Life Game In Other World
Chapter 507: The Performance Begins (Super Long - , Seeking Monthly Pass)

Chapter 507: Chapter 507: The Performance Begins (Super Long Chapter, Seeking Monthly Pass)

He Ao glanced at the bottom of the girl’s flower basket, beneath the crowded roses there was the smooth base of the basket.

This meant that the flyer he had been given was the only one the girl had; handing out flyers was not her main job.

He Ao briefly used his Super Memory to scan the flower-selling girl.

Her soul was weak, that of an ordinary person, and moreover, one with less than average intuition, she likely couldn’t see the strangeness of this flyer.

He Ao crouched down, took the flyer, and handed out a skewer of the roast meat he had just bought to the little girl, asking softly in not-so-fluent Rodan, "Was it someone who asked you to give this flyer to me?"

The skewer had cooled down a bit, but that could not hide its alluring aroma.

The little girl hesitated as she looked at the skewer, swallowed, and then turned her head to point to the other side of the square, "It was that sister over there who told me to give it to you. She bought three flowers from me and then told me to hand you this flyer."

The little girl spoke quickly, but He Ao still managed to roughly understand what she meant.

At that moment, the little girl’s tone paused, "Hey, where did that sister go?"

The place she pointed to had only a flow of walking people, no ’sister’ was standing there.

Thus,

He Ao followed the girl’s gaze to that moving crowd of people, narrowing his eyes slightly.

This was not the aimless distribution of flyers, but a ’invitation’ aimed at him.

The situation was starting to get interesting.

He Ao reached out his hand, accepted the flyer, and then handed the skewer to the girl, "Thank you."

He had already eaten several skewers of the same kind; they were not poisoned.

For many ordinary people in Rodan, especially the children, eating meat was not an everyday affair.

"Thank you, big brother!"

The girl took the skewer from He Ao’s hand and dashed into the crowd.

He Ao, on the other hand, stood up and stared at the flyer in his hand.

Every night at ten o’clock, meaning there was a show tonight as well.

He Ao glanced at the time; it was six in the evening.

There were four hours left before the show would start.

So, he had a meal nearby, and after eating his fill, he leisurely made his way towards Oak Street.

----

Nine thirty

Oak Street

This was a courtyard located deep on Oak Street.

There was no signboard in front of the courtyard gate, just a young man in a crisp suit, smiling with a pale complexion, standing at the entrance as a greeter.

The young man’s entire being exuded an indescribable stiffness, as if he were a long-dead corpse.

The courtyard gate was closed tight, not a person in sight.

There was no light above the gate, and the dim yellow streetlight only illuminated the steps in front of the gate, leaving the gate and the young man at the door shrouded in the faint night.

"Sir, you seem unfamiliar? Is this your first time here?"

As He Ao approached, the young man asked with a smile in Tia.

"Is this the Molt Shadow Club?"

He Ao looked at the unremarkable gate, which had no sign or indication.

"Please show your ticket," the young man said meticulously, "a flyer will do as well."

He Ao took out the flyer he had received and handed it to the young man.

The young man took the flyer, slightly stepped aside, and the tightly-closed gate opened automatically with a creaking noise.

At this point, the young man made an inviting gesture, pointing into the courtyard,

"Welcome to the Molt Shadow Club. Please enjoy the show tonight."

Behind the opened door was a delicately arranged small courtyard, scattered with tables and chairs interspersed with sun umbrellas, resembling a bar or a distinctive restaurant.

Hidden behind these tables and chairs, however, was a small door obscured by a curtain, upon which dim light shone, faintly revealing melodious music emanating from beyond the door.

He Ao stepped into the courtyard, and at the same time, he briefly activated Super Memory to scan the young man guarding the entrance.

Attached to the young man was not the hazy soul typical of ordinary people but rather a pure Shadow.

This Shadow clung tightly to the young man’s body, manipulating it as if he were a puppet on strings.

The young man was no longer alive.

He Ao withdrew his gaze and passed through the tables and chairs in the courtyard, brushing aside the curtain.

Behind him, the open courtyard door slowly closed, and the young man who had gestured in invitation retracted his hand and turned to face the entrance once again.

As the courtyard door completely shut, He Ao also crossed beyond the curtain and entered the space behind the small door.

Instead of a theater-like setting, he found a larger hall where tables were placed in an orderly manner throughout.

Phone not in use. The small tables were surrounded by chairs and sofas, all of which faced in the same direction: toward a rectangular stage at the very end of the hall.

Faint, ambiguous dim lights twinkled throughout the hall, while melodious music echoed within the space.

Rather than a theater, the place resembled more of a bar.

As He Ao entered, a waiter approached and led him to a seat.

"Is this your first time here, sir?"

The waiter handed a menu to He Ao, "Would you like to order some snacks? For first-time patrons, we offer a complimentary cocktail."

He Ao opened the menu, glanced at the empty stage, and asked casually, "Isn’t there supposed to be a performance?"

"The performance starts promptly at ten o’clock, which isn’t far off; you can wait a bit if you like," the waiter said with a smile.

He Ao skimmed through the menu, ordered some fried onion rings, and chose a cocktail with a relatively low alcohol content before returning the menu to the waiter.

Then he scanned the surroundings.

At this time, the hall was already fairly populated with individuals; some were drinking alone, while others chatted in groups, making the place seem like any typical bar.

About four or five minutes later, He Ao’s fried onion rings and cocktail were served.

It was then that a series of footsteps could be heard from outside.

Three figures pushed through the curtain and entered.

All three had a strong presence: two young men and one middle-aged, all bearing the standard features of the Tia Empire.

It seemed they too were first-time visitors, the two young men flashing curious glances, while the leading middle-aged man appeared somewhat perplexed and cautious, his eyes sweeping over the ’patrons’ seated below the stage.

He Ao merely glanced at them and then naturally lowered his head, going unnoticed by them.

A waiter stepped forward to welcome the trio, guiding them to seats near He Ao and handing them a menu.

These three were probably Transcendents, though not particularly powerful.

After a moment’s thought, He Ao picked up his phone and sent a message to the head of the gendarmerie, briefly describing the three individuals’ appearances.

[These should be people from ’above,’ the middle-aged man is the one who handed over the case files to me today.]

The head of the gendarmerie quickly replied.

He Ao closed his phone.

Indeed, they were from Moonlight.

So, had individuals from Moonlight found this place?

It didn’t seem likely; judging by their puzzled expressions, they had probably also received a flyer and been lured here.

But that leading middle-aged man must have sensed something.

Things were getting more interesting.

He Ao couldn’t help but admit that the Molt Shadow Club was quite bold.

This might be due to never encountering such a covert Sect in the main world and, therefore, lacking experience, but they couldn’t be foolish enough to expose themselves directly under the scrutiny of Moonlight.

Time ticked by, minute by minute.

Not long after the arrival of Moonlight, a beam of light poured down from the ceiling, illuminating the stage.

A person who looked like an emcee walked onto the stage.

"Thank you all, esteemed guests, for taking the time to come to our Molt Shadow Club. Tonight’s performance is about to begin. There are several newcomers here this evening, and we welcome you. Please believe me, this will be the most important and spectacular performance you have ever seen in your lives," the emcee said.

As his words ended, a thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Those ’regular customers’ who had been chatting and drinking normally were now all staring intently at the center of the stage, their eyes ablaze with a strange excitement on their faces.

It was as if they were not onlookers at a bar for leisure, but believers in the presence of a Divine Being.

At this moment, sitting not far from He Ao were three individuals belonging to Moonlight; the middle-aged man among them seemed to sense something, took out his phone, and abruptly stood up, intending to leave with his two companions while dialing a number.

Ding—

Just then, the clear sound of music chimed in everyone’s ears.

A woman wearing a light white dress and white knee-high stockings, barefooted, slowly stepped out from behind the stage, dancing on her toes.

"Please enjoy the dance, ’Molt Shadow’," the voice of the emcee came from behind the stage.

Soft music that seemed to seep into the soul started to play slowly.

The middle-aged man who had abruptly risen seemed to forget what he was about to do in an instant and just stood there, frozen.

Beep—

His phone was answered at that moment, and a puzzled voice came from the other end, "Zane, what’s the matter?"

Upon hearing this voice, the middle-aged man finally realized something. He stiffly lowered his head to look at the phone in his hand, slowly opened his mouth as if trying to say something but was unable to make a sound no matter what.

"It’s nothing, I dialed the wrong number," a voice came from behind him, into the phone’s microphone.

The voice was so familiar; it was his own.

Then, a hand reached out from behind him and hung up the call.

The middle-aged man struggled to turn his head and saw the waiter who had led them in, standing beside him with a smile on his face.

Then he watched as the waiter opened his mouth and, in his own voice, continued to say, "Everything is going smoothly, nothing happened, the dance is beautiful, we can quietly appreciate it."

The waiter’s soft voice entered his ears, echoing in the depths of his soul like a murmuring whisper. He slowly put down his phone and sat back down, watching the performance on stage.

His gaze was enraptured.

It was as though everything that had just happened had never occurred.

The two young people beside him were already captivated, their eyes shining with a bright and insane glow as if they had seen the most beautiful thing in this world, ready to give everything for it.

He Ao quietly observed all this.

Under the perspective of Super Memory, a huge Shadow was emerging from the glowing ceiling, fuzzy tentacles of darkness stretching out from it, touching every person in the audience, clinging to their bodies, eroding their Souls.

Similarly, a Shadow tentacle tried to extend downwards to erode He Ao’s Soul.

Then, the next second, this tentacle was struck by the power of He Ao’s gathered Super Memory, recoiling as if electrocuted.

He Ao picked up a cocktail from the table and took a sip, his gaze fixed on the woman on the stage.

Mere power like this was not enough to invite him with such confidence.

In that instant, the gaze of the woman on stage also briefly met He Ao’s.

She had a fiery red rose petal in her mouth, still dotted with drops of water, contrasting with her red lips.

She slightly opened her mouth, and the petal fell, gliding down her lustrous skin, like flowing blood.

After this fleeting exchange of glances, she gently lifted her head, her gaze leaving He Ao. Then she delicately raised her slender hand, her wide white sleeve slipping down her smooth skin, revealing her porcelain arms like tender willow branches in the spring breeze.

At this moment, the entire venue fell into an unusual silence, so silent it was as if only she and He Ao existed.

The Dancer and the Onlooker made up the entirety of this world.

The woman’s hands started to stir, and as they swayed, they gradually grasped the void, seemingly peeling away something.

With each peeling, her body became heavier, as if shedding Husks.

Indeed, the dance was beautiful. He Ao watched it, directly experiencing the beauty through his senses as if the word "beauty" had walked out of the books and into reality.

Meanwhile, his soul began to quiver slightly, and as the dance progressed, it seemed as if a vast and grand gaze was trying to pierce through the barriers of space and time to cast its attention here.

And as this colossal force attempted to make its advent, He Ao also felt something else.

Ruins.

Fleetingly, he sensed the existence of the desolate, lonely ruins overrun with exotic beasts.

He put down the cocktail in his hand and revealed a smile.

The only thing that could make someone feel the presence of the ruins from the main world was the ’Space-Time Anchor’ that opened the passageway to the ruins.

Just as he had guessed, the reason Moonlight and the World Tree had not found the Space-Time Anchor for so long was that this time’s anchor was not fixed in a certain area or on a mysterious individual, but rather, it had been bound to him by the god attempting to descend using some method.

Although He Ao did not know why the divine being would do such a thing, it was obvious that obtaining the anchor for the ruins this time was much more difficult than before.

While He Ao felt this divine breath and the presence of the ruins, the dance onstage seemed to be nearing its end as well.

Ephemeral fragments in the air were pieced together, forming a new, illusory Dancer.

She stepped forward, her legs wrapped in white stockings crossing the void, and walked up to He Ao.

At this moment, in this area, there seemed to be two of her existing simultaneously.

One was dancing on the stage, arduously shedding the illusory fragments from her body, and the other was an illusory figure made of those very fragments.

The flesh and blood body on the stage seemed only like a discarded and useless husk, while the floating, illusory figure was the life that emerged after shedding the husk.

Fresh red bloodstains spread over the dancing flesh and blood body, and although the light shone on her, no shadow could be seen beneath her feet.

"Your strength is somewhat beyond my expectations, your powerful soul shines like the sun,"

The illusory figure floated before He Ao.

The grand gaze of a Great Being was ultimately blocked outside of space and time, but Its diffusing power seeped into reality, locking onto He Ao’s body.

In that instant, He Ao felt his body fall into a kind of stiffness that left him motionless, not because his ability to act was restricted, but rather, like a puppet, he had lost the ability to act.

"You just had a chance to leave," the illusory figure continued to approach He Ao, "but you gave it up."

"Your arrogance has granted you the opportunity to join us,"

Her voice was a blend of hoarseness and ethereality, possessing a strange beauty, "The great Mysterious Shadow has cast Its attention upon you. Join us, comrade."

She extended her hand as if asking He Ao to reach out and grasp it.

Twisted power began to try to invade He Ao’s soul, and he felt his ’body’ becoming increasingly lighter; it seemed as if he would shed that decaying flesh and transform into a different existence.

"The will of the divine is incontestable. You either become an eternal servant or join us as a comrade. Your powerful force will be blessed by the divine and grow even stronger."

The woman continued to reach out her hand to He Ao.

He Ao gazed at the woman before him.

At this moment, he fully understood the purpose of the Molt Shadow Club ’inviting’ him.

They possessed some ability to observe souls and had noticed that He Ao was a very strong Transcendent.

Thus, they attempted to recruit him as ’one of their own.’

Of course, given that the diffused power of that god was still trying to erode his soul at this moment, it seemed that the Primitive Sect did not wish for He Ao to retain his complete sanity either.

The options the woman offered were actually to either die, becoming like a Black Shadow, a Monster completely bereft of reason, or become a submissive servant.

A crude and arrogant practice indeed, but it would certainly transform ’He Ao’ into their fighting force in the quickest way.

The woman watched He Ao as if waiting for his response.

But in reality, she did not need He Ao’s response; the power of the divine would first attempt to transform this man into a servant. If the transformation failed, it would simply kill him, turning him into a Monster.

From the very beginning, He Ao had no choice; she simply liked giving the Prey the illusion of choice to distract their minds, making the erosion easier.

In fact, this was the first time she had caught such a powerful ’Prey’ as He Ao, and as the erosion proceeded, along with nervousness, a sense of accomplishment began to rise in her heart.

The will of the divine cannot be opposed. When the force of the divine descends, everything is over; there’s no possibility for the Prey before her to resist any longer.

At that time, the biggest ’Prey’ she had caught so far slowly raised his head and smiled at her, "I choose the third option."

The roaring train suddenly crashed through the old walls, awakening those in dreams.

The real performance is only just beginning.