The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 246: That Face-to-Face Ultimate Move Was Crazy Effective

The story unfolding on the screen was one Jiang Ci knew by heart.

His ears captured the fluctuating breathing rhythms of the female audience in the darkness, breaths that rose and fell with moments of heart-fluttering and awe.

Good, a promising start.

He adjusted to a more comfortable sitting posture, ready to begin reviewing the fruits of his labor over the past few months.

As the plot progressed, the atmosphere in the theater ebbed and flowed with it.

When Chu Wuchen, to save Su Nian, ventured alone into the demon realm and was besieged by ten thousand demons, waves of sharp intakes of breath rose from the audience seats.

When he held the injured Su Nian in his arms, casting spells to heal her while uttering cold, admonishing words, low murmurs of discussion echoed in the darkness.

"He loves her so much, yet he lies so well."

"What kind of tsundere Master is this? I'm dying here."

Director Wu had masterfully controlled the film's pacing. In just over an hour,

the image of an aloof, solitary Immortal Lord, one who loved deeply but could not speak his heart, was etched into the minds of every viewer.

Finally, the plot reached its climax.

The death of Chu Wuchen.

On the screen, the white-robed Immortal Lord, to protect the loved one behind him, faced alone the Heavenly Tribulation powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth.

Lightning pierced through his body, and crimson liquid instantly soaked through his flowing white robes.

He fell from mid-air, his body beginning to dissolve bit by bit into specks of golden light.

A tragic score swelled at this moment, crashing heavily upon everyone's hearts.

Looking at Su Nian, who had already broken down into sobs, he spoke his first and final confession in five hundred years.

"This time, let me protect you."

Then, as Su Nian's hand stretched out in a futile attempt to hold him back, he gave her a faint, yet bone-deep tender smile.

It was liberation for the character Chu Wuchen.

It was also the final execution for all the audience members.

A deathly silence fell upon the theater.

One second.

Two seconds.

Then, uncontrollable sobs began to spill out, scrambling to be heard from every corner of the theater.

Next, a female audience member sitting in the front row completely lost control of her emotions. She abruptly stood up from her seat,

reaching a hand towards the screen that now held only empty specks of light, and let out a wailing cry.

"Don't die! Please don't die!"

That cry completely ignited the emotions in the venue.

A chain reaction occurred.

Suppressed sobs swept rapidly from one corner, engulfing the entire theater.

Jiang Ci sat quietly at the center of the darkness.

Before his eyes, another unseen revelry was taking place.

[Heartbreak Value +12 from Audience Member A!]

[Heartbreak Value +50 from Audience Member B!]

[Heartbreak Value +99 from Audience Member C!]

On the system panel, notifications for Heartbreak Value scrolled frantically, the numbers changing so fast they almost left afterimages.

The seat beside him was shaking violently. Without even turning his head, he could imagine the disheveled, tear-wracked state Qiao Xinran was in now.

She had completely forgotten she was a female celebrity who needed to manage her expressions.

In Jiang Ci's mind, an exceptionally crisp and pleasant notification tone drowned out all other noise.

[Heartbreak Value +288 from Qiao Xinran!]

This wave of "in-your-face" tragic output was remarkably effective, directly draining all the emotional reserves of this former "Player."

It seemed all the groundwork laid on the red carpet had become the perfect assist for this harvest.

He was about to close the panel when the backend list automatically refreshed once.

[Heartbreak Value +88 from Li Li!]

Li Li?

Jiang Ci was momentarily stunned before he remembered.

This was the high school girl with the ponytail, his neighbor from across the hall.

It seemed his mom really did give her the ticket.

Jiang Ci was just about to close the panel.

Right then, a notification with bolded, bright red font forcefully popped up to the very top of the system interface.

[Heartbreak Value +188 from Madam Chu Hong!]

Jiang Ci: "..."

His entire body stiffened.

Why was Mom also...

He quickly realized.

Given Madam Chu Hong's comprehension level of xianxia themes, she most likely wasn't crying over the melodramatic, five-century-spanning love story of Chu Wuchen and Su Nian.

What she saw was her own skinny son, suspended in mid-air by wirework,

blood packs bursting open one after another on his body, realistic "blood" spurting from his mouth, before finally crashing heavily to the ground.

In Madam Chu Hong's eyes, this was no Bad Ending Aesthetics of an Immortal Lord's fall.

It was a living, breathing tearjerker documentary recording just how much hardship her son had endured out there.

This "cross-channel maternal love" hitting him left Jiang Ci with a jumble of indescribable feelings.

He found it somewhat amusing, yet felt a sting in his nose.

The premiere ceremony wasn't over yet.

In the system backend, the cumulative Heartbreak Value for this single session had already effortlessly broken through 1,888 points.

Just then, the system interface flashed with a golden light.

The unit of measurement behind the number displaying his lifespan underwent a qualitative change.

The original "days" flickered and evolved into a brand new Chinese character.

"Years."

Jiang Ci quickly did the math in his head.

His total Heartbreak Value balance had savagely skyrocketed to 7,115 points!

Finally, after the numbers for his remaining lifespan danced wildly, they settled on: 5 years and 30 days!

That Sword of Damocles hanging over his head, threatening his life, had finally been taken down by his own hands and thrown into the trash.

A tremendous sense of security enveloped his entire being.

All around him were tears, the atmosphere thick with sorrow.

Yet Jiang Ci, buoyed by this immense security, felt so calm inside he almost wanted to laugh.

This extreme case of "sorrow and joy do not connect" forced him to pinch his thigh hard to barely suppress the upward curve of his lips.

Finally, the ending song finished, and the screen went dark.

The theater lights snapped on with a sudden "click."

The harsh light made everyone instinctively squint.

Hundreds of audience members in the theater, all sporting pairs of red, swollen eyes, turned their gazes in unison towards the Guest Seats.

Then, they saw a scene that caused cognitive dissonance.

The Immortal Lord who had just "scattered his soul and dispersed his spirit" on the big screen was now sitting there, alive and well.

There wasn't a trace of sorrow on his face. He calmly pulled a pack of tissues from his suit pocket,

elegantly flicked one out, and handed it to the tear-streaked, makeup-smeared Qiao Xinran beside him.

The audience hadn't yet managed to detach themselves from that grand tragedy.

The sight of the living, breathing Jiang Ci before them brought a strong sense of disorientation, as if witnessing a corpse coming back to life.

The atmosphere in the theater froze bizarrely for three seconds.

Those hundreds of red, swollen eyes just stared at Jiang Ci.

It wasn't the fanatical gaze of fans seeing their idol.

It wasn't the curious look of passersby spotting a celebrity.

It was a gaze... mixed with grief, shock, and a hint of accusation for having their feelings deceived.