1RomanceEB Chapter 73 of the program begins
Chapter 73 of the program begins
Xu Zhang's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously took a step back.
But he didn't expect that something even more terrifying would happen—
The "he" on the television set also took a step back.
Although "his" movements were slightly delayed, both "his" actions and "his" expressions were exactly the same as Xu Zhang's.
This was not a pre-prepared recording!
This...this is a live stream!
Xu Zhang clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms, trying to control his trembling body and calm himself down.
Calm down... calm down... if it's a live stream, there must be recording equipment nearby!
Yes, as long as we find the recording equipment, we can just smash it!
After sorting out his thoughts, Xu Zhang immediately looked up and began to look around.
He tried to ignore Yu Guangli, who was watching TV and making the same movements as him, looking up and around, and desperately tried to find out where the surveillance camera was installed in the house.
But clearly, he gained nothing.
The room was spotless, with no cameras, hidden lenses, or anything like that.
He was as if he had been projected into a television set out of nowhere, and was being watched like a clown—something that Xu Zhang, who had been sitting in the high-ranking position of executive for a long time, found extremely unbearable.
Although Xu Zhang was furious, he knew clearly that he was helpless—he had no idea how he was being broadcast live without any equipment, nor did he know where the damned production team was or how to interrupt the broadcast.
It seems the only thing he can do is turn off the TV and avoid seeing it.
But unfortunately, that path was cut off from the very beginning—the television wasn't plugged in, so how could he be sure he could turn it off?
In the end, his anger dissipated, leaving only terror. He stared intently at himself on the television screen, his entire body tense like a string stretched to its limit.
Just then, a soft voice rang out: "President Xu..."
Xiao Fang, who had been sitting motionless on the sofa like a statue, suddenly spoke up: "Why are you still standing here?"
It felt like someone had squeezed his heart hard with an icy hand; Xu Zhang was so startled by the sudden sound that his heart almost stopped. It took him a few seconds to process what had happened, and only then, amidst the pounding of his heart, did he realize that the voice had come from Xiao Fang.
"Why did you suddenly start this—?"
Xu Zhang turned his head, wanting to reprimand his subordinates as he used to, but before he could utter the word "crazy," he saw Xiao Fang on the sofa and his voice caught in his throat.
The person on the sofa was still sitting there stiffly and rigidly, his posture unchanged, his back straight, and he was wearing the same clothes Xiao Fang had worn when he entered the game. But his face... had completely changed.
Her eyebrows were like wisps of smoke, her almond eyes were filled with water, her lips were like a touch of cinnabar, and her fair skin appeared deathly pale under the light of the television screen.
—This is a woman's face!
Xu Zhang suddenly took a step back, moving away from Xiao Fang.
In particular, he had already recognized the face—
He'd seen that face before!
On the TV in that previous room!
It was the face of the woman standing under the old tree, dressed in red!
Now, that face slowly turned towards him, offering a stiff smile: "The show... has already started..."
A soft voice drifted from bright red lips, and Xiao Fang's voice gradually changed; by the time the last word was uttered, his voice had completely transformed into a completely unfamiliar female voice.
"ah--!!!"
The fear and panic that had been building up before, coupled with the bizarre scene before him that defied common sense, finally shattered Xu Zhang's remaining rationality. He let out a piercing scream and abruptly turned and rushed towards the door.
"Bang!"
Xu Zhang burst through the door and rushed into the dark corridor outside without looking back.
He had long since forgotten all the warnings the NPC had given him, such as "the lights in the corridor are broken" and "it's best not to go out at night," and was only thinking about getting away from the room and the people in it.
However, it wasn't until he was enveloped by the thick, impenetrable darkness of the corridor that Xu Zhang realized he had made a fatal mistake—
There were no lights in the corridor, and there were doors on both sides.
Without windows, the faint sunlight from outside cannot enter the corridor.
Furthermore, it was late at night, and the sliver of light that would normally peek through the crack in the door had vanished because the homeowner was fast asleep. The only source of light he could see seemed to be the faint, flickering glow emanating from the television screen in the room he had just fled from.
Xu Zhang gritted his teeth and ran forward without looking back. He would rather disappear into the unknown darkness than return to that eerie room and face the "Xiao Fang" who was completely different in name.
Guided by his memory, he ran towards the stairwell.
"Bang!"
His shinbone slammed solidly into something hard and angular—it could be the dusty old bicycle that had been parked in the aisle, or it could be a discarded wooden frame that a neighbor had carelessly thrown away—the excruciating pain made Xu Zhang's vision go black, and his body fell forward uncontrollably.
His hands flailed wildly in the darkness, trying to grab something to steady himself, but he couldn't touch anything. Instead, his fingers hooked onto a plastic bag containing something unknown. With a "whoosh," the plastic bag was pulled to the ground as he fell.
"Thump!"
Xu Zhang's knees slammed hard on the ground, and his palms pressed against something damp and sticky—garbage that had fallen out of the plastic bag he had knocked over. The disgusting touch and the foul fermented smell made Xu Zhang's stomach churn.
But at this critical moment, he happened to hear the "patter" of footsteps coming from behind him.
It was as if someone was walking barefoot on wet ground, making light, bouncy steps, slowly and deliberately approaching him.