Chapter 1: Unspoken Rules
Warning: contains gore at end.
Xia Tian wore a rented suit, stood on the balcony of the inn's top floor, and stared at the stars in the sky.
The Milky Way stretched across the sky and the starlight appeared like dots within a large jewelry box. Although the breeze on the balcony felt a bit too strong and cold, he felt very happy.
Even though his current circumstances were not the best, he was finally able to leave the lightless* lower city, arrive in the Upper World, and see the real starry sky and sunlight.
*Lightless: actual phrase 暗无天日 which is an idiom for a world without justice
Now, he's on Fu Jin TV at the second round of the winner's feast of the 199th Asaijin team competition.
As a criminal in the lower city, he was invited to participate in the Fu Jin TV's program, the Killing Show.
As the most popular entertainment activity in the Upper City, the channel had invited criminals to participate in the Killing Show for a long time and also developed a large number of surrounding industries. This invitation was also the only chance for the residents of the lower city to see the real sky.
Since he arrived, Xia Tian busied himself by stuffing his mouth with food.
Now, for the first time in his life, he ate cake, cream, chocolate, and candy until he was full. This made him feel a type of satisfaction he never felt before.
He secretly took some food and put it in his pocket. At the same time, he stole a contestant’s wallet. That fellow was strutting around with his wallet showing. It would've been a waste if he didn't take it.
Then he looked around, and found there was nothing that he needed to do. Anyway, the Fu Jin Corporation doesn't lack this point.
As a giant company, the Fu Jin company was all over the sky, and among all the people who Xia Tian knew, the ones who had walked the furthest still could not escape its shadow.
He still remembered the scene when he first arrived. The moment he entered the Upper World, sunlight seemed to burst like a shining yellow liquid, covering the sky and earth.
At the time, he was badly hurt by the glare, but he still stared at it for half a day, thinking that it would be nice to die here.
But so far, he successfully survived as a novice in the Killing Show. Xia Tian lived in the city for three months, narrowly surviving through the first two rounds, and his performance was passable.
He killed four people total, barely passing the test — It was so difficult because Bai JingAn believed that they should've stayed at the starting point and not move around. He was really annoying.
——Bai JingAn was the one who was picked to be in a group with Xia Tian during this show. Even though he could analyze situations and plan tactics, he was a boring coward.
Xia Tian didn't see him since the beginning of the banquet. This person had an appearance as if he would disappear from the light, like the bright light in the Upper City was a deadly toxin.
Xia Tian continued to admire the stars on the roof when a red-haired young man walked up to him and began to talk to him politely. He worked for Zhi Leng, and Zhi Leng wanted to see him.
Zhi Leng was the bigshot chief planner of the Asaijin competition. Listening to the assistant’s tone, it seemed that Zhi Leng saw Xia Tian's potential to become a star of the Killing Show and he wanted to talk to him alone to discuss the plan for Xia Tian's path to glory.
You must know that in the Upper World, the Killing Show's star is the real king of the entertainment circle. The object of the call is not just money and a bed companion, but the whole city would be at your feet. You were like a god on the top of Olympus.
Xia Tian was elated, whatever he saw made him feel full of joy.
He entered the hall with the young man. Before he went in, he looked back at the starry sky. It was coldly shining in the distance, and it was the price and privilege that the people in the lower city could not imagine.
He was exquisitely dressed and described as thin.
In this aspect, his performance was not bad. Even though his appearance was average, he felt good about himself. People in the fashion circle liked this type of effect, which represented new trends and superiority.
His house was a large room on the top floor of the hotel, with a wide rooftop, a star-gazing room, and a living room large enough for a fashion show, or any other non-massive group competition. It is said that he does this kind of hobby from time to time.
T/N: I have no idea what hobby he is referencing here…
Xia Tian tried his best to relax on the sofa with a wine cup in his hand, pretending to be a member of the crowd who often went to this type of occasion.
With a smile on his face, he smiled tenderly and conformed to etiquette, even though he wasn't that type of person. His occupation in the Killing Show was a fighter and now, he couldn't even be called a fighter. He was immediately called a killer, and reality TV liked to make a fuss about his title.
He was tall with slender limbs. As a person from the vicious lower city, he has long been accustomed to killing people without blinking an eye. Since he was a kid, he was a dangerous person and he would have eventually went to prison. He was then recruited by the TV station, and they thought that he would be a good seedling for the Killing Show.
However, he liked to pretend. He was very good at pretending to be well-behaved, obedient, and knowledgeable. To survive, he even developed a "good boy" face, and he could easily fake a smile as good as a genuine one.
“I saw you in the monitoring program and I think your image is very good,” Zhi Leng said. “This year’s Asaijin team competition needs a hero, and you would be a good choice.”
He walked back and forth as he spoke. When he said that, he went behind Xia Tian and put his hand on his shoulder.
"That… that's great," Xia Tian said, "I am very grateful…"
Zhi Leng's hand touched Xia Tian's hair and untied his leather hair tie.
Once his hair scattered, Xia Tian did not finish his sentence.
Xia Tian had lived in the N21 district of the lower city, where the men were accustomed to having long hair. He wanted to cut it when he came to the Upper World, but a third-time image planner told him that one needed to have unique characteristics in order to be noticed, this could be your place of residence, religion, ethnicity or character. The most important thing to do in this line is to not be consistent with the crowd, so he kept it.
However, it really got in the way when fighting, so he always pulled it up and tied it tightly behind his head.
Zhi Leng took a lock of his hair, played with it and said, "Opportunity is something you fight for.”
Xia Tian was dazed for 5 seconds until he finally realized what Zhi Leng wanted to do.
He sat still and did not move while letting him play with his hair. He had heard of this matter in the reality show. It was difficult to avoid this matter in places with authority. It was no big deal. He didn't mind selling himself, his mother did it, his sister did it too. He was a criminal, and everyone around him thought that he would've soon died on the streets and turn into protein feed.
T/N: Protein feed is "nutrients for others"
Wasn't it just going to bed? He can pay for this sacrifice.
“I am very willing to fight,” he said, turning his head towards Zhi Leng and laughed like a good boy.
Zhi Leng also smiled. It seems that he was very satisfied with Xia Tian's sensibility. He put the hair band in his pocket and said, “Come with me to the bedroom.”
“Of course,” said Xia Tian, “I am very willing.”
He was one head taller than Zhi Leng when he stood up. He really didn’t understand which one of his aspects this guy took a fancy to, but rich people's interests were strange.
He walked into the bedroom with Zhi Leng and left his hair down. He felt awkward as he walked. However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. He told himself that the opportunity to come here was rare. The first two rounds of the game killed nearly a thousand people, and the deaths of most of those people were on the whim of the planners. It's rare to get a big shot's protection. It's something that people living in the Upper City couldn't imagine. No matter what, he had to grab this chance.
When he walked into the bedroom, Xia Tian's eye swept across the room, noting the amazing luxury. With the same eye, he subconsciously determined where to escape, where to hide, and what can be used as a weapon for murder. Occupational diseases are inevitable.
Zhi Leng lifted his chin in the direction of the bed and said, “Pants off, kneel on the carpet, and then lean over the bed.”
Xia Tian felt like he was smiling. His smile then became a predator-like smile, or “bright as sunshine, cold as ice”. They said that he had a genuine smile of a murderer.
He said, “Okay.”
Zhi Leng began to take off his own pants.
Xia Tian turned to look at a golden sailing sculpture on the table.
Known as the Upper Town of the Upper World, it was originally a small anti-gravity zone where a few wealthy people lived, saying that they were closer to the sun and pure air. Then it grew like cancer, and rich people built houses on it until it covered the entire sky.
They laid down lights as if they were the sun. There were countless civilians living below them, unable to rise to the sky, like animals raised in a cellar.
His parents and siblings had never seen the sky in their life, yet those people who lived in the anti-gravity city built their own large lakes for sailing competitions. If he hadn't seen it for himself, this type of luxury was something that was unimaginable in the lower city.
“I want you to pretend to be very scared,” said Zhi Leng. “And in the process, I want you to call me “Master…"
Warning: Gore begins (skip down a few paragraphs if you feel uncomfortable)
Xia Tian picked up the sailboat, weighed it in his hand, and smashed it into the man’s temple.
Zhi Leng instantly lost consciousness and fell down. Xia Tian leaned over him, with the sailboat in hand, and repeatedly slammed it into his head.
The means of murder had been thought out in an instant, but the process went by too quickly for him to think rationally, so he followed his intuition and impulse to crush everything.
Xia Tian completely pulverized the man’s head, brain remains were everywhere, and the eyes were smashed out. It was a masterpiece. There was also a special term for this in the Killing Show: excessive killing.
Gore ends
Some people say that this was the result of an adrenaline rush during the competition. Some people say that it's for amusement, but for Xia Tian thinks it was human nature. Sometimes, anger can flow in your blood vessels, like gasoline, and you can’t control it if there's a spark.
He was originally taken from his hometown to the Killing Show because someone had slapped his sister and said that she was a whore. He walked over and pushed the man, and then the scene became very unsightly… In fact, that bastard wasn't wrong, but he just couldn't stand it.
He didn’t know why he couldn’t stand this kind of thing. Most people endured it. Didn't they all live a good life?
His face became indifferent, and he rummaged through Zhi Leng’s pocket with his bloody hand, pulling out his hair band and used it to pull his hair up and tighten it.
Then he loosened his hands, and found himself trembling.
He had blood all over his hands, soaking his cuffs, and up to his elbows. Next to his foot lay a corpse with no trousers, its head shattered, leaving a disaster on the expensive carpet.
He stood up and went into the bathroom to wash the blood off his hand.
Throughout the process, he was expressionless and calm. But by now, the adrenaline had receded and he began to realize that his hand was shaking.
His body reacted first. Something – probably reality – soaked him like ice water. He had a knot in his stomach, and he wanted to vomit.
There was a sense of fear and helplessness
He was quite familiar with it.
Hello! Thanks for reading! If there are any errors, please mention them in the comments below!
Credits:
Translator: Stella
Editor: TheRarePinkSheep