Rebirth 09: Starting from taking charge of Running Man on CCTV

He pushed the second black envelope over.

Brother Hu looked down and saw the gold lettering on the cover.

Top Secret Mission

Unlike Deng Chao, he didn't blurt it out. Instead, he paused for a second and glanced at Chen Yang.

"……This is?"

"Open."

Brother Hu broke the wax seal and took out the card.

Under the light, the handwritten words were crystal clear.

"You are the mole. Your true identity is an undercover agent planted by the Running Man team within the Legend of Sword and Fairy camp. In tomorrow's 'Finding the Spirit Orb' mission, your ultimate goal is to help the Running Man team win without revealing your identity."

Hu Ge has finished reading it.

Then he looked up.

Unlike Deng Chao's excitement.

Hu Ge's first reaction was confusion.

A genuine, heartfelt confusion.

"Director Chen, you're asking me... to betray my own teammates?"

"It wasn't betrayal. It was infiltration."

Is there a difference?

"Yes. Betrayal is for personal gain, while infiltration is for winning."

Brother Hu remained silent.

He placed the card on the table, clasped his hands together, and unconsciously rubbed his thumbs together.

"They didn't know?"

Nobody knows.

"So... I'm supposed to act all by myself in front of the entire Legend of Sword and Fairy team?"

"right."

Hu Ge's breathing became noticeably heavier.

But Chen Yang noticed that his eyes had changed.

It's not fear.

It's something that's been suppressed for a long time, and it's now bursting out.

Chen Yang chose this moment to say something.

"Brother Hu, do you know why I chose you as my undercover agent?"

Brother Hu didn't say anything.

"Because I believe you have the highest acting skill level among these people."

Chen Yang's tone was devoid of any flattery or sycophancy; he simply stated the facts.

"But variety shows are different from TV dramas. TV dramas have scripts and directors yell 'cut,' so you can hide behind your character."

"No variety shows."

"Everyone you face tomorrow will be your true friend and true colleague. You will have to maintain a false identity in front of them around the clock."

"There is no script, no retakes. Every word you say and every choice you make is real-time and irreversible."

"That's real acting."

Brother Hu stopped rubbing his fingers.

He stared at the card on the table, something churning in his eyes.

Chen Yang was all too familiar with that expression.

Having watched variety shows and observed the entertainment industry for fifteen years in his previous life, he knew all too well what people like Brother Hu craved most.

It's not fame, it's not traffic.

It's a breakthrough.

It's about tearing off the labels others have put on him and proving that he's not just a "gentle and refined ancient costume actor".

The silence lasted for a full eight seconds.

Then Brother Hu laughed.

It wasn't the distant, polite smile from before.

It was a smile that Zhang Lei had never seen on the face of any idol actor.

It has a hint of evil in it.

"Director Chen."

"Um?"

"If they find out tomorrow, will she hit me?"

Chen Yang smiled too.

That's your problem.

Brother Hu stood up and stretched.

"Okay, I'll take it."

He walked to the door, then suddenly turned around and, mimicking Deng Chao's habitual gesture, pointed to his own face.

"My face makes me look honest to the entire nation."

"So when I was playing an undercover agent, no one suspected me."

"What's this called again?"

He paused for a moment.

"The darkest place is under the lamp."

The door closed.

Zhang Lei leaned against the wall and let out a long breath.

"Director Chen."

"Um."

"What you just told Deng Chao was that he was an undercover agent planted in the Running Man team by the Legend of Sword and Fairy faction."

"right."

"What I told Brother Hu was that he was an undercover agent planted by the Running Man team in the Legend of Sword and Fairy camp."

"right."

Zhang Lei swallowed hard.

"In other words, during tomorrow's recording... Deng Chao will be desperately helping the Legend of Sword and Fairy team to sabotage his own teammates, and Brother Hu will be desperately helping the Running Man team to sabotage his own teammates."

"right."

Zhang Lei opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He worked as a variety show director for seven years and considered himself to be the most unethical production team he had ever seen.

But compared to Chen Yang, those seniors were practically at a kindergarten level.

"Director Chen, I have just one question for you."

"ask."

"When we record tomorrow... Deng is helping the Legend of Sword and Fairy duo pass on clues, while Brother Hu is helping the Running Man duo pass on clues. Both of them are secretly sabotaging their own people and secretly helping the other side."

"So who won in the end?"

Chen Yang stood up and walked to the window.

The night in Hengdian is unusually quiet.

The lights in the Qingming Riverside Scene scenic area in the distance were all off.

Tomorrow, once the sun rises, that place will become a battlefield.

"Zhang Lei, you've got one thing wrong."

Chen Yang had his back to him.

"This game wasn't designed to determine a winner and a loser."

"It was designed to create a memorable scene."

"Two people desperately acted as undercover agents, relentlessly sabotaging their own team for the opposing side. When their teammates realized something was wrong, their genuine reaction was one of 'I trusted you, but you betrayed me'..."

Chen Yang turned around.

"This is what I want. Does it matter who wins or loses?"

Zhang Lei shuddered.

He suddenly understood.

The better Deng Chao's acting is as an undercover agent, the more miserably the other members of the Running Man team are tricked, and the more realistic their reactions become.

The deeper Hu Ge's disguise, the more thoroughly the Legend of Sword and Fairy team was infiltrated, and the more explosive the emotional reversal became.

And when both sides are exposed at the same time.

The scene at that moment.

Just thinking about it made Zhang Lei's scalp tingle.

"Alright, go to bed early."

Chen Yang patted him on the shoulder.

"Get up at 6:30 tomorrow and arrive at the scenic area at 7:30."

"Aren't you afraid of crashing?" Zhang Lei asked as he walked to the door.

Chen Yang had already started taking off his coat.

"Even a rollover can be a memorable moment."

"..."

7 month 6 day.

7 a.m.

The sun in Hengdian climbed over the mountain on time, and golden light spread across the gray tiles and white walls of the Qingming Riverside Scene scenic area.

The scenic area gates were tightly closed, and a sign at the entrance read "No Photography Allowed."

Zhou Jianjun and seven teams of cameramen started setting up their cameras at five in the morning.

Twenty-eight machines are distributed along the main street of the scenic area, in the restaurants on both sides, on the stone bridge, at the dock, and in the back alley.

Qi Lei's prop team worked through the night to hang five hundred colorful ribbons on the pillars along the street, and also built a three-meter-high wooden arena in the center of the square.

8 o'clock exactly.

The first minibus stopped outside the east gate square of the Ming and Qing Palace Garden in Hengdian World Studios.

The seven members of the Running Man cast got off the bus one after another.

The scale is completely different from the first episode.

The seven men were all dressed in the uniforms of the Six Doors constables—modified official robes with black backgrounds and silver patterns, fitted at the waist and with sleeves tied, a silver emblem of "Six Doors" embroidered on the chest, wooden tokens at their waists, and black ankle boots.

The effect of uniforms was immediate. The seven people standing there created a strong sense of unity.

But as for the art style... it varies from person to person.

Li Chen was the most robust, his official robes stretched to their limit, and his belt accentuated his inverted triangle shape. Standing there, he was the epitome of martial prowess in the government office.

Zheng Kai is lean and wiry, and the official robes he wears actually give him a neat and youthful look. Paired with his clever face, he looks like a quick-witted constable from the Six Doors, who is responsible for running errands and keeping watch.

Wang Baoqiang was the most down-to-earth. He rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and tucked his trousers in high, making him look less like a constable and more like a temporary worker who had just been transferred from the countryside.

Shen Teng stood at the end of the line, looked down at his official robes, and then turned to look at Li Chen, who was standing next to him with a murderous aura.

"Am I here to arrest criminals, or to be arrested by criminals?"

Chen He leaned over and tugged at his collar.

"Brother Teng, this is so kind of you. My collar is so tight it makes me feel like I'm going to the execution ground."

"It wouldn't be out of place for you to go to the execution ground."

Baby was the last to get off the bus.