The night was vast and quiet.

It was an ordinary high school building. The evening self-study session had ended, and while some students still lingered on the campus grounds, most had returned to their dormitories—studying, playing, showering… It wasn’t lights-out time yet, and the entire dormitory building blazed with light, occasional laughter drifting through the air. The joy of youth is often pure and vivid. In the night, the building seemed to pulse with this vigorous energy.

He was a second-year student, neither possessing the timidity of freshmen nor bearing the pressure of seniors. After self-study, he sprawled on his bed, casually playing with his phone. His three roommates were occupied with their activities—two playing games, one studying—each finding their pleasure.

A friend left a message on QQ: “Check out this video post, it’s intense! Someone’s livestreaming a murder!”

He sat up abruptly, and cursed, his eyes gleaming as he clicked the video link.

…

“Your choice is between:

A. Detonate the bomb in the TV studio.

B. Detonate the bomb in the school.”

Reading this, he could barely stay seated and called his roommates over: “Holy shit, come look at this! This is insane! Don’t know if it’s a TV show or real! Many people are saying it’s real, and lots of videos and posts are getting deleted.”

His roommates watched, both excited and nervous. One said, “Let’s see what they choose!”

Another chimed in, “They should pick A. The studio only has 200 people, while the school has 800, and they’re students. If they’re not selfish, they should choose A.”

But suddenly, one asked, “If you were in the audience, would you choose A?”

All four fell silent for a moment.

The earlier speaker said, “Yeah, of course. Death is death.”

“Heh, easy for you to say.”

The boy who first saw the video suddenly froze and asked, “Hey… how many boarding students are there in our school?”

The other three stiffened, and one answered, “I heard… about a thousand?”

The four looked at each other uneasily. Just then, the dormitory’s loudspeaker suddenly crackled to life.

—

When the Punisher shot that audience member in the video, all netizens following the incident were stunned.

They thought the same as those high school students: What if this isn’t staged? What if this is real?

Before the new wave of fear and condemnation could rise, the Punishers threw out the bombs and that choice. Like a stone causing ripples in a pond, all attention was drawn to this cruel, impossible choice. Perhaps the netizens themselves didn’t realize that harboring a subtle fear of the Punishers, they subconsciously avoided dwelling on what that lost life meant. Or perhaps this choice was too shocking, too terrifying, like sheep driven by God’s whip, they swarmed toward it.

Beyond comments, messages, and bullet screen messages, someone even started a poll asking whether to choose A or B.

And in this round, like the previous good-versus-evil choice, the netizens’ opinions were almost unanimous.

They chose A.

“200 versus 800, obviously the studio people should die.”

“They’re all adults, of course, we should save the children.”

“If it were me, I’d choose to die too. Isn’t this moral choice obvious?”

“Haha, of course, you all choose A, it’s not like you’re the ones dying.”

…

Downstairs.

As orders were being issued, Ding Xiongwei looked up at the distant 50th floor, where the completely sealed studio stood, not a trace of light visible from outside. On the screen, the one-minute countdown continued ticking, each “tick, tock” heightening the tension.

Ding Xiongwei narrowed his eyes slightly, making his decision: “Tell all units to stand by. If there’s any conflict or if the bomb detonates, don’t wait for You Mingxu—launch the assault immediately and rescue the hostages!”

“Yes, sir!”

In his heart, Ding Xiongwei thought: You Mingxu, this time, you better make it! We must get there in time!

—

Inside the studio.

As You Mingxu reached for the selector to press A, her hand was caught by Yin Feng.

Her expression was calm, perhaps because she didn’t know the impending outcome, making her even more fearless. She looked at Yin Feng without speaking. No words were necessary.

Yin Feng said softly, “Would you let me die?”

You Mingxu wasn’t in the mood for his jokes—this madman was always so unhurried regardless of the situation. She said, “Then what do you suggest?”

Yin Feng took her selector and put it back, appearing surprisingly certain, in stark contrast to the two hundred anxious audience members.

He said, “Just follow your heart. I neither want those children to die nor do I want to die myself. So, make no choice.”

Hearing this, You Mingxu felt relieved and said, “Alright.”

As for Yin Chen’s earlier threat, they’d deal with it as it came. Looking up, You Mingxu surveyed the surrounding audience. If many others chose not to choose like them, could Yin Chen kill so many people?

But would others think of this?

If in the end, only she and Yin Feng didn’t choose, standing out like cranes among chickens, then they’d have to accept their fate.

Never mind, as Yin Feng said, just follow your heart.

As if seeing through her concerns, Yin Feng held her hand, caressing it reassuringly, saying, “Don’t worry, the bombs won’t explode at all.”

“How do you know?”

His expression became somewhat silent as he answered, “Because those chosen to die will be the children. And that person will never kill 800 innocent children. So this choice is a trap.”

You Mingxu focused slightly and nodded: “I trust you.”

An icy smile flickered in Yin Feng’s eyes as he said, “I understand her better than anyone. Today’s battle isn’t about guns and bombs, but about understanding and controlling human nature. I never thought there’d be such a day. Perhaps she didn’t either. But this is probably what we both always wanted. It seems Yin Chen has always been carrying out her desires and will. Xu’er, stay with me, do everything as I say, understand? I won’t let anything happen to you.”

You Mingxu paused, speechless, unconsciously tightening her grip on his hand.

The one-minute countdown ended.

The entire venue was immersed in an unstable silence. Those Punishers standing with guns remained motionless like statues.

The screen displayed the statistics.

Choice A: Detonate the studio bomb, 58 people.

Choice B: Detonate the school bomb, 101 people.

No choice: 40 people.

“Yin Feng, listen to me.” You Mingxu leaned close to Yin Feng’s face, his familiar scent within reach. She said, “Ten TV station staff are being held backstage. There are three makeup rooms backstage, I must find out where they are.”

Yin Feng turned to look at her.

You Mingxu suddenly didn’t want to meet his gaze.

Earlier, her text message to him only mentioned counting the Punishers’ positions in the venue; he probably hadn’t seen the rest.

“When the chance comes when the lights go out, I’ll go,” she said.

Yin Feng quietly watched her for several seconds.

He said, “Alright.”

“I’ll be back soon,” she said.

“Mm.” Yin Feng said slowly, “Yin Chen is backstage, and he’ll kill you if he sees you. If you don’t come back, I’ll jump from this floor when it’s over. Do you understand?”

You Mingxu hadn’t expected to hear this and instinctively thought how much of a bastard he was, a man always threatening her with death. But when she looked up again, she saw his fair, calm face, as if saying ‘When this is over, let’s go home.’

You Mingxu’s throat tightened. But she had always been clear about what she needed to do, and so had he.

She said, “I understand, I’ll be careful. You be careful too. Yin Chen won’t spare you either if he finds out. Tonight is their last hope. If I come back and don’t see you, I’ll go find someone new.”

Yin Feng smiled slightly and said, “Understood.”

Just then, all the lights went out. Only the two rows of statistics remained, glowing in the darkness. For You Mingxu, this was enough. Her hand was still in Yin Feng’s grip, and she steeled her heart, about to pull away when she felt a face draw near—cool, its sharp features perceptible even in the darkness. He didn’t kiss her, just stayed close, like a silent animal.

They had parted countless times before. Whenever he had to walk into darkness, or she had to go against the tide.

But each time, she would return. He would find his way back too.

This time would be no different.

With this thought, countless sparks seemed to flash in You Mingxu’s heart, clear and bright. She quickly kissed his face, pulled her hand away, and with one push, flipped over the back of the seat.

The lights came on.

Yin Feng still maintained his posture, leaning toward where she had been, but the seat was empty. With the lights on, the crowd stirred, and any slight movement of her departure had long been swallowed up. Yin Feng slowly sat up straight. Originally, coming here tonight and being with her, he hadn’t felt any fear, even maintaining a coldly observant pride. Now, it felt like someone had carved a small hole in his heart, and the hand that carved it was still pulling along in the direction she had left. Yin Feng felt his mind go blank for a moment, and it took several seconds to slowly regain his senses.

The studio didn’t have exactly 200 seats, but rather over 200. There were already some empty seats, and since they sat in the corner of the last, highest row, one missing person wasn’t conspicuous.

The nearest Punisher, after the lights came on, felt his vision blur slightly. Behind the ghost mask, no one saw this Punisher squint, looking intently at where something seemed amiss in the last row. The last row had the most empty seats; his gaze fell on a person in the corner, a nerdy-looking four-eyes with a lifeless expression, and the Punisher looked away.