I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 204 - 204 203. Do people really watch this kind of movie_1

Chapter 204: 203. Do people really watch this kind of movie?_1 Chapter 204: 203. Do people really watch this kind of movie?_1 Li Anyi was a fervent fan.

She worked in a big city and liked to chase dramas, watch talk shows, Murder Mystery Games, and other variety shows after work. Recently, she had taken a liking to an idol named Wu Zhan, spending a lot of money on votes for him during the elective period, clashing with rival fans, and once he debuted, she began to worry about his data and popularity, truly addicted.

At her idol’s previous concert, she had managed to snag a ticket with great difficulty, witnessed the idol live, and had a gathering with fellow fans, which made her feel like her life had become significantly more fulfilling.

This time, her idol starred in a TV drama, as the main lead no less, and although the heroine was somewhat irritating, she still had to support her idol, so Li Anyi obediently bought a ticket to watch it.

While watching the movie, she was only focused on her idol’s looks, completely ignoring the plot.

Of course, during the male and female leads’ kissing scene, she had already cursed the heroine a thousand times over in her heart.

However, after the first day, the box office sales of the movie plunged, and many fan groups began to strategize, making contributions to make their idol’s first movie look good in the data.

They quickly researched a method called ‘locking the theater’, and naturally, Li Anyi took part, buying several showings at a cinema in her city.

But as the movie’s box office continued to drop, sometimes a cinema’s screenings for the entire day would be ‘locked’ by fans, earning almost no revenue, causing many cinemas to start limiting advance purchases and issuing refunds for screenings with too few attendees.

Especially those who bought tickets but didn’t show up, Wu Zhan’s movie was the first to be affected; if the number of tickets sold for a screening was less than ten an hour before the movie was to play, they would cancel the screening and replace it with another movie, instead earning quite a bit from viewers who couldn’t find suitable timings for their tickets.

So, they researched a strategy that involved actually showing up.

Li Anyi was attending in person today, preparing to watch the movie after squatting for an hour.

She sat down on a chair at the ticket collection point, and suddenly, her phone rang.

After answering, it was the cinema calling. They told Li Anyi that because there were too few people booked for the showing she had tickets for, they had to cancel the showing and process a refund for her ticket.

“No way, I’m already here, how can you cancel it?”

Li Anyi argued with a sense of righteousness and immediately headed to the ticket counter to seek out the cinema manager.

“We’re very sorry, but since there are so few people booked for this screening, we have to abide by the policy from above. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience,”

said the cinema manager, adeptly deflecting responsibility.

“But I’m already here, planning to watch a movie and then have dinner with friends. You can’t expect me to just sit around here for the next few hours, can you?”

Li Anyi added.

“With this kind of service attitude, I’ll never come to your cinema to watch movies again.”

“We’re extremely sorry, how about this: we’ll process a full refund for your ticket, and since we’re playing a different movie in this screening, we can arrange for you to watch it for free, how does that sound?”

explained the manager, offering a compensation plan authorized by the higher-ups. If a movie was pulled and patrons made a fuss, they’d be arranged a free viewing of the current screening. As it was a last-minute change, there were usually seats available.

Although the manager didn’t understand the rationale behind such a strategy, it was better than dealing with locked theaters that only earned the money from one or two tickets—and even worse when some unscrupulous patrons requested refunds just minutes before the movie, leading to no earnings at all.

Li Anyi frowned slightly. Although she felt the cinema’s actions were sleazy, a movie not watched would be a waste.

“Alright, since you’ve put it that way, I want the best seat,”

she said and took her ticket back to her seat.

Glancing at the electronic screen at the ticket counter, Li Anyi saw that her idol’s movie was gone, replaced by a movie with a very strange name.

“Cry.”

“What kind of movie is this?”

Not very attuned to the movie circles, Li Anyi searched it up on her phone.

Seeing the online rating, just 8.5 points, was quite average.

She scrolled through the comments.

“Not scary at all, calling this a horror movie is an insult to the word ‘horror’!”

“The ending of this movie is very healing, it’s really not scary at all, honestly!”

“I’ve never seen such a funny horror movie, I suggest you all check it out!”

“After watching the movie, I didn’t feel scared at all.”

“It’s not terrifying in the slightest, even kids can watch it without worry!”

Most of the comments with a lot of likes and replies were of this nature.

“What the hell, do people actually watch this kind of movie?”

Li Anyi found it strange. According to the introduction, it seemed to be a horror film, but the comments said it wasn’t scary at all, so what was the appeal?

And it had an eight out of ten?

She didn’t quite believe it.

Just then, Li Anyi saw that the tickets for the additionally scheduled showing of “Cry” were selling fast and soon only a handful of corner seats remained.

When it was time to enter the cinema and have the tickets checked, she found herself surrounded by people.

Mostly young people, talking and laughing.

She wondered, weren’t the reviews saying it wasn’t good, wasn’t scary? Why were there still so many people seeing it?

The cinema was rather generous, having assigned Li Anyi a seat right in the middle of the hall, the spot with the best viewing effects, directly facing the big screen, ready to experience the most shocking sound and visual effects.

“Not bad at all.”

Li Anyi relaxed, looking around at people sitting upright, as if they were about to face something terrifying.

The movie began.

An hour and some had passed.

Li Anyi sat on the soft couch, unable to move.

She tried to stand up but found her legs had already turned to jelly. Her back was soaked through; it was the cold sweat she had been scared into.

Just ten minutes after the movie started, Li Anyi realized she should not be sitting there.

Even with many people in the cinema, the atmosphere of the movie made her feel as if she were in a hospital, terribly afraid.

As the plot progressed, Li Anyi had thought about leaving, but her legs had already stiffened up, and she did not even dare to close her eyes. She could only watch the entire movie wide-eyed from the best viewing seat.

It wasn’t until the cleaning lady came over that Li Anyi and several other viewers managed to stir.

She now had only one thought.

Whoever made this movie must be out of their mind, how could they produce such a thing!

After a long while, Li Anyi managed to leave the cinema. She was now glad that she had come during the afternoon; if it had been at night, who knows if she would have dared to go home by herself.

She took out her phone and glanced at the reviews for “Cry” again.

That’s when Li Anyi finally understood everything.

She promptly showed her ticket stub and then left a review.

“This movie is not scary at all, very family-friendly, I suggest groups of friends all go see it.”

After posting, Li Anyi felt it still wasn’t enough. She ran to her idol’s fan group and said,

“This ‘Cry’ is pretty good, not very scary, the girls can go see it when they have time.”

Can’t be just me getting scared!

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