Yes! He's the god of acting

When he opened his eyes again, a familiar brightness filled his vision.

"Back here again..." William adjusted to the intensity of the spotlight, his gaze slowly sweeping around his surroundings.

The old stage, black curtains, packed audience seats—he had returned to this nightmare once more.

"It seems that whether I'm sleeping or dying, I'll always end up back here," William concluded from his accumulated experiences.

Ever since he had regained control of his body, those departed audience members had returned to the theater. Though their gazes seemed somewhat displeased, at least they showed no intention of intervening again.

William's eyes naturally drifted to the screen at the center of the stage:

[Audience Expectation: 24%]

According to the historical records, the moment he regained control of his body, his expectation value had automatically risen to 20%. After his battle of wits with the law enforcement officers, the expectation value had increased again, finally stabilizing at 24%.

"Last time, dying directly deducted 50% from my expectation value. If I die next time when the expectation value is below 50%... what will happen?"

William didn't know the answer, but he suspected that if the expectation value turned negative, he would likely die completely and be permanently possessed by the "Audience," never to rise again.

Just as William was about to look away, he suddenly noticed a small, trembling treasure chest had appeared in the bottom right corner of the screen.

He clearly remembered that when he first entered the theater, this thing hadn't been there.

William hesitated for a moment, then tentatively reached out and tapped the chest...

Ding ding ding ding—!

The moment William's fingertip touched the treasure chest, an uplifting musical fanfare burst from the speakers on both sides of the stage.

The sudden music startled William, and in the next moment, several spotlights moved to illuminate the area behind him. He turned to look and discovered that a table had appeared out of nowhere in the center of the stage.

It was an unremarkable wooden table, its surface somewhat weathered, blending seamlessly with the wooden floorboards of the stage. The spotlight beams illuminated the table, where a piece of paper reflected a pale glow.

William walked straight to the wooden table, and the two spotlights converged until they merged into one.

At the top of the paper, several lines of small text were written.

"Detection: Audience expectation value has exceeded 60% for the first time. Achievement unlocked—'Mostly Positive Reviews'!"

"You have gained one additional lottery draw."

"Upon use, you will randomly draw and learn one character skill from all appearing characters in this performance."

William's eyes swept over these words, but before he could fully process them, the white paper suddenly vanished, replaced by playing cards spread across the table surface.

These cards came in various colors—most were white and gray, with occasional blue ones appearing. The surface patterns ranged from simple to complex, with brighter colors featuring more elaborate designs that looked increasingly precious.

In the next moment, all the cards simultaneously flipped face-down, revealing uniform backs, then shuffled together at incredible speed before finally settling neatly across the table surface.

William had tried to track the few blue cards, but this bizarre shuffling method made it impossible to follow any specific card with the naked eye.

"So there's even a lottery system... looks like this theater isn't all bad news."

William took a deep breath, randomly selected a card in front of him, and gently flipped it over...

It was a blue card.

After William made his selection, all the other cards simultaneously disappeared, and several lines of text appeared on the blue card.

"Skill: [Dance of Slaughter]" "Origin: Path of the War God, [Judgment] Pathway, Third Order." "Character: Beker."

Seeing the name "Beker," William's mind automatically conjured the image of the trench-coated figure who had fought the red paper monster blow for blow last night... At this moment, he had only one thought.

This was a huge win!

Among all the people William had encountered since crossing over, Beker was undoubtedly the most powerful combatant. Though William couldn't understand what "Path of the War God," "[Judgment] Pathway," and "Third Order" meant, there was no doubt he had drawn the best possible option available.

The blue card dissolved into nothingness, and William felt something new within his body—something mysteriously profound.

"Thank you for the gift," William felt genuinely embarrassed now.

He had stolen—no, learned—this skill from Beker, which made Beker his benefactor in a sense... But just a few hours ago, he had beaten up his "benefactor" and knocked him unconscious with a club.

That club strike... hopefully it hadn't killed his benefactor?

He felt somewhat guilty.

...

Meanwhile, in another location:

Crimson calamity danced wildly overhead, Its terrifying presence made hearts tremble; A slender hand emerging from within the calamity pressed down on his head... like the hand of a deity fallen from the heavens, dominating the world.

On the hospital bed, Beker's eyes snapped open, and his entire body nearly launched upright.

"Hiss—"

The sharp pain in the back of his head made him grimace, and as his vision swayed, he collapsed back onto the bed.

"Beker!" A law enforcement officer who had been dozing beside him was startled awake and immediately reached out to steady him. "Beker! What are you doing? Don't move around—you'll tear your stitches..."

Beker lay on the bed, finally catching his breath before asking in confusion:

"Where am I?"

"The hospital!"

"What about that long-armed... no, that red calamity?"

"It..." The officer paused. "It must have escaped. When we arrived at the scene, we only found you lying there..."

Fragmented memories flooded back into Beker's mind, and he couldn't help but touch the back of his head, wincing in pain.

This calamity... it likes sneak attacks to the back of the head?

"How's the situation? Were there any other casualties?"

"None so far. After fighting with you, that calamity hasn't appeared again. It's probably because you injured it too severely."

"I..."

Beker was about to say he actually hadn't injured it at all, but after hesitating, he swallowed those words.

In front of his subordinates, he still needed to maintain his image.

"What time is it?"

"Six fifty."

"...Help me up."

"Beker, the doctor said you need to rest..."

"Rest my ass!" Beker gritted his teeth as he stood up. "That calamity is very cunning. If we let it run free like this, it'll cause major trouble sooner or later!"

"Cunning? Beker, did you mean to say dangerous..." This law enforcement officer had seen his share of things, but this was the first time he'd heard someone describe a calamity as "cunning."

"Dangerous, but even more cunning!"

Beker instinctively touched the back of his head again. "And I suspect it might have actually fused with some human being..."

"A Fusion?" Hearing these words, the officer's expression changed dramatically. "Should we immediately notify Aurora City?"

Hearing the latter part of that sentence, Beker gradually calmed down. "No, not yet. I need to investigate further... Right now this is just my speculation, without any theoretical basis."

"So what do we do now..."

"First, let's go to headquarters. Those new recruits should be arriving soon. I'll fill you in on the details on the way."

"Right."