107: Chapter 107 The Entire Internet Kneels

That silk banner inscribed with [Lifelike Acting, Ever-Ringing Alarm Bell]...

...was hung by Su Zhe in the most conspicuous spot in his living room.

He used it to constantly remind himself:

This is not just an honor.

It is also a disgrace.

"This won't do."

Su Zhe stared at the banner for half an hour before suddenly slapping his thigh.

"I can't just accept my fate like this.

I'm only in my early twenties.

This face of mine is meant for idol dramas, not for scaring children into tears.

I have to salvage my image!"

Lin Qingxue, who was munching on an apple nearby, rolled her eyes and laughed. "Forget it.

You're already an officially certified villain now.

Just settle down and shine on the path of the psychopath."

"I won't!"

Su Zhe lifted his head stubbornly. "I'm going to do a live stream.

I'm going to host a 'healing' themed stream.

I'll use my singing and my smile to warm every wounded soul.

I want everyone to see that Su Zhe is actually a warm, sunshine-like guy."

The apple in Lin Qingxue's hand dropped to the floor.

She looked at Su Zhe in horror. "Are you serious?

Are you sure it's 'healing' and not 'harrowing'?"

"Of course it's healing!"

Su Zhe was full of confidence.

"I have a plan."

...

At eight o'clock that evening.

Su Zhe's live stream room opened on time.

The title was very cozy: [No Defenses Tonight, Su Zhe Accompanies You to Chat and Sing].

To create the right atmosphere...

...Su Zhe deliberately adjusted the lighting in his home to a warm yellow.

He placed a potted plant in the background.

As for himself...

...he wore a fluffy white turtleneck sweater.

He wasn't wearing glasses.

His hair wasn't styled either, lying softly against his head.

He was even holding an acoustic guitar.

He looked...

...well, if you didn't look at his face, he really did look the part.

The stream had just started.

Popularity exploded instantly.

After all, with the "National Psychopath" starting a stream, everyone wanted to see if he was going to pull some new stunts.

[Holy crap? This white sweater... he's actually kind of handsome.]

[Has Su Zhe changed his personality? Why does he have that Japanese youth vibe?]

[Don't be fooled by appearances! This is a man even dogs are afraid of!]

[Is that a guitar? Is he going to smash someone with it?]

Looking at the skepticism in the bullet comments...

...Su Zhe didn't get angry.

He adjusted his sitting posture.

Facing the camera...

...he revealed a smile he had practiced in the mirror for an entire afternoon: thirty percent shy, thirty percent warm, and forty percent doting.

"Good evening, everyone.

I am Su Zhe.

Tonight, there are no psychopaths and no killers.

There is only a big brother who wants to sing for you."

His voice was very light.

Very soft.

But...

...because [Psychopathic Micro-expressions] was a passive skill already etched into his DNA...

...this smile looked eerie no matter how you viewed it.

Although the corners of his mouth were turned up...

...his gaze was fixed and piercing.

It was like the kind of "please let me in for a cup of tea" smile a very polite serial killer would give when knocking on a victim's door.

In that instant.

The millions of viewers in front of their screens...

...felt a chill rush from the soles of their feet straight to the crowns of their heads.

The bullet comments froze for a second.

Then they began to flood the screen frantically.

[HELP!!!]

[He smiled! He smiled at me!]

[Mom, I'm scared! I feel like he's looking through the screen at my neck!]

[Brother Su, don't be like this, let's talk things out properly, just don't smile, I'm terrified.]

[How is this a warm guy? This is clearly a wolf in sheep's clothing!]

Su Zhe looked at the comments, his brow furrowing slightly as he asked, "What's wrong with you all?

Am I not warm?

It seems the atmosphere isn't enough yet.

It's okay, let me sing a song for you."

Su Zhe plucked the guitar strings.

"This song is called 'Little White Boat'.

It's a very healing nursery rhyme."

The prelude began.

It should have been a melodious, ethereal tune.

But Su Zhe's technique...

...under the influence of [Anatomy Mastery]...

...his fingers pressed the strings with such force, it was as if he were pressing down on the stiff joints of a corpse.

His plucking motions were also incredibly sharp.

Like he was slicing through tendons.

This caused the guitar to emit a sound with an inexplicable sense of metallic tearing.

Then.

Su Zhe began to sing.

"In the blue sky, in the Milky Way..."

"There is a little white boat..."

His vocal quality was actually quite good.

Deep and magnetic.

But...

...he sang too slowly.

Every word was dragged out.

His gaze matched the lyrics, becoming hollow and deep.

When he sang the line "The boat has no sails and no oars"...

...he suddenly paused.

He let out a ghostly sigh toward the camera.

"Drifting, drifting... drifting toward the Western Paradise..."

The temperature in the live stream room...

...instantly dropped to the freezing point.

[Holy... I've got goosebumps all over!]

[This is 'Little White Boat'? This is a freaking 'Funeral Boat'!]

[What did that sigh just now mean? Does he want to send me on my way?]

[I feel like I'm already on the road to the Western Paradise...]

[Su Zhe: I'm not singing a song, I'm chanting a soul-summoning dirge.]

Su Zhe finished singing.

He felt quite good about himself.

"How was it?

Wasn't it very peaceful? Very serene?

Do you feel like your souls have been purified?"

The bullet comments...

[Purified, completely purified. My heart is now as cold as ashes.]

[So serene. So serene I want to cover myself with a white sheet.]

Seeing the "enthusiastic" response...

...Su Zhe thought he had succeeded.

So he decided to press his advantage.

"Since everyone likes it so much...

...I'll tell you all a bedtime story.

This story is called... 'The Little Match Girl'."

He put down the guitar.

He crossed his hands on the table.

He leaned forward.

In that instant.

It was as if he had switched back into [Rainy Night Slasher] mode.

"It was New Year's Eve.

It was very cold, and it was snowing.

A little girl was walking on the street.

She was barefoot."

Su Zhe's voice became low and oppressive.

"We must understand.

In an environment of minus ten degrees, if the human body loses its means of staying warm...

...the core body temperature will drop below 35 degrees within half an hour.

At this point, peripheral nerves will begin to go numb, and sensation will be lost."

Su Zhe began his science lecture.

He forgot he was telling a fairy tale.

He began to analyze the little girl's cause of death from the perspective of forensic pathology.

"She struck the first match.

She saw a great iron stove.

This is actually a typical symptom of stage two hypothermia—paradoxical undressing or a sensation of extreme heat.

Because the thermoregulatory center in the hypothalamus fails, the brain produces an illusion that the body is very hot.

This is often a precursor to death.

Next, she struck the second match.

She saw a roast goose.

This is a retinal hallucination caused by hypoglycemia from extreme hunger.

Finally..."

Su Zhe pushed up his non-existent glasses.

His tone was as cold as if he were reading an autopsy report.

"She died.

The next morning, people found her frozen to death in a corner.

With a smile on her face.

This is called a 'risus sardonicus,' a special manifestation of muscular rigor mortis."

After finishing.

Su Zhe looked up.

He looked at the camera.

Once again, he revealed that "healing" smile.

"So, children.

You must wear plenty of clothes in winter.

Otherwise... you'll end up like the little girl, becoming a perfect frozen specimen."

The live stream room:

[...]

[...]

[...]

There was a deathly silence.

A full minute passed.

Only then did the bullet comments start scrolling again.

But this time...

...it wasn't roasting him.

It was begging for mercy.

[Brother! I was wrong! I was really wrong!]

[Please stop talking! My childhood is ruined!]

[What the hell is paradoxical heat! What the hell is rigor mortis! Are you telling a fairy tale or 'Medical Examiner Dr. Qin'?]

[I don't want to become a specimen, waaaah!]

[@Ping'an Zhonghai, hurry up and take this demon away! He won't even let fairy tales go!]

Just then.

The gift effects in the live stream room suddenly exploded.

Rockets, carnivals, and sports cars filled the screen.

Su Zhe's eyes lit up.

"So many gifts?

It seems everyone really likes my story."

However.

When he leaned closer to the screen to see the messages attached to those gifts...

...his smile froze on his face.

[User 'Scared My Pants Off' sent Carnival x1: Brother, please stop smiling. Here's some money, go buy a mask to wear.]

[User 'Wanting to Go Home to Mom' sent Rocket x10: Stop talking, really. I'll give you gifts, can you just end the stream?]

[User 'Lin Qingxue's Alt Account' sent Porsche x1: Su Zhe, shut up! I'm getting nightmares just listening to this!]

All the donations...

...had only one request:

Crowdfunding to beg Su Zhe to shut up.

Crowdfunding to beg Su Zhe to stop smiling.

Watching this scene...

...Su Zhe's psychological defenses finally collapsed.

He held his guitar...

...looking as aggrieved as a two-hundred-pound child.

"I...

I just wanted to heal you all.

Do I not look good in this white sweater?

Is my smile not sweet?"

He tried to make one last struggle.

Facing the camera...

...he used all his strength to squeeze out what he thought was his most brilliant and innocent smile.

He even made a finger heart.

"Love you guys~"

At this moment.

The number of people in the live stream room instantly dropped by a million.

The remaining few hundred thousand...

...were all those whose legs were too weak to run away.

Because that smile...

...combined with his deep "Love you guys"...

...was like the final ultimatum given by the ultimate boss in a horror movie after cornering the protagonist.

That night.

Su Zhe's "Finger Heart Smile"...

...became the hottest meme on the entire internet.

The caption: [The King of Hell Calling the Roll].

Some people even printed it out and pasted it at the head of their beds, saying it had the effect of warding off evil spirits.

...

After ending the stream.

Su Zhe slumped in his chair.

Looking at the screen full of "Stop smiling."

His heart was as cold as ashes.

"Sister Liu."

Su Zhe called out feebly.

"What is it?"

Sister Liu poked her head in from outside, still holding a string of garlic in her hand.

"Help me take on a role."

Su Zhe took off the white sweater and threw it hard onto the floor.

His gaze became sharp once again.

"What kind of role?"

"A psychopath."

Su Zhe spoke through gritted teeth.

"The more psychopathic, the better.

Since I can't be a warm guy...

...then I'll be the biggest psychological shadow in all of Asia!

I want these netizens who mocked me to tremble whenever they see me in the future!"

Sister Liu breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's the spirit.

By the way, Director Xu sent a message.

The script for 'jiangshan' is finalized.

He wants you to go for a costume test tomorrow.

That head of the eunuchs... oh no, the Director of the West Depot.

It's definitely got enough kick."

Su Zhe sneered and pushed up his non-existent glasses.

"Very well.

Tomorrow.

I'll let them know...

...what it means to be a psychopath so beautiful it's suffocating."