Holy shit, I wasn't ready for that skin!

"The Blue Team has won, with zero casualties."

"The Undercover Mission has failed. The guest will receive a penalty."

"..."

The announcement blasted in his ears. Lu Yuanhang looked incredulous. "They still lost?! How useless are they?!"

The livestream camera swung over just then, and the chat went wild with laughter.

[I knew it! Lu Yuanhang really was the mole!]

[LMAO! They deliberately left you alone with the prisoner to bait you, and you couldn't even see that, yet you're calling everyone else useless?!]

[Heh, with anyone else as the mole, the Red Team might've had a chance instead of getting wiped out without dealing any damage!]

[Blue Team: having a mole like you is such a blessing!]

Seeing Jian Li lead the Blue Team back to the base fortress, Lu Yuanhang couldn't help marching over to demand, "How did you know I was the mole?!"

No sooner had he said it than he shot down his own theory. "No, you didn't figure it out at all. You just happened to stumble into it."

"That sniper was way too careless. He didn't even notice someone tailing him."

"What a deadweight teammate! There's no carrying someone like that!"

Lu Yuanhang sighed as he delivered his analysis, taking it for granted that everyone else was to blame for the defeat.

What he didn't know was that when the Red Team went back to review the match and watched that segment replaying in the video, they all clenched their fists, their eyes burning with hostility.

"Next field battle, we have to kill this bastard first!"

"Exactly! He's infuriating!"

"..."

And so, in the next several Live-Action Field Battles, Lu Yuanhang was always the first to take a headshot and the first to be eliminated.

He was utterly frustrated, even complaining that the opposing team was deliberately targeting him and trying to stir up public opinion to take his side...

Of course, that all came later.

At lunchtime, the cafeteria offered a lavish spread.

Instructor Feng Dayuan had shed his usual stern demeanor, unable to suppress the smile tugging at his lips. "Winning a rapid assault after just one day of training-an excellent performance!"

"Have a good meal to replenish your energy, then keep up the good work!"

Jian Li plopped into a chair and glanced over the table, clicking his tongue inwardly. Well, this really is some good food.

Beef brisket braised with tomatoes, chicken stewed with potatoes, steamed turbot, braised pork knuckle, freshly fried river shrimp, and several stir-fried vegetable dishes-the spread rivaled a wedding banquet or a baby's one-month celebration.

He didn't stand on ceremony, picking up his chopsticks and taking a bite of brisket, only to hear whining behind him.

"Why do they get to sit at that table while I'm stuck here alone? Isn't this blatant preferential treatment?!"

Lu Yuanhang was so disgruntled he nearly stamped his feet. Only the cameras kept him from losing his temper outright.

The show's guide approached with a professional, fake smile. "The director said you can choose between two penalties: forty laps around the training ground, or plain rice porridge and pickled vegetables for lunch."

"What?!" Lu Yuanhang wondered whether something was wrong with his hearing, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Forty laps?! Twenty laps nearly had me coughing up blood, and you want me to run forty?!"

"That's why you have a choice." The guide spoke at an unhurried pace, yet somehow made every word infuriating.

Lu Yuanhang drew a deep breath. "Fine. So that's how you want to play it? Don't regret it!"

He wasn't stupid enough to act out of spite and run forty laps under the blazing sun.

It was only plain porridge and pickled vegetables. However hard they were to swallow, they still beat physical punishment.

After throwing out that threat, Lu Yuanhang sat down at the round table, lifted the bowl of porridge to his mouth, took a perfunctory sip, then slammed it back onto the table.

Seeing this, the livestream viewers all took to their keyboards.

[What is Lu Yuanhang so upset about? Wasn't he the one who failed the mission?]

[Oh, come on, he's a pampered young master. What's wrong with having a little temper? He's been spoiled since childhood, after all. I heard the entire blood bank had to work overtime when he was hospitalized before!]

[Didn't he say he wanted to turn over a new leaf before coming on this show? Then he gets here, slacks off, and expects everyone else to carry him to victory? And when he can't win, he calls them deadweight? I seriously can't watch this anymore. Can they kick Lu Yuanhang out?!]

[It's because of these pale, baby-faced, skinny types that fans of Chinese entertainment have developed such warped beauty standards!]

[I'm declaring a boycott, starting with myself. If you can do the show, do it. If not, get lost!]

When his manager, Li Lin, sent Jian Li screenshots of the comments, Jian Li was busy demolishing the pork knuckle. He gave them a casual glance, his lips curving into a devil-may-care smirk.

In the original novel, much the same sort of comments had viciously torn into the body's original owner.

After collapsing and convulsing from physical exhaustion, he had been forced to leave Deserted Island for medical treatment. After that, no work offers had ever come his way again.

From then on, he had become a complete nobody in the entertainment industry, confined by Lu Siqi in a villa as an outlet for his frustrations...

Clearly, the plot had begun to veer off course.

That nauseating, melodramatic ending was probably changing quietly too.

"What are you looking at?"

A faint breath brushed his ear. Jian Li froze, leaned back a little, and looked up into Huo Xiao's ink-dark eyes. "Just browsing."

"People online are pretty creative."

"Are they?" Huo Xiao leaned closer, looking at the phone in Jian Li's hand. "Pale, baby-faced, and skinny? What kind of description is that?"

"You've never heard it?" Jian Li raised an eyebrow and tipped his chin toward the other table. "That kind qualifies."

Huo Xiao followed his gaze and nodded slightly. "Mm. Pretty accurate."

Already seething, Lu Yuanhang heard the voices behind him and turned around furiously. "Jian Li, you've got some nerve talking about me. Take a look at yourself!"

"You're skinny as a bamboo pole, so frail a breeze could knock you over..."

Suddenly, he couldn't quite continue.

After all, the field battle announcement had named Jian Li the best marksman and overall MVP... There was absolutely nothing frail about that.

Damn it, when did this bastard get so strong?!

Lu Yuanhang silently turned back around. The plain porridge in his mouth became even harder to swallow.

Just then, the guide stepped in front of the camera with a megaphone. "To all our viewers, voting has been open for over thirty hours and will close shortly. We'll be tallying the votes for the most popular Lone Warrior of the first round."

"If you haven't made your choice yet, hurry over to the official website and cast a vote for your favorite guest..."

Hearing this, Lu Yuanhang quietly picked up his phone, typed a message on WeChat, and sent it. [I don't care how many paid posters you have to hire. Get me first place!]

After lunch, they weren't rushed straight back into training.

Feng Dayuan specifically granted them an hour to shower.

After all, having camouflage uniforms stuck to their bodies was uncomfortable.

"Pair up however you like. Each pair gets twenty minutes." He paused, then looked toward Luo Xiaohong. "The lady goes alone, with no time limit."

At this, the chat grew excited.

[Showering? In pairs? The dropping-the-soap kind? Ho ho ho, can you stream the whole thing? Don't treat me like an outsider!]

[I bet Huo Xiao and Jian Li will pair up. They're about the same height, and both have great bodies. Just imagining it is a feast for the eyes. Drooling!]

"I'm going first. Whoever's pairing up with me, just follow." Jian Li was the first to head for the showers, lifting his shirt as he walked and revealing his firm, beautifully defined abs.

The livestream chat instantly erupted in screams.

[Holy shit, I wasn't ready for that skin!]