Rebirth of the Stuntman: I Turned the Zombie Siege Into My Hunting Game

When Shen Lie woke up, the smell of disinfectant mixed with cheap perfume filled his nostrils.

He opened his eyes abruptly. The ceiling was covered with faded rose wallpaper, its corners peeling to reveal blackened water stains. This was the ceiling of their marital home, their 2019 marital home.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath.

His phone vibrated on the pillow. A message from his wife Lin Xiaowei appeared on the screen: "Honey, I'm shooting the third episode of my Disaster Survival series today, won't be home for dinner, order takeout for yourself~"

Followed by three heart emojis.

Shen Lie stared at those three hearts and slowly clenched his fist. He remembered this date—October 15, 2019, exactly seven days before the "Zombie Siege" incident would break out.

In his previous life—no, in "that life"—he received a phone call on this day that changed his fate. The caller claimed to be the assistant director of the "Extreme Experience" production team, saying there was a new project that needed stunt performers, with pay triple the usual rate.

Shen Lie didn't think twice before agreeing. He hadn't gotten work in three months. A thirty-five-year-old washed-up stunt performer was just waiting to die in this industry.

That "project" sent him to his actual death.

His phone vibrated again, this time a bank message: "Your savings card ending in 8247 has been debited 3,200 yuan, balance 427.6 yuan."

Shen Lie looked at that number, the corner of his mouth twitching. He remembered this money. Lin Xiaowei said she needed to buy new ring lights and recording equipment. But actually, she bought an 8,000-yuan set of mountaineering gear to shoot the fifth episode of her "Doomsday Escape" series—pretending to hide from pursuers in an abandoned mine.

That video broke two million views, and Lin Xiaowei's followers jumped from 300,000 to 500,000. Meanwhile, he lay in his rented room eating five-yuan instant noodles, waiting for the next phone call that might never come.

Until the "Extreme Experience" production team called.

Shen Lie sat up and flexed his wrists. The muscle memory was still there—the physical instincts trained over twenty years allowed him to execute the most standard impact reactions in 0.3 seconds. He could once roll from a five-meter platform without a scratch, run through flames for thirty seconds without blinking, and get back up to shoot the next take after being hit by a car going sixty kilometers per hour.

But those skills couldn't save him.

In that "Zombie Siege," real killing didn't require skill, only madness.

He walked to the mirror and looked at his reflection—thirty-five years old, fine lines just beginning to appear at the corners of his eyes, an old scar on the bridge of his nose from shooting an action film ten years ago. Back then, he was "the young guy most willing to go all out" in the assistant director's eyes. Now he was just a middle-aged man who couldn't get work.

His phone rang again, this time a call.

Shen Lie looked at the name flashing on the screen, took a deep breath, and pressed answer.

"Brother Shen? This is Xiao Ma, assistant director of 'Extreme Experience.' Remember me?"

The voice was young, with deliberate enthusiasm.

"I remember," Shen Lie said, his voice as calm as if discussing the weather.

"Great! Here's the thing, we have a new project, big production, needs experienced stunt performers. We all saw your fire scene in 'Burning'—so professional! This project pays well, 30,000 a day. Are you interested?"

Thirty thousand.

When he heard this number in his previous life, Shen Lie's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He needed the money so desperately, needed to prove he still had value.

But now he knew that thirty thousand was blood money.

"What kind of project?" Shen Lie asked.

"It's an immersive experience project, needs to be kept confidential. But I can tell you, the venue is a converted abandoned film studio, quite large scale, with extras to cooperate. Your job is just to react according to the script, very simple."

"Who's the client?"

The person on the other end paused: "That's... trade secret. But I can guarantee it's completely legitimate, we'll sign contracts and everything. Brother Shen, honestly, not many projects offer this rate anymore. Will you consider it?"

Shen Lie looked at his eyes in the mirror.

Those eyes had seen too much in his previous life—in the siege of "zombies," he saw someone stab a companion to death for a bottle of water; saw a girl forced into a corner who chose to jump rather than be caught; saw those "extras" disguised as zombies remove their masks, revealing excited smiles.

Finally, he saw himself pushed into an iron cage, surrounded by a dozen cameras.

A masked man walked over and said in fluent English: "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's main event..."

Shen Lie was locked in a cage, for people to watch, for people to bet on, for people to decide how he should die.

The final vote was: death by fire.

How ironic—he'd acted out being burned to death his whole life, and in the end, he really was burned to death.

"Brother Shen? Are you still there?" Xiao Ma's voice sounded anxious on the phone.

"I'm here," Shen Lie said. "I'll take it. When does it start?"

"Excellent! Day after tomorrow, October 17th, 8 AM. I'll send you the address later. Oh, and this project requires signing a confidentiality agreement. Come half an hour early to sign the contract."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Shen Lie stood in front of the mirror for a long time.

Lin Xiaowei's voice came from outside the door as she entered carrying a takeout bag: "Honey, I changed my mind and bought your favorite braised pork rice!"

She rushed over to hug him, but Shen Lie sidestepped.

"What's wrong?" Lin Xiaowei froze, her smile stiffening slightly.

Shen Lie looked at her.

In his previous life, on the third day of the "Zombie Siege," he encountered Lin Xiaowei in an abandoned supermarket. She was hiding behind a shelf, her clothes torn, blood on her face, looking utterly disheveled.

"Honey!" She cried and threw herself into his arms. "I was so scared, I thought I'd never see you again!"

Shen Lie held her then, vowing to protect her and keep her alive.

Then on the fifth day, he discovered a hidden livestreaming app on Lin Xiaowei's phone. She had been filming the whole time—filming how they escaped, how others died, how those "zombies" hunted them down.

Her livestream had 700,000 viewers online.

The comments scrolled: "The host's acting is so good!" "That guy is so pathetic hahaha" "Betting he won't survive day seven."

When Shen Lie confronted her, Lin Xiaowei cried and said: "I was forced too. They said if I filmed you, they'd let me live..."

Then she pressed a button on her phone.

Three minutes later, Shen Lie was captured and put in the iron cage.

"Honey? Are you not feeling well?" Lin Xiaowei's voice pulled him back to reality.

Shen Lie looked at that face, that face that could switch from a smile to tears in 0.1 seconds, that face that had performed sincerity a thousand times for the camera.

"I'm fine," he said. "Got a job. Good pay."

"Really?" Lin Xiaowei's eyes lit up. "How much?"

"Thirty thousand."

"Oh my God!" She jumped up screaming. "Honey, you're amazing! I knew it, you're so professional, someone was bound to appreciate you!"

She wrapped her arms around Shen Lie's neck and kissed him on the cheek: "When you get paid, let's have a nice meal, and then I want to get a new phone, the latest model, it's really good for shooting videos..."

Shen Lie pushed her away and walked toward the bedroom.

"Hey, honey? Aren't you eating the braised pork rice?"

"You eat it," he said. "I'm not hungry."

After closing the door, Shen Lie opened his computer and typed in a URL.

This was a dark web address he'd heard from the masked man in the final minutes before his death in his previous life. The man had proudly told him that his death video would be uploaded there, priced at ten dollars per copy.

"You should feel honored," the man said. "Not everyone qualifies to become 'art.'"

The webpage loaded slowly, eventually displaying a black interface.

In the center was a blood-red title: "Welcome to the Colosseum."

Shen Lie clicked on "Past Events" and scrolled down for a while until he found the October 2019 event.

"Zombie Siege - The Ultimate Survival Show."

Clicking in, the page listed all the "products."

Shen Lie saw his own name: No.47, "The Stuntman," priced at $10, sales 170,427 copies.

One million seven hundred thousand dollars.

His death was worth one million seven hundred thousand dollars.

Shen Lie closed the webpage and opened another folder. This was what he discovered after his rebirth—his mind retained all the memories from his previous life, as clear as if they had just happened.

He remembered every detail of the "Zombie Siege," remembered the faces of those extras disguised as zombies, remembered the layout of the abandoned film studio, remembered who were the organizers and who were accomplices.

Most importantly, he remembered that name: Gu Yanli.

Founder of "Mystery Realm," the country's largest immersive escape room chain, with usage rights to over a dozen abandoned film studios. Industry rumors said he had overseas connections, but no one knew the specifics.

On the seventh day of his previous life, when all the "games" ended, Shen Lie saw him once before losing consciousness.

Gu Yanli wore a clean white shirt, standing in the control room looking at data reports on the screen, saying to someone beside him: "This session's results are good, paid conversion rate is 15% higher than last time. Next time we can consider adding some interactive elements, let the audience vote on how the prey should die. More engagement means stronger involvement."

When he said this, the screen was showing footage of a girl being burned alive.

Shen Lie opened a new document and began typing.

He was going to create a plan, a detailed plan precise to every minute.

Since fate had given him a second chance, he wouldn't walk into the slaughterhouse like a lamb waiting to be butchered as he did in his previous life.

This time, he would use this game in reverse.

He would use his best skills—fake death, performance, creating effects in front of cameras—to play this livestreaming platform that sold killing as entertainment.

He would attract those paying viewers' attention, make them bet, make them excited, make them think they'd caught the perfect prey.

Then, when everyone was watching, he would uproot this platform completely.

The sound of typing was particularly clear in the night.

Outside the window, Lin Xiaowei was taking selfies with her phone, practicing crying expressions. She sobbed a few times at the camera, then stopped to check the effect, and if unsatisfied, started over.

Shen Lie glanced at her and continued typing.

The document's title was: "Counter-Kill Plan."

Step One: Infiltrate the extra group.

Step Two: Create a "perfect prey" persona in the livestream.

Step Three: Hack the system and expose all paying viewers' identities.

Step Four: Buy the entire platform with copyright fees.

Step Five: Turn the hunters into the hunted.

He finished typing the last word, saved the file, and checked the time.

3 AM.

Four days and seventeen hours until "Zombie Siege" began.