Vampire theme!

Shen Ting looked at the little slip of paper in his hand, his face full of disdain. Scaring someone? Wasn't that a piece of cake?

Shen Ting tossed the slip aside, lay comfortably on the bed with the quilt over his belly, and began his wonderful night of surfing the internet.

[Shen Ting's secret mission is all about getting hearts racing!]

[Thrilling!]

[Yan Yi, your springtime is coming.]

[Not necessarily. If Shen Ting played by the rules, he wouldn't be Shen Ting.]

Early the next morning, Shen Ting was woken by a member of the Production Team.

Shen Ting stared blankly at the new clothes on his bed and the script shoved into his hand. A script? Nobody had told him role-playing needed a script!

Shen Ting blinked hard and looked at the black words on the white paper before him.

Vampire Duke, played by Shen Ting. Team mission: eliminate all Vampire Hunters. Those playing vampires may apply red rouge to their fingertips. If the rouge touches a Vampire Hunter's neck or face, the elimination is successful. Conversely, if a Vampire Hunter's gun touches a vampire, the vampire is eliminated.

Vampire Duke's privilege: all staff members on the show are under the duke's command.

Note: everyone must wear the Production Team's specially made wristbands. Their colors can also help you identify others in your faction.

Vampire Faction: Duke Shen Ting, Meng Yun, Su Weiwang, Pei Ming.

Vampire Hunter Faction: Captain Yan Yi, Bai Yuanyuan, Shen Rui, Su Yu.

Neutral Side: Si Chen.

After reading the sheet in his hand, Shen Ting changed into the costume delivered by the Production Team and put on his fake fangs.

Shen Ting sat on a chair in his room drinking black tea, utterly relaxed, looking in no hurry at all to complete his mission.

In the other rooms, the guests also changed into the costumes provided by the Production Team and learned their identities.

Only Si Chen looked completely bewildered as he accepted the special costume a staff member handed him.

It was a gray shirt and trousers with several holes in them.

Si Chen took his script in confusion. Servant: currently belongs to neither faction; to be taken in later.

Si Chen was dumbfounded. So he was the spare one?

Watching this from behind the camera, the director nodded in satisfaction and waved a hand, turning on the livestream cameras.

[Aaaah! Vampire Shen Ting! Those little fangs are so cute!]

[Just looking at that outfit has already sent my heart rate to 100.]

[Every livestream has a heart rate graph! That makes it so easy to follow.]

[The others look so handsome too! The Vampire Hunters' knight outfits, oh my god!]

[Ah! Why is Yan Yi a Vampire Hunter? Are they going to be lovers and enemies?]

[Shen Ting, catch him and hide him away!]

[Why does our best actor Si have to play a Servant? That's not fair!]

Next door, Yan Yi raised an eyebrow at his assigned faction. He was a Vampire Hunter, so Shen Ting was a vampire, then? An adorable little vampire.

Yan Yi had guessed exactly right. There was a sentence at the very bottom of the page.

Owner of the villa: Vampire Duke Shen Ting.

Yan Yi opened the door and left his room. Since it was a vampire theme, all the curtains along the corridor were drawn and the lights were on. He had barely taken a few steps when he ran into NPCs played by staff members at the staircase.

The two staff members immediately lunged at Yan Yi the moment they saw him.

Yan Yi reacted quickly and dodged them at once.

"Quick, catch him! He's a Vampire Hunter! Take him to the duke!" the two staff members shouted as they chased him.

At those words, Yan Yi began easing his pace, slowing down until he simply stopped where he was.

Suddenly, Yan Yi turned around with a smile and ran toward them.

The staff members were startled and nearly ran in the opposite direction.

"You're taking me to see the duke? You should've said so. Let's go." Yan Yi slung his arms around their shoulders like they were good buddies.

The scene looked less like Yan Yi had been captured and more like the two staff members had been captured.

The three arrived outside Shen Ting's room.

Yan Yi obediently let the two staff members tie a black silk ribbon over his eyes.

Knock, knock...

The two staff members knocked on the door.

"Come in." Shen Ting's voice came from inside.

The two brought Yan Yi into the room, holding on to him.

Shen Ting looked momentarily surprised when he saw Yan Yi being brought in by the Production Team's staff.

"What's going on?"

"Reporting to the duke, we found this Vampire Hunter by the staircase just now."

"Oh~ He came right to my doorstep? Take the cloth off his eyes." Interested, Shen Ting propped his right elbow on the table, rested his cheek in his hand, and smiled at the man before him.

"Yes!" A staff member untied the black cloth over Yan Yi's eyes.

Yan Yi blinked rapidly to adjust to the light. As soon as he could see clearly, he saw Shen Ting smiling in front of him.

Pointed fangs showed between Shen Ting's slightly parted lips.

A flicker of admiration flashed through Yan Yi's eyes.

[Ooh! How has Yan Yi's heart rate already broken 100?]

[Yan Yi: My wife is so beautiful. Seriously, so beautiful!]

[You really can tell whether someone's in love. Even when the staff startled Yan Yi earlier, his heart wasn't beating this fast. They've only just met! Hold on, Yan Yi!]

Shen Ting looked at his rouge-stained fingers and shook his head regretfully. It looked like he would be the first to eliminate him.

Just as Shen Ting was about to stand up, Yan Yi suddenly raised a hand toward the camera.

"Director! I want to be on Shen Ting's team."

Behind the monitor, the director was holding a walkie-talkie and looked utterly baffled. What? What do you want to do?

Shen Ting plopped right back down too. There could be a twist like this?

"Director, I remember winning yesterday's game, didn't I? I have first pick of teammates today. I want to team up with Shen Ting. You wouldn't go back on your word, would you, director?" Yan Yi's expression was very serious as he spoke.

[Holy crap! Yan Yi is amazing! He defected on the spot!]

[Now the pressure is on the director. If he says no, he's breaking his word. If he agrees, he's overturning his own script.]

[Yan Yi shouts: I want to be on my wife's team.]

The bedroom door opened gently, and a staff member passed in a walkie-talkie.

"You want to defect?" The director's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Yan Yi shook his head. "This isn't defecting. I'm returning to where I belong."

The director looked speechless at that. "Then you at least need a reason to defect."

"A reason? Isn't that easy? Just have Shen Ting give me the Embrace. Then I'll be a vampire too," Yan Yi said with a relaxed expression.

...For a moment, the entire room fell silent, while comments in the livestream scrolled wildly as though they had exploded.

[The Embrace! Is that the Embrace I'm thinking of? The one on the neck where, um... that happens! (Screaming wildly)]

[Oh my goodness! You can tell Yan Yi has seen plenty of this trendy stuff.]

[Hehe (〃'▽'〃), can't wait! I want to see it!]