I'm Not A Drama God

Chapter 2: We are watching you · "Is it... a ghost?" · The frantic rain lashed against the cold windowpane. The hearts of the two people inside flickered like candle flames in the wind, unsteady and fragile. · "I... I don't know." The woman swallowed hard. "Should we notify the Law Enforcers?" · "Are you crazy!" · At the mention of the Law Enforcers, the terrified man finally regained a shred of sanity. · "Once the Law Enforcers get involved, what we did will definitely be exposed... Absolutely not!" · "Then... what about him?" · The woman paused for a moment. "Do you think... a Calamity has possessed Chen Ling's corpse?" · They both stared at the tightly shut bedroom door, falling back into silence. · After a long while, the man seemed to make up his mind. He grabbed a black raincoat from the doorway and pushed the door open. · "Where are you going?" · "To the place where we buried the body!" · "Now? For what?" · "To verify." Rainwater slid down the man’s pale face as he spoke hoarsely. "No matter what is in that room right now... it can't be Chen Ling! I need to see his corpse with my own eyes." · "I'm coming with you!" · No one wanted to go out in a thunderstorm like this, but compared to being left alone with whatever was sleeping in that bedroom, the woman preferred the storm. · In the heavy rain, two figures in raincoats hurried away. · The bedroom. · Chen Ling, who had fallen into a deep sleep, suddenly had his eyelashes tremble slightly, as if he were trapped in a nightmare. · In his dream, his consciousness continued to sink, as if falling into a bottomless abyss. After an unknown amount of time, he seemed to hit solid ground, finally steadying himself. · Clack— Clack— Clack— Clack— · The heavy sound of mechanical gears grinding echoed. Immediately after, beams of light pierced the darkness like swords, converging on a single Red-Clothed Figure. · Chen Ling instinctively shielded his eyes with his hand. · "Where... is this?" · Chen Ling’s chaotic consciousness gradually cleared. Once his eyes adjusted to the blinding glare, he looked around in a daze. · Within the radius of the light, he could only see the vermilion opera robe he was wearing, the aged wooden floorboards beneath his feet, and a corner of a black curtain behind him illuminated by the beam... Beyond the light lay nothing but endless, unknown darkness. · Seeing this scene, Chen Ling froze. · As if realizing something, he squinted up at the ceiling. The beams illuminating him were coming from spotlights fixed to a steel grid. · "A stage?" · As a professional Director in his past life, Chen Ling was more than familiar with the stage. Right up until he was crushed to death by a falling light, he had spent his time on stages obsessing over blocking and positioning. His understanding of the stage surpassed even that of the actors. · His first reaction was that he had transmigrated back. · No... · The stage lighting in his previous life’s theater was much better than this. The curtains weren't black, and the floor wasn't made of such weathered wood. · Was he dreaming? · Chen Ling took a tentative step forward. The old floorboards let out a piercing creak. As he neared the edge of the circle of light, another beam followed his footsteps, chasing him into the darkness. · "Follow Spotlight?" Chen Ling’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively shouted, "Who’s there?!" · If these lights could track him, there was a high probability they were being manually operated. Unless this place used an automated tracking system, but given how ancient this stage looked, that possibility was nearly zero. · "Who’s there..." · "Who’s there..." · "There..." · Chen Ling’s voice echoed in the darkness, sounding increasingly eerie and grim. · At that moment, an electronic screen at the edge of the stage suddenly flickered to life. · In stage design, this position was usually reserved for a teleprompter to prevent actors or hosts from forgetting their lines. But now, the screen displayed a string of red characters— · 【Audience Expectation Value: 29%】 · In the bottom left corner of the screen, there were a few smaller words: · "Please do not let the Audience Expectation Value fall below 20%, otherwise the Theater cannot guarantee the actor's personal safety." · Looking at the screen, Chen Ling was bewildered... · Audience? What audience? · Clack— Clack— Clack— · The familiar sound of lights switching on rang out again! · The darkness in front of the stage receded like a tide. Hundreds, thousands of wooden chairs stretched out in tiered rows into the distance, densely packed in front of the stage. · The auditorium. · The term flashed through Chen Ling’s mind. · It was logical for an auditorium to exist where there was a stage. What truly made Chen Ling’s skin crawl wasn't the chairs, but the fact that at some point... · Those seats had been filled with "The Audience." · They were humanoid creatures shrouded in shadow. Even with sufficient lighting, Chen Ling still couldn't make out their features; they looked like incarnations of the abyss. · The only exception was their eyes. · Countless scarlet pupils opened in the gloom. They sat in their respective wooden chairs, staring at Chen Ling on the stage like a pack of cats cornering a mouse, their gazes mocking and predatory. · Staring back at them, Chen Ling felt a chill run down his neck. He didn't know what these "Audience" members were, but they certainly weren't human! · Chen Ling forced himself to stop looking at those horrifying eyes. He turned and bolted toward the other end of the stage. · Logically, stage exits were always on the sides. As long as he left the stage, he should be able to temporarily escape those ghostly things! · The Follow Spotlight locked onto the running Red-Clothed Figure. He dashed straight to the edge of the stage, only to be met by a blank, solid wall. · Chen Ling stood stunned. · Refusing to believe it, he ran to the other side of the stage. It was the same. · This stage... had no exit at all. · In the dim auditorium, the dense cluster of scarlet pupils followed his frantic movements, shifting in unison like a crowd of "Audience" members immersed in a brilliant performance, utterly focused. · And the protagonist of this performance was the red-clothed Chen Ling on stage. · Meanwhile, the characters on the display screen in the center of the stage jumped... the Audience Expectation Value rose from 29% to 30%. · Dammit, what kind of messed-up nightmare was this! · Chen Ling pinched himself hard, trying to force himself awake. But aside from a familiar surge of pain, there was no sign of him waking up. · 【Intermission over. Please continue the Performance.】 · Another line of text popped up on the screen. Immediately after, a crisp bell suddenly rang from above the stage! · Ding-ling-ling— · Before Chen Ling could react, the vision before his eyes shattered into pieces, and his consciousness rapidly blurred... · Just before he lost consciousness, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the massive, mysterious black curtain behind him slowly drawing open! · Bang! · Chen Ling sat bolt upright in bed! · His sheets were soaked with cold sweat. His chest heaved violently, and his eyes were wide with terror. · He swallowed hard, his gaze slowly scanning the room. Once he confirmed he was in his own bedroom and not on that godforsaken stage, he finally relaxed. · "Was it a dream... That was way too vivid." · He calmed his nerves and got out of bed to walk into the living room. · The rain outside had mostly stopped, but the sky remained gloomy. Chen Ling called out for his parents a few times, but no one answered. The entire house was silent. · "Did they go to work this early?" Chen Ling muttered to himself. · Chen Ling rubbed his empty stomach. Last night’s nightmare seemed to have drained too much of his energy; he felt lightheaded just walking. With no other choice, he headed into the kitchen to find something to eat. · As soon as he stepped through the door, he tripped over something. He looked down. · It was the wreckage of a bucket, looking as though it had been gnawed on by a wild beast. · What happened to this bucket? Did it freeze and crack? · Chen Ling couldn't remember a single thing from the previous night. He muttered suspiciously to himself, then picked up the bucket and tossed it into a corner. He grabbed a rag, intending to wipe up the puddle on the floor. · Just as he crouched down, he froze. · The water on the floor began to move on its own. It was as if someone invisible was crouching right across from him, dipping their fingertip into the water to write something. · In the next heartbeat, the transparent water turned blood-red before his eyes. A string of twisted, eerie words was etched onto the floor in front of him. · —【We are watching you.】 · [END]