hooklinebooks Chapter 72 Late-Night Television Programs
Chapter 72 Late-Night Television Programs
Xiao Fang sat upright on the sofa.
His back was ramrod straight, his hands were flat on his knees, and his whole body looked extremely stiff and unnatural.
Opposite him, an old-fashioned television was flickering with dense static, its pale light reflecting off Xiao Fang's expressionless face and illuminating his lifeless eyes.
The only sound in the room was the monotonous and dense noise of snowflakes, endlessly looping and repeatedly stimulating Xu Zhang's tense nerves.
Because Xu Zhang remembered it very clearly—
To prevent what happened in the room from happening again, he unplugged the TV before going to bed.
But now, the television is on.
If this isn't a game bug... the best explanation is that Xiao Fang simply plugged the TV back in. Xu Zhang even hoped that it was Xiao Fang who had indeed plugged it back in.
He prayed silently as he moved slightly, using the pale light from the television screen to look at the power outlet behind the television.
"!!!"
Xu Zhang stared in disbelief.
empty!
The socket behind the TV is empty!
The TV power cord was still lying on the floor where he had casually placed it when he unplugged it, without having moved an inch.
This...this must be a bug in the game...hahaha...
Xu Zhang, with a bitter face, desperately tried to convince himself. But reality seemed unwilling to let him have his way. With a sharp "Zzzzt!" sound, the static screen jumped, and a brightly dressed host suddenly appeared on the screen.
He wore a highly saturated fluorescent green suit covered with densely packed peach-pink polka dots; if you looked closely, you could even see distorted smiley face patterns hidden among the peach-pink polka dots. Underneath, he wore a bright purple shirt, with an exaggerated bow tie made of orange tie at the collar.
The entire outfit exuded a bizarre feeling that caused physical discomfort.
Not only that, the host's makeup also seemed to be very heavy: his whole face was painted pale, and there was a bright red round blush on each cheek, as if he were wearing a cheap mask.
He stood in the empty, yet equally colorful studio, amidst the lingering static, and gave the camera an exaggerated smile, his bright red lips curving upwards: "Good evening, dear viewers..."
The host's voice was shrill and high-pitched, coming through the dusty speakers of the television, with an unpleasantly cloying sweetness, like being forcibly soaked in syrup. "Welcome to my show—"
"How Will They Die Tonight!"
The host waved his arms exaggeratedly, with such large movements that it seemed to be full of affected liveliness.
"Next, let's see who our first lucky audience member is tonight!"
As he finished speaking, the old-fashioned colored lights behind him began to spin; accompanied by increasingly rapid sound effects, the lights spun faster and faster.
until—
"Ding-dong!" The colored lights stopped spinning, and the host exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Wow! Looks like our first lucky winner for today has been chosen!"
"He is—"
A human face popped up.
"Little Dou!"
Xu Zhang looked at the familiar faces on the television and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
How could it be Xiao Dou?!
Xu Zhang, who had originally intended to leave, froze in place; he didn't even care about Xiao Fang, who was still sitting blankly beside him, and stared intently at the television.
On the television screen, Xiao Dou is sitting at a table. Judging from the background, he seems to still be in his room in the tenement building, but the wooden square table in front of him is several times larger than a normal square table in the room. At least in the shot, Xu Zhang cannot see the two ends of the table.
On the table, there was a pile of meat, all kinds of meat:
The greasy, dark brown braised pork belly, the meatballs piled high like small towers, the tempting golden-red ribs... the aroma seemed to waft through the screen, stretching from one end of the table to the distance.
At that moment, Xiao Dou was grabbing food with both hands and stuffing it into his mouth. His cheeks were abnormally flushed, and his eyes showed no emotion other than his desire for food.
He kept stuffing food into his mouth, and even when his mouth was full, he didn't stop. Juice, oil, and soup dripped down his bulging chin, and even his teeth were filled with food residue.
His stomach was swollen unnaturally at a visibly bizarre speed, much like a balloon being forcibly inflated. But Xiao Dou continued to eat mechanically and endlessly. His expression showed no pain, only a dull, fanatical "satisfaction." His movements were even getting faster and faster, and the constant chewing sounds made Xu Zhang's hair stand on end.
until--
With a loud "bang," the screen was splattered with bright red blood.
Between those bloody gaps, Xu Zhang saw Xiao Dou fall straight backward, hitting the ground with a dull thud, and then remain motionless.
"Oh~"
The host's unsettling face reappeared on the screen, as he clapped vigorously and exclaimed in an exaggerated, aria-like tone, "What an enviable way to die..."
"So..."
The host, who had been looking directly at the camera, suddenly turned his head and stared intently in Xu Zhang's direction: "Aren't our viewers in front of the TV already feeling their hearts race and can't wait?"
"Since that's the case—"
He exaggeratedly swung his arm upwards, and his green fluorescent pink polka-dot suit expanded on the screen, resembling a green frog spreading its arms. The "Green Frog's" voice was high-pitched and shrill: "To thank this viewer for their enthusiasm, I've decided—"
"Let's first reveal his 'wonderful' future to this eager viewer!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Zhang's bewildered face appeared on the television screen.