Chapter 1527: NO.142: And, it is not a fairy tale

NO. 142: And, it is not a fairy tale

Based on true events—this sentence is both a disclaimer to avoid disputes and a clever trick to boost the audience's inner appraisal.

In reality, many believe that artistic creation needs logic while reality does not, and many will, when their experience feels incomplete, associate it with the show's prototype.

While the show's popularity lingers, these people often provide a baseline for discussion, even heating up related topics of the prototype event.

But by this point, most of these people also understood the difference between creation and reality, knowing that the 'adaptation' in 'based on true events' can mean retaining only a hint of the prototype or a faithful, unchanged reproduction.

So…

This drama, created because of the assault case a few days ago, whose structure resembles a coc role‑play module, how much of it is grounded in reality?

Aomo does not think Miss Arturo, who is in charge of the music, would deceive him, since he came for the expression of that otherworldly moon‑chariot symbol; therefore the moon‑chariot‑symbol portion in this theater should be a relatively thorough restoration.

But that part is not the whole theater.

【The Lost Paradise of the Cruel Theater Mechanical Device】

By slightly raising his head he can see the play's name, rendered in red‑on‑white text via a semi‑transparent UI; the spreading pallid and iron‑gray layers are eroding the floor, doors, tabletop, and walls, from which countless bizarre mechanical bodies protrude.

Thus it is declared that this temporarily safe haven has failed; next, one must choose between fighting, fleeing, or fighting while fleeing.

There are vehicles, horse girls, and battle angels and demons with astonishing physical prowess, so a chase should be the easiest part, and continuing to run should be no pressure—but the moment that lyrical piano music sounds, this idea becomes unrealistic.

Even with piano, trumpet, and drums added now, Aomo, who has some musical appreciation, would not ignore the ever‑present cello sound.

Thus, he readily accepted the fire‑supremacist display put on by Federico Giacallo before him.

Firearms, source energy, the battle angels with all‑guns‑blazing firepower give an impression far surpassing the initial one.

Powerful, cruel, and deadly, the offensive built from rapid, scorching firepower even once stalemated against the opposing spread; this burst of firepower far exceeds what Aomo has seen from RemuLe in work, letting him grasp the undertaker codename more deeply while also seeing that the person remains forever a cold‑blooded poker face.

He does not take pleasure in destruction.

But his foremost instinct deep down is essentially to suppress the unfolding of these threats.

This is his current heartfelt voice; in contrast, WestQi Feng, who early on tossed out a few words, pulled far away, tried to seek weapon support but was dissuaded by Aomo, also shows a quite clear inner state.

He does not want to fight, nor even to be drawn into this incident.

This fits his purpose—he originally only wanted to deal with the Chasers Club, and while the moon‑chariot symbol, as the leader of that club's cooperative organization, is important, it is ultimately not his focus.

Coming along this time was merely out of friendship and the duty of a partner in the event, to accompany the run; although Aomo said it wasn't necessary, he still came, and at that time he probably thought the investigation itself would be just some boring stuff, with no waves——

——never imagining he would end up experiencing the test item at the notorious Gu Lan Ji Nie Er Ju Yuan.

This senior WestQi Feng……is likely the type who avoids horror games.

A few minutes ago, seeing his hurried, rapid speech, Aomo already thought that.

Now he also calmly accepts his distance.

It's just the subconscious at work—no friction.

This theater, which once made good opera patrons come and go, yet could make Arturo choose to stay, is essentially digging into each viewer's inner fear while not being limited to pure fear.

Just as the first Gu Lan Ji Nie Er Ju Yuan favored Freud's publication *Studies on Hysteria*, which not only gave a detailed analysis and explanation of hysteria's symptoms and causes, but also proposed the trauma theory that 'every person harbors some psychological energy that must find an outlet, and when confronted with contradiction it leads to pathological symptoms.'

This theory's flip side points to another fact: that everyone has the potential to fall ill, and may already be on the path to illness.

This was extremely enlightening for the development of horror theaters, especially for playwrights compiling their scripts.

And that book included motivational and economic factors among the causes of hysteria, emphasizing emotional life, especially the major role of sexuality, which pushed the already exaggerated performances of the time straight into vulgarity yet also brought about a huge response peak.

Any repressed desire, action, thought, or emotion is essentially linked to homosexuality in nature, its roots traceable to childhood—this research theory was obviously seized upon by playwrights, leading to the period's many overt or covert vulgar productions.

The Gu Lan Ji Nie Er Ju Yuan of a thousand years ago was still like that, born of the era's chaos and filth; but a millennium later, with a law‑based society and civilized life as the developmental foundation, how did the theater establish itself and become able to withstand countless reports?

The answer is no longer clinging to extremes in a single domain, but choosing richer desires and a more diverse self.

Precisely for this reason, Arturo Giacallo will stay here.

Likewise for this reason, her being one of only three cellists here also shows how highly the theater's director values her.

Thus we should reintroduce Arturo Giacallo, the otherworldly person who came to this realm together with Luodao Island Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., possessing extremely high musical accomplishment, codename 'Shapeheart'.

She once received an education in 'music is order discovered in chaos,' but in her life's actual experience and self‑pursuit she leans more toward another notion:

【Music is flowing will, the language of self‑expression】

Using her instrument, which looks like an electric cello but is essentially a staff, she casts spells that resonate with everyone's innermost nature, just as a cloud that has absorbed too much water will rain down.

The desires deep in the heart accumulate and then pour out exactly like that; regardless of good or bad, she equally gives every spirit the chance to manifest itself.

This is why her codename, originally meant for a virtuoso/master of art, underwent a huge shift in meaning when translated into Dongyan script, and also why her attitude toward Aomo changed abruptly after she began playing a passage.

Although she commands spells capable of making the buds at the heart of an iron tree bloom and easily shaping the minds of the repressed, the world is vast, and the world beyond the world is even vaster.

Arturo is not the first to encounter beings whose minds cannot be reached by music; those beings are mostly old, after all she is a musician and the audience are guests.

Guests naturally appreciate music and do not reject it; few are the types who first put up heavy mental guards before coming to enjoy the drama.

And in such circumstances, those who can still block the music tend to have tempered spirits, suppressing the interference of music and spell with absolute self‑control.

——That sounds absurd, and indeed it truly is absurd.

Arturo has seen more than one such idealist powerhouse in this world, and these powerhouses are usually old timers; being actually nearly twenty is clearly a first‑time breakthrough.

Of course, at that time she had only pulled up the prelude; even if others showed some abnormality, it was still not enough for Aomo to truly stand on equal footing with those old‑timers, so she proactively brought up this drama test.

She's got personality, sis will play the cello for you. jpg

She really is personally playing it.

"Aren't you bothered by the trouble?"

A stern double‑buttoned windbreaker, a fluffy owl face on the head, fully showing the spring chill.

Although 99 % of everything is a mechanically forged simulation, that crucial 0.01 % is genuinely from another world fallen here, bearing the name of the evil talent André de Lod.

It shares the name of the playwright from a thousand years ago who supplied and rehearsed for the grand puppet theater, known as the Horror Prince, and could even be said to be the same person manifesting in a different time‑space.

This male, long ago altered in the altered world and taking an altered form, would rather remain non‑human in that theater of desire, filth, and blood intertwined, even if he could recover; undoubtedly he is the 'bird person' Arturo speaks of.

"Is it really necessary to remove the main track and play the cello myself?" he asked, with his neck tilted 80° to the right.

Clearly a mechanically constructed body, yet it faithfully reproduces the astonishing cervical rotation of a monkey‑faced owl, paired with that pallid visage and pitch‑black eyes, clearly a tasteless choice meant to evoke a grim, terrifying feel from the appearance alone.

Whenever he behaves in this manner toward others, he gives them a visible sense of oppression, but those who feel it are usually the audience, police, and reporters.

In contrast, the theater staff show no reaction to this; it's unclear whether they're accustomed or simply have a different disposition than usual.

Such is Arturo at this moment:

"The background sound last time wasn't recorded well either; wouldn't it be appropriate to do it again?"

After confirming that the AI-assisted audio track had been synchronized for this moment, Arturo lowered his bow, but he didn't look at the monkey-faced owl staring at him; instead, he gazed at the youth being repeatedly pushed back by the female colleague, and smirked.

"Besides, don't you find that gentleman rather interesting?"

"The woman beside him is even more interesting; as for him..."

"Being the offspring of a demon and a human yet rejecting the fact smeared with desire is truly disgusting."

"Oh~ Is the impression really that bad?" Arturo exclaimed happily.

"Before, those were also tolerable, yet I don't see this reaction from you—what's different about him? Age?"

"Someone who seems to like fairy tales—no matter how you look at it, they're utterly detestable."