Chapter 196: A $2 Million Check

Zhoushan, indoor sports hall of Nanhai Middle School.

A man and a woman sat on the bleachers, gripping their phones tightly, their expressions unusually tense.

The sports hall was empty, silent except for the sounds coming from their phones.

"Sis, don't you have class?" Hu Di stared at his phone screen, his voice slightly trembling.

"I skipped. Why didn't you go either?"

Shen Jia absentmindedly twisted the hem of her shirt, not looking up.

"Me too."

After saying this, they fell silent again—one minute, two minutes—the screen showed no change.

Shen Jia's voice cracked with tears: "Do you think Brother won't be okay?"

Hu Di had no idea either—he was scared too: "No way. Brother's so strong, how could anything happen to him?"

"But it's already been ten minutes. How can any human hold their breath underwater in that environment for ten minutes?" Shen Jia couldn't stop her imagination from spiraling.

"Brother isn't human… damn it, I mean, how can an ordinary person compare to Brother?"

Not just them—everyone in the family group chat, except Hu Fen, was watching the livestream, each one terrified, yet none dared mention it to Hu Fen, afraid of worrying her.

After regaining his balance, Qin Yun kicked harder while pulling the rope with his left hand; if the others pulled in sync, his speed would increase.

Emily, seeing the intestines frozen, approached the rope, her expression extremely tense.

And this wait stretched nearly ten minutes—far exceeding the previous time limit.

The four exchanged glances, their hearts sinking further.

"Do you think… Qin… is… actually unconscious?" Justin hesitantly voiced his suspicion.

No one spoke, but the guess had strong plausibility—if they pulled him up now, he might still survive if unconscious; if they kept waiting, he might die.

But… no one made that decision.

"Wait a little longer." Emily's voice was hoarse.

The instant she finished speaking, the rope on the ground suddenly moved—just as they had planned, taut then slack, taut then slack.

"Pull fast!"

Emily's face lit up with joy.

After swimming a while, Qin Yun immediately felt a force tug at him—he smiled in his eyes.

But fate turned cruel—a dark shadow swept past, the tension on the rope vanished instantly, and he was inevitably pulled backward. By the time he stabilized himself, he had drifted back five or six meters.

Qin Yun's face turned black.

"Bang!"

The ropes in Emily, Tom, and Xiao En's hands suddenly went slack, and all three were thrown backward instantly.

"No good."

Emily scrambled up, yanked the rope out of the water, and saw a clear bite mark—cleanly severed.

Everyone's heart sank.

At the production camp, George clenched his fists at the sight.

Every second that passed increased Qin Yun's danger. If the strongest contestant of this season died at the very end, it would be a joke.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

At this moment, countless viewers changed expression as the rope snapped.

Only the PETA fanatics began celebrating.

Qin Yun felt unlucky, but he hadn't reached his limit—his body, modified by the system, had long surpassed countless people's imagination. Even now, he had not a single thought of giving up.

He kicked his legs and surged upward.

Forty meters away—each meter crushed the limits of his oxygen supply. Had there been a camera on him, viewers would have seen his expression was utterly calm.

"Emily."

Tom looked at her.

Emily snapped out of her daze and immediately pressed the button on her chest.

The production team received the signal—the rescue team launched immediately.

"How long?"

"Thirteen minutes and nine seconds… ten seconds…" Xiao En stared at the drone's display—he'd noted the time when Qin Yun first dove.

This time exceeded the AIDA official world record by nearly two minutes.

Hope was slim.

In Hangzhou, Su Huan wept uncontrollably, clutching her phone as it trembled in her hands.

Hu Di and Shen Jia stared blankly, their hearts sinking deeper.

Han Wei and Xia Xiaoxing's faces were grim, their hands shaking—the panic was uncontrollable.

When the clock passed fifteen minutes, almost no one held out hope—then, suddenly—

"Splash—!"

A figure burst through the lake surface without warning, slamming a massive iron chest onto the ice.

"Huff—breath—huff—breath—"

The dizziness from prolonged oxygen deprivation vanished under the rush of air; Qin Yun felt, for the first time, the bliss of being alive.

"Ah—Brother Qin, I knew Brother Qin wouldn't fail!"

"Oh my god, I'm terrified—I can't believe I'm crying right now."

"Damn it, damn it, Brother Qin is insane, so insane!"

"Holy shit, this is crazy, totally crazy."

"23333!"

"OMG, the amazing Chinese man—he actually survived!"

"Jesus, a miracle—a Chinese miracle."

"A godlike man."

Domestically and abroad, live-stream comments flooded the screen like a frenzy.

At this moment, backend data showed four hundred million viewers online simultaneously, witnessing Qin Yun break through the water's surface—the miracle.

And under the gaze of countless eyes, they witnessed the birth of this season's champion.

"So good, so good, waaaah…"

Su Huan laughed and cried, her emotions shattered.

Hu Di and Shen Jia hugged each other, overwhelmed with excitement.

Han Wei, Xia Xiaoxing, Shen Hu, and other friends leapt to their feet, ecstatic.

At the production camp.

George felt his heart could barely take it—but he laughed, loudly. Yet amid the cheers of all staff, his laughter was almost unnoticed.

He glanced back at Daniel, who wore a smile, and made a silent decision.

Daniel was relieved—the show ended heroically, under impossible circumstances, and he had nothing more to say.

"OMG, Qin, Qin, you're alive—thank god!"

Emily rushed over, trying to pull Qin Yun out of the water.

Tom, Xiao En, and Justin were equally ecstatic—they never imagined Qin Yun would actually succeed; it was an impossible feat.

"Qin, unbelievable, unbelievable."

"Qin, are you Jesus? So incredible."

Qin Yun watched their excited faces, placed his hands on the ice—and already, after just a moment, his hands felt frozen.

He pushed hard, lifted himself out of the ice hole, quickly dried his body, and put his clothes back on.

Only then did he finally exhale.

"Thank heaven and earth, Qin, you're safe—that's wonderful."

Once Qin Yun was dressed, Emily hugged him tightly, her voice trembling with emotion.

This scene made countless viewers scream.

But Su Huan's face darkened: "Hmph. You're in for it when you get back."

Qin Yun instantly felt a chill down his spine—he gently pulled away from Emily's embrace: "Uh, let me open the chest and see what's inside."

Right—the chest hadn't been opened yet.

Qin Yun pulled out the silver key and, under countless eyes, inserted it into the chest's lock.

He turned it gently—a sharp *click* echoed as the lock unlocked.

He glanced at the four expectant faces, gripped the lid, and lifted it up—the contents appeared on camera.

It was another box, identical to the outer one, but smaller by a full circle.

"Damn it!"

Qin Yun's face darkened—he was speechless at the production team's sense of humor.

He opened it again—inside was another identical, smaller box.

Holy shit, they were playing Russian nesting dolls.

Tom, Xiao En, Emily, and Justin stared blankly, all simultaneously flipping the camera the middle finger.

Online viewers were left emotionally whiplashed, utterly miserable.

"Fucking production team—why all this pointless nonsense?"

"Fucking idiot."

"666."

"Dead funny!"

"Such a serious, tense scene, and then out of nowhere—this? It's beyond words."

Qin Yun shook his head and kept opening boxes, then opened seven nesting boxes in a row before something different finally appeared.

Inside the last box was a rolled-up piece of paper. Qin Yun pulled it out and spread it out in front of the camera.

"A check!" Emily said.

It was indeed a check. As he unfolded it, the numbers became clearly visible on camera.

"Two million U. . dollars!"

"Haha, Brother Qin is rich now."

"In just over a month, two million dollars in hand—Brother Qin makes money fast."

"I'm jealous."

"Not jealous."

"Wow, Qin, here's my home address—my daughter just turned eighteen..."

Tang Mu and the others looked at the check with envy, but they knew it had nothing to do with them.

"Survival Wild" was winner-takes-all; unless the three of them succeeded in claiming the treasure box together.

Still, envy was envy—they didn't harbor resentment.

Amid the four's congratulations, Qin Yun put the check away, his mood soaring—every ounce of effort had been worth it.

Looking back on this season, he'd hunted wolves, slaughtered bears, and even plunged into an ice lake thirty to forty meters deep, risking his life—two million dollars hardly seemed like much.

He restarted his drone, turned to the camera, and smiled.

"Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun, a temporary survival enthusiast. Today is February 7th. Over the past month, I've been through a lot—it was grueling. But despite the hardship, the outcome is rewarding: I successfully claimed the treasure box and became the first person to open it, winning this season's prize."

"Brother Qin says he worked hard—why doesn't he look at the other guys, all beaten and battered?"

"Hmm... Brother Qin's experiences were indeed grueling, but for him, not particularly difficult."

"If someone gave me two million dollars, I'd be willing to go through it too."

"Brother Qin is smiling so broadly—maybe he's thinking about how to spend it? I'd be happy to help him spend some."

"Damn, I'd help too."

Soon, over an hour later, several helicopters appeared above Atelin Lake.

When Gerald and Jack were picked up, they saw the treasure box on the ice and felt utterly defeated.

Soon, everyone was taken away by helicopter. After a commercial break, the show went completely black for the first time—truly over.