Chapter 438: A Douban Rating of 3.0
[Inside what appears to be an ordinary guesthouse, Specter—playing the role of the head of the household—is currently troubled by the fact that the children's mother is preparing to leave with the kids.]
As Nian's deliberately solemn narration echoed out, she—also serving as the camerawoman—hoisted a camera onto her shoulder and charged straight into the room.
Inside, the cast members who had long since been assigned their roles finally sprang into action. Among them, the green-haired Feline playing the children's mother wore an expression that could hardly be described as pleasant.
Ironically, that very expression made her fit the narration even better. Compared to the other three girls, who clearly hadn't quite gotten into character yet, her mood looked far more natural.
Thankfully, the moment Nian entered with the camera, Ceobe and Amiya—who had been waiting after studying the script—each grabbed one of Kal'tsit's legs and burst into loud, exaggerated sobbing.
"Mom! We don't want to leave Dad! Please, okay?!"
They shouted the lines written in the script, but not a single tear could be seen on their faces. Expecting any real acting skill from amateurs—especially children—was clearly unrealistic.
Fortunately, the camera only swept past them briefly before zooming straight in on Kal'tsit's perpetually grim face, which greatly reduced the sense of awkwardness.
At that moment, Specter—playing the father—finally shuffled over with a weary cough, her face full of hardship.
"Yeah, kids' mom," she said hoarsely. "I don't even mind that you're a Feline and somehow gave birth to a Cautus and a Perro with me. Let's not make things so ugly, okay? It's not good for the children to see this."
If only she had a cigarette between her fingers, she would have perfectly embodied the image of a washed-up, middle-aged man.
Among everyone on set, the only person whose brain could truly keep up with Steven and Nian's train of thought was Specter—the slightly unhinged one. You could even say she was one of the very few people here actually acting seriously.
At the very least, even Nian couldn't find a single fault in her performance.
This was what professionalism looked like.
However, no matter how good Specter's acting was, the scene couldn't move forward if Kal'tsit refused to cooperate.
"Say your lines."
So Nian, still acting as the camerawoman, shot Kal'tsit a look and once again shoved the lens right up in her face.
And honestly, it wasn't hard to understand why Kal'tsit looked so irritated.
The character Nian had written for her—a flirtatious, eternally youthful "hot mom" who loved OL skirts—was something she found impossible to feel happy about.
Twenty-eight years old, already the mother of two fourteen-year-olds, never home at night, obsessed with glamorous banquets and social events—
Was this something a human being could come up with?
The white-stocking-clad thighs exposed by her Lolita-style short skirt, along with the multicolored ribbons in her hair, made it very hard for Kal'tsit not to suspect that Steven and Nian had conspired together purely to mess with her.
"…Hmph. In any case, don't bother explaining," Kal'tsit said at last, delivering her lines in a flat, mechanical tone that screamed table read. "I don't like useless men like you who can't even earn enough in a month to buy milk powder for the kids. You can't even afford to take them out for fried chicken thirty times a day. What use is trash like you? This family is finished. I'm tearing it apart today."
She recited the lines—words that no one could possibly say without at least thirty years' worth of blood clots in their brain—while silently praying that this hellish day would end as soon as possible.
After saying that, Kal'tsit didn't hesitate in the slightest. With one hand each, she grabbed the two unfortunate children beside her—who were still dry-crying at full volume like pigs being slaughtered—and resolutely marched straight out through the door.
Specter, perfectly in sync, stretched a hand toward Kal'tsit's retreating figure. The reluctance and regret in her eyes were so vivid that even Steven, watching from the sidelines, almost felt like she had genuinely immersed herself in the role.
However, as the opening of the film, things obviously couldn't end that simply.
Two minutes after Kal'tsit left—just as Specter had been holding that dramatic, Erkang-style outstretched-hand pose long enough for her body to start going numb—Nian, acting as the camerawoman, quickly called out toward the window, signaling that the next scene could begin.
Then, a serene and holy melody slowly filled the room.
Feathers drifted down from the ceiling, and a beam of golden light streamed in through the window.
As the camera and the stunned Specter turned together, they saw a young girl descending gently from the window, her hands clasped together, eyes tightly shut. Behind her, nine fluffy tails swayed softly—luxuriant and full—giving her the air of a celestial maiden descending from heaven itself.
Originally, Nian had planned to give this girl—who was, in fact, better described as a child—a Laterano-style glowing halo and prop wings. But the moment she brought it up, the idea was unanimously rejected by everyone present, Steven included.
As Rhodes Island's universally acknowledged "Light," a symbol of true purity, she didn't need to act at all. Just standing there was enough for people to cry out, "Bell of the Gate!"
That was exactly why, the moment Steven heard this role was needed, he immediately thought of her—the Light of Rhodes Island, the little medic said to make people understand what happiness was simply by looking at her.
And now, the child whom Steven had coaxed over with a bit of candy and a bit of treatment slowly opened her eyes, smiling sweetly and innocently down at Specter.
The wire suspending her was practically impossible to hide, but anyone who saw this scene would instinctively ignore those two things that clearly shouldn't exist.
Suzuran was light.
Suzuran was an angel bestowed upon the mortal world by God.
This was the shared belief of all of Rhodes Island.
"My poor believer," Suzuran said softly, extending her hand toward Specter. "God has taken pity on your suffering and thus grants you a choice. Will you abandon all worldly things and ascend to heaven with me… or will you take up this sinful chainsaw and declare your hatred to this world?"
At the same time as Suzuran reached out, someone off-camera tossed in a chainsaw still stained with uncleaned blood, which clattered awkwardly to the floor in front of Specter.
As Specter burst into a yandere-like peal of manic laughter, Nian silently carried the camera out of the room, slowly pulling the shot away until the screen finally faded into darkness.
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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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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152281351?collection=55713
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152281351?collection=55713
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