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

"Officer Jiang, want one?" Lu Yuan waved the spicy strip. "It's sweet and spicy, good for your blood sugar. It'll be dark inside later, and there'll be nowhere to buy food if you get hungry."

Jiang Yan's gaze moved from the spicy strips to his face, and then back to the spicy strips.

"I won't eat it."

"Choose your flavor? I also have a pack of spicy one—"

"Lu Yuan," Jiang Yan interrupted him, "Once inside the secret room, no matter what unexpected situation arises, you are not allowed to take any excessive defensive actions. Do you understand? Any?"

Lu Yuan stuffed the spicy strip into his mouth and chewed it twice.

"Officer Jiang, there are no real ghosts inside."

"I'm not talking about ghosts."

The two stared at each other across the table for a second and a half. The aroma of spicy oil from the spicy snacks and the scent of goji berries from the thermos mingled in the air, creating an indescribable fragrance.

He Rihuo's chair leg scraped against the floor with a sharp sound.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Change the angle, and let the light hit your eyes." He Rihuo explained without changing his expression, his buttocks already in close contact with the wall.

---

In the control room, eight monitors covered an entire wall, with screen number four facing the break room.

Yan Ji rested his hands on the edge of the control panel, staring at Lu Yuan on the screen.

With his legs crossed, a spicy snack in his mouth, and a thermos on his lap, he was lounging in the chair in a posture no different from someone sprawled on their own sofa.

Yan Ji frowned.

What did he want to see? Shen Yibai. The man in the interrogation room who could lower the temperature of the air to below zero with just a glance. The biological weapon that made the audience's palms sweat.

What did he see? A young man dressed in cheap clothes eating spicy snacks.

"That's not right." Yan Ji turned to the director Xiao Zhao behind him, "If we go into the secret room in this state, we won't be able to get anything out."

Xiao Zhao, holding the script, tilted his head and said, "President Yan, he's very popular with the public. Just the way he eats spicy snacks—"

"Can being popular with the public make you the number one trending topic? Can being all smiles and chatting make you one?" Yan Ji slapped the control panel.

"What do audiences want to see? They want to see this screen killer break down in a locked room! They want to see a dramatic contrast! The cold-faced god of war screaming in public—that's the kind of material that will make you a top trending topic!"

Xiao Zhao lowered his head and flipped through the script, not daring to respond.

Yan Ji glanced at the scene layout on the table and swiped his finger directly onto the floor plan of the first level, "Abandoned Asylum Corridor".

Original plan. Four NPCs with sudden appearances are scattered throughout the corridor, and the five guests trigger them at an average rate.

"Change it." Yan Ji took out a red pen and drew four circles on Lu Yuan's route.

"The wardrobe one, move it to the corner he must pass through. The ceiling-mounted one, timed to the moment he crosses the threshold. The two under the hospital bed, move them all to the end of the corridor where he's alone. Lights kill electricity—three sets of strobes trigger simultaneously."

He slammed his pen on the table. "Four faces in a row, a ten-meter walkway, not giving him a chance to breathe. I don't believe a living person can hold his own when four faces are shoved at him in a row."

A fine layer of sweat appeared on the forehead of Lao Fang, the head of the planning team.

"President Yan," Old Fang said in a low voice, "about Su Qinghan..."

"What's wrong?"

"A few days ago, Director Su cut all the physical harm mechanisms from the contract. He removed falling objects from high places, electric shocks, and underwater tunnels. Now, if we lower the psychological intimidation threshold to this level—"

"She's cutting physical mechanisms." Yan Ji tapped his fingers twice on the script. "I'm using environmental psychological pressure now. A peak noise level of 105 decibels combined with four sudden attacks, without any physical contact, and without violating any clause of the contract."

Old Fang's Adam's apple bobbed.

"But what if—"

"What if what?" Yan Ji tilted his head. "What if he's really scared? Congratulations, we've got him on the trending topics list. What if he's not scared? Even better, 'Screen Killer Zero Fear in the Locked Room,' the buzz will double."

He threw the revised script back onto the table.

"A situation where you can win on both sides, tell me where the 'what if' comes from?"

No one spoke in the control room. The three directors were busy revising the script, their pens scratching on the paper. Old Fang retreated to a corner and wiped his forehead.

---

The door was pushed open, and Jiang Yan walked into the control room with a brisk pace.

Yan Ji turned and glanced at her: "Team Leader Jiang is here. Pre-recording safety check—"

"Process execution table," Yan Ji pointed to the table.

Jiang Yan walked to the long table and unfolded the newly printed execution plan. Her gaze swept from top to bottom, landing on the NPC allocation diagram for the first level, "The Corridor of the Abandoned Asylum".

Lu Yuan's route was marked with four points in red. Three sets of flashing trigger coordinates overlapped on the same section of the corridor. The pop-up windows of the two hospital bed NPCs at the end of the corridor completely overlapped with the sound, light, and electricity killing zone at the end of the corridor.

A ten-meter walkway, four sudden appearances, three flashes of light, and a peak ambient noise level of 105 decibels.

Jiang Yan pressed her fingers on the paper, her five fingers curled up, and the knuckles protruded from under her skin.

"Cancel."

Yan Ji was pouring water into his mouth when the bottle tipped over, splashing water onto his chin.

"Four blind spots, triple strobe lights, and a peak noise level of 105 decibels—all pressing down on one person's movement." Jiang Yan slammed the execution sheet in front of Yan Ji. "Do you even know what his instinctive reaction is under such extreme pressure?"

"This isn't a TV show. You're provoking a real monster."

Yan Ji wiped the water from his chin, chuckled, and said, "Captain Jiang, were you too engrossed in watching 'Black Gold'?"

The director, Xiao Zhao, chimed in with a smile, "Right, right, Captain Jiang, a movie is a movie, and a variety show is a variety show. In real life, Teacher Lu Yuan is someone who eats spicy snacks and drinks goji berries—"

"I'm not discussing movies with you guys," Jiang Yan interrupted him.

Yan Ji was still smiling when he shook his head. In his view, there was only one explanation for the beautiful policewoman's reaction—she was being manipulated by her fan bias. The on-screen aura was so strong that even the police couldn't distinguish between reality and fiction.

"Come on, let me show you the professionalism of our NPC team." Yan Ji stood up, patted Jiang Yan on the shoulder, and said, "Seeing is believing."