When he opened his eyes again, a familiar light filled his vision.
"Back again..." Chen Ling adapted to the brightness of the spotlight and slowly scanned his surroundings.
An old stage, a black curtain, and a full house of audience seats—he had returned to this nightmare again.
"It seems that whether I fall asleep or die, I will return here." Chen Ling summed up this conclusion through several experiences.
Since he regained control of his body, those absent audiences had returned to the theater. Although their eyes looked somewhat displeased, at least they had no intention of making a move again.
Chen Ling's eyes naturally slid to the screen in the center of the stage:
[Audience Expectation: 24%]
From the historical records, the moment he regained control of his body, the expectation value automatically rose back to 20%. After the battle of wits with the law enforcers, the expectation value increased again and finally stabilized at 24%.
"Dying last time directly deducted 50% of the expectation value. What will happen if the expectation value is less than 50% when I die next time?"
Chen Ling didn't know the answer, but he guessed that if the expectation value became negative, he would probably die completely and be occupied by the "audience", never to recover.
Just as Chen Ling was about to look away, he suddenly found a shaking treasure chest appearing in the lower right corner of the screen at some point.
He clearly remembered that when he first entered the theater, there was no such thing.
After a moment of hesitation, Chen Ling tentatively reached out and clicked on the treasure chest...
Deng deng deng deng——!
The moment Chen Ling's fingertips touched the treasure chest, a stirring piece of music came from the speakers on both sides of the stage.
The sudden music startled Chen Ling. The next moment, several spotlights moved behind him. He turned around and found a table appearing out of thin air in the center of the stage.
It was an ordinary wooden table, which seemed a bit old and matched the wooden floor on the stage. The beam of the spotlight shone on the table, and a piece of paper was reflecting a pale halo.
Chen Ling walked straight to the wooden table, and the two spotlights moved closer to each other and finally merged into one.
At the top of the paper, there were a few lines of small characters.
"Detected that the audience expectation value has broken through 60% for the first time, unlock the achievement - 'Mostly Positive'!"
"You get an extra lottery chance."
"When used, you will randomly draw a character skill from all the characters in this play to learn."
Chen Ling scanned these words. Before he could react, the white paper suddenly disappeared. Instead, there were playing cards placed on the table.
These playing cards were of different colors. Most of them were white and gray, with a few blue ones occasionally appearing. The patterns on the surface also varied from simple to complex. The brighter the color, the more advanced the pattern and the more precious it looked.
The next moment, these playing cards were all turned upside down, revealing uniform card backs, and then overlapped at an amazing speed. Finally, they were neatly scattered on the table.
Chen Ling also tried to trace the path of those blue cards, but this strange way of shuffling cards could not be tracked by the naked eye at all.
"There's even a lottery... It seems that not all things in this theater are bad."
Chen Ling took a deep breath, randomly selected a playing card in front of him, and gently turned it upside down on the table...
It was a blue card.
After Chen Ling made his choice, all the other playing cards disappeared at the same time. At the same time, several lines of text appeared on the blue card.
"Skill: [Killing Dance]"
"Belonging: God of Soldiers Path, [Judgment] Path, Third Stage."
"Character: Han Meng."
At the sight of the word "Han Meng", the figure of the windbreaker who had fought with the red paper monster last night automatically appeared in Chen Ling's mind... At this moment, only one thought remained in his heart.
This is a big win!
Among all the people Chen Ling had met since transmigrating here, Han Meng was undoubtedly the most powerful in combat. Although Chen Ling couldn't understand what "God of Soldiers Path," "[Judgment] Path," or "Third Stage" meant, there was no doubt that he had drawn the best option available so far.
The blue playing card dissolved into nothingness, and Chen Ling felt something mysterious had been added to his body.
"Thanks for the gift." Chen Ling now felt rather embarrassed.
He had stolen... no, learned this skill from Han Meng. In a sense, Han Meng was his benefactor... but just a few hours ago, he had beaten this "benefactor" up and even hit him over the head with a club.
That blow... surely it hadn't killed his benefactor, right?
He felt a twinge of guilt.
...
Crimson calamity danced wildly above his head,
A terrifying oppressive aura made hearts tremble;
A slender hand stretched out from the calamity, pressing onto his head... like the hand of a god falling from the sky, dominating the world.
In the hospital bed, Han Meng suddenly opened his eyes, almost leaping straight up.
"hiss."
The sharp pain in the back of his head made him grimace. The world around him spun, and he fell back onto the bed.
"Brother Meng!" A law enforcer dozing beside him was startled and quickly steadied him, "Brother Meng! What's wrong? Don't move around, or you'll pull the stitches..."
Han Meng lay on the bed, finally catching his breath, and asked blankly:
"Where am I?"
"The hospital!"
"What about that long-handed... no, that red calamity?"
"It..." The law enforcer paused, "It must have escaped. When we arrived at the scene, we only saw you lying there..."
Fragmented memories flooded Han Meng's mind. He couldn't help but touch the back of his head, wincing in pain.
Did this calamity... like to sneak attack the back of the head?
"How's the situation? Any other casualties?"
"Not yet. After fighting you, the calamity hasn't appeared again. I guess you hurt it badly."
"I..."
Han Meng was about to say he hadn't hurt it at all, but after a moment's hesitation, he swallowed the words.
He needed to maintain his image in front of his subordinates.
"What time is it?"
"Six fifty."
"...Help me up."
"Brother Meng, the doctor said you need to rest quietly..."
"Rest my ass!" Han Meng gritted his teeth and stood up, "That calamity is sinister. If we let it go, it will cause big trouble sooner or later!"
"Sinister? Brother Meng, do you mean dangerous..." This law enforcer had seen a lot, but it was the first time he'd heard someone describe a calamity as "sinister."
"Dangerous, but more sinister!"
Han Meng subconsciously touched the back of his head, "And I suspect it might have truly fused with a human..."
"A Fusionist?" The law enforcer's face paled at the word, "Should we immediately notify Aurora City?"
Hearing the second half, Han Meng gradually calmed down, "No, not yet. I need to investigate further... This is just a guess for now, with no theoretical basis."
"Then what should we do now..."
"First, go to headquarters. Those new candidates should be arriving soon. We'll discuss the details on the way."
"Okay."