Chapter 52: Are You All Just Pretending I'm the Villain?

Chapter 52: Are You All Just Playing Me?

Perhaps, even the backstage crew hadn’t anticipated that an expert would be eliminated so early tonight... Duan Yu thought to himself silently.

With such a major mishap on the show, it was no wonder that Chen Qiming, the chief director, was visibly tense.

Duan Yu placed the laptop running the program on the table, then waved toward the chief director standing before the large screen.

“Director Chen.”

At those words, Chen Qiming paused slightly. Turning his head, as if just noticing Duan Yu, he forced a smile.

“Officer Duan, thank you for your hard work.”

“The hard work isn’t much,” Duan Yu replied wryly, “but I still feel a bit frustrated—being taken out so easily by the culprit.”

He gave a self-mocking smile, then his gaze suddenly fixed on the large screen.

Displayed there was none other than Su Chen’s live broadcast room.

“...Yes, it’s him. This person really does have some skills. To have been undercover in the police station for so long, his ability to adapt on the fly is impressive.”

Duan Yu gave a rather affirmative evaluation.

Hearing this, Chen Qiming nodded eagerly, showing complete agreement—as if he couldn’t agree more.

Damn, this guy isn’t just a bit skilled—he’s insanely talented, so much so that he shouldn’t even be living on this planet.

“Director Chen really picked the right person!”

Duan Yu sighed, giving Chen Qiming a thumbs-up.

He had to admit he admired the choice of culprit this time. The other side was cunning; Su Chen was obviously the one who blew up the power distribution center controlling the surveillance system.

It was a brutal tactic aimed at taking down an information expert like himself.

Using hacking skills against the police chief.

A clear strategy of differentiated competition.

“Don’t flatter me, don’t flatter me...” Chen Qiming waved his hands hurriedly, showing no intention of taking credit.

If he could, he’d rather grab a megaphone and clarify the whole matter to the entire nation—that he had nothing to do with Su Chen’s actions.

Once, an opportunity had been laid before him, but he failed to seize it, and now he regretted it deeply.

If he could choose, he wished to have no connection whatsoever with Su Chen—it was bad for one’s longevity.

If he had to set a time limit, he hoped it would be ten thousand years.

After some awkward politeness between Duan Yu and Chen Qiming,

Duan finally steered the conversation back on track. Leaning closer to Chen, he asked the question he most wanted answered.

“Director Chen, I came here with only one thing on my mind.”

Duan Yu’s expression hardened as he spoke deliberately, word by word:

“I just want to know—how many people are in that criminal gang across from us? And who exactly is that hacker expert?”

How many people?

Chen Qiming blinked in surprise. One culprit wasn’t enough already?

He pointed at the large screen bitterly.

“Officer Duan, you’ve seen it yourself. It’s just him.”

“I know the one who ousted me was him.”

Duan Yu waved his hand.

“I want the full picture.”

“No, that’s exactly what I mean,” Chen explained.

“For this episode’s manhunt live broadcast, there was only ever one simulated culprit!”

Silence.

After Chen Qiming said this, the entire backstage studio fell into an eerie quiet.

Duan’s face visibly changed color.

Duan Yu: “He blew up the power distribution center?”

Chen Qiming nodded.

“Yes, it was him.”

Duan pointed to the laptop.

“...He hacked the chief’s phone?”

Chen nodded again.

“Also him.”

Duan could hardly believe it.

“...That girl was kidnapped by him? The poker cards in the remains were planted by him too?”

Chen nodded emphatically.

“All of it was him!”

“...”

“He did a lot more things you haven’t noticed! Do you know who he just caught?”

The air fell silent once more.

After a long pause, Chen Qiming still heard no reply from Duan.

Turning around, he saw Duan Yu curiously scanning the studio, as if searching for something.

“Officer Duan, what are you doing?”

“Ha ha ha...” Duan Yu laughed, full of confidence.

“Looking for hidden cameras. You guys on the show are too cruel—did you prepare some prank for me?”

“Are you trying to provoke me, just to see how I react?”

“I’ve watched plenty of variety shows; I know all these tricks. It’s for the sake of the show.”

“Where are the cameras? I can’t see them. Could they be pinhole? Or maybe hidden eyes in the sky?”

Chen Qiming and the staff exchanged glances.

“???”

Meanwhile, the live chat in the manhunt broadcast room was already bursting with laughter.

[He actually knows everything; he just doesn’t want to face it. I’m literally dying laughing!]

[Officer Duan is so miserable, got turned into a clown by Su Chen... And he’s a world-class information expert!]

[Haha, let’s have a moment of silence. Hope Officer Duan can survive the truth.]

[Su Chen managed to do so much in just one night—definitely a model worker.]

[This show is too good, I can’t sleep at all, and I have work tomorrow—what am I gonna do?!]

[...Bro, isn’t tomorrow Sunday? Why are you still working?]

[You all get Sundays off, but I’m the only one doing a 007 shift?!]

Back in the backstage studio.

Watching Duan Yu persistently searching for cameras, Chen Qiming and several staff members couldn’t help but step forward.

They took Duan Yu’s hand, their voices dry.

“Officer Duan, stop looking. It’s really not a prank...”

“Impossible, absolutely impossible.”

Duan Yu raised his hand and stepped back behind the table, facing Chen Qiming and the others with a sharp look.

“Fine, I’ll ask you one last question. If Su Chen really is that hacker, can you explain how he hacked the chief’s phone? And how he defended against my subsequent counterattacks? Can you answer that?”

At this, Chen Qiming’s expression froze.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know what Su Chen was doing at the time, but how could he possibly explain it?

“Officer Duan, all we saw with our own eyes was that Su Chen was playing Legend game at that moment!”

Beside Chen, a staff member jumped in first.

“Haha!”

Hearing this, Duan Yu laughed even louder.

It was as if he’d just heard the biggest joke in the world.

“Don’t let your words be too absurd.”

He wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye.

“I know this is a variety show; anyone could be an actor. Director Chen, you’re just a guest star, right?”

“And all of you backstage staff, you know the truth too.”

“You’re all actors—you’re definitely playing me... Just wait!”

As he spoke, a sudden realization seemed to strike him.

His expression shifted; he quickly retreated behind the table, grabbed the laptop, and furiously typed on the keyboard.

At the same time, lines of code cascaded down the screen like a waterfall.

Duan Yu muttered as he frantically worked through the final search path.

“You can play me all you want, but data can’t be faked; information can’t be faked.”

“Wait—I'm tracing back through the path to the hacker’s computer ID address. I have to find him today. I swear it.”

He muttered as he dismantled the last obstacles.

All information walls had now been broken through; nothing blocked his path anymore, and his speed accelerated.

Ten seconds passed.

Thirty seconds passed.

Finally, he let out a long breath and with a click pressed the last Enter key.

“Got it!”

At the same time, countless web pages instantly opened on the computer screen.

The program was automatically tracing the path.

These windows flickered open and closed until one large window dominated the screen.

Looking at this, Duan Yu’s eyes gleamed with eager anticipation—he almost dared not blink.

Because at last, he had traced down the hacker expert who haunted his dreams!

Suddenly, vivid colors burst forth in the large window.

Then, several big words appeared.

[Legend Browser Game!]

[Starting with divine gear, kill pigs to receive top-tier paralysis rings, wow! The drop rate is really high!]

[Over ten million online daily. If you’re a brother, come and attack me!]

[True Legend, your number one choice...]

Duan Yu: “...”

Staring at those words, a twitch flickered at the corner of his eye.

Then his body swayed and he collapsed from his chair.

“Officer Duan!”

“Officer Duan, are you alright?!”

“Quick, Old Chen, apply pressure to his philtrum!”