The Greatest Showman

“Drink.” Renly suddenly took a sharp breath, as if he was a vampire returning from the dead, sitting upright and exhaling a voice that was almost inaudible in his throat, “Get… away…” Only a vague sound remained, but his hands and feet were powerful, frantically striking any nearby objects. The powerful indiscriminate attacks made everyone retreat.

Jose was almost scared out of his wits, his eyes were smashed hard making him scrambling to escape. Others were not faring much better, panicking and running backwards, colliding with each other in a chaotic mess, as if it was an Asura hell. The coffins around, silent and unmoving, were of no help at this moment.

Matthew’s cheek also took a hard punch, but he couldn’t care less about himself. He firmly grasped Renly’s arm, trying to calm him down, but to no avail. The indiscriminate attacks continued, accompanied by a thunderous force, “Renly!” Matthew shouted with all the strength left in his body.

The powerful sound vibrated in the air, and Renly’s movements suddenly froze. He stared blankly at Matthew, breathing heavily and greedily inhaling the fresh and cold air. Due to his eagerness, he choked on his breath, starting to cough violently, unable to stop, as if even his lungs were about to be coughed out.

Matthew looked around, attempting to pass the bottled water. Unexpectedly, Renly’s pupils suddenly contracted. Subconsciously, he took a step back, with his hands reflexively entering a defensive posture again. Any object approaching would be within the range of his attack. Matthew could only raise his hands to signify his innocence. He then stopped his movements, causing Renly’s attack to slowly come to a halt.

“Cough, cough.” Renly coughed twice again, finally catching his breath. Unconsciously, he began to survey his surroundings, his lifeless gaze trying to find a focal point but it was futile. A glimmer slowly lit up in his deep brown eyes, yet before it could fully ignite, his eyes closed. He laid back down as if every last bit of his strength had been drained, and all of his vitality sank away into silence.

Matthew stood there in a daze, suddenly at a loss. He looked up and down at Renly, trying to figure out what had happened. However, the chaotic scene in front of him provided no clues. “Renly? Renly? What’s wrong? Are you okay, Renly?” Overly anxious, he even shook Renly’s shoulders a couple of times, hoping for a response.

“It’s so noisy. ” Renly slowly closed his eyes, weakly raised his right hand, and eventually let it droop down. “Always so noisy, can’t you see that I am now tired, physically drained and need a good rest? ”

Matthew froze again, then chuckled helplessly, shaking his head gently, while appearing helpless. This is Renly, the Renly he is most familiar with, returning to his usual self. His heavily suspended heart fell back into his chest, and he let out a long breath. It was only then that Matthew realized his back was already soaked in sweat, and his body felt a bit drained.

After he turned his head, Matthew said to Rodrigo, “I think we need a doctor and some food.”

Rodrigo was completely stunned, standing there in shock, not knowing how to react. Matthew had to repeat his request, and only then did Rodrigo nod, “I’ll go arrange it now.” These are tasks usually done by the producer, but in this independent film’s small crew, Rodrigo was doing the duties of both director and producer, so he didn’t have as many formalities to adhere to.

Matthew’s gaze fell on Renly again. Although Renly kept his eyes tightly closed, the faint rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was breathing. “You are truly a madman, do you know that?”

A faint smile curved at the corner of Renly’s mouth, but it quickly faded due to exhaustion. “Thank you for the compliment.”

Eight hours. Initially, Renly was worried that he would peacefully sleep through the whole time, but reality turned those eight hours into a near-death nightmare. In the absolute darkness and absolute silence, fear clung to him like a festering sore, slowly devouring vitality and hope. At some point, he truly believed that his life was coming to an end, that the Grim Reaper had found him for the second time, and that he was about to be buried alive in a wooden box in the desert.

The kind of despair that penetrated to the marrow of his bones and made words dull and feeble. Even though he had experienced death once before, even though he had been granted a second life, he still couldn’t face it with ease. The darkness gradually eroded vitality, hope was extinguished bit by bit, and despair spread slowly from all angles. The piercing coldness of the Grim Reaper’s scythe made every pore keenly feel it. The more intense the struggle, the heavier the despair; the more vehement the resistance, the more cruel the despair became.

The imagination is often too faint; only those who have truly experienced it can understand the taste of it. Onlookers are always just onlookers.

When he watched movies like “127 Hours” and “Buried,” the inner conflict and excitement he felt were overwhelming, even having a sense of empathetic torment. However, only after truly experiencing such dire situations do you realize that the pain, the torment, and the despair are indescribable in words, and observers cannot truly comprehend that.

More importantly, different people experiencing the same fear savour it differently. He believes that at the point of despair, the visions in the minds of Aron Ralston from “127 Hours,” Paul Conroy from “Buried,” and himself were all different.

He knew that his attempt was crazy, dancing on the edge of a knife, and a slight mistake could have led him to self-immolation, possibly sacrificing his second chance at life. It’s simply a classic case of creating one’s own undoing. However, he has no regrets; if given another chance, he would make the same choice.

Because he felt it, felt the fear and cruelty of being buried alive, felt the despair and anger of waiting for his own death, felt Paul’s unwillingness, regret, helplessness, and grievances deep within. The blurred sense of reality and illusion, as if tearing the soul in half, the pain reached its peak to the point where even his voice couldn’t come out, yet it gave him a true experience of being in the abyss.

He needed such an experience; otherwise, his performance would always be upright, precise, restrained, and suppressed, obediently following the framework pattern instilled in him by the acting school, interpreting the character’s emotions through his own simulation and speculation. However, such performances lack a trace of soul, a trace of his own and the character’s soul, a trace of soul that endowed the character with a sense of reality and uniqueness, a soul that wandered between the imaginary and the real, making it impossible for people to distinguish.

However, all of these are things that will come later.

After the narrow escape from death—whether it was just an experiment, whether all of this was self-arranged, the exhaustion still surged like a tide. His physical strength was completely depleted, he felt even more tired than when surfing for three hours; his mental energy was also completely drained, not even wanting to think about where he was now. He just wanted to sleep well, breathe the air deeply, and savour life.

He sank into a profound slumber. The world quieted down once again, but this time, it was a world filled with light, warmth, and safety.

It was Matthew who awakened Renly. Turning over, Renly covered his head with a blanket and ignored him. However, Matthew had no intention of giving up. He simply brought a cup of coffee to the bedside and leisurely began to savour it. The rich aroma of coffee quickly filled the entire room, and Renly’s stomach couldn’t help but growl.

His eyelids remained heavy and couldn’t be opened. He just wanted to sleep until the end of the world, but the aroma of coffee awakened the glutton in his stomach. Gurgle, the stomach protested again. Matthew’s serious voice came into his ear, “If Elizabeth hears about this, she will probably scold you for your lack of manners, and Edith will be very happy to kick you while you’re down.”

Aristocratic life requires restraint and suppression; even if one is hungry it is basic etiquette not to make a sound. Renly covered his head with a pillow, but he couldn’t hold back. He raised his hand and threw the pillow towards the direction of Matthew’s voice. However, he knew it wouldn’t hit him. The pillow hit the door panel, falling to the ground in a muffled manner, without a single splash.

“If you get up now, the steak will be just the right temperature. I can have the waiter bring it to the room,” Matthew continued to tempt him.

Renly finally sat up, but his eyes remained tightly closed. He sighed lightly, “Charles, you know I need to rest.”

Charles, Matthew’s middle name, was only used by his father, stiffly and formally. Every time Renly wanted to mock him, he would call him by this name. Matthew rolled his eyes without saying a word, “I also know you need to eat. Your stomach doesn’t lie.”

His shoulders slumped, and Renly let out a long breath, “Fine, I’ll reluctantly eat a little.”

“It seems your habit of loving to sleep hasn’t changed.” Matthew walked to the bedroom door, gestured to the waiters outside, and then they brought in dinner. Although this was only a three-star hotel and the service was not attentive enough, there was still no problem when it came to this kind of basic service.

Renly’s eyes remained closed. He stretched lazily and said, “It seems that your habit of talking too much hasn’t changed. Is this an inherited trait?” The second half of the sentence also included a scolding for Matthew’s father, which made Matthew chuckle.

The aroma of food wafted under his nose, and Renly finally couldn’t resist opening his eyes. Through the blurred vision, he saw a fresh steak, a serving of mashed potatoes, some blanched broccoli, and a simple Caesar salad. “After barely coming back to life, I have to eat such terrible food. Suddenly, I feel like there’s no hope in life.” Despite saying this, he picked up the knife and fork, ready to start his meal.

The waiter and Rodrigo, who was standing at the door, were at a loss, as for Matthew, he couldn’t help but laugh on the side.

T/N – The chapter 100 is here. Big milestone for me, and because we reached chapter 100, as a small thank you, I tried to create an anime picture of Renly using stable diffusion. Please tell me what you think about it.

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