I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 205 - 205 204. Go to an appointment_1

Chapter 205: 204. Go to an appointment_1 Chapter 205: 204. Go to an appointment_1 “Cry” ended its opening day box office at forty million. With a meager screening share of around three percent, this was already an exceptional feat. While some industry insiders suggested this high attendance rate might be due to the word-of-mouth from its film festival screenings and the advantage of midnight showings, the trend over the following days proved many wrong.

On the second day after its release, “Cry” accounted for five percent of the national theater screenings, with its box office nearing sixty million.

On the third day, cinema chains under Jiangcheng Industries increased the screenings of “Cry” and cancelled some of the locked sessions, converting them to “Cry” showings instead. They even offered free movie tickets for “Cry” to those audiences whose sessions were cancelled. That day, “Cry” held over seven percent of screenings and its box office surpassed eighty million. Breaking one hundred million was merely a matter of time.

By the fourth day, alongside the mass cancellation of locked sessions by theaters, the screening share of “Cry” rapidly climbed to eighteen percent, and the daily box office exceeded one hundred and seventy million, quickly securing its position as the top film of the end-of-year lineup.

In various online communities, “Cry” went on a viral spread like wildfire.

“This movie ‘Cry’ made me feel the horror of the hospital so vividly, man. I never thought hospitals could be scary before, but now it’s made me too terrified to even go to one.”

“We’ve been lacking a real horror film for so long. As a specialized film genre, horror thrillers have always been part of the industry. Many blockbuster directors started by making B movies and horror flicks. But our industry has been developing low-cost romantic comedies with minimal special effects requirements, while neglecting fantasy content. I believe that ‘Cry’ represents not only the cries of newborns in the film but also the beginning of a transformation in the film market.”

“Well deserved for a youth’s first horror film experience. In the cinema, I saw those youngsters looking as if they’d never seen the world before. They don’t know just how scary the zombie and horror films we watched in our childhood were.”

“It’s hilarious, let me tell you. In our screening, there was this bratty kid who was making a fuss about wanting to buy something and even hitting his own parents at the start. He was still noisy even as the film began, absolutely irritating. But halfway through the movie, I didn’t hear a peep from that side. After the movie, I took a special look and, boy oh boy, that brat had pissed his pants and was calling someone over to help clean up. Karma at its finest, what goes around comes around.”

Meanwhile, more and more people began to take notice of Lu Ban and the project he mentioned, Silence.

Although there were no specific figures to show, Lu Ban later uploaded “Nameless City” on major video websites under the account of the Silence project. The total view count across the web broke ten million within a day, and after a week, as the New Year arrived, the following for Silence had reached seven million at the onset of the new year.

Surpassing ten million within three months was practically a certainty.

Discussions about “Nameless City” and the Silence project were in full swing on the well-known RPG website “Got It?”.

“…The thrill of ‘Nameless City’ mainly comes from questioning the self-awareness of humanity. The mercenaries and hunters in the film believe they’re human, but they’re actually insects. This dissonance is the root of the horror experience because when your cognition is challenged and everything around you seems like an illusion, even your own self is negated, leading to a deeper layer of fear…”

“…I don’t think this Silence project is such a great idea. Let me put it this way, I find these movies scary not because they are inherently terrifying, but because I don’t know what will happen next while watching them, so I get scared. Now that he wants to integrate these films into one shared universe, I will end up knowing that the main characters won’t come to harm, which diminishes the fear. It turns into a sort of assembly-line production of movies…”

“…Actually, from these few films, we can see that Lu Ban’s greatest strength lies in his control over visuals and the unique arrangement of his storylines. His performances, alongside the casting of other actors, are rather laissez-faire. This advantage leads to a significantly short filming period. From ‘The Hundred Poets’ to ‘Cry’, and now the latest ‘Nameless City’, it’s been only half a year for these three films. But if you want to shoot them consecutively, handling personnel and project management won’t be achievable with a small workshop model. I’m curious if he can stay on top of it…”

“…I think the acting has improved a lot, apart from Lu Ban, especially those hunters this time. Their final struggle, pain, bewildered expressions, and ultimately numb and dazed looks could be considered this year’s best performances. Without rich experience and talent, it would be impossible to achieve such an effect. By comparison, the acting skills of many actors today can only be described as botched. Even the fundamental dialogue delivery is inadequate, truly a sorrow for the industry…”

Countless discussions took place, some optimistic about Lu Ban and the Silence project, some pessimistic. However, due to Lu Ban’s past performances, most didn’t speak in absolute terms to avoid being called out later, as the internet has a memory.

Most conclusions eventually pointed to one thing: how soon will Lu Ban be able to present a new work within this world view? The quality of this work will directly impact people’s confidence in him.

Lu Ban himself seemed completely unaware of all this.

On New Year’s Day, the streets were bustling as many citizens of Jiangcheng City chose to visit the city square on Old Street of Jiangcheng City to welcome the arrival of the new year.

Wearing a face mask, Lu Ban walked alone amidst the crowd, looking particularly solitary.

He didn’t join in the festivities but walked towards another direction, arriving at the entrance of a movie theater.

This was one of the theaters where “Cry” premiered nationally and also the location Feng Yu had mentioned, asking him to come today.

Lu Ban hadn’t messaged her in advance, skeptical about what Feng Yu had mentioned, so he decided to take a chance. If he happened to run into Feng Yu, he would follow her to see what would unfold; if not, then it would be as nothing had happened.

No sooner had he walked into the cinema than he spotted Feng Yu standing at the ticket counter, looking up at the movie trailers playing on the electronic screen.

As the year neared its end, the weather in Jiangcheng grew cold, as if at any moment it could snow. She wore a hooded duffle coat with cargo pants and sneakers, looking just like any other young person you might see around.

Noticing Lu Ban’s gaze, Feng Yu shook the movie tickets in her hand with a smile.

“I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while.”