Yes! He's the god of acting

That afternoon, the screams echoing down Frostfall Street seemed almost nonstop. Yet, the mastermind behind it all, William, sat quietly under a tree, his hand propping up his head as he watched the chaos unfold, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. He was also keenly observing the fluctuations in their anticipation level.

At first, when Oliver slapped Jones' backside, the crowd's anticipation level would rise slightly with each hit. However, after a few strikes, the growth stalled and plateaued at 48%.

William lingered for a while longer, only to see the anticipation level drop by 1%, now sitting at 47%.

It seemed like the crowd was starting to lose interest.

"Could it be that the audience in my mind isn't all here just for the fun of it?" William thought to himself.

From this experiment, William had already figured out that the audience's anticipation level was directly tied to the events taking place. If what was happening was exciting enough, the anticipation would rise. But if nothing interesting occurred for too long, the anticipation would gradually drop with time...

So, if he wanted to keep the anticipation above 20%, he'd need to keep creating "exciting moments"?

Today's events had started with Jones provoking him, and since Jones was a notorious thug from Frostfall Street, it seemed justifiable to teach him a lesson. But could he really do this every day? If things continued like this, he might end up becoming the villain in everyone's story.

The thought left William feeling drained.

His only hope now lay with that mysterious "Doctor" from Aurora City, as mentioned by Dr. David. Maybe this doctor could help rid him of whatever curse was contaminating his life and save him from this "passive entertainment" spiral.

Just as William was lost in thought, a deep, resonant bell began to toll in the distance.

DONG... DONG... DONG!

The three bells seemed to pierce through space itself, reverberating through every corner of the world.

The moment the bells rang, the crowd's expressions shifted, and even Oliver, who had been chasing Jones, froze and looked up in confusion.

"Three tolls of the disaster bell?!" An elderly man's face turned pale. "How could this be?"

"The tolling of the disaster bell is a warning signal from the law enforcers," another man explained, his voice filled with concern. "It means they've detected traces of the Gray Realm intersecting with this area... A disaster has breached our world…"

"But isn't Aurora protected by the Aurora Barrier, making such intersections almost impossible? It's been ten years since a disaster appeared, and there have been no more than three occurrences…"

"Where is the disaster now?" someone asked.

"We don't know... but get home quickly! Don't stay outside!" The old man's voice was filled with urgency.

At the sound of the tolling disaster bell, everyone's face went pale. Even Jones, who had been howling from pain, collapsed to his knees. The ground beneath their feet trembled, and William turned to look, spotting a dozen fast horses galloping toward them.

Each horse carried a figure in a black and red uniform. They had pistols slung at their waists and grim expressions.

"High-risk disaster suspected! The entire Third District is locked down! No one may enter or leave!"

"Be alert for suspicious signs around you: strange roads or buildings that appear out of nowhere, mysterious creatures, or humans acting abnormally!"

"Report any abnormalities immediately to the law enforcers!"

"Everyone, please cooperate with the investigation!"

The law enforcers' voices echoed across Frostfall Street and throughout the Third District, mingling with the fading toll of the disaster bell. A palpable sense of tension hung in the air.

No one had any interest in watching the scene anymore. Everyone hurried home. Even Jones, after taking a beating, was dragged inside by his father, who grumbled angrily at him.

William, standing alone beneath the tree, was about to head home as well, when suddenly, two lines of text appeared amidst the fallen leaves:

[Audience Anticipation +18]

[Current Anticipation: 65%]

Seeing the sudden spike in his anticipation level, William was taken aback.

Then, an unsettling thought struck him like a bolt of lightning:

"What if… they're coming for me?!"

Third District.

Law Enforcer Headquarters.

Dim daylight filtered through the semi-spherical glass dome, casting a mosaic of light and shadow across the room. A massive flag, several meters long, hung from the ceiling, its black background adorned with two overlapping teal six-pointed stars, reminiscent of stars in the polar sky.

Beneath the flag, a dozen law enforcers dressed in black and red stood stiffly, facing the headquarters' main doors, as if waiting for something.

As the doors opened, five figures clad in black coats walked in, side by side.

In the center was Beker, the long coat embroidered with four silver stripes, while the others wore coats with only three stripes. As they entered, the other enforcers snapped to attention.

"How's the situation?" Beker asked in a low voice.

"The disaster bell has tolled. The Third District is now on full lockdown, but we haven't detected any signs of the disaster yet…" A law enforcer hesitated for a moment before asking, "Beker, the self-destruction of the disaster pointer... what does it mean?"

"There are only two possible explanations for the self-destruction of the disaster pointer," Beker replied calmly.

"The first: A special disaster has arrived, one whose abilities interfere with the disaster pointer's function. However, this is purely theoretical, as no such disaster has been documented before."

"The second: A level nine… what we call a 'World-ending' disaster, has invaded. Its residual energy exceeds the pointer's limits, causing it to explode on its own."

"W-World-ending?" The enforcers' faces turned ashen.

"Don't panic… You don't seriously believe a 'World-ending' disaster is here, do you?" Beker's colleague laughed lightly. "A 'World-ending' disaster has the power to destroy an entire human realm. There are only a few such entities in the entire Gray Realm. If one of them really arrived, not only the Third District, but Aurora City itself would be reduced to dust the moment it stepped into our world."

Hearing this, the enforcers finally let out a collective sigh of relief.

"So, it's likely just a special disaster?"

"Right now, that's the only explanation."

"But what about the disaster pointer? How do we rate it?"

"We can't rate it," Beker shook his head. "Unless it reappears, and we engage with it directly... For now, the most important thing is to launch a full-scale search. We need to find it before it harms anyone."

"A full-scale search, but our manpower might not be enough…"

"Then we'll call up reserves. Didn't the written exams just finish? Gather the qualified candidates and tell them this is the practical exam."

"Understood!"