novellhall Chapter 70, Speedrun
Chapter 70, Speedrun
He had walked less than twenty meters when a young girl in a hoodie pushed her way out of the crowd, holding up something pink.
It is a folding electric vehicle.
"Huan-ge! Here you go!" Her voice trembled, her face flushed red. "I...I rode it here, it's right next to me, you can use it!"
Gao Huan glanced at her, then reached out and took the electric scooter: "Thank you. You wait here, I'll have someone return it to you after I'm done recording."
The girl stood there, covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes reddening.
Gao Huan propped his phone up on the handlebars and navigated to the location sent by Sun Honglei.
McDonald's on Yincheng East Road.
He turned off the ignition, and the electric scooter silently sped off, weaving through the crowd and leaving behind a gasp of surprise.
He arrived in less than ten minutes.
……
McDonald's is located on the corner of Yincheng East Road, with a huge poster of hamburgers on the glass window and warm yellow lighting inside.
When Gao Huan pushed open the door, he saw Sun Honglei sitting by the window with a half-empty Coke in front of him, his hands on the table, his posture as upright as a job seeker waiting for an interview.
When he saw Gao Huan come in, he stood up, his expression somewhere between "Finally here" and "What are we going to do?"
"Brother Honglei." Gao Huan walked over and sat down opposite him.
"What exactly are you trying to tell me? What alliance? What teamwork? Explain yourself."
Sun Honglei's tone was straightforward, like "Don't try to beat around the bush with me," but his eyes were serious.
Gao Huan handed him the phone; the screen showed a map with three green markers indicating time recharge points.
He first explained the time-based payment mechanism, and then talked about the rules of the hunt.
Pursue your target, press the button on your chest to buy time; those eliminated will become bodyguards.
As Sun Honglei listened, his expression changed from confusion to focus, and from focus to seriousness.
His fingers tapped lightly twice on the table, and he just opened his mouth...
"drop."
Gao Huan's hand was already on the red button on his chest.
Sun Honglei looked down at the zeroed-out numbers on his watch, then looked up at Gao Huan, his mouth agape and his fingers still hovering in mid-air.
His expression changed from "I want to speak" to "What happened?" and then from "What happened?" to "Are you crazy?"
"You..." He opened his mouth, but the sound got stuck in his throat.
"Sorry, Brother Honglei, you can probably guess by now that you're my target." Gao Huan withdrew his hand and said with a smile, "Rules are rules."
Sun Honglei stared at him for two seconds, then lowered his hand from mid-air, leaned back in his chair, and sighed, "I haven't even had a chance to open the box yet."
He pointed to the silver briefcase lying at his feet, its clasp still securely fastened.
"I heard about alliances and teamwork, but I've never opened the box. I only found out it could be opened after you told me."
Gao Huan pushed the half-finished Coke aside, bent down to lift the box from Sun Honglei's feet, placed it on the table, and pressed the lock.
The ammunition box was opened.
Cell phones and envelopes lay neatly inside.
Sun Honglei first took out his phone, then opened the envelope and took out a card—with a name printed on it: Huang Lei.
"Huang Lei?" Sun Honglei glanced at the card, then at Gao Huan. "Is he my target?"
"Yes," Gao Huan said. "According to the rules, after you kill Huang Lei, he becomes your bodyguard, and then you continue killing down the chain."
But now that you're dead, your hunting mission is mine.
Sun Honglei looked at the big "0" on his watch, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly smiled.
"Okay." He stood up, closed the suitcase, picked it up, patted Gao Huan on the shoulder, and said, "Come on, I'll be your bodyguard. Next, we'll kill Lei Lei together."
……
When Gao Huan led Sun Honglei to Huang Lei, Huang Lei was standing under a tree studying a map.
He looked down at his phone screen, his fingers swiping across the map, his goggles pushed up to his forehead, his slicked-back hair remaining perfectly still in the breeze.
He was so focused that he didn't look up until Gao Huan and Sun Honglei walked right up to him.
"Hong Lei?" Huang Lei's expression relaxed when he saw Sun Honglei.
Sun Honglei is his friend of many years. The two have known each other in the industry for almost 20 years, have collaborated countless times, and know each other very well.
That relaxed demeanor meant that, actually, during his work on the variety show, he subconsciously didn't want to be on guard in front of this person.
Then he saw Gao Huan.
Gao Huan stood a step behind Sun Honglei. When Huang Lei saw him, his expression relaxed even more.
Students at Beijing Film Academy.
Although Huang Lei was no longer in a teaching position when Gao Huan was in school, and he never taught Gao Huan, the phrase "Beijing Film Academy student" naturally carried a filter for Huang Lei.
That was his school, his students, his juniors.
If Gao Huan meets him at school, he should call him "Teacher Huang". If he nods and responds with "Mm", then that kind of teacher-student relationship is established.
In name only, but in this circle, "in name only" already carries enough weight.
"What are you two doing together?" Huang Lei asked with a smile, his tone casual.
Gao Huan took a step forward.
His walking posture remained unchanged, neither hurried nor slow, with each step firmly planted.
But his right hand had already been raised from his side, his fingers slightly spread, his target clear.
Huang Lei saw his hand, and saw that hand reaching towards the red button on his chest.
His brain made a decision in that instant; he wanted to dodge, but his body didn't keep up, and his reaction was a beat too slow.
Half a beat is enough.
"drop."
Huang Lei looked down at the zeroed-out numbers on his watch and remained silent for two seconds.
It's worth mentioning that Gao Huan pressed the button with his right hand both times, while his left hand was used to block Sun Honglei and Huang Lei's chins.
So, the ketchup from the button didn't get smeared on their faces at all.
Then he looked up at Gao Huan, his expression complex, a mixture of helplessness and self-mockery.
"You brat..." he began, his voice lower than usual, "I've known Hong Lei for twenty years, and he's never lied to me. And you, you bring him here to kill me?"
Gao Huan withdrew his hand and stood still, neither retreating nor moving forward.
"Teacher Huang, this is a game on a variety show. You taught us that actors can't bring personal feelings into their roles. The same applies to games."
Huang Lei stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled.
He laughed for a moment, then sighed and patted Gao Huan on the shoulder: "Fine, you killed me too. Now, are you going to take me and Hong Lei with you to kill other people?"
"Yes," Gao Huan said.
"This is a killing chain—I killed Brother Honglei and took over his target;"
Hong Lei's target was you, so after I killed you, I took over your target.
Who is your target? It should be Brother Huang Bo, right?
Huang Lei said, "It's Huang Bo. Hey, how did you know?"
Gao Huan's own guess told him.
Huang Lei pouted, a mix of resentment and admiration in his eyes, and said, "You really are a little nurse."
"Then let's go." Gao Huan turned and walked forward without looking back.
Sun Honglei followed behind him, while Huang Lei stood still, watching the backs of the two men. He pulled his goggles down from his forehead, put them on, and followed them with his suitcase.
……
Huang Bo stood at the entrance of a supply station on the east side of the square, holding his phone which had just been used to extend his time after completing a mission. His expression was one of satisfaction, as if he were saying, "I just finished a mission and I'm really strong now."
When he saw Sun Honglei and Huang Lei walking over, his first reaction was to run.
As he ran, he shouted, "How did the three of you end up together?"
Unexpectedly, Gao Huan blocked the other end and pressed the button on his chest.
This time, Gao Huan had no chance to shield him from the ketchup; the ketchup from the button smeared his face, making it look like blood.
Huang Bo looked down at his watch, which had been reset to zero, then looked up at Huang Lei. He moved his lips, but in the end, he only managed to utter one word: "Holy shit."
Huang Lei's card says Huang Bo's name, but what about Huang Bo's card?
Gao Huan rummaged through Huang Bo's suitcase, pulled out an envelope and a card, and identified his target: Luo Zhixiang.
"Next, Brother Pig," Gao Huan said.
……
Luo Zhixiang is talking to Zhang Yixing.
His card had Wang Xun on it, but he hadn't had a chance to go find Wang Xun yet.
Because Gao Huan and three others had already surrounded him, he tried to run. If he ran to the left, Gao Huan blocked him on the left; if he ran to the right, Sun Honglei blocked him on the right; if he ran backward, Huang Lei was standing there; if he ran forward, Huang Bo was standing there.
A four-faced song.
"You...you're committing this as a group crime."
Show Lo's voice carried a stubbornness that said, "I know I can't escape, but I still have to say something."
Huang Bo walked over, reached out his hand, and pressed the button.
With a "beep," the numbers on Luo Zhixiang's watch returned to zero.
He glanced down, sighed, and then suddenly laughed: "Fine, it's not like I'm the only one getting killed."
Gao Huan rummaged through Luo Zhixiang's suitcase, pulled out a card, glanced at it, and handed it to Huang Lei: "Wang Xun."
As soon as he saw Show Lo surrounded by four people, Zhang Yixing, the "little sheep," ran away as fast as he could, even leaving the cameraman behind.
……
Wang Xun was found on an overpass.
He tripped and fell while vying with Huang Bo for another time point, which caused the box to fall open and revealed the full picture of the mission.
The time on his watch is now 90 minutes.
When he saw Gao Huan leading four people toward him in a large group, his first reaction wasn't to run. Instead, he assumed there was some new mission, since it was impossible for all five of them to be targeting him.
"Where are you going? Take me with you," Wang Xun said.
Luo Zhixiang walked over, reached out his hand, and pressed the button.
Wang Xun looked down at his watch, which had been reset to zero, paused for a moment, then looked up at Luo Zhixiang with a puzzled expression that seemed to say, "Aren't you allied with me?"
"The game is over."
Luo Zhixiang patted him on the shoulder, his tone carrying a sense of shared suffering and comfort, "Don't ask anymore, I was killed just like you."
Next up was Zhang Yixing.
The last link in the chain.
The process itself was rather unremarkable, but Gao Huan's pursuit of Zhang Yixing drove the photographer who was filming them to the point of vomiting.
This made the older men sigh and remark that young people have such good stamina.
……
Thus, the hunting chain has completed its full cycle.
Yan Min's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "First round over. Winner—Gao Huan."
Gao Huan smiled at the camera, appearing quite calm, but repeatedly bowed to his brothers to express his apologies.
Huang Lei, however, stood in the center of the square, hands in his pockets, goggles pushed up to his forehead, his slicked-back hair still perfectly in place.
His smile contained three parts pride, three parts composure, and four parts boasting: "Look how amazing our Beijing Film Academy is!"
Sun Honglei stood to the side, his watch empty, but he looked even happier than if he had won.
He was killed by Gao Huan, but Gao Huan, carrying his "legacy," fought his way through the entire chain of events.
It feels like you couldn't win yourself, but your underling won for you.
"Oh dear—" Huang Lei drawled, straightened his collar, and cleared his throat, "Our Beijing Film Academy is still excellent, it really produces talented people."
As he said this, he glanced in Gao Huan's direction.
Gao Huan stood outside the crowd, hands in his pockets, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Sun Honglei leaned over and patted Gao Huan on the shoulder: "You little rascal, did you plan this from the very beginning?"
Gao Huan thought for a moment: "It's not exactly good, it's just that I've figured it out."
The key to this game is whether you know what you're doing.
Brother Honglei, you didn't even open the box. Brother Wang Xun ran around on the overpass for ages, not knowing where to go. Zhang Yixing later hid on top of the tower for over half an hour.
Sun Honglei later said in an interview: "I was fooled by Gao Huan, but I admit it. He calculated the whole game perfectly, every single step."
Huang Bo put it more bluntly: "Rather than saying he came to win, it's more accurate to say he came to show us how the game should be played."
Huang Lei added from the side, "He's from the Beijing Film Academy."
After saying that, he smiled, a smile that contained smugness, pride, and a hint of smugness, as if to say, "Has your school ever produced a student like this before?"
……
After the first segment ended, the six people were taken to a new location—the World Expo Park.
After the rain, the air in the Expo Park was humid, and there was still standing water on the ground.
The China Pavilion in the distance was faintly visible in the mist, its red building standing out against the gray-white sky.
Yan Min stood in front of them, holding a walkie-talkie, her expression even more serious than in the first segment.
"The first part was just a warm-up," Yan Min said. "The rules for the second part are completely different."
Staff pushed up a huge display board with a map of the Expo Park, marked with 12 numbered points distributed throughout the park.
"In this part, you will be divided into two teams."
Yan Min continued, "Each team has three members. There are a total of 12 time numbers in this venue."
You need to capture them in order, from 1 to 12, by pressing the button on the numbered point to activate it. The first team to capture 12 wins.