Episode 9

"Why are you standing here?"

"Can you follow now? Because your wife is club numbler."

"Okay, no problem."

Song Ran had thought she would simply walk with them, but upon arriving at the cabin at their destination, she was immediately drawn to the content being broadcast on a television station.

"What's this?"

"Telebison".

"No, this televison if I ask this televison now, It's news televison play on knowss."

"Yes."

"It's so efficient."

The television program showed Benjamin's eyes welling up with tears after Song Ran entered the room and saw Sasin lying on the ground, shot. It made her realize how cruel war was, but such a crude answer came from someone who had witnessed this on television. This was also a test for Li Zan. From that moment on, Li Zan was completely distraught. The reason for his strange behavior dates back a few days earlier.

"No, I can't!"

The single phrase, "I can't!" left numerous thin, long welts of varying sizes on Li Zan's back. However, one thing made him realize the terrifying nature of leverage:

"Aren't you afraid I'll inflict your torture on my friends and family?"

"I don't have any relatives or friends."

"But what about Song Ran?"

"......"

"Song Ran is your girlfriend, right? If she is your girlfriend, then there is no need for us to search for her. There is a woman in your heart who shares the same name as Song Ran."

"So what?"

"Let's make a bet."

"What kind of bet?"

"If we find her within three days, we win, and you will work for us. If we don't find her within three days, we lose, and we will send you back."

"......"

"Captain!"

"!"

"Find her!"

"Good job!"

"Lucky!"

"Unlucky......"

At that moment, Li Zan recalled what Song Ran had said when they parted ways. Coupled with the noise outside, he couldn't decipher her words through lip reading alone. However, upon closer reflection, he realized Song Ran's lips might have been lip-reading "Lucky!" He didn't understand her purpose in saying that.

"Unlucky?"

"Yes!"

"Are you sure? She is your wife."

"No, he is not my wife."

"Oh my god!"

I love your wife.

She is not my wife.

"......"

Either they didn't know, or they didn't hear, or they were about to assault her, so she came to see Li Zan's reaction. However, Li Zan had already broken up with her, so now Li Zan had no burden.

"What's you want to do?"

"I love you, bitch!"

"Fuck you, bitch!"

"Are you sure bitch?"

"Shit!"

At that time, Li Zan silently watched his ex-girlfriend being tortured by them inhumanely, but he was "unmoved". His heart seemed to be bleeding. He thought they were testing him, but he was wrong, because they wanted to break him down. Also, they wanted to use A child to break another person down.

"Who?"

"Captain".

Are you sure?

When one of the terrorists mentioned Benjamin, the others found it unbelievable, but this also prevented someone within the group from explaining why...

"Boss!"

"What are you doing?"

"A plan."

"plan?"

"Yes."

"Lucky or Unlucky?"

“Lucky.”

"Good job!"

The BOSS was naturally happy to know that their plan was going smoothly. He saw Song Ran's and Li Zan's condition and thought it was a good thing, but the next second, the BOSS and his team were wiped out by a third party. Li Zan and Song Ran were rescued. This was the third party that Benjamin mentioned.

"I didn't expect even you didn't know."

"I'm just a mercenary."

"What do you want to say about Sasin, this mercenary?"

"What kind of mercenary is he? He's clearly a Boy Scout!"

"They're mercenaries, not Boy Scouts. But if you want to be a Boy Scout's dad, that's fine too."

"Then I should thank you!"

"You're welcome!"

"you!"

What appears to be a heartwarming scene is actually just a delaying tactic for Benjamin. They have been suspecting that the third-party force is likely a terrorist organization, but what's the deal with the terrorists wiping out the entire terrorist group? Wouldn't it be a bad timing for a double-cross?

"Eliminating the enemy?"

"That's strange. If it's a case of double-crossing, why send more people? If we're talking about numbers, the third-party forces don't even have as many people as those terrorists. So how come the third-party forces were able to wipe out the terrorists despite such a large disparity in the number of soldiers?"

“Song Ran…”

"Song Ran? Is Song Ran a key figure?"

"I'm wondering if Song Ran's mental state is also related to them and third-party forces?"

You mean...?

"I can tell what the problem is just by looking at her, but I hope it's not because of that kind of problem that she's suffered a mental breakdown."

"That's hard to say..."

However, their biggest concern was whether Song Ran's current situation was caused by multiple factors. They suspected that Song Ran had "stole" Sasin's job, a job that she had obtained by "instructing" Sasin behind the scenes.

"Why?"

"I know the director wants you to continue as a special operations reporter for the East, but there's one thing you need to remember. Sasin's interviews in the East are much more detailed than yours, and you're jealous of him. Therefore, you must defeat him with absolute strength. Otherwise, you'll not only be defeated by Sasin from your school days, but you'll also be ridiculed by others."

"......"

Shen Bei was right. For her, extremely high ratings were certainly not a problem, but it was useful if the content was legitimate and truthful and did not garner false sympathy from others. She did not tell Song Ran that the ratings were much lower than those of the news reported by Sasin because the director did not want her to worry, but now she had no choice but to explain it to Song Ran in this way.

"These are the recent viewership ratings for news related to Dongguk. You can take a look."

"good."

"......"

"How...how is this possible?"

"......"

"No, it can't be! Why? Why are his ratings so much higher than mine? What is it about him that I can't match?"

"These are from the last few days. There are more to come, but some are too horrible to look at, so I don't want to continue doing this."

"......"

"The director knows about this. He doesn't want you to worry because of it, so please keep a normal attitude in the following interviews. But you know my personality. If I don't say it this way, you'll always think you're number one."

"......"

"You go back first, I'll give you a few days off."

After that, Song Ran stayed at home feeling depressed. She thought she was very capable, but she realized that she was not as good as Sasin in terms of eloquence. She had become arrogant, and now she had no choice but to accept reality.

"What? You don't want to be a reporter anymore?"

"Well, the moment my boss came over, she started talking to me about how our ratings weren't as good as others', and how our interview phrasing wasn't as good as his. On the surface, she gave me a few days off to go home, but actually, she wanted me to think about whether to continue working or resign?"

"It's not that serious!"

"At first, I didn't think this matter was as serious as I imagined. But when I looked at a comparison chart in the company, I found that my indicators were not as good as my boss's, slightly better than my other colleagues, but not as good as my junior colleague's."

"Junior brother? You mean Sasin?"

"Yes, that's him."

"......"

"His wording is completely different from before. I've been wondering who could have taught him to use such language?"

"Benjamin..."

"he?"

"He used to dream of becoming a journalist, but for other reasons he didn't become one and instead became a mercenary by chance."

"......"

"He was indeed impressive as a mercenary, and the number of wounded gradually increased, but the Sasin incident became the biggest obstacle in his life that he couldn't overcome."

"And you? I want to tell you something before that."

"What's up?"

"I resigned from my job as a journalist to become a mercenary in Dongguo."

"I don't know much about mercenaries, but we do need a director for an orphanage."

"......"

"What's wrong?"

"nothing."

"Don't you want to be the director of the orphanage?"

"Whether it's being a mercenary or serving as the director of an orphanage, these are all ways to show care for those displaced during the war in the East."

"That's true..."

"If I were to stay in Dongguo for an extended period, would you be very angry?"

"Why would I be angry? I'm actually quite happy that you're here."

During her vacation, Shen Bei indeed received news about Song Ran "requesting leave." She wasn't surprised at all by Song Ran's resignation; she was indeed unsuitable, mainly because her ability to handle pressure was simply too poor. Therefore...

"Resign?"

"yes."

"Her ability to withstand pressure is indeed too poor, and we need someone who can handle the ratings. It's not realistic to make him the team leader, so we'll have to trouble you."

"It's alright."

On the third day after arriving in the Eastern Country

"Let me announce that this is our mercenary, Song Ran. Please give her a round of applause!"

She thought this incident would make people wary of her, but everyone knew about Lee Chan's situation, and he was still missing. Dongguo was short of a volunteer, so she did fill the gap to some extent.

“Reporter Song…”

"I resigned, and I'm no longer a journalist."

"Why did you suddenly resign? Wasn't being a journalist a good job?"

"No! Not good at all!"

"......"

After hearing this answer, they were pretty much sure why Song Ran had come here. In their eyes, Song Ran was an irreplaceable figure. One of them had a good impression of her because he immediately understood everything when he saw Li Zan's attitude towards her. Benjamin was not in the crowd at that time.

"Isn't your captain here?"

"Not here."

Didn't he say where he went?

"without."

The war broke out when Song Ran met Benjamin. Later, Song Ran found Li Zan, and from then on, Song Ran disappeared along with Li Zan. However, they disappeared one after the other, and only they themselves knew the reason.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I'm probably just overthinking it."

"I guess so."

However, not long after they separated, someone kidnapped Song Ran. The reason they didn't kill her was because she was still useful to them, and they needed her to find the missing Li Zan and communicate with him.

Who are you?

You don't need to know me.

"Tell me now, who are you?"

I will not say it again!

Song Ran had a terrifying thought when she didn't answer their questions about their identities. She wanted to leave this place. The only tool she had was wire, but it couldn't be used to unlock her handcuffs. She already knew this in her heart.

Benjamin had not called Sassin for fifteen consecutive days.

"Sassin's too lazy to even make a phone call?"

"......"

"Did you two have a fight?"

"If there were a solitary confinement cell over there, I would definitely let him in."

"......"

"That kid."

Did he make you angry again?

This is the third time.

"Last time it was because I got injured, and the time before that it was because I talked back to you, so what about this time?"

“One time I was upset, and another time I told him to go back to his own country. It seems that it was because we had different opinions and ideas. Later, I said something in anger that broke his heart, so he just told me to go back.”

"What the hell...?"

"Where are the ghosts?"

"......"

"Can you put in a good word for me? He berated me mercilessly."

"You deserve it..."

"Hey you!"

"What do you mean, 'you'?!"

The fact that they hadn't called each other that morning made Pei Xiaonan realize that Sasin would definitely come to Dongguo to see Benjamin in person. Sure enough, a man was shouting outside, and just as Pei Xiaonan was about to confirm, Benjamin beat her to it.

"You're doomed, you'd better watch yourself..."

What's happening?

"Who?"

"Captain or repoter"

"Ghost knows."

"......"

Pei Xiaonan smiled without saying a word after hearing the conversation. The next second, Sasin was locked in solitary confinement by Benjamin. Ten minutes later, Benjamin came to check his eyes again.

"What's wrong?"

"Come over for a follow-up eye exam."

"Get into bed, lie down, let me take a look."

"......"

After watching it over and over again, Pei Xiaonan immediately saw the problem. She discovered that Benjamin, who was wearing sunglasses, had not improved as before, and had even deteriorated slightly.

“Your eyes haven’t improved even after wearing sunglasses. Why don’t you go to the hospital to get them checked out? I happen to know an ophthalmologist who can see things much more clearly than I can.”

“I was wearing Sasin’s astigmatism glasses that day.”

"......"

"Wearing his astigmatism glasses actually made me feel a little better."

"That's the problem."

"?"

"Because you already have astigmatism, and you were hit by astigmatism bullets on the battlefield, wearing astigmatism glasses alone cannot solve your current problem."

"......"

"It would be better if you didn't go to work these next few days. If you want to take better care of your eyes, it's better to wear sunglasses."

"Okay, I'll listen to you this once."

Meanwhile, Sasin seemed to have some kind of premonition and went into his most familiar solitary confinement cell on his own initiative. If it weren't for this place, he wouldn't be able to sleep even if he wanted to. However, this time, it was as if he had a telepathic connection and woke up several times during his sleep.

"Strange, it's definitely here."

"What's wrong?"

"No, it's just that one set of clothes is missing."

"Wait a minute, the clothes are missing, which means..."

"You brat..."

Upon hearing this, Benjamin rushed into the solitary confinement cell to find Sasin, but at that moment two mercenaries reported to him that terrorists had suddenly become active.