To Be a Heartthrob in a Horror Movie

Chapter 17: Discussion

Su Min logged into New Century Cinema’s official website.

Displayed on the front page was some news, public service activities, and a bit of information on the effects of holographic viewing technology.

Passing over those, Su Min went to the ‘Movies’ category. He saw the latest movies, which were arranged according to the time of their release.

There were two columns in the ‘Up-coming Release’ section. One was dedicated to normal movie releases, while the other was dedicated to the re-release of movies.

The first movie to be re-released was “University Thriller”. The list of starring actors was the same, but this time, there was an ‘Audience Participation’ section next to it. On top of that section was his name.

To the right side of the movie cover was a simple synopsis.

The release time was two days from now, a Saturday. It was the day students and office workers would be off school and work.

Su Min felt somewhat irritated.

The new movie poster showed the figure of him, Lin Yiri and Lin Xiao Yan on the seventh floor. They were outside the door, peering at the corridor inside.

Su Min submitted his address to New Century Cinema.

After an evening of self-studying, another message was sent to his phone. It explained how he could use his ID to get a new movie ticket at the counter.

He went online to see the reaction to the re-release of “Horror University”.

Due to New Century Cinema’s promotion and marketing, the online discussion on this topic was not low.

“The first viewer to experience a horror movie successfully lived until the big conclusion and reversed the plot”–this gimmick was quite attractive.

Compared to the romance movies that blew up, nobody was interested in horror movies because of the hidden dangers it contained.

Now, not only had someone experienced it, but he also did it successfully.

With this kind of publicity, many people were paying attention to the re-release of “University Thriller”, resulting in the movie’s hit in the box office these past two days.

After all, it was better to watch the original first, and then see the re-release that was definitely superior.

Some people asked who “Su Min” was, but because there were many people with the same name, no one suspected that it was him.

At this, Su Min was relieved.

On Saturday night, Su Min went to the cinema.

Because it was the weekend and because of the cinema’s promotion, there were more people here than there were five days ago. Many of them were buying tickets to the horror movie.

Li Wenxin couldn’t help but say, “It’s over, you’re going to be famous.”

Wang Di imitated his tone, “Su Min, after this, you will become a man recorded in movie history.”

Su Min, “...”

Who the hell is ‘a man recorded in movie history’?

The cinema sent Su Min three movie tickets, so he gave Li Wenxin and Wang Di both a ticket.

Su Min actually wanted to go alone, but he knew that they would’ve still gone even if he didn’t invite them. Since he couldn’t stop them, they might as well all go together.

The new movie poster only showed the back of three people and didn’t reveal Su Min’s face, so nobody recognized him when he walked in.

Just in case, Su Min wore a mask.

After all, when the movie finished broadcasting, people could see who was who.

The cinema’s promotion was effective. There were still three minutes left before the movie would began, but 80% of the seats had already been filled.

To Su Min’s right was a pair of lovers.

Three minutes later, the theater darkened and the movie’s opening titles began to broadcast. Moments after, a dark bathroom appeared on screen; the first scene was Please, Jing Xian.

Su Min immediately prepared his spirit.

A schoolboy spoke with deep disdain, “Coming here in the beginning, needless to say, he would definitely die in less than a minute.”

Su Min glanced at him.

‘Die in less than a minute’? After a minute, your face will burn.

In the next scene, the apple peel in Su Min’s hand was torn off. From the audience’s perspective, they could see a vague, black shadow taking form in the mirror.

Even now, Su Min couldn’t see the other’s appearance.

The person next to him said, “He actually managed to live... But what was that expression when he went out of the bathroom1?”

A person replied, “Maybe he was scared?”

“When you’re scared, you can also look like a hero who had just made a huge sacrifice?”

Su Min expressionlessly accepted his roommates’ stares–he would rather get beaten to death than say what happened.

Naeda Translations. Don’t re-upload.

The next few scenes followed the normal development, and Liu Lili died once again.

When the screen showed Lin Xiao Yan getting dragged after she went in the bathroom, there were small exclamations in the theater.

Soon after, Lin Yiri and Su Min, who was still wearing the nightgown, entered the camera’s eye.

Of the couple beside him, the girl said, “This boy looks really good in a skirt. Big men in women’s clothing don’t look bad.”

In the shot, Su Min had just entered the bathroom.

Liu Lili’s corpse suddenly turned in an exaggerated manner and smiled at him. The sight of it made the audience laughed.

Immediately afterwards, the audience saw Su Min’s shoulder strap move up on its own, the fabric on his chest also lifting up.

“Did you see that?”

“I saw.”

“Hold on, look at the mirror. The shadow in it is the same one that came out in the Please, Jing Xian scene.”

“Why do I suddenly not want to see him go?”

“What you said makes sense, I also feel the same way.”

Li Wenxin overheard the whispers and asked, “Su Min, do you want to explain this? Is there a ghost?”

Su Min, “...Watch the movie yourself.”

He had just finished with his roommate when the boy next to him said to his girlfriend, “Look, he’s standing there completely still. Do you think something is happening that can’t be said out loud?”

Su Min wanted to give him a beating.

Fortunately, the camera turned quickly. The heroine always had the most scenes, so the next to show up on screen was Lin Xiao Yan.

Including the panic in the elevator and Zhang Yuan’s disappearance, the scene of them playing Kuai Xian was in Lin Xiao Yan’s point-of-view.

Su Min also found out that Kuai Xian was the same Su Ya who fell from the building.

Later, the three people were at the office building looking for Zhang Yuan.

The shadow under Su Min’s feet formed a heart.

Seeing that, the audience was shocked.

Was this Su Min the ghosts’ heartthrob or something? Before, a dead body smiled at him, and now, a shadow beneath him twisted into a heart.

Scenes flashed by, and they were now standing in the restroom.

This shot was filmed from two angles; one was of the people inside the toilet cubicle, while the other was of the ghost standing outside it.

Su Min breathed a sigh of relief. This time, the camera was on Lin Xiao Yan.

In the theater, except for the sound of people eating popcorn, only sharp inhales could be heard.

Time passed, and Su Min saw the three of them on the sixth floor, trapped by a ghost’s trick.

Then, Jing Xian appeared.

Like before, the lens couldn’t pick up his figure.

However, everybody knew that there was a ghost in front of Su Min. In the scene, his hand was extended, but it was clear that he wasn’t fumbling around.

He was being led.

Behind him, Su Min could hear two boys discussing, “Is he being led by a ghost? This ghost always shows up at the perfect moment.”

“I still need to eat dog food even when watching a movie.”

“Finally, we get to see some decent emotional scenes in a horror movie. I must give this Su Min a positive evaluation when we go out. Five stars.”

Su Min wanted nothing more than to cover his face right now.

After the staircase scene was over, the movie transitioned to the storyline set during the day, so he took out his phone and refreshed Weibo.

The hottest post on Weibo was crowded with exclamation marks.

【If you are a single dog, heed my advice and do NOT go see the re-release of “University Thriller”. The director is a big pig; this isn’t a horror movie–it’s a romance movie! Say it with me now: Ro-mance mo-vie. I just wanted to watch some excitement, but why is there a ghost-love plot in a horror movie? Haven’t the director made enough romantic films?!】

Su Min strolled down to read the comments.

“Hahaha, I also watched it with my girlfriend and didn’t expect it to be this kind of horror movie. I want to kidnap her later to experience a horror movie with me.”

“You don’t understand the happiness of eating sugar from this horror movie!”

“You don’t understand the joy of watching an idol drama play in this horror movie!”

“You don’t understand...”

Su Min looked at their excitement and promptly closed Weibo.

When the dormitory scenes appeared, there was a large amount of unbelieving gasps from the audience.

Su Min already gave up looking at the screen.

When he was inside, he didn’t feel like there was anything wrong. Why was it that when he was watching it now, it became like this?

Especially the scene in the old dormitory.

The shot didn’t have Su Min in the center, but his actions in the corner was very clear.

Su Min’s ears were hot. Listening to the strange discussions around him, the shame inside was at its bursting point.

This shameful feeling persisted until the finale.

After they escaped the seventh floor, the shot ended with Su Min sitting on the staircase and looking to the side as if talking to somebody.

Of course, the audience was already well aware of who he was talking to.

When the movie ended, the lights turned back on.

Calming down, Su Min stood up from his seat and left with his roommates.

The audience members left in succession. As they were walking out, they discussed the plot, and Su Min, who was listening to their conversations, felt his ears heat up again.

Contrary to expectations, Li Wenxin and Wang Di didn’t ask him anything.

No, they were too busy obsessively taking screenshots of online comments for Su Min to see.

At this moment, a new wave of viewers who had just watched the new “University Thriller” began flooding Weibo.

“If you say ‘good horror movie’, the director will misunderstand! ‘Good horror movies’ frighten people. I came to see scary ghosts, not lovesick ones!”

“The director looks down on us single audience members!”

Of course, there were still viewers who took this movie seriously.

“A feel-good movie. The plot has emotion, which I like. Five stars. Next time, I hope to see a movie as good as this one.”

However, there were only a few comments like this. The rest were accusations and all kinds of thoughtless speculations.

“A kiss to show respect.”

“This horror movie is so good, it makes me believe in love again.”

“Do you know how rare it is to feel attached to a ghost? I didn’t see what Jing Xian looked like, but I’m already this emotional!”

“I’m prepared to write a long film review. The name is already decided, it’s called: The Overbearing Ghost’s Pampered Wife. Welcoming everyone to see it, hahahaha.”

“I declare Jing Xian and Su Mi locked forever. The key has been thrown away in Liu Lili’s mouth, no one can open it!”