Chapter 37

3 [Constellation Secretive Plotter is curious about your trick.] [A constellation who is fond of monopolies has donated 200 coins.] The winners were decided in no time. Gilyeong looked a bit excited, Huiwon appeared to be pleased, and Jihye was slumped on the floor looking devastated. “…This doesn’t make sense!” Unfortunately, I couldn’t read Gilyeong’s thoughts, so two ampoules went to him. “You don’t have to give me these…” “Take them,” I said, patting his head. I also gave Huiwon two stamina ampoules. She took them with a smile. “Thank you. I’ve been having a hard time because my stamina was low.” Jihye was the only one who didn’t win any. “How could you win eighteen out of twenty? You cheated, didn’t you?” “I’m just that good at rock-paper-scissors.” “Did you use ‘Mind Reading’ or something? Lemme just have one. Pleeease…” “Ask Junghyeok to give you one.” I emphatically opened an ampoule, staring right back at Jihye’s tearful, pleading eyes. Huiwon patted her on the shoulder. She looked at Jihye’s shiny sword, then back at me. “Uh, Dokja.” “Yes.” Huiwon scratched her head and hesitated before opening her ampoule. “Thank you for this.” Taka, taka, taka, taka. The sound of a helicopter. Gilyeong watched as the dinosaur island got farther away. “Dokja, can I take this guy to the next floor by any chance?” The giant mantis that had communicated with Gilyeong earlier was sitting on his lap. They seemed to have gotten closer. The mantis was rubbing its antennae on Gilyeong’s chin. “Sorry, but you can’t.” Disappointed, Gilyeong held up the mantis as if he was trying not to get too attached. “…Bye, Titano.” He had even given it a name. Unfortunately, monsters created for a movie couldn’t leave it. You could only take items with you. For example, the stat ampoules or the one I was holding. [Tyrant T. rex’s DNA Ampoule] This little golden ampoule was the reason why I’d chosen this movie. It increased all stats by ten for thirty minutes. The catch was that it could only be used in the Cinema Dungeon, but without it, you couldn’t beat the final floor. Especially if Junghyeok Yu is in the state I think he’s in. Gilyeong released the mantis, and it flew off into the night sky as the scenery began to unravel. [You have reached the first end credits.] [Cast: Dokja Kim, Huiwon Jeong, Jihye Lee, Gilyeong Lee] [You have each received 500 coins for your performance.] I was a bit dizzy when I came to and found that we had returned to the first floor. The poster of the movie we had just escaped from was torn on the wall, an indication that we had safely cleared it. Jihye was already grumbling. “How many more floors are there?” “Junghyeok probably cleared a few already, so it won’t be that bad.” We went directly to the second floor by escalator. With the number of theaters located on the second floor, there wasn’t much room for other stuff up there. “No change, huh?” asked Huiwon. We had been waiting a while, but nothing was happening on the second floor. No camera. No movie started, either. When I took a closer look, I saw that the posters on this floor were all ripped. Jihye had a revelation. “So just the movies with undamaged posters will screen?” I checked the ripped posters one by one. Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim… Wasn’t that the movie with the giant fighting robots? What a shame. If the poster wasn’t damaged, I could’ve received “Reinforced Armor” as a clear reward. Christopher Nolan’s Inception… Well, I’m glad this one’s already ripped. “Wow, I wanted to see this movie.” I looked at the poster Jihye was pointing to. “Do you like superhero movies?” “Yeah.” “Then you should be glad. If the poster was intact, you would’ve ended up hating superhero movies.” “I guess you’re right.” The torn poster showed a green monster roaring at us. We continued on to the third floor. “It’s all cleared here, too.” As I’d expected, all the posters on the third floor were ripped. There were some particularly dangerous movies on this floor, so I was glad. James Wong’s Final Destination… How the hell did Junghyeok clear that one? “We’ll get up there faster than we thought.” Huiwon sounded excited, but I was getting more and more anxious as we went up. We needed some degree of luck to clear the Cinema Dungeon because not every movie here was mentioned in TWSA. That was because even Junghyeok couldn’t clear some of them. I heard a system message as we arrived on the fourth floor. [You have entered the fourth floor.] A spotlight engulfed us before we could look at any more posters. Huiwon put her hands together as if she was praying. “Please, don’t be anything with ghosts…” That wasn’t like Huiwon, so I glanced at her. “A ghost won’t die even if I stab it with a sword,” she reasoned. [The screening has begun.] There was a strange sensation of being transported to a faraway place, and our surroundings shifted. When we opened our eyes again, we found ourselves facing the ocean breeze on the stern of a ship. “This is…?” The smell of salt water and a wide open horizon filled my senses. Since work became my everyday life, I hadn’t seen the ocean in several years, or traveled anywhere, for that matter. “What movie would this be?” I looked to my side and saw Huiwon, who was wearing a long, flowing dress. From within the luxurious cruise liner, I could hear an orchestra and the chatter of excited passengers. It made for an extremely romantic atmosphere. I found it hard to believe this was a recreation of a movie… Ah, I think I know what this movie is. It was at that moment that I heard Jihye’s voice. “Ugh, I don’t feel so good…” I looked back to see Jihye throwing up into the air. Huiwon went to pat her back. Jihye gagged and looked like she was about to cry. “Sorry, I get seasick.” “It’s okay. Let it all out.” …I’ve been wondering about it for a while, but how the heck did this girl get chosen by Chungmugong? I mean I know why because I read the novel, but still… “Anyway, Huiwon…is this movie what I think it is? The one where the ship sinks?” Jihye asked. “Looks like it.” “And I guess you’re the female lead?” Jihye stared at Huiwon’s dress with envy. Then she yelled toward me. “Does that mean Dokja is your—Barrrrf!” It annoyed me that she had to puke specifically at that timing. Just then, Gilyeong appeared from behind us. “Dokja!” The boy was dressed in shabby clothes. I felt like I’d seen this outfit somewhere… Anyway, everyone was here. “We don’t have much time, so let’s think of how we should end this movie.” This ship would soon sink. But, unfortunately, there was no mention of how to clear this movie in TWSA. How could we make a satisfying ending on a sinking ship? Did we need to fight the ocean or something? Jihye was the first to speak up. “If the ship’s gonna sink anyway, how about we sink it first?” “That’s a bit…” This was hard. If this movie were about killing enemies and blowing things up, we could’ve created a cathartic ending. “Let’s try defeating the bad guy,” Gilyeong suggested. I wasn’t sure if there was a definitive “bad guy” in this movie, but I decided to go with it, since there was no better choice. “Let’s get rid of the villainous characters first.” We began to move. But how are we going to find the villain anyway? The last time I watched this move was…… Thankfully, I didn’t need to worry about it because a villain came to us. Right. It was then that I remembered there was a character who bullied male lead. A man in a tuxedo with slicked-back hair was glaring at us. “Hey, you!” He wasn’t pointing at me. “…Me?” …Oh, it’s you? I sighed as I looked at Gilyeong. Soon, we kidnapped and confined the man we suspected to be a villain. But the Cinema Master didn’t react. I guess kidnapping wasn’t good enough… I hesitated a bit before I spoke. “Then let’s try—” “Let’s kill him.” Jihye beat me to it and pulled out her sword. Our tied-up prisoner began to flail in terror. “Didn’t you say the Cinema Master likes it quick and simple? So we should just finish him off, right?” To be honest, that was what I thought, too. No, I wasn’t just thinking it; I was almost positive that was the solution. After all, that had turned out to be the correct ending for a similar movie TWSA. But then, Huiwon, who had been staring at the terrified man, said something unexpected. “Still…he looks just like a real person.” “What?” “I know we’re in a movie but he seems too real.” It sounded weird coming from someone who had cut down evildoers without hesitation just a few days ago. Then again, she did also say that just because she’d become a murderer, that didn’t mean she wanted to become a monster. “Huiwon, this isn’t the time to get all sentimental. Are you saying we shouldn’t kill him?” asked Jihye. “No, that’s not what I mean…” “It’s either him or us. We’re real, living people, and this guy’s just a fictional character!” “Fictional character.” I was dumbstruck by what Jihye said. “…I guess you’re right.” “Even if he was real, he’s a villain who’s gonna do bad stuff! Is it bad to kill a villain?” Perhaps Jihye had a point. This man was a villain in this movie, and he’d do bad things. Therefore, it was okay to kill him. But the funny thing was, this was something Junghyeok Yu said often in TWSA. “The future is already decided anyway.” As I was about to speak, Jihye suddenly got up to pull out her sword. “Master’s in danger. There’s no time for second thoughts!” Her blade came down and pierced the man’s chest. Blood spurted out of his wound. It all seemed so real that it was hard to believe this was fake. Then I heard the system’s messages. [The Cinema Master is somewhat satisfied with the altered ending.] [The path to the next floor has opened at the stern of the ship.] “See? It worked.” Jihye cried out triumphantly. We had definitely found the correct solution. The Cinema Master was satisfied by our ending, and constellations would give us coins. Those coins would help us stay alive. That was how you survived the apocalypse. But…if we reached the end of this world in that manner, would we be able to look each other in the eye? [You have reached the second end credits.] I didn’t know the answer to that question. [Cast: Dokja Kim, Huiwon Jeong, Jihye Lee, Gilyeong Lee] [You have each received 500 coins for your performance.] We couldn’t get any good rewards for this movie, so we moved straight on to the next floor. [You have entered the fifth floor, the Room of Rewards.] We went up the escalator and finally came to the Room of Rewards. “The Room of Rewards? There’s no movie on this floor?” “This must’ve been where movie props were put on display.” I feigned ignorance, even though I already knew. Movie props, some of which I recognized, were displayed in glass cases in the middle of the room. There were iconic costumes and equipment used by characters in movies, as well as stage props. But these were more than just “props.” Huiwon walked up to one of the display cases and exclaimed, “Whoa, check out this sword!” [Mikazuki Munechika - Replica: Grade-A Sword] I looked at Huiwon, who was staring at the sword with sparkling eyes, and gave her a nod. “Looks like you finally got yourself a proper weapon.” “Wow…” With a single glance, I could tell it was an incredible sword. It was obviously a huge upgrade over Huiwon’s old groll horn sword. I had a feeling it was probably even better than Jihye’s sword. Huiwon picked it up and tried swinging it in the air a few times. “This is awesome! The blade’s razor-sharp, and it’s light as a feather!” I had never seen Huiwon this happy. [Character Huiwon Jeong feels deeply grateful to you.] These rewards on the fifth floor were the main reason you’d attempt the Cinema Dungeon. It was the perfect place for farming items for my companions that would serve them well through the early scenarios. Especially for Huiwon, who had been in desperate need of a good weapon, this would prove to be a massive boost in combat power. [Rewards are limited to two items per person.] They may not have been true constellation artifacts because they were movie props, but they were still grade-A replicas. This kind of grade-A item was almost like a cheat code in early scenarios. Incidentally, it looked like Junghyeok Yu had already been here, judging by the two missing items. “Let’s do this. We can only each take up to two items, so choose wisely.” I asked Huiwon to pick something out for Sangah, and I was going to do the same for Hyeonseong. I found the perfect thing for him. [Shield of Hercules - Replica: Grade-A Shield] Good… This is perfect for him. It was on another level from his worn iron shield and would allow him to bring out his full potential. Jihye, a self-proclaimed fan of superhero movies, was standing in a corner, seemingly struggling to pull something out. “Ugh, why won’t this come off?” I went to take a peek. Ah, so that’s what it was. [Mjolnir - Replica: Grade-A Blunt Weapon] The Hammer of Thor, God of Thunder, was there. If it were the real constellation artifact, it would’ve been an absolute game-changer… Still, the original was so powerful that even its replica was a formidable weapon. “Only the chosen few can lift that thing, right?” “Damn it, I’m special, too!” At that moment, Gilyeong appeared from behind us and reached for Mjolnir. “Hands off, kid! That’s mine—” Gilyeong easily lifted the hammer. He held it for a while before turning to me. “Dokja, can I keep it?” “Yup, it suits you.” Jihye looked devastated again. “Just my luck… So unfair…” I ignored her and checked out other items. Let’s see. What should I pick for the last one? [Reinforced Armor Suit - Replica: Grade-A Armor] Since I didn’t know what was going to happen from here on, I grabbed some armor. When I put it on, it wrapped snugly around my arms and legs. [You take 10% reduced damage from external attacks.] [Your ability to detect enemies has improved.] [Your movements have become more agile.] It felt a bit stuffy, but it was better than nothing, considering the kinds of battles we’d have to go through on higher floors. I guess it’s time to move on. There was no change to the dungeon, which meant Junghyeok was probably still alive. If we were lucky, we might catch up to him as early as the sixth floor, if not the seventh floor. In the worst-case scenario, he was already fighting the boss on eighth floor…but at the very least, he was still alive. Now, shall I go smack our dear Regressor in the back of his head?