I have a persona specifically for acting.

Duan Ge quickly discovered the issue with the firearms.

She had never dealt with such high-tech equipment, so she naturally couldn’t figure out how to unlock them.

Just as she frowned in confusion, she found a manual at the bottom of the box. After reading the brief introduction, her expression immediately fell.

[Facepalm.jpg]

[Sister Zhao might be ungrateful, but the production team is really the worst.]

[Why would firearms have instruction manuals?]

A line of special effects text quickly addressed the audience’s confusion:

《Since we’re pursuing the unethical, we must follow through completely!》

《That’s right, that instruction manual was hastily compiled by our modeling team in a burst of speed and placed inside!》

The audience was delighted.

It was evident that, in addition to the two opposing factions, this survival variety show also featured an invisible conflict—Tong Zhao versus the relentless production team. Such a confrontation was rare in the world; typically, it was the director who maintained tight control over the guests. No one expected Sister Zhao to turn the tables and repeatedly surprise the audience.

Viewers had grown a bit weary of traditional variety shows.

They would wonder which parts were meticulously arranged by the production team, and what meaning there was in their emotional ups and downs. The conflicts that occurred in variety shows were all scripted by the director, differing only slightly from movies in terms of portraying real human emotions.

Unlike movies, variety show fans looked forward to the unexpected.

When they saw the production team flustered by the endless surprises from the special guests, that anticipation was fully met.

Some viewers watch reality shows hoping to see celebrities fail.

If the celebrities don’t fail, then fine, let the famous production team take the fall instead!

Past guests who have appeared on “One Life Survivor” continue to follow this show, frequently venting their frustrations on Weibo. Most of them are unknowns or ordinary people, so initially, no one paid them any attention. Until one former contestant who made a name for themselves on the show posted:

@Long Jue v:

“If I have such opponents, I probably won’t win the prize.”

Although they didn’t name names, those in the know immediately understood who they were talking about.

Fans quickly replied, insisting, “How could that be? Brother is the best!”

As for the retweets from bystanders and marketing accounts, most were looking forward to a clash between the two.

A few insightful individuals commented: “They’re a legitimate movie star who just finished shooting a wildly successful blockbuster, and they’re booked solid with offers… Variety shows are just for fun; what’s with all the hype about a showdown like Tyson vs. Ali?”

Thinking about it carefully, that was indeed the case.

[Ah, but this is still really fun! Just thinking about it is amusing!]

Fun and interesting.

This is truly the ultimate answer in this era of entertainment, the only currency more effective than beauty.

Long Jue’s Weibo post created quite a buzz, coinciding with a day that lacked major entertainment news. Netizens, bored and scrolling through a dull homepage, found a marketing account that had dug up previous guest comments from “One Life Survivor” about this episode. They compiled a collection of the guests reveling in the production team’s misfortune, which naturally led to a wave of shares and laughter.

More curious onlookers, eager to see how Tong Zhao could turn a deadlock into something spectacular, flooded into the live stream. When it came time to choose a contestant they were interested in, they unhesitatingly picked Tong Zhao, proudly displaying their “freebie” fan badge…

Backstage, a tally was taken…

Sure enough, Tong Zhao’s votes completely overwhelmed the competition.

The focus was gradually drifting away from the planned direction of the variety show.

While the production team could control the resources Tong Zhao received, the audience’s expectations were beyond their control.

Strictly speaking, having Tong Zhao on “One Life Survivor” was an invisible confrontation between the second dimension and the third dimension, a challenge from humanity to God!

…

Viewers were enjoying the show to the point of exasperation and found Tong Zhao extremely entertaining.

This woman was like an endless book, full of inexhaustible talents and never-ending bravado.

The production team thought Tong Zhao was out of options.

Meanwhile, the audience was enthusiastic about offering her strategies, as if she could actually hear them—

[Why not just cut off the thumb from the previous corpse?]

[You must not have seen many dramas; fingerprint unlocking technology relies not only on having a hand but also on body temperature and pressure sensitivity… A person’s body temperature drops quickly after death, so even if you had the finger of a deceased fugitive, the usable period would only be three hours; after that, it would start to stiffen and be ineffective.]

[As long as you have a hand, it’s fine, hahaha. That’s a weird sense of humor that really hit the mark.]

Duan Ge tentatively reported this issue to her superior.

“I’ve captured a batch of weapons supply from the survivors, but I can’t use them because of the fingerprint authentication lock. Is there a solution?”

In Duan Ge’s understanding, her superiors were quite capable.

It was just that most of the time, they didn’t help her.

This was also convenient for the production team to give orders that would be accepted.

Her dog-like superior (the director) replied bluntly: [You are already a mature imperial assassin; you need to learn to unlock it yourself.]

Duan Ge tightened her grip on the gun handle expressionlessly.

There was a groove on the gun where one finger could be pressed down, but when she placed her finger there, it didn’t respond. Since this was support from that group, it would most likely require their fingerprints.

Duan Ge thought: [Why?]

The inner voice in her mind shifted from bland to suppressed, interrupting the rhythm of the audience’s laughter.

Is the rabbit feeling wronged?

Duan Ge thought: [Why is it that their superiors even considered this? A bunch of useless people I wiped out are getting such good treatment?]

Duan Ge thought: [They all deserve to die!]

The rabbit was not wronged; the rabbit was furious.

The gun handle creaked under her grip, making a sound that was unsettling to hear.

Duan Ge suddenly stood up, deciding not to wait any longer. She wanted to quickly eliminate these pampered little useless individuals favored by a good leader, complete the mission, and get a pass from her superior to leave the city. Once she left Canaan City, she would figure out a way to get rid of her dog-like superior who was connected to her, and from then on, she would be free as a rabbit in the open sky.

…

In the filming backstage.

Director Chen pondered, “Is the dog-like superior she wants to eliminate talking about us?”

The deputy director replied, “It’s just a dog-like superior; it should be you, Director.”

Director Chen said, “I’ll smoke a cigarette to calm my nerves.”

Director Chen continued, “I’m not scared, really not scared. Just think about how great this program is for the effects! Tong Zhao’s Weibo is also gaining followers; it’s a good thing! At worst… at worst, we can wait for her to wake up and treat her to a nice meal!”

…

Led by Kong Yeming, the survivors moved away from the gas area and settled on the second floor of a residential building.

Since the four-person team was easily wiped out and only one of the eight was killed, Kong Yeming ultimately decided that five people would share one room, sleeping in the living room, while two single rooms would be occupied by the remaining three who would guard the hallway.

They would try to act collectively as much as possible.

Kong Yeming sternly emphasized, “Remember, if anything happens, wake up the others. We need to respond immediately as a group. From what happened before at school… at least he still fears large numbers.”

They were not standing there waiting to be slaughtered; they had a strong desire to survive.

Seeing such careful consideration, the audience couldn’t help but worry about Tong Zhao.

[If only there were guns.]

Although there were no guns, Duan Ge had obtained a batch of cold weapons, which was a significant upgrade from just carrying a dagger.

Now she had a telescope!

Searching for living people in a dead city was like everyone looking for grains of sand, searching for those moving points of life.

Kong Yeming was very cautious and did not venture out for the first two days, staying on the second floor and sharing the limited food with everyone. Even though they tried to ration their food, feeding fifteen mouths consumed a lot. After two days of stable living, they finally began organizing small teams to go out and search for resources on the third day.

Five people per team, divided into three teams for action.

They searched through one street after another, ensuring that if one team called for help, the other teams would be within earshot and could immediately provide support.

It was very well thought out.

While they huddled tightly at their base, Duan Ge still roamed the streets and alleys of The City every day, never feeling bored. The audience also preferred not to watch these people cowering in fear; it was too dull—much better to watch Tong Zhao!

It had to be said that Tong Zhao truly knew how to create engaging moments.

Duan Ge, who never took the conventional route, seemed to have endless energy as she leaped across rooftops and residential buildings. She even climbed the walls of tall structures, a faint smile gracing her lips, indicating that she was thoroughly enjoying herself. The wind blew her short hair, making her appear even more light and agile.

Fans simply couldn’t get enough.

With lively and cute children’s music playing in the background, it was like watching a happy little bunny frolicking through a concrete forest.

Today, the bunny was also guarding the peace of The City!

Two days of silence couldn’t wear down the patience of a professional assassin. When Kong Yeming and his group appeared within Duan Ge’s line of sight, the previously dull live stream instantly erupted with excitement—

[Bunny is charging for Mama!]

[I’ve been keeping the livestream open for the past two days; it feels like I’ve raised a desktop pet that can run and jump.]

[They’re all moving together. Does Bunny have any chance?]

……

Just when the mom fans were worried, Duan Ge, spotting the survivors on screen, broke into a smile.

In this variety show, she didn’t smile much.

Apart from the rare times when she enjoyed a hearty meal and her eyes crinkled with satisfaction, she mostly had a slight smile while parkouring alone, but it was very faint and not obvious. It merely allowed the audience to sense her relaxed demeanor, but it couldn’t be said that she was genuinely happy.

[The girl looks so cute when she smiles QAQ]

[I want to protect Bunny’s smile!]

Pampered by the mom fans, Duan Ge let out a light, low laugh filled with a hint of dark intensity: [I’m going to kill them all today!]

[……]

[??????]

What should we do if the little one is about to go on a killing spree? Waiting online, getting anxious.

Duan Ge selected a submachine gun, a handgun, and a rifle from the box to take with her, leaving the sniper rifle behind since she wouldn’t be able to use it for long-range since she couldn’t unlock it. She stuffed one gun into her backpack, filling it with as many magazines as she could carry; it felt heavy and satisfying.

The survivors were searching through a shopping mall.

Most of the store windows had been shattered, and there were no edible supplies left inside. However, items like jewelry and watches remained intact, though without specialized lighting, even expensive luxury goods lost their luster.

Seeing where they were searching improved Duan Ge’s mood even more.

The mall’s complex layout was more suitable for her to showcase her skills.

Duan Ge thought: [So which of these three teams should I target?]

The mall had a large glass ceiling, providing excellent lighting during the day. If the midday sun was too harsh, the security would press a button backstage, causing a mechanism on the roof to pull up a layer of gauze to help diffuse the light.

In ordinary survival variety shows, it was a popular segment for contestants to “scavenge” in supermarkets and malls.

But the audience clearly preferred to watch from Tong Zhao’s perspective.

They wanted to see how she would infiltrate the mall, outnumbered!

Duan Ge first went to the already deserted security room, where she found the mall’s floor plan. Searching through the security room often yielded useful information; most of the guards who were just getting paid wouldn’t pay attention to it and didn’t need to.

The entire city was without electricity, and the surveillance cameras were all in darkness.

Duan Ge studied for a while, first turning off all the lights in the mall, and then she found the switch for the mall’s backup power supply—

[Can this even be done?]

[The little one is really capable!]

[No, this is beyond just being capable… How are you so familiar with this?]

Tong Zhao had become a mature assassin, learning how to infiltrate the mall on her own.

After a while, the ten or so surveillance screens surrounding Duan Ge lit up, clearly capturing the movements of all the survivors.

After all, it was backup power mainly used to supply emergency lighting and network access in the hallways, so it couldn’t be used for long. Duan Ge calculated that it could only support an hour…

Duan Ge: [That’s enough.]

Duan Ge: [I just need to see where they are.]

The survivors still didn’t know they had not only been discovered but that every one of their movements was under the hunter’s surveillance. She focused on one man and one woman from Team Sun; their shorter stature made them easier to control. It would be best to catch them both.

They moved systematically through the shops, skipping over stores that clearly had no use—such as clothing and bag shops—while targeting stores like Watsons for thorough searches.

The survivors hadn’t come away empty-handed that morning.

They had found a wrench in a hardware store and equipped each person with a kitchen knife from a market; at least they could pretend to be tough guys in Causeway Bay without any issues.

After observing the surveillance footage in the security room for a while, Duan Ge hid in a Watsons store.

[The little bunny is lurking!]

[Waiting for a bunny ambush.]

Once the perspective shifted to that of the hunter, the survival show suddenly felt much lighter.

For the group of survivors, however, this was undoubtedly a horror film.

Having searched in the mall for quite some time, the group gradually lowered their guard. He Su was the first to walk into the store: “We haven’t found anything; these people cleaned out the place before they fled.”

The snack area was completely empty.

As far as the eye could see, there were still unnecessary supplies like foundation and lipstick on the shelves.

The five of them didn’t give up, spreading out to search in the spacious store.

The female doctor spotted a large roll of toilet paper in the corner.

Duan Ge patiently waited in the staff room.

Someone would definitely come in looking for something, but the door was narrow, only allowing one person to pass at a time, maybe two at most if they squeezed close together.

She didn’t need to peek out to see; just from the sound of footsteps, she could tell how far away the person was. She needed to take control of this unlucky soul coming toward her in two seconds.

The footsteps grew closer.

He Su wanted to see if any supplies had been overlooked in the staff lounge.

As he opened the door, the audience’s hearts rose, their heartbeats quickening.

As He Su grasped the doorknob, he thought: “Could there be enemy troops inside?”

This sudden thought heightened his alertness as he prepared to quickly back out and shout for help if anything seemed off.

He pushed the door open forcefully.

However, the space behind the door was empty, unlike the scene he had imagined.

Only the audience watching the livestream knew that the slender Duan Ge was hiding behind the door, right in his blind spot.

He let out a sigh of relief.

He Su: “Ugh, I’m really such a coward.”

With that thought, he took three steps inside.

At that moment, Duan Ge was already behind him.

Before He Su could sense anything, Duan Ge reached out and locked her arm around his neck while roughly slapping a piece of packing tape over his mouth, sticking it to his nose as well. This left him only able to make muffled sounds of “Mmm mmm mmm mmm!” — quieter than if she had just covered his mouth.

Uncertain about how long the unlocking would last, Duan Ge had no intention of suffocating him, fearing that if he died, his fingerprints would be useless.

She quickly tied He Su’s hands behind his back with some rope and used his thumb to unlock all three guns. After unlocking, the pixel display above the small groove lit up, counting down… 1800, 1799, 1798…

Duan Ge: “Is this in seconds?”

She quickly calculated in her mind: it was half an hour, hovering on the ambiguous edge of being enough and not enough.

Duan Ge gently peeled back a corner of the tape to allow He Su to breathe, albeit barely.

As soon as he made contact with the air, he immediately began to gasp for breath, panicking to the point of forgetting to make a loud noise to call for help.

Duan Ge lowered her head and smiled. “Be good, and I’ll let you live for another half an hour.”

He Su couldn’t understand her words and grew even more frightened.

The audience understood.

The content of the show had been so lighthearted over the past two days that they had almost forgotten what kind of killing machine she really was. They genuinely thought of her as a carefree, struggling little rabbit, parkouring around The City every day…

[Ugh, I’ve been A’d!]

[Cubs are so ruthless, mommy likes it, woo woo woo!]

[Tong Zhao, kill me!]

Without showing a hint of her sharp teeth and claws, she had truly made the cheetah look like a rabbit.

Once he calmed his breathing, He Su was able to make out the appearance of the person in front of him in the dim light—

It was an exceptionally beautiful face.

Even when viewed from below at this deadly angle, it was still undeniably stunning.

Although it was highly inappropriate, He Su couldn’t help but think: “So there are such beautiful girls among the enemy’s lackeys?”

[Well, there goes my chance with a pretty girl.]

[But if you had a choice, would you rather be killed by a greasy middle-aged man or have your throat slit by a gorgeous and sexy lady?]

[…Such a persuasive argument!]

“He Su?”

Although the struggle between the two ended quickly, with Duan Ge successfully executing a unilateral ambush, some sounds inevitably emerged from the staff room. Her teammates called out loudly, as this guy was quite talkative, and just a single response would put them at ease.

From the depths of the room, a voice could be heard, but it was an unintelligible female voice.

The remaining four momentarily failed to react—

Then, a gunshot rang out, echoing throughout the entire store!