"Achoo!!"
Chen Ling sneezed violently in the cold wind.
As someone from the north in his previous life, Chen Ling found the weather here almost unbearable—cold, damp, and despite the sun hanging high in the sky, there was no warmth to be felt.
"Make way, make way!"
A lazy voice called out from ahead. Chen Ling snapped out of his thoughts and instinctively stepped to the side of the road.
At the end of the street, a tricycle was slowly making its way toward him. A young man was pedaling, while another sat on the back seat, surrounded by two large buckets of salt.
The latter scooped up salt with a ladle and scattered it across the frost-covered road. As the salt grains fell, the icy frost on the ground began to melt.
"Oh, Chen Ling?" The one spreading the salt noticed Chen Ling standing by the roadside and raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't expect to see the top student here. Weren't you taking the enforcer exam? Did you fail?"
The young man was Zhao Yi, someone who had grown up on the same street as Chen Ling. However, Zhao Yi had always been envious by nature. Back in high school, Chen Ling's excellent grades had often been used by Zhao Yi's mother as a benchmark, which made Zhao Yi resent him deeply.
"I passed the written exam. There's still the physical test," Chen Ling replied casually, standing by the roadside.
"Ha, well, good luck with that!"
Despite his words, Zhao Yi scooped up a large ladle of salt and flung it forcefully toward the side of the road, deliberately splashing Chen Ling in the process.
The flying salt grains covered Chen Ling's hair and cotton robe. He hadn't expected Zhao Yi to pull such a childish prank and quickly brushed the salt off, glaring at Zhao Yi.
By then, Zhao Yi was already riding away on the tricycle, swaying leisurely... He stuck out his tongue and made a face at Chen Ling, one foot propped on the salt bucket.
As a 28-year-old adult who had been through the trials of society, Chen Ling felt both annoyed and amused by such a petty trick...
However, he had no intention of chasing after Zhao Yi to give him a beating. He simply filed the incident away in his mind, as he had more important matters to attend to.
Just as Chen Ling was about to continue on his way, his gaze caught something on the ground, and he froze.
The frost that had come into contact with the salt was gradually melting, leaving a faint white residue on the ground. In that moment, Chen Ling saw a line of text forming:
[Audience Expectation: 27%]
Before Chen Ling could react, the salt grains completely dissolved, and the scene vanished as if it had been nothing more than a fleeting illusion.
Chen Ling rubbed his eyes hard and muttered to himself:
"No way..."
A sense of urgency surged within him, and he quickened his pace, heading straight for the clinic.
A few minutes later, Chen Ling pushed open the clinic's door.
The so-called clinic was actually just a residential house on Frost Street—a two-story building with a plain, gray exterior that reminded Chen Ling of his rural hometown.
But even this rough-looking structure was one of the better buildings on Frost Street, at least offering two floors and some protection from the wind.
"It's you." A man in a white coat sitting behind a wooden desk turned slightly. "Here to pick up medicine for your brother again? Didn't he transfer to a hospital in District Two?"
"This time it's not for A-Yan. It's for me."
Chen Ling's younger brother had previously been hospitalized here, so he was quite familiar with Dr. Lin. He sat down at the table, looking visibly tense.
"Oh? What's bothering you?"
"I... my mind isn't feeling right."
"Do you mean physical headaches, or..."
"I've been having hallucinations recently."
"Psychiatric issues?" Dr. Lin raised an eyebrow, adjusting his black-framed glasses. "That's my specialty... Tell me about your symptoms."
"Last night, I had a dream. I was standing on a stage, and there were many spectators in the audience... I couldn't see their faces clearly, but they didn't seem human. I was running desperately on the stage, but I couldn't find an exit..."
"Interpreting dreams isn't part of my services."
"I know." Chen Ling took a deep breath. "But after I woke up, I kept feeling... like they're still watching me."
Hearing this, Dr. Lin finally seemed intrigued. "You feel like you're being watched?"
"It doesn't feel like a delusion... It's like they're in my head, sitting in the audience, observing my every move. And I'm like a performer forced to entertain them, just a tool for their amusement."
"So, you're saying your life is a stage, and you're the only protagonist?"
"That's close... but not as positive as you make it sound."
"What about the audience? Besides watching you, do they do anything else?"
Chen Ling hesitated for a moment. "I don't know if it's my imagination... but they seem to be able to influence things around me."
"Influence reality? That sounds a bit fantastical." Dr. Lin picked up his teacup and took a sip, about to say something more when his expression suddenly changed!
Pfft!!
Dr. Lin spat out a mouthful of bright red blood, splattering it across the floor.
"Dr. Lin?!" Chen Ling was startled. "Are you sick or something?"
"...No." Dr. Lin wiped the blood from his lips. The blood wasn't his. He frowned, deep in thought, then looked down at the teacup on the corner of the table...
At some point, the cup had been filled with thick, coagulated blood.
Dr. Lin's face turned grim. He clearly remembered brewing a cup of Pu'er tea just a minute ago.
During that time, only he and Chen Ling had been in the clinic. Chen Ling had been under his watch the entire time, making it impossible for him to have tampered with the tea. The cup of blood had appeared as if by magic, defying all logic...
Chen Ling seemed to realize something as well, his face growing paler.
"Like I said," he spoke hoarsely,
"They... might really exist."
Dr. Lin stared at the cup of blood for a long time before slowly turning to Chen Ling.
"How long has this been happening?"
"One day." Chen Ling paused. "Since I regained consciousness, it's only been one day."
"And before you regained consciousness? What were you doing?"
"I..."
Chen Ling's mind flashed back to the previous night, when he had stumbled through the pouring rain. "I don't know. I can't remember."
"So, you're not sure if this symptom started last night, and you have no memory of what happened before that?"
"...Yes."
"Have you ever been possessed by a 'Calamity'?" Dr. Lin adjusted his glasses.
"Or let me rephrase that... Did you encounter a Gray Realm convergence last night?"