Absolute Choice
Absolute Choice - Chapter 492: Breaking! A Particular Village Leader Repeatedly Climbs a Tree to Fin

He surveyed his surroundings and confirmed that his peers were resting. He was elated that he was the first reporter to receive the news. He hurriedly took out his cell phone and made a call!

"Hey, President. About that...Shi...Shi Xiaobai has entered...the eighth...the eighth level!" said the suited reporter nervously and excitedly while holding his cellphone in one hand as he repressed his voice.

"What did you say? You fool, can't you speak louder! Did you find some retarded news again? How many times have I told you? You should do things in a prim and proper manner, clean and clear. You better watch it if you find trash news like 'Hen Climbs a Tree' or 'Sow Enters the Sea'. Hmph!"

The president yelled angrily. In fact, he was rather displeased with the suited reporter. The reporter had no looks or powers. Every day, he would find some unpopular piece of news. If not for his services rendered to the news agency for so many years, he would have long been fired.

The suited reporter frowned as he turned his head to the side. He placed the cell phone further away from his ear.

To him, the president was lacking in everything. He was lacking in build, heart and tolerance. However, there was one thing that was not lacking in any way. His voice was louder than everyone else.

Hmph! Do you think it's easy for a 'hen to climb a tree' or a 'sow to enter the sea'? How can you call that trash news? What lacking foresight you have.

No matter how angry the suited reporter was, he did not forget the original goal for making the phone call. He immediately composed himself and said with a smile by raising his voice,

"President, Shi Xiaobai has reached the eighth level of the trial tower!"

"Ah!? Shi Xiaobai has finally reached the eighth level!"

The president had heard it clearly this time. He had exclaimed first before falling silent for several seconds. Suddenly, he praised with a cheerful tone, "Not bad. Good job. As expected of our Donglin News Agency's future star. Keep up the good work and continue working hard. Your 'hopes and dreams' will be fulfilled and there will be no lack of promotions and pay increments!"

After the president said those words, he smiled and said to the busy editor-in-chief in the office, "Editor Liu, that shall be headlines of the evening paper tonight. Try to get it done in the shortest possible time. This is first-hand news. Haha. There definitely won't be any news more explosive than this."

Editor-in-Chief Liu gave a strong nod as he looked excited. Donglin News Agency was just a tiny news publication agency. The field reporters were mostly the bottom of the barrel after they were eliminated by other news agencies. The news that they submitted to him made him want to kill himself. Every time, he had to showcase his 'literary talent' and come up with some 'philosophical' title, for example, "Breaking! A Particular Village Leader Repeatedly Climbs a Tree to Find Chickens!" or "Could it be that only beauties can enter the sea? No! Watch as a sow bravely dives into the sea!"

But unfortunately, the news itself was considered unsought. Even a 'philosophical' title could not save it. Instead, it earned itself as the infamy as 'shameless clickbait title'.

And today, was Donglin News Agency welcoming in a new era?

Shi Xiaobai enters the eighth level—It was a matter of national attention. It was a news that could even shock the entire world!

If they could be able to publish the piece of news first, Donglin News Agency's reputation would benefit from the situation as well!

Without any delay, Editor-in-Chief Liu began to rapidly type on his keyboard while writing the article with verve and flair.

Outside the auditorium, the suited reporter had swung his fists. The other reporters ate their meals at regular times or they would return home to sleep when they were tired. As for him, in order to await the piece of news, he had eaten bread and snacks daily. He even laid out a mat to sleep in the auditorium at night. And indeed, just as Providence helps those who help themselves, his hard work had not been in vain!

Yeah! A celebration is in order tonight!

The suited reporter thought to himself as he began to suffer a dilemma. "Should I go to a brothel or a massage parlor?"

At that moment, there was a brouhaha from the exit to the trial tower. Following that, several medical personnel that was stationed nearby rushed to the tower's exit.

The suited reporter watched in a daze at the strange actions of those people. Before he realized that something odd had happened, he had a vague feeling that another piece of breaking news had happened.

He quickly ran over and held a female doctor back and asked loudly, "What happened!?"

The female doctor had panic written all over her face. In her nervousness, she glanced at the reporter and said with a trembling voice, "Spee...Speechless...Li is dead!"

"What? Speechless Li is dead!?" The suited reporter did not notice that he had not hung up his phone call and he had accidentally yelled into the phone.

"Beep! Spee...Speechless Li is dead!?" The president was still drinking his coffee leisurely. He had been fantasizing the scene of his newspapers being snatched up by every Chinese citizen. With the sudden yell, he nearly spat out his coffee from shock.

When the reporter heard the president's voice, he realized that the call was still connected. Taking a deep breath, he tried his best to calm down and looked at the exit of the trial tower calmly. By putting together the abrupt situation, the panic of the medical personnel, the horror of the female doctor, and the commotion at the trial tower's exit, it was very likely that Speechless Li had died. The impact this news had was likely more shocking than Shi Xiaobai's entry into the eighth level. After all, Speechless Li came from a mysterious large family clan. He was a descendant of the Li family!

"President, this piece of news shouldn't be wrong. Speechless Li has really died!" said the suited reporter.

"Great. Well done!" The president was extremely shocked. He did not have the time or effort to praise the suited reporter for his 'extraordinary' performance.

At that moment, Editor-in-Chief Liu, who was preparing the headline article asked, "President, is there a need...to change the headline?"

"Of course it needs changing! The person who died is Speechless Li!"

The president was first to bellow before he realized that something wasn't right. He said softly, "That's not right. Shi Xiaobai has reached the eighth level. That is the Nine Revolutions Transcendental Tower's eighth level. There have only been three people in history that have succeeded doing so. This is a huge matter that will go down in the history books. Furthermore, Shi Xiaobai is recently one of the most popular people trending on search engines. This matter might not lose to Speechless Li's death in terms of explosiveness."

Editor-in-Chief Liu wiped the sweat of his brow as he asked, "Then what should be done? There can only be one headline..."

The president wrinkled his brows as he began weighing the importance of the two pieces of news. Immediately, he had a headache and found it difficult to compare. In frustration, he shouted at Editor-in-Chief Liu, "You are the editor-in-chief. You do it as you see fit!"

Editor-in-Chief Liu was left helpless. This was the first time he realized that having too many pieces of useful news had its pains too!

Sigh, being an editor-in-chief sure was an arduous profession. It's so much better being a president.

Editor-in-Chief Liu grumbled inwardly but he began racking his brains, as usual, to resolve the problem that the news agency's president had given him.

There were two big pieces of news but there was only one headline.

Who should be the headline?

Suddenly, Editor-in-Chief Liu's eyes lit up.

"Damn I'm stupid! Can't I just merge the two articles into one!?"

At that moment, Editor-in-Chief Liu felt that he was truly intelligent!

He chuckled and with a flash of brilliance, began tapping his keyboard. He wrote the title for the headlines for the evening papers.

"Shi Xiaobai ascends to the eighth level. Speechless Li descends to hell. The number one junior has changed!"

IChooseDogLeading (我选择狗带) when read in Chinese sounds like I Choose Go Die. It was a meme that resulted from a former member of famous Korean boygroup, EXO, TAO (Huang Zitao). At a concert, there was a part in a rap that where he said "<a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://youtu.be/78VmKepFm1U?t%3D30s&sa=D&ust=1528791478114000">I will not easily 'go die'</a>", but due to a mispronunciation, it sounded like he will not easily choose to be led by dogs. This phrase now means 'I'd rather die/I choose death'.