Xingye Feizhen transmigrates and binds himself to a popularity-based life-extension System.
The System howls: "Get popular! Stay alive! Don't do anything stupid!"
Xingye Feizhen twirls an ornate silver-plated pistol at his fingertips, with a Western sword coated in poison hidden in his sleeve. His red hair curls like flames, and madness swirls in his amber catlike eyes.
Survive? He'd rather watch the show.
Cause trouble? That's the right way to live.
He's a monster raised by darkness, the distillery's most dangerous shadow operative: Grenache.
[Crimson Cage: Stray Cat]
Red flames coil around cold iron, velvet covers old scars, and the cat's claws twirl a silver gun. The bitter scent of disinfectant lingers in its breath.
The System murmurs, "Stay alive," in its ear. It licks its lips, eyes fixed only on the show beyond the cage: watching vipers tear at each other, watching white doves take flight, watching the iron cage collapse on its own.
[Madman's Game: Spectator]
It plants a false signpost along a viper's path and watches the snake strike at empty air, then curls up in a cafe and laughs until it coughs blood.
Someone asks why. It flicks its tail and replies lazily, "You're interrupting my show."
It won't be a blade, or a chess piece. It will only be the wildest spectator in the cage, turning this deadly game into a lively mess of ash.
[Hidden Glimmer: Wordless Signs]
Its warnings are always silent and subtle.
The cat's tail brushes the railing, tying a knot in the tassel that no one understands. Only the person hidden in the shadows sees that it's a way out.
It never admits to being kind. It hides warmth in its most cutting complaints, in the pattern on its sword tassel, and in the way it averts its eyes when coughing up blood.
[Breaking Dawn: Lingering Warmth]
When dawn smashes through the darkness, the red-haired cat doesn't get up.
It curls up on an old sofa, its claws still hooked around the rose engraving on its silver gun. It watches a group of people run toward the light, the red tips of its ears slowly fading to white as snow.
It was never here, and it never left. It simply left its last bit of warmth to those running toward the light, then gave itself back to the wind in the abyss.
Theme: Even in darkness, keep your heart turned toward the light. Wear madness as armor and wield your true self as a sword, tearing through the darkness to secure a happy ending.
