"Is it... a ghost?"
The relentless rain hammered against the cold windowpanes, and the couple's hearts trembled like the flickering flame in the oil lamp.
"I... I don't know," the woman swallowed hard. "Should we notify the enforcers?"
"Are you insane?"
At the mention of the enforcers, the man, who had been paralyzed with fear, finally regained some semblance of rationality.
"If the enforcers get involved, what we did will definitely come to light... Absolutely not!"
"Then... what about him?"
The woman paused, then whispered, "Do you think... a 'Calamity' has possessed A-Ling's corpse?"
Both of them turned their gaze toward the tightly shut bedroom door and fell into silence once more.
"Where are you going?"
"To the place where we buried the body!"
"Now? What for?"
"To verify," the man said hoarsely, rainwater streaming down his pale face. "No matter what's in that room now... it can't possibly be A-Ling! I need to see his body with my own eyes."
"I'll go with you!"
No one wanted to venture out in such a thunderstorm, but compared to being left alone with whatever was sleeping in that bedroom, the woman would rather brave the rain.
In the pouring rain, two figures in raincoats hurried away.
Bedroom.
Chen Ling, who had fallen into a deep slumber, suddenly twitched his eyelashes, as if caught in a nightmare.
In his dream, his consciousness sank deeper and deeper, as though falling into a bottomless cavern. After what felt like an eternity, he finally landed on something solid and steadied himself.
Thud—thud—thud—thud—
A series of heavy mechanical sounds echoed, and then beams of light pierced through the darkness, converging on a figure clad in crimson.
Chen Ling instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes.
"Where... is this?"
His muddled consciousness gradually cleared, and as his eyes adjusted to the intense light, he looked around in confusion.
Within the circle of light, he could only see the scarlet opera robe he was wearing, the worn wooden floor beneath his feet, and a corner of a black curtain illuminated by the beam behind him... Beyond the light was an endless expanse of darkness and the unknown.
The scene made Chen Ling freeze.
As if struck by a sudden realization, he squinted upward. The light illuminating him came from a series of spotlights fixed to a steel frame.
"A stage?"
As a theater director in his previous life, Chen Ling was all too familiar with stages. Up until the moment he was killed by a falling light, he had been on stage, meticulously planning the actors' movements. His understanding of the stage even surpassed that of the actors themselves.
So his first thought was that he had somehow returned to his old life.
But no...
The stage lighting in his previous theater was far superior to this. The curtains weren't black, and the floor wasn't this old, creaky wood.
Was he dreaming?
Chen Ling tentatively took a step forward, and the aged floorboards let out an ear-piercing screech. As he moved toward the edge of the light, another beam followed him, chasing him into the darkness.
"Follow spot?" Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively shouted,
"Who's there?!"
The fact that the lights were following him suggested they were being controlled by someone. Unless this place had a fully automated tracking system, which seemed highly unlikely given the stage's dilapidated state.
"Who's there..."
"Who's there..."
"Who's there..."
Chen Ling's voice echoed in the darkness, growing increasingly eerie and unsettling.
At the same time, an electronic screen at the edge of the stage lit up.
In stage design, this position was usually reserved for a teleprompter, to prevent actors or hosts from forgetting their lines. But now, the screen displayed a string of red characters:
[Audience Expectation: 29%]
In the lower left corner of the screen, a few small words read:
"Please do not let the audience's expectation fall below 20%, or the theater cannot guarantee the actor's safety."
Chen Ling stared at the screen, bewildered...
Audience? What audience?
Thud—thud—thud—
The familiar sound of lights turning on echoed once more!
The darkness in front of the stage receded like a tide, revealing rows upon rows of wooden chairs arranged in a tiered formation, stretching far into the distance. They surrounded the stage, densely packed.
Audience seats.
The term flashed through Chen Ling's mind.
It made sense for audience seats to accompany a stage, but what sent chills down his spine wasn't their presence—it was the fact that, at some point...
These seats had become filled with "audience members."
They were shadowy, humanoid figures, their forms obscured even by the ample lighting. The only discernible features were their eyes.
Countless pairs of crimson pupils opened in the dimness, seated in their respective chairs, staring at Chen Ling on the stage like a pack of cats cornering a mouse, their gazes both mocking and ravenous.
Chen Ling felt a cold sweat drip down the back of his neck under their scrutiny. He had no idea what these "audience members" were, but one thing was certain—they were not human!
Forcing himself to look away from those terrifying eyes, Chen Ling turned and bolted toward the other end of the stage.
In theory, stage exits were located on either side. As long as he could leave the stage, he could temporarily escape those monstrous things!
The follow spot locked onto the fleeing figure in red, tracking him as he sprinted to the edge of the stage. But what awaited him was a bare, solid wall.
Chen Ling froze.
Refusing to believe it, he ran to the other side of the stage, only to find the same thing.
This stage... had no exits.
In the dimly lit audience seats, the countless crimson pupils followed his frantic movements, shifting in unison like an audience engrossed in a captivating performance.
And the star of this performance was none other than Chen Ling, the man in red on the stage.
At the same time, the characters on the screen at the center of the stage flickered... The audience expectation, originally at 29%, jumped to 30%.
Damn it, what kind of messed-up nightmare is this?!
Chen Ling pinched himself hard, trying to wake himself up from the dream. But aside from the familiar sting of pain, there was no sign of him waking up.
[Intermission over. Please continue the performance.]
Another line of text appeared on the screen, followed by a crisp bell ringing from above the stage!
Ding-ling-ling—
Before Chen Ling could react, the scene before him began to shatter, and his consciousness rapidly blurred...
Just before he lost consciousness, he vaguely saw the massive, mysterious black curtain behind him slowly drawing open!
Thud!
Chen Ling jolted upright in bed!
His sheets were soaked with cold sweat, his chest heaving, his eyes filled with terror.
He swallowed hard, his gaze slowly scanning the room. Only after confirming that he was in his own bedroom and not on that damned stage did he finally relax.
"Was it a dream...? That was way too creepy."
He took a moment to calm himself, then got out of bed and walked to the living room.
By now, the rain outside had mostly stopped, but the sky remained gloomy. Chen Ling called out for his parents a few times, but there was no response. The house was eerily quiet.
"Did they leave for work already?" Chen Ling muttered to himself.
His stomach growled, empty and hollow. The nightmare seemed to have drained him of energy, leaving him feeling lightheaded. With no other choice, he headed to the kitchen to find something to eat.
As soon as he stepped inside, he tripped over something. Looking down, he saw...
The mangled remains of a water bucket, as if it had been gnawed on by a wild beast.
What happened to this bucket? Did it crack from the cold?
Chen Ling had no memory of what had happened the previous night. Suspicious, he muttered to himself, then picked up the bucket and tossed it into a corner. He grabbed a rag and crouched down to wipe up the water spilled on the floor.
But as he knelt, he froze.
The puddle of water on the floor began to move on its own, as if an invisible figure was crouching opposite him, using a finger to write something in the water.
In the next moment, the transparent water visibly turned blood-red, and a twisted, eerie message formed before Chen Ling's eyes.
—[We Are Watching You].