True Immortal Heart-Chapter 47: A Twisted Joke

Dusk was barely able to stand, and that pitiful state made Lysandra hesitate to let him get out of bed just to answer the door.

But his sincerity made it hard for her to refuse. After all, turning down someone’s goodwill was something that could hurt them deeply.

Sensing her worry, he simply smiled and said,

"You don’t trust me? I told you, within a day, no matter how bad my injuries are, they’ll all recover."

That smile, that calm aura—somehow, it put people at ease.

One had to wonder what kind of acting class Dusk had taken to reach that level of confidence.

"Fine then. If you say you’re okay, go ahead," she said after a brief pause, finally nodding her approval.

If what he said was true, then there shouldn’t be any real danger.

After all, breaking a few more bones wasn’t going to kill him.

Dusk made his way down the stairs, and with each step, a new wave of pain surged through his body.

It felt as if his shattered bones were stabbing randomly inside him.

’Damn that bastard! If I ever meet you again when we’re both at Rank 1, even if I can’t beat you, I’ll make sure you suffer.’

He had no intention of fighting Lucien to the death, but not teaching him a lesson was something that gnawed at him.

He peeked through the door but saw no one outside—only a brightly wrapped gift box sitting alone on the doorstep.

’What the...? A fan? She doesn’t exactly look like someone famous.’

He thought to himself as he opened the door and picked up the box.

On top, there was a note: "A gift for the lucky one."

’Hmm. A prize draw, maybe? Whatever, I’ll just bring it up to her.’

Dusk wasn’t the type to poke his nose into everything out of curiosity.

Not to mention, messing with her stuff could very well ruin whatever little goodwill she had toward him.

When Lysandra saw Dusk carrying a gift box upstairs, her brow furrowed.

As far as she could remember, there was nothing special about today.

"A gift? For me?" she asked.

"Hmm, there’s a note here. Looks like you might’ve won some sort of prize," he said.

Hearing that it was some kind of giveaway, Lysandra didn’t seem particularly interested. She hadn’t participated in any events recently. Most likely, it was just some promotional item from a marketing campaign.

"Open it for me, will you? It’s probably nothing important," she said casually.

Dusk didn’t object. Opening a gift box wasn’t exactly a big deal.

It wasn’t like untying a ribbon would cause the Earth to explode or something? That’d be absurd.

He pulled the ribbon loose and opened the box.

Despite its elaborate decorations, the packaging was surprisingly easy to undo.

But the moment he lifted the lid, he saw—another box inside.

He frowned.

’What the hell? Some prank from a bored lunatic?’

Before he could think any further, a recording suddenly began to play from inside the box.

"Surprise!"

A cheerful voice rang out, echoing in his ears.

Instantly, a terrible premonition surged through Dusk.

He tried to throw the box away—but he was too late.

BOOM!

The cheerful voice had barely faded when the inner box exploded.

Since Dusk had been holding it right in front of him, he took the full brunt of the blast.

The explosion wasn’t massive, but it was enough to severely burn the surface of his face and violently rattle his brain.

He clutched his eyes in pain, a howl trapped in his throat, before collapsing to the floor.

’F**k this goddamn second life!’

That was the only thought he could muster before losing consciousness—for the second time in less than twenty-four hours.

His brain had been shaken again, this time even more violently than before.

With his body already weakened, there was no way he could withstand another hit like that.

He was cursed, plain and simple. Taking a bomb to the face just because he showed a bit of goodwill? That was a loss on every front.

Lysandra froze. Then, in a panic, she rushed to his side and caught him before he hit the ground.

"Hey, hey! Are you okay?" She asked anxiously.

When Dusk didn’t respond at all, her panic deepened.

She immediately scrambled to perform first aid—searching the net, asking AI assistants—doing everything she could think of.

"I’m so sorry... It’s because I told you to open that box... that you ended up like this," she murmured.

She hadn’t forgotten Dusk’s claim that he could fully recover within 24 hours—but still, an explosion hurt, a lot.

And honestly, if he hadn’t taken the full force of the blast, there was a good chance her beautiful face would’ve been the one left in ruins.

Death? No, she didn’t think he’d die from it.

From how the explosion was set up, it was clear the mastermind hadn’t intended to kill.

He was just the kind of scumbag who got his kicks from making others suffer.

...

Meanwhile, not too far away, a young man stood under the sunlight, his hair dyed in a garish rainbow of seven colors.

His round, bright-red nose and clown-like face paint gave him the unmistakable look of a jester.

And he was laughing—loud, joyful, and utterly carefree.

He raised his hands to the sky, basking in the sunlight as if it were the spotlight of a grand stage shining down just for him.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you all so much for joining me in that delightful performance!"

He bowed dramatically, even though there wasn’t a single soul around.

Then he squinted, looking off into the distance—the direction of Lysandra’s house.

"A beautiful lady, lucky enough to receive my gift. I wonder... will her beauty survive the ordeal?"

"Either way, that little prank was so much fun," he said with gleeful excitement.

He was originally a fun-loving young man, but his jokes were getting more and more outrageous.

For some reason, after the earthquakes, he felt that his previous jokes were too damn boring.

He wanted to joke about something big, really big, as big as that earthquake. A fun joke for the whole world (at least he felt happy).

"What should I do next, hmm? Homemade explosives really are so much more thrilling than those old-fashioned jump scares." he mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.