Chapter 13

"Holy crap, that physique has to be better than a model's!"

"I knew the abs Qiao Huan showed in City Escape were real!"

"Oh, come on, twelve percent body fat is scary enough. Fifteen percent is just right!"

"I'm dying. Have the Zhou fans never seen abs before? At fifteen percent they're only faintly visible. Twelve percent is when they're defined!"

"Emmmm, I'm not a Zhou fan, but isn't this scale broken?"

"Exactly. Qiao Huan looks completely listless. How could he be in such good shape?"

"Qiao Huan!"

The Zhou fans in the live comments still hadn't stopped making snide remarks when Zhuo Yang hurried onto the deck, his head covered in sweat.

"I just got some seasickness medicine from the production team!"

As if granted a pardon, Qiao Huan took the pill. "Thanks, bro."

Zhuo Yang handed over some warm water, his face full of concern. "Ah, A-Huan."

The Zhou fans who'd said Qiao Huan looked unwell were getting their faces slapped left and right—

"I'm dying. They said he looked unwell when he was obviously seasick!"

"Boo-hoo, the listless salted-fish boss hits my tastes right on the nose."

"And there's a big wolfdog fussing over him! What kind of heavenly team is this?!"

A bunch of people had been waiting behind Qiao Huan to weigh themselves, but now they all quietly scattered.

After all, no one wanted to be the comparison group.

Zhuo Yang had been too busy looking for medicine to know what had happened, so he stepped onto the body fat scale with an unconcerned expression.

[Zhuo Yang, male, 22, 191 cm, 85 kg, body fat 10%]

He was wearing only a snug undershirt, his shoulders broad, his back wide, his waist and abdomen firm, with the faint lines of his abs visible. Even without the announcement, anyone could see he was in great shape.

This time, the Zhou fans in the live comments fell completely silent.

The whole place fell silent too.

Shi Xingzhou immediately found a jacket and hurriedly put it on, ignoring the cameraman's look of disdain.

Zhuo Yang still had no idea what was going on. Seeing Qiao Huan looking better, he breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Hey! Yiwei, Jike!" Zhuo Yang spotted their other two roommates coming onto the deck and waved them over. "You two should try this thing. It's pretty interesting!"

Shi Xingzhou: ...

Interesting?

This man actually thought the body measurements entertainers kept so tightly under wraps were interesting?

But one of these two looked sickly, and the other looked like he hadn't even grown up yet. Surely their measurements couldn't be that good too?

As long as he could place third, his fans would surely hype him up, and he'd still get plenty of buzz—

[Ye Yiwei, male, 23, 185 cm, 72 kg, body fat 10%]

[Bai Jike, male, 19, 179 cm, 66 kg, body fat 11%]

"Aaaaaah, Xiu San and Xiao Bai have such incredible bodies too!"

"Hello, my four new husbands!"

"No time to type. My brain's busy."

"I don't care, this scale is definitely broken!"

"Exactly! It's definitely broken. How could all four of them have better measurements than athletes?!"

"I'm dying. Zhou fans could be dead for three days and their mouths would still be the only hard thing about them. Look at your idol, his smile's frozen stiff."

"I heard he even posted a workout vlog last night. Looks like he trained for nothing, hahaha."

Shi Xingzhou's smile really had frozen stiff.

How could all four of them be in better shape than someone like him, who'd undergone two months of special training?!

There had to be something wrong with the scale!

Please, let there be something wrong with it. The scale had to be broken!

Bai Jike pondered for a moment, then slowly raised his hand. "I don't think the scale's quite right."

Shi Xingzhou: "!"

Sure enough!

After saying that, Bai Jike did something on the touchscreen, then stepped back onto the scale.

[Bai Jike, male, 19, 180 cm, 66 kg, body fat 11%]

Bai Jike nodded in satisfaction. "That's right."

The live comments collectively froze for a moment, then the screen was instantly flooded with "hahahahahaha."

Xiao Bai was way too cute!

179 and 180 were two different things. This was a man's dignity!

The cameraman silently thanked Bai Jike for his airheaded antics. With him lightening the mood, not only was the entertainment value through the roof, but the other contestants had finally worked up the courage to step onto the scale again!

Only Shi Xingzhou was more desperate than ever.

The blazing sun hung overhead.

When Qiao Huan was taken onto the island, he was fitted with a special blindfold and earplugs that would only unlock automatically the moment the show began.

So he had no idea where on the island he was.

On the ferry over, Qiao Huan had actually managed to find out quite a bit about the other contestants' plans. Some wanted to form alliances, some wanted to keep a low profile and develop, and some had decided to find resources scattered across the map and use them as bait to attack anyone who came to help...

Although this was a new show, everyone had seen plenty of battle royale films and shows. They were all much the same, and those were the usual strategies.

Qiao Huan planned to avoid fighting.

His reasons for joining the show were simple. First, he couldn't be eliminated too early, or Star Radiance would shelve him or even terminate his contract. Second, while meeting that condition, he had to find Shi Xingzhou if possible and get information out of him.

Of course, avoiding fights would surely mean less screen time, not to mention how well it suited his salted-fish persona!

But...

Qiao Huan suddenly heard a deep, heavy breath beside him.

It was a man.

His and the other male contestant's "spawn points" were obviously very close together!

But the production team's rules forbade him from speaking to the other man, and he couldn't hear clearly with the special earmuffs on. He could only vaguely make out that the male contestant had walked behind him.

The man was obviously wary of him too.

His footsteps were steady. He had some training.

The director's voice came through the earmuffs. "Thirty seconds to go..."

A sheen of sweat broke out on Qiao Huan's palms. He slowly walked backward too, putting some distance between them.

"Twenty seconds..."

The other man was wearing a blindfold and earmuffs too.

Both of them were guessing what the other was thinking.

Under the Dark Forest Law, the safest approach was obviously to subdue the other person the instant the game began.

"Ten seconds..."

Qiao Huan began loosening his joints and took a deep breath.

The sun-warmed fragrance of the surrounding grass and trees had eased much of his seasickness.

"Five..."

Or had the pill Zhuo Yang gave him finally started working?

Hmm, Zhuo Yang.

After watching so much footage of Between Life and Death, he felt he couldn't completely rule out Zhuo Yang as the undercover agent.

"Two..."

Forget it. No point thinking about all that now.

Qiao Huan tensed his muscles like a leopard poised to strike.

He could hear the other man's restrained breathing.

The two were only a short distance apart.

"One!"

Snap!

The instant the blindfold and earmuffs fell away, Qiao Huan sprang forward.

At the same time, the other man charged at him.

The two instantly began grappling.

The force of the clash sent Qiao Huan and his opponent rolling on the ground. He could clearly tell the other man was an exceptional fighter. Though his moves were all unorthodox, he could actually keep up with Qiao Huan's attacks and rhythm.

His opponent was also solidly built, and his thick muscles absorbed much of Qiao Huan's force.

Back and forth they went, countering each other's every move. This was no longer an instinctive struggle, but more like a conversation between men.

Qiao Huan even heard a low, raspy chuckle and a satisfied hum in the other man's throat.

"Holy crap! It's this exciting right from the start!"

"God, these two are fighting so fiercely♂..."

"Evenly matched! They're so strong! I can't even see their moves. They really are bosses!"

The live comments were watching with growing excitement, but as Qiao Huan fought, he began to feel that something wasn't quite right...

His ground-fighting skills, honed through his experiences on the streets, were second to none, yet his opponent wasn't at a disadvantage.

Could this be...

"Bro!" Qiao Huan realized. "It's me!"

The other man's hands paused, but he kept Qiao Huan's joint locked.

Qiao Huan lightly tapped the back of his hand.

"Holy crap," the other man said, his whole body jolting. "A-Huan?"

"It's me!"

The two instantly broke apart and scrambled to their feet.

It was Zhuo Yang!

The instant the blindfold had come off, Qiao Huan's vision hadn't yet recovered, and he hadn't had time to see his opponent clearly.

"A-Huan!" Zhuo Yang gave him a radiant smile. "Brother, good thing it was you..." Otherwise, he'd have been choked unconscious by now.

"Brother Zhuo!" Qiao Huan smiled back. "Good thing it was you..." Otherwise, he'd have been tied to a tree by now.

The two brothers, each believing he'd pushed the other to his limit, exchanged smiles in a harmonious atmosphere.

Qiao Huan had suspected Zhuo Yang was a professional undercover agent, but after their fight, he'd found that the other man's moves were all unorthodox and had a distinctly self-taught flavor. Much of his suspicion had faded.

Zhuo Yang, meanwhile, was full of excitement. He'd thought Qiao Huan was merely in good physical shape, but his fighting moves were surprisingly "street," and he was strong too!

He hadn't enjoyed a fight this much in a long time!

But this was a live show, after all, so the two suppressed their feelings for the moment and looked at their surroundings.

Qiao Huan immediately realized something.

This was far too much of a coincidence.

The place was so open, yet the two of them had spawned together, as if someone had arranged it deliberately.

Zhuo Yang had obviously thought of the same thing. He looked up, and with a single glance, the two understood each other.

It had to be the production team's doing.

They'd just hyped up their brotherhood, and now the two were fighting the moment they met. Nothing could be more ironic.

But how could it be that simple?

Qiao Huan stood up and looked around for a while.

Sure enough.

"Brother Zhuo, look." Qiao Huan pointed ahead. "We're on high ground, with cliffs all around us. Only that log bridge in front connects us to the outside. But there's a crack in the bridge, and it can only bear one person's weight."

"So once one person crosses, the bridge will collapse?" Zhuo Yang was shocked. "Fuck, isn't that murder? Do they have to make us fight to the death?"

"Isn't this risking their lives? What if they hadn't noticed the crack in the bridge?"

"@Deserted Island, your production team has gone too far! Don't you care about their lives at all, just to stir up conflict?"

"I'm speechless. Do you just have to make the two brothers fight?"

"Aaaaaah, but I don't want either of them eliminated. I love them both!"

"Are the two brothers going to start scheming and deceiving each other? I don't want to watch a plot like that, aaaaaah!"

Zhuo Yang curled his lip. "I can't do something like that. If someone has to be eliminated, let it be me. You go across!"

Qiao Huan leaned against the tree trunk beside him and smiled lazily. "No need for that."

"Huh?" Zhuo Yang was taken aback. "Then what do we do?"

Qiao Huan shrugged. "We can both lie flat and wait for everyone else to get eliminated."

Zhuo Yang: ...

Live comments: ...

"That's my A-Huan for you!" Zhuo Yang burst out laughing.

His good brother really was something. Not only could he fight, he was full of ideas too!

The two said they'd lie flat and did just that, each finding a comfortable hollow beneath a tree and immediately going to sleep.

Qiao Huan had been worried he hadn't gotten enough sleep, and this could also make the viewers lose interest. Two birds with one stone!

What a boring sight it was, two grown men sleeping!

A bright moon hung high in the sky, stars shining over the open plains.

Just like that, the two brothers slept away half a day.

If Shi Xingzhou knew that the arena he'd so carefully arranged had instead become an isolated island where no one could disturb their sleep, he'd surely die of anger.

"Ahh—~"

Just as the two brothers were about to fall into a deep sleep, a piercing scream tore through the night sky.

Both jolted awake and instantly went into combat mode.

"Help—glug~"

The voice was close! So meek! So familiar!

The two thought for a moment, then said in unison, "Bai Jike?"

It came from across the cliff!

That final "glug" clearly meant he had fallen into the water!

"What do we do?"

The moment Qiao Huan asked, Zhuo Yang had already spoken: "We have to save him!"

Although Qiao Huan had no desire to stand out, Bai Jike was a fellow participant from the same group, after all. Even if he had been a passerby, Qiao Huan was a people's police officer and had no reason to stand by and let him die.

But what about the log bridge in front of them...

What Qiao Huan was thinking at that moment was exactly what Zhuo Yang was thinking.

It was also what the bullet-screen viewers were thinking.

But the viewers never imagined they would see this—

The two stepped back several paces together, took a running start, tapped the log bridge lightly for leverage, and leaped forward like tigers...

A second later, two figures blending into the night easily cleared the nearly five-meter-wide ravine.

Then they ran deeper into the dense forest.

Author's note:

Qiao Huan & Zhuo Yang: This is the sense of duty public servants feel when facing people in need!

Log bridge: Boo-hoo, this makes me look so silly.

*Qiao Huan had also patted the back of Zhuo Yang's hand like this once in "Between Life and Death."