to the forest, Taylor talked nonstop.
“What do you think a real serial killer is thinking right before they kill someone?”
“Most of them are actually pretty friendly in everyday life. What they tend to have in common is poor self-control. I think that before they act, they’re constantly struggling against their own instincts.”
“I see.”
After talking with her for a while, Liam realized that Taylor knew an astonishing amount about serial killers from all over the world.
She was also familiar with most of the filming techniques used in horror movies.
She was exactly the kind of person he needed.