Chapter 42: Secret Eye

Chapter 42: Mystic Eyes

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

"So, people have a lot of prejudice against us, don't they?" The boy waved his hand casually. "I'm not going to tell you more. You'll understand someday."

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

A buzzing gunshot echoed, the strong wind lifting the hem of his trench coat. A deconstruction bullet, annihilating everything, pierced through the boy's body, leaving a head-sized void!

However, the bullet passed through his body without shedding a drop of blood. The boy's figure gradually turned pale, like faded drawing paper.

"Han Meng, right? I'll remember you... We'll meet again if fate allows."

The boy's body became increasingly flat, transforming into a two-dimensional sketch portrait within a few seconds, devoid of thickness, and was blown by the cold wind onto Han Meng's face.

Han Meng frowned deeply. He took off the portrait and saw the boy in the drawing, wearing a white paper mask, sitting cross-legged and simultaneously giving him the middle finger...

He tore the portrait into pieces on the spot.

"The Twilight Society appearing in the Aurora Domain... This is troublesome."

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

Unimpeded, Han Meng quickly reached the manor gate and pushed it open forcefully.

With a grating creak, a ground full of corpses met his gaze. On the blood-stained earth, nine silver coins were scattered...

A total of twenty-two people were at the Ice Spring Street Celebration; none survived.

Chen Ling slowly opened his eyes.

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

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

Chen Yan's disappearance, the cruel truth, his furious revenge, the salvation he thought he could possess, then despair, and then a glimmer of hope... All of this left Chen Ling numb and desperate.

How he wished it was all a dream: that after waking up, his mother would call him for breakfast, and he would hastily put on his clothes, clip on his work badge, and go back to being a wage slave at the theater.

Unfortunately... what awaited him was still that desolate and eerie theater.

After a long while, Chen Ling finally sat up slowly. He looked at the dense, crimson eyes in front of the stage, his heart filled with complex emotions.

Even if he had embarked on the Path of the God of Drama... could he truly escape these "audience members" one day?

Or was it simply that in their eyes, he had just become more interesting?

Chen Ling had no answer.

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

He stood up from the floor and walked to the large screen in the center of the stage. A series of characters appeared before his eyes.

Audience Expectation Value +1Audience Expectation Value +1Audience Expectation Value...Current Expectation Value: 77Actor connection lost, performance interruptedAudience Expectation Value -50Current Expectation Value: 27

These were the changes in expectation value that occurred in the manor. After Qian Fan shot him once, he had already lost a connection, resulting in a deduction of 50 expectation points.

But perhaps because the expectation value remained above 20 after the deduction, none of the "audience members" fled.

"As long as the total expectation value is controlled, even death won't result in the body being usurped as it was last time... It's a chance to come back to life."

"However, raising the expectation value above 70 won't be easy..."

Chen Ling's gaze fell on the corner of the screen, where the pulsating treasure chest icon reappeared.

He tapped his fingertip, and rousing music began to play, accompanied by the stage lights. When Chen Ling turned to look, a table had appeared in the center of the stage.

"Audience Expectation Value detected to have exceeded 70 for the first time. Achievement Unlocked — 'Overwhelmingly Positive'!"

"You have gained one extra lottery draw."

"Upon use, a random character skill will be drawn from all characters that appeared in this play for you to learn."

Chen Ling walked to the table. Cards of various colors and patterns appeared out of thin air on the tabletop. Just like last time, most were white and gray, but the number of blue cards had increased compared to before...

This indicated that new characters had appeared, bringing with them an increase in skill cards.

As Chen Ling lightly waved his finger, numerous cards simultaneously flipped face down. Their uniform backsides flashed at an astonishing speed, then neatly froze in place moments later.

Last time, Chen Ling had drawn Han Meng's "Dance of Carnage" here, which completely changed his destiny... This time, would Lady Luck still favor him, allowing him to draw a skill card capable of turning the tide of battle?

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

The card flipped over.

A shade of blue appeared before Chen Ling's eyes.

"Skill: Mystic Eyes""Affiliation: Path of the God of Medicine, Blood Slaughter Path, First Tier;""Character: Chu Muyun."

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

Drawing Chu Muyun's skill card was somewhat within Chen Ling's expectations, but the prominent words "Blood Slaughter" made him feel a surge of doubt.

Was this path truly part of the "Path of the God of Medicine"??

As Chen Ling absorbed the card, the method for using Mystic Eyes appeared in his mind.

Unlike the "Dance of Carnage" from the "Path of the God of War," Mystic Eyes was more of a support skill. Its purpose was to help the user better capture, analyze, and discern details...

A good doctor can assess the severity of a patient's condition through their behavior and demeanor. Even psychologists can ascertain a person's thoughts and even predict future actions through their micro-expressions.

Mystic Eyes elevated this ability to its peak.

As Chen Ling finished drawing the ability, the cards on the table disappeared simultaneously, but the table itself remained standing.

"...What does this mean?"

Chen Ling stepped forward and found a new piece of paper on the tabletop.

Several lines of small text were also written on the paper.

"Congratulations on completing the play, Chapter of Origin — 'Heartless'."

"Highest Audience Expectation Value for this play: 78"

"You have gained one designated lottery draw."

"Upon use, you can select a specific character from all characters that appeared in this play and randomly draw one of their abilities. The probability of drawing a rare skill is related to the overall Audience Expectation Value of this play."

After reading all the text, the tabletop under the spotlight suddenly produced numerous pages out of thin air, covered with countless words.

"Who... am I?"

RUMBLE—

Pale lightning flashed across the ink-like clouds, and torrents of rain poured down, a divine wrath of thunder and rain drenching the muddy ground...

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