Chapter 42: The Game Begins! Live Broadcast Hijacked!

“Ladies and gentlemen, now I announce—”

Lin Bing, compelled by the director’s desperate shouting, finally spoke, though reluctantly.

But barely halfway through her words, the entire studio was plunged into a strange silence.

No, it wasn’t silence.

It was that all the equipment, at that instant, emitted the same sound—

“Szzzz—”

The shrill noise of electricity suddenly echoed throughout the studio; every screen, whether the huge display for the live broadcast, the monitoring screens, or the director’s various monitors, was instantly covered in static.

“What’s happening?” Lin Bing jumped in fright.

“Tech crew! Tech crew!” Director Wang’s voice rang out from the control room, filled with panic. “Fix it, quickly!”

But the issue wasn’t confined to the studio. At that moment, across the entire city of River City, every television, phone, tablet, even the outdoor LED screens broadcasting the live event, were all covered in static.

In a café, customers watching the live broadcast exchanged bewildered glances.

“My phone’s screen is glitching!”

“Mine too!”

“What’s going on?”

In apartment blocks, countless televisions began to malfunction at the same time.

“Honey, is the TV broken?”

“No, my phone’s doing the same thing!”

“What’s happening?”

It was as if, in that instant, the network and television signals of the entire city were seized by some unseen force.

In the control room, technicians’ fingers flew frantically over their keyboards.

“Director! All permissions have been locked!”

“What do you mean?” Director Wang’s face drained of color.

“Someone has hacked into our system! No, it’s not just ours!” The technician’s voice trembled. “Even River City’s cable TV network, mobile signal base stations—they’ve all been hijacked!”

“What?!”

“That’s impossible!”

The control room erupted in chaos.

In the studio, Chen Yu sensed something was terribly wrong.

He looked at the screens flickering with static, and an ominous feeling welled up inside him.

Just then, the static vanished.

In its place appeared a chilling image.

A figure clad in a black hoodie appeared on every screen.

On his face was a pure white mask, devoid of any expression, with only two gaping black holes for eyes.

“Hello, everyone.”

A digitally synthesized voice rang out, neither male nor female, but with a tone that was unnervingly cold.

“Citizens of River City, don’t panic. I just want to play a game with you.”

Everyone in the studio was stunned by the sudden turn of events.

Foul’s face turned instantly pale; just moments ago he had been smugly declaring victory, now he was struck speechless.

On the faces of Pipe and Bubble Girl, worry was etched deep.

In the supervision section, Yan Zheng leapt to his feet, hand reaching instinctively for the pistol at his waist.

“Qing Zhu!” he shouted to the person beside him. “Contact the tech team immediately, locate the source of the signal!”

But as if the figure on the screen had heard him, the white mask slowly turned toward the camera.

“Captain Yan, don’t be impatient.” That eerie synthesized voice carried a taunting note. “The game hasn’t even started yet.”

“Especially you.” The mask turned again, this time fixing its gaze on Chen Yu. “'Zombie Brother'—Chen Yu.”

Chen Yu’s pupils contracted instantly.

“Very impressive, truly impressive.” The masked figure’s voice brimmed with a sick excitement. “I didn’t expect someone like you to exist among the public. I’m surprised, honestly surprised.”

“Your deduction just now was very close to the truth.”

“So, to reward your intelligence, I’ve decided…”

The masked figure paused, and at that moment, every screen in River City fell into utter silence.

“To make this game… more interesting.”

As soon as the words ended, the scene abruptly switched.

A completely different setting appeared on the screens.

It was a typical bachelor’s room, anime posters plastered on the walls, snacks and drinks scattered on the desk.

A chubby young man with glasses sat before his computer, speaking excitedly to the camera.

“Guys! Today we’re playing this new horror game! I’ve heard it’s super thrilling!”

The young man’s voice was familiar—a wave of recognition swept through the audience.

“Fat Cat!”

“It’s Fat Cat!”

“He’s ranked tenth on the ‘Cold Case Revisited’ leaderboard!”

Yes, this was “Fat Cat,” the tenth-ranked detective.

In the broadcast chat, the comment feed exploded:

“Why is Fat Cat here?”

“What’s going on?”

“Why did the stream switch to Fat Cat’s channel?”

But something even stranger happened.

On screen, Fat Cat was enthusiastically introducing the game when suddenly his expression froze.

His eyes widened further and further, pupils dilating, the whites streaked with blood.

“I…I…”

He tried to speak, but his voice grew weaker and hoarser.

Then, a gush of blood spurted from the corner of his mouth.

“Fat Cat!”

“What’s wrong with Fat Cat?”

“What happened?”

Viewers in the game stream frantically hammered the chat with messages, but Fat Cat could no longer speak.

His body began to convulse violently, hands clenching the desk.

Blood poured from his mouth, nostrils, even the corners of his eyes.

“Ah…ah…”

He let out a final, feeble scream, then collapsed rigidly onto the desk.

The entire process lasted less than a minute.

A living person died in front of the nation, in the most bizarre way.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Whether in the studio or across River City, everyone who witnessed it was struck speechless.

This was not a movie, nor a performance, nor a special effect.

It was real death.

A person had truly died.

Yan Zheng snapped out of his shock, his face steel-gray.

“Su Qing Zhu!” His voice thundered. “Locate Fat Cat’s position immediately! Send the nearest patrol car!”

“How’s the tech department? Did they trace the signal source?”

Su Qing Zhu gripped her phone tightly, sweat beading on her forehead. “Master, the signal source is showing as overseas, routed through multiple proxies—there’s no way to track it!”

“Damn it!” Yan Zheng ground his teeth. “No matter what it takes, get to Fat Cat’s place, maybe there’s still time to save him!”

He stared at the screen, at the young man who had only moments ago been laughing and bantering, and who now lay motionless in a pool of blood.

Yan Zheng’s fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked—this madman wasn’t just taunting the police, he was using innocent lives to disrupt the investigation.

This was no mere demonstration; it was an outright challenge.

And just then, the bizarre voice of the mysterious figure echoed once more…