BXBX NOVEL Chapter 140: Chapter 140 – Judging Videos
Bam!
"NightyThief present… Midnight Heist!"
A loud explosion rang, and the Midnight Heist's logo, a black mask in front of a white police badge, appeared in the middle of the screen, in front of a black background.
Following the black screen was the figure of him running through the roof, jumping around, and leaping through the air. He seemed to enjoy it, and when he got close to the bank, his appearance changed to an unassuming guest.
It was all one smooth operation, to the point that the viewers didn't notice the scene had been cut.
In an ordinary man's appearance, Max smiled and walked at the same pace as the other NPCs. He brushed past the police but didn't say or do anything. Walking and stopping was what the NPC did in Midnight Heist. Those who could do that were guaranteed never to get found out.
Stopping at an inconspicuous place, he put his hand on his ear and contacted the other thieves.
"RabbitOne here. I've secured the key to the vault. It's on the fourth windowsill on the third floor."
(RabbitTwo, roger. Security has been turned off.)
(RabbitThree on the way. I've secured the key and am on my way to the vault.)
(RabbitFour here. No police on the west getaway point. One police officer is holding on the east.)
The communication was clear, and the scene changed. It showed RabbitTwo and RabbitThree, the two people with brown monkey masks, entering the vault and taking a painting from it. Once the painting was taken out of it, the alarm blared loudly.
"RabbitTwo and Three has secured the painting. RabbitOne, please make an escape."
After a close-up look, the screen changed to show Max once again. It was a panning shot from a high angle, showing a white-masked individual running out of the bank while two police with guns chased after him.
"Already on it. I managed to get two police officers and am now going to the west getaway. They are shooting at me!"
Voomp! Voomp!
The police shot beams toward him, but he managed to dodge them by zigzagging. The speed of the beam wasn't as fast as a real bullet. And even if he got hit, he would only slow down and not exactly die or get caught.
"Stop right there!"
"Stop your way!"
The police shouted at once, still shooting their guns toward him.
Smirking underneath his mask, he looked over his shoulders.
"Nobody will stop when you tell them to!"
His white mask glowed brightly, and then his speed suddenly increased. He leaped over the fence and easily climbed the roof through the stacking boxes. The police stopped for a little, perplexed by his movement, but then chased after him again.
When they managed to get to the roof, they were suddenly greeted by two similar people running side by side. Their movements were mimicked perfectly to the point where they couldn't be differentiated.
"What the?!" One of the police said, but the others quickly shouted.
"It's a clown mask ability! Just shoot both of them!"
"A-Alright!"
Pulling the trigger, the police shot the two running men. The beam flew in the air and perfectly landed on their back. And then…
Poof! Bang!
The two masked men disappeared with a bright light and a loud sound, blinding them and making them deaf.
When that happened, two people in monkey masks passed by them from the ground while laughing.
"Hhehehehe."
"That was easy, lololol."
They met up with Max and the clown mask before entering a hovercar waiting for them. The camera panned out to the sky, showing the confused police officers.
"Presented by… NightyThief!"
The video ended with that. It was all like a movie trailer, making one curious about the next story. No part of it was wasted with useless scenes. It was made compact and showed only the exciting point.
While the video itself was only five minutes long, it was still really good.
"That's the first video. That looks like a movie trailer if I say it myself. The way he edited and outlined my character to introduce me is also good. I will give it 85 out of 100. A really solid competition right from the start, huh?" Max said as he noted the channel name, title, and score.
Then he looked at Lily.
"What do you think about that video, Lily?"
"Hmm, 76. He can delete a few effects, such as that outline. It's distracting. The editing is also pretty simple, although the transition is good. So only 76 from me." She said.
— How harsh!
— lolol she only gave 76
— It was a good video, but maybe she gave it a lower score because it's the first
— Harsh Lily! Like it. Please be harsh on me too!
It sounded a bit harsh, but that was already a good score for the first video.
Besides, Lily had seen many beautiful edits in the last two years of her career as a music producer. She naturally compared this fan edit to those and gave a slightly lower score than what it was worth.
'It's a contest, right? Leave it to me. I will do it seriously.' She thought as she looked at Max.
As for Max himself, he only chuckled at her harsh scoring. In the end, only his opinion mattered, though he was grateful that she tried to help.
'She's also not wrong with her score. But the contestant only has 3 days to edit, so this is good enough.'
NightyThief's video was worthy of uploading. That was what was important.
"76, huh? Hahaha, you're really strict at judging the video, Lily. But well, we can use that as a standard of this contest then. If it's worse than the first video, I will also give it a lower score." He said.
"Un, I will too." Lily added, "Does this person have a second video?"
"Yes, every participant can upload up to two. Let's watch his second video then."
Saying so, he controlled the screen and watched NightyThief's second video. It was another Midnight Heist, and the footage used was Max's first gameplay.
Compared to the first video, it lacked the tension and excitement. The editing was also simpler as if he had just uploaded this for views.
In the end, Max gave it 73, while Lily gave it 61. No one complained because they also thought it lacked something. And then, the judging process went uninterrupted as the haters' chat was buried among the other viewers'.