Chapter 53
（The Ancient Castle’s Bride-to-be; The President and The Famous Celebrity.)
“The handsome fresh meat, the immensely popular fried crispy chicken, marvellous in both arts and sports, everyone loves him! Who is he?”
“It’s him, it’s him, it’s precisely him! Our big celebrity Actor Ming!”
What kind of unsophisticated case writing was this?
Moreover, it did not rhyme at all.
Negative review.
Seated in a sedan, Gu Liang had his card raised as he attempted to read through the script, but the opening was already a shocker.
This was the fifth script he was playing, and it was called《 Carrying The Doll 》.
Gu Liang raised an eyebrow and continued reading on.
“Actor Ming is the character you will be playing in this instance. You have been invited to attend the wedding reception of [Lady Rong]. Lady Rong is the number one debutante in the capital, and her father is a well-known rich and powerful person, who owns countless of businesses. In reality, you are an artist signed under her father’s entertainment company. You will be performing a song during the wedding reception.
“Friendly reminder, due to the increased difficulty of the script, the script enactment segment also requires everyone’s performance to become truer to life, and the criteria for determining instances of OOC have become stricter as well. Hence, in the prevailing performance segment, the player will be required to sing in actuality.
“Of course, our game attaches a lot of importance to the player’s experience. Thus, the system has provided three songs which have been prepared in advance, for the player to choose.
“There is still some time before you arrive at the scenario premises, if you have never heard of the three songs, you may listen to it along the way and then make your choice. Of course, the player can also make use of the time to learn and practice the song. For the sake of increasing the realism of the script enactment, please practice seriously!”
He lifted his finger to slide to the first song.
Song Name: Love’s Offering.
Gu Liang: “……”
— Judging from the name, it looks like a love song? Not singing.
Scrolling down.
The name of the second song: Liang Liang.
Gu Liang skipped past the song intuitively, until he reached the third page.
This time around, he did not even pause to look at the name before he tapped on “Confirm Choice”. Then, he focused on reading the rest of the script.
In any case, his decision was already made.
— Not listening. Not practicing. Not singing.
The plot continued below, and the card wrote:
“The extant wedding reception is being hosted by Lady Rong’s father [Magnate Rong], he is a benevolent old father, and also your boss.
“Lady Rong’s fiancé [Boyfriend Feng] is one of the main protagonists of the wedding reception, and naturally he will be playing a critical role. You heard that he was a normal person; claiming connections with Lady Rong, who is of higher status, can be considered as becoming a member of his wife’s rich and powerful family, and having picked up a great advantage.
“Another personage at the scene is Lady Rong’s previous boyfriend [Sc.u.mbag Yu]. This person is a domineering president from a listed company. He is young, promising, handsome and rich, and his flaw is his fickleness in love affairs. There is a rumour in the capital that out of the 10 beauties you meet, 9 of them are his previous girlfriends. He has harmed countless ladies’ hearts, including Lady Rong. Lady Rong originally had no intention of inviting him, but owing to the fact that Sc.u.mbag Yu and her father are business partners, she invited him to the event.
“Lady Rong has been fond of dolls ever since she was young, and [Designer Mei] was also invited this time around. She is a doll designer and a lot of the dolls in Lady Rong’s possession had been made by Designer Mei.
“As a good friend of Lady Rong, it goes without saying that [Confidant Ai] will be attending the wedding reception as well. She is also a daughter of a rich and powerful family, but she is not as welcomed as Lady Rong. You heard that these two are the famous, plastic beautiful sisters in the capital’s debutante circles.
“The person in charge of running the entire wedding reception is the Rong Family’s [Butler Hao]. You met him once prior to this, and felt that he was quite capable.
“Truth to be told, you do not hold much interest towards this wedding reception, but who told you to be the artist of their company? You have no choice but to go. You only hope to finish singing the song as soon as possible, and leave quickly.
“Deceased: Unknown; Script Difficulty: Three Stars. Hope you enjoy the game!”
* * *
After Gu Liang read to this point, he tried to scroll down further, and confirmed that his script had come to an end here.
He did not know who the deceased was this time around, and in an unexpected and concurrent feat, he did not have any murderous intentions and its corresponding timeline.
His story and character design was so simple to the extent where he did not have many ties with the other characters in the script.
Was he the detective this time around?
Gu Liang could not help but ponder— Furthermore, this script seems to be related to the entertainment circles and the vanity fair of the high society, but what relation did it share with “dolls”?
* * *
When the sedan came to a stop, the card in Gu Liang’s hand vibrated as a notification was issued to him: “It is currently 7 November, 3:30 in the afternoon, the game has officially begun, hope that you will have an enjoyable experience!”
Upon stepping out of the sedan, a towering and magnificent structure greeted Gu Liang, and it had a style similar to an European castle.
It was apparent that the construct was not newly built because the vestiges of its era could be felt. It was like a medieval castle where a young and tender princess was awaiting her marriage, and she was hosting a grand wedding reception on its eve.
Gu Liang was preparing to climb up the flight of stairs and walk towards the main castle doors when the sound of a speeding car came from behind him.
The tremendous noise generated by the approaching car and its tire friction was extremely ear-piercing.
It could be imagined that this person was driving the car very ostentatiously.
In the real world, Gu Liang hated this sort of person the most.
— Flashy and pompous while playing it off as handsome, creator of noise pollution, with a complete lack of social civility.
Gu Liang stopped his tracks. When he looked back, he saw an ostentatiously red sports car speeding towards him before it pulled a beautiful and exaggerated drift, and then slowly came to a halt.
After the car stopped, an exceptionally dazzling man stepped out from the driver’s seat. He was wearing gold-rimmed gla.s.ses, dressed to the nines in his wine red, form-fitting suit. However, nothing could surpa.s.s his most flamboyant feature, which was the rose that he was holding in his mouth.
This person happened to be Yang Ye.
Having seen Gu Liang the moment he got off the car, Yang Ye blinked at him a few times before he walked over to him in large strides, wanting to give him a hug.
Gu Liang’s body lurched backwards instinctively to avoid him. “Tsk, you’re acting as a sc.u.mbag this time around?”
“The character might be a sc.u.m, but I’m not a sc.u.m.”
Following, Yang Ye removed the rose from his mouth with two fingers and offered it to Gu Liang in a confident and fluid manner. “So you’re Actor Ming?”
“Send it to a lady. What are you giving it to me for?” Gu Liang’s gaze flitted across the glistening and beautiful rose before he looked at Yang Ye again, albeit indifferently. “Holding a rose in your mouth? Aren’t you afraid of poking your mouth?”
Yang Ye grinned. “This prop has been pruned, no? It’s just an act. I’m not like this in reality.”
He recalled a particular written in the script, “Out of 10 beauties you meet, 9 of them were his previous girlfriends.”
As Gu Liang examined Yang Ye, he found it a little amusing, and somewhat hilarious as well. “Is that so? But why do I have the impression that it’s your inherent colours making an appearance? This character suits you very well.”
In that moment, Yang Ye could clearly perceive scorn and distaste in Gu Liang’s eyes, and he quickly spoke in a stern tone: “Don’t allow the behaviour of other rich second-generations or the in-game character settings to affect you. Have you ever seen me being this ostentatious for the most part?”
Gu Liang: “Oh. You don’t drive such cars?”
Yang Ye: “Do I look like I’d be interested in sports cars like these?”
Gu Liang: “……”
Gu Liang’s expression made Yang Ye amused.
Yang Ye went up to Gu Liang, gently slipping the rose flower into the pocket of his suit before he hooked onto his neck and continued to walk forward. Without any prior indication, he turned serious and murmured in a deep voice: “This is great.”
“What’s great?”
“I chanced upon you again.”
Gu Liang thought of something, and asked him: “Your previous script enactment was longer than mine, and your downtime should have s.h.i.+fted backwards, how did you manage to chance upon me?”
“I used a reward card that ended my downtime in advance. There, didn’t I chance upon you again?”
Yang Ye said: “Right, Old Man Meng has this card too. He said he had used it numerous times in the past. I became aware of it when we were exchanging insights on how the cards could be used. I don’t know if we’ll b.u.mp into him this time around.”
“Old Man Meng? Who?” Gu Liang asked.
Yang Ye: “Tsk, the Professor w.a.n.g you met in your last script ah. He goes by the surname of Meng, and he’s called Meng Qian Cheng.”
Gu Liang: “Oh.”
Yang Ye: “Look at you, it’s been so long and yet you don’t even know his surname.”
Gu Liang: “……”
Yang Ye: “Let’s play this script properly and try our best to stay together in the future. When we return back to reality after breaking through this pa.s.s, Teacher Yang will take you for a ride in a sports car.”
“……”
“Why aren’t you speaking anymore?”
“I haven’t thought of where and how I should begin disparaging you yet.”
“……”
* * *
Under Yang Ye’s forceful hooking and foolery, Gu Liang followed the stone steps to walk up to the main doors of the ancient castle.
Unexpectedly, the usher at the main door was someone Gu Liang recognised, it was Scientist Li from the previous script.
Scientist Li greeted Gu Liang and Yang Ye with a nod. “I’m Butler Hao this time around.”
After they finished their self-introductions, Butler Hao took out two cards and handed it to them. “This is the sequence arrangement for the entire wedding. I’ll bring you to your guest rooms first.”
Left of the front door was the elevator.
Butler Hao escorted both of them into the elevator and pressed the sixth floor.
When the elevator was making its ascent, Gu Liang lifted the card to read through the entire programme, and learnt that the official wedding reception was tomorrow.
The event that everyone would be attending today was the Welcome Dinner which could be regarded as the warm-up for the official wedding ceremony.
At 5:30 this evening, the doors to the main hall used for hosting the Welcome Dinner will open, allowing the guests to stream in.
And at 6 o’ clock, the welcome dinner would officially commence; the welcome dinner would be kicked off with an artist performing a celebratory song for the newlyweds.
After the welcome dinner concluded and everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, a dance would be hosted in the main hall. The dance would last until 11 at night.
Gu Liang knew he was the artist that had to perform a song.
However, he did not want to acknowledge that fact in the present moment.
During this period of time, Yang Ye was also examining the programme card.
After reading through the programme, he glanced at Gu Liang and realised something with his keen senses. “What’s wrong, why is your complexion so poor?”
“It’s nothing.” Gu Liang kept the card.
The elevator doors opened and Butler Hao led the pair into the corridor. “Everyone will be staying on the sixth floor, my butler room included. Every person has their own room card, I’ll give it to you in a short while. It’s quite similar to staying in a hotel.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Yang Ye replied. Subsequently, he noted that Gu Liang’s expression was still lined with some vexation, so he nudged his shoulder. “What’s the matter, is there something bothering you?”
Gu Liang kept feeling that asking him to go on stage and sing was more uncomfortable than making him wear a female costume.
No matter what the circ.u.mstances were, he did not want to stand under the spotlight and be perused by a huge crowd.
But he did not want to say too much either. Hence, he only muttered: “You’ll know at night.”
Yang Ye did not continue asking after seeing his complexion, only patting his shoulder.
At that moment, Gu Liang had already come to a stop in front of a certain guest room with Butler Hao. It seemed like this was his room.
Then, Gu Liang took his room card from Butler Hao’s hand and proceeded to swipe open the door. Turning his head around, he told Yang Ye: “Just promise me one thing.”
“Hm? What is it?” Yang Ye was becoming increasingly curious.
“No matter what happens tonight, you’re not allowed to laugh.” After he finished saying that, Gu Liang shut the door.
* * *
There was numerous age-old decorative pieces in the room which seemed like genuine and prized antiques.
The armchairs was narrow and tall, the table beside the fireplace was not level, and there was a goblet and red wine bottle placed on top.
All four sides of the bed were draped with velvet curtains.
Several oil paintings were hung at the head of the bed and on the wall that the armchairs was leaning against. Human characters were featured in the paintings, but its pigmentation had faded slightly which gave a vivid sense of its old age.
The first impression that Gu Liang received from this room was— It was haunted.
Gu Liang stood at the door and surveyed the room for a long moment before he stepped into the middle of the room.
Beside the bed was a simple dressing table, a one-sided oval mirror, and an ancient round table that only had a few empty drinking gla.s.ses placed on top.
When he walked up to the mirror, Gu Liang accidentally saw the rose tucked in his chest pocket.
Gu Liang could not describe what he was feeling.
Despite his momentary pause, his next actions were smoothly executed: he raised his hand, took out the rose, and conveniently slipped it into the gla.s.s vase.
Then, he thought about it briefly before he went to the bathroom to put some water in the vase. The rose had nourishment now.
With the glistening scarlet of the tender and beautiful rose, the darkness veiling the entire room brightened instantaneously.
After moving away from the dressing table, Gu Liang stopped at the side of the closet. This was something he would routinely do every time he entered a scenario— which was rummaging through every box and cupboard to search for clues.
At this juncture, knocks sounded at his door.
Without needing to open the door, Gu Liang could roughly guess who it was.
He went up to open the door. As expected, it was Yang Ye outside.
Yang Ye walked around Gu Liang and entered his room like he was well at home. “I’m staying two door away from you. The furbis.h.i.+ng of our rooms are more or less the same, if you disregard the fact that the wall paintings are different.”
While Gu Liang was quietly a.s.sessing Yang Ye, Yang Ye was giving him a one-over as well. “You look more vampiric in a place like this.”
Gu Liang: “……”
“I’m praising you for being pale.”
“……”
Yang Ye sauntered over and pulled open the bed curtains without a hint of awkwardness, before he sat on the footstool by the bed directly.
Afterwards, he raised his eyes and happened to see the rose on the dressing table.
The scarlet rose peeked out from the gla.s.s vase. There was not too much or too little water, it was exactly half a vase.
A smile spread across Yang Ye’s visage immediately, curving the corners of his eyes; a reaction that bloomed from his inner heart.
His voice became extremely gentle as well. “You placed it in a vase? And here I was thinking you would throw it away.”
Since Gu Liang did not reply, Yang Ye asked him: “Is this the first time someone sent you roses?”
Calmly, Gu Liang returned a question, “I could hardly be compare to you, do you frequently send other people roses?”
Having dug himself a pit by accident, Yang Ye was about to explain himself when he saw Gu Liang’s expression change all of a sudden.
— At that moment, Gu Liang had walked up to the closet, thereby opening it.
It was unknown what he had seen inside, but Gu Liang stiffened as his complexion paled at a visible speed. Then, he slammed the closet shut with a loud thud.
“What’s wrong Gu Liang?” Yang Ye strode to his side immediately.
Gu Liang did not make a sound, only walking to the armchair at the side to sit down.
His face was white as a sheet, his fingers dug into the chair’s upholstery. Although he tried not to show any visible or audible reaction, it was apparent that he was slightly disturbed.
This was interesting.
The unmoving mountain that was Gu Liang could react like this?
He was never this affected when he was looking at his own corpse.
What was in the closet?
Upon opening the closet, Yang Ye discovered that the clothing shelves were empty and it was waiting for the guests to hang their own clothes.
However, it was for the same reasons that the object placed in the closet was extremely eye-catching.
— There was a doll, a doll that stared at people smilingly.
The doll had blond-haired and blue-eyed, and she wore a pretty little skirt and red high heels. All in all, her appearance was extremely gorgeous.
But she stared at people with fixed eyes, and it was somewhat terrifying at first glance.
Furthermore, the lipstick on her lips had been smeared, dragging red down to her chin, which made it seem like it was trickling blood.
Yang Ye picked up the card beside the doll, and it wrote: “Beloved guests, have you seen our cute doll? This is a surprise gift that Lady Rong has prepared for everyone, you can treat it as a souvenir oh. Does everyone like it?
“Every thing has a soul. It is said that if you treat the doll well, it will bring you happiness.
“Lady Rong treats her dolls extremely well, we hope that every guest will be like her, and cherish this cute doll.”
Shutting the closet door, Yang Ye sidled up to Gu Liang and handed him the small card.
After Gu Liang read the card, he arched his eyebrows with palpable contempt. “Is this kind of stuff cute? And it’s a souvenir?”
Yang Ye laughed after seeing his reaction.
Yang Ye bent his body and held onto Gu Liang’s shoulder lightly. “Are you afraid of these sorts of toys and ghosts? Admit to it, when you called me for the first time in the previous scenario, it was because you were afraid of the ghost, right?”
“……”
Gu Liang did not want to acknowledge him.
Yang Ye said: “You’re down on your luck. Didn’t the script say that the female owner who invited us to this ancient castle loves dolls the most? This sort of toy might be scattered everywhere.”
Gu Liang: “……”
Yang Ye: “If you’re afraid, I can accompany you to sleep tonight?”
Gu Liang: “………”
Gu Liang was unaware of this, but in Yang Ye’s heart, he had already changed to— Gu · has an outwardly cold and aloof appearance · who is concerned and cares about me in actuality · eats delicately · likes eating steak · very easy to work around · gentle and kind · super cute · afraid of ghosts and toys · Liang.
* * *
At 5:30 in the evening, the hall for the dinner party officially opened.
Yang Ye and Gu Liang went there together.
When they arrived at the main doors of the hall, there was a pair of newlyweds welcoming the guests.
Unexpected, these two people were all acquaintances.
The actor of Lady Rong was Doctor Xu of whom Gu Liang met in the previous scenario, and her real name was Dong Wan.
Currently, she was wearing a snow-white evening dress, which made her appear resplendent and elegant.
Her fiancé Boyfriend Feng, who was standing beside her, was a lady masquerading the role.
She was clad in a formal western suit, and her hair was shaved into a buzzcut.
But her facial features were incredibly familiar; a facsimile of Maid Liu, who Yang Ye and Gu Liang had met recently.
Maid Liu no longer had her maid-like appearance, nor was she the nervous and panic-stricken NPC sweeping leaves in the resting area anymore.
Currently, she was completely immersed in her character of Boyfriend Feng and her entire temperament had changed.
Despite wearing an expensive suit, Boyfriend Feng could not conceal the small and cautious disposition borne from a poverty-stricken background on her countenance. Body hunched, she walked up to Yang Ye and Gu Liang, saying: “Sc.u.mbag Yu and Actor Ming, you have come far, it must have been hard on you. I’ll bring you to your seats.”
When they met her in the resting area prior to this, her tongue was obviously severed.
How did she manage to speak again?
Truth to be told, Gu Liang knew he should not be surprised by this.
Because there were too many things in the game that could not be explained.
For instance, he had even seen his own corpse.
If people could resurrect after dying, a cut tongue growing back should not be surprising at all.
But this off-kilter feeling brought Gu Liang some discomfort, and he scrunched his eyebrows together subconsciously.
“Boyfriend Feng, you will be the master of this ancient castle soon. You should not be troubled with such trivial things, you should leave them to me.”
The person speaking was the previous Scientist Li, and the Butler Hao of this instance.
After saying that Boyfriend Feng, he looked towards Yang Ye and Gu Liang: “Allow me to bring you to the main table.”
* * *
A short while later, Yang Ye and Gu Liang sat down in their seats together.
In front of the main table was a small stage. There was no band, only a lone microphone and the sound system.
Gu Liang eyed it silently. He probably had to go up on stage and perform there in a short while.
His eyelid jumped, and he did not make a sound.
Butler Hao gave them two gla.s.ses of red wine, “I’ll be at the hall entrance welcoming the other guests. If you need anything, feel free to call me.”
Gu Liang called out to him subconsciously. “Scientist Li.”
Butler Hao inclined his body in a deferential manner before he told him: “I’m Butler Hao right now, may I ask if you need anything?”
The current him, was far too different from the Scientist Li in the previous script.
Gu Liang gawked at him, speechless. In the end, he could only shake his head. “It’s nothing. Thanks.”
As he watched his back figure disappear under the multi-coloured lights of the ancient castle, Gu Liang felt some rue.
Perhaps, the Scientist Li that came out after fifteen days of isolation in the wake of Doctor Xu’s exploit, was a character that felt system-altered.
He, who was once proud and arrogant in disposition, had become submissive, as if he was inhabiting a butler.
Was he starting to hide himself?
— Maybe the conclusion he had reached was that, conducting himself while wearing the mask of the character was far safer, so he had chosen to sink into his role completely?
All the reactions that Gu Liang showed naturally fell into Yang Ye’s eyes.
In a soft voice, Yang Ye asked him: “What’s the matter? Is there something wrong with Butler Hao?”
Gu Liang: “I didn’t discover any problems where he’s concerned in this script, no. I simply feel that his change is too drastic. Do you know what he was like in the past?”
Yang Ye nodded his head after hearing that. “Mn, he was an aloof, poison-tongued young man, and he was harder to get along with compared to you.”
Gu Liang: “……”
Yang Ye raised his hand, placing it on the top of his head to ruffle his hair a little. “I’m joking. Actually, if you look at it from a certain perspective, he’s quite pure. I heard Old Man Meng talking about him and Doctor Xu… Ah, which is also Dong Wan’s relations.h.i.+p.”
“Mn. He was upfront with the truth. But now that he’s in this scenario, he seems to completely regard himself as the character.”
After giving a pause, Gu Liang continued to say: “His current behaviour, reminded me of something that Perennial w.a.n.g – or the actor of Youngest Martial Brother – said that night in the Painted Exteriors scenario.”
Yang Ye: “What did he say?”
Gu Liang uttered: “He said— immersing yourself in your role can help you forget reality, and forgetting isn’t necessarily right or wrong. You have to let yourself be immersed in the game, if you’re too sober… you’ll go insane. From the looks of it, immersing yourself in the performance, is an extremely safe choice for the players.”
Yang Ye raised his head to drink a mouthful of red wine, and slowly tasted something from those words.
He placed his wine gla.s.s on the table, and called Gu Liang’s name in a deep voice.
Gu Liang placed down his wine gla.s.s as well. When he lifted his head, he saw Yang Ye displaying a rarely seen seriousness on his demeanour.
A moment later, Yang Ye held onto his shoulders, leaned over and stared into his eyes. He spat out a word. “Nonsense.”
Gu Liang stiffened. “What nonsense did I speak?”
Yang Ye: “It’s evident that you don’t believe that. You’re only afraid that you’ll become like that, right?”
Gu Liang’s smile was a little self-deprecating. “Perhaps. I’m afraid that there will be a day where… I forget who I am completely.”
Yang Ye looked at him seriously. “You don’t need to be afraid.”
Without making a sound, Gu Liang stared at Yang Ye quietly. Then, he heard him say: “Even if you forget yourself, I will remember who you are in your stead.”
Gu Liang could not render what his feelings were in the moment.
It was just that, as he was gazing at Yang Ye, he suddenly felt that the background behind him, whether it was mult.i.tudes of splendid lights or the dazzling decorations, all of it became ash grey.
The only thing that was still s.h.i.+ning, was Yang Ye’s eyes as he was saying those words.
Gu Liang’s lips moved. However, before he had the time to say anything, he felt a certain burning gaze.
When Yang Ye and Gu Liang s.h.i.+fted their heads concurrently, they saw the starry-eyed Li Xiao Yu.
What Gu Liang was thinking, Yang Ye did not know. But Yang Ye could perceive the pink bubbles floating around Li Xiao Yu’s head.
Gu Liang leaned backwards to avoid Yang Ye’s scrutiny. Subsequently, he turned back, lifting his gla.s.s to take a sip of his wine.
During his short preoccupation, Li Xiao Yu seized the chance to mouth some words at Yang Ye: “d.a.m.n it, if I wasn’t here, you would have kissed him! Sorry for interrupting!”
Translator’s Note: With regards to the t.i.tle of script Carrying The Doll (on one’s back), the exact phrase in Chinese – 背着娃娃 (pinyin: bei zhe wa wa) – can also mean ‘Back against the doll’ or ‘to turn one’s back on the doll’.
Keep that in mind for the rest of the arc~