I Got My Cheat Skill by Acting My Way into a Horror Protagonist Role Chapter 16

Xu Zisheng watched with utmost wariness as Xiao Gui'an gently lowered his finger, then propped his chin leisurely while observing them.

He held his breath softly.

[The Ghost God's Loneliness buff is activating—]

Whenever he harbored some terrifying speculations about Xiao Gui'an in his heart, the aura around [Writer] would become even more profound and unfathomable.

Smart people tend to overthink things.

Currently, [Writer] actually possessed no real attack methods or abilities—he just appeared capable while being extremely fragile in reality.

Xu Zisheng's taut nerves were suffering.

Little did he know that Xiao Gui'an, looking down at him from above, also felt completely tangled inside, though he maintained that enigmatic demeanor on the surface.

Why?

Shouldn't he just enter the room directly?

Why was he still lingering outside?

Another encounter! And this time he absolutely couldn't pretend not to see it!!!

Why, oh why did he have to use this alternate identity right now?

If that axe came down on him, let's see if he could keep up the act then.

Calm down, calm down!

Think! What exactly should [Writer]'s positioning be right now?

First and foremost, he absolutely must not show fear, and he needed to be imposing enough to intimidate the other party.

Since he wanted to give [Writer] a different nature from other ghosts and monsters, he couldn't be completely chaotic evil and without a stance.

Although he felt confident in performing that way, it was too exhausting—fully immersive acting, surrounded by madness and malice, would eventually take a toll on his own mental health.

But [Writer] was essentially already a ghost monster, and that couldn't be changed.

He couldn't perform against a character's fundamental traits, so he could only add certain restraints and regulations.

If the attributes of 'chaos' and 'disorder' couldn't be removed, then his human soul could only integrate them—chaotic good or disordered good could become options.

He needed to maintain some distance and mystery now, making himself unpredictable and discouraging others from approaching easily.

How should he truly interact with the Chosen Ones of Fate?

They would likely meet again later, since he was following Zero to maintain world stability, making it impossible to avoid beings like the one before him.

The panel attributes given to [Writer] clearly offered more room for operation. Based on the information Zero provided earlier, if he directly confronted Xu Zisheng and became his enemy, he wouldn't gain any advantages.

So he needed a better way to communicate, but he absolutely couldn't be inferior to the other party—he needed to be at least above the baseline to avoid being easily eliminated.

Between a ghost monster with unclear intentions and one that vaguely showed goodwill, which would be more beneficial for future contact went without saying.

But he absolutely couldn't let the other party detect his intentions—the main control must remain in his own hands.

Temporary allies formed by shared interests?

That could work.

As long as there was a need, even with certain risks, such alliances wouldn't break easily.

But Xiao Gui'an had invested so much effort into [Writer] that deep down he didn't want to stop here—he wanted to perfect [Writer]'s settings.

A crazy thought flashed through Xiao Gui'an's mind—why couldn't [Writer] be even more powerful?

He could be an incredibly powerful sword that couldn't be easily wielded.

And before that, Xu Zisheng might be able to handle things with his own strength.

As long as the Chosen Ones of Fate were strong enough, similarly, he could also become strong enough.

The goodwill he showed wasn't to befriend Xu Zisheng, but merely a whim of a higher-level existence.

Wouldn't that be more convincing?

As for future contact with the Chosen Ones of Fate, he could gradually correct their perception of [Writer], slowly reducing the original hostility.

Only the truth seen with Xu Zisheng's own eyes would he deeply believe.

Xiao Gui'an maintained a calm and gentle expression on the surface, unfathomable like an abyss—in just a few seconds, he had already thought through countless things.

This absolutely couldn't go wrong.

Xiao Gui'an fully immersed himself in the performance—this first formal meeting between [Writer] and the Chosen Ones of Fate absolutely couldn't have problems.

These deeply hidden thoughts and ideas flashed through his mind in an instant, while [Writer] still maintained that faint smile with profound eyes.

Xu Zisheng didn't dare act recklessly, nor could he determine what level of existence the person above was, or whether they harbored malice toward him.

The other party's emotional fluctuations were extremely minimal—only appearing briefly when they first saw him, then becoming completely undetectable afterward.

After all, although his final identity as 'Cursed Child' had given him many extraordinary abilities, it also came with unimaginable hardships time and again.

He was somewhat worried that if he rashly looked away, his head might just tumble to the ground.

Although the Blood Book was somewhat restless, it was mostly due to his own mental fluctuations—it didn't seem to be absorbing any negative emotional fluctuations from the other party.

There didn't seem to be any strong killing intent directed at him either.

Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that he was currently too weak, so even the seemingly high-level Blood Book couldn't detect it.

If that were the case, the level of the ghost monster above would be terrifyingly high...

If the other party really intended to attack, he might not even be able to see their movements, let alone resist them.

Calm down, don't scare yourself—

When he made eye contact with [Writer], there was a flash of surprise in the other's eyes, as if quite interested in this situation.

Regarding his peeking, there was no sense of being offended—instead, it carried the playful implication of a normal person being caught red-handed.

Previously, when Xu Zisheng was in other game instances, he had encountered high-level ghost monsters before.

In a certain D-level instance before, while working as a hotel server, he had encountered a ghost monster that reached at least A-level, which is destruction-level.

It was a ghost monster trapped in a blood-colored wine jar—Xu Zisheng didn't know what its original form was.

It was hard to describe the scene when he had to negotiate with it due to mission requirements.

The fear of encountering a top predator when seeing it, the blood-colored eyeball emerging from the wine jar, staring at him like the deepest demon, almost made Xu Zisheng unable to move.

If the Blood Book hadn't helped him resist most of the pressure, Xu Zisheng wasn't sure if he could have spoken in front of it.

Reaching that level meant being among the very top existences in the horror game world—definitely not something Xu Zisheng's current level could casually interact with.

Across the entire world, there were only a few hundred A-level instances that had been successfully cleared on the surface.

How far things had progressed behind the scenes wasn't something an 'ordinary person' like Xu Zisheng could know.

But even with some hidden information, it wouldn't exceed by too much.

Thinking about that wine jar ghost, Xu Zisheng's heart sank slightly—although he completed the mission last time, he also made an enemy of that destruction-level ghost monster.

If the rules weren't unbreakable, and the owner behind that hotel wasn't at least an A-level ghost monster that made the injured wine jar ghost dare not act rashly, whether Xu Zisheng could have left room 444 would have been questionable.

Although he didn't feel the oppressive and destructive aura from Xiao Gui'an like he did facing the wine jar ghost.

But how could the other party be so leisurely in this world, without showing any signs of mutation?

Xiao Gui'an knew very clearly what he needed to do now.

First, divert attention; second, reveal relevant information to help the other party complete their mission earlier; third, say some ambiguous things to make the other party distracted with their own thoughts.

The gentle, jade-like black-haired young man sighed softly.

"An old acquaintance has come..." This sentence was extremely soft, barely audible.

[Writer], like a bystander removed from the situation, maintained his smile and said to them like an elder, "Have fun—"

He gently pointed downward with his finger, seemingly toward the direction of the security booth at the residential area entrance, hinting at something.

"...If possible, welcome to come for tea." [Writer]'s eyes were profound, as if seeing something through Xu Zisheng. He finally straightened up, his figure gradually dissipating, vanishing into the rolling black mist.

Xiao Gui'an, having changed back to [Student], felt his heartbeat was somewhat too rapid.

Ahhhhhh, the performance was over!!!

[Gui Yi] behind Xu Zisheng finally regained his expression, as if infused with vitality.

Xiao Gui'an bit the inside of his cheek, carefully considering whether there were any issues with his recent performance.

Although [Writer]'s shell looked young, he had been dead for many years—using an elder-like tone should be fine.

But was the invitation he extended at the end still somewhat unstable?

Wasn't this purely inviting the wolf into the house?!!

He hadn't made up his mind yet.

Those usual social etiquette habits emerged, of all times, at this moment!

"Huff—"

Regarding [Writer]'s invitation, Xu Zisheng also felt an absurd, dreamlike sensation.

But the current situation didn't leave time to speculate about the other's psychology.

After adjusting his emotions, Xu Zisheng could still turn around to check on Xiao Gui'an.

"Gui Yi, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine..."

Xiao Gui'an shook his head, then a somewhat distorted, sharp sound came from downstairs, catching both their attention.

"Ah! Sister! Get away!"

Oh?

There really was a situation downstairs?

Xiao Gui'an and Xu Zisheng exchanged glances, then both leaned out to look.

They saw the twin sisters near the eastern security room—though somewhat disheveled, they didn't seem seriously injured.

But—

Looking at how older sister Tang Keke was holding her arm, her left hand hanging twisted and powerless, it was probably fractured.

They seemed to have provoked some other entity.

Xiao Gui'an saw clearly—confronting them was none other than the residential area's security guard Uncle Zhao from yesterday. Behind him in the security booth, a little girl was peeking out.

Uncle Zhao held his baseball bat tightly, his mutation already quite severe—something seemed to be slowly wriggling beneath his security uniform.

"You... must follow the game rules..." Uncle Zhao's voice was unpleasant and hoarse as he waved his baseball bat, continuing to approach.