"Is the director dead set on covering for Yuan Feng?"
"He didn't mean it? Who the hell believes that?!"
"Yuan Feng wanted to cripple me!"
"I don't care. Either he leaves this show or I do!"
Lying in the lounge, Lu Yuanhang was beside himself with rage, unleashing a tirade at the director's assistant.
He refused to believe that, as the financial backer's younger brother, he couldn't get a newcomer kicked out of the entertainment industry!
He would make an example of Yuan Feng and show everyone who was boss-no matter how popular a star was or how promising their future looked, crossing him meant the end of their career!
"That's fine. I'll go tell the boss." The director's assistant turned to leave.
Lu Yuanhang froze, then hurriedly sat up. "Tell him what?!"
"That you've asked to go home and recover," the assistant said matter-of-factly.
Lu Yuanhang's expression cracked. "You-"
The assistant smiled. "Just a friendly reminder: Yuan Feng really didn't do anything excessive. You waited for a chance to approach him, and he merely defended himself. Saying he tried to cripple you is a bit of an exaggeration, considering all he did was put you in a restraint hold."
Lu Yuanhang couldn't come up with a comeback. All he could do was gape.
So the assistant continued, "The director said that if your injured arm keeps you from filming, we can send you off the island today. Anything else... don't even think about it."
Watching the assistant saunter away, Lu Yuanhang pounded the bed in fury. A second later, he grabbed his phone and angrily typed out a message.
[Hire trolls to smear Yuan Feng as hard as they can! I want him bullied out of the industry!]
His agent received the message and readily replied with two words: [Will do.]
A subordinate glanced over. "Young Master Lu's throwing another fit?"
"Forget him." The agent picked up his glass. "Let's keep drinking!"
When Lu Yuanhang came out, he saw the other guests standing on the training grounds, chattering away. Their faces weren't flushed, their breathing was steady, and they looked full of energy, as though nothing had happened.
"I'm dead tired. No way I'm getting out of bed tonight!"
"If there's an emergency muster, I definitely won't hear it."
"I'm going to be sore all over tomorrow. I should've brought some pain-relief patches!"
"Let's ask the medical staff if they have any."
"..."
The guests talked over one another as they headed toward the cafeteria. As they passed Lu Yuanhang, they all tacitly treated him as invisible.
Lu Yuanhang took a deep breath and consoled himself.
Bad news: not a single guest on this show was normal.
Good news: he definitely wouldn't come last at tonight's emergency muster.
So Lu Yuanhang forced himself to keep his eyes wide open until midnight, when the muster announcement finally rang out overhead.
"Get dressed and assemble on the training grounds within five minutes."
"The last person to arrive will be punished!"
"I repeat, within five minutes..."
He sprang to his feet and grabbed his camouflage uniform. As he pulled it on, he caught several dark figures shooting out of the room from the corner of his eye.
What the fuck?!
That fast?!
Lu Yuanhang sped up, finally got his trousers on, stepped into his training shoes, and rushed toward the door.
Only for someone to slam into him and knock him aside.
He stumbled several steps, almost falling flat on his face.
When he looked up for a better look,
it was Zhou Nan, the very same guy who'd said he definitely wouldn't be able to get out of bed tonight?!
Fuck?!
Were you bullshitting me?!
Once the last arrival had taken his place, Feng Dayuan said sternly, "Lu Yuanhang. Twenty laps. Start now. You can sleep when you're done."
"Everyone else is dismissed."
Lu Yuanhang took another deep breath, struggled to suppress his murderous urges, and headed toward the track.
The next day was overcast.
Standing in front of the group, Feng Dayuan began introducing their training. "You've all played outdoor, live-action Counter-Strike before, right? To prepare for the upcoming escape-and-survival mission, the production team has arranged a similar course."
"Of course, we won't be using real guns, but your opponents won't be pushovers."
"How tough could they be? Don't tell me you actually brought in soldiers?" Still disgruntled, Lu Yuanhang snapped back.
He'd thought the punishment would just be a token gesture.
He hadn't expected Feng Dayuan to actually watch him finish all twenty laps the night before.
Neither begging nor playing weak had worked. The man was utterly inhuman!
Feng Dayuan swept a cold glance toward him and gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You guessed right."
"Are you insane?" Clearly not expecting that answer, Lu Yuanhang looked incredulous. "Fighting professional soldiers? Won't we just get crushed?"
Jian Li curled his lips. "That's normal."
"You'd get crushed fighting ordinary people, too."
"Does thinking of it that way make you feel any better?"
Lu Yuanhang turned, his eyes blazing. "Can you shut up? Can't you see this show is exploiting us? Nobody can survive training this intense!"
The four undercover operatives kept up the act. "...Right, exactly. Nobody could survive this!"
Why did this loser always have so much to say?!
Was he trying to make people start guessing who I really was?!
Sure enough, comments began flooding the livestream.
[My brain's starting to itch. Some of these guests feel really weird, like they're deliberately hiding their abilities!]
[Who was it yesterday?! They kept saying they wouldn't be able to get out of bed, then bolted out of the dorm the second the muster whistle blew?!]
[Hahaha, exactly! I watched the edited clip. Lu Yuanhang got shoved over, and Luo Xiaohong stepped right on the back of his hand without hesitating!]
[Seems like Lu Yuanhang's the only one who can't handle it?!]
[What?! They're playing live-action Counter-Strike?! Against professionals, too?! I can't wait! Rubbing my hands together here!]
[...]
Unsurprisingly, Lu Yuanhang's protest got him nowhere.
Led by Feng Dayuan, the guests arrived at the outdoor combat site that had been set up in advance.
Paintball guns, tactical helmets, bulletproof vests, health-point indicators, C4 bombs... all lay on the table, looking very professional.
Jian Li's eyes had just lit up, and he was about to go over and gear up when Feng Dayuan's voice rang out again.
"To make things more interesting, everyone has to draw a role card to determine their position or mission within the team."
"What a pain," Lu Yuanhang muttered.
Ignoring him, Feng Dayuan took out the cards and continued, "You must all keep your missions secret, because there are undercover operatives among you. If that information gets out, the enemy will have an easy time winning."
"Undercover operatives?!"
Several guests with unusual identities repeated the words in unison, then broke into rather stiff smiles.
"I have no experience with that kind of mission. I really hope I don't draw it." Yuan Feng scratched his head, offering a denial that only made him look more suspicious.
Someone just had to agree. "What a coincidence. Me neither."
"Same here!"
"..."
While the undercover operatives showed off their acting chops, Jian Li had already stepped forward and drawn a card. He glanced at it, then stuffed it into his trouser pocket.
Huo Xiao followed right behind him.
The other guests went over as well.
The final card went to Lu Yuanhang. One glance made his expression tense. Then, as though something had occurred to him, he broke into a strange smile.
Go undercover and report his teammates' positions in real time?
This mission was fucking perfect for him!
With him here, none of them stood a chance of winning!
Before you continue