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“A mysterious cursed painting, lingering shadows of evil spirits, explorers who vanished without a trace – behind all this, is it a human conspiracy, or the curse of evil spirits...”
“Welcome to this episode of Unveiling Reality. Let’s uncover the truth and explore the unknown mysteries...”
The pre-recorded narration played from the phone speaker, accompanied by suspenseful background music. Shila, who had just returned to the dorm covered in sweat from her morning exercise, opened the door and heard this narration, then saw her roommate lying on the bed watching her phone.
She walked over curiously. “Is this that mystery exploration show you’ve been following lately?”
On the phone screen was an edited replay from the previous night, appearing to be the preview for the start of the exploration show.
“Yes! I’m telling you, this is a super popular exploration show right now!” Her roommate looked up and quickly waved her over. “Come watch with me! I’ve invited you several times before but you were always busy. You can’t say you’re busy today – I know you have nothing planned this weekend!”
“Alright, you’ve got me interested.”
The two girls lay side by side on the bed. Shila was curious what made this show so captivating to her roommate. She propped herself up with a pillow and focused on the screen.
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The scene showed a sky filled with dark clouds after the sunset glow faded, ruins forming what looked like a ghost cave, and an old desolate castle under the gloomy sky. Four fully equipped people – two men and two women – were getting out of their vehicles at the castle entrance.
Subtitles appeared as the four people emerged –
First was the couple holding hands:
A man with black hair and brown eyes wearing a black tank top, his visible muscle definition suggesting he was likely a fitness trainer. Next to him was a petite girl with smooth golden hair who looked like a young idol.
[Andre] [Ella]
As their names appeared along with brief introductions, her roommate, who had already watched the previous day’s livestream, began explaining enthusiastically. “They’re actually just a third-rate actor and internet celebrity combination. Their identities aren’t secret anymore after the show aired. Andre used to be a stunt double, but because he had decent martial arts talent, he happened to catch the spiritual awakening wave. Somehow he managed to cultivate internal energy, and now he’s no longer doing stunt work – he’s even acted in two TV dramas...”
Her expression showed hints of envy.
After Leiyin exposed the truth about the Transcendence Project, there was a period of chaos within the Chenxing Empire, with people divided in their opinions. Although most people demanded the project be stopped, quite a few felt the Transcendence Project itself was good and just needed to stop using innocent citizens for human experiments. There was also a faction that completely supported the project.
Regardless, the government’s credibility inevitably suffered during this process. Fewer and fewer people were willing to believe the empire’s stance against martial arts. Instead, this system continued to spread through the Extraordinary Forum.
However, unlike the East, the Chenxing Empire didn’t have nationwide teaching programs, making self-study significantly more difficult. One could seek guidance from martial artists on the Extraordinary Forum, but this wasn’t cheap.
In any case, Andre, who had jumped from being a stunt double to a third-rate actor, was one of the lucky ones who managed to start on the path of martial arts cultivation. Meanwhile, Shila and her roommate, who could only lie in bed watching the livestream, clearly didn’t have such talent and luck – they were just among the many ordinary people.
After finishing her slightly bitter commentary about Andre’s situation, her roommate pointed to the girl nestled beside him. “This Ella is a famous major streamer online, though she used to be in the song and dance category. She only got together with Andre recently, which gave her the chance to join the exploration show as part of a couple. Just from yesterday’s preview alone, she gained a million followers!”
As for the other two guests-
“...This cool short-haired beauty is called Steele. She seems to be an extreme sports enthusiast and parkour expert, with high martial arts abilities too. She joined the show purely for the adventure.”
“The last handsome blonde guy was called West, a mystery novelist I’d never heard of before. He claimed he was here to gather material.”
During the break when her roommate was introducing the guests, Shila also finished listening to the previous night’s replay of the program’s background – the story of the cursed painting and Worsey Castle.
Her roommate’s discussion grew passionate. “Shila, do you think this is real? If it is, the evil spirit in the painting is too pitiful! A wife killed by her husband, a daughter harmed by her father...” She gritted her teeth, “They’re absolutely scum! Complete scum!”
As her roommate rambled on, the previous replay segment finished playing, and the originally dark livestream room lit up.
Her roommate immediately stopped rambling and excitedly patted Shila’s hand, focusing intently on the screen. “It’s starting, it’s starting!”
...
The phone alarm rang several times before Andre finally woke from his deep dream. He struggled to open his seemingly glue-sealed heavy eyelids, staring motionlessly at the faded ceiling, his brown eyes completely vacant and bewildered.
“Andre, Andre, aren’t you awake yet?” The girl’s soft hand rested on his arm, pushing several times, her voice growing anxious, “Andre, wake up quickly!”
Perhaps due to the forceful movement, after several pushes, the man lying on the bed accidentally tilted to one side and fell off the bed.
He tried to get up but found his body immobilized, like the sleep paralysis from horror movies, forced to watch helplessly as that cold hand traced down his face.
“I felt my blood draining away...” Recalling the sensation from the dream, Andre’s eyes grew increasingly distant, cold sweat gathering on his forehead. Yet, as if controlled by some force, he continued, “My body withered, my skin and flesh no longer fit together snugly, there was space between them, my skin hung loosely around my flesh, and that woman was coming to peel it away...”
“Andre!” A shout snapped him out of it. West frowned at the clearly disturbed Andre, “Are you sure you’re alright? Could you be affected by the story?”
“You don’t actually believe those rumors, do you?”
He analyzed seriously, “I think this is mostly a man-made story, meant to cover up robbery and murder. Though we’ve only stayed one night, I wasn’t idle yesterday. I found plenty of evidence suggesting people had occupied this place for a while, likely engaging in illegal activities.”
“...Like killing and silencing adventure seekers who believed the rumors, then blaming it on legendary evil spirits.”
“That’s all just your speculation,” Steele objected, staying firmly in character. “I think there’s definitely something wrong with this place. From my experience, there are traces of mystical energy here.” The adventurer maintained a vigilant expression, “Andre’s dream might be some kind of omen. They say sensitive people can easily perceive things others can’t – we should be careful.”
“Well, a dream is just a dream, not reality.” West patted the dazed Andre, “See? The villa is fine, you’re fine, nothing happened.”
“...I brought some bread, let’s have breakfast first. We have a full day ahead to uncover the truth.”
Andre, suddenly coming to his senses, nodded instinctively. But in the next moment, his expression turned particularly ugly.
...Wait, what did I just do?!
...Everything happening now is being livestreamed, and I just acted like a complete coward in front of all the viewers!
Damn it! The tough guy image I’ve worked so hard to maintain—
Thinking of this, his gaze involuntarily swept toward West.
...This kid, is he deliberately stepping on me to make himself look good?
...Did he just steal my spotlight and dramatic moments?
Thinking about this, he was too preoccupied with reclaiming his audience’s attention to worry about his psychological trauma, munching on bread while contemplating how to get the spotlight back on himself.
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What he didn’t know was that at this moment, he was absolutely the most eye-catching person in the scene, drawing the most viewer attention.
[!!!]
[Run! It’s not a nightmare! It’s real!!]
[Help! How can you still be eating breakfast? Everything that happened in the dream was real! There are evil spirits! Run!]
In their dorm room, Shila and her roommate were huddled together trembling, both girls simultaneously letting out high-pitched screams.
The phone streaming the show fell onto the blanket, its lit screen seeming to be covered with a blood-red filter, revealing the blood-stained castle and the four equally red-stained people.
Blood dripped continuously from the ceiling, running down their hair, cheeks, and clothing, falling to the ground.
Andre, now without blood or outer skin, just raw red flesh like a large piece of meat, sat naturally among the three others who were still relatively intact, holding his blood-soaked bread and eating large bites. His skinless face wore an especially horrifying smile.
In this state, it was impossible for anyone to steal his spotlight.
On this day, countless viewers watching the livestream screamed in terror just like Shila, their sanity points plummeting.
[Ahhhhh help help barrage protection!]
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