I have a persona specifically for acting.

The favor from both the National Martial Arts Academy and Shi Dingjun was like two giant windfalls landing on manager Sister Chu’s head. When someone’s luck picks up, there’s really no stopping it.

Sister Chu was so pleased that she couldn’t contain her smile. She wanted to immediately pull Tong Zhao out of Jinan City and discuss these opportunities with her. Of course, that wasn’t possible, so she could only send her a WeChat message. She was sure Tong Zhao would contact her once she emerged from the holographic filming pod.

With other artists, things might be uncertain, but Tong Zhao always put her at ease.

…

At the same time, within the “One Life Survivor” variety show.

In Jinan City, the captain of the Sun Team, while searching for possible resources in the city, ran into two members of the Thunder Team at a Walmart. As both sides hesitated, unsure whether to part peacefully or start a fight, the Sun Team captain blurted out, “What the hell?” breaking the tension.

The Thunder Team realized they could communicate!

When there’s a common language, things become less frightening.

After some long-distance discussion, the two teams reached an agreement.

What convinced the Sun Team captain, Kong Yeming, was a single statement: “Think about it. Who said we have to be enemies? Why do we have to fight the moment we meet? Our common enemy should be the military, the assassins sent to eliminate us. We should join forces, survive these remaining fourteen days, and wait for the rescue team to pick us up.”

To show sincerity, the Thunder Team captain handed his weapon (a stick) to his teammate, then walked over to the Sun Team captain with empty hands, extending his right hand.

Kong Yeming hesitated for a moment but eventually shook the hand that symbolized cooperation.

Once the decision was made and physical contact occurred, the atmosphere became noticeably more relaxed.

The Thunder Team captain invited him to join in the search for supplies, and Kong agreed. As he moved to stand between the two Thunder Team members, he finally got a clear look at the “weapon” that had been handed to the teammate earlier—an old, worn-out baguette.

Kong Yeming: “This?”

The Thunder Team captain gave a wry smile. “Couldn’t find anything better for defense, so we’re making do with this. It’s too hard to eat anyway; I can’t even bite into it.”

To emphasize his point, he picked up the baguette and struck a nearby metal shelf twice. The force of the impact made a loud banging sound, causing the metal shelf to shake slightly, while the baguette remained completely intact. It was easy to imagine the damage it might cause if swung at someone’s head by an adult man… well, maybe not really.

[What? A baguette? Is the show serious?]

[Russian black bread could at least put up a fight!]

[Lol, such an insult to the French!]

At that moment, the special effects team added a glowing blue outline around the baguette, accompanied by mechanical sound effects, and a pop-up window displayed its item stats:

[Name]: A baguette forgotten by customers, staff, and chefs alike.
[Expiration date]: One year ago.
[Note]: As food, it’s a failed, expired product.
As a weapon, it’s an unmatched heavy sword with no edge.

The item description was clearly a joke.

Kong Yeming was skeptical, but the Thunder Team members actively shared their findings during their search for supplies— a small amount of medical supplies and food, as a gesture of goodwill. Kong understood that this was an act of kindness and trust, meant to prevent him from having any thoughts of greed or theft, and said, “It just so happens that we have a doctor in our team. If you have any injured members, he might be able to help.”

The Thunder Team was delighted.

Although none of them were injured at the moment, having a medical professional was certainly valuable.

Kong Yeming continued, “You guys are lucky you didn’t run into anyone else. We went to a McDonald’s, and we almost got into a fight there…”

He recounted what had happened that day and then expressed a concern he hadn’t mentioned to his teammates before: “I’m pretty sure that once we ran out of McDonald’s, they didn’t follow us. That doesn’t make sense; after all, we’re not fast runners, and they were willing to use force to fight over food. Would they really be the type to give up just because we left the restaurant? We didn’t run far. I wanted to go back and take a look, but I felt it wasn’t worth the risk.”

“I think we should go back and check it out.”

The Thunder Team captain confirmed Kong’s concern: “If they’re in danger, it’s something we’ll need to face together.”

[That’s right, if your team runs into Tong Zhao, you’ll get wiped out.]

[If the two teams cooperate, Tong Zhao will be in danger; the remaining Moon and Star teams should also be able to unite. They managed to split supplies even when they couldn’t communicate, so it should be easier now that they can.]

[Everyone targeting Zhao Zhao, and she can only eat instant noodles without seasoning packets.]

The two teams agreed to meet at that McDonald’s the next morning at eight o’clock, after which they would search for supplies together.

With eight people working together, safety would be increased.

When Kong Yeming returned to the gathering place and spoke to his teammates, the members of the Sun Team, with the exception of Tan Jie, were usually indecisive and always followed his lead, so there were no objections this time.

The next morning at eight o’clock.

On the empty street, the two groups met right on time at the corner across from McDonald’s. He Su from the Sun Team took the initiative to chat and lighten the mood as they crossed the street together. After all, the two teams had never had any conflicts, and under He Su’s cheerful laughter, the atmosphere felt as relaxed as a high school field trip.

However, just ten meters from the entrance of McDonald’s…

A wave of putrid stench surged into their nostrils, leaving everyone in shock.

What was that smell?

The team’s mood-lifter, He Su, couldn’t help but turn away and cover his mouth, gagging, while Sister Tan also changed her expression.

She knew what was causing the smell.

[Warning ahead! Protect yourselves!]

[Bros who are scared, put up your shields on the screen.]

[What’s there to be afraid of? Those corpses are just code; the real ones have probably woken up and are watching the livestream!]

The third comment was on point.

The entire Cloud Team, which had been wiped out, theoretically could be reintroduced into the reality show because their contract hadn’t expired yet. Director Chen hadn’t decided if there would be any opportunities for them to be useful again, so they were kept around to do odd jobs in the studio. Naturally, they would see the live broadcast on screen.

The Cloud Team looked at the close-up of their own corpses with complex feelings.

The broadcast version was heavily edited (adult viewers could pay to purchase an unedited version), while what they were watching backstage was the high-definition, unedited version.

The stage manager said, “Oh man, you’re in bad shape.”

The Cloud Team captain responded nonchalantly, “No, not really; it’s just a bit decayed.”

Member A asked, “Are there maggots on my face…? Wait, why are you filming me?”

Member A turned to look at a guy holding a camera filming him. The guy said he thought their conversation was quite interesting and figured that since Member A probably wouldn’t get any screen time on the show, he might as well show his face in the behind-the-scenes footage. Member A thought this was fair and encouraged the guy to film more.

The Thunder Team also had unpleasant expressions, hesitating.

Kong Yeming took a deep breath and showed the leadership expected of a captain: “I’ll go in and take a look first.”

No one objected.

He stepped inside, and through the glass door, he could already see a horrific scene.

Kong Yeming furrowed his brow and opened the door; the stench intensified, making his eyes water.

After all, it was an enclosed space with poor air circulation, and things were decaying rapidly, creating a strong odor.

A comment quietly floated by: [Fermentation is on point…]

[To the one who said “fermentation on point,” what kind of devil are you? I’ll gag in respect.]

[Is the little girl chasing after Tong Zhao scared off by the survival show’s standards?]

There were definitely points that could provoke a debate. Goodness.

The girls were already a bit intimidated; who wouldn’t be? Even some of the guys were afraid of corpses, but now with the provocations, Tong Zhao’s fans couldn’t sit still and began to retaliate: [What’s there to be scared of? This is an artwork made by my sister; we’re lucky to be able to appreciate it!]

[Exactly! With a filter, it’s just like other female stars posting pictures of their handmade cookies on Weibo.]

The love from these fangirls was incredibly strong!

Some particularly proactive fans even took screenshots of the blurred corpses, added a dreamy pink filter, and included them in Tong Zhao’s collection of highlighted works. They used their actions to prove that the stereotype of women being timid was outdated. What’s there to be afraid of? They loved Tong Zhao, who even created the corpses, so what were a few more corpses to them?

Fangirls were not afraid of corpses.

The two teams in the variety show were genuinely scared.

Even someone like Sister Tan, a healthcare professional who was used to seeing cadavers during her studies, felt her grip tighten and chills run down her back when she thought about the presence behind the “creation” of these corpses.

Kong Yeming pinched his nose to reduce his breathing and crouched down to examine the state of the bodies.

He Su, who had finally managed to suppress his gag reflex, said, “Ugh, Captain, what’s so interesting about this?!”

The captain ignored him.

After a while, he signaled his teammates to follow him out onto the street, returning to the embrace of fresh air. He took several deep breaths to expel the faint stench of decay and said, “The fatal wound is in the throat; there are no other obvious external injuries. They were all killed by having their throats cut.”

The members of the Lightning Team looked at him with newfound respect. “Are you a forensic doctor?”

“No, just a loyal “CSI viewer.”

“…”

Alright then.

Kong Yeming cleared his throat and analyzed the situation: “In other words, when we had the conflict with them, there was a third party in McDonald’s that I didn’t notice. They must have attacked them after we left the store.”

“The wounds are clean; the attackers were human.”

The captain of the Lightning Team nodded thoughtfully.

“The supplies are in my hands. If it were another team, they should be consistently pursuing us. Clearly, the ones who attacked them must be the enemy’s lackeys.”

Kong Yeming’s analysis received high praise from the audience in the live stream.

So far, everything he said was correct, and he had even guessed the identity of the murderer.

[Not bad, Mr. Kong, lucky and smart; you might just survive to the end.]

[I feel like the Lightning Team wants to side with him now.]

“I believe that the intelligence about the reinforcements was wrong, or the enemy has changed their mind,” Kong Yeming continued.

Kong Yeming’s tone shifted, becoming grave: “The enemy’s lackeys are not just one; they’re not a single person but a team. That’s why they were able to take out four people in such a short amount of time! This isn’t a brawl or a fight; it’s a cold, ruthless execution. We’re in danger!”

His words jolted everyone awake from their stupor.

Yes, it was unreasonable to send just one person to wipe out twenty survivors.

With such a disparity in numbers, who would kill whom?

There must be a scheme behind this!

…

[Uh…]

[Correct reasoning process leading to the wrong conclusion.]

[Actually, it’s not really wrong; Tong Zhao alone is like an army. Is there a problem with that?]

[No problem; you’re very right.]

Understanding this point, Kong Yeming felt that uniting the other teams was now an urgent task.

At this moment, the camera suddenly pulled up, higher and higher…

Up to the edge of a rooftop of a tall building.

The first thing visible on screen were two long, perfectly white legs, creating a strong visual contrast with the pure black military boots. The camera pulled up further, revealing a pair of always bright and alert beautiful eyes coming into the audience’s view.

It was her.

Duan Ge gently swayed her legs, beneath her a bottomless abyss, a maze of complex buildings, as if a single misstep would result in a fatal fall. Yet she appeared oblivious to it all, enjoying the cool breeze high above.

Everything in The City was still; there was no traffic, no throngs of people. Those walking through this city were undoubtedly her targets. Duan Ge once again occupied a high vantage point and spotted Kong Yeming and his group.

Duan Ge’s eyes lit up, narrowing slightly as she tried to see more clearly.

But she was not Superman; no matter how hard she strained her eyes, she could only see the vague movement of ants.

Duan Ge whispered in frustration, “If only I had binoculars.”

Forget it, relying on the boss was not as good as relying on herself.

After locating her target, Duan Ge skillfully took a route that the audience could hardly imagine, dashing down. Just when the audience thought she was fearless enough to go anywhere, she chose a safer path while passing through an apartment.

[Eh? I thought she would jump straight across.]

Just as the audience was puzzled, the special effects team pulled up a small box.

In a picture-in-picture format, they replayed Tong Zhao’s perspective, and the audience then realized—

From Tong Zhao’s viewpoint, no matter how bumpy it got, running up and down, or jumping between two buildings, members of the Thunder and Sun teams were always within her line of sight.

The earlier adjustment of the route was not for safety but to avoid losing sight of her prey.

[Wow, that line of thought is quite terrifying.]

[Kong, hurry up and run!]

After exchanging information, Kong Yeming and his group illuminated their “spawn points” on the map displayed on their watches, realizing that the distance to both their spawn points and supply points was the same. They deduced that the remaining two teams’ bases wouldn’t be too far away.

They needed to find them without being discovered by the enemy…

Kong Yeming’s eyes lit up: “Right, the resource package!”

He Su: “Captain?”

“The resource packages that the reinforcements drop irregularly; the drop points are known only to our five teams. We can meet there when the time comes.”

Everyone nodded in agreement; it made sense.

The female doctor was troubled by the doubts: “In my memory, the five teams couldn’t communicate because they were from different countries. I didn’t expect that when we actually met, we could communicate. The irregularly dropped resource packages also carry the implication that we should fight over them. I suspect there’s a conspiracy behind this.”

[Sister Tan is absolutely right; it’s all the fault of the dog program team.]

[Feeling sympathy for the program team for a second; the originally planned map had a bug, and in the last-minute switch, Tong Zhao, this big weapon, popped up.]

[Who would have thought Tong Zhao’s subconscious would be so fierce?]

No one thought so.

This is the interesting aspect of instinctive variety shows; the program team is not all-knowing and omnipotent. Even if they can temporarily change the rules, they cannot alter the memories in the contestants’ minds. They cannot achieve the dominion of “with the script in hand, I hold the world.” This is also one of the reasons fans find instinctive variety shows more authentic and appealing than before.

The camera pulled back again.

The camera pulled back slowly, not causing any visual discomfort, but the audience, prepared psychologically, was still startled—

Unexpectedly, Tong Zhao was hanging not far behind Kong Yeming and his group!

This was in a physical sense.

She hooked onto the railing from a height and swung down, her toes landing on the huge golden “M” sign of McDonald’s. After steadying her position, she fluidly climbed down. In just two or three seconds, she reached the ground, her snowy white arms demonstrating an inexplicable strength.

A parkour-loving audience member provided some insights about core strength.

[Core strength refers to the muscles that support our upright posture. If this part is well-trained… you know about swinging your legs on parallel bars, right? That’s using core strength. Tong Zhao is the same; many of her amazing parkour moves rely on her core. Her techniques and postures while doing parkour are very standard—any extra movement is wasted, and if it’s not precise, she won’t get through. It’s incredible.]

[I shared her in our city’s parkour group, and it has now turned into a fan group for Tong Zhao. “laughs and cries”]

Netizens seemed to understand, but in any case, she was awesome!

[Tong Zhao is so popular now; if she goes out without a mask, she’ll probably be photographed. I really want to know how she trains her parkour skills while being so busy with her schedules…] The comments showed envy.

How does she train?

All the real skills were honed at the brink of life and death, and they couldn’t be forgotten.

Tong Zhao herself didn’t remember clearly due to the system’s protective measures for her consciousness—if we were to liken Tong Zhao to a computer, her main personality would be the C drive, containing only the necessary content, while the other assorted skills would be stored in her sub-personality, lightening the load.

With her toes on the asphalt road, Duan Ge turned her gaze toward the prey.

Light enveloped her, casting a gentle halo around her.

Duan Ge: [I can’t understand what they’re saying.]

Duan Ge: [There are so many people; it’s a bit difficult to take action, so I’ll just follow them.]

In the audience’s imagination, following meant something very animated, like hiding behind a telephone pole and trailing along step by step.

But Duan Ge’s tracking was not like that.

She only ensured that those people remained in her line of sight; everything else was irrelevant. She didn’t mind lagging far behind, fluctuating between distance and closeness, filled with patience. Following and sniping are both disciplines that test one’s patience. There will always be answers at the end of tracking; if there aren’t, then you shouldn’t have embarked on this path in the first place.

Sometimes the audience felt anxious for her, but she remained unhurried, maintaining a distance that wouldn’t raise suspicion.

Duan Ge saw them arrive at the Julong residences, then change locations, and finally come to a primary school with two boxes of supplies—

This was the third supply point.

It was also the place where Star Team and Moon Team completed their transaction through gestures.

Originally, avoiding other teams meant they shouldn’t have come to such a place, but now their target had shifted, and using a supply point where other teams might come looking as a base was Captain Kong Yeming’s suggestion. Moreover, a primary school was itself a good choice… it was more reliable for escape or defense than residential buildings and had more places to hide supplies.

……

After a day of busyness…

Although they didn’t find new food sources, everyone took a portable gas stove, a frying pan, and some gas canisters from Walmart, deciding to heat the food in the cans before eating.

“No matter how hard life gets, we still need a sense of ritual.”

He Su rubbed his fists in anticipation.

“Yeah, we can find food again. Since Brother Zhang found a baguette that expired a year ago in the bakery, it shows that finding resources in Canaan City isn’t hopeless,” said Team Lightning member A, agreeing. “Besides, there are eight of us. How could we possibly lose when competing for the airdrop supply packages?”

Kong Yeming smoothed things over, saying, “Let’s try to unite everyone first; after all, we don’t know the number of enemy lackeys.”

“Stop talking about that. Let’s just throw in a few slices of lunch meat!”

The lunch meat slid onto the heated frying pan with a sizzle, releasing fat and filling the air with an irresistible aroma that captivated everyone present. He Su took a deep breath and sighed, “It’s true that lunch meat tastes better when it’s fried. Yesterday, eating cold bread with cold meat made my heart feel cold too.”

“Yeah, it was really hard to eat.”

“You talk too much. The first slice is yours, okay?”

Seeing that the lunch meat was nearly done frying, Kong Yeming picked up a piece and stuffed it into a sliced piece of bread before handing it to He Su.

He was starving, so he took the bread and started munching on it.

The edges of the pan-fried lunch meat were crispy, but biting into it revealed tender meat inside. The hot grease seeped into the fluffy white bread, making it so delicious that it made him feel as if his soul had left his body.

In survival variety shows, this kind of gathering to eat rare food is a classic scene that many variety show fans love. It looks especially appetizing and allows them to reflect on the difficulties of survival.

The sizzling sound of frying meat made everyone’s mouths water.

The oil and meat aroma intertwined, accompanied by wisps of white steam slowly rising…

Rising.

It reached the ventilation duct in the ceiling.

Duan Ge crouched in the ventilation pipe and looked down.

The view from the school auditorium was too open for her to follow closely behind, so she chose to sneak through the ventilation duct to see the situation. If anyone was alone, she could take the chance to eliminate them. Unfortunately, there had been no opportunity; they even went to the restroom together, likely already on guard.

She had a feeling she would be out for a long time today, so even though she was really dissatisfied with the instant noodles her boss had given her, she still took them along and stuffed them into her waist pouch. To her surprise, this group was getting carried away and actually started frying meat!

This was outrageous!

The aroma shot straight to Duan Ge’s head, making her feel a little defensive and wanting to jump down and kill them all.

Duan Ge: [I’m so angry.]

Duan Ge: [Stay calm. There are too many people; I can’t take them on.]

Duan Ge was very rational.

After all, this wasn’t a world of magic and martial arts; she wasn’t a terrifyingly powerful fighting master. Her slender and agile figure was better suited for ambushes and assassinations.

[Hahaha, it’s really tragic!]

[The bunny is furious!]

[When a rabbit is cornered, it will bite! So what if she can’t win? She can still jump down and go all out!]

That was impossible.

Even if she faced four opponents, it wouldn’t make her heart race. It was just a hot meal; what did that count for? Duan Ge turned over, facing away from the ground, and pulled out a cup of Master Kong instant noodles from the dark ventilation duct…

Fortunately, this time she finally had a seasoning packet.

Below, there were sounds of laughter and joy, while above, there was a crackle of crispness.