IWBL: Chapter 197
Compared with a TV, the screen of the movie theatre could enlarge the faces of the actors to the maximum extent. This was why the faces of many actors in reality, must be very small to look just right on the lens. Due to this, the audience in the movie theatre could clearly see the facial expressions of the people on the screen.
Originally, it was twisted in indulgent evil and looked like it would come out of the screen at the very next moment. Now it was twisted with a bit of doubt as if it could be transformed into an emoticon package…
Wen Wenwen even thought of a sentence, ‘His small eyes were full of question marks.’
Click.
It was the sound of a phone’s camera. Wen Wenwen immediately turned his head to see Wang Huai holding his phone to take a photo of the screen. Then Wang Huai smiled at his phone.
Soon, the figure on the screen adjusted itself. The wound on his face increased. Blood covered his expression and his face was stained with blood.
“Everyone, do you… smell something?” Xu Jiaheng’s sense of smell was the sharpest because his eyes were closed. He sniffed and continued, “It seems like rust.”
Wang Huai sat languidly and corrected this statement. “It isn’t rust. It is the smell of blood.”
No one was more sensitive to this smell than the reincarnators. Soon, they didn’t need Xu Jiaheng’s reminder. Everyone could smell the strong scent of blood that was spreading through the entire movie theatre. Thinking about it carefully, the bloody smell started to spread once the wounds on the figure in the screen increased. The closer they were to the front row, the stronger the smell.
“I-I-It won’t come out of the screen, right?” Xu Jiaheng got up from his seat and ran out. Halfway there, he turned around and asked Wen Wenwen, “Aren’t you running?”
Wen Wenwen watched the screen in front of him. He could jump up at any time, jump over the seat in front of him and rush to the door immediately. However, he didn’t move. He just questioned Wang Huai, “Should we go?”
Wang Huai replied, “Ask the one in front. Sherlock, should we go?”
Sherlock? This was completely inconsistent with Wang Huai’s usual personality. People like him were usually very proud of themselves and trusted only their own judgment. How could… Surprise flashed in Wen Wenwen’s eyes but he didn’t express it. He just watched Xiao Li as well.
After confirming that the other person had seen his movie review, Xiao Li put away the little yellow book and stood in the front row facing the big screen. The bloody smell was directed straight at him and there was even a fishy wind blowing into his eyes from behind the screen. The figure on the screen could grab him the moment ‘he’ lowered his head.
Yet no matter how threatening, he never came out. Not one leg or strand of hair emerged from the screen. Perhaps it couldn’t come out because they didn’t break the rule? According to Xu Jiaheng, it was only when a person left the theatre in the middle of the movie that they would encounter bad luck…
Due to this, none of the other reincarnators lost their minds and ran away despite facing a great enemy.
Xiao Li heard Wang Huai’s question and lowered his head silently. Wang Huai saw that he was like this and turned to look at Wen Wenwen. “Don’t go.”
Wen Wenwen, “……”
Finally, Kesia spoke from the back row. “It is continuing to scare us but it can’t come out of the movie screen and hurt us. If we sit here and watch the whole movie then it won’t be considered a violation of the rules?”
“It depends on the concept of watching the whole movie.” Wen Wenwen grabbed a few pieces of popcorn while Xiao Li was away. “For example, is this still the movie? The movie we are watching is different from the one seen by Xu Jiaheng and the others. If this is the movie and it continues, will we stay here forever?”
Xiao Li left the front row and returned to his seat. “It is more likely that there will be other situations.”
It was just like that time in the silent instance. If the reincarnators didn’t break the taboo, there would be various situations forcing them to break it.
Assuming that Xiao Li didn’t tell them to go to the movie theatre, the instance rules wouldn’t allow them to stay away. It would make them have to enter the movie theatre to watch the movie through other means.
Wen Wenwen also thought of this and frowned. “What will happen suddenly?”
Xiao Li thought about it. “Perhaps a meteorite falling from the sky or something?”
Wen Wenwen was stunned. “…Why not say something like getting this movie theatre collapse and burying us alive?”
Xiao Li spoke absent-mindedly. “Spoiler warning.”
As he spoke to Wen Wenwen, he saw Wang Huai’s expression suddenly change. He followed this person’s gaze and saw—
At the entrance of the exit, a young man in a staff uniform wearing glasses was pushing a trash can. It looked like he was here to collect trash. However, this wasn’t the point. The point was that inside the trash can, there was a faint fire and smoke rising.
The staff member was looking down and picking up the movie tickets that had fallen at the door. He threw the movie tickets into the trash can without looking and the fire was becoming bigger.
“It’s on fire!” The staff member’s expression changed drastically. He picked up the broom on the side of the trash can and started to hit it, trying to put out the fire. However, it lit up the broom as well so he quickly threw the broom away.
“Go quickly! Get out while I grab the fire extinguisher!” He pushed the trash can away, shouted at the reincarnators and ran away.
Wen Wenwen was the closest to the trash can. He immediately shot from his chair and reached for the trash can at a speed close to a 100 metres race. Xiao Li looked around and didn’t find a fire extinguisher in the movie theatre.
Coincidentally, the passage from the exit to the screening hall was a slope, not a flat ground. The trash can automatically slid forward before Wen Wenwen could reach it and was directly dumped by gravity onto the front seats.
The fire suddenly intensified and smoke rose slowly, overwhelming the bloody smell. The figure on the screen stopped moving. The camera zoomed in to his mouth. There was no voice as he moved his mouth.
[I’m… peeping at you.]
Saying such a thing at this time was an obvious provocation.
Xiao Li lowered his head and wrote on the little yellow book: [Rotten movie.]
Then he turned the little yellow book around and showed it to the figure.
The figure, “……”
Couldn’t this person let go of this?
Wen Wenwen controlled himself in time and didn’t touch the fire. He pressed a hand to his throat and asked the people behind him, “This… is it necessary to go?”
According to common sense, the screening hall would be equipped with a fire extinguisher but this wasn’t a movie theatre in reality. The most bizarre thing was that there was something in the corner of the movie screen. A bucket of black liquid with a mop beside it became the best fuel for the fire. The fire was getting bigger and the staff member who said he was going to grab the fire extinguisher was nowhere to be seen. There was no sound.
Bruce cursed. “What the hell is this? Are we on a set where death is coming?”
This was forcing them to make a decision quickly. The fire was at the door and once it became a bit bigger, they would be burned alive in the theatre!
“No, I don’t want to die! No!” Xu Jiaheng shouted. Under the threat of the fire, he no longer cared about the people who said they would help him. He directly ran away from the fire source and fled outside.
The light of the fire shone on his back.
Wen Wenwen repeated again. “Should we go?”
He asked this but his feet were already moving.
Breaking the rule seemed inevitable in this dungeon. Even if the flames were extinguished using a certain item, there would be other methods before the end of the movie to force them to leave, such as equipment failure. What they had to do now was find the so-called survival path in the dungeon after breaking the rule. This way, they wouldn’t be killed by the ghost.
“Go.”
Xiao Li picked up the little yellow book. He didn’t forget his popcorn bucket and walked out with Wen Wenwen before the flames blocked the way completely. The rest of the reincarnators didn’t hesitate to follow. Once they all left the screening hall, the big screen turned dark. It was unknown if the movie was over or…
The figure came out.
The flames were still burning. They engulfed the front seats, swept over the entire hall and finally burned the screen to ashes. The staff member never came. Once the reincarnators left the screening hall, there was silence. They had broken the rules after Xu Jiaheng and bad luck would follow them.
“This is a certain thing.” Wen Wenwen took the initiative to break the silence after a long time. “It seems the instance rules won’t let us be safe. It must be like this after we discovered Xu Jiaheng.”
“I have experienced this type of instance before. Death is coming and will do everything possible to make you violate the taboo.” He Tian shrugged. “It’s okay.”
Thanks to their words, the stiff atmosphere eased a bit. Soon, the reincarnators found the next problem. They walked out of the screening room and headed toward the exit. However, they never reached an end and they didn’t encounter any staff. It was quiet all around them. It looked exactly the same as when they came in but it was different.
They went around the counter in front and a brand new path appeared. It was a straight passage with no light at all. It was dark everywhere, gloomy and damp. The inexplicable atmosphere made people feel a bit cold. This definitely wasn’t the way out of the movie theatre.
“What should we do?” Wen Wenwen wondered. “Go around?”
There was no objection. They circumvented this passage and tried to get to the entrance of the movie theatre from another direction. However, once they turned around, they found it was the same path. Not only that. There was another sound coming from inside.
It was a strange rubbing sound that was getting closer to the reincarnators, but they couldn’t see the source of the sound.
The author has something to say:
Person in the movie: [I’m… peeping at you.]
Xiao Li: Rotten movie.
Person in the movie: [You will all die here.]
Xiao Li: Rotten movie.
Person in the movie: [You broke the rule.]
Xiao Li: Rotten—
Person in the movie: [Can you stop repeating it? Are you a repeating machine?]
Proofreader: Tofuf