Chapter 156: Grand Performance (End) – Curtain Call

In the center of the stage, Dong Xiwen, Cynthia, and Puppet Charlie sat around a round table, each with a hand card placed before them.

After Qi Si escaped by’self-killing,’ the play continued; Charlie joined in after admitting his guilt.

The pace of the new play was much faster than the first. Excluding the nighttime segments, the progress had already reached the second act in just half an hour.

The two players and one NPC were each dealt several poker cards and played the previously played ‘Crazy Blackjack.’

In a three-player game, the first two to form an alliance would have a decisive advantage. As long as the players worked together, Charlie wouldn’t be able to cause any trouble no matter what.

But when Cynthia proposed joining forces with Dong Xiwen to eliminate Charlie, the NPC, Dong Xiwen hesitated.

Knowing that Cynthia had likely killed Hansen, who knew if letting her live to the third act would result in her killing him in the same way during the Battle Royale segment?

One had to remember, this woman had just agreed to ‘Zhou Ke’s’ proposal before turning around and voting for ‘Zhou Ke’ without a second thought… But suspicion lacked concrete evidence, and nothing had happened yet. Was he really going to team up with an NPC to kill another player just to save his own life?

“Dong Xiwen, I know what you’re worried about. I can tell you honestly, before the vote, I truly did think about killing you in the third act.”

Cynthia spoke sincerely, her gaze earnest. “But the situation has changed. Zhou Ke hogged the clues and intends to leave us behind to clear the stage alone. Even if I kill you, I won’t trigger the minimum death count mechanism; keeping you alive instead gives us a chance to crack the world-view and survive together.”

“Zhou Ke holds too great an advantage. I know his character; he is suspicious and cruel by nature. To gain greater benefits, he will surely find a way to wipe us all out. We must unite to have any chance of dealing with him.”

Dong Xiwen stared at the hand card in front of him without saying a word.

He held a 【10】 in his hand. Whomever he passed it to would bust and lose this round of the game.

Undeniably, what Cynthia said made a lot of sense.

However, refusing to cooperate and teaming up with Charlie to eliminate Cynthia would undoubtedly reduce the risk to zero and allow him to directly win this play… Dong Xiwen seemed to struggle for a long time, but in reality, only two seconds had passed.

He finally made a decision, pushing the card forward with his finger. “I choose to pass the card to… Holy shit!”

He cried out in alarm because, at the moment of his movement, the entire stage shook violently.

The originally dazzling spotlights suddenly flickered wildly as if there were a loose connection, just like the warning before a ghost’s appearance in an old movie.

Puppet Charlie’s movements froze in the previous second, remaining motionless like a truly dead object, and fell to the floor as the stage vibrated.

Dong Xiwen gripped the edge of the high-backed chair tightly so as not to be thrown off; Cynthia’s reaction was a beat slower, her head hitting a nearby chair, and she followed suit by hugging the back of the chair to steady herself.

The ground began to sink, crashing downward like an elevator with a snapped cable. With the rapid descent, the gilded ceiling and walls lost their luster, gradually becoming covered in black soot and emitting a pungent burnt smell.

In a certain instant, all the vibrations stopped, and the surrounding scene was left as nothing but ruins after a fire.

A beam of moonlight fell from a gap in the dome overhead, illuminating a small patch of ground nearby.

【Main Quest has been refreshed】

【Main Quest: Escape the Scarlet Theater】

Two lines of system prompts appeared, and Dong Xiwen finally realized what the blind spot he had subconsciously ignored was.

The main quest had never been explicitly defined; performing the play was not the main quest at all!

It was highly likely that only at this moment had the instance truly entered its main storyline!

Dong Xiwen panted heavily, still in shock, his mind a complete blank.

Cynthia’s situation was even worse than his.

For a seventy-year-old woman, participating in an Eerie Game was already difficult, let alone encountering multiple variables in such a short time.

Her heart beat wildly, as if it would jump out of her throat at any moment, and her eyes blurred in fits; she had an intuition that she might faint at any time.

She squinted to focus her vision and suddenly saw Dong Xiwen in front of her with his eyes wide open, staring straight behind her.

Was there… something there?

Cynthia made a move to turn her head, but in the next second, a touch of coldness pressed against the back of her neck and slashed down heavily.

Warm blood sprayed out, followed immediately by the realization of death. Cynthia opened her mouth to scream, but could only let out a “gurgling” cough.

The woman’s aged head hit the tabletop with a dull thud. Her body, losing its support, went limp, sliding down the high-backed chair and falling onto the scorched earth.

Dong Xiwen watched as the masked youth behind Cynthia retracted the blood-stained blade. His white shirt was splattered with fresh red blood, adding a touch of bloodthirstiness.

He opened his mouth, but in the end, only a stuttering question came out: “You… you killed her?”

“Mm-hmm.” The youth nodded, his voice carrying a smile. “Next, there’s one more question: do you want to die, or do you want to live?”

…After signing the contract with Charlie, Qi Si had taken the initiative to suggest that he provide some convenience so that he could kill someone along the way.

This wasn’t difficult for Charlie. This NPC, who disregarded human life in game after game, agreed without even thinking about it.

Just like Cynthia, Qi Si had been thinking about killing this kindred spirit who shared many similar traits with him since the beginning of the instance.

Initially, he just felt that for someone of her age to survive until the official pool despite extreme disadvantages in physical fitness and combat power, she likely posed a significant threat to him in terms of intelligence.

Later, he realized that as a high-ranking official of the Federation with deep ties to Kyushu, Cynthia would likely bring no small amount of trouble. Heaven knew if she would use her authority to find out something and put Qi Si on a wanted list in reality.

As for Cynthia’s treacherous vote against him not long ago, that was an optional factor for Qi Si, but it didn’t stop him from settling the score all at once.

“By the way, everyone who dies here becomes an audience member, right?” Five minutes ago, Qi Si had asked Charlie.

Charlie gave an affirmative answer.

Qi Si stroked his chin calmly. “I have a grudge against the person I’m about to kill. Things like execution by fire can be arranged.”

Charlie agreed.

Shortly after, the two scenes overlapped, and Qi Si took advantage of Cynthia’s lack of guard to slit the back of her neck.

As for what would happen after her death, that was no longer Qi Si’s concern.

At this moment, Qi Si looked at the stunned Dong Xiwen in his seat, his face under the mask wearing a half-smile. “Sign a contract with me, and I won’t kill you. I might even—take you through the level.”

Dong Xiwen was the type who could be killed or spared, but for him to enter the official pool as a newcomer, there must be something special about him.

With Chang Xu as a prior example, Qi Si was afraid that another god would pop out from some corner to claim Dong Xiwen as their own silly child they placed a bet on.

He was already being watched by an unkillable fellow, and he didn’t want to keep poking a cockroach nest. Rather than killing him directly, it was more worthwhile to control him with a contract—simple, convenient, and sanitary.

Dong Xiwen didn’t know Qi Si’s considerations, nor could he understand why this psychopathic killer would show him mercy.

The painted clown mask hid all facial expressions, making the youth look both comical and unfathomable. Combined with the bloodstains on his clothes, it gave off a sense of horror from a violent aesthetic film, making him afraid to say too much.

Dong Xiwen swallowed his saliva and asked, “What kind of contract?”

Qi Si snapped his fingers, and a fluttering rain of blood fell from the sky in response.

Countless fine droplets of blood suspended themselves in front of Dong Xiwen, intertwining to condense into the phantom of a long contract scroll.

Golden embroidery on red paper wrote out terms for mortgaging the soul, and a gilded quill pen floated by Dong Xiwen’s hand, urging him to sign his name.

Dong Xiwen grasped the quill and read the unequal terms on the scroll several times, sweating profusely. “Brother, you’re more of an evil god than an evil god, more of a capitalist than a capitalist…”

Qi Si turned his masked face toward him and asked seriously, “So, do you want to die?”

“…I’ll sign.” Dong Xiwen signed his name on the contract with a look of deep pain, his mouth never stopping. “Brother, let’s negotiate. You said the points will be allocated by you in the future, can you give me a rough number? Just so I can be mentally prepared…”

The moment the final stroke of the signature was completed, the bright red scroll broke into blood droplets and scattered into the void in all directions.

Qi Si also learned Dong Xiwen’s real name at that moment—Dong Zixi.

“Is your brother named Dong Ziwen?” Qi Si asked.

Dong Xiwen was stunned. “How did you know? Does this soul contract include reading memories?”

A soul contract certainly couldn’t read memories, at least not for now. As for the name, it was quite easy to guess from the alias.

Qi Si bent down to flip Cynthia’s corpse over, fished out a cloth bag containing items from the lining of her dress, pulled out a short knife, and stabbed her heart a few more times.

An Identity Card lay quietly in the cloth bag. An androgynous magician wore a black formal suit embroidered with red patterns, bowing; the crowd cheered loudly, but several white cards accidentally spilled from the removed top hat.

【Identity Card: Jester Trickster】

【Effect: When upright, all your words will be believed; when reversed, all your lies will be seen through】

The positive effect was powerful enough, but the negative effect was also quite a trap. No wonder Cynthia hadn’t bound it directly.

Qi Si, who already possessed the 【Rose Heart】 and had self-awareness regarding his own luck, decisively threw this card into a compartment of his backpack to gather dust.

It took dying once in Shuangxi Town to unbind 【humanoid evil spirit】; he didn’t want to go through that again at all.

There were many other miscellaneous items in the cloth bag, including a small bottle of sleeping pills, which said they could help players fall asleep quickly.

In a instance, being unable to sleep at night easily led to trouble, so this item could be said to be very useful, but Qi Si still threw it at the foot of the table.

He always maintained a cautious attitude toward medicinal things. Who knew if this stuff was poisonous? Even if it wasn’t, what if there were side effects?

Watching Qi Si discard most of the loot with a look of disdain after searching the corpse, Dong Xiwen couldn’t help but ask, “Brother, you don’t want any of it? I see a few things that look pretty good…”

Qi Si sneered. “If you’re not afraid of being hunted down by Federation people in the future, you can pick a few pieces to take with you.”

Dong Xiwen clicked his tongue. “That can’t be right. Could they actually install tracking devices on items?”

“Who knows?”

Qi Si narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the pile of objects on the table, and inexplicably began to miss the tragically deceased Hansen.

That guy should have had a few good things on him too. Unfortunately, he died at the wrong time, and his entire person along with his belongings was burned to ash. It was truly a pity.

Cynthia was the same; she talked herself up so much, yet her items were a pile of junk. If there were even one like the 【Pocket Watch of Fate】, he would be willing to take a risk and keep it… Of course, it was also possible that valuable items had been put into the inventory and wouldn’t drop even upon death… Qi Si lamented to himself for a while before turning toward the direction where the moonlight fell.

Dong Xiwen dawdled for two seconds before following from a distance.

The footsteps, though not heavy, seemed to disturb something. A burst of crackling sounds erupted behind them, and charred wooden boards fell down in succession, closely following the two players’ steps.

The ancient building was overburdened, collapsing in large sections behind the two of them.

Qi Si did not look back, walking step by step into the light. Looking up again, the dome was no longer visible, only a starless night sky.

The solitary moon cast a pale beam of light, making a pit in the ground particularly conspicuous under the faint glow.

Qi Si walked over and saw a wooden chest, its surface mottled with damage and stains, lying quietly in the center of the pit.

The wooden chest was already open, and most of the things it once contained had been taken away, leaving only a papyrus page.

There was no play, no extra words, only four symbols that did not belong to any language—

【End of Act Three】

Two seconds later, silver-white text refreshed on the system interface.

【Main Quest has been completed, the entire world-view has been cracked】

【Congratulations to the players for clearing the multiplayer instance “Grand Performance”】

【In the Grand Performance with the world as a stage, the Protagonists and Supporting Roles come and go in a hurry. After the revelry of the banquet ends, the guests scatter; you and I have always been lonely】

A phantom scene emerged on the dim background.

Several figures carrying hiking bags and shovels were digging in the mud.

A shovel suddenly hit a hard object, and one person shouted in surprise: “Found it!”

The figures gathered around, raising shovel after shovel of dust, exposing the wooden chest buried beneath.

They opened the wooden chest in surprise, carefully took out the paper page inside, and piously read the words on it:

“Play, ‘Grand Performance’; Author, Charlie…”

Playwright Charlie was actually not mediocre; on the contrary, he was brimming with talent.

He could write players with different experiences into a coherent drama; he could design a game process comparable to instance mechanisms; he could mimic the Identity Card mechanism to draw his own unique Role Cards… He didn’t need to be indignant or self-deprecating at all; gaining recognition was a historical necessity rather than a gift from a god. Unfortunately, Qi Si did not intend to tell him any of this.

【The playwright waits for the audience’s attention, the crowd waits for the god’s downward glance. Everyone is mediocre and submerged in the world; isn’t getting what one wishes for a kind of happiness?】

【”Grand Performance” True End – “Lonely Playwright” has been recorded】

【Automatic teleportation out of the instance in three minutes】

A gentle breeze blew, rustling his clothes. The matter had settled, the crisis was resolved, and Dong Xiwen finally relaxed.

He looked at Qi Si standing quietly to the side and could no longer suppress the curiosity in his heart, leaning closer. “Brother, let me see your true face. Anyway, I’ve already signed that contract, so even if I know something, I can’t leak it.”

Qi Si was in a good mood; he casually took off the mask and smiled gently at Dong Xiwen.

On his fair skin, over a dozen hideous blood scars were distributed, crawling across his face like centipedes, twisting wantonly with his smile.

Dong Xiwen was startled. “Is this what a veteran player is like? You can really be so ruthless to yourself…”

Qi Si talked nonsense with a straight face. “Because I’m disfigured, I wear a mask to hide my ugliness.”

Dong Xiwen:…These wounds clearly look like they were carved by a knife after entering the instance, okay?

Yes, Qi Si had bought a mask to wear on his face, but he still didn’t feel quite at ease.

So, after entering the instance, he simply used a blade to slash his own face.

Anyway, wounds couldn’t be taken out of the instance, so it would be a waste not to slash. It was indeed a bit painful, but within acceptable limits.

However, in future instances, Qi Si wouldn’t have to mistreat himself like this anymore.

In the transaction with Charlie, one of the terms was to modify the mask item to make it fit a real human face more closely… Thinking of this, Qi Si curled his lips into a sincere smile. Of course, paired with his current face, no matter how harmless the smile was, it could only be described as terrifying.

The moonlight remained the same, and the two had nothing more to say. Dong Xiwen found a mound to sit on and rest, waiting for the countdown to end.

In the silence, Qi Si asked out of the blue, “Have you ever seen a ghost?”

Dong Xiwen was puzzled. “Huh? Does seeing them in a instance count?”

Qi Si remained silent.

Just now, he had caught a chance glimpse of Dong Xiwen, but saw two phantoms on the latter’s body.

One was Dong Xiwen’s own image, and the other had a appearance similar to Dong Xiwen’s, but with a gloomy and perverse expression, staring straight at him with a warning gaze.

Qi Si stroked his chin, speculating aimlessly: perhaps this was the reason why Dong Xiwen, as a newcomer, could enter the official pool?

Of course—who knows?