Chapter 41: The Last Hope of the Domestic Entertainment Industry! Today, the B-List Star Enters a State of Deep Intoxication Once Again! [Monthly Votes Requested]

What on earth is going on? Big Black Bull was utterly baffled.

After seeing the clue that the traitor loved drinking, they had all defaulted to assuming Lu Ming was the traitor. Right now, however, Baby’s sudden betrayal of the team captain completely scrambled Big Black Bull’s thoughts.

If Baby and the hack were the traitors, why on earth had she been chasing after the hack with the rest of them earlier?

Wang Baoqiang had already prepared himself to meet his maker, but he never expected such a plot twist. Watching Deng Chao’s miserable expression, he immediately bent over and burst into laughter: "Show off now! Ambushed by Baby, are you still going to show off? Hahahahaha!!"

"..." Deng Chao felt deep agony in his heart.

He never in his wildest dreams imagined that Baoqiang, burdened with a giant name tag, was still alive and well, while he, the mighty captain of the Running Man team, had inexplicably crashed and burned at the hands of Baby.

What an utter humiliation!!

He attempted to accuse Baby of betraying their uncle-niece friendship, only to be forcibly escorted away from the scene by the men in black.

With only four people left on the field, they decided to first join forces to tear off the isolated and helpless Wang Baoqiang. Just as the tension escalated and they were about to tear into each other, a crisp sound of bells rang from afar, drawing everyone's attention.

In the distance, they saw a man in black walking towards them with bells attached to his feet.

Recognizing the newcomer's face, Big Black Bull suddenly cried out in shock: "NO!!"

"Kim Jong-kook!" Baby’s pretty eyes widened wide. She immediately bounced forward, her face full of excitement as she greeted him: "Hello, hello!"

As a traitor, she had previously coordinated with Chen Chichi and knew there was a powerful reinforcement on the way.

Kim Jong-kook, the captain and powerhouse of the Running Man show from the peninsula. Even with the lineup meticulously handpicked by their domestic entertainment industry after fully adapting the peninsula's Running Man copyright, it might still not be enough for this burly man to handle alone.

Looking at the other man's arms, which were thicker than his own calves, Li Chen—who was also the powerhouse of the Running Man team—immediately felt a sense of dread.

The massive gap in physical build meant they were simply not in the same league.

Chen Chichi feigned surprise, but inside, he was already over the moon.

After a round of polite greetings, Kim Jong-kook lunged toward Wang Baoqiang first, wanting to take care of this member whose giant name tag could be ripped off with a single tug.

Wang Baoqiang wanted to run for his life right then and there, but people were blocking every direction. In particular, Baby and Chen He grabbed him together, leaving him no room to break away.

Kim Jong-kook rushed forward like a fierce tiger and pinned him down. Wang Baoqiang cried out in alarm, using both hands and feet to wrap around the man's arm in resistance, but Kim Jong-kook effortlessly hoisted him into the air using just a single arm. The visual impact of such a disparate strength gap shocked everyone present. Without any room to fight back, his giant name tag was easily ripped off his back by Kim Jong-kook.

[Wang Baoqiang! OUT!]

[Wang Baoqiang! OUT!]

The broadcast echoed across the sky of Happy Valley.

[Holy crap!]

[This muscular beast is way too savage!]

[Lifting Baoqiang into the air with just a single elbow? Is that kind of strength even human?!]

[Weren't the Ming fanboys always bragging about your idol's top-tier physical fitness? All that talk about body fat percentage and eight-pack abs—let's see how he gets handled by this man in black later.]

[The hack is probably going to piss his pants from Kim Jong-kook's physique!]

"Your strength is way too insane!" Even Wang Baoqiang, who had a certain foundation in martial arts, was frightened by the sheer physical prowess of this muscular beast.

Kim Jong-kook gave a good-natured smile. After patting Wang Baoqiang on the shoulder, he walked toward Big Black Bull.

By this time, Li Chen had already realized something was amiss. The moment Kim Jong-kook lunged at Wang Baoqiang earlier, he had actually wanted to step in and help, but Chen Chichi had stopped him. At that moment, he felt something was strange. The big boss of the traitor team, who had been locked in prison, had now shown up, and was this formidable. Shouldn't the top priority of their brotherhood team be to join forces and eliminate the biggest trouble first?

Li Chen demanded, "You're a traitor too, aren't you?!"

"Mama Chen, you guessed right!" Seeing that it was three against one, Chen Chichi stopped pretending. He rushed forward directly, intent on ripping off Li Chen's name tag.

Facing the skinny Chen Chichi, Li Chen—who was at least a muscular beast himself—was no pushover. He grabbed Chen Chichi in reverse and gave him such a violent shove that his shirt ripped with a loud 'rip', almost resulting in a counter-kill!

Kim Jong-kook lunged forward fiercely, pushing away Li Chen, who was trying to deliver the finishing blow. Immediately, the two powerhouses of the Running Man team began a brutal brawl. Li Chen was clearly suppressed and forced back step by step.

"Wow, this is so thrilling!" Watching this brutal scene from the sidelines, Baby stood with a flushed face, cheering loudly.

Although she desperately wanted to step in and help, she felt a bit shaken watching the two intensely wrestling and fighting fiercely. Seeing Li Chen's short-sleeve shirt get torn right down the middle with a loud 'crack', revealing his muscular torso, Chen Chichi was so scared that his facial features flew wild, twisting his face directly into the shape of a Chinese character.

"Too terrifying, these two are too terrifying. They're like two fighting bulls! Baby, stand further back, watch out you don't get hit!" Chen Chichi hurriedly warned.

Baby was already frightened with a pale face and hurriedly scurried far away.

A PD assistant quickly rushed over to help Li Chen change into a new short-sleeve shirt and attached a fresh name tag. The two resumed their brawl. Seeing that he couldn't take Li Chen down after so long, Kim Jong-kook got worked up as well. Grabbing Li Chen's name tag once more, he seized the golden opportunity, exerted a sudden burst of explosive strength, and actually flung the strong and sturdy Li Chen a full two meters away right on the spot!

Big Black Bull landed face down, his brow bone hitting the ground with a loud 'thud'. He then rolled over twice before finally coming to a stop.

[Li Chen! OUT!]

[Li Chen! OUT!]

The broadcast notification echoed across the sky of Happy Valley.

Baby and Chen Chichi distinctly heard the sound of bone colliding with the floor. Their expressions shifted drastically, and they hurriedly stepped forward to check on Big Black Bull's condition.

"Brother Chen, are you alright?!"

"Holy shit, Mama Chen... you... you're bleeding!"

The area around Li Chen's brow was covered in blood. Wiping the blood from his brow with his hand, he waved it off: "It's nothing, just scraped a bit of skin. A bandage will fix it."

"No, it looks like his bone is injured!" The PD assistant stepped forward to take a look, then grabbed the walkie-talkie in a panic: "Brother Chen is seriously injured, call an ambulance quickly!"

Hearing this, Li Chen—whose adrenaline was pumping like crazy—was also stunned.

If the brow bone was injured, at best it meant stitches, at worst...

Thinking of this, a wave of lingering fear washed over him.

"Bro, Sorry, Sorry!" Seeing this situation, Kim Jong-kook knew he had used too much force and caused trouble. He hurriedly stepped forward with his hands clasped together in apology.

Although Li Chen desperately wanted to hold someone accountable, the game of ripping name tags, which required intense physical confrontation, inherently carried a certain risk of injury. Thinking of the countless pairs of eyes watching the live stream, he couldn't afford to throw a tantrum and had to swallow his grievance.

Before long, Li Chen was carried away.

"Who else is left?" Kim Jong-kook asked his two traitor partners.

Chen Chichi didn't speak. If he hadn't been uneliminated yet, he really wanted to drop his responsibilities and go check on Big Black Bull's condition. Over the past few days, because everyone could let loose and play hard, coupled with their private friendships prior to recording the show, their current relationship level was naturally much higher than ordinary friends.

Though they bantered and fought on the surface, he was burning with anxiety when a good friend actually got hurt.

"The hack and Reba, tear them both off and it's over." Baby pointed to the Ferris wheel not far away: "They're up there."

Kim Jong-kook made an OK gesture and strode off in the direction of the Ferris wheel.

He had accepted an appearance fee to participate in the show, but he also had other motives: to establish the prestige of their peninsula Running Man, and at the same time to dent the sharp spirit of this domestic amateurish crew. If he could build up his personal fame within the domestic entertainment industry, that would be even better. Harboring all these selfish motives, he naturally played ruthlessly when ripping name tags.

Once he was sure he wouldn't bear any responsibility, he naturally wouldn't care about the safety of a stranger.

Chen Chichi and Baby silently followed behind the boss. Victory was about to be achieved, which should have been a joyful matter, but because Li Chen had been carried onto an ambulance covered in blood after being injured, both of their hearts felt extremely heavy and uneasy.

[This Kim Jong-kook has zero decency. What does he mean by injuring someone on the spot like that?]

[He had already grabbed the name tag on Li Chen's back; he could have just pinned him down and ripped it. Throwing him out like that—how was that not deliberate?]

[No, what right do people from the peninsula have to run wild on our turf?]

[He beat someone up and just said a couple of Sorrys and it's over?]

[He fucking made money off us, beat up our people, is there any justice left?!]

The bullet-screen comments quickly flared up with angry onlookers.

When the hack pulled his stunts, they only took it as variety show entertainment and laughed mindlessly in front of the screen because he was one of their own. Furthermore, irresolvable conflicts already existed between the hack, Teacher Huang, and Wu Qian. No matter how crazy those three got, the audience could accept it. But Kim Jong-kook was different.

Internet onlookers could joke around, but when it came to matters of principle, they were still very particular.

"What is going on with this Kim Jong-kook? Weren't things explained to him before he came out, to tone it down a bit?" Backstage, the director frowned upon noticing the unfavorable shift in public sentiment online.

The screenwriter's expression was grave: "The audience's resentment is quite strong. If Kim Jong-kook wins, it might trigger quite a bit of public backlash..."

"Things have developed to this point; even if we wanted to make adjustments now, it's difficult." The director rubbed his temples. The situation had completely spiraled out of his control. If not handled properly, the trouble caused would be far greater than the hack acting crazy on the show.

"How about this—after the hack and Reba come down later, let Reba leave first, then secretly slip her a few resurrection cards to revive Deng Chao, Baoqiang, and the rest from prison, and win using a numbers game?"

"This... wouldn't that be too obvious? The audience aren't fools. Even if we have Chichi and Baby throw the game, that Kim Jong-kook clearly has other motives; he probably won't just stand by and watch Reba run away. This guy doesn't know the meaning of cherishing jade or sparing women. Isn't it effortless for a burly man like him to block two people?"

The screenwriter found it tricky.

The entire director's team fell into a sudden silence.

It seemed they could only pin their final hopes on the hack?

"He has a small name tag, so he's not that easy to rip off. Besides, it wasn't hard to see from the previous rounds of games that this kid does have some genuine skills."

"It's just... that's Kim Jong-kook we're talking about! Even Li Chen, at his tonnage and weight, was flung two meters away. Can the hack pull that off?"

"If we don't count on him, who else can we count on?"

Meanwhile.

The president of Zhejiang Satellite TV had a grave expression:

"This is trouble. If the live stream's popularity weren't too high, our station could at worst edit it later, or even reshoot if necessary. But now the popularity is so high and it's spreading too widely! If we really let this Korean injure our people and win as well, the negative public opinion will be massive!"

Inside the CEO's office of iQiyi, Gangzi was panicking like a dog. Disregarding his image entirely, he squatted on the leather chair in front of the boss's desk, clasping his hands together in prayer:

"Please, hack, Brother Ming! You're my own dear brother! As long as you can rip this Kim Jong-kook, no matter how much Huayue bans you, I guarantee you can continue to thrive in the domestic entertainment industry!"

“Brother knows you’ve got what it takes. Brother has seen that you were capable ever since you were little! The platform finally managed to produce such a blockbuster variety show; it absolutely cannot peak right upon its premiere!”

……

……

The Ferris wheel slowly descended.

Lu Ming’s eyes were hazy and sleepy, looking extremely drowsy as if he might fall asleep at any second.

Reba, on the other hand, was panicked out of her mind.

"What is going on? In just this brief moment, Brother Chao, Brother Baoqiang, and even Brother Chen have all been OUT!" Seeing the capsule cabin reach the ground, Reba irritably pulled up Lu Ming, who was lounging lazily like a slacker in his seat: "Let's go, something major has happened, Brother Chao and the others..."

"Heard it, heard it all." Lu Ming slurred his words and waved a hand: "Isn't this a good thing? All the opponents qualified to exchange blows with me are OUT. The remaining shrimp and crabs can be knocked down by your Brother Ming with just a single hand. Just follow me and get ready to enjoy the good life!"

Reba: "..."

Why did she loathe the sight of the hack acting so full of himself right in front of her?

"Some people never pack leftovers when eating out because they can always pack themselves full of themselves. I won't name names!" Reba gave a soft huff and leaped out of the cabin first, only for the next second to spot a muscular man already guarding the exit.

Reba's pretty eyes widened in horror: "Kim! Jong! Kook!"

"What the heck?" Lu Ming leisurely jumped down from inside, then headed straight towards Kim Jong-kook, who was blocking the exit, walking with a sway and a stagger.

Catching the smell of alcohol wafting off him, Kim Jong-kook was utterly dumbfounded. He instinctively assumed a defensive posture, even thinking the other person was about to pick a violent fight with him right here.

Suddenly, Lu Ming, who had rushed close to him, stumbled. Despite walking on flat ground, he took a violent sideways slide, hit the ground with a loud 'thud', rolled over twice in a row with a dull sound, and then lay flat on the ground completely motionless.

Director's Team: "..."

Gangzi: "..."

President of Zhejiang Satellite TV: "..."

Netizens: "..."

Well, well done, you hack! You really made the family members lose all their face in front of outsiders!

Looking at the hack making a fool of himself, people felt utterly desperate.

When looking for medical help in a desperate emergency, one should at least consult a doctor. Were they panicking and looking for any doctor earlier? That was clearly falling ill and going to an elementary school student for diagnosis—didn't they totally deserve to die?

Instead of placing high hopes on the hack, they might as well hope Reba could defeat Kim Jong-kook and achieve a triple kill!

Kim Jong-kook: "??!"

Whose unit is this soldier from?!

He looked around in bewilderment, completely thrown off by Lu Ming's sudden stunt.

The previous powerhouse at least fought two rounds with him and even got injured in the end, which could be considered doing his job responsibly. Even the other members of the Running Man team basically just clocked in and clocked out. But this guy right here didn't even bother to act—he actually got roaring drunk while the show was still recording.

Is this even a celebrity?!

Are appearance fees in the Chinese entertainment circle really this easy to make nowadays?!

Kim Jong-kook took a deep breath, unwilling to believe his own absurd guess, and tried to seek verification from the others: "Is he doing this for variety show effect?"

Reba gently patted her forehead, then covered her eyes. Baby and Chen Chichi both turned their faces away in unison. All three of them declared it was too painful to watch.

……

Chapter five.

A bit late, but I fulfilled my promise.

Monthly votes exceeded two thousand, so two more chapters need to be added. The author will continue updating for everyone after waking up in the day.

Good night.