Editor: Elanor
Warning: This chapter contains gore content. Reader discretion is advised.
Xia Tian was very uncomfortable listening to this “depth extension right”, because all his rights were also with the TV station.
At that time, those people had dragged him out of the prison, gave him a shot of energy, pushed a bunch of documents to him, and stuffed a pen into his hand.
He hadn’t even looked before signing; he had no choice.
He had no idea of the extension of personal rights. In retrospect, he only knew that stars—at least their faces—would often appear in the Killing Show, and knew that the show featured real monsters, but he didn’t think they would be combined to become new products.
Of course, even if he knew it, he would still sign, and he would never go back to prison again. But it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be very upset.
The creature who didn’t know what was going on strolled past the cell, and said softly, “Now, I need someone to come to my blood sacrificial altar.”
All of them were silent. No matter if it was a robot, a clone, a cyborg, or some other genetically modified monster, but at this moment, this product controlled all of their lives.
It stopped for a while in front of Xia Tian’s cell, with ecstasy written on its face, its eyes glowing red in the dark shadows. He didn’t know what gene was added.
Xia Tian was suddenly curious as to what this disposable creature was thinking. Was it really desperate for strength and immortality at all costs? Did it know that it burned the entire soul, but it was just a commodity for people to buy?
He gripped the thin sheet of metal tightly, and the sharp edge was cutting into the palm of his hand.
But then it walked away, wandering to another cell.
It walked slowly through all the cells like this, looking at each one for a while, triggering horror, and seemed to be enjoying the process.
It finally stopped again in front of Xia Tian’s cell.
It stretched out its hand and pointed at a person.
Everyone in the cell froze in place, and then carefully looked around to determine who it was referring to.
After three seconds, everyone quickly moved away from the area in the direction of its finger, revealing the person behind it.
Xia Tian hadn’t even noticed this person before. The man was covered in dirty clothes and its previous color couldn’t be discerned. He had neither spoken to them before nor introduced himself. He was curled up in the corner of the cell like a pile of garbage.
Seeing the movements of the Archduke, he desperately shook his head and hid to the side, trying to avoid the deadly finger. The Archduke smiled with enjoyment—what did they add to its genes—it pointed at him relentlessly with its thin fingertips and let out a “giggle”.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Coafg rajcvlcu ralii obg j ktlif, j rbivlfg rtbeafv ja atf wjc, “Tbe, mbwf tfgf.”
Ktf batfg wjc megifv eq lc atf mbgcfg, mibrfv tlr fsfr, jcv gfwjlcfv wbalbcifrr, weaafglcu rbwfatlcu ecvfg tlr ygfjat, gfoerlcu ab mbbqfgjaf.
Ktf rbivlfgr kfgf bynlberis nfgs ojwliljg klat atlr xlcv bo ecmbbqfgjalnf yftjnlbg. C ajii rbivlfg lcragemafv jii atf mjqalnfr lc atf mfii ab ragfamt bea atflg tjcvr, tjcvmeoofv atfw ab atf gjlilcu, jcv atfc kfca lc jcv jggfrafv atf qfgrbc.
Although everyone in the dungeon was now a player and a star, most of them had been in jail and knew the process, so they cooperated with the jailer to lock them up, and watched as two soldiers walked into the cell and dragged the guy out.
The man struggled desperately, screamed frantically, completely collapsed, and constantly screamed that he wanted to surrender and pleaded to let him go. It was a bit like grabbing one from a cage of edible animals for killing.
The people around him watched this scene indifferently. After a few brief conversations and eye exchanges, Xia Tian knew that the man wasn’t familiar with any of them and didn’t belong to any team. The current situation was commonplace, and it wasn’t worth the fuss.
Fusen, who was handcuffed next to Xia Tian, watched this scene calmly. The 16-year-old young sniper Fang Youtian stared at his toes as if he was about to cry.
“He is on the blacklist,” Xicheng comforted him.
“What?” Fang Youtian said.
“He surrendered,’ Xicheng said.
The other party was taken aback and then nodded, although he didn’t seem to feel relieved.
All the Killing Show players knew this unspoken rule which shouldn’t be violated in any way.
—In the Killing Show, the organizers didn’t like anyone surrendering, but they couldn’t stop it, so they tried to retaliate and make it a truly impossible option.
This was the deadly blacklist rule.
Once on this list, the planners would soon try to push you off the edge. You might add luster to the show, or earn capital for more popular stars. Sometimes they would even take a bit of effort to make you look like a cowardly villain with clever cutting methods that eventually got you killed by the hero, creating a small climax of evil retribution.
Being on blacklist meant you would probably end up dying tragically, spurned by hundreds of millions of people, but when it really came to the end, no matter how much it was controlled, people screaming surrender were still as many as cattle.
Now, they saw a “retribution” on the spot.
The soldiers dragged the surrendered man out of the cell and threw him on the altar. They could clearly see that he was incontinent. A guy in the cell next door yelled, “Piss on the altar!”
Several people laughed, but the atmosphere of fear didn’t dissipate.
A guy wearing a cult-style black robe skillfully handcuffed that person’s hands and feet to the platform. The latter struggled desperately, but it was useless. This person was very skilled at the job.
A soldier walked over and helped Xia Tian untie the handcuffs. Several people didn’t even notice, all staring at the altar.
This place had a good view, and for a while, it was quiet.
“They always scream so badly,” Fusen said in an enthusiastic tone, “You know, there is a saying in ‘The Origin of the Killing Show’ that this kind of screaming is especially helpful in increasing the ratings, because it is from the heart. It will create a particularly authentic atmosphere of savagery and cruelty which can’t be replaced by acting. The most attractive part of the Killing Show is the reality of it all.”
Xia Tian glanced at him, Fusen noticed his gaze, and turned his head to look at him, showing an arrogant smile.
“Xia Tian… you came from the Lower City, right?” He said, “That’s an imaginative name.”
Xia Tian gave him a bright smile and said, “I think so too.”
Xicheng, who was across the railing, grabbed the soldier who hadn’t left, and said, “What’s this about?”
The other party gave him a deep look and said nothing. On the altar in front, the sacrifice screamed desperately, and his voice quickly became hoarse. He shouted, “Let me go, I have information! They are trying to escape—”
At this moment, the guy in the black robe neatly picked up a piece of coal from the nearby stove, twisted open his jaw and stuffed it into his mouth.
The scene silenced even the battle-hardened players in the hall. The sacrifice opened his mouth wide, but no more screams could come out.
Silence eerily enveloped the dungeon. After a while, the man began to make noises intermittently, but they became extremely weird, like animal sounds, not human-like at all.
Probably the charcoal wasn’t hot enough, the organizers still hoped that he could scream.
The star-faced Archduke Tianqian, walked up to the sacrifice with a fervent and cruel expression, smiling.
Then there was a long torture.
The process was extremely bloody. Xia Tian knew that there would be some… restricted shots in the Killing Show, but he had never seen one before.
The dungeon was like a VIP seat for the victims, and the scenes they saw had seriously exceeded the acceptance level of ordinary people, reaching the level of anti-humanity.
Someone in the dungeon vomited. This kind of scene could not be broadcasted on TV, but… Xia Tian suddenly realized that there must be someone watching.
The process was too detailed, too long, and too professional for it to be needed for the plot. It must be geared towards a certain audience group.
The Archduke Tianqian was an expert, and the guy in the black robe was in tune with him, also a talent in this field. Both were very good at controlling the rhythm, making sure that the victim would not die easily.
On the altar, his movements were precise and his expression was crazy and that of an enjoyment. This bloody behavior was extremely detailed and had its own set of standards.
The black-robed man was more like a skilled practitioner. His timing of stuffing charcoal blocks before was very precise. He knew that this wasn’t a real dungeon, and the man couldn’t be allowed to betray others at all costs and beg for mercy. This was a show. No matter how desperate you were, the role was predetermined. You were the one who wanted to live rather than die in the arena. You had to sacrifice yourself for the entertainment of the public.
Xia Tian looked at the process of torture, and felt like a saw pulling his nerves, making certain things in his brain more and more tighter and thinner, a string so taut that it might break in a blink of an eye.
This kind of thing would destroy a certain part of your brain. It wasn’t a problem that could be solved by drinking a few glasses of wine or a few psychedelic drugs. You would never be the same again.
Everyone wanted it to end soon, but there seemed to be no end to this torture.
In an invisible place, there was a kind of focused and interested gaze watching the scene.
Xia Tian thought maybe it was some premium member with special hobbies… had enough power, paid enough money, so could see all these things, the flesh being cut open, or every detail that didn’t resemble a human scream.
Deep in his heart, Xia Tian knew the darkness in human nature, which was what he desperately wanted to escape from when he was in the Lower City. But when he came to the sunny Upper City filled with the scent of birds and flowers, he found that this place was also a nightmare. He had simply exposed himself more to this desire and became a fish on the chopping board.
He stood behind the prison bars and looked at the blood-red thing on the altar, thinking that it was more of a stage than a torture platform, which was there to make sure that everyone could see it.
That was where they were.
Someone in the cell started to create a ruckus, although there was nothing to cause a ruckus about, the person probably wanted something to do, trying to drown out the screaming with laughter, but it didn’t work.
Although the man was tortured to the point of not being able to utter a sound, it was still hard to ignore it.
The blood flowed down the narrow grooves on the altar, flowing through layers of runes and patterns, like a slowly blooming flower under the firelight. This thing had been carefully designed, and the color was so demonic that it could suck in one’s soul.
In the end, even the last groan and breath of the human figure on the stage disappeared and fell completely silent.
Someone in the dungeon said, “The fate of dragging down the ratings!”
Someone laughed, but most of them didn’t laugh. The person who had spoken out must have wanted to make a joke, but the voice was dry and didn’t sound like a joke at all.
Someone in the dungeon vomited. When Xia Tian had first played, he had vomited to a half-dead state but now there was no such urge at all. He just stared at the altar, grasping the metal piece in his hand, and the sharp edge left a thin blood mark on his finger.
Bai Jingan watched silently, and Xia Tian could hardly even hear his breathing.
Then he suddenly reached out his hand, patted Xia Tian’s arm, turned around and walked back to the depths of the cell to look at the underground passage.
Xia Tian left the bars, knowing what he meant: it wouldn’t be us.
—They had just experienced a cruel battle not long ago, which attracted the attention of the planning team. They had ratings value and wouldn’t die in this way.
The star-faced Archduke left with a sated look on his face, dragging his furs and graceful steps. The black robe man and a few soldiers cleaned up the remnants.
Whispers resumed in the cell, and the people in the cell next to him were saying that no one knew who would be the next sacrifice. At this time, you could only hope that there were still people in the dungeon who were on the blacklist. If there weren’t any, then the next to be dragged out, except for the stars, could be anyone.
At this moment, Xia Tian suddenly realized the significance of being a star in the Killing Show. Players must climb up at any cost. This was the same as your skill, a real life guarantee.
If you weren’t popular or cool enough, you would be treated as a sacrifice, a victim of twisted desire behind the scenes, dying in front of the camera in the cruelest way possible.
The organizers always said that this was a time to test courage and wisdom, but no one could escape from this sacrifice. This wasn’t a battle.
This was just entertainment.
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
Thank you!!!
I meant to post that as a regular comment-
Thanks for the chapter!!!
This verse is really effed up, man. These people have lost any and all humanity that was left in them. To be able to “appreciate” such a thing. It’s really effed.
Anygay, thank you for the chapter!
What a nightmare!!!!
Although this is truly fucked up to the next level, real life entertainment also is really fucked. So many similarities.
Thanks for the chapter!
Jungle Rule
Thanks for the chapter. I honestly have no words for this chapter.