The following evening.
The Imperial Crown Island Grand Theatre was packed with people in its curved seating area. The majority of the audience members were cardboard cutouts, while a small number were extras temporarily recruited to act as the audience.
At this very moment, on the makeshift e-sports stage, the first game of the Crowned and Proclaimed Emperor is being recreated.
In the final team fight, Su Hang's Sun Quan secured a pentakill while defending the base, but it was too late, and he was killed by Huyan Lan's Diaochan.
With the crystal exploding, Su Hang's first match as Crowned and Proclaimed Emperor ended in defeat, and he returned to the locker room to review the game.
What would Su Hang be thinking after the failure?
Wearing the Sovereign Dominion team uniform and sporting a replica of the " Imperial Ring " on his ring finger, Zhou Keyu pushed open the door to the lounge, frowning in deep thought. "Faced with the Imperial Crown Team's five-king lineup, Su Hang has no chance of winning."
"It's easy to imagine that Su Hang will also lose the second match. Knowing that the Silver Dragon Phoenix Mountain Lord is feigning defection, what kind of thoughts and emotional fluctuations will he be experiencing right now?"
Zhou Keyu activated his talent for immersing himself in the role within six seconds, deeply empathizing with Su Hang's current predicament. His brain raced, "From another perspective, the reason Su Hang participated in the Crowned and Proclaimed Emperor is because he's absolutely certain of victory!"
"So where does his confidence come from? Could it be that ' King's Rise System '? But if the system guarantees his victory, how could he possibly lose the first game to Crowned and Proclaimed Emperor?"
"No, it's completely impossible to deduce."
Zhou Keyu rubbed the bridge of his nose, leaned back on the sofa, and looked up at the dilapidated chandelier on the ceiling. "Even if you use your talent to immerse yourself in the character for six seconds at its limit, is it impossible to truly empathize with Su Hang?"
"Hmm? Oh no!"
Zhou Keyu's expression changed drastically, and he quickly dodged away.
The ceiling collapsed with a loud crash, shattering glass everywhere and plunging the room into complete darkness.
"That scared me to death." Zhou Keyu's forehead was covered in sweat. He turned on his phone's flashlight, still shaken. "If I had been a little slower, I would have been hit by the chandelier. I would have been seriously injured, if not killed. This lousy theater, can't they at least maintain their lighting fixtures?"
Wait a minute!
Zhou Keyu had a sudden inspiration, and his body trembled. "Perhaps Su Hang's use of the ' King's Rise System ' comes at a price, and if that price is death, then everything makes sense."
" Su Hang initially planned to win the Crowned and Proclaimed Emperor using his own strength, but the defeat in the first game made him realize reality, so he decided to activate the system. Once the system is activated, he will face death!"
"Hiss—the conclusion about death is far too terrifying; we must put ourselves in Su Hang's shoes to verify it."
Zhou Keyu once again unleashed his talent for immersing himself in the character within six seconds. The dark environment made his thinking more active and profound, but there was always a "wall" separating him from Su Hang's perspective.
"It's not working; I still can't fully immerse myself in the story."
Even Zhou Keyu, known for his good temper and stable demeanor, was scratching his head and looking somewhat irritable. He picked up a can of sugar-free cola, took a sip, and the sweet taste slightly soothed his mood. "Hey?"
"I can try a different approach."
Zhou Keyu stared at the sugar-free cola in his hand, rubbing his chin, and said, "Since I can't fully immerse myself in Su Hang's perspective, I'll immerse myself in any perspective that allows me to observe Su Hang, such as the perspective of the sugar-free cola."
"Although sugar-free cola is an inanimate object, I can artistically process it, give it life, and treat it as a person with flesh and blood and a soul, a person named 'sugar-free cola' who is always by Su Hang's side!"
"Although I've never tried immersing myself so deeply in an object's perspective before, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try."
Zhou Keyu closed his eyes and activated his immersion talent again, "I am Sugar-Free Coke, I am Sugar-Free Coke, now tell me who you are? I am Sugar-Free Coke who accompanies Su Hang."
Zhou Keyu slowly opened his eyes. The surroundings remained unchanged. A bitter smile crept onto his lips as he shook his head, saying, "I was really too delusional. How could I possibly immerse myself so deeply..."
Have you thought it through?
A young voice, full of anticipation, rang out.
"Who is speaking?"
Zhou Keyu was suddenly excited and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw a blurry figure wrapped in gold in front of him, who was crouching down with his face in his hands.
"I have a question for you. In my past life, when I was on the verge of death..."
A calm and serene male voice sounded from behind.
Zhou Keyu turned his head and was immediately shocked to see a handsome young man with blood-red eyes and a cold expression. His slightly raised eyebrows exuded arrogance, and he was holding an open bottle of sugar-free cola.
It was Su Hang, the Captain of the Imperial Crown, from Liuli's memories!
"It worked?"
Zhou Keyu was trembling with excitement. He had originally thought it was a last resort, but he never expected to actually immerse himself in the perspective of "sugar-free cola"!
"If Su Hang is sitting on the sofa behind me," Zhou Keyu looked up straight ahead, a chill running down his spine, "Then who is this golden figure crouching on the ground?"
It should be noted that, according to Sovereign Dominion Huyan Lan's description, there were only two people who participated in the Crowned and Proclaimed Emperor Competition offline: one was the Exalted Emperor and the other was the Imperial Emperor, but they were actually the same person.
"No, they are both one person and two people!" Zhou Keyu calmed himself down and looked at Su Hang on the sofa. "This is Su Hang after his reincarnation."
"Then this person is—" Zhou Keyu looked at the golden figure crouching on the ground, cupping his face in his hands, " Su Hang before his reincarnation. He is Su Hang's past life, the one who was betrayed by his team and committed suicide—Captain Su, the Imperial Emperor!"
"So, the so-called ' King's Rise System ' is actually Su Hang's past life, the Imperial Emperor who Yousu Team?"
"Is it okay to use your past self as a system?"
Zhou Keyu's eyelids twitched. Although they were essentially the same person, it was a bit too crazy for him to become his own system.
What are those two talking about?
Zhou Keyu leaned closer to listen, but couldn't hear anything.
After a while...
The golden figure suddenly embraced Su Hang. Although his facial expression was unclear, his trembling body movements suggested that he had obtained something.
"What's Su Hang's expression like now?"
Zhou Keyu looked at Su Hang, whose face was expressionless, his eyes filled with a bloodshot, lifeless intensity. "Just as I deduced, the price of using the system is death."
Zhou Keyu, who is well-versed in acting, knows very well that only a person who is about to die will have bloodshot, lifeless eyes.
"Level-max-out!" (Talent maxed out!)
As Su Hang uttered those words...
The surrounding environment suddenly changed dramatically. Zhou Keyu opened his bloodshot eyes abruptly, gasping for breath. He had fainted on the ground at some point, his whole body drenched in cold sweat.
Was I dreaming just now?
Zhou Keyu's face was deathly pale, and his head was throbbing with pain. "It wasn't a dream. It was my talent for 'immersing myself in the character's world for six seconds, deeply immersing myself in the perspective of 'Sugar-Free Coke,' and using the known information, my brain performed a super-realistic profile reconstruction."
"Now, let's clarify two things: Su Hang's so-called 'King's Rise System is actually his past self, and the price Su Hang pays for using the system is death!"
With trembling hands, Zhou Keyu unscrewed the 500ml can of sugary cola, downed it in six seconds, and as the sugar replenished his energy, the pain in his brain gradually subsided, and his complexion returned to normal.
"Now is not the time to rest. We need to take advantage of our still-intense mental capacity to quickly go through the script and deduce Su Hang's death location. After all, we need to find him alive or dead!"