Chapter 19: The Performance is Satisfactory!

"Your feeling is truly wonderful~"

Huh? Watching this inexplicably unfolding scene on the television, Ding Mo could not help but look bewildered.

What kind of scene is this supposed to be?

At this moment, Chu Chenfeng, who had been observing through the door's peephole, confirmed that the "Dong Xiaoyu" who had been knocking so eerily was no longer outside—given the bizarre situation just now, they hadn't dared to open the door at all!

Afterward, Chu Chenfeng also walked over to the television,

and saw this scene.

"Big banana~"

"Ah, this is the 'Pollution' on that guy Zhu Jie." Listening to the faint singing from the television, Chu Chenfeng explained:

"This Pollution initially came from a catchy song that suddenly went viral on the internet; I won't mention its name.

"People who listen to the song will be polluted, gradually lose their sanity, and eventually turn into monkeys that only know how to eat bananas and obey orders."

"Ah?" Ding Mo listened in astonishment, then immediately took a step back, distancing himself from the television.

"Big banana~ A big banana~"

Then they are now...

"Don't worry, Zhu Jie is not the source of the Pollution; the conditions for him to pollute others are much more stringent." Chu Chenfeng saw his concern and added an explanation.

Only then did Ding Mo heave a sigh of relief and continue watching the television.

"Floating and swaying~ rocking and rolling~ your feeling is truly wonderful~" Zhu Jie waved his hands up and down, performing incredibly strange movements,

and from time to time, he even raised his eyebrows and wiggled his buttocks!

"Big banana~ A big banana~" Zhu Jie sang with great effort, and seeing that Dong Xiaoyu had no reaction, he felt a surge of joy.

It really worked!

Next, she would immediately lose her worries, along with her brain! And she would believe that she was, and only was, a "monkey" that liked to eat bananas!

He put even more effort into it.

"... If you feel happy now~ give all your gloom to me—wipe! Wipe! Wipe!"

Usually, when singing to this point, not only the gloom, but the other party's sanity would also be wiped away.

Done! Having finished singing, Zhu Jie wiped his sweat, but looked at the opposite side with some confusion.

He had finished singing, so why was this woman,

still standing in place, without any reaction?

"..."

"Hee hee~"

Seeing that he had finished singing, "Dong Xiaoyu" suddenly tilted her head, and a playful giggle came from beneath her mask.

Immediately after! She, who had been kneeling, suddenly lunged forward, and in Zhu Jie's increasingly terrified gaze, she crawled toward him on all fours!

That movement was eerie and swift; it was absolutely not something a human could do!

"You, you!" Zhu Jie retreated in panic for two steps, waving his hands, seemingly wanting to ward off this 'Guaishou'.

But it was all in vain; the lights in the room began to flicker, and vaguely, one could see two figures pouncing onto the bed, entangled in a mess.

But Ding Mo, in front of the television, could vaguely hear that what came from it were not the sounds of joy between a man and a woman, but bursts of terrified screams and echoes of pain!

In the flickering light, he could roughly see clearly that "Dong Xiaoyu" was straddling Zhu Jie's abdomen, holding some heavy object, and smashing it fiercely against Zhu Jie's face!

Bang! Bang! Bang...

Ding Mo and Chu Chenfeng both couldn't help but gasp.

I don't know how much time passed; it seemed like a few seconds, and it also seemed like a few dozen minutes.

When the red and white soaked through the bedsheets and pillows, this tragedy finally ceased.

The flickering lights returned to normal, and both people on the bed had disappeared; in that pool of sticky blood, only a mask stained with a few drops of fresh blood remained.

That was the Pale Mask symbolizing the "King"!

After another few seconds, Ding Mo still hadn't recovered from this highly impactful scene.

The light above his head suddenly turned on!

Not just here, but in the corridor, in the hall, the lights everywhere turned on.

The performance was over.

"..."

In front of the now-turned-off television, Ding Mo sat on the bed, looking at the mask in his hand.

Its surface was smooth and delicate, like the skin of the most tender young girl, and wearing it would not cause the slightest discomfort.

"This mask..."

I'm afraid I have to carry it with me at all times!

Just now, when Zhu Jie saw the lights in the room turn on, he must have thought the performance was over, which is why he took off the mask.

But in reality, no one had stipulated that a "room" could not be a "stage"!

The "Handbook" stated:

"During a performance, the light is the stage! Wherever the light shines, please, Actors, act accordingly."

According to this rule, as long as the performance hasn't ended, wherever the light is on, that is the "stage"!

Ding-dong~

At this moment, the notification sound of a mobile phone suddenly rang, interrupting Ding Mo's train of thought.

To the side, Chu Chenfeng, who was rubbing the suitcase with his fingers, saw this and checked his phone first.

Two seconds later, he raised his head and said:

"It's a message from the Director,

"Our performance, it passed!"

!?

Passed? Ding Mo widened his eyes slightly.

This counts as passing?

He immediately picked up his phone and entered the group chat.

The first thing that caught his eye was a huge, high-definition image—it was that bed of Zhu Jie's, stained with blood, and the Mask of the King lying quietly in the pool of blood.

This pale Mask of unknown material lay so quietly on the pristine white bedsheet, right in the middle of that viscous, scarlet red,

as if silently narrating the story that had taken place here.

【Director: @All members, congratulations to all Actors, "Snow White Act I" has successfully wrapped! The image above is the Commemorative Poster for the first act.】

Commemorative Poster?

Ding Mo felt this was practically like a "hell joke."

【Director: Thank you to the Actor who played the King, thank you for his contribution to us, to everyone, to all! Now, he can rest...】

【Director: The Script for the Second Act will be released tomorrow. Everyone,

get a good night's sleep tonight.】

"..." Ding Mo always felt there was a hidden meaning in the Director's words.

Did the production crew seem to have anticipated that this kind of thing would happen?

But that didn't matter anymore; if a performance like this could pass, it meant...

【Leng Rourou (Snow White): I understand now, the sign that a performance passes is the participation of this "Substitute Actor"!】

【Ding Mo (Guard): Substitute... Actor?】

【Leng Rourou (Snow White): That's right, remember? At the very beginning, the Director said there were a total of "13" Actors participating.

And there are only 12 people in the group; the remaining person is the "Substitute Actor." It just never popped up in the group.

Now it seems, this "Actor" isn't human at all!

The "Dong Xiaoyu" from just now was disguised by it!】

"Hiss—" Ding Mo only felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

If "Dong Xiaoyu" was disguised by it, what about the others? Could it disguise itself as them?

At the very least, there was not a shred of evidence to suggest it couldn't!

That is to say, in the performances to follow, they must be vigilant at all times, vigilant against the situation where a performer is "replaced" by something non-human!

But this "it," whether in movement or voice, could imitate flawlessly, and one must wear a Mask during the performance, making it impossible to see faces or expressions clearly.

How were they supposed to tell them apart!?

Thinking of this, he glanced at Chu Chenfeng and discovered that the latter also had a grave expression.

If they couldn't tell in time, they might end up like Zhu Jie today, dying a miserable death...

【Lu Zhenhao (Dwarf): If it must participate for it to count as passing, then how can we lure this Actor to participate in the Drama?】

After this question came out, the group was silent for a long time, as if they were unwilling to face this question?

After a long while,

【Leng Rourou (Snow White): My personal speculation is that it requires some extreme plot, some plot that deviates drastically from the original Script to attract it to participate in the performance.】

That was also a direction... Ding Mo pondered for a moment, then felt something was wrong.

If that were the case, then why didn't "it" appear during the plot of "Queen poisons the King"?

【Lu Zhenhao (Dwarf): Heh...】

The "Dwarf" seemed somewhat disdainful, and his next sentence made the group silent for a long time:

【Cunning bitch, you're only saying that because you don't want to be killed!】