APP: Extra 5

At 2 o’clock in the morning, the music in the biggest nightclub nearby was loud. After dancing on the stage for a while, the dancers rode on the shoulder of the men who were eager for them. They played with the men and drank wine and whiskey.

The sleepy waiter saw the manager coming in a hurry and asked, “Is someone making trouble again? Or was someone pickpocketed? Is it serious?”

The male manager shook his head. “No, Mr Xie is here. The boss has a bit of friendship with him and told me to pick him up.”

The waiter’s mind still wasn’t clear. “Which Mr Xie?”

“The one who used to be a horror painter.”

The waiter was taken aback before realizing who the manager was talking about.

A long time ago, the famous horror painter Xie Chi strangely went missing. The police conducted various investigations and searches but he wasn’t found. In the end, it was determined that he was dead. The fans felt grief and there was even a memorial service held for him. Yet in less than half a year, he magically appeared again. It was just that he was no longer a horror painter. He turned to developing the horror industry.

This move was so big and definitely needed start-up capital. Xie Chi was poorly connected. No one was optimistic about an artist engaging in business. They waited to see his joke. As a result, he didn’t ask for money from others or borrow from the bank. He just relied on himself to draw up an industrial model and soon became prosperous.

His adversaries determined that the source of his money was unknown and they thought it was illegal money. They wanted to follow this investigation to send him to prison. As a result, nothing was found from the investigation. It was like the money fell out of thin air.

After that, it wasn’t known where they came from but he got countless excellent horror movie scripts. The scripts covered a wide range, combining the east and west. They included magic, science fiction and fantasy.

The horror movies produced by Xie Chi’s industrial chain had lifelike ghosts, no special effects, compact plots and endless reversals. They catered to the current fast-paced and high-quality market demand and were soon strongly sought after by young people seeking stimulation.

Xie Chi was a former painter and promising entrepreneur. His appearance was handsome and he naturally became the darling of the media. His experience was a legend and his disappearance added to his mystery.

Xie Chi said in an interview that this wasn’t his exclusive horror industry. He just joined a chain and was standing on the shoulders of giants. However, no one believed it. After all, no one could find the source of these amazing scripts.

Xie Chi just smiled at the camera and said nothing.

After the storm, everything went back to the right track and Xie Chi gradually retreated behind the scenes, no longer showing up publicly. The waiter hadn’t expected to see Xie Chi here. Xie Chi was actually a person who would go to nightclubs.

“They came!” The manager saw the people coming in through the door and pushed through the crowd. The waiter glanced over and saw too low-key men with appearances that were difficult to hide come in. The taller one on the left was covering the hand of the one on the right.

It wasn’t long after 2 o’clock in the morning and they had just come from the car in the garage. It was quite cold. The one on the right should be Xie Chi and the one on the left was his same s*x lover.

Everyone knew about Xie Chi’s s*xual orientation. He made it public and never covered it up. Perhaps it was because he had artistic origins but the outside world was very tolerant of his behavior and didn’t show any negative opinions or criticism toward his s*xual orientation. There was just good-natured teasing. It was like he was doing art and everything different about him could be rationalized.

The music in the nightclub was too noisy. The legendary Mr Xie looked helpless and had to almost bite at the ear of his lover to talk. This behavior was intimate and contained a bit of ambiguity.

***

The manager asked with a smile, “Is it just the two of you?”

Xie Chi answered, “There are four people. I booked a table before I came. Just take us there.”

The manager hurriedly inquired, “Should I pick up the other two?”

“No.” Xie Chi coughed. “They have arrived and are playing first while waiting for us.”

“I see.” The manager realized and apologized. “Sorry, we didn’t know.”

“No need, they love to play.” Xie Chi let him relax a bit. The manager felt that Xie Chi had a strange expression on his face but didn’t think much of it. He led them upstairs to sit down.

“Call me anytime if you need anything!”

Xie Chi nodded at him with a smile. Then he yawned comfortably when he saw this person leaving. He leaned against Xie Xinglan’s shoulder and complained dully, “Brother, I’m so sleepy. Let me stay like this for a while.”

Xie Xinglan rubbed his head and whispered, “Engaging in friendship with ghosts can only be done in the middle of the night. We can go back and sleep well during the day.”

“Yes… okay.”

Xie Xinglan wondered, “Where are they?”

“Who knows.”

The moment ghost Xie Chi and ghost Xinglan came in, they saw the two of them. Ghost Xie Chi coughed and Xie Chi spoke casually without moving his head. “Come and sit.”

They had the exact same appearance as Xie Chi and were afraid of causing him trouble so they each wore a mask, sunglasses and hat. They had now entered the nightclub and the lights on the deck were dim. Visibility was extremely low so they could remove their covers.

“Should we still wear sunglasses?” Ghost Xie Chi wondered.

Xie Chi told him, “No, you can just say they are red color contact lenses if discovered.”

Ghost Xie Chi and ghost Xinglan, “……”

Things started half a month ago.

Half a month ago, Xie Chi was idle so he returned to the app to shoot a movie according to his agreement with the app. The filming happened to be the sequel to ‘Hospital’ and was called the ‘The Morgue’. The world was the same but the plot location was the morgue and the plot was different.

Thanks to the movie ‘The Morgue’, Xie Chi remembered ghost Xie Chi and ghost Xinglan. He spent points to get in touch with them and made this appointment.

Xie Chi knew a lot of information since discovering the truth of the app. For example, the app welcomed actors from all over the world to join its horror movie industry after they left the app. As long as the points were delivered in accordance with the contract, the app would provide scripts, ghosts and even guidance for horror scenes.

In the app, the actors encountered fierce ghosts while the ghosts rented by the app to its franchises were all ordinary ghosts. In peacetime, the ghosts who watched the horror movies were similar to ordinary people. Their fighting power was like ordinary people and even their thinking was the same. Of course, ghosts changed after death. As long as Xie Chi bought items for them, they could disguise themselves in the human world and change back into ghosts whenever needed.

There were fierce ghosts and ordinary ghosts in the app. There were also people who could change into ghosts or who couldn’t change into ghosts. After death, people would normally become ghosts. In other words, they entered another dimension and were under the control of the laws of that world. The human audience would become the ghost audience.

Meanwhile, actors who voluntarily entered the app couldn’t become ghosts after dying in horror movies. They completely lost the possibility of continuing their lives. This was the price they paid for their wishes.

The actors who died in the movies were really gone. There was nothing left. The only manner of resurrecting was to make a wish with the app. This was also known to Xie Chi later.

Ghost Xie Chi and ghost Xinglan were equivalent to living in a small world independently created by the app for the horror movie ‘Hospital’.

At around the same time as him, ghost Xie Chi also entered the app. He developed the horror movie industry in the world he lived in. It couldn’t be ruled out that there were actors from other worlds doing the same as them. The app welcomed agents from every world.

***

Ghost Xie Chi asked about the follow-up to Shen Yi’s matter and then went to play with ghost Xinglan. Once they came back, they found Xie Chi and Xie Xinglan upstairs and playing the Liar’s Dice game with dice covered by a cup.

Ghost Xie Chi could also play this. Xie Chi had to socialize in the past and he was more or less familiar with these scenes. He walked over and paused when he heard Xie Chi say, “Seven sixes.”

Seven sixes?

In the game Liar’s Dice, there were generally five dice per person. One rolled the dice, noticed how many numbers were on their side and added them. For example, there were three sixes at the beginning. The player could add to the number and say they actually had four sixes. If one of the players felt the player’s actual dice wasn’t as big as reported, they could say ‘liar’ and make the player reveal it. After revealing the dice, the number on the dice of the two people were added. If the number that the player called out was correct, the person who called them a liar would lose. If the player was caught lying, they would be the one who lost.

The loser would be punished by drinking.

Xie Chi reported seven sixes. There were five dice per person and he had at most five sixes. If he had five sixes, the leopard (when all dice showed the same number) would count as a ‘sixth’ six. If Xie Xinglan’s side had at least one six, Xie Chi wasn’t lying and wouldn’t need to be punished.

Xie Xinglan might have a lot of sixes on his side so he didn’t make Xie Chi reveal it. Ghost Xie Chi and ghost Xinglan sat down to watch. Xie Xinglan continued by saying, “Eight sixes.”

Xie Chi called out, “Open it!”

He uncovered Xie Xinglan’s dice and the ghost Xie Chi was surprised to find there were no sixes in it. Xie Chi reported seven sixes and he had six at most. Xie Xinglan didn’t even have one. As long as he said to reveal it, he would win and let Xie Chi receive the punishment.

Ghost Xie Chi was surprised before realizing. Xie Xinglan didn’t want Xie Chi to be punished by drinking.

He glanced at the wine glasses on Xie Xinglan’s side and Xie Chi’s side. Xie Chi had only drunk a small half glass of fruit wine while Xie Xinglan had drunk four or five glasses. He thought that Xie Chi was truly great. Xie Xinglan would have to be taken back by Xie Chi if he got drunk. Wasn’t it better for Xie Chi to be drunk and taken back by Xie Xinglan?

Ghost Xie Chi smiled and tapped on the table. “Xie Chi, I will play with you.”

Xie Chi was startled. He scanned ghost Xie Chi and suddenly came up with a wonderful idea. He smiled and replied, “Okay.”

Ghost Xie Chi sat down opposite Xie Chi.

Xie Chi said, “Two ones.”

Ghost Xie Chi was next. “Three ones.”

……

Xie Chi said, “Six ones.”

Ghost Xie Chi told him, “Open. I don’t have any ones.”

“Sorry, I have a leopard. Five ones counts as six. Drink.”

Ghost Xie Chi drank.

……

Ghost Xie Chi said, “Three twos.”

“Three threes.”

“Open.”

Xie Chi’s expression slightly changed. “You will open it at three threes?”

Ghost Xie Chi wondered, “Aren’t you going to drink? Do you think I am your boyfriend who spoils you?”

“……” Xie Chi drank.

Xie Xinglan coughed.

……

Time passed quickly.

Ghost Xie Xinglan and Xie Xinglan were left hanging to one side and could only watch the tit-for-tat game taking place over there. They went to one side to whisper together. “What should we do?”

Looking at this situation, it would go on forever if they didn’t get drunk. They had already drunk a few cups. It might be fruit wine with a weak amount of alcohol but they would definitely be drunk after drinking too much.

Ghost Xinglan suggested, “I’ll go persuade ghost Chi to pretend to be drunk and admit defeat.”

Xie Xinglan glanced over to that side. “…Do you think it is possible?”

Ghost Xinglan, “……”

Yes, when did Xie Chi ever admit defeat?

“Don’t look at me. It is impossible for Xiao Chi to admit defeat,” Xie Xinglan spoke lightly.

“What should we do?”

Xie Xinglan replied, “I don’t know.” He paused before adding, “I also can’t beat him so I can’t drag him away.”

“……” Ghost Xinglan patted him on the shoulder.

***

In the middle, the two of them went to the bathroom. Ghost Xinglan was called away by Xie Chi but ghost Xie Chi wasn’t angry. Instead, he called away Xie Xinglan. Xie Chi told ghost Xinglan with an intriguing smile, “I will give you a drunk ghost Xie Chi later.”

Ghost Xie Chi told Xie Xinglan with an intriguing smile, “Just wait, I will give you a drunk Xie Chi later.”

Ghost Xinglan, “……”

Xie Xinglan, “……”

***

At 4 o’clock in the morning, ghost Xinglan and Xie Xinglan each led a drunk ghost Xie Chi and drunk Xie Chi from the nightclub, looking at each other in a helpless manner. Xie Xinglan pointed in the direction of the garage. “I’m going. Next time, let’s not go to a place with competitive games. They are obviously both weak.”

Ghost Xinglan replied, “I know.”

“Come to our house for dinner.”

“Definitely.”

***

Xie Xinglan half-hugged Xie Chi to the garage. He was worried that Xie Chi would catch a cold so he zipped up and buttoned up the clothes. Xie Chi wasn’t very obedient and moved around. Xie Xinglan could only hold onto his two restless hands with eyes full of helplessness.

“Don’t make any noise and be obedient,” he whispered.

This was the busiest neighborhood in the city center. It was 4 o’clock in the morning but there were still many people on the main road. They were basically getting off the night shift or had just come out of an entertainment venue. They looked at the two with a bit of teasing in their eyes.

Xie Xinglan got Xie Chi dressed and led him to the garage, asking in a low voice, “Three year old Chi, are you drunk?”

It seemed that an unusually sensitive nerve had been pricked. Xie Chi immediately replied, “No!”

Xie Xinglan smiled. “You are lying.”

“I’m not lying!”

It seemed this wouldn’t work and Xie Xinglan changed his method. “Three year old Chi, do you have a headache?”

“Yes… it hurts.”

“Do you want to sleep?”

“Somewhat.”

“Are you drunk or not?”

“Not drunk!”

Xie Xinglan laughed. This person was still so clever when drunk. He could find this sentence among so many words and reply with ‘not drunk.’ Xie Xinglan pulled him over and rubbed his red and hot face. “Let’s go home. Aren’t you ashamed to be seen like this? You are an adult.”

“I’m not ashamed.”

Xie Xinglan smiled angrily. He straightened his body and was about to close the car door, only to be pulled down by the tie by Xie Chi. Xie Xinglan had no choice but to lower himself. A faint kiss that smelled like wine dropped softly on his lips like snow.

“You are used to it,” Xie Chi said while feeling too sleepy to open his eyes.

The driver pretended not to listen. He shrank back and deliberately reduced his sense of existence.

Xie Xinglan’s heart softened and he said softly, “Let’s go home.”

---

Rainbow Turtle: And that’s the end! Xie Chi is probably one of the smartest MCs I have ever translated and some parts were hard to translate, but it was fun!

Xie Chi and Xie Xinglan’s love has lasted two lifetimes and will continue for longer, but for now, we have to say farewell to them! Hope you all enjoy it and join me with my other novels translated on CG! Just click on my translator name at the bottom of the chapter and you can see the list of all the novels I’ve translated or am currently translating on CG!

Proofreader: Purichan