A real killer playing a villain; the guy surnamed Zhen in Detective, run!

Three days later. At the TV station's recording studio.

In the lounge, there is a round table in the center, with makeup mirrors and charging cables scattered around it.

Four people sat around a round table.

Top male star Shen Yiming leaned back in his chair and scrolled through his phone, while rising star Meng Ying huddled in the corner of the sofa with her knees drawn up to her chest. The other two regular MCs—rapper Da Yan and stand-up comedian Zhou Xiaolu—were huddled together watching the same screen.

The screen was playing a frame-by-frame analysis video of an interrogation room scene from the film "Black Gold".

The density of the bullet comments was so high that it blurred half of the screen.

"What do you think?" Big Smoke put down his phone, rubbing the goosebumps on his arms, "are they scarier or gentler in real life than on screen?"

Meng Ying shook her head: "Isn't there a video of him shopping at the farmers market trending on social media? He was wearing a windbreaker and even rounded down the price of pork ribs by three cents. He's pretty down-to-earth."

"Down-to-earth?" Zhou Xiaolu blurted out, "That guy can diagnose the breathing rhythm of a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning actor with just a change in his eyes, and you call that down-to-earth?"

Shen Yiming locked the screen and shook the sparkling water in his hand: "Who cares what kind of sparkling water it is? We'll know when we get here. Anyway, we're teaming up, not fighting each other."

The door was pushed open, and He Rihuo walked in, wearing that standard smile that he had worn for ten years in the variety show industry.

"Teacher He!" Meng Ying stood up.

He Rihu waved his hand, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Shen Yiming leaned closer: "Brother He, you've come at the right time. I have something important to tell you—we've invited Lu Yuan for this special episode."

He Rihuo's thermos cup wobbled slightly.

"Who?"

"Lu Yuan! That Shen Yibai from 'Black Gold'—"

He Rihuo's smile was still on his face, but the muscles at the corners of his mouth were no longer under his control.

The four people in the lounge watched his expression change, but no one said a word.

He placed the thermos on the table and pressed his left hand against the back of his right. His hand was trembling.

"Brother He?" Da Yan asked tentatively.

"Last time," He Rihuo said in a low voice, keeping his volume so that the staff outside the door wouldn't hear, "it was during the recording of 'Who's the Murderer,' and he played an NPC. It was just a warehouse scene with six lines. When I came in, he was squatting in the corner."

He paused for a moment.

The way he looked at me was like he was looking at a chair. He was judging whether the chair needed to be moved or chopped up for firewood.

Meng Ying's smile vanished.

"I once went to the detention center to interview a habitual drug dealer who had been selling heroin for twelve years. Even through the bulletproof glass, he didn't have the same effect on me." He Rihuo's voice dropped another half tone. "Back then, he was just an extra. A newbie who didn't know anything about acting."

Shen Yiming held his sparkling water in mid-air, forgetting to drink it.

He Rihuo stood up: "Whatever you do later, don't mess with him. Do you hear me? Absolutely not."

"Brother He, are you serious?!"

"That's not an actor." He Rihuo tightened the screws on his thermos, his lips trembling. "That's a living father."

The four people looked at each other in bewilderment.

He Rihuo picked up his thermos and headed for the door: "I'm going to the restroom."

He didn't go to the restroom. He turned two corners along the corridor, pushed open the door to the control room, and grabbed Yan Ji's sleeve.

Yan Ji was adjusting the signal in front of the monitor screen when he was pulled so hard that he almost stumbled.

"Teacher He, you—"

"Director Yan!" He Rihuo's voice was barely contained. "Please, don't let Lu Yuan play an NPC! If you make him chase someone in the escape room, the guest won't just be eliminated, they'll be carried to the ICU!"

Yan Ji looked at him, his brows furrowed.

He Rihuo is known in the industry as a man of steel. A veteran of three seasons of Escape Room, he has endured all kinds of extreme and terrifying scenes. At this moment, all the color had drained from his face, leaving only a layer of waxy white on his cheekbones.

Yan Ji patted him on the shoulder: "Sit down first, and listen to me."

"Lu Yuan is a player on the good side this time," Yan Ji pointed to the team list on the table. "He's on your team, and you'll be escaping together. He's not the villain."

He Rihuo's shoulders relaxed for half a second before he tensed up again, even more so than before.

"Put him in the same cage?"

Yan Ji: "...Yes."

He Rihuo's pupils dilated.

"Director Yan, have you thought about this?" He lowered his voice, squeezing the words out between his teeth, "What will he do if we're slow in solving the mystery and hold us back? Will he think we're in the way and just sacrifice us?"

The three technicians in the control room looked up at the same time, their expressions unified and remarkable.

Yan Ji opened his mouth, unsure of how to refute the statement.

"Teacher He, this is a variety show, not a battle royale."

......

When He Rihuo came out of the control room, his legs felt like they were floating. He had to hold onto the wall for support as he walked halfway down the corridor before he could calm down the tingling sensation in his legs.

Back in the lounge, He Rihuo's unusual behavior was efficiently communicated within just five minutes. Da Yan and Zhou Xiaolu had stopped using their phones, and Meng Ying had put her legs up from the corner of the sofa and sat up straight. Shen Yiming had finished his sparkling water and was twirling the empty bottle in his hand.

Everyone was waiting for that person to walk in from outside.

He Rihuo sat down in his seat. His thigh muscles were tense, ready to get up at any moment.

Footsteps could be heard coming from the hallway outside the door.

All five people straightened up at the same time, and stopped breathing.

The doorknob turned, and the door opened.

Lu Yuan stood at the door.

That windbreaker that had been dug up countless times online—washed until the collar was frayed and the cuffs had frayed threads—looked like an old coat stolen from Dad's closet on my 1.85-meter frame.

He held the chipped thermos in his left hand and carried a red plastic bag in his right, the bag bulging and taut, with oil stains seeping through the bottom.

He yawned.

He nodded to the guests, who were all tense and taut like bowstrings, and said, "Hi."

Shen Yiming stared at the plastic bag for two seconds, confirming that there was no weapon inside and that it contained spicy strips.

Meng Ying's shoulders relaxed, and she leaned back against the sofa.

The trending topics really lived up to their reputation!

Lu Yuan pulled out a chair and sat down, put the plastic bag on the table, took out a packet of spicy strips from it, tore it open, and took one out of his mouth.

After chewing a couple of times, I pushed the remaining half-packet to the center of the table.

"It can help with blood sugar if I get hungry when we go into the escape room later."

Meng Ying smiled and shook her head. Da Yan waved his hand. Shen Yiming politely said thank you.

He Rihuo didn't move an inch. His gaze hadn't left Lu Yuan since the moment he walked in, staring at the face chewing spicy snacks and comparing it back and forth with the eyes in the corner of the warehouse in his memory, which were assessing their prey.

It doesn't look like it! Yet it does!

He chose not to reach for the spicy strips.

The temperature in the lounge rose a few degrees. The guests began chatting casually, their conversation revolving around the evening's theme.

The air quality has returned to normal.

The door opened again, and a woman walked in, dressed in black tactical gear, the fabric pressing out clean lines. She had honey-colored skin, and her amber eyes swept across the room. The curve of her eyes should have exuded a touch of allure, but it was suppressed by her sharp gaze.

The assistant director followed behind: "Let me introduce you all. This is Captain Jiang Yan, the special safety consultant for this program."

Lu Yuan paused for a moment while chewing the spicy snack.

Jiang Yan's gaze swept around and landed on him.

The two people looked at each other.

Spicy strips stuck between my teeth, chili oil smeared on the corners of my mouth. A thermos sits on the table, the smell of goji berries and spicy strips mingling into a strange, unpleasant odor.

Jiang Yan didn't speak, but looked away and sat down in the seat closest to the door. She sat upright, with her hands folded on her knees and her back off the chair.

Lu Yuan lowered his head, finished chewing the spicy strip in his mouth, swallowed it, unscrewed the thermos, and took a sip of goji berry water. He then raised his chin towards Jiang Yan.