Chapter 196: A Two-Million-Dollar Check

Zhoushan, the indoor gymnasium of Nanhai Middle School.

A boy and a girl sat in the bleachers, phones clutched tight in their hands, their expressions oddly tense.

The gym was empty now, the silence broken only by the sound of their two phones.

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

"I skipped. Why aren't you in class either?"

Shen Jia absently rubbed the hem of her sleeve with one hand, not looking up either.

"Same here."

After that, the two fell silent again. One minute. Two minutes. The screen still showed no change.

Shen Jia's voice even took on a sob: "You don't think something happened to Bro, do you?"

Hu Di had no idea either—he was just as scared: "No way. Bro's so capable, how could anything happen to him?"

"But it's already been ten minutes. Holding your breath underwater for ten minutes in that kind of environment—how could any human possibly do that?" Shen Jia couldn't stop her mind from racing.

"Bro isn't exactly human… ugh, I mean, how can an ordinary person compare to Bro."

It wasn't just them. In the family group chat, aside from Hu Fen, who hadn't checked in, almost everyone was watching the livestream, each of them worried sick, yet none dared bring it up to Hu Fen for fear of worrying her.

After steadying himself again, Qin Yun kept kicking, while his left hand began pulling the rope—as long as the others pulled at the same time, his speed would pick up.

Emily saw that the intestines had frozen solid, walked over to the rope, her expression utterly tense.

And this wait stretched to nearly ten minutes, far exceeding the previous limit.

The few exchanged a glance, their hearts sinking bit by bit.

"You guys think… Qin… maybe… he's actually already passed out?" Justin hesitantly voiced his guess.

No one spoke, but the guess did have a real chance of being right. If they pulled him up now and he really had passed out, there'd still be a chance of survival; if they kept dragging it out, the person might be gone for good.

But… no one made that call.

"Wait a little longer." Emily's voice had even gone hoarse.

And the instant she finished, the rope on the ground suddenly moved—just as they'd agreed—one tug, one slack, one tug, one slack.

"Pull!"

Emily was overjoyed.

Qin Yun, who had been swimming for a while, immediately felt a force pulling him, and a smile surfaced in his eyes.

But fate is fickle—a black shadow swept past, the force in his hands abruptly gave way, and his whole body inevitably sank backward. By the time he finally steadied himself, he had already retreated a full four or five meters.

Qin Yun's face went dark.

"Bam!"

The ropes in Emily, Tang Mu, and Xiao En's hands suddenly went slack, and all three of them tumbled backward in an instant.

"Not good."

Emily scrambled up at once, hauled the rope out of the water, and saw a clear bite mark on it—the break was thorough.

Everyone's heart sank at once.

At the production crew's camp, George saw the scene and clenched his fists tight.

Every second that passed meant another second of danger for Qin Yun. If the strongest contestant of this season ended up losing his life at the very end, it would be an absolute joke.

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

At that moment, countless people's expressions changed drastically at the sight of the rope snapping.

Only PETA's lunatics began to celebrate.

Qin Yun felt he was pretty unlucky, but he hadn't hit his limit yet. Rebuilt by the system, his physical condition had long surpassed anything an ordinary person could imagine. Even at a moment like this, there was still not the slightest thought of giving up in his heart.

His legs kicked, and he surged upward at once.

Over forty meters of distance—every meter squeezed the oxygen in his body to its limit. If only a camera had swept over him, it would have caught that his expression was utterly calm.

"Emily."

Tang Mu looked at her.

Emily snapped out of her daze at once, then pressed the button on her chest without hesitation.

The production crew received the contestant's signal, and the rescue team deployed immediately.

"How long?"

"Thirteen minutes, nine seconds… ten seconds…" Xiao En looked at the display on the drone—he'd noted the time when Qin Yun actually dove.

That time had already surpassed the official AIDA world record—by nearly two minutes, no less.

Hope was slim.

Far away in Hangzhou, Su Huan's tears poured down like rain. She gripped her phone tight, yet couldn't stop trembling.

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

Han Wei and Xia Xiaoxing's faces were grave, their hands trembling too; that panic couldn't be suppressed.

When the clock ticked past the fifteen-minute mark, almost no one still held out hope—but just then.

*Splash—! *

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

"Huff—inhale—huff—inhale—"

The dizziness and heaviness from prolonged oxygen deprivation, wrapped now in air, finally brought back the feeling of being alive. At this moment, Qin Yun felt utterly blessed.

"Ah—Qin Ye, I knew Qin Ye would be fine!"

"Oh my god, scared me to death. You guys have no idea—I'm bawling my eyes out right now."

"Holy crap, holy crap, Qin Ye is too damn awesome, way too damn awesome."

"Holy shit, this is insane, actually insane."

"23333!"

"OMG, this amazing Chinese man actually survived."

"Jesus, a miracle—Chinese miracle."

"A godlike man."

At this moment, inside livestreams both domestic and international, countless excited comments flooded the screen like madness.

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

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

"So good, so good, wu wu wu wu…"

Su Huan wept and laughed, her emotions completely shattered.

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

Han Wei, Xia Xiaoxing, and Shen Hu all jumped up instantly, ecstatic.

In the production team's camp.

George felt his heart could barely take it, but he laughed loudly—yet amid the deafening cheers of all the staff, his laughter was utterly insignificant.

Looking back at Daniel, who wore a smile, George made a silent decision.

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

"OMG, Qin, Qin, you're alive—so good!"

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

Tang Mu, Xiao En, and Justin were also wildly excited—they never imagined Qin Yun had actually succeeded; it was truly an impossible feat.

"Qin, unbelievable, unbelievable."

"Qin, are you Jesus? So incredible."

Qin Yun watched their excited expressions, placed his hands on the ice, and already felt his hands freezing solid.

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

Only then did he finally exhale.

"Thank heaven and earth, Qin, you're safe—so good."

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

This scene made many viewers scream in delight.

But Su Huan's face darkened: "Hmph, you're going to pay when you get back."

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

Right, the treasure chest hadn't been opened yet.

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

With a light turn, a crisp "click" echoed—the lock sprang open.

He glanced at the four faces filled with hope, gripped the lid, and lifted it up—the contents instantly 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, speechless at the production team's sense of humor.

He opened it again—inside was still an identical, slightly smaller box.

Holy hell, they're playing Russian nesting dolls here.

Tang Mu, Xiao En, Emily, and Justin all stared blankly and simultaneously flipped the camera the middle finger.

The livestream viewers were left emotionally whiplashed, utterly miserable.

"Fucking production team, pulling this bullshit."

"Idiotic shit."

"666."

"Dead laughing!"

"After such a serious, high-stakes scene, they suddenly pull this—leaves you speechless."

Qin Yun shook his head and kept opening—then opened seven nested treasure chests in succession, until finally something different appeared.

Inside the final chest lay a rolled-up piece of paper. Qin Yun pulled it out and spread it before the camera.

"A check!" Emily said.

Indeed, it was a check. As he unfurled it, the number became clearly visible on camera.

"Two million U. S. dollars!"

"Haha, Qin Ye is rich now."

"In just over a month, two million U. S. dollars in hand—Qin Ye's earning speed is insane."

"Envious."

"Not envious."

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

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

"Survival Challenge" was winner-takes-all—unless all three of them had cooperated and successfully claimed the chest.

Still, despite envy, none of them were resentful.

Amid the four's congratulations, Qin Yun tucked the check away, his mood soaring—worth every ounce of effort he'd poured in.

Recalling this season's journey—he'd slain wolves, slaughtered bears, and even plunged into an ice lake thirty to forty meters deep, risking his life—two million U. S. dollars meant nothing.

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

"Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun, a temporary wilderness survival enthusiast. Today is February 7th. Over the past month or so, I've been through a lot—it was very tough. But although it was hard, the results are gratifying: I successfully got the treasure chest, became the first person to open it, and won this season's prize money."

"Qin Ye says he had it tough—why doesn't he take a look at the few people beside him who are utterly wretched?"

"Uh… by Qin Ye's standards, what he went through really was tough, it's just that for him it wasn't much of a challenge."

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

"Qin Ye is smiling so happily—wonder if he's thinking about how to spend it? I'd be glad to help him spend a little."

"Dammit, I'd be willing too."

Soon, a little over an hour later, several helicopters appeared above Lake Atlin.

When Gerard and Jack were being picked up, they saw the treasure chest on the ice and were utterly crestfallen.

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