Chapter 1: Reality Movie

……

"Classmate, classmate, want to watch a movie? A very exciting movie, absolutely negative expectations? Watching a disc is like watching a movie... very, very high definition!"

"Look, it's not even as good-looking as Jia Kun."

"Boring, I want to eat peaches at school."

"How embarrassing..."

In front of a dilapidated old movie theater, a man wrapped entirely in black clothing, to the point where even his face and eyes were barely visible, was shouting incessantly at the surroundings.

Students passing by one after another only glanced at him before giggling and walking past, having absolutely no intention of buying anything.

To tell the truth.

The things being sold didn't spark any interest at all; just the thick stack of discs piled together gave off a strong sense of cheapness, not to mention the other things that looked like old-fashioned cassette tapes.

There were even some miscellaneous odds and ends.

In this day and age, these kinds of old-fashioned things that looked like antiques really couldn't attract the attention of young people.

Just then, a male student in a school uniform that had been washed until it was slightly faded walked over from a distance. His gaze clearly swept over the stall first, and then he kindly reminded: "Uncle, the items don't look very appealing. Young people rarely like these kinds of things that look like old antiques. If you really want to sell these things, you should go look at the old market; maybe someone will want to buy them."

The student's name was Huaiyou.

Judging from the voice that had just spoken, he could roughly tell that the person's age should be much older than his own, so calling him 'Uncle' was probably correct.

Plus, this was also the first time he had seen this Uncle appear here selling miscellaneous goods like movie discs.

But unexpectedly, when the Uncle heard Huaiyou speak, he only turned his head to look for a moment, and then suddenly asked inexplicably: "Classmate, let me ask you a question, are you afraid of ghosts and monsters and such? Or rather, do you believe in those kinds of things?"

"Ghosts and monsters? Do I believe?" Huaiyou was stunned for a moment, but he still thought about it carefully for a while, and then slowly replied: "I should be afraid, but as for believing, I've never seen them, so naturally, there's no talk of believing or not. What's more, I feel that sometimes people are much scarier than those things."

"Oh? Is that so? Alright, then let's not talk about that. By the way, classmate, are you interested in looking at these disc movies in front of you? Buy one to watch? As for why I'm selling these things here?"

Huaiyou looked at the things on the table, was silent for a moment, and then pointed his finger at the discs below: "Uncle, I'm actually not interested in these old objects, and my family doesn't have a machine to play these kinds of things either."

But when the Uncle heard these words from Huaiyou, he still said dismissively: "What? These things don't necessarily need a player to be watched. Besides, the things I'm selling are boutique items; you can't always watch those 'who-knows-who' singing and dancing for two and a half years on the internet, right?"

Huaiyou was a bit confused: "Uncle is quite trendy, you even know about trainees? Looking at these covers, they all seem to be horror movies, right?"

"Horror movies are naturally a part of movies, the traditional kind of movies..."

But before he could finish his sentence, suddenly, the Uncle who was wrapped up tightly suddenly looked up at the sky for no reason, froze in place for two or three seconds, and then turned his head to speak to Huaiyou again.

"How about this, looking at the situation today, the things aren't selling, and it's a pity to throw away so many things. Seeing that you're a student, you're also making money, I'll install a piece of software on your phone for free, you can watch some horror movies on it, it's something I developed myself, it would be a shame for the things to be buried, how about it?"

Huaiyou was stunned for a moment; he had been holding his phone from just now until now, but upon hearing these words, he still waved his hand: "No, Uncle, keep it for yourself. My studies have been busy lately, I'm already in my third year of high school, I don't have much time to watch movies or anything. You continue selling tomorrow, maybe that old market will have people who like these things. Besides, I can't just 'freeload' on something you researched yourself."

Upon hearing these words, the Uncle sighed and said: "Sigh, it's one thing that the things aren't selling, but even the software I made is free, are you afraid I'm a scammer? Or do you look down on me for selling these things that look like miscellaneous goods? Sigh, heartbreaking."

As soon as Huaiyou heard this, he became anxious and waved his hands repeatedly: "Uncle, that's not what I meant..."

"That's it!"

"Done!"

……

A few minutes later.

Huaiyou helplessly looked at his phone desktop, which leaned towards an older model. There was an extra blood-red software icon with an eye staring in the middle.

Not long after, Huaiyou said he was about to be late.

After a polite greeting, Huaiyou went into the school.

And the Uncle also waved his hand in a friendly manner at first, but Huaiyou didn't notice when he left that the Uncle's gaze had been firmly locked onto him ever since he left.

And very quickly, at the original location of the movie theater, the man whose true appearance had still not been revealed until now looked in the direction where Huaiyou had gone and was stunned for quite a while.

But afterwards, he suddenly turned his head, packed up the things on the table, and then casually threw them into the trash can nearby.

At this moment, the sky had gradually darkened.

He walked silently towards a dark alley on the side, and in the corner, he bent down and lowered his head extremely gently, picking up an exquisite doll.

The doll was exceptionally clean all over; even though it had been placed on the ground, it hadn't been stained by any dust when picked up.

The man gently stroked the doll's smooth forehead, as if stroking the forehead of his beloved: "Found you."

The doll's eyes were actually a dull purple, and at this moment, I don't know if it was an illusion, but they actually seemed to have a sparkle.

But it was only that kind of feeling, and the doll didn't have any reaction.

Seeing this scene, the man sighed softly.

Afterwards, he looked back one last time in the direction Huaiyou had left, his eyes flashing with a dim and uncertain sparkle.

And next, this time he walked into the pitch-black alley without looking back.

The moment his tightly wrapped body stepped into that alley, it was as if it had merged into it.

……

Time passed exceptionally quickly.

In the blink of an eye, the boring evening self-study session ended, and Huaiyou had already returned home.

It is worth mentioning that around 10 o'clock, when Huaiyou passed by the entrance of the movie theater, he found that the Uncle was no longer there. Also, I don't know if it was because the sky was relatively dark, but Huaiyou always felt that the sign at the entrance of the movie theater seemed to have inexplicably looked tattered to the point where he didn't know when it had happened.

When he was at school this afternoon, did it seem like it wasn't like this here?

But very quickly, he cast aside the questioning thoughts in his mind and went home.

And after returning home, following a rather irritable wash, when Huaiyou lay on the bed in utter helplessness, he first scrolled through his phone for a while, and slowly he really got tired of it.

Huaiyou finally sat up beside the desk in his room with interest, because it was just then that he suddenly remembered what happened this afternoon.

He prepared to take a look at the software thing that the strange Uncle, who was wrapped in clothes and whose face he couldn't see, had made for him. If he said it was a movie, then he would see what was so good about the movie and what was different about it?

Huaiyou first sized up the so-called software icon on his phone. The icon was the same as other phone software icons, only the pattern on it was relatively simple: against a blood-red background, there was half an eye wide open, and the reflection in the pupil felt like a kind of inexplicable fear.

"The icon is actually made quite impressively, it's still a bit intimidating, just don't know how the content is."

After getting ready, Huaiyou didn't talk nonsense anymore and clicked directly on the icon.

And following the click of his finger.

Huaiyou clearly felt his phone lag slightly for a second, and very quickly he entered the icon interface.

Strangely, as far as the eye could see, after opening the icon, what was displayed inside the software wasn't any fancy pictures, nor was it the kind of ordinary video or movie software layout he had imagined.

What filled the entire screen were only four characters.

【Welcome】

Huaiyou frowned: "Welcome? Is it a horror movie?"

However, very quickly, as if it had heard his grumbling, the four characters on the phone suddenly changed at one moment, presenting a sense of fragmentation, and finally faded into the white of the background.

At the same time.

A vague feeling suddenly appeared in the depths of Huaiyou's brain at this moment.

The phone suddenly and inexplicably adjusted itself to a very suitable brightness at this moment.

A line of blood-red font appeared at this moment.

One line after another, the content began to appear clearly and gradually.

【Movie Name: Ju Yuan】

【Movie Status: Released into reality, movie time determined by the plot】

【Movie Background Introduction: Kayako was a girl with a withdrawn and strange personality since she was young. During her growth, she had no friends, only a black cat for company.

Because of some things, her husband abused Kayako to death. The various loneliness, depression, and resentment that Kayako had from childhood to adulthood generated a Ju Yuan at the moment of her death, lingering in a place, lasting for a long time...

Do you hope to see the horror of the Girls' Dormitory, or the Art Building, or the Teaching Building? In short, you are watching it right in the school! Do you want to live or do you want to accompany her?!】

【Background Modification: Movie location modified to the audience's school, detailed content to be explored freely by the audience within the movie】

【Content Audience: One】

【Survival Tools: Obtained through this movie, currently none】

【Audience Information Loaded Successfully】

【Movie Released Successfully, Reality Mapping Successful.】

【Movie Mode: Unlimited, can cause casualties to members! Please be aware, audience.】

【Next, Movie Mode begins! You will pass the First Night's safety period.】

【Warm Reminder: This film is loaded with reality, any similarity is purely coincidental!】

【This viewing successfully unlocked Level 5 Horror Movies: "The Babadook", "V/H/S", "Halloween"……】

【Waiting to Unlock Function: Strange Tale Roulette, a certain chance to obtain rare and precious items, life and death depend entirely on your luck! If you are lucky, it will increase the life and death difficulty of a viewing!】

【Other Movie Functions: Not Unlocked】

…… ===== CHAPTER 2 =====