Yes! He's the god of acting

A Chilling Sneeze and a Familiar Face

"Achoo!"

William sneezed violently into the cold wind. As someone from the North in his past life, even he found this weather unbearable: cold, damp, and despite the bright sun in the sky, there was no warmth to be felt.

"Move it, move it!"

A lazy voice drifted from ahead. William snapped back to reality and instinctively pressed himself against the roadside. At the end of the road, a tricycle was slowly approaching. One young man pedaled, while another sat on the back seat beside two large barrels of salt. He scooped out salt with a ladle, scattering it over the frosted road. As the salt crystals fell, the ice on the ground gradually melted.

"Well, well, William?" The salt-spreader saw William by the roadside and raised an eyebrow. "Never thought I'd see the big brainiac here. Didn't you go for the Enforcer exam? Flunked out?"

William recognized the face, and a memory surged forward. This was Jones, a kid who'd grown up on the same street as William. Jones had always been naturally jealous. In high school, William's good grades often led Jones's mother to compare them, making Jones resent William.

"Passed the written, still have the combat test," William replied casually from the roadside.

"Heh heh, well, good luck with your exam then!"

As he spoke, Jones scooped up a large spoonful of salt and swung his arm, flinging it vigorously towards the road, intentionally splashing William who stood by the curb.

Flying salt crystals dusted William's hair and cotton coat. He hadn't expected such a cheap trick from Jones. He quickly brushed the salt off, then glared back at Jones. By now, Jones was already tricycling away, swaying lazily... He had one foot propped on a salt barrel, sticking out his tongue and making a face at William.

As a twenty-eight-year-old man who had endured the harsh realities of society, William felt a mix of annoyance and amusement at such a childish prank. However, William had no intention of chasing after and beating the kid. He simply made a mental note of the incident; he had more pressing matters at hand.

William was about to continue walking when his peripheral vision caught something on the ground. He paused, a slight frown creasing his brow.

The frost touched by the salt gradually melted, leaving a faint white residue on the ground. In that fleeting moment, William saw a line of text interweave and form—

[AUDIENCE EXPECTATION: 27%]

Before William could even react, the salt crystals fully dissolved, and the scene from just a moment ago seemed like nothing more than a fleeting hallucination.

William rubbed his eyes hard, muttering to himself, "No way..."

A sense of urgency intensified, and William couldn't help but quicken his pace, heading straight for the clinic.

The Doctor's Dilemma

A few minutes later, William pushed open the clinic door.

To call it a clinic was generous; it was essentially a two-story residential house on Frost Street, square and drab in appearance. It instantly reminded William of his old rural home. Yet, even such a humble dwelling was considered relatively good on Frost Street; at least it had two stories and offered shelter from the wind.

"Oh, it's you," a man in a white coat at a wooden desk slightly turned. "Here to get medicine for your brother again? Didn't he transfer to the hospital in Sector Two?"

"Not Henry this time, it's for myself."

William's younger brother had been hospitalized here before, and William was quite familiar with Doctor David. He walked to the desk and sat down, a hint of nervousness in his expression.

"Oh? Not feeling well?"

"I... my mind isn't quite right."

"Is it a physical headache, or..."

"Lately, I seem to be experiencing hallucinations."

"Psychiatry?" Doctor David raised an eyebrow, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses thoughtfully. "That's my specialty... tell me about your symptoms."

"Last night, I had a dream. I was on a stage, with a large audience below... I couldn't see their faces, but they didn't seem human. I ran desperately on stage, but I could never find an exit..."

"Dream interpretation isn't within my scope of practice."

"I know." William took a deep breath. "But after I woke up, I kept feeling... they're still watching me."

Hearing this, Doctor David finally seemed interested. "You're imagining being observed?"

"It doesn't feel like an imagination... They seem to be in my head, sitting in the audience, watching my every move. And I'm like a performer, forced to entertain them, just a tool for their amusement."

"Are you saying your life is a stage, and you're the sole protagonist?"

"The meaning's right... but it's not as positive as you make it sound."

"What about the audience? Besides watching you, do they do anything else?"

William paused. "I don't know if it's my imagination... but they seem to be able to affect things around me."

"Affect reality? That sounds rather fantastical." Doctor David said, taking a sip from his teacup. Just as he was about to say something more, his face suddenly changed!

Pah!

Doctor David spat out a mouthful of scarlet blood, which splattered onto the floor.

"Doctor David??" William jumped in alarm. "Are you ill?"

"...No, this isn't right." Doctor David wiped the blood from his mouth; it wasn't his. He frowned in thought for a moment, then his gaze fell on the teacup on the corner of the table...

Sometime, without his noticing, the teacup had become filled with thick, viscous blood. Doctor David's face was grim. He distinctly remembered having just brewed a bag of Pu-erh tea in it a minute ago.

During this time, only he and William were in the clinic. William had been under his constant observation; there was no way, nor any motive, for William to swap the contents of the cup. The full cup of blood had appeared as if by magic, bizarrely.

William also seemed to realize something, his face growing paler.

"As I said," he spoke hoarsely, "They... they might really exist."

Doctor David stared at the cup of blood for a long time before slowly looking at him. "How long has this been going on?"

"One day," William paused. "Since I regained consciousness, it's only been one day."

"And before you regained consciousness? What were you doing?"

"I..."

A scene suddenly flashed in William's mind: himself stumbling through the heavy rain last night. "I don't know, I can't remember."

"So, you're not sure if these symptoms started last night, and you have no memory before last night?"

"...Yes."

"Have you ever been possessed by a 'Calamity'?" Doctor David adjusted his glasses. "Or, to put it another way, last night... did you encounter a Gray Convergence?"