Director of a Suspense Film

Ch 2.1 – His First Time Improvising

　　Zong qi stood in the cubicle. It was only after turning on his phone and powering it off once again did the no signal sign on the top right corner of his screen turn into three bars. 

　　The problem was that although he had the signal, showing a 4G on his screen, there was no internet. He couldn’t start the stream no matter what he tried. 

　　He spun around and tried a few more times, but it was always the same result. 

　　In the face of this situation, Zong qi was helpless. 

　　“Ah… why is there no signal? The internet speed was fine just now.” (t/n: author3 suddenly uses signal then changes to internet im so confused T^T)

　　He squatted on the floor and pulled his hair frustratingly, trying his best to find the problem.

　　Zong qi had no more solutions and just decided to randomly press his settings. In the end, he had accidentally opened his settings for messages and phone. 

　　The next second, it displayed a new message. 

　　It was his service provider reminding him that he still owed money. 

　　Zong qi: …… 

　　He was silent as he recalled how this happened. 

　　Zong qi unintentionally used up all the data from his data plan last stream. He had planned to pay it back but forgot about it. Today’s stream must have burned up his call credit and he ended up owing the credit. (t/n: me no know data term things so im hoping google is right)=

　　He focused on the problem at hand. He couldn’t call anyone so Zong qi couldn’t get someone else to pay up for him. If he couldn’t pay it back, then he wouldn’t be able to continue streaming and this time’s ghost hunting was completely for naught. 

　　There were no buses around, and he had to cut through half of Jiang Zhou to get here from his the rental apartment by taxi. Just a round trip would cost him close to a hundred dollars. 

　　”Ah–” 

　　Zong qi felt his heart bleed. He wanted to just set up a camp here and sleep until the next ghost hunt. 

　　This piece of bad news made his head buzz, taking him a long time to recover.

　　It was also at this moment that Zong qi found a new icon on his home page. 

　　This app[1] was at the bottom of all his other apps, it’s icon was a Yin and Yang fish, it’s black background brought out the blood red words, “Horror Film Director”. 

 　　What is this?

　　Zong qi was sure that he didn’t download this from the store recently and there were no assignments from his school either. 

　　“Unless this was some trash programme that got downloaded while I was downloading some other app?” 

　　He thought as he opened up the programme. 

　　The starting screen was blank, a status window only appearing after about three seconds. 

　　[Director’s Name] Zong qi

　　[Code Name] Q

　　[Director Rank] E-rank Director (has not received newbie quest)

　　[Represented Work] None

　　[Director Points] 0

　　[Actors] 0

　　[Movie Plot] None

　　Zong wi stared at his status window for a long time. 

　　An unnamed and unknown app. How did it accurately display his real name and university major? 

 　　It isn’t some newly made scam for university students, is it? The guy in the dorm room next to him had fallen for one before he graduated. It would’ve been fine if it was just a man pretending to be the sister they like, but it wasn’t and he was lucky that he didn’t throw his pants into it. (t/n: i didnt really get this sentence? Im just hoping it makes sense ig)

　　Zong qi raised his vigilance and immediately left the app, opening his settings so he could uninstall it. 

　　He didn’t expect whatever happened next. 

　　“Horror Film Director” wasn’t even shown in his settings page, and he couldn’t delete it by long holding the icon. 

　　“Phishing programme with a Trojan software?” 

　　Zong qi restarted his phone a whole 3 times when he noticed that the app couldn’t be uninstalled, almost as if it had stuck a needle into his phone and started growing there. 

　　After doing this a few times, Zong qi got annoyed. 

　　He swiped his finger and reopened the programme. 

　　Surprisingly, after he went in, a notification popped up on his screen, showing blood red words within it. 

　　[Congratulations on your entry, Mr Zong qi] 

　　[This is the Horror Film Director. In here, you can earn money, fame, status, and even props from legends and myths.] 

　　Zong qi recalled the commercial he had skimmed through earlier. (t/n: chinese is so profound, the phrase used here was that he skimmed through it but it left a deep impression on him, which, theres no word ok theres no goddamn word in english that means that)

　　“No way… Is technology so advanced now that even just receiving a message can remotely install the Trojan Horse software?” 

　　Just as he was talking to himself, the words on the screen changed. 

　　[Unfortunately, you have yet to unlock a horror film plot. Thus, you are unable to enter the normal process of movie filming] 

　　[Seeing that this is your first time entering the programme, the tutorial has been activated] 

　　[Newbie quest: Make a short film without a plot] 

　　[One more improvisational theatre attempt has been added, remaining tries: 1]

　　Complete the newbie quest and you shall receive a random amount of points and a plot] 

　　Zong qi’s eyes paused on the words, ‘money, fame’, for a few seconds before calmly powering off his phone.  

　　”What the hell? This scammer dug out the fact that I’m a directing major but didn’t use his brains at all. If I had the money to film a movie would I still be here ghost hunting? Maybe he’s sick in the head…” 

　　As he was getting ready to leave, the flashlight he left at one side suddenly flashed twice. It was like that one scene old horror movies always used. 

　　The next second, the flashlight suddenly went out. 

　　In the darkness of this abandoned hospital, the screen became his only source of light. 

　　The phone Zong qi had just shut down was still emitting a faint light, the words on the programme was clear as day. 

　　Not only that, in the next second, the words had floated out of the screen and in front of his eyes. 

　　[A good horror movie can’t be without horror scenes. The scream value allows horror scenes to be measured numerically, causing the movie audiences’ adrenaline to surge] (t/n: used mtl for this cuz i was rlly confused but i feel like its better than my tls so maybe i should keep using it /j) 

　　[Newbie quest requirement 1: Scream value over 100 points] 

　　[Of course, a good horror movie also needs a meticulous storyline. The mystery of the plot is to add depth to the movie] (t/n: plot mystery= exploring the plots basically)

　　[Newbie quest requirement 2: Any plot mysteries must have a progress above 30%] 

　　[The little broke you has insufficient points to hire actors. But of course, you are the best actor in your own life] 

　　[Newbie quest requirement 3: At least one actor left alive] 

　　As the words appeared, a frame appeared around Zong qi’s retinas. It didn’t block his vision, but it was enough to make people acknowledge its existence.

　　In the sidebar was three numbers. The first was Scream Value, the second was ‘Mental Hospital’ plot exploration, and the third was the number of actors. 

　　Scream Value is 5, plot exploration was 2%, and the number of actors was 1. 

　　”Holy shit… it appeared on my eye!”

　　Zong qi raised his hand, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. The materialism he had believed in for more than ten years had completely collapsed. 

　　If normal people met saw something supernatural one day, they wouldn’t be able to maintain their calm. Just like Zong qi, whose blood pressure and heart rate soared, the heart in his chest beating, ‘peng, peng, peng’. (t/n: peng is sfx for heart beat i forgot the one in english)

　　[Detecting that you still hold suspicion on “Horror Film Director”. As you are the only director, and this is your first time seeing the system, we will automatically give you an extra solution] 

　　[……Detecting your desires]

　　[Detected your greatest desire: Money] 

　　Zong qi choked. 

　　It was such a boring and mundane wish. But because he only had a measly 60 dollars left, the desire for money was written all over his face. 

　　In the next second, a hundred dollar note appeared in his palm. 

　　Zong qi: !!!

　　[Director Points can be exchanged for money within the system any time] 

　　[After reading the Terms of Service, you can click ‘accept’ on your phone] 

　　“It’s pretty user friendly huh.” 

　　He mumbled to himself as he watched the money disappear from his palm. 

　　After just a few sentences, Zong qi had developed a sense of goodwill for this system. 

　　The system would always abuse their power in novels, since when did the user have any choice? This filming system seemed to have no consciousness and is even polite! Zong qi felt that he could consider using this method to make money. 

　　After detecting Zong qi’s 180 degree change in attitude, the words in his eyes started disappearing one by one. 

　　[The consent of the user has been obtained, the horror film director system is now tied to user] 

　　[It is detected that the conditions of the surrounding environment are met, loading… The scenario “Mental Hospital” has been unlocked, the activation conditions have been met. Please begin your improvisational theatre] 

　　[Remaining shooting time: 24 hours] 

　　[Friendly warning, although the difficulty of the newbie quest isn’t high, there is still a death rate of around 10%. Please be careful with your every step] 

　　He didn’t know if it was just him, but the moment the theatre had begun, the temperature had started dropping, even the sunlight outside had darkened considerably. 

　　“Ssss…” (t/n: wincing sounds)

　　Zong qi’s emotional high cooled down as he saw the death rate. 

　　Nothing was free in this world. A system making matters of life and death into numbers really couldn’t be blamed. 

　　“Since I’ve already boarded the pirate ship of the system, there’s no reason to regret now. Let’s begin. Might as well pretend this is another kind of supernatural stream.” 

　　Zong qi lifted a fist, cheering for himself. 

[1] So apparently it wasn’t technically apps that the author was on about and i translated it wrong but imma keep it as apps cuz the term for it is long af. Its mini programmes on this messaging app in china, they have mini games you can play on it its actually kinda fun

The translator has something to say: I uh didnt expect the chapter to be so damn long. i swear the raws were only 10 ish pages but im 6 pages off to finishing and theres like 16 pages of words and im gonna cry

so ill be splitting long chapters to two parts for the sake of my sanity and upload them twice a week instead