Vol. 1 - Ch. 2 - We Are Watching You
I'm Not The Drama GodThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Notes
TL: Who’s watching Chen Ling? Right now, they just sound like stalkers zzz
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
TL: Who’s watching Chen Ling? Right now, they just sound like stalkers zzz
"Could it… be a ghost?"
The restless rain pounded against the cold window, and the hearts of the two flickered uncertainly, resembling flames in a lamp.
"I... I don't know." The woman swallowed hard, "Should we notify the Enforcers?"
"Are you insane!"
Upon hearing the mention of the Enforcers, the man, previously scared out of his wits, finally regained some rationality.
"Once the Enforcers get involved, what we've done will definitely be exposed... absolutely not!"
"But... What about him?"
The woman paused for a moment, "Do you think... it might be a 'calamity' attached to Ah Ling's body?"
Both of them simultaneously turned their gaze towards the tightly closed bedroom door, falling into silence once again.
After a prolonged moment, as if determined, the man removed a black raincoat from the doorway and pushed the door open.
"Where are you going?"
"To the place where we buried the body!"
"Now? What for?"
"To verify." Rainwater slid down the man's pale face as he spoke hoarsely, "No matter what's in the room now... it can't possibly be Ah Ling! I need to see his body with my own eyes."
"I'll go with you!"
No one wanted to go out in this thunderstorm, but compared to being alone with whatever that was sleeping in the bedroom, the woman preferred the former.
In the pouring rain, two figures in raincoats hastily left.
...
Bedroom.
Chen Ling, already immersed in a deep sleep, suddenly felt his eyelashes lightly quiver, as if caught in a nightmare.
In his dream, his consciousness kept sinking, as if descending into a bottomless cave. After an unknown period, he felt a solid surface beneath him, gradually stabilizing his form.
Thump—Thump—Thump—Thump—
A muffled mechanical sound resonated, and then a beam of light pierced through the darkness, converging on a figure draped in red.
Chen Ling instinctively covered his eyes.
"Where is this?"
Chen Ling's hazy consciousness gradually regained clarity. As his eyes adjusted to the strong light, he looked around in confusion.
Within the beam of light, all he could see was his vermilion theatrical robe, the worn-out wooden floor beneath his feet, and the black curtains illuminated in a corner behind him by the light beam... Beyond the beam stretched an endless expanse of unknown darkness.
Seeing this scene, Chen Ling suddenly froze.
As if realizing something, he squinted and looked up. The beam illuminating him emanated from spotlights fixed on steel frames.
"Stage?"
As a theater director, Chen Ling was intimately familiar with stages. Until the moment he was killed by a light in his previous life, he had continuously contemplated actor positions on the stage. His understanding of the stage even surpassed that of some actors.
So, his initial reaction was that he had somehow traveled back.
No, the theater's stage lighting effects were better in his previous life, and the curtains weren't black, and the floor wasn't this old wooden plank.
Was he dreaming?
Chen Ling tentatively took a step, and the worn-out floor creaked loudly. Just as his figure was about to step out of the spotlight, another beam of light closely followed his footsteps, penetrating into the darkness.
"Moving light?" Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively shouted, "Who's there?!"
As the lights continued to follow him, it seemed highly likely that someone was controlling them—unless this place had a fully automated tracking system. However, judging from the outdated condition of this stage, that possibility was almost zero.
"Who's there..."
"Who's there..."
"Who's there..."
Chen Ling's voice echoed eerily in the darkness. Meanwhile, an electronic screen on the edge of the stage suddenly lit up.
In stage design, this position was typically reserved for a teleprompter to prevent actors or presenters from forgetting their lines midway. Yet, on the screen at this moment, there appeared a string of red characters—
【Audience Expectation: 29%】
In the lower-left corner of the screen, there were a few small words,
"Please ensure the audience's expectation does not fall below 20%. Otherwise, the theater does not guarantee the safety of the performers."
Seeing this screen, Chen Ling felt bewildered.
Audience? Where did the audience come from?
Thump—Thump—Thump—
The familiar sound of lights turning on rang out again!
The darkness in front of the stage receded like a tide, revealing hundreds of wooden chairs arranged in tiers, extending towards the distance. They surrounded the front of the stage, densely packed.
Audience seats.
These two words echoed in Chen Ling's mind. The presence of an audience in a place with a stage was reasonable, but what truly sent shivers down Chen Ling's spine was not that. It was the realization that, at some point...
These audience seats were now filled with "spectators."
They were humanoid creatures shrouded in shadows. Despite the sufficient lighting, Chen Ling still couldn't discern their features, as if they were embodiments of the abyss.
The only exception was their eyes.
Countless crimson pupils opened in the dimness. Seated on their respective wooden chairs, they stared at Chen Ling on the stage, resembling a group of cats cornering a mouse. Their gaze was both mocking and greedy.
Being stared at so intensely by them, Chen Ling felt a chill down his spine. He had no idea what these "spectators" were, but they were definitely not human!
Chen Ling forced himself not to gaze into those unsettling eyes. Instead, he turned around and sprinted towards the other end of the stage.
In theory, the exits of the stage were on both sides. Once off the stage, he should be able to temporarily escape from those ghostly entities!
The spotlight locked onto the red figure running, rushing to the edge of the stage. However, what awaited him was a bare wall.
Chen Ling was stunned.
Unbelieving, he ran to the other side of the stage, only to find the same.
This stage... had no exit.
On the dim audience seats, countless crimson pupils followed his escape, constantly shifting. They were like an audience immersed in a captivating performance, incredibly focused.
The protagonist of this performance was the red-clad Chen Ling on the stage.
Simultaneously, the characters on the central screen of the stage flickered... The audience expectation value, originally at 29%, jumped to 30%.
Damn, what kind of messed-up nightmare is this!
Chen Ling pinched himself hard, attempting to voluntarily wake up from the dream. However, aside from feeling a familiar pain, there was no sign of awakening.
【Intermission over, please continue the performance】
Another line of characters appeared on the screen, and then, a crisp bell suddenly rang from above the stage!
Ding-ling-ling—
Before Chen Ling could react, the scene before him shattered inch by inch, and his consciousness quickly blurred...
In a daze, before losing consciousness, he saw the massive and mysterious black curtain behind him slowly being drawn open!
Bang!
Chen Ling abruptly sat up in bed. The sheets were already damp with cold sweat, his chest heaved violently, and his eyes were filled with fear.
He swallowed hard, glanced around bit by bit, confirming that he was in his own room and not on that damn stage.
Finally, he relaxed.
"Was it a dream... this dream is too bizarre." He thought to himself.
After calming himself, he got out of bed and walked to the living room.
The rain outside had mostly stopped by now, but the sky remained dark. Chen Ling called out to his parents, but no one answered. The entire house was silent.
"They went to work so early?" Chen Ling muttered to himself.
He rubbed his empty stomach; it seemed that the nightmare from last night had drained too much of his energy. He felt like he was floating while walking.
Helplessly, he went into the kitchen to find something to eat.
As he entered, something tripped him. Looking down, he saw the remnants of a water jug that seemed to have been gnawed by a wild animal.
"What happened to this? Did it freeze and crack in the cold weather?"
Chen Ling couldn't remember anything from the previous night. Skeptically muttering to himself, he picked up the jug, tossed it into a corner, and then found a cloth to wipe away the spilled water on the floor.
As he crouched down, he froze in place.
The water on the floor began to move on its own, as if there was an invisible figure crouching in front of him, dipping its fingers in the water and writing something on the floor.
In the next moment, the transparent water stain turned visibly blood-red, forming a twisted and eerie message before Chen Ling.
—【We are watching you】