The moment these words fell, Han Meng pulled the trigger.
Click——
The mechanism collided, yet no bullet was fired.
However, at the same time, the ground in front of Han Meng disintegrated instantaneously. The soil and gravel vanished into nothingness, as if an invisible bullet had completely shattered the matter at the molecular level!
And this "deconstructive" bullet flashed in front of the red paper monster within one-thousandth of a second!
Under this invisible deconstructive force, a gap was forcibly torn open in the red paper tentacles floating in mid-air. Then, a circular wound with a radius of one meter completely penetrated the monster's body!
Through that huge circular wound, Han Meng could even see the streets of District 3 in the distance. This shot directly annihilated two-thirds of its body.
Just as Han Meng was about to put away his gun, an unexpected change occurred!
The red paper monster, which had a large hole in its center, didn't die. Instead, it continued to extend red paper as if nothing had happened.
It spread wildly around. In just two seconds, it not only repaired the hole in the center but also its body size increased by more than three times compared to before!
Now, it was like a huge red sun made of paper. Countless pieces of paper twisted around it and hung in the air above the wilderness.
[Audience Expectation Value -1]
[Current Expectation Value: 14%]
Han Meng's pupils contracted slightly!
He immediately raised the muzzle of his gun and aimed it upwards, pulling the trigger three times in a row. The deconstructive force created three large holes in that red sun.
Drizzle drifted down from the three holes and landed on Han Meng's solemn face. The coldness pierced to the bone.
Whoosh——
Dense pieces of paper swarmed down like a red rain pouring from the sky. In an instant, the entire wilderness was turned into a honeycomb. Han Meng fired his gun frantically, but he could only barely tear open a gap in this red rain to save his life.
"Damn it..." Han Meng's back was already soaked with sweat.
He could feel that he was no match for this calamity!
For some reason, the opponent's aura seemed to have increased significantly again. It had leaped from the initial level five to the top of level five, and it was only a hair's breadth away from stepping into the terrifying realm of level six!
Just then, a palm wearing a theatrical robe stretched out from the paper monster. It gently and accurately pressed on the top of Han Meng's head!
"Hehe."
The soft laughter echoed in Han Meng's ears. The next moment, he was pushed down by a single palm, and his head hit the ground heavily!
Boom——!!
The ground cracked. Han Meng in the center of the force point suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and lay motionless like mud.
The battle was over. The red paper in the sky returned to the body of the monster. The light drizzle covered the devastated land.
The red paper monster was about to leave, but the arm in the theatrical robe that stretched out from it suddenly buckled back on the body of the red paper and tore it hard, as if something was about to drill out from it...
...
Five minutes ago.
"The audience is starting to intervene in the performance?"
When Chen Ling saw the last line of text, his heart turned cold. He suddenly raised his head and looked towards the front of the stage.
Countless scarlet pupils were still staring at him in the dark, but in the corner of the auditorium, a batch of wooden chairs were already empty...
Some of the audience had disappeared.
Dong——Dong——Dong!!
The black shadows in the auditorium kept trampling the floor of the theater with their feet, making a neat and dull sound.
This sound, within the confined space, was like continuous thunder. Their scarlet pupils locked onto Chen Ling, and their eyes were filled with anger and accusation!
Dong——Dong——Dong!!!
Under their synchronized stomping, Chen Ling even felt that the stage was shaking. The spotlight above his head trembled slightly, as if it wouldn't hold on for much longer.
Chen Ling basically understood.
Because he was killed by an axe in reality, the "performance" on the stage came to an abrupt end.
With the performance interrupted, the audience was extremely angry. However, they couldn't communicate with Chen Ling directly and could only express their dissatisfaction and threats in this way!
"So... actually I'm not dead?" Chen Ling stared blankly at his own hands.
"But if my consciousness is here... then who is controlling my body now?"
As if thinking of something, Chen Ling turned around and looked. A large black curtain covered the back half of the stage. He pulled it aside with force, and a series of images flooded into his mind!
He saw himself turning a table knife into pieces of paper, scaring Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan unconscious, and fighting with the two law enforcers...
This feeling was very strange, as if he was sitting in front of a large screen and watching his own actions from a third-person perspective... Of course, at this time, the "protagonist" was no longer him, but the "audience" that had usurped his body!
The audience was intervening in the performance.
[Audience Expectation Value -1]
Out of the corner of his eye, Chen Ling saw the characters on the screen flickering. The next moment, another group of figures in the auditorium disappeared without a trace.
"The more the expectation value drops, the more audiences will intervene in the performance..." Chen Ling said as he raised his hands. He saw that his body was gradually becoming transparent.
"At the same time... my existence will also be gradually erased?"
Well, if the audience completely became the "protagonist", what use would they have for him?
Chen Ling's heart suddenly sank to the bottom. He knew that he had to do something.
Chen Ling stood in front of the large curtain, took a deep breath, and tentatively stretched out his palm towards the "image" flickering behind it...
Either, take back his body and become the "protagonist" again;
Or, die.
Chen Ling's fingertips passed through the large curtain. It was as if he had touched a layer of barrier and was forced to slow down.
This layer of barrier was not extremely hard. Instead, it was more like a certain kind of "membrane", soft and with extremely strong toughness. After trying a few times, Chen Ling finally managed to pass a finger through it with some difficulty.
"There's a chance!" Chen Ling's eyes lit up slightly.
He used all his strength to pass his palm through the barrier, and then his forearm, and his elbow joint...
Just then, the characters on the screen flickered again:
[Audience Expectation Value -1]
As the expectation value dropped to 14%, another group of the audience disappeared. Chen Ling felt that the barrier was becoming increasingly hard. Looking at his body, which had become a bit more transparent, a thought flashed through his mind.
It wasn't that the barrier had become stronger... but that his body had become weaker.
Chen Ling gritted his teeth, but he could only slowly push his arm through the curtain bit by bit. The speed was several times slower than before, and he was extremely anxious in his heart.
Judging from the current resistance, he estimated that if the expectation value dropped to around 10%, he would no longer be able to pass through this layer of the curtain.
Finally, through his unremitting efforts, one arm completely passed through the curtain.
He saw Han Meng in the picture struggling to hold on under the red rain. After hesitating for a moment, he casually slapped Han Meng on the forehead. With the help of the power of the red paper monster, he knocked Han Meng unconscious to the ground.
In this way, no one would witness the scene of him passing through the curtain and returning to the real world.
Using his arm from the real world side, he buckled the curtain from the outside, and then pulled it hard, tearing open a narrow gap.
The second hand stretched out from the gap and forcefully pried it open until it was wide enough for his body to pass through. Chen Ling took a deep breath and dived in!