Chapter 2

"Actually, when you think about it, Star Radiance was in the wrong over OSOK. There's no need to curse out the trainee, is there?"

"Are you stupid? Joining the show now means he must have signed a deal with Star Radiance to ride the wave of hate-fueled publicity..."

"But... cursing at someone who's asleep just doesn't feel very humane..."

"Could this be a new XY tactic? Why isn't this guy putting on an act at all? He's such a salted fish, too."

"Actually, sisters, I have a bold theory..."

"Me too... he can't be that big shot who was singing at the bar just now, can he?"

"His profile looks like him... but that's impossible, right? Why would Star Radiance recruit someone with such a dangerous background as a trainee?"

"Besides, it's only been five minutes since he sang at the bar! Who could possibly get here that fast?"

Qiao Huan lay there looking listless and lazy, but had actually committed the locations of the room's twelve hidden cameras to memory.

Although this was a livestreamed variety show, viewers generally watched the main shots selected by the director. Surely not many people would watch the fixed-camera feed from a minor cannon fodder's room.

With that thought, Qiao Huan unhurriedly unbuttoned the shirt, planning to take a proper bath first.

"Oh my, what's he doing?!"

"It's coming off, it's coming off! Those lines..."

"Could he really have been in that world? That's obviously not a little idol's body. Those muscles were forged with real blades and guns! Those abs..."

Qiao Huan had no idea that taking off the shirt had sent the livestream's popularity to its peak for the night, and strolled into the bathroom.

Four showerheads and a small pool made it look just like a northern bathhouse.

After confirming there were no cameras, Qiao Huan finally relaxed.

Qiao Huan began considering the mission.

Two months earlier, a female trainee from Starlight Entertainment had been found unconscious at home after hanging herself. The local police station considered it a straightforward attempted suicide, but Qiao Huan's criminal investigation unit thought otherwise.

Half a month earlier, the victim had attended a drinking party. Apart from her and her agent, the attendees had been several managers and a vice president from Qiancheng Capital.

Sex-for-money deals in the entertainment industry persisted despite repeated crackdowns. As one of Starlight Entertainment's major shareholders, Qiancheng Capital might well have wanted some other "return" during Star Radiance's low point.

Besides, the young woman was not the first Star Radiance trainee to "commit suicide." Yet whenever questioned, Star Radiance gave the same account: the trainees had been unable to withstand the pressure and had taken an extreme path.

The criminal investigation unit naturally didn't believe that story. The problem was that the young woman bore no signs of assault and had yet to wake up and give a statement. With no other choice, they had sent Qiao Huan undercover to gather evidence.

The mission isn't too difficult, Qiao Huan thought, submerging in the pool. I just need to make a good first impression on the agent, then gradually get close to the higher-ups.

If nobody interfered, Qiao Huan was confident of completing the mission within three months.

By then, the girl should be awake, and Qiao Huan could get the diploma.

With the diploma in hand, Qiao Huan could be assigned back to the hometown police station. It was a lovely place, blessed with natural beauty and filled with honest, unassuming people—perfect for retirement...

Splash—

Before Qiao Huan could finish imagining the wonderful life of retiring upon graduation, a pair of hands like pincers hauled Qiao Huan up.

Then, with a smack, Qiao Huan was pinned to the floor.

"Cough, cough..." Qiao Huan nearly choked and, caught off guard, found a pair of bloodshot eyes staring back.

"What were you doing?" The person's tone was icy.

"Uh..." Seeing that something was off about the other person's expression, Qiao Huan suppressed the surprise and asked in return, "Are you all right?"

Hearing how strong Qiao Huan's voice was, the man quickly composed himself. "Sorry, I thought you were drowning."

Qiao Huan: "..."

Looking at the red marks on the body, Qiao Huan felt that, rather than being pulled out of the water, it was more like being lifted out by a crane.

What kind of strength and technique was that?

The man had a head full of curls. He was expressionless now, yet somehow looked angry—probably the legendary "resting bitch face." His features, however, were striking: fox eyes and thin lips, all cool detachment and aloofness.

Qiao Huan's gaze moved downward and spotted a long, thin scar below Curly's V-lines.

Curly noticed Qiao Huan's gaze and casually covered the scar with a bath towel. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Qiao Huan tried to look as friendly as possible. "I'm Qiao Huan, from Star Radiance."

"Ye Yiwei, also from Star Radiance." Curly's voice was cold too.

With that, he turned on the shower, clearly unwilling to continue the conversation.

Qiao Huan assumed he was simply an introvert, so said nothing more for the time being and focused on scrubbing up a lather.

Actually.

Half a meter away.

Ye Yiwei was frantically dissing himself in his head—

I've been a trainee for half a month, so how come I still haven't gotten into character?!

What a disgrace to the mobile unit!

Ye Yiwei, male, twenty-four years old.

His real identity was also that of an undercover officer. The police economic crimes department where he was interning had sent him to find evidence of suspected tax evasion by an instructor who had retired from a military arts troupe and was now a trainee instructor at Star Radiance.

Before going undercover, he had served three years in an armed police mobile unit, primarily handling patrols and emergencies. When he saw Qiao Huan submerged, he thought it was a drowning and reflexively pulled Qiao Huan out.

He had even used the mobile unit's professional rescue technique.

Ye Yiwei had thought he could keep this kind of "occupational disease" in check, but it just had to be a drowning...

Still, Qiao Huan shouldn't have figured out my real identity, right?

"Didn't they check during your audition?" Qiao Huan decided to ease into a conversation.

Ye Yiwei's heart tightened. "What?"

Check what? His background?

"Your scar," Qiao Huan said. "Didn't the agent say entertainers couldn't have obvious scars?"

Ye Yiwei froze. "Huh?"

Half a second later, he caught on and said, half probing and half warning, "You have sharp eyes."

Meeting Ye Yiwei's gaze, Qiao Huan immediately changed tack. "Don't worry, I'll pretend I didn't see it. I won't tell anyone."

"Mm."

"I just wanted to say, I know a doctor who's great at removing scars. Want me to put you in touch?" Qiao Huan's gaze was perfectly sincere.

The sentiment was sincere too.

Going undercover was much like being a trainee: both were lonely battles. To some extent, Qiao Huan could understand his "hostility."

But Qiao Huan wasn't really his enemy on the road to debut. Besides, if this cannon fodder Curly also "couldn't withstand the pressure" and took an extreme path, it would be another tragedy.

We're both adrift under the same sky. Anyone who stands between me and graduation is no human being.

Ye Yiwei: "..."

In his half month as a trainee, he had endured plenty of jabs, both open and subtle, from his fellow trainees over the scar. They were competitors, after all. But this fellow trainee... had asked so sincerely and wanted to help him get rid of it?

And after being pulled out of the water just now, despite choking, Qiao Huan's first reaction had been to ask if he was all right...

Not a bad person.

Ye Yiwei's expression softened, though he remained somewhat guarded. "No need," he said quietly. "I want to keep it."

Qiao Huan shrugged. "Okay."

With that, Qiao Huan walked out of the bathroom.

Only then did Ye Yiwei breathe a sigh of relief.

Before going undercover, he had undergone surgery to remove the scars on his body, but he had deliberately kept this one as a reminder.

He had gotten it during a plainclothes patrol, when a member of a smuggling ring known as "Bro Buffing" stabbed him.

That person had actually been brazen enough to announce who he was after stabbing him...

What infuriated Ye Yiwei was that he hadn't gotten a clear look at the man's face.

At the thought, Ye Yiwei tightened his grip on the towel, blue veins bulging on the back of his pale hand.

Star Radiance's higher-ups had countless ties to the smuggling ring, and that was one of the reasons he had gone undercover.

He would have his revenge.

Qiao Huan walked out of the bathroom, feeling that the person with fox eyes looked familiar, but couldn't remember where they had met.

Mistaking Qiao Huan for a drowning person and jumping in to help showed he was clearly warmhearted, yet he had stumbled over his words afterward. He seemed to have a lot going on inside his head.

But why insist on keeping that scar?

That spot... Qiao Huan couldn't have been more familiar with it.

The first possibility was that someone had stabbed him.

But the person who stabbed him must have been quite an amateur. A stab there was neither fatal nor aesthetically pleasing; it was a downright low blow.

Even Little Potato wouldn't have picked that spot.

The second possibility... hernia surgery.

Qiao Huan nodded, feeling that the second possibility was more likely.

That explained why he hadn't had the scar removed.

He must be embarrassed, right? Hernias are pretty rare in adults, after all.

If the paparazzi exposed it, he would probably be mocked by the entire internet.

Alas, Curly's road to debut is truly full of twists and turns.

Hemp rope always snaps at its thinnest point; misfortune always seeks out those who suffer most.

After silently wishing Curly well, Qiao Huan walked back to the dorm and was instantly stunned by the scene inside—

The bed by the door was creaking nonstop.

A tall, muscular man on it was bare-chested, a thin sheen of sweat glistening on his wheat-colored skin from his vigorous movements.

Though momentarily stunned by the man's strange behavior, Qiao Huan couldn't help but admire him. That core strength... tsk.

He made doing sit-ups look as imposing as one man holding a pass against ten thousand.

There probably wasn't a single person in the entire police force who could compare.

Noticing Qiao Huan watching him, Weirdo Number Two sprang nimbly off the bed with a kip-up and held out a broad hand. "Hello! I'm Zhuo Yang, a trainee from Star Radiance. What should I call you?"

Qiao Huan shook his hand. "Qiao Huan, also from Star Radiance."

"What a coincidence! Then we're brothers from now on." Zhuo Yang grinned, showing a set of white teeth. The sweat on his body glistened, and he was like walking male hormones, radiating sunshine and vitality.

"Mm." Qiao Huan looked toward the bed beside Zhuo Yang's, where the occupant was already sound asleep, wrapped up like a silkworm.

"That's Bai Jike, also one of us from Star Radiance," Zhuo Yang said, putting on his jacket. "He just told me he doesn't like talking to humans, so he went to sleep."

"Okay." Qiao Huan nodded.

Just as expected, the people Star Radiance had shoved into this variety show were all cannon fodder.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be this abnormal.

Before going undercover, Qiao Huan had read plenty of material and knew that trainees usually gave themselves a persona to make people remember them. Qiao Huan's own label was "a salted fish eating and waiting to die," while Ye Yiwei's was definitely hernia... no, definitely "cool and aloof (but with a lot going on inside)."

Zhuo Yang stood a full 1.9 meters tall and was clearly the extremely rare "sunny martial lead," while Bai Jike was probably the even rarer "socially anxious little brother."

Trainees generally chose personas like "sunny little puppy" or "hardworking beauty." Qiao Huan knew the salted-fish persona was already strange, but somehow the others' labels were even harder to describe...

But as it turned out, Qiao Huan really didn't understand the entertainment industry—

"I'm basic. I really wanted to curse Star Radiance, but these four have me completely hooked!"

"That big wolfdog's body is incredible! That stud waist, those serratus muscles—I'm so into it!"

"Hahaha, has that red-haired baby face already fallen peacefully asleep when it's not even nine? He's so cute!"

"Emmm, am I the only one who likes the retired big shot?"

"Why has the other one been bathing for so long? Is his health bad?"

"I didn't expect to find four hidden gems on a flop variety show. Aren't they the only ones who made it back to the prey safe house?"

"Yes! I have to say, Star Radiance is impressive. Even though they're all newcomers, their skills are beyond reproach!"

In the studio.

The director stared at the scrolling comments in despair.

The fact that the main camera had followed the hunters all along showed that, at its core, the program was meant to promote the entertainer hunters.

Yet everyone in the livestream was discussing these oddball cannon-fodder prey...

Cannon-fodder prey from Star Radiance, no less.

Did that make any sense?

The livestream would end in five hours, and as long as these prey slept until tomorrow morning, left the safe house right at the maximum time limit, and spent ten minutes outside, they would achieve a resounding victory.

By then... they would be the only four prey to have survived since the show began airing.

The commenters already thought the hunters were a little dim this time. How badly would they mock them then?

"Beep beep, Young Master Jiang Renbao?" The director adjusted the channel. "It's the director. I've come up with a new segment that'll give you some extra screen time. Will you play along?"

Although Jiang Renbao was currently just a minor internet celebrity, he was actually the son of Qiancheng Capital's general manager, and one of the people the show was meant to promote.

On receiving the director's prompt, Jiang Renbao tried to kip up from the bed and fell onto the floor. Scrambling to his feet, he said, "Sure!"

"I've got a new way to play for you." The director chuckled. "You're now an undercover agent sent by our hunter team. You can sneak into the safe house..."

Late at night, in the prey safe house.

Everyone had had a tiring day, and snores rose from the dorm. Qiao Huan, however, was still awake, deep in thought.

Qiao Huan had lost count of how many times the captain had called Qiao Huan an oddball of the police force.

While working undercover, Qiao Huan could go without sleep or rest to complete a mission, yet still tirelessly expressed a longing to retire and take it easy.

The captain said Qiao Huan was schizophrenic, but only Qiao Huan knew that all the hard work was for the sake of lying flat sooner.

At that moment, Qiao Huan was thinking about how to set something up to get close to the higher-ups at Starlight Entertainment or Qiancheng Capital and complete the mission as soon as possible.

But none of the plans was quite ready...

Suddenly, the door was quietly pushed open.

Years of undercover experience kept Qiao Huan from overreacting to any unusual situation, so Qiao Huan merely watched through narrowed eyes.

The newcomer was none other than Jiang Renbao.

Qiao Huan had seen his face in the files and perked up instantly.

Isn't this a target delivering himself right to my door?

No, wait.

This person was clearly a hunter. What was he doing coming in so late?

The next second, he took one look at the other man's shifty gait and understood.

The production team had probably given him the green light to stir up trouble.

Indeed, after weighing his options, Jiang Renbao had come up with the safest plan—he couldn't just steal the prey's badges in the safe house and win. That would be too underhanded. But he could weaken their fighting power when they went outside tomorrow.

For example, he could steal their weapons.

And his father had told him from childhood to "catch the king first when capturing bandits," so he planned to deal with the most formidable-looking one first.

"Isn't the production team being way too shameless, adding a rule like this just to promote Jiang Renbao?"

"Is Baby going to steal the gun Zhuo Yang seized? That's pretty smart."

"Go, Jiang Renbao!"

"This is so nerve-racking, but I don't want Zhuo Yang to be eliminated."

Jiang Renbao had already crept to Zhuo Yang's bedside and reached out his little criminal hand.

Qiao Huan was wondering whether to clear their throat to warn Zhuo Yang.

However.

"Ah—"

A scream pierced the night sky.

Zhuo Yang, still asleep, had twisted Jiang Renbao's arm to a most inhumane angle.

Many years later, Jiang Renbao, whose wrist ached faintly every winter, finally realized what a huge mistake he had made at the tender age of nineteen.

He had actually tried to snatch a gun from the hands of a former special forces operative.

Author's note:

One second earlier, Ye Yiwei: What kind of trash is Bro Buffing? I will bring him to justice.

The next second, Ye Yiwei: Qiao Huan really is such a good person~

Qiao Huan: This person is so dramatic.