### Chapter 24: Master of Tragedy
Night Star Lan gave a quick glance at the person Kuro brought back and immediately narrowed her eyes, starting to get annoyed.
“Tch…”
Ballad Conductor.
This is the fifth First Generation.
Of course, Night Star Lan didn’t say anything. No matter how unhappy she was, she wouldn’t interfere. After all, the future Ballad Conductor is a psychologically twisted Star Eclipses, while the current him is just a regular human. It would be unfair to blame someone in the past for something they were unaware of in the future.
Night Star Lan certainly doesn’t want to be some kind of time cop. More importantly, she wants to see if the future “evil ballad conductor” is actually as bad as his reputation suggests.
Maybe he’s not so bad?
Kuro then started to introduce him. “This friend here is named William Moore. I met him by chance on the road. He enthusiastically introduced himself, and I felt we had great chemistry, so I brought him back with me.”
According to Kuro’s information, William Moore is a loyal Audience of a certain theater who loves watching comedies to the point of obsession. He virtually watches comedies every day. One day, he decided to try penning down his own script, submitted it to the theater, hoping they would perform a fantastic comedy according to his vision.
The reality was, however, rather harsh. His script was promptly returned with the excuse that it wasn’t suitable. William Moore was perplexed. He thought it couldn’t be due to his skill. So, he intended to share the script with passersby for their opinion.
That was when Kuro, disguised among the crowd, stepped in.
Hearing this, Night Star Lan was a bit puzzled. The Ballad Conductor likes watching comedies? And even wrote a script for a theater? Isn’t he supposed to specialize in tragic stuff?
Sure enough, there’s a definite difference between humans and his Star Eclipses stage, right?
Suddenly, Night Star Lan found herself curious about what kind of comedy script this guy would come up with. “Can I take a look at the script?”
“Sure!” replied William.
Night Lan got the manuscript and scanned it over at lightning speed. “Um… Eh? You call this a comedy?”
“Isn’t it?”
“But your plot is filled with heart-wrenching moments! This is clearly a tragedy!”
“The core of a comedy is tragedy; I merely amplified it a bit.”
“Amplified a bit? If the theater actually performs this laughable comedy, wouldn’t they get swamped with complaints? Isn’t that like selling dog meat under guise of mutton?”
Night Star Lan was speechless.
William Moore was a d*e-hard lover of tragic stories. Watching comedies apparently just appealed to the inner core for him. But at least he wasn’t causing real-world trouble yet, instead focusing on virtual scripts.
Would he cause chaos once he gets access to the powers of Star?
William took back the script from Night Star Lan.
“You just don’t understand. I find this kind of comedy more impactful.”
“Bull! Comedies are meant to make people laugh and unwind. Your script fails to do even that.”
“But it made me really happy when I wrote it.”
“You think everyone shares your joy?”
“Surely there’s someone out there who’ll appreciate my tastes. You just can’t grasp mature works because you’re too young.”
“Are you nuts?”
Scratch the last part. It seems the human version of Ballad Conductor is just as obnoxious as ever.
He thinks he’s the epitome of cool!
Night Star Lan lost her patience. She was ready to tell Luo Xi to toss this guy out if not for the fact that she didn’t want to mess with the story progression.
Kuro stepped forward and smiled. “Harmony brings profit. We’re all friends, disagreements aside, let’s not go overboard.”
So that was how their interaction ended.
Night Star Lan held Luo Xi, enjoying the soft, comforting warmth, which was much better than arguing.
William didn’t seem keen on hanging around either. “May I ask when I can return home? There’s still more to explore in the world of comedy and write a brilliant script.”
Kuro patted William on the shoulder. “My friend, no rush. I respect your passion. Why not tell me more? Isn’t it intriguing to learn what powers of mine might interest you?”
“Indeed fascinating. But I’m more eager to return to refining my work. Forcing me here troubles me.”
From that moment, Night Star Lan understood why William seemed disrespectful to Kuro—his obsession with tragedy overshadowed any fascination the miraculous power could have inspired.
Kuro’s enthusiasm was for naught. “Since you’re so attached to tragedy, how about gaining the ability to create it? You’ll gain profound insights into what scenes evoke unforgettable despair, sadness, agony, and madness, guaranteeing top-class scripts!”
“But I aim to write comedy, not tragedy,” repeated William.
“Certainly, it’s just that tragedies outweigh the comedy parts significantly. Got it, I understand completely!”
So, Kuro and Luo Xi bestowed upon William the power to orchestrate tragedies, sending him back home effortlessly.
Night Star Lan was done commenting. A man so obsessed with tragedy possessing the power to create it sounded like a recipe for disaster. Once the evil thoughts stirred up, laws and morals wouldn’t hold him back.
But Kuro seemed unfazed about the impending calamity. To him, the First Generation may just be extended arms—larger the ripples from Star, more satisfied he’d become.
Was this some kind of ritual, integrating with the world to achieve enlightenment?
Didn’t compute.
After Kuro left, Night Star Lan asked Luo Xi to fast-forward time. She wanted to observe if William Moore would turn into an ultimate villain.
According to the recordings, William seemed unperturbed by his newfound power, continuing to dive into scripts. Eventually, a revised version of one of his scripts was accepted after being resubmitted.
Only it turned out that others saw it more as a tragic story than a comedic one. The dramatic portrayal struck the audience, earning William the moniker “Master of Tragedy.”
Yet, William disagreed with this assessment, insisting his work remained comedic. However, his scripts kept getting transformed and promoted as tragedies, cementing his reputation as the “Master of Tragedy.”
