Chapter 42: [Secret Pupil]

The boy raised an eyebrow, about to say something, when an arc of light shot from the courtyard behind him into the sky.

"So, people have a lot of prejudice against us..." The boy waved his hand casually. "I won't talk to you anymore. One day, you’ll understand."

Han Meng’s eyes narrowed, and he pulled the trigger immediately!

The humming sound of the gunshot rang out, the fierce wind lifting the hem of his trench coat. The deconstruction bullet that annihilated everything pierced through the boy’s body, leaving a hole the size of a human head!

However, the bullet passed through his body without leaving a single drop of blood. The boy’s figure gradually turned pale, like a faded painting.

"Han Meng, right? I’ll remember you... See you again if fate allows."

The boy’s body became flatter and flatter. Within a few seconds, he turned into a thin, two-dimensional portrait, which was blown onto Han Meng’s face by the cold wind.

Han Meng frowned. He took off the portrait and saw the boy in the white paper mask sitting cross-legged in the painting, while reaching out to give him the middle finger...

He tore the portrait into pieces on the spot.

"The Twilight Society appearing in the Aurora Domain... this is trouble."

Han Meng took a deep breath, glanced at the direction of the courtyard, and walked straight ahead.

No one blocked him. Han Meng soon arrived at the courtyard gate. He pushed the door open with force.

Amidst a harsh creaking sound, the corpses covering the ground came into his view. On the blood-stained earth, nine silver coins were scattered...

There were twenty-two people in the Ice Spring Street celebration, and none survived;

……

Chen Ling slowly opened his eyes.

He saw the spotlight above his head and covered his eyes with his hand, but didn't stand up immediately... He lay on the stage floor, as quiet as a corpse.

In just a few hours, he had experienced too much.

Chen Yan’s disappearance, the cruel truth, the furious revenge, the redemption he thought he could have, then despair, then finding a glimmer of hope again... All of this left Chen Ling numb and desperate.

How he wished all of this was just a dream. After waking up, his mother would call him for breakfast, and then he would hurriedly put on his clothes, wear his work badge, and continue being a corporate slave in the theater.

Unfortunately... what awaited him was still that dead, eerie theater.

A long time later, Chen Ling finally sat up slowly. He looked at the dense scarlet eyes in front of the stage, his mood incredibly complex.

Even if he stepped onto the Path of the Playwright... could he really escape this group of "Audience" one day?

Or was he just becoming more interesting in their eyes?

Chen Ling had no answer.

But at least, he now had one more reason to live.

He stood up from the floor and walked to the big screen in the center of the stage. A series of characters came into view.

[Audience Expectation Value +1]

[Audience Expectation Value +1]

[Audience Expectation Value...]

[Current Expectation Value: 77%]

[Connection to actor lost, performance interrupted]

[Audience Expectation Value -50]

[Current Expectation Value: 27%]

These were the changes in expectation value that occurred in the courtyard. After Qian Fan shot and killed him once, he had already lost one connection, deducting 50% of the expectation value.

But perhaps because the expectation value was still above 20% after the deduction, none of the "Audience" members escaped.

"As long as I control the total expectation value, even if I die, I won't have my body usurped like last time... It counts as a chance to die and be reborn."

"However, it’s not easy to pull the expectation value above 70..."

Chen Ling’s gaze fell on the corner of the screen, where the jumping treasure chest icon appeared again.

He tapped his finger lightly, and passionate music played one after another. Accompanied by the stage lights, when Chen Ling turned to look, there was another table in the center of the stage.

[Audience Expectation Value exceeded 70% for the first time, achievement unlocked—'Special Praise'!]

[You have gained one extra draw.]

[After use, you will randomly draw one character skill from all the characters who appeared in this performance to learn.]

Chen Ling walked to the table, and playing cards of various colors and patterns appeared out of thin air on the desktop. Like last time, most were white and gray, but the number of blue ones had increased compared to last time...

There must have been new characters appearing, leading to an increase in skill cards.

As Chen Ling waved his fingers, many cards were flipped over simultaneously. The uniform backs of the cards flashed at an astonishing speed, and a moment later, they settled neatly in place.

Last time, Chen Ling drew Han Meng’s [Killing Waltz] here, which changed his fate in one fell swoop... This time, would the god of luck still favor him and let him draw a skill card capable of overturning the battle?

Chen Ling hesitated for a moment, raised his finger, and tapped on one of the cards.

The card flipped over.

A touch of blue appeared before Chen Ling’s eyes.

[Skill: [Secret Pupil]]

"Affiliation: Path of the Medical God, [Blood Butcher] path, First Stage;"

"Character: Chu Muyun."

The moment he saw the information on this card, Chen Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly...

Drawing Chu Muyun’s skill card was within Chen Ling’s expectations, but the massive characters [Blood Butcher] couldn't help but stir suspicion in his heart.

Is this path really part of the "Path of the Medical God"??

As Chen Ling absorbed the card, the method for using [Secret Pupil] appeared in his mind.

Unlike the "Path of the War God’s" [Killing Waltz], [Secret Pupil] leaned more towards being an auxiliary skill. Its function was to help the user better capture, analyze, and distinguish details...

A good doctor can judge the severity of an illness through a patient's behavior and demeanor; a psychiatrist can even confirm a person's thoughts or predict future actions through their micro-expressions.

[Secret Pupil] simply elevates this ability to its peak.

As Chen Ling finished drawing the ability, the card on the table vanished, but the table itself remained standing there.

"...What does this mean?"

Chen Ling walked forward and discovered that a new sheet of paper had appeared on the tabletop.

On the paper, a few lines of small text were written.

"Congratulations on completing the play, Initial Chapter—《Heartless》."

"Maximum audience expectation for this play: 78%"

"You have earned one designated draw."

"After using it, you can designate a specific character from all those who appeared in this play to randomly draw one of their abilities. The probability of drawing a rare skill is related to the overall audience expectation for this play."

After reading all the text, sheets of paper suddenly emerged from thin air on the table under the spotlight, with countless words appearing on them.

【"Who... am I?"】

【Boom——】

【Pale lightning flashed across ink-like clouds, rain poured down in torrents, and the thunderous rain, like the wrath of gods, drenched the muddy earth...】