The Protagonist Shou Probably Hated You to Death in His Heart, Boss

Twenty minutes later, the ten guests gathered at No. 1 Base and sat in a circle around the campfire.

The Blue Team members were all beaming, while the other five looked rather unhappy, except for Xia Wanqing.

He did not seem to care much about winning or losing, quietly comforting Xiang Ziqi and Chen Hongyi, whose faces had darkened after losing the game.

The lingering fear in Chu Lan's heart had yet to fade, leaving him utterly silent.

"Brother." Xia Yu sat beside him and poked his arm. "Does your hand still hurt?"

He nearly flinched on instinct and shifted away.

"Did it really scare you that badly? It wasn't that serious, was it?"

Chu Lan looked at him with complicated eyes. Perhaps it was because he had been frightened, but the thought that had surfaced earlier was that Xia Yu might really kill him.

Xia Yu paid no attention to his probing gaze and gently stroked his arm. "Sorry, Brother. Don't be mad at me."

Chu Lan pulled his arm away. "I'm not mad."

"Then tell me, wasn't I amazing? I killed three people all by myself. Amazing, right?"

"..."

"Are you deaf again?"

"...Amazing."

Satisfied, Xia Yu tilted his head slightly and gave Xia Wanqing a faint smile.

Xia Wanqing pressed his lips together and lowered his head, looking somewhat forlorn.

Zhang Jin arrived with a group of staff members and announced through a loudspeaker, "Congratulations to the Blue Team for claiming the final victory! The five of you will split a one-million-yuan prize! Please send one representative forward to collect it."

"Bro! You go!"

"Xia Yu, hurry up!"

"Xia Yu was the MVP of the whole match!"

Xia Yu got to his feet and stepped forward to accept the check Zhang Jin handed him. "Thank you."

"Say a few words about your victory."

"A speech? Um... I don't really have anything to say."

"Uh..." Zhang Jin gave an awkward laugh. "All right, then. Go back and sit down first."

"Whoa!" Xueli leaned in. "It really is one million! We're rich!"

Although one million yuan was nothing more than a few minutes' income for celebrities of their status, they had won it themselves, so they still had to show the appropriate amount of excitement.

Zhang Wen chuckled. "You guys got all the kills. I just rode along to victory."

Hearing that, Qi Ning became unhappy. He had not taken down a single person! He had even been killed once! At the start of the game, he had sworn he would wipe everyone out, but in the end... it was too embarrassing!

Perhaps because they still had reservations about switching teammates, no one comforted the Red Team members who had lost. Even veterans Zhang Wen and Liu Yue ignored them, gathering around Xia Yu to praise him instead.

[ Ding! Xia Wanqing's resentment value +590. ]

As the system notification sounded, Xia Yu glanced over. Xia Wanqing still wore a smile as he softly comforted his teammates, encouraging them that they would definitely win next time.

"Oh-ho." 001 popped up. "Two-faced at such a young age. Boss, the protagonist shou probably hates you to death in his heart, yet he's pretending not to care. No wonder he's so popular."

"How many points do we have now?"

"Ninety-five thousand! Just five thousand more, and the shop can level up!"

"Five thousand? How's the public opinion online now?"

"Boss, you really had incredible foresight! The paid commenters you hired before coming here are especially effective! And your performance was really, really outstanding! The AC Boy Group, which barely had any negative reviews online before, is getting torn apart now. Especially the protagonist gong and shou—their solo fans and CP fans are fighting so fiercely. Little Five and I have been having so much fun watching the drama."

"Heh. You two really are taking it easy."

"Uh... because our host boss is amazing~ So there's nothing to worry about. Boss will also beat the protagonist gong and shou until they're battered and helpless, with no chance to fight back~"

"Hmph."

Just five thousand points short. Once Xia Wanqing got his phone back and saw the discussions online, they would probably earn enough very quickly. After all, this protagonist shou was not nearly as magnanimous as he appeared.

Seeing how completely different the moods on both sides were, Zhang Jin picked up the loudspeaker again to break the awkwardness. "Once again, congratulations to the Blue Team for winning this week's game! The Red Team, don't lose heart. Try to win it back next time!"

[Congratulations to the Blue Team! My husband is the best!!!]

[Damn it, trash production team! You couldn't stand seeing the Red Team do well, so you gave the Blue Team cheats!]

[Qingqing really is a little angel! He must feel bad about losing too, yet he's still smiling and comforting his teammates. My poor baby.]

[Why is Chu Lan so useless? After switching teams, he didn't even kill a single person and got completely crushed by Xia Yu. Trash!]

[Production team, come out and explain! Is Xia Yu a regular cast member? Will he still be here next week? If he's gone next week, I'll chop you all up!]

[The game ended early, so will the livestream end early too? No! I haven't had enough yet. Why don't they keep playing on the island for the next two days?]

"Director!" Xiang Ziqi truly could not accept that his team had lost. Convinced that the production team had given Xia Yu cheats, his expression and tone were both unpleasant. "The game is over. Can we leave now?"

Zhang Jin nodded. "Yes, but the boat will not arrive until tomorrow morning, so everyone will need to stay here for one more night."

He looked deeply dissatisfied. "What the hell? You knew the game might end early, so why didn't you arrange for a boat to come sooner? Who wants to spend another night on this shitty island?"

The moment those vaguely pointed words left his mouth, everyone's expressions changed.

Qi Ning sprang up and pointed at his nose as he cursed, "Can't accept losing, can you? Didn't the game end early because you guys were too useless? I hadn't even had my fill yet, and you were already all dead. You should be thanking the production team for canceling the revival mechanic. Otherwise, you'd revive and get killed, revive and get killed. That would be humiliating!"

"Who are you calling useless?!"

"You bunch of team-hugging mutts, obviously. You tuck your heads in and think you're invincible, but the second you show yourselves, you get killed. Isn't that useless?"

"You!"

"Xiang Ziqi!" Chu Lan stopped him sharply. "Say less!"

He suppressed his anger and shut his mouth, his face full of unwillingness.

Qi Ning snorted smugly. "Team-hugging mutts turned into useless mutts. When you go back, just looking at each other will be enough to help you eat."

Zhang Jin hurriedly stepped in. "All right, all right, everyone calm down. Friendship first, competition second. Since none of you seem sleepy yet, why don't we chat for a while? It'll help build team rapport. You still have to keep working together at the next stop."

Zhang Wen pulled Qi Ning back. "Sure, sure. What should we talk about?"

Zhang Jin's eyes rolled around. "We'll stick to the current teams. One-on-one, choose someone from the opposing camp, state one of their strengths, then ask one question you are especially curious about. They can choose not to answer, but then they'll have to perform something."

"This is good!" Zhang Wen enthusiastically played along. "Who goes first?"

"Xueli from the Blue Team can go first."

Xueli, who had been quietly admiring her idol's stunning profile, was suddenly called on and froze for two seconds. "Can I only praise someone from the opposing team?"

Liu Yue laughed. "Oh my, we know you only want to praise Xia Yu, but follow the game rules. Share one or two sentences from your endless praise for Xia Yu with someone else."

Her face turned red. "Then... then I'll choose Yang Tian..."

Yang Tian looked flattered and full of anticipation.

"You... you... you're a good person."

"..."

"Hahahaha!"

Everyone except the person being praised burst out laughing.

Chen Hongyi threw himself over the stunned man's shoulder and cackled. "Brother Tian, keep that good-person card safe."

Yang Tian forced out a pale smile. "Thanks."

Xueli looked a little embarrassed. "Uh, I mean, you're a warm and considerate guy with a good temper. You don't pull a long face when you lose a game..."

"..."

Chen Hongyi and Xiang Ziqi could no longer laugh. Was she taking a jab at them?

Zhang Jin sucked in a breath. "Xueli, is there anything you want to ask him?"

"Um... no." She did not really want to know him better.

"All right, then next, Xia Yu..."

Xia Yu swept his gaze over the people opposite him before it settled on Chu Lan. "I'll choose Brother."

"..." For a moment, Chu Lan wanted to quit this game.