I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 200 - 200 199. Horror Movie Universe_1

Chapter 200: 199. Horror Movie Universe_1 Chapter 200: 199. Horror Movie Universe_1 Midnight.

As “Cry” was about to premiere nationwide, setting off a year-end horror craze, Lu Ban’s plan also quietly went online.

At Yannan Media University, Bai Qiquan was still pulling an all-nighter in the study room.

Ever since he watched “Cry,” he felt that his sleep quality had deteriorated significantly; he couldn’t feel sleepy until after midnight each day.

However, today he was mainly reviewing.

After all, it was the end of the year, and after New Year’s Day, he would have final exams—a failure meant big trouble.

A few minutes past midnight, Bai Qiquan, who was planning to stay up all night, yawned, stood up to pour himself a cup of hot coffee, and decided to check his phone for a boost.

When studying got tedious, playing with his phone for a bit was a good way to mix work and leisure, but he couldn’t overdo it.

Just as he picked up his phone and sent two messages back to his girlfriend, Bai Qiquan saw a notification.

[Lu Ban’s new plan goes public, is a horror movie universe about to be established?]

This was a notification from a browser; he directly clicked on it.

“…Today marks the release of ‘Cry,’ and Lu Ban announced at the premiere that he intends to create an interconnected movie universe, also releasing a new short film ‘Nameless City.’ According to our journalist, the plan is named ‘Silent Project,’ which includes a website, official social accounts, and the latest film…”

The news roughly introduced the situation; Bai Qiquan exited and took a look at Lu Ban’s account on his phone, indeed, a new post had been uploaded, mentioning a new account, which he immediately followed.

Scrolling through the posts, Bai Qiquan found the official website page.

Clicking on the page, a sound suddenly came through Bai Qiquan’s earbuds.

He couldn’t describe the sound; closing his eyes, it was as if he were situated between the silent night sky and vast grasslands—the twinkling of stars.

Meanwhile, his phone screen turned pitch black, with only specks of stars shining, seemingly forming constellations.

Bai Qiquan touched it with his finger.

He found that the web page actually changed with his touch as if a thick layer of dust was being wiped away.

With a gentle swipe of his finger on the screen, the entire page suddenly lit up.

The words “Silence” appeared in the center of the page, giving off a creepy and mysterious vibe.

Bai Qiquan saw that the website had encyclopedias, project descriptions, and film links; he first clicked on the project description.

“Silent Project depicts a universe composed of works with a unified setting, adventures in Foreign Domains, strange monsters, Indescribable Evil Gods; this is a cold and mad cosmos, where humans are but insignificant insects in these worlds. The more one seeks truth, the more they risk descending into madness…”

The project description roughly laid out the background of the plan, and after reading this, Bai Qiquan felt a surge of anticipation.

Nowadays, fantasy and science fiction movies were usually about defying fate, with superheroes defeating villains and monsters, which had become somewhat monotonous.

This plan—as with Lu Ban’s previous film “Cry”—seemed to focus on the things that humans couldn’t combat, producing a considerable thrill. Bai Qiquan was quite eager to see it.

After all, his girlfriend’s grip tightened a little whenever they held hands after watching these films.

He then flipped to the encyclopedia page.

Here, monsters and key terms were classified by Foreign Domain.

Bai Qiquan clicked into the “Night Country” page after finishing “Cry”. He had looked for other works by Lu Ban and was particularly impressed by that interactive video. Although it wasn’t as horrifying as his later works, the challenge of passing the levels, which couldn’t even be assured by cheating, really caught Bai Qiquan’s interest.

By the way, he himself had tried for several hours without success, and ultimately, he resorted to watching someone else’s playthrough video to complete it. Though watching a video of someone watching a video felt somewhat recursive, it didn’t pose a major issue.

“Night Country, where Gray Tower and Hei Tower echo each other from afar, mages, assassins, mercenaries, and warriors traverse these darkened lands. The creatures of the Black Forest swarm like a tide under the crimson moon, assaulting humanity, and in those regions untouched by the brilliance of civilization, the Evil God and its followers thrive…”

Reading these encyclopedic entries, Bai Qiquan nodded slightly.

“It looks like a fantasy world with mages, but their magic doesn’t seem portrayed in the video. I wonder when we’ll get to see the mages use their magic.”

He continued to explore other world settings.

Bai Qiquan felt that these world settings always seemed somehow incomplete.

It wasn’t that he thought of Lu Ban as cryptic; it was more that the text conveyed a sense of mystery that always led Bai Qiquan to feel there was another layer of truth behind these worlds.

For instance, the Great Shrine of Harmony Island in “The Hundred Poets”, though mentioned in the film, never actually appeared on screen, leaving Bai Qiquan to speculate that the shrine might also harbor mysterious and strange secrets, possibly with a twist to come later.

At the bottom of each setting page, the phrase “Information that can currently be disclosed” was noted, suggesting more information would be unlocked as the project progressed.

“These Foreign Domains seem very dangerous; our current world is safer.”

After going through the information, Bai Qiquan reached a conclusion.

Though stories like those at Nanhua Private Renji Hospital were all around him, he was well aware that these were mere movie stories; how could the real world possibly be filled with monsters and ghosts.

Glancing at the time, he realized he had been slacking off for thirty minutes. Bai Qiquan looked at the film links on the web page and decided to slack off a bit more.

If he put down his phone now to study, he would surely keep thinking about the new film, and with his concentration divided, his study efficiency would decrease. Therefore, it made sense to watch the video first and then study properly!

This was reasonable!

Bai Qiquan clicked on the video.

First, he saw a desert, a silver one, starkly different from the yellow sand-filled deserts he had seen on TV.

Then, the familiar figure of Lu Ban appeared on screen, along with a girl.

Blonde hair, emerald green eyes, she looked like a foreigner yet possessed some Eastern charm, quite attractive indeed.

Bai Qiquan couldn’t help but sneak a glance behind him, fearing his girlfriend might suddenly catch him in the act.

Seeing that everyone else was studying intently, he continued to focus on the screen.

Out of the gravel, huge bugs emerged. The sight of the ugly creatures instinctively disgusted Bai Qiquan, so he turned the volume down a bit to avoid getting startled.

However, it seemed he had misjudged the situation.

Campfire, roasted bugs, treasure map—it seemed this film was not geared towards the horror genre, but rather resembled an adventure movie, like Indiana Jones or The Mummy.

The idea of being among a group of friends with extraordinary powers, hunting for ancient ruins and treasures in the desert, and clashing with other hunters seemed like a thrilling plot just to think about.

Bai Qiquan found himself longing for such an adventure, imagining himself as one of those Wasteland Hunters.

Soon enough, he realized he was being a bit naive.