Chapter 26: The Fourth Round of the Life-and-Death Duel
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The four of them unlocked their doors at the same time. The instant they stepped out of their compartments, the countdown on the wall suddenly dropped by half, and time began to pass at “double speed.”
Shen Li kicked open the warehouse door that had been holding them captive. Brilliant light poured in from outside, so white that it stung everyone’s eyes.
“Come on, let’s get out together.”
Qiao Le leaped up excitedly and rushed toward Shen Li. “All four of us escaped! We’re going to win!”
“Shen Li, you’re pretty clever.” Ji Beishu turned his face away and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Bai Qiuya added softly, “You really are amazing.”
Without Shen Li, they probably never would have thought of that method.
The production team had designed the rules around human habitual thinking, making everyone assume that the four of them could not escape together, then offering rewards to lure the contestants into competing against one another.
Their team’s victory was largely thanks to Shen Li.
The other three silently reflected on themselves, having recognized that fact. But before they could celebrate, the scene before them stopped them in their tracks.
Before their eyes lay an open space surrounded by grass and trees. Eight chairs had been arranged in a semicircle, and the three members of the Celebrity Team were already seated in them. Men in black escorted the four members of the Black Horse Team over and seated them, then handed each of them a piece of high-tech equipment resembling a helmet.
The omnipresent voice rang out:
【Congratulations on escaping the predicament in Round Three and advancing to Round Four. The cumulative rewards from the two rounds will be announced after this round ends.】
Round Four?
Shen Li remembered that in her previous life, Round Four had taken place on the fourth day—in other words, tomorrow. Had it actually been moved up to today?
Perhaps the production team believed they had cleared the previous round too quickly and did not want their team to win, so they had brought the fourth round forward.
If her guess was correct, Pei Wenxuan must have issued a death order to the remaining members of the Celebrity Team: in the upcoming game, they were to kill her at any cost.
Unlike the first three rounds, Round Four employed live human projection technology. The helmets they had been given served as the medium. Once they put them on, their consciousnesses could be projected into a virtual world.
It was similar to virtual-screen projection technology, except that this time, actual human beings were being projected into the virtual world.
The reason was that Round Four was a “live-action CF” match. The two teams had to kill one another. If their bodies died in the virtual world, their consciousnesses would simply be ejected, causing no real-world harm.
If she was not mistaken, the production team would do everything possible to bring Jiang Fuya back to the team. Otherwise, the Celebrity Team would be at a disadvantage from the outset.
Sure enough, the omnipresent voice spoke again.
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【Because no new live-stream voting took place between the third and fourth rounds, this round’s rewards will be determined according to the results of the third-round vote.】
【The Celebrity Team has received a resurrection token, which may be used before the game ends.】
“Damn it!” Qiao Le stamped his foot furiously. “That reward was obviously tailor-made for them! They give the Celebrity Team whatever they want. How is that fair? Then what was the point of us winning Round Three?”
Even Bai Qiuya, usually so taciturn, could not hold back. “The production team is being far too obvious.”
“I’m furious!” Ji Beishu clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails turned white.
Shen Li did not try to stop her teammates.
She wanted the viewers to hear those words. Even if they did not currently think the production team’s favoritism was a problem—or even enjoyed watching the favoritism—those words would become a weapon turned against the production team in the future.
Once the viewers’ sympathies shifted toward her, everything that had happened would become evidence that eventually rebounded upon the production team.
—If the Celebrity Team still can’t win after this, they should pack up and go back to filming dramas. They’re unbelievably stupid.
—They’re hopeless.
—Do you know that it’s because of ignorant viewers like you in the domestic entertainment industry that those talentless, shameless celebrities can act so arrogantly? Yes, I’m talking about Shen Li, that murderer.
—I just love how this show spoils my Yaya. (Finger hearts.)
—The Celebrity Team must win! Defeat the great villain Shen Li! Drive Shen Li off the show!
…
The viewers’ fury was focused on Shen Li, whom they considered the most evil of them all. As a result, she bore most of the abuse on behalf of her three teammates, though she could not see any of it at that moment.
After the omnipresent voice announced that the game was ready, all seven contestants put on their helmets. The instant the command to begin was issued, Lu Ziwei immediately revived Jiang Fuya, bringing the Celebrity Team back to four members.
The production team had created the virtual map based on the island in the real world, making it difficult to distinguish reality from illusion. The only obvious difference was that everyone now had a gun in hand.
Shen Li had already played this game in her previous life, and she had also enjoyed playing CF, so her aim was fairly good.
The moment she landed, she was separated from her teammates and placed at a different spawn point. She quickly hid in the grass, then pulled the grass over herself for cover.
To make the game more thrilling, each person had three lives. In her previous life, the director had deliberately placed Lu Ziwei—the Celebrity Team’s best shooter—at the same spawn point as her. The two locations were only a few meters apart, and Lu Ziwei had been informed of it as soon as the game began.
When she had first entered the virtual world, she had not reacted in time and had lost two lives to Lu Ziwei immediately.
This time, however, she knew exactly where he was.
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Shen Li raised her gun to her left eye, closed her right, and took aim, placing her index finger on the trigger. The muzzle pointed toward Lu Ziwei, who was searching for her not far away. She pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
The shot rang through the woods.
【Lu Ziwei has two lives remaining.】
If a contestant was hit again while the omnipresent voice was making an announcement, they would not lose a life. Shen Li remained crouched in silence. The moment the announcement ended, she pulled the trigger again without hesitation.
【Lu Ziwei has one life remaining.】
The director behind the monitors could no longer remain calm. He immediately contacted Lu Ziwei through his earpiece, intending to tell him Shen Li’s location, but it was already too late.
Shen Li rose directly from the grass. Lu Ziwei spun around and hurriedly prepared to fire, but he was too late. Shen Li had already pulled the trigger for the third time.
Bang!
【Lu Ziwei is out!】
The director, walkie-talkie in hand and mouth already open, was rendered speechless. He silently lowered the device, sighed, and said to the head of the technology department, “Drop in a coach directly.”
“Yes.”
The head of the technology department worked rapidly at the controls.
【Attention, both teams. One coach has now been air-dropped into each team’s area. Locate and regroup with your team’s shooting coach.】
Shen Li immediately frowned. “This is bad.”
She promptly used the walkie-talkie to notify her teammates. “The four of us should regroup first. Don’t rush to find the coach.”
Qiao Le’s voice came through the walkie-talkie. “Why? Having an experienced coach would be better.”
“Think about it. Once we’re together, it’ll be harder for the other side to pick us off one by one. Given that, which is easier: the four of us going to find the coach, or the coach coming to find us?” Shen Li improvised a stream of nonsense, but in the end, she managed to lure her teammates over.
The coach assigned to them by the production team was a novice, utterly incomparable to the veteran coach assigned to the Celebrity Team. What was worse, the novice had already been bribed by the production team and was secretly working for the opposing side.
In her previous life, they had trusted the novice coach completely, believing that a person’s abilities should not be judged by seniority. As a result, through a single “accident,” the coach had led Qiao Le and Ji Beishu to their “unintended” deaths.
That had left only Shen Li, severely wounded, and Bai Qiuya, who still had two lives but could not shoot, leaving their entire team at the mercy of others.
A cold light flashed through Shen Li’s eyes.
This time, I won’t let you get your way again!
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