Jiang Mingran

Biodata

Background / History

Before the Game

Jiang Mingran studies competitive sports at XX Sports University. When he first encounters Shao Lan, he says he had been drinking at dinner with his team and assumes he has entered the wrong home. He presents his student ID to prove he is not an intruder 1.

He already knows Zheng Bingfeng as Pancake Uncle, an elderly vendor who sells egg-stuffed pancakes on the snack street behind his university. Jiang Mingran had bought a pancake from him just a week before their assessment instance 2.

Night of the Cannibal

Shao Lan pulls Jiang Mingran into a bedroom after discovering a human head in the kitchen freezer. They witness the woman in red embroidered shoes kill Pancake Uncle. Jiang Mingran instinctively tries to help him, but Shao Lan prevents him from opening the door 1.

Their first escape attempt ends when they leave the permitted apartment floor and disappear into the stairwell’s darkness. Both return to their starting positions with their memories intact, confirming that they are trapped in a lethal, repeating game 2 3.

Jiang Mingran helps investigate the apartment, checks the landline, and retrieves the living-room trash can so Shao Lan can reconstruct an electricity bill containing their location. He then hides near the kitchen to signal if the killer emerges. Before he can warn Shao Lan, however, she kills him 3 4 5.

In the next loop, his account explains the failure: he had killed a rat to prevent its squeaks from being mistaken for his warning signal. The rat’s fresh blood attracted the woman, who crushed his head. This allows Shao Lan to deduce that she tracks fresh blood as well as sound 7.

During their next confrontation, Jiang Mingran makes an improvised spear and helps defend the apartment. After the woman bypasses their locked door through a window, he and Shao Lan retreat across the hall. He nearly admits her when she holds Pancake Uncle’s severed head up to the door’s glass, mistaking it for the living man 8 9.

Jiang Mingran subsequently pushes the woman out of a window, pulls Shao Lan back inside, and carries him to the other apartment. He opens the door to a supposed police officer and is stabbed. Despite the wound, he tackles the attacker and gives Shao Lan the opportunity to kill him, then dies himself 9 10.

Shao Lan deliberately restarts the loop rather than leave his companions trapped. In the final attempt, Jiang Mingran supplies a knife and helps restrain the fake policeman, identified as the diary writer, Li Chengyuan. Although he objects to releasing their hostage, he follows Shao Lan’s order. Li Chengyuan kills Wu Suxia and then himself, ending the confrontation; the three players subsequently pass the assessment 10 11 12 14.

Life in Building 7

After the assessment, Jiang Mingran receives 500 yuan and is assigned Room 803. While searching for an exit, he pushes a screwdriver through one of the building’s tiny windows; the exposed portion vanishes. His attempt helps establish that leaving the building through a window destroys whatever passes outside 14 15.

He initially asks to check out, but Shao Lan stops him before they discover that checkout means death. Faced with expensive vending-machine supplies, he reduces a 102-yuan order to a bottle of water and a sandwich costing 30 yuan. Shao Lan advises him to conserve his survival funds 15 16.

While sharing a meal with Shao Lan, Jiang Mingran discovers an unexplained XLI scar on his right arm. Shao Lan identifies it as the Roman numeral for 41, but neither knows what it represents 16.

Jiang Mingran later brings Lin Zhizhi’s request to join their team to Shao Lan. He sympathizes with her isolation, but accepts Shao Lan’s refusal and relays her subsequent request for a private conversation 17 18.

Robbery and Planned Return to an Instance

Xu Nan and Zhang Fang break into Room 803 while Jiang Mingran sleeps. They threaten him with a nail gun, slash his shoulder, break his fingers, and force him to spend his remaining funds on food and liquor. The Property Manager ignores his calls for help 19.

Despite his injuries, Jiang Mingran attacks the blond-haired robber during the ensuing fight, helping create an opening for Shao Lan to escape into the corridor. Shao Lan is then forced into an instance alongside Xu Nan and Zhang Fang, leaving Jiang Mingran and Pancake Uncle behind 20.

Pancake Uncle moves him to Room 804, buys medicine and bandages, and recovers the food the robbers failed to carry away. Jiang Mingran remains unconscious as Tang Zhang and Li Yun demand those supplies as repayment for supposedly saving them. By Shao Lan’s return, his wounds are severely infected and he has a high fever 48 49.

Shao Lan explains that entering an instance automatically heals a living participant’s injuries. After being warned about the high death rate and the possibility of opposing faction assignments, Jiang Mingran agrees to accompany him. His depleted balance also means he will eventually need another instance’s earnings 50.

Appearance

Jiang Mingran is a large-framed young man, taller and bulkier than Shao Lan 1 4 5.

• Height: At least six feet one inch 5.
• Hair: Initially described as disheveled, with bedhead resembling a bird’s nest 1.
• Identifying mark: A burn-like scar reading XLI at the vaccination site on his right arm; he has no memory of receiving it 16.

Personality

Jiang Mingran is compassionate and quick to put himself at risk for others. He tries to reach Pancake Uncle immediately after witnessing his death and volunteers for dangerous tasks because he believes buying time for Shao Lan will improve everyone’s chances 1 4.

His courage does not make him immune to fear. Before the game, he had never seen a corpse; repeated deaths leave him trembling, distressed, and sometimes despairing. Nevertheless, he continues helping his companions, even tackling an attacker while mortally wounded 2 5 7 10.

He openly acknowledges Shao Lan’s superior judgment and credits him with keeping the group alive. His trust is not unquestioning: he strongly protests releasing Li Chengyuan, but ultimately complies because Shao Lan has brought them through the instance so far 4 12 18.

His sympathy can also make him too trusting. He accepts Lin Zhizhi’s apparent vulnerability and opens the door to the fake policeman before Shao Lan’s warning reaches him 9 18.

Abilities & Skills

Athleticism and Strength

His competitive-sports background gives him speed and strength useful for dangerous errands and rescues 4 14.

• Reports a 100-meter time of approximately eleven seconds 4.
• Pushes Wu Suxia out of a window and hauls Shao Lan back through it 9.
• Carries both the injured Shao Lan and the mobility-impaired Pancake Uncle when needed 9 14.
• His large build prevents him from using Shao Lan’s hiding place beneath the sofa 4.

Free-Style Kickboxing

Jiang Mingran states that he has trained in Free-Style Kickboxing, initially believing he might be able to subdue the killer 4.

• Grapples with the fake policeman despite a fatal chest wound 10.
• Attacks the blond-haired robber while already badly injured 20.
• His athletic fitness and training do not amount to the extensive combat experience attributed to Shao Lan, nor allow him to match the monsters’ strength 17 20.

Rat-Squeak Imitation

Since childhood, he has been able to imitate rat squeaks convincingly 4 7.

• Proposes using the sound as a discreet warning signal while Shao Lan calls the police 4.
• Real rats create a risk of false signals; his attempt to eliminate that risk inadvertently exposes him through fresh blood 7.

Improvised Weapons

• Constructs a spear by tying a boning knife to a mop handle 8.
• Attempts to hold off Wu Suxia with it, but she initially charges into the blade without dodging 8.

Equipment / Items

• Student ID — Identifies his university and school; presented during his first encounter with Shao Lan 1.
• Improvised spear — A boning knife attached to a mop handle during the assessment instance 8.
• Screwdriver — Found while searching Building 7; loses its shaft when pushed through a window 14.
• Room 803 vending machine — Recognizes his face and deducts purchases from his survival-fund balance 15 19.

Relationships

• Shao Lan — Teammate and trusted leader. Jiang Mingran repeatedly protects him physically; Shao Lan saves him through the assessment and later offers to enter another instance with him to treat his injuries 4 9 10 18 50.
• Zheng Bingfeng / Pancake Uncle — A familiar campus-area vendor turned teammate. Jiang Mingran helps him during the assessment, while Pancake Uncle later nurses him through his injuries 2 8 14 48 49.
• Lin Zhizhi — Prospective teammate whose appeal he brings to Shao Lan. Jiang Mingran sympathizes with her, but respects Shao Lan’s decision to reject her 17 18.
• Xu Nan and Zhang Fang — Robbers who seriously injure him and empty his survival-fund balance through forced purchases 19.
• Property Manager — Building staff member who assigns his room but refuses to intervene when he is robbed 14 15 19.

Notable Quotes

“Your reasoning skills are way better than mine, Shao Lan. If I buy you more time, it'll be easier for us to clear this later.” 4

“Bro, I understand. I'm in.” 50