He must be in a lot of pain.
The treasure island, composed of four separate screens stacked together and various musical instruments, gradually reveals its full appearance as the dry ice smoke dissipates.
The giant LED screen serving as the stage backdrop presents a magnificent scene of the sea and sky merging into one. As the image shifts between reality and illusion, a pair of hands appear, flying across the black and white piano keys.
The focus slowly zoomed out, and Kun Ji'en, transformed into a drifting writer, flicked his palm like fallen leaves in the wind, and with a flick to the left and right, the monitor on the electric piano suddenly lit up, and the words of ancient machinery were imprinted on the yellowed manuscript.
Once upon a time...
Beneath the giant screen, two dancers dressed as pirates faced each other and blew horns. In the background, long sails billowed, and the wildly written MGT (Manstar Show) logo on the sails seemed to be stained with the blood of elves, glowing with a faint light.
The lights went out at that moment, and visibility briefly returned to complete darkness. Then, a spotlight shone down from above, perfectly enveloping the edge of the treasure island.
A melodious and ethereal female voice sang, sometimes near, sometimes far, and a throne of thorns covered in roses slowly rose up.
"Honey, It's a nightmare I know.
(Honey, I know this is a captivating nightmare.)
I am a shadow, I am a ghost.
(I am the shadow, I am a wisp of ghost.)
Sneak into your dreams without permission…”
(I sneaked into your dream without your permission.)
In the throne room, a young, multi-talented box office queen, dressed in a shimmering, pearl-embellished long dress, lies gracefully on the bare chest of a silver-haired singer whose blouse is wide open, and the scene of a mermaid siren seducing an elf prince unfolds.
...
The mermaid gazed at that infatuated and lost face, humming a song as she subtly lured the prince to pursue her. Her nimble fingers danced across her porcelain-white skin, intentionally or unintentionally scattering iridescent sequins, leaving behind trails of captivation.
They were so close they couldn't be closer. The mermaid raised her palms upward, her fingertips forming a soft bridge between her jade-like chins. She opened her lips and blew, sending scattering sparkles across her face. The prince immediately closed his eyes and fell into her gentle embrace.
The song abruptly stopped. The mermaid cradled the prince by the back of his neck, turned her head and leaned down. Her flowing hair cascaded down the throne like a waterfall. From then on, only the long hair, intertwined in gold and silver, remained in the scene.
The camera pans to capture reaction shots from the stands and various tents outside the stadium.
The obvious staged movements were enough to drive the audience wild, with screams and cheers filling the loudspeakers. The voting lights in the audience spontaneously gathered into a tidal wave of sparks, and the contestants in the preparation booth were pounding their chests and stamping their feet in a manner reminiscent of a large-scale atavism.
The production crew seemed to think the show's impact wasn't yet at its peak, so they turned their cameras on the contestants' entourage.
Even in the relatively quiet, smaller space, explosions erupted everywhere, with words of praise and exclamations clearly uttered. Only a dark figure in the corner frowned and avoided the camera position, keeping a distance.
The director was very experienced and quickly and flexibly switched the camera back to the stage.
Another spotlight shone down, and the OG bassist, who was inducted into the Killboard Hall of Fame, made a flamboyant appearance in the spotlight, dressed in a steampunk-style pirate captain outfit.
The captain's bass, with its sharp-looking body and narrow, sword-like neck, was being slapped and rubbed by a powerful thumb, simulating the sound of wind-breaking leather boots stepping on gold coins and approaching step by step.
Guided by the sound, the audience fell silent and clapped in unison. When the boots stomped abruptly on the virtual path, the clapping stopped in unison.
The captain smirked, stepping on a treasure chest-shaped speaker and bowing slightly to the microphone, saying, "What are you waiting for, my precious little girl?"
The mermaid, as if waking from a deep dream, parted from the prince. Reluctantly gazing at his sleeping, handsome face, she hesitated for a long time before prying open his fingers and stealing the laurel wreath, a symbol of invincibility, from his bosom.
"Chop! Chop! (Hurry! Hurry!)" the captain urged, banging the bow.
The mermaid's movements were clumsy and hesitant, and she kept looking back as she carried the crown.
"Are you gonna sick of me?"
(Will you start to hate me because of this?)
“My goodness, what have I discovered?” the captain scoffed, rubbing the bowstring.
The mermaid knelt on the side at the boundary between light and darkness, trembling as she offered the price of her transformation.
With a broad slap, the captain released the bowstring, sending the mermaid flying backward. The crown slipped from her grasp and rolled away into the distance.
“I’ve changed my mind.” A dark shadow loomed beneath his high, arched eyebrows, and his rough voice was menacing. “Kill him! Right now!”
The mermaid shook her head in terror, struggled to her feet, and then collapsed back down. She rubbed her legs listlessly, then lifted and put them down one by one, stiff and clumsy, like prosthetics.
"No, no, no...Please! Nooooooo!!!!" The mermaid desperately reached her hand into the darkness, pleading hoarsely in the direction of the captain.
The captain remained unmoved, watching with great interest as the mermaid would make her choice. His hands moved across the strings like a spider weaving a web, the eerie, twisting melody growing faster and stronger, a sound that seemed both threatening and inciting.
The mermaid crawled back, laboriously climbed onto the throne, and lay down on the prince's chest again. Then she tore off a necklace with scales from her neck and pointed the sharp edge at his vulnerable throat.
However, the hand holding the weapon hesitated to strike, and trembling lips uttered conflicted and mournful murmurs.
"Can't hide the way I feel for you,
(My feelings for you are impossible to hide.)
I adore you, I hate you.
(I both love and hate you.)
Do hide the way I feel for you…”
(Make sure to hide it perfectly.)
As if making a firm decision, the mermaid whispered a final farewell in the prince's ear, then raised her elbow and swiftly swung downwards.
The prince opened his eyes the next second, nimbly grabbed the mermaid's slender wrist that was about to stab him, and resisted in astonishment.
The captain's harp music was like a clamorous incantation, catalyzing the mermaid's resolve into a ferocious beast. The prince struggled with the disfigured mermaid for a long time, listening to the voices coming from the darkness. His eyes dimmed in their watery sockets, then flashed with a sharp light a moment later.
“You are a shadow, You are a ghost.
(You are a heavy shadow, you are a wisp of ghost.)
Sneak into my dreams without permission.
(It sneaked into my dream without my permission.)
Why are you so sick of me?
(Why do you hate me so much?)
The prince grabbed the mermaid by the back of her neck with one hand and used the other to forcefully push her wrist away.
I hate you, I hate you.
(I hate you, I hate you.)
Do hide the way I feel for you! "
(Make sure to hide it perfectly!)
Before the anger in her chest could subside, the prince's narrow eyes suddenly widened. The mermaid's狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) expression vanished, replaced by a relieved smile. She opened her palm to the prince; it was empty, except for a blinding glint of light.
The equally dazzling flash on her neck revealed that the sharp scales had been subtly switched by the mermaid, now facing her.
The mermaid immediately closed her eyes and collapsed into Yunxiang's arms.
The prince, overcome with grief, clutched his wound and embraced the frail body, tightly wrapping the mermaid in his arms, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
On her deathbed, the mermaid mustered her last strength and sang a mournful song.
"Are you gonna sick of me"
(Will you really hate me?)
The prince hugged her tighter, responding with obvious remorse.
I adore you, I adore you.
(I like you very, very much.)
Can't hide the way I feel for you."
(I can't hide my feelings for you.)
The mermaid's eyes flickered with joy as she lovingly stroked the prince's face, trying to offer him some more comfort.
"Honey, It's a nightmare you know.
(Honey, you know this is a captivating nightmare.)
I am a shadow, I am a ghost.”
(I am but a shadow, a wisp of ghost.)
The prince gently covered his face with his hand, his expression knowing, yet his actions seemed to be a deliberate attempt to keep him there.
"Don't hide the way that we feel.
(We no longer need to hide our feelings from each other.)
You're free, you can go..."
(You are free now, go in peace.)
The mermaid let out a relieved sigh and murmured to herself.
"I am free, I can go..."
(I am free, and can finally rest in peace.)
The mermaid's hand fell lifelessly from the prince's grasp...
“What a pity,” the captain sighed mockingly, then turned arrogantly, spreading his hand. “Well, well, you poor lovebird. Now present the crown and kneel. I may consider burying you and my precious together.”
The prince carefully settled the mermaid, stepped down from his throne, picked up the laurel wreath from the ground, faced the captain, and firmly placed the crown upon her silver hair with both hands. He then calmly challenged, "F*ck you."
A crystal electric guitar was pulled from a cluster of gemstones and hung in front of the prince as a sword.
The stage lights and the lightning flashes on the giant screen flashed in sync as the two musicians engaged in a virtual piano duel, each striking back and forth, advancing and retreating, bending and stretching, kneeling and standing, until their fingertips turned red and they were drenched in sweat...
In the end, the prince, with his higher and more powerful piano music, narrowly defeated the captain's dull and suppressed music. Amidst deafening cheers and screams, he carried the mermaid to the throne.
The throne rises upwards, while a holographic panoramic screen descends in reverse from above. The panoramic screen and the giant screen overlap, creating a visually deceptive effect where the sea and sky blend seamlessly. The waterline continues to descend until the bottom edge of the panoramic screen is flush with the outer plane of the treasure island, revealing the inverted underwater world.
The prince stood at the very top and used his reddened knuckles to remove the crown from his head.
The screen went black again, and the entire room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Occasionally, a few sobs or calls of "Janus" would break the silence, sounding extremely abrupt and out of place.
The drifting composer, who had been silently playing the background music, made an encore at the end of the performance. His ten fingers flew across the black and white keys as before, but he softened the intensity, intending to use delicate and light notes to simulate the bubbles stirred up by heavy objects brushing against the ocean current.
The drifting writer, in a frenzy, hunched his shoulders and leaned close to the alternating blocks of color, playing a series of almost seamless low melodies before raising his hands high and letting them fall straight down.
With a heavy thud, the ink on the yellowed manuscript on the giant screen, diluted by seawater, that read "THE END" completely disappeared.
Just as the audience began to stir and whisper among themselves, the drifting writer suddenly struck the door with an even louder blow, and several gasps of breath mingled into a reverberation.
The blank paper manuscript was pushed towards the boundless end of the deep sea by the rapidly sinking crown.
They disappeared together.
...
"Sorry, dude."
Jiang Songhe was bumped by someone who had moved away from the screen.
The impact caused warm liquid to well up in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and into the corners of her mouth.
He instinctively stuck out the tip of his tongue to catch it; it was a little salty.
Only then did he come to his senses and wipe his face with his left hand, then stared at his fingertips as he rubbed them dry little by little.
"He must be in a lot of pain."
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