After Defying the System, I Became a Genius Director

10:30 AM, at a cinema in A City.

“What? ‘Path to Immortal Ascension’ started half an hour ago? The next showing isn’t for another hour and a half?” Liu Xun asked incredulously at the ticket counter.

He had come with his girlfriend today to watch this xianxia film “Path to Immortal Ascension.” Although he wasn’t particularly interested in the plot, his girlfriend was a casual fan of the male lead, so when she heard the film was being released today, she’d convinced him to come along.

The plan had been perfect: he would pick up his girlfriend, arrive at the cinema by 10 AM to watch the two-hour film, have a couple’s meal for lunch, then accompany her shopping at the commercial district in the afternoon. But they’d hit traffic, and despite hurrying, they still arrived half an hour late. The 10 AM showing was definitely a miss, and if they still wanted to see “Path to Immortal Ascension,” they’d have to wait an hour and a half.

“Maybe we should skip it…” Liu Xun suggested cautiously, watching his girlfriend’s expression.

“How can we not watch it!” his girlfriend firmly disagreed. “This is Fu Lianghui’s first film. After being a casual fan for so long, of course I need to support him!”

Liu Xun actually had no idea who Fu Lianghui was, but seeing his girlfriend so insistent, he couldn’t refuse.

That meant they’d have to wait for the noon showing an hour and a half later.

But what would they do with this sudden hour and a half? Go eat now? It seemed far too early…

While Liu Xun was torn, the ticket counter attendant noticed his dilemma and suggested: “Sir, would you like to buy tickets for another film that’s starting now to pass the time? It’s shorter. For example, this horror film is also premiering today and starts in three minutes. It’s only one hour and twenty minutes long, so after it ends, you can still catch ‘Path to Immortal Ascension.'”

Liu Xun was intrigued by the attendant’s suggestion. Mainly because when he heard “horror film,” he immediately recalled a couples’ strategy article he’d read that mentioned how horror films could effectively reduce the distance between couples. He and his girlfriend had only been dating for two weeks and had rarely even held hands. If this film could bring them a little closer, that would be great.

With this thought, he asked his girlfriend: “Why don’t we watch this horror film first to kill some time? Don’t worry, if you’re scared, I can cover your ears!”

His girlfriend seemed hesitant, but her eyes lit up when she saw the film’s poster.

The poster showed a young man in a plaid shirt and jeans, wearing black-framed glasses, standing at the entrance of a house, looking somewhat terrified. The name of the film beneath the image was “The Last Wish.”

His girlfriend leaned closer to the poster for a better look. She hadn’t seen clearly earlier due to the dark color scheme, but now she noticed—the male lead was quite handsome! Although the horror film’s title made little sense, just for the male lead’s looks, she thought the film might be worth watching!

So she nodded with feigned nonchalance: “Let’s go see it then.”

And so, Liu Xun, carrying two cups of soda and a bucket of popcorn, entered the screening room with his girlfriend for the horror film they were using to pass time. The room wasn’t crowded, with fewer than ten people by his estimate, probably all like them—just there to kill time.

Looks like another bad film, Liu Xun thought. Oh well, the date is more important than the film quality.

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Shortly after they took their seats, the film began.

The opening was unremarkable—the male protagonist returning home from work to find his girlfriend waiting for him. Liu Xun watched without much thought, but beside him, his girlfriend was puzzled.

Why doesn’t the male lead look as handsome as he did on the poster?

But looking more carefully, she confirmed that the poster wasn’t overly photoshopped—this ordinary-looking office worker in the film was indeed the handsome guy from the poster, with no difference in appearance.

Yet why, when placed in the film, did he seem so unremarkable, truly like an ordinary office worker?

Unable to figure it out, his girlfriend pouted in disappointment, shifted closer to her boyfriend, and continued watching.

Liu Xun, of course, had no idea about his girlfriend’s thoughts and had no opinion on the male lead’s appearance. In fact, he thought the male lead should look ordinary—otherwise it would break immersion.

But he was puzzled about something else—why was the camera shaking a bit?

Though it wasn’t extreme, he wasn’t sure if the director intended to create this shaky camera atmosphere or if it was purely a technical error. He didn’t dare discuss it with his girlfriend; after all, he hadn’t been much of a film buff before dating, and what if this was the latest film trend? He’d appear ignorant. Trying to appear composed, he also shifted closer to his girlfriend, changed his posture, and continued watching.

The film’s beginning seemed very peaceful, so peaceful it hardly resembled the start of a horror film. The male protagonist returned from work, chatted with his girlfriend, handed her takeout to heat up, sat on the sofa to rest briefly, and opened his phone to browse the latest news.

But while the male lead relaxed, the audience remained tense—they all knew this was a horror film!

Sure enough, after a news notification popped up on his phone, the plot took a sharp turn! The male lead opened the notification to discover it was about a bus accident that had occurred that day, with a photo of his girlfriend lying covered in blood at the accident scene prominently displayed in the notification!

And just as the male lead grabbed his phone to investigate further, his girlfriend suddenly appeared behind him!

The audience in the theater sat up straight, their attention immediately captured.

Here it comes! The horrifying part was about to officially begin!

However, to everyone’s surprise, the horror element appeared only briefly. The plot that followed was like a car without navigation, speeding along a diverging path…

Author’s Note: Another chapter tonight!

I generally won’t add extra chapters before entering the paid subscription model, since I write and think slowly. This time, I accidentally wrote a bit too much for one chapter, so I split it into two~