Chen Yao's face was pale. At this point, his villainous role was definitely deeply ingrained. With such an evil villain's appearance, he was destined to be a pure evildoer... After the Sobu High School students nervously dressed up, and after all the Sobu High School students were dressed up, the two positive characters and three negative characters were all ready to go. Not to mention Hayato Hayama's handsome appearance, Yukinoshita Yukino, disguised as a man in a white outfit, looked very pleasing to the eye, completely different from the three extremely evil villains.
"W-what's wrong? Do you have any opinions?"
Yukinoshita Yukino asked, her fair cheeks slightly flushed as she saw everyone looking at her.
"No, it looks great."
Hachiman Hikigaya admitted.
"It suits you very well."
Chen Yao, who wasn't wearing his helmet, also praised her with certainty.
Yukinoshita Yukino's brows furrowed slightly, but she quickly stopped looking at them.
"However, Chen Yao, this armor really suits you."
Kagaribi no Kiriue showed a meaningful smile, looking at him. After putting on the helmet, he resembled the knight she had glimpsed fighting in the dark world in her "Blood Dream," completely different in aura from Chen Yao in his mortal state.
"…"
Chen Yao fell silent, saying nothing. Although it was a stage play, after putting on the familiar armor, his hands, feet, and mind grew cold. This familiar feeling indeed brought back memories of the past. The curtain was then pulled up, and the third act of the stage play was finally about to begin...~·~·~·~·~·~
The auditorium was packed. Among the dense crowd, Horikita Suzune sat on the right side, having carefully watched the first two acts. At least the dance and story of the second act were quite complete, after all, her brother was responsible for rehearsing it. She propped her smooth and delicate cheek with her hand. Finally, the third act, about Class A and Chen Yao, began.
Freestyle stage plays are popular in European and American schools. As the name suggests, the story outline is fixed, the number of character deaths is fixed, and then the performance and lines are entirely up to the students' improvisation. This severely tests coordination and emotional investment in grasping the story's rhythm, making it much more difficult than the first two acts.
The curtain opened, and the story narration began in English, roughly explaining that a certain Necromancer was extending his hand towards the peaceful human world, and humanity formed a five-person expedition to kill the evil sorcerer.
"Mr. Chen Yao, I won't believe those naive and simple words you said before... Let me see what tricks you're up to..."
Horikita Suzune watched the stage play from her dark seat with cautious and suspicious eyes, thinking to herself.
At the beginning, Katsuragi Kohei of Class A acted as the Greatsword User, Yukinoshita Yukino as the Ranger, Hayato Hayama as the Prime Minister's Son, and the other two Class A boys and girls as the Archer and Mage. The process of forming the expedition after being summoned by the king was without problem. Horikita Suzune and the others continued to watch patiently.
Then, in the second scene transition, the five evil characters also appeared one by one against the backdrop of a volcanic apocalypse. Horikita Suzune couldn't find Chen Yao anywhere. She looked closely in confusion, finally realizing that Chen Yao was the Black Knight, covered in blood, wielding a greatsword, and slaughtering human knights everywhere.
"...He's playing a supporting character who can't possibly turn things around, destined to be killed by the protagonist as part of the plot. As expected, Class A would assign the most threatening first-place student to the most difficult and least memorable role. So, Mr. Chen Yao, have you thought of a way to break this deadlock?"
Horikita Suzune crossed her legs, her black stockings slightly accentuating her beautiful and rounded thighs. She continued to prop her cheek with her hand, watching the stage play competition between Sobu High School and Class A.
After all, the guests invited to this performance were teachers and scholars from prestigious universities in Europe and America, so how well they performed even affected each student's evaluation and credit points.
Moreover, Horikita Suzune also noticed that Sakayanagi Arisu's role was also a negative character. She seemed to be a Witch, sitting in a wheelchair, an evil yet beautiful woman who apparently fed on the souls of warriors plundered by the Black Knight.
"Hmm, it seems this script was arranged by that Katsuragi Kohei fellow..."
Horikita Suzune pondered silently, thinking to herself.
The stage performance continued, and soon in the third and fourth scene transitions, the Class A students began to seize on Yukinoshita Yukino and Hayato Hayama's lines. It was a familiar strategy, using dialogue to belittle their characters, and doing so with such convincing logic that Yukino and Hayama found it difficult to respond for a while.
"See, the other side has started to act. This kind of freestyle stage play is essentially a talk show-style performance. You've already seen your two Classmates being bullied, haven't you? Will you... be content with that, Mr. Chen Yao? Since my brother admires you so much, you must have a way to solve this problem, right?"
Horikita Suzune watched and thought, wondering how she would counter Class A as a villain.
However, before Horikita Suzune could come up with a solution, Chen Yao appeared again. In the confrontation between the righteous and the villains, the Black Knight actually killed Hayato Hayama of Sobu High School first..."...Eh?"
Horikita Suzune was stunned by this scene. What just happened? Horikita Suzune didn't react in time. Chen Yao of Sobu High School was the first to "kill" Hayato Hayama. Although the death of characters in such a freestyle stage play was fixed at certain scene transitions, Hayato Hayama died before he could show any talent, and it was an ally who did it. What was going on?
But the audience didn't say anything. It should be said that Chen Yao's choice to kill Hayato Hayama at that point in the plot wasn't abrupt; it was quite precise, it just prevented him from having any more opportunities to perform.
"Because Hayama's performance wasn't eye-catching, did he just get him off the stage? Or was it simply for the sake of the plot..."
Horikita Suzune watched the plot unfold, unable to resist sitting up straighter, paying closer attention to this unpredictable stage play.
The adventure plot continued. It must be said that Class A's performance was indeed more eye-catching than Sobu High School's. Although Yukinoshita performed quite well, Chen Yao still hadn't shown any brilliant performance; he was just a bloody knight who hunted down warriors and plundered their souls everywhere.
However, she also saw the Hunting Knight walking towards the audience with his sword. She didn't understand why, but with the music and lighting, it indeed made her and other audience members feel chills down their spines.
But when the story reached the 10th scene transition, Sakayanagi Arisu, who had appeared once, came before the Hunting Knight in her wheelchair.
When Chen Yao delivered the souls symbolizing the righteous to Yanagisaka Arisu, the Witch who controlled them, Yanagisaka Arisu looked at the crouching Guardian Knight, deep in thought. She seemed to recall what Chen Yao had told her about a certain girl in the past, and suddenly spoke to Chen Yao, who was about to leave, in a very gentle tone: "My foolish knight, you must return safely."
"…"
Chen Yao was startled, as if he had heard such a nostalgic voice after a long time. He turned his head to look.
In the dim light, the girl in the wheelchair simply smiled faintly at him, sending him off again with a look of concern... Chapter 019 The Girl Was Very Envious
The stage performance was nearing its end. Horikita Suzune quietly watched the play. So far, she hadn't seen any measures from Sobu High School to reverse their losing situation, but overall, the completeness of this freestyle stage play was unexpectedly good; even she was engrossed in it.
However, it wasn't to say that Chen Yao, Sobu High School's top student, had done nothing. She noticed that the rhythm of the stage play was excellent, with many crucial turning points depending on his choices to intervene, as if a cartoonist or scriptwriter knew exactly when to make a character do what. Moreover, he exuded a strong killing intent, and his sword-wielding and shield-holding postures were also very good, indeed making the audience feel that this knight was the most difficult mid-boss on their journey.
But in the next scene, the Hunting Knight was ambushed by the three protagonists of the expedition. Although the Hunting Knight seemed very strong in combat, he was repeatedly wounded under the combined assault of Yukinoshita Yukino, Katsuragi Kohei, and the Archer. Finally, after taking an arrow to the chest from the Archer, this blood-stained Hunting Knight was finally about to meet his end.
"He's almost done for, but don't give him the final blow yet. The Witch senses her puppet being harmed and is recalling her puppet. If we just follow him, we can kill the mastermind Witch, Annarella."
Katsuragi Kohei said righteously to his companions.
The dying knight eventually returned, step by step, with some difficulty, to the Witch's cave.
"Ah, you're back..."
Sakayanagi Arisu exclaimed upon seeing the blood-stained Hunting Knight return.
She pushed her wheelchair, slowly approaching the injured knight. According to the script, she should have attempted to use recovery magic to heal her Guardian Knight, and upon finding it ineffective, Katsuragi Kohei and Yukinoshita Yukino would then deliver lines to corner the Witch who continued to devour human souls to survive. Finally, she would deliver a rebuttal, be impaled by the heavy swordsman through her Puppet Knight, and then have her heart pierced, thus ending her role in the story.
"But what lines should I use to leave a deeper impression on everyone and the judges?"
Sakayanagi Arisu, who was moving her wheelchair herself, was still pondering how to perform to earn points when suddenly, the Knight, seemingly moved by an internal impulse, knelt before her, holding onto her wheelchair with both hands. This surprised Sakayanagi Arisu, as Chen Yao had never made this movement during the seven rehearsals.
[I'm sorry, I'm really sorry...]
The Knight knelt before Sakayanagi Arisu, crouching with his heavily injured body and bowed head.
[I ultimately failed to keep my promise... to bring you a happy future...]
The Knight crouched before the disabled girl, his voice revealing sincere and sorrowful emotion and regret.
Although Sakayanagi Arisu had mentioned the girl Karura when Chen Yao saw her off, and had heard from his casual words that Karura would call him an idiot and greet him—making her sense his deep nostalgia and worry for that girl, which led her to imitate that verbal tic—she could now feel intense emotion radiating from Chen Yao. She vaguely realized that the foreign girl Chen Yao mentioned might already be... Even though she knew this was a stage play, the Witch Karura, who had feared his non-return in the dark world and taught him Sorcery, might no longer be able to survive on her own. Yet, a strong feeling of yearning ultimately compelled him to express it on this stage. As an ember, was he supposed to be devoid of humanity? Then what was this emotion? Why did he, who originally intended to live a normal life, feel like he was still an Undead tainted by darkness whenever he encountered his dark souls past? Deep down, he desperately wanted to convey his feelings to Karura, even if it was through the medium of the stage play... Whether it was unexpected or the emotion contained in this scene truly moved the audience, the originally hateful Witch and Knight suddenly became pitiable and human. In the dim light, the audience fell silent.
...
Horikita Suzune watched the unexpected scene and couldn't help but feel moved. She had to admit that she considered this the most stirring scene and dialogue in the entire performance.
When Katsuragi Kohei and the others entered, Katsuragi Kohei began, as usual, to declare the Witch's crimes and vowed to eliminate her to protect the world.
But Sakayanagi Arisu's attention had fallen onto Chen Yao. She realized she truly hadn't known the kind of hidden emotions Chen Yao, usually so confident and optimistic, possessed. The usually calm girl unconsciously reached out to touch the Knight's helmet.
"I'm sorry, I am truly sorry..."
Sakayanagi Arisu held the Knight's helmet in both hands, like the Witch embracing her dead Guardian Knight, silently closing her eyes and no longer responding to Katsuragi Kohei.
Yukinoshita Yukino and the others saw that Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly stopped responding, and the audience seats were completely silent. But to keep the play going, Katsuragi Kohei raised his greatsword, and using lighting effects, the sword pierced both the Knight and the Witch, effectively forcing them off the stage.
Immediately, a collective gasp arose from the audience, seeming less like cheering for the heroes eliminating the two evil demons and more like a shared sense of regret.
"That's strange. According to the plan, there should have been applause..."
Katsuragi Kohei and the members of Class A's cast were all confused.
"..."
Horikita Suzune watched in silence. Although she understood that the Knight and the Witch in the play, having hunted heroes everywhere just to survive, were beyond redemption, the final moment where the two dying villains accepted their demise together was undeniably the most brilliant scene of the entire production.
"Was it intentional? Or unintentional?"
Horikita Suzune suddenly felt a slight discomfort. At this moment, she couldn't even determine the situation. If it was a premeditated act by Chen Yao and Sakayanagi Arisu, the acting was too natural and too emotional. If it wasn't premeditated, was it truly just them performing wholeheartedly according to the play itself, as Chen Yao had claimed?
In her mind, she suddenly recalled the sentence Chen Yao had stated with conviction.
—[Why care about their thoughts? Why care about meaningless victory or defeat?]
The purpose of a stage play is fundamentally to convey the emotions of the performance to the audience. Yet, most stage plays at Koudo Ikusei High School aimed to showcase individual talents. It turned out that the display of talent, which even she cared about, was truly inferior to the instantaneous investment of genuine emotion... Soon, Horikita Suzune suddenly saw her older brother, Horikita Manabu, watching Class A and Sobu High School's play alone in a distant corner.
"The beginning certainly matched my predictions and suppression, but toward the end, Mr. Chen Yao genuinely seemed to enjoy himself. Although I don't know why he became more invested at the final moment, he certainly checkmated Katsuragi Kohei unexpectedly. Heh, following one's original intention... is that more effective than meticulous scheming? To maintain your original intention in such a corrupted environment, you truly are a rational monster."
Horikita Manabu analyzed in his mind. Maintaining one's true nature amidst a chaotic atmosphere was far more valuable than being full of schemes. Even he himself couldn't remain untainted and was quickly being swallowed by this school.
Horikita Suzune watched her brother turn and leave after watching Chen Yao's play, becoming even more silent. Her body slightly wanted to stand up, but ultimately... she sat back down.
After the stage play performances that day, among the five plays, First Year Class A ultimately lost to Third Year Class A, taking the trophy for second place overall. However, in individual evaluations, Chen Yao of Sobu High School won the Best Performance Award. In fact, even without the final scene, the Western friendly school guests already thought his performance was the most committed. Hachiman Hikigaya and Yukinoshita Yukino took seventh and tenth place, respectively, while Katsuragi Kohei's score was rated average, failing to secure any award.
Katsuragi Kohei, upon receiving the results, fell silent for a moment. After glancing at Chen Yao, he calmly accepted the report card.
"Phew, it's finally over."
Yukinoshita Yukino sighed in relief. She felt that this request had been incredibly tiring, and she never wanted to come to Koudo Ikusei High School again.
"That's rare, it's the first time Little Yuki has complained about being tired."
Yui Yuigahama smiled and said.
"Hmph..." Yukinoshita Yukino frowned discontentedly at Yui Yuigahama.
Hachiman Hikigaya, wiping the paint off his face with a tissue, saw Chen Yao preparing to leave after the performance and smiled, saying, "I can tell you really enjoyed yourself this time."
"..."
Chen Yao was silent for a moment. As currents of indoor air blew past, he revealed a slight smile and said, "Yes, after all, the essence of a stage play is emotional investment."
Does an Undead possess emotions?
No matter how arduous the battle, no matter how fearless he was, he believed his heart had never been completely burned out.
Compared to that unwavering fearlessness, he also cherished the appreciation he had learned from his friends of the past.
Unlike the departed, Sakayanagi Arisu, now wearing a beret, had left the play cast. Alone, holding her cane, she sat dazed in a high corridor of the theater hall... Whoosh—!
The wind outside was strong, forcing the girl to hold her beret down with her hand.
Just by touching that emotion for an instant, this arrogant genius who had never envied anyone couldn't help but feel envious.
Envious of the girl "Karura" whom that boy had enthusiastically mentioned to her... Chapter 020: Miss Empress Who Mingles in the Manga World
June was the rainy season. The continuous drizzle brought tranquility to the world. At night, a black sedan was heading toward a villa nestled in the mountains.
[Du dada, du da! Du dada, du da! Kurara is arriving soon~~!]
The car stereo played an animated children's theme song; the music was dynamic and cheerful. A thirteen-year-old girl with long silver hair sitting in the back seat felt quite pleased listening to the music.
"Miss Sophie, would you like the next song to be from 'kura kura of haruta street' again?"
The Official responsible for driving in the front politely inquired.
"Yes, please."
The cute girl, whose skin was fair with a rosy glow, nodded.
"You really love this anime, huh? Isn't listening to it so many times enough?"
Kagaribi no Kiriue, sitting opposite her, couldn't help but frown and ask.
"But Kurara is truly beautiful, especially Meow Meow. I have already collected all the character figures from it."
The gentle-looking silver-haired girl smiled and nodded; she was what you'd call a serious fan.
"I really don't get it. You're a three-hundred-year-old Vampire, for goodness sake. Please watch some mature anime or movies."
Kagaribi no Kiriue complained helplessly.
This nearby Vampire was named Sophie Twilight. She didn't go to school, didn't go shopping, and didn't drink human blood. She was a Loli Vampire who liked staying home to watch anime and buy figures.
"But I can't watch anything else. Isn't anime good? I plan to watch anime for the rest of my life."