Chapter 1: Weakness Brings Death

"I hope he isn't that foolish, or things are going to get troublesome." Qian Cangyi sat in the downtown plaza, having arrived here after leaving the cafe. "Still, there's nothing I can do. I have no idea whether I can survive the next hell movie. Without settling my affairs beforehand, how can I possibly have peace of mind?"

Just then, the phone in Qian Cangyi's pocket rang.

"Hello, Qian Cangyi, where are you right now?" A-Biao's voice came through the line.

"Is something the matter?" Qian Cangyi stood up and walked toward a nearby convenience store.

"What on earth are you losing your mind over?" A-Biao roared into the phone. "I don't know what's gotten into you these past few days, but there is no way in hell I'm agreeing to your demand, so you can drop it. If you apologize to me right now, I can pretend none of this ever happened, and things can go back to the way they were—we'll all keep making money together."

"Is that so? Very well, I apologize." Qian Cangyi walked into the convenience store and bought a bottle of mineral water. "Does that satisfy you?" Although he asked this, there wasn't the slightest trace of sincerity in his tone.

"You—" A-Biao was furious, yet at a loss for words.

"Still haven't managed to track me down?" Qian Cangyi glanced around, seeing no suspicious individuals. "Since you noticed I only take on weird jobs and care very little about the commission, you assigned them to me at a quarter of the regular price. Fine, I could let that slide, but you actually planned to skim an administrative fee out of that remaining quarter? Should I perhaps applaud your meticulousness?"

"There's no such thing..." A-Biao sounded somewhat guilty.

"Since you can't find me, what are you going to do next? Go after my parents? You should know better than anyone who gets hurt the most if this scandal blows up. Or do you honestly think they are kinder than I am? Those people have never even known what it means to go hungry!" Qian Cangyi continued.

"..." A-Biao did not reply.

"Want to know why I'm doing this?" Qian Cangyi let out a yawn. "I've run into a bit of a problem."

"What kind of problem? Tell me, maybe I can help." A-Biao sounded as though he had just found a lifeline.

"If it's a problem you could possibly help with, could I not solve it myself?" Qian Cangyi retorted.

"Even so, 5% is..." A-Biao was still extremely reluctant.

"To put it bluntly, the terms are still not enough. Tell me, what else do you want?" Qian Cangyi knew his actions were akin to snatching food from the jaws of a tiger, but time was tight. He had no choice but to secure this portion of resources first. As for the future, perhaps he wouldn't even need that 5% stake—in truth, he didn't really need it at all.

That 5% stake was an inheritance he intended to leave for his parents.

"Let's do this, Qian Cangyi. I'll tell you straight: giving you that 5% stake is impossible. This isn't just about money or terms; there are other matters mixed up in this. I sincerely hope you haven't started digging into them, and I strongly advise you not to."

"I recall you mentioning that you wanted to convert your current capital into real estate. I have a solution. I have an apartment in the northern part of the city worth around eight hundred thousand. The terms remain the same as before—since I tried to rip you off earlier, consider the extra value as my compensation. How does that sound?"

"This is the absolute limit of my concession. I remember there are plans to build a new high-speed rail station in the north of the city; property values there are only going to rise, never drop." Making this choice seemed to require an immense amount of resolve from A-Biao, making him appear suddenly drained and frail.

"Your compensation is far too generous." Qian Cangyi smiled. "By the way, you must be familiar with the scheduled-message feature, right? If I don't perform a certain action by midnight tonight, well... I honestly don't know what might happen then."

"I know." A-Biao hung up the phone.

Qian Cangyi put his phone back into his pocket and took a sip of mineral water. "Let's leave it at that. It's about time I changed my lifestyle anyway."

...

Two days ago.

The video froze on the image of Wise Star waving goodbye. Unable to control his emotions any longer, Qian Cangyi slammed his phone down onto the desk and bolted toward the bathroom.

"If you'd just used the emergency spray on yourself, wouldn't you have survived?" Qian Cangyi stood hunched over the sink, cupping the water flowing from the tap and splashing it onto his face.

"What meaning is there to the ideals you pursued? This is a world where materialism dictates everything. When people meet, they greet each other rather than fighting to the death—not because modern people are inherently noble, but because they don't have to worry about their next meal. That is the fundamental reason."

"If everyone were as noble as you, the ultimate outcome wouldn't be a beautiful world, but rather everyone dying together. Once everyone is dead, not a single soul will ever remember that former nobility. This is elimination, this is selection!" Qian Cangyi raised his head to stare at his reflection in the mirror, pressing his palms so hard against the edge of the sink that the veins in his hands stood out.

In a momentary trance, he fancied he saw Wise Star standing right behind him.

"The reason this kind of spirit is called noble is precisely because they choose it of their own free will."

Qian Cangyi whipped his head around, only to find the bare, white wall.

"I agree to it." Qian Cangyi turned back to look at his reflection in the mirror. "If my teammates ever fall into desperate straits in the future, I will help them—provided, of course, that it doesn't cost me my life. However..." Here, Qian Cangyi paused, his expression turning icy as the person in the mirror seemed to transform into someone entirely different. "In a hell movie, who can ever be certain they won't die? Therefore, whether to save someone or not depends entirely on one's own intuition."

"In truth, whether it's nobility or selfishness, both hold value within a hell movie. The former can preserve others, while the latter can preserve oneself. The only thing that holds no value whatsoever is hesitation—constantly weighing the gains and losses of both sides in one's heart, unable to bear the consequences of one's own choices. Such people end up abandoning themselves."

"So, Qian Cangyi... whether it's nobility or selfishness, choosing either is not wrong. But there is one thing that is guaranteed to be correct the moment you do it: never be weak, try everything, and bear the consequences it might bring!" Qian Cangyi stared fixedly at his reflection in the mirror.

After a long while, Qian Cangyi returned to his computer desk.

The phone call had already ended, and the video in the email had finished playing.

"Thank you, Wise Star. You've taught me a lesson." Qian Cangyi closed his email client. "If it weren't for you, I would have already died in *Where Is It*. Because of hesitation, because of weakness, I made countless mistakes. Looking back now, I was truly utterly foolish. But now I've figured it out—life is short, and many things must be done when the time comes. At the very least, right now..."

"I must make arrangements so that if I die in a hell movie and fake an 'accident,' I'll have something to leave behind for my parents!" Qian Cangyi gazed out at the scenery outside the window.