Chapter 434: I Said, It's Your Turn Now
Steven, Centaurea, and Nian stood there staring at one another.
The room remained dead silent for nearly a full minute before Steven finally broke the awkward stillness.
"I can explain," he said rapidly. "She really just came to talk to me about a movie. And I was actually planning to invite you to play a major supporting role—someone who goes through multiple career-ending fractures, only to make a stunning comeback and seize first place when no one believes in her anymore. A true miracle revival story."
He rattled everything off in one breath, even raising a hand solemnly as if swearing to the heavens that he was telling the absolute truth.
Heaven as his witness—at most, the movie he wanted to collaborate on with Nian might contain some R18G-level bloody violence, but it had nothing to do with adult films. At worst, Nian's styling was a bit on the parody side.
"I can vouch for him," Nian added in a low voice. "He's just my film partner. We haven't even finalized the script yet. Though honestly, the number of female roles you're recruiting is starting to feel excessive. What are you planning to shoot here—Spider Cave or the Kingdom of Women?"
Whether that explanation helped or hurt, however, was hard to say from Centaurea's perspective.
"…On that point, I'll choose to trust you," Centaurea finally said after locking eyes with Steven for a long moment. "As for the role you mentioned, I'll need to think about it."
Her interrogation-grade expression faded, replaced by a gentle smile.
She might not be able to guarantee much else, but when it came to private matters, she trusted Steven enough. This guy was obviously still a rookie in perverted stuff. Sure, she wasn't much different herself—but even if you hadn't eaten pork, you'd at least seen pigs run. More importantly, Steven didn't strike her as the type to use filmmaking as an excuse to host some kind of debauched party.
If he really wanted to do something like that, the entire Rhodes Island would know about it in advance.
"As for what you're discussing right now," she continued calmly, "it sounds like you have things to talk about. I'll head back to my room first and come find you after you're done."
With the composed grace of someone already standing at the finish line—a proper, magnanimous main wife—Centaurea stood up. She gave Nian a perfectly virtuous smile, then took the initiative to leave Steven's room.
Nian watched her disappear beyond the doorway. Only then did she shiver slightly and turn back to Steven with a look full of sympathy.
"I think that gave me some inspiration," Nian said casually. "If we ever need a family-ethics segment, we could add a scene where a resentful housewife, driven to the brink by her husband's infidelity, finally snaps and chops that cheating scumbag into mince, then wraps him up into dumplings. Think it'd go viral?"
Her words were pure teasing, but her eyes roamed up and down Steven's body as if she were searching for something strange. Judging from her disappointed expression, she clearly hadn't found what she was looking for.
"I don't know if it'd go viral," Steven replied flatly, rolling his eyes, "but it definitely wouldn't pass censorship. You'd have to change the ending to the woman forgiving her lover, and then everyone—including the reformed villain—joyfully making dumplings together during the Lunar New Year. That would get better reviews."
"Enough messing around," Steven continued. "You didn't come here just to check on what Yamato turned into, did you? All I can say is, the kid takes after me. So I locked it in solitary confinement to reflect on its actions."
Steven shook his head. After first addressing the matter Nian cared about the most, he spread his hands and gave her an explanation that wasn't exactly easy to digest.
"It didn't devour its master?" Nian sighed with a face full of regret. "Shouldn't you have been ambushed in the dead of night by your yandere katana, violently having your first time taken away? I even came prepared to record some precious first-hand footage—and yet it turned out to be this boring?"
From her words alone, Steven finally understood why she was dressed the way she was.
So it really was just to take embarrassing photos of him.
Did this so-called Miss '92 really have no other side gigs?
The corner of Steven's mouth twitched. Looking at the girl wearing an expression of utter disappointment, he suddenly felt the urge to teach her a lesson.
"Are you usually this bored?" he asked.
"Of course," Nian replied without hesitation, her tone unusually serious. "On this dull land, there are very few things left that can interest me. This kind of emptiness is something only long-lived beings can truly understand."
Her voice had taken on a faintly weathered quality.
"In that case," Steven said calmly, "I've got a proposal for a game. Something exciting. Something thrilling."
"Oh?" Nian's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Really."
As he spoke, Steven reached into his backpack and took out a perfectly standard .50-caliber Magnum revolver.
He skillfully loaded a single round into the cylinder, then flicked his wrist and spun the gun in a flashy flourish, thoroughly scrambling the bullet's position.
Before Nian could even react, Steven raised the revolver to his own temple and pulled the trigger five times without hesitation.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
After the five dry shots echoed through the room, Steven tossed the revolver—now with only one chance remaining—onto the floor in front of Nian. His expression was completely flat as he added:
"Your turn."
"Hah?"
Nian's pupils shrank instantly. As a Fragment of God, she naturally knew exactly what kind of object Steven had just thrown over.
But using something like this purely for stimulation—wasn't that a bit too hardcore?!
"I said," Steven repeated, pointing at the revolver on the ground, his smile unfailingly gentle, "it's your turn."
"…I suddenly feel like discussing the script or film production details would be much more interesting," Nian said at once, averting her gaze and forcibly changing the subject. "You know, I never really paid attention before, but now that I think about it—ordinary life is actually pretty fascinating!"
Clearly, she had no intention of continuing this particular line of discussion.
Steven chuckled softly.
This game—so efficient at curing terminal boredom-seekers—really did have its merits.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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