All the players' gazes immediately looked over, and the spotlight on the stage seemed to notice the focus, turning to illuminate that figure.
Only at this moment did Cheng Shuili see the person's appearance clearly.
It was exactly A Gentle Kiss!
She was wearing a neat, dark-colored athletic outfit. Her long hair was slightly messy from the previous impact, with a few strands sticking to her sweat-dampened temples.
There was no expression on her face, only those eyes, which were shockingly bright in the dimness, sweeping coldly over the shaken players below before finally locking onto the red hat that was still trembling slightly between her fingers.
Without a moment's hesitation, she flicked her wrist, and a dagger that had appeared from nowhere suddenly pierced through the red hat.
The moment the blade punctured the red cloth, a sound like stabbing into thick cotton batting echoed out.
Immediately following, everyone heard a faint, tiny scream.
It was short and sharp, carrying a sense of desperate pain.
At the same time, the red hat pinned to the dagger began to convulse violently.
The originally soft fabric instantly twisted and struggled like a living thing, with viscous, blood-like liquid even seeping from the edge of the brim, slowly dripping down the blade of the dagger.
A Gentle Kiss did not even frown; her wrist holding the dagger remained steady as a rock.
She even raised the dagger to her eyes, coldly watching the hat that had come to life struggling in vain on the tip of her blade.
All the players' gazes were fixed on the dagger in her hand, watching the red hat twist and struggle until it exhausted its last bit of strength, gave one final twitch, and then went completely still.
A Gentle Kiss finally raised her head and looked toward the stage.
With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the dagger, along with the now completely lifeless hat, toward the stage.
The dagger nailed into the stage floor, emitting a crisp, vibrating ring.
The red hat, now with a hole in it, draped limply beside the dagger like a discarded rag.
At some unknown moment, the two black smiles painted on the windows of the cardboard house began to fade rapidly, turning from near-solid oil paint back into the faint, simple lines of a sketch, even more blurred than they had been at the start.
The lighting of the entire stage changed completely as well.
It was no longer a harsh, ghastly white spotlight but had been replaced by warm, dim yellow lights.
This seemed to signal the end of this stage.
Above the audience, that feeling of being overlooked by an invisible entity also vanished, leaving only the silence that should belong to an empty theater.
Although, within this silence, heavy gasps and suppressed sobs from those who had survived remained.
A Gentle Kiss jumped down from the back row seat, landing without a sound.
She did not look at the expressions on the survivors' faces, which were a mixture of awe, fear, and bewilderment, but walked straight through the sparse rows of seats toward the stage.
The survivors subconsciously cleared a path for her.
Someone opened their mouth, seemingly wanting to offer thanks or ask a question, but upon meeting her cold gaze, they swallowed their words back down.
She walked to the edge of the stage but did not go up, only looking up at the overhead light that was no longer ghastly white.
This was also the direction the second player who went on stage had looked. She stared at it for a while, but it seemed she didn't see anything, so she simply stopped looking.
The scenery had been cleared away at some point, and the stage was empty. A Gentle Kiss simply sat cross-legged on the floor, her gaze scanning the faces of the surviving players.
Hmm... not this one... not this one either.
After searching through the crowd, A Gentle Kiss frowned and scratched her hair, feeling somewhat irritable.
The dungeon was almost over, and she still hadn't found her teammates. What kind of situation was this?
She had wondered if some accident had happened while in the corridor, but that was Angry Crow Takes Flight, the top of the Dragon Country leaderboard. If she died in a place like this, it would truly be a case of capsizing in a ditch; she would be a laughingstock even in death.
Thinking this, A Gentle Kiss turned her head and glanced at the stage again.
It was likely the intermission after a play had ended. She could see gray theater dolls setting up new scenery, and once these dolls finished, a new round of slaughter would likely begin.
Seeing her sitting so casually on the stage, the players in the audience grew bolder and began to stand up and explore.
Cheng Shuili took out some meat jerky that Wanyi had roasted for her from the Abyss Ring, eating while observing the situation of the crowd.
She now understood the purpose of her private box.
Perhaps as a reward for achieving a special ending in the first stage, everything that happened in this second stage had little to do with her; even the third stage might not affect her at all.
She only needed to be a spectator to perfectly pass through this stage.
Of course, she could also choose to break through the one-way glass and participate like A Gentle Kiss.
But she was different from A Gentle Kiss.
It wasn't a difference in choice, but a difference in identity.
She was the boss of the puppets; how could she go out and help these evil player-audience members?
Cheng Shuili picked up another piece of jerky and put it into her mouth.
Wanyi's craftsmanship needed no further description; the moment the tip of her tongue touched the jerky, the flavor of the seasonings exploded in her mouth.
She narrowed her eyes, feeling quite comfortable.
Outside the glass, A Gentle Kiss turned to look at the situation on the stage; the gray dolls were almost finished setting up the scene.
She stood up, stretched slowly, jumped off the stage, and sat down in a comfortable spot.
It seemed she was just waiting for this second play to begin.
The moment A Gentle Kiss sat down, the lights on the stage were suddenly extinguished.
It wasn't a gradual dimming, but a quick and total plunge into pitch-black darkness with a "snap."
A few suppressed gasps rang out in the audience, and they immediately sat still as prompted by the announcement.
After all, everyone knew the consequences of not doing what the announcement said.
Cheng Shuili put down the jerky, her fingertips tracing the cold glass.
Outside the one-way glass was endless darkness, but this darkness posed no obstacle to her. The soft wall lamps inside the SVIP room were on, reflecting off her calm profile. She could see everything outside clearly, even more clearly than with the naked eye.
This was an authority exclusive to the manager, a cold, condescending overlook.
The sound of fabric rubbing together came from the stage direction; it was the gray dolls making adjustments in the final darkness.
There was no announcement, no instructions, only an invisible pressure permeating the darkness, slowly fermenting, pressing down so hard that all the surviving players could barely breathe.
After all, no one knew what would happen next, and no one knew if death would descend suddenly.
Tension spread in the silence.
A Gentle Kiss sat in the audience, her body appearing relaxed, but in reality, every muscle was in a state of optimal readiness.
Her eyes narrowed slightly in the dark, adapting to the dim environment.
The other VIP players who saw this were even more fortunate; fortunately, they weren't as impatient as A Gentle Kiss, who, just to show off, broke the glass and jumped out, abandoning the safety of the VIP room.
The curtain on the stage slowly closed and then suddenly unfolded, with two curtains rushing to the sides of the stage as if eager to show the audience the scenery on the stage.
All the players' gazes immediately focused on the stage.
What came into view was a forest clearly made of wooden boards: brown trunks, green leaves, and fake trees standing on the stage. The center of the forest had been specifically cleared to leave an open space, with the ground covered in artificial green moss and fallen leaves.
To the side, a Big Bad Wolf was sprawled out.
Cheng Shuili frowned and stared seriously for a long time before realizing that this, too, was a doll.
Only... it was too realistic.
It wasn't the anthropomorphic, hat-wearing image from fairy tales, but a more primitive and ferocious form.
Rough gray fur covered its entire body, on all fours, with claws dug deep into the wooden floor of the stage. The wolf's snout protruded forward, revealing interlocking, ivory-white fangs, and there were suspicious dark red stains hanging from the corners of its mouth.
The most heart-stopping part was the eyes.
Two living eyeballs that were constantly rotating and glowing with a faint green light were currently scanning the players below with hunger, emitting a low, threatening growl from its throat.
This scene followed the previous one, and Cheng Shuili clearly heard the breathing of the players below grow much quieter.
Never mind them, even Cheng Shuili herself broke into a cold sweat for A Gentle Kiss.
She only had this one teammate, and of course, she hoped this teammate could survive.
But to say she would risk her own life to save a teammate... that was absolutely impossible.
Just when most players thought this Big Bad Wolf would also die in some way, it suddenly moved. Its massive body was unusually agile, its gray fur gleaming in the dim light.
It didn't need to pick lucky audience members one by one like the Little Red Riding Hood from the previous segment; instead, it shook its head violently, and those green-glowing eyes locked onto a player in the audience.
The growl in its throat grew louder, almost turning into a low roar.
Its front paws dug into the ground, its hind legs gathering strength.
The next second, its massive body actually lunged off the stage like an arrow from a bow!
"Careful!" a player shrieked.
The targeted player's pupils shrank, but being able to survive until now meant he was no ordinary person. He almost subconsciously twisted his body, rolling to the side at the very last second.
The Big Bad Wolf's claws grazed his back, tearing his jacket and bringing up a few threads of cloth.
It landed in the aisle of the audience, its heavy body making the wooden floor groan under the unbearable weight.
The surrounding players retreated in terror, knocking over seats; the scene was in complete chaos.
The Big Bad Wolf missed its first strike and immediately changed direction, lunging at the player again.
This time, its movements were faster, its fangs aiming straight for his throat!
The player couldn't react in time, and just as the fangs were about to pierce his throat...
"Clang!"
A cold light flew in from an angle, hitting the Big Bad Wolf's fangs precisely with a crisp metallic sound.
It was A Gentle Kiss!
She had already stood up at some point, and the dagger she threw had deflected the wolf's snout.
The Big Bad Wolf felt the pain and hesitated for a moment.
Cheng Shuili couldn't help but frown slightly.
Isn't this person a lone wolf?
The lone wolf Cheng Shuili understood was someone who didn't care about the fate of anyone other than themselves and could look at the deaths of others with indifference.
Not like this, jumping in to save others' lives at every turn...
What is this?
Drawing a blade to help when seeing injustice?
Cheng Shuili complained in her heart, but her eyes remained fixed on the monster and A Gentle Kiss.
The player who had narrowly escaped death scrambled backward, his face as pale as paper.
A Gentle Kiss didn't pause for a moment. She darted forward like a cheetah, and the moment the Big Bad Wolf turned its head to look at her, she lowered her body, darting under the wolf's belly and casually picking up the dagger that had bounced onto the ground.
"Roar!"
The Big Bad Wolf was completely enraged.
It abandoned its original target, its green eyes locked firmly onto this human who dared to provoke it.
Its massive body brought a foul wind, lunging toward A Gentle Kiss with even more ferocious momentum.
A Gentle Kiss's eyes were sharp; instead of retreating, she advanced.
She didn't try to resist head-on, but relied on amazing agility and prediction to dodge in the gaps between the wolf's claws and fangs.
The dagger occasionally grazed the wolf's body, bringing up clumps of dark yellow stuffing.
But these attacks seemed unable to cause real damage to the Big Bad Wolf, instead making it even more violent.
Its attack range was huge, and its power was staggering; every lunge turned nearby seats into fragments.
Other players had long since been scared out of their wits, frantically retreating toward the back of the theater and the corners, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
Someone tried to attack, but ordinary weapons had almost no effect on that fur, and might even draw the Big Bad Wolf's attention.
"This won't work! This thing is impossible to kill!" a player shouted.
A Gentle Kiss realized this too.
Her breathing was slightly uneven; high-intensity combat consumed stamina rapidly. The monster could wear her out, but she couldn't afford that.
She had to find the monster's weakness, or... discover a change, just like when she stabbed the Little Red Riding Hood to death!
That red hat had possessed a shadow after killing its first person, and A Gentle Kiss had immediately discovered this.
She was certain that she wasn't the only one who had discovered it.
Perhaps those sitting in the VIP boxes had all seen it, but none of the players sitting below had noticed. If she didn't stand up, all these players would die.
If they all died, who would the dungeon target next?
She could figure that out with her toes!
So she stood up.
Now, the monster in this second act no longer needed to kill people one by one according to the rules; it could go straight for the audience.
A Gentle Kiss didn't need to think much; she knew better than anyone that if things continued like this, the third act would target the players in the VIP boxes!
But now was not the time to think about this; her gaze swept across the stage again.
The forest scenery remained, with those fake trees standing quietly.
Cheng Shuili followed her gaze toward the stage, and a moment later, she found what A Gentle Kiss was looking for.
On the edge of the forest, near the curtain, stood an inconspicuous figure, its back to the audience, unmoving.
Because of this, it was very easy to overlook.
Cheng Shuili's brows lifted, and after waiting patiently for a while, seeing that A Gentle Kiss still hadn't noticed it, she finally couldn't help but call out: "The corner!"
The voice wasn't loud, but in the chaotic yet relatively quiet theater, the sound instantly reached everyone's ears.
Before she could even wonder whose voice it was, A Gentle Kiss looked toward the corner of the stage almost immediately.
Rate on N.U.
