Chapter 1807: Chapter 1804: The Play
After watching this little episode of the lottery, Han Dong showed no expression, feeling even a bit disappointed.
“Pure physical skills, without using any power… Was this done on purpose? To prevent me from observing your capability information in advance.”
Han Dong took out a bag of chips, eating while staring at the clown who was about to leave the stage, seemingly unconcerned.
After all, he’d already obtained a lot of useful information from the butler, and although the clown’s skills remained a mystery, they would naturally be revealed in time.
The clown Bajins had no intention of lingering.
He spat out a smoke bomb from his mouth, and when the smoke burst and black and white streamers flew up, the clown disappeared without a trace.
He vanished from the stage, taking with him the corpse of Jiafulong, pierced by flying knives.
When the leader descended once again as the host,
The lights turned off… Only a few with innate night vision and special existences like Han Dong could see the situation between the stage and the curtains.
A staff tapped on the ground, and a flicker of magic light appeared at the tip.
The magic was transmitted through the staff to the dark matter between the stage, constructing inorganic matter and forming an eerie mansion.
The mansion almost filled the stage, with some extremely complex passage structures inside, containing up to a hundred separate rooms and numerous hidden passages.
It was like a three-dimensional maze.
The dim lights relit, and the French-style mansion was shrouded layer by layer in yin qi.
“Next, our circus’s professional performer, [Matthew], will collaborate with ten on-site volunteers to perform the stage play – ‘Startling Night’.
The participating volunteers will receive a reward from the circus.
Similarly, we will first proceed with voluntary registration, and if there aren’t enough people, I will personally select them.
If any audience feels they have a talent for performing, please come to the stage!”
If this show had been placed at the opening, perhaps some would have signed up.
But after witnessing the previous two volunteers’ tragic outcomes,
and with such an eerie mansion and a title like ‘Startling Night’ ahead, no one dared to volunteer, as no one wanted to willingly send themselves to death.
The so-called ‘performer’ mentioned by the leader had yet to appear, and was likely as terrifying as the previous dancer and clown.
Seeing no one volunteering, the leader kept smiling:
“It seems everyone is concerned, which I understand… so I will randomly select more suitable audience members for the stage play.”
Just as the leader was about to call names, someone in the audience suddenly raised their hand.
The lighting technician immediately shone a spotlight on seat number one in the first row of the first layer.
The scene erupted with murmurs:
“Isn’t that the guy who was just talking to the clown?”
“Daring to participate voluntarily in such a seemingly dangerous program, truly fearless!”
“I remember he didn’t come in after us, was here earlier, and even chose a front-row seat on purpose… Let’s see what confidence this guy has?”
Though everyone was discussing, their eyes kept watching the stage, afraid of breaking the rules.
The person who raised their hand was Han Dong,
In fact, he initially didn’t want to volunteer,
Otherwise, he would have raised his hand long ago… It seemed that he had noticed some special ‘detail’ just now, prompting his temporary decision to participate in this stage play.
“Finally, a volunteer. Please, come on stage!
If there are no other volunteers, I will select audiences based on the background and characters of the stage play.”
Under the leader’s selection, audiences of various ages were invited to the stage.
Of course, everyone was limited by the Truth, making their strengths relatively similar, differing mainly in basic skills and innate genetics.
“You nine are involuntary participants, and your roles in the stage play will be determined by me.
However, Mr. Nicholas, who voluntarily participates, has the privilege to choose an identity… A gentle reminder, each role is equipped with a special item, which may have a usage during the stage play.
Of course, it could also be entirely useless.”
The leader spread out ten cards in his hand, each corresponding to:
[Miss Lys, the Eldest Daughter], [Miss Mu Si, the Second Daughter], [Mr. Tom, the Playful Young Master], [The Old Butler], [The Scheming Maid], [The Visiting Baron Holi], [The Chief Cook], [The Nanny], [Mr. Voss, the Sly Cat], [Sam, the Loyal Dog].
“Here’s a brief of the story:
The Macmillan Manor, standing atop a low mountain.
On a snowy, stormy night, the loyal Sam kept barking at the mansion, and had to be locked in the outdoor kennel by the old butler out of helplessness.
At that moment, a carriage emerged from the snowstorm, carrying Baron Holi, who had recently traveled with the mansion’s owner.
The baron’s expression was unpleasant, seemingly having discovered something dangerous and wanting to inform the Macmillans.
What he didn’t know was that he was already a step too late…
Please make your identity choice, Mr. Nicholas! Oh, once chosen, you must seriously assume your role! Your entire performance will be under the scrutiny of both the circus and the audience.
If you complete the performance alive but lack performing power, you will still be punished.”
Han Dong made an ‘OK’ gesture while gazing at the ten role cards before him.
Here, Han Dong had already noticed a detail… While the cards offer a rich variety of roles, they conspicuously lacked a ‘Master’ character.
A bit of thinking reveals that the mansion’s master should probably be played by the circus’s professional—Matthew.
The problem is highly likely to stem from this master character.
According to the plot’s preamble, the ‘Baron Holi’ seems to hold critical information, and if other audience members were to choose, they would likely scramble for the baron role.
Han Dong’s choice was – [Sam, the Loyal Dog].
“I’ll choose this one.”
Han Dong’s choice was displayed on the large screen above, and the audience was utterly perplexed… Why not choose the baron with such a good opportunity, and instead choose a dog.
The leader’s gaze subtly changed, glancing at Han Dong before slowly shifting back to the other audience members.
He distributed the “character cards” according to their age and appearance.
“You will all be transported to your respective roles’ ‘starting positions’, with unique props placed there in one minute. Then, [the stage play – Startling Night] will officially begin.”
Clouds of dark fog enveloped everyone.
The next second, Han Dong found himself in the dog kennel behind the mansion.
With the Count often serving as his secondary consciousness, Han Dong had a deep understanding of [dog] and quickly immersed himself in it.
A strange event was unfolding at the mansion’s front door.
The ‘leader’, responsible for explaining the stage play rules, transformed into another person under the veil of darkness.
A being with eyes, nose, mouth, ears,
and even joints like neck and wrists bearing distinct stitching marks, as if each part of him was stitched together.
The previous ‘leader’ was his perfect disguise.
This person was [the professional – Matthew], one of the main cast of the circus.
He made a ‘shush’ gesture towards the audience, then turned and leapt into an empty room on the mansion’s second floor, instantly changing his image into one of the ten characters just now.
The large screen hovering above the circus divided into eleven windows, showing everyone’s status in ‘first-person/third-person’ perspective.