Chapter 11: 【Judgment】

The moment those words fell, Han Meng pulled the trigger.

Click—

The mechanism collided, but no bullet was fired.

However, at the same time, the earth in front of Han Meng instantly disintegrated, the soil and gravel annihilated into nothingness, as if an invisible bullet had completely shattered matter at the molecular level!

And this "deconstructive" bullet flashed in front of the red paper monster within a thousandth of a second!

Under this invisible force of deconstruction, a gap was forced open in the red paper tentacles floating in mid-air, and then, a circular wound with a radius of one meter completely pierced through the monster's body!

Through that huge circular wound, Han Meng could even see the streets of District 3 in the distance. This shot had annihilated two-thirds of its body.

Just as Han Meng was about to holster his gun, a sudden change occurred!

The red paper monster, which had a huge hole in its center, didn't die. Instead, it continued to extend red paper as if nothing had happened.

It spread wildly into the surroundings, and within two seconds, it not only repaired the hole in the center but its size had also surged more than three times!

Now it looked like a giant red sun made of paper, with countless strips of paper twisting around it, hanging over the wilderness.

【Audience anticipation value -1】

【Current anticipation value: 14%】

Han Meng's pupils contracted slightly!

He immediately raised his muzzle toward the sky and pulled the trigger three times in succession. The power of deconstruction tore three large holes in the red sun.

Drizzle fell from the three holes, hitting Han Meng's grim face, bone-chillingly cold.

Swish—

Dense strips of paper swarmed down like red rain, instantly turning the entire wilderness into a hornet's nest. Han Meng fired frantically, but could only manage to tear a gap in this red rain to save his life.

"Damn it..." Han Meng's back was already soaked with sweat.

He could feel that he was no match for this Calamity!

For some reason, the opponent's aura seemed to have surged again, jumping from the initial entry-level Grade 5 to the peak of Grade 5, just a fraction away from stepping into the terrifying Grade 6!

Just then, a hand wearing a costume sleeve emerged from the paper monster and pressed lightly and precisely onto the top of Han Meng's head!

"Hee hee."

The light chuckle echoed in Han Meng's ear. The next moment, he was slammed down with one palm, his head smashing heavily into the ground!

Boom—!!

The earth cracked. Han Meng, at the center of the impact, spat out a mouthful of blood and lay motionless like a pile of mud.

The battle had ended. The red paper filling the sky returned to the monster's main body, and the misty rain sprinkled over the scarred earth.

The red paper monster was about to leave, but the costume-clad arm that had emerged from it suddenly grabbed the red paper body, pulling and tearing at it, as if something was about to crawl out from within...

……

Five minutes ago.

"Audience beginning to intervene in the performance?"

Chen Ling saw the last line of text, and his heart went cold. He looked up sharply toward the front of the stage.

Countless scarlet pupils were still watching him in the darkness, but in the corner of the audience seating, a batch of wooden chairs was already empty...

A portion of the audience had disappeared.

Thump—thump—thump!!

The black shadows in the audience seating kept stomping their feet on the theater floor, making a rhythmic and dull sound.

This sound was like continuous thunder in the cramped space. Their scarlet pupils locked onto Chen Ling, filled with anger and questioning!

Thump—thump—thump!!!

Under their rhythmic stomping, Chen Ling even felt the stage shaking. The spotlight overhead trembled slightly, seemingly unable to hold on much longer.

Chen Ling basically understood.

Because he had been killed by an axe in reality, the "performance" on stage had come to an abrupt end.

The performance was interrupted, and the audience was furious, but they couldn't communicate directly with Chen Ling, so they could only express their dissatisfaction and threats in this form!

"So... I'm actually not dead?" Chen Ling stared blankly at his hands.

"But if my consciousness is here... then who is controlling my body right now?"

As if thinking of something, Chen Ling looked back and saw a large black curtain covering the back half of the stage. He pulled it open a crack, and a series of images flooded his mind!

He saw himself turning the table knife into paper, scaring Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan into fainting, and fighting the two enforcers...

This feeling was wonderful, like sitting in front of a big screen and watching his own actions from a third-person perspective... Of course, the "protagonist" at this time was no longer him, but the "audience" that had usurped his body!

The audience was intervening in the performance.

【Audience anticipation value -1】

Chen Ling saw the characters on the screen flicker, and the next moment, another batch of figures in the audience seating vanished without a trace.

"The more the anticipation value drops, the more audience members will intervene in the performance..." Chen Ling said, lifting his own hands. He saw his body gradually becoming transparent.

"At the same time... will my existence be gradually erased?"

It made sense. If the audience completely became the "protagonist," what would they need him for?

Chen Ling's heart sank to the bottom. He knew he had to do something.

Chen Ling stood before the curtain, took a deep breath, and tentatively reached his palm toward the "images" flickering behind it...

Either take back his body and become the "protagonist" again;

Or die.

Chen Ling's fingertips passed through the curtain, as if touching a barrier, and were forced to slow down.

This barrier wasn't rock-hard; it was more like a "membrane"—soft, but with extreme resilience. Chen Ling tried a few times and finally managed to pass a finger through.

"There's a chance!" Chen Ling's eyes brightened slightly.

He used all his strength to push his palm through the barrier, then his forearm, his elbow...

Just then, the characters on the screen flickered again:

【Audience anticipation value -1】

As the anticipation value dropped to 14%, another batch of audience members vanished. Chen Ling felt the barrier becoming increasingly hard. Seeing his body becoming even more transparent, a thought flashed through his mind.

It wasn't that the barrier had become solid... it was that his body had become weak.

Chen Ling gritted his teeth, but could only push his arm through the curtain bit by bit. The speed was several times slower than before, and he felt incredibly anxious.

With the current resistance, he estimated that if the anticipation value dropped to around 10%, he would never be able to pass through this curtain again.

Finally, through his unremitting efforts, one arm passed completely through the curtain.

He saw Han Meng in the images struggling under the red rain. After hesitating for a moment, he casually pressed a palm onto his forehead and, using the power of the red paper monster, knocked him unconscious on the ground.

This way, no one would witness him passing through the curtain and returning to reality.

He used his arm from the reality side to hook the curtain and pulled hard, tearing a narrow gap.

The second hand reached out from the gap, prying it open until it was wide enough for his body to pass through. Chen Ling took a deep breath and dove in!