God of Drama

Chapter 12: Chen Yan

Zzzrip—

A figure clad in an opera robe squeezed its upper body out of the red paper monster, hanging upside down in midair.

Sensing Chen Ling’s imminent return, the red paper monster struggled frantically. Its body became increasingly translucent, like wet paper thinning under the rain.

Chen Ling, still half-trapped in its grasp, was dragged along the ground, swinging wildly and feeling dizzy. The torn paper opening wriggled, seemingly trying to swallow him back in, but he gritted his teeth, holding onto his upper body and resisting the pull with all his strength.

At that moment, a soaked young boy ran across the scarred land, heading straight toward them!

“Brother!!”

A hand grabbed Chen Ling’s arm and yanked downward with force!

Chen Ling felt an external force aiding him. His lower body abruptly tore away from the paper, and he crashed heavily onto the ground, passing through the boundary between the theater and reality!

The moment he broke free, the paper monster in the air completely dissolved into nothingness, as if it had never existed.

Lying on the muddy ground in his crimson opera robe, Chen Ling gasped for air.

Dark storm clouds loomed overhead, and raindrops trickled down his hair.

Through the spinning world, he saw a familiar face appear above him, anxiously shaking his shoulders.

"Brother! Brother!! Are you okay?"

The dizziness gradually faded. Chen Ling focused on the face and was momentarily stunned.

"Ah Yan? What are you doing here?"

The boy before him was none other than his younger brother, Chen Yan.

In the original host’s memories, there were only two things in life he was truly proud of.

The first was becoming an enforcer through his own efforts.

The second was having Chen Yan as his younger brother.

Not because Chen Yan was exceptionally smart or talented—quite the opposite. Chen Yan wasn’t bright; he consistently ranked near the bottom of his class and stumbled over his words in conversation. He was the kind of child easily bullied at school.

But ever since he was a toddler in split pants, he had followed Chen Ling everywhere, doing whatever he was told. Even when Chen Ling, in his mischief, nearly buried him alive in the sand, his first reaction after being rescued wasn’t to cry—but to grin foolishly at his brother.

From then on, Chen Ling took him everywhere, and no matter what he did, Chen Yan trusted him unconditionally.

Chen Ling was an ordinary person. But in Chen Yan’s eyes, he saw a different version of himself—someone to look up to.

“I… I…” The drenched boy stammered,

“After my surgery, I waited at the hospital for you to pick me up… Then, I heard people outside talking about an ‘apocalyptic-level’ calamity invading, and I got really worried about you.

I snuck out while no one was watching, planning to go home and find you. That’s when I saw you hanging from that monster…”

“Wasn’t Zone 2 and Zone 3 sealed off? How did you get here?”

“They didn’t have enough enforcers, so they only blocked the outer perimeter. There weren’t many guards between the two zones, so I just snuck through.”

Chen Ling shook his head, finally managing to sit up.

Looking at the deeply concerned face before him, his emotions became tangled.

Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan had set him up to be murdered just to take his heart and give it to Chen Yan—to save his life.

In a way, it was Chen Yan who had caused his death.

But thinking about it more carefully, Chen Yan had no idea about any of it.

He was just a fifteen-year-old boy who had simply obeyed his parents, lying down on an operating table because they told him they had a way to cure him.

Even if the surgery succeeded, he would never have known that the heart beating in his chest came from his brother.

A faint sorrow flickered through Chen Ling’s eyes as he looked at him.

“Brother… did you kill someone?”

Chen Yan’s gaze shifted to the blood-soaked Han Meng, his youthful face pale as paper.

"I didn’t kill him," Chen Ling replied instinctively. "That wasn’t me, it was—"

But he stopped mid-sentence.

He had no idea how to explain everything to Chen Yan.

His brother had seen him emerge from the red paper monster. His throat still bore a gruesome wound, his body drenched in blood. He looked anything but human.

How could he explain? That a group of "spectators" had taken over his mind? That he had been possessed just moments ago?

Chen Ling’s mind was a mess.

He had inherited the original host’s memories—and also his feelings for his younger brother.

Deep down, he was afraid.

Afraid that Chen Yan, like their parents, would see him as a monster.

But Chen Yan simply watched him quietly.

His chestnut-colored eyes held no fear—only deep thought.

After a moment, he walked to Han Meng, used all his strength to hoist him onto his back, and, staggering under the weight, started heading into the wilderness.

“What are you doing?” Chen Ling was stunned.

The boy’s thin frame struggled under Han Meng’s much heavier body, leaving deep footprints in the wet earth with every step.

Even so, he gritted his teeth and pressed forward.

“Brother, he’s an enforcer.”

“I know.”

“Killing an enforcer is a major crime. Once they find out, even if you didn’t actually kill him… they’ll come to kill you.”

“...I know, I…”

"Brother," Chen Yan whispered,

"I’ll go bury him for you."

Chen Ling’s heart trembled at the determination in his little brother’s eyes.

He hesitated for a long moment before finally finishing his sentence:

"No… Ah Yan, I mean… he’s not dead!"

Chen Yan: ???

The bewildered boy turned back—just in time to see Han Meng’s eyelids twitch as he let out a faint groan, on the verge of regaining consciousness.

With a startled yelp, Chen Yan lost his balance and tumbled sideways, sending the unconscious Han Meng rolling to the ground.

Half-conscious, Han Meng’s eyes barely cracked open—

A red-clad figure suddenly lunged at him, raised a fist, and slammed it down on the back of his head!

BANG—!

Just as he was about to wake, Han Meng blacked out again.

Chen Ling shook his sore hand, exhaling in relief.

That was close—he nearly let the guy turn the tables!

From what he saw through the theater’s curtain, Han Meng’s battle with the red paper monster had been fierce.

Chen Ling didn’t know what kind of special ability Han Meng used, but without the red paper monster, he himself was definitely no match for him.

"Let’s go."

After knocking Han Meng out, Chen Ling glanced at the worsening rain and immediately pulled Chen Yan away.

Han Meng wasn’t the only enforcer in Zone 3. If he had gotten here, it was probably just because he was the fastest.

If they stayed any longer, once the other enforcers arrived, escape would be impossible.

Han Meng lay unconscious in the muddy crater as the two boys vanished into the rain.

The downpour washed away all traces of their presence.

Minutes later, a squad of enforcers clad in black and red uniforms arrived at the scene…