Chapter 2: We Are Watching You

"Is it... a ghost?"

The frantic rain hammered against the cold window. The hearts of the two inside flickered like flames in a lantern, unsteady and trembling.

"I... I don't know." The woman swallowed hard. "Should we notify the Enforcers?"

"Are you crazy!"

Hearing those three words—Enforcers—the man who'd been scared stupid finally recovered a shred of his senses.

"The moment the Enforcers get involved, what we did will definitely be exposed... Absolutely not!"

"Then... what about him?"

The woman paused for a moment. "You don't think... could a 'Calamity' have possessed A-Ling's corpse?"

Both of them looked at the tightly shut bedroom door at the same time, and fell silent again.

A long while later, the man seemed to make up his mind. He took a black raincoat from by the door, pushed it open, and stepped out.

"Where are you going?"

"To the place where we buried the body!"

"Now? To do what?"

"To verify." Rainwater slid down the man's pale face as he spoke hoarsely. "No matter what that thing in the room is right now... he can't possibly be A-Ling! I need to see his corpse with my own eyes."

"I'm coming with you!"

Nobody wanted to go out in a thunderstorm like this, but compared to being alone with whatever unknown thing was sleeping in that bedroom, the woman would rather choose the former.

In the pouring rain, two figures in raincoats hurried away.

...

Bedroom.

Chen Ling, already deep in slumber, suddenly had his eyelashes tremble lightly, as if having a nightmare.

In his sleep, his consciousness kept sinking, as though falling into a bottomless cavern. After who knows how long, he seemed to land on some hard ground, finally steadying himself.

Thud—thud—thud—thud—

A muffled mechanical sound rang out, followed immediately by beams of light piercing the darkness like swords, converging onto a figure in red.

Chen Ling subconsciously raised a hand to shield his eyes.

"Where... is this?"

Chen Ling's hazy consciousness gradually cleared. Once he got used to the harsh light, he blankly looked around.

Within the range of the light beams, all he could see was the vermilion opera robe on his body, the old wooden floorboards under his feet, and behind him, a corner of a black curtain also illuminated by the light... Beyond the beams lay endless unknown and darkness.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ling suddenly froze.

As if he'd thought of something, he narrowed his eyes and looked up. The beam illuminating him came from spotlights fixed onto steel frames.

"A stage?"

As an employed director at a theater, Chen Ling couldn't be more familiar with stages. In his previous life, right up until he was smashed to death by a falling light, he'd been on stage working out blocking positions. His knowledge and understanding of stages even surpassed that of the actors.

So his first reaction right now was that he'd transmigrated back.

No, wait...

The lighting effects on the theater stage in his previous life were better than this. The curtains weren't black, and the floor wasn't this kind of old wood.

So am I dreaming?

Chen Ling tentatively took a step. The old floorboards let out a piercing creak. Just as his figure was about to leave the circle of light, another beam followed his footsteps, chasing into the darkness.

"A follow spot?" Chen Ling's heart jumped, and he subconsciously shouted,

"Who's there?!"

These lights could track his movements. There was a huge probability they were manually operated, unless this place also used a fully automated follow-spot system. But judging by how old this stage was, that possibility was basically zero.

"Who's there..."

"Who's there..."

"...there..."

Chen Ling's voice echoed in the darkness, growing increasingly eerie and chilling.

At the same time, an electronic screen at the edge of the stage suddenly lit up.

In stage design, this position usually held a teleprompter, to prevent actors or hosts from forgetting their lines mid-performance. But right now, the screen displayed a string of red characters—

[Audience Expectation: 29%]

In the bottom left corner of the screen, there were a few smaller words:

"Please do not let the Audience's expectation drop below 20%, otherwise the theater cannot guarantee the actor's personal safety."

Seeing this screen, Chen Ling was somewhat dazed...

Audience? What audience? Where did they come from?

Thud—thud—thud—

The familiar sound of lights turning on rang out again!

The darkness in front of the stage receded like a tide. Hundreds upon thousands of wooden chairs spread out into the distance in tiers, surrounding the front of the stage, densely packed.

Audience seating.

Those two words appeared in Chen Ling's mind.

Audience seating appearing where there was a stage made perfect sense. What really made Chen Ling's scalp go numb wasn't that, but the fact that at some point...

These seats had already filled up with an "Audience".

They were humanoid figures shrouded in shadow. Even with enough light now, Chen Ling still couldn't make out their features, as if they were incarnations of the abyss.

The only exception was their eyes.

Countless crimson pupils opened in the dimness. They sat in their respective wooden chairs, staring at Chen Ling on the stage, like a pack of cats that had cornered a mouse against a wall, their gazes mocking and greedy.

Stared at by them, Chen Ling felt the back of his neck go cold. He didn't know what these "Audience" members actually were, but they definitely weren't human!

Chen Ling forced himself to stop looking at those creepy eyes, turned around, and sprinted toward the other end of the stage.

Logically speaking, stage exits were always on the sides. As long as he got off the stage, he should be able to temporarily escape those freaky things!

The follow spot locked onto the running figure in red. He charged straight to the edge of the stage, but what greeted him was a bare wall.

Chen Ling froze.

Refusing to believe it, he ran to the other side of the stage. Same thing.

This stage... simply had no exit.

In the dim audience seating, the densely packed crimson pupils tracked his frantic scrambling, constantly shifting, like an "Audience" immersed in a brilliant performance, utterly focused.

And the lead actor of this performance was precisely Chen Ling in red, standing on the stage.

At the same time, the characters on the display in the center of the stage flickered... Audience Expectation jumped from the original 29% to 30%.

Fuck, what kind of bullshit nightmare is this!

Chen Ling pinched himself hard, trying to force himself awake from the dream. But aside from feeling a familiar pain, there wasn't the slightest sign of waking up.

[Intermission over. Please continue the performance.]

Another line of text popped up on the screen, followed immediately by a crisp bell ringing from above the stage!

Ding-a-ling—

Before Chen Ling could even react, the scene before his eyes shattered piece by piece, and his consciousness rapidly blurred...

Just before he lost consciousness, he vaguely saw the massive, mysterious black curtain behind him slowly drawing open!

...

Bang!

Chen Ling shot up from the bed!

The sheets were soaked in cold sweat. His chest heaved violently, his eyes full of terror.

He swallowed, his gaze slowly sweeping around the room. After confirming he was in his own room and not that damn stage, he finally relaxed.

"It was a dream... That dream was way too messed up."

He calmed himself down, got out of bed, and walked into the living room.

The rain outside had mostly stopped by now, but the sky was still gloomy. Chen Ling called out for Mom and Dad a few times, but no one answered. The whole house was dead silent.

"Went to work this early?" Chen Ling muttered to himself.

Chen Ling patted his empty stomach. Last night's nightmare seemed to have drained too much of his stamina; he felt floaty just walking. With no other choice, he could only head into the kitchen to find something to eat.

The moment he stepped through the doorway, he tripped over something. He looked down.

It was the wreckage of a water bucket, looking like it had been gnawed on by a wild beast.

What happened to this bucket? Did the cold crack it?

Chen Ling couldn't remember a single thing about last night. He muttered suspiciously in his heart, then picked the bucket up and tossed it into the corner. He turned around to grab a rag, planning to wipe up the water spilled on the floor.

The moment he squatted down, he froze in place.

The puddle on the floor had actually started sliding on its own. It was as if, right across from him, an invisible figure was squatting, dipping a fingertip in the water, writing something on the ground.

The next moment, the transparent water visibly turned blood-red. A twisted, bizarre line of text was traced out right in front of Chen Ling.

—[We are watching you].