TTGOL CH77

Chapter 77: Change

The movie theater business in Yong Ye City was far from booming. After all, very few people here had the leisure and peace of mind to sit down and watch a film. However, the selection of movies was incredibly diverse; whether it was a twenty-year-old classic or a newly released blockbuster, you could find it here.

There were two types of theaters: large public halls screening new releases, and private VIP halls for on-demand viewing.

Jin Cheng picked a romance film that premiered only after Tang Cuo’s death, starring two young actors he didn’t recognize. He asked Tang Cuo, but Tang Cuo didn’t recognize them either.

Truth be told, not only was Tang Cuo unfamiliar with most celebrities, but he had also never even stepped foot inside a movie theater. Back when he was surviving on the streets and heard the entertainment industry brought in quick money, he had briefly considered banking on his face. But after discovering the talent scout was setting up young girls, Tang Cuo beat the man to a pulp and walked away.

There are millions of diverging paths in life, and Tang Cuo didn’t know how he ultimately ended up walking the one that led him to Jin Cheng.

They originally belonged to two completely different worlds: one was a favored son of heaven with a privileged background, and the other was a wild child struggling at the very bottom of society. The moment Tang Cuo passed the assessment and joined Jin Cheng’s team was the moment he felt they were closest.

His real name wasn’t actually Tang Cuo. Cuo meant mistake, because his biological mother believed his birth was a mistake. The orphanage director felt it was a terrible name and insisted on changing it, unaware that Tang Cuo didn’t originally have the surname Tang either.

Tang Cuo was a precocious child. By age four, he could already remember everything, but he claimed he had forgotten and slapped a random surname onto himself. The director always hoped to help him find his parents, but Tang Cuo had always known exactly where his mother lived.

Being abandoned, Tang Cuo simultaneously abandoned her right back—because he had been a “cool guy” since childhood.

When this cool guy was alive, he had never actually considered being with Jin Cheng. Their relationship was simple: neither too distant nor too close, devoid of ambiguity, with no past and no future.

All his feelings were hidden deep in his heart, and Tang Cuo had no intention of ever voicing them. Who could have predicted that they would both die so early? The obstacles and constraints they might have faced while alive simply ceased to exist in Yong Ye City.

But when exactly did Jin Cheng fall for him?

He used to say he liked Marilyn Monroe, and later Scarlett Johansson—neither of which were Tang Cuo’s type.

Throughout the movie, Tang Cuo spent a good portion of his time looking at Jin Cheng. The paper-thin veil between them hadn’t been pierced yet, and he naturally wasn’t going to ask directly, so he just kept thinking. Amidst his thoughts, he concluded one thing: the actors in the movie weren’t as good-looking as Jin Cheng.

Whether it was the male lead or the female lead, neither looked as good as him.

The plot was also incredibly stupid, challenging Tang Cuo’s limits of endurance with every passing second.

“Is it not good?” Jin Cheng turned his head and asked in a hushed voice.

“Which one?” Tang Cuo retorted.

Jin Cheng blinked. In the dim light of the theater, he found Tang Cuo’s question making his heart skip a beat. The movie just happened to reach the sweet climax where the male and female leads resolved their misunderstandings. They embraced, foreheads resting against each other, lips curling into sickeningly sweet smiles.

The camera began a 360-degree slow-motion rotation. The wind blew through the heroine’s hair, capturing a massive close-up of her eyes dotted with brilliant, starry lights.

“Do you love me?”

“I love you.”

As the male lead’s answer echoed through the theater, the girl in the couple sitting diagonally in front of them rested her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder. The two held hands tightly, quiet and clingy.

There were only four people in the entire theater.

Tang Cuo looked up at Jin Cheng, and Jin Cheng looked back at him. The topic of “is it good” was dropped, but ambiguity was rapidly fermenting. All the words hovering on the edge of their lips turned into ironclad proof of romance.

A teenager might have felt shy, but Tang Cuo never experienced such moments. He merely felt a little warm, accompanied by a slight, subtle nervousness—and the thrilling sensation of his cells trembling.

Were they playing a game of whoever looks away first loses?

Tang Cuo didn’t quite understand.

Jin Cheng, however, was having a great time. He simply propped his elbow on the armrest and leaned his body even closer. “If I asked whether you think I look good, how would you answer?”

What is your deal?

If you want to confess, hurry up and do it. Stop parading around like a peacock showing off its tail feathers.

Tang Cuo remained expressionless. Shifting his gaze slightly, he saw Jin Cheng open his palm toward him. Confused, Tang Cuo looked down to see a liqueur chocolate resting in the center of his palm.

“If you think the movie is too awful, have something sweet. Next time I’ll rent a disc and play it for you at home.”

Tang Cuo took the chocolate. “I didn’t particularly want to watch it.”

Jin Cheng smiled and leaned back into his seat. “Then just treat it as keeping me company. I like watching movies, and I like photography. I occasionally paint, and I know a bit of music. Originally, I was supposed to study art abroad, but my older brother had an accident and was discharged from the military, so I had to take over his responsibilities.”

This was the first time Tang Cuo had heard him talk about his family situation. Of course, it wasn’t that he knew absolutely nothing, but whatever he did know came from hearsay.

“Your brother?” he asked.

“Biological brother. He injured his hand, though it doesn’t affect his normal life. Aside from being overly strict, the guy has no real flaws. He’s more thorough than I am and understands the ways of the world better. With him around, I never had to worry about our parents. The year I died, he finally got a girlfriend. If everything went smoothly, they probably have a kid by now.”

Tang Cuo: “Mm.”

Jin Cheng: “What does ‘mm’ mean?”

Tang Cuo: “It means okay.”

Jin Cheng: “For a while, my mom was obsessed with setting me up on blind dates.”

Faced with this sudden shift in topic, Tang Cuo was momentarily stunned.

Jin Cheng raised an eyebrow. “I know there were rumors going around for a while that I got a girlfriend. That was my mom’s friend’s daughter. I finally managed to arrange some leave to visit home, only to find myself shoved onto a blind date. We only met that one time, and the number of words I spoke to her didn’t even amount to what I say during one of your training sessions.”

At this point, Tang Cuo finally understood what Jin Cheng was doing. Laying all his cards on the table, clearing up any potential misunderstandings. But did they really need to be this solemn about it?

This was Yong Ye City. Stripped of human society’s laws and constraints, where every day was a matter of contemplating life and death, everything else seemed utterly unimportant.

For the past two days, Tang Cuo had been thinking: if Jin Cheng confesses to him, he will accept. Simple and straightforward. He didn’t need anything else; he only wanted to return to the most primitive, purest form of affection.

A soul-bound partner, or a complete and perfect home—those were things he had never anticipated, neither in life nor in death.

“I am serious,” Jin Cheng added.

Tang Cuo didn’t speak. The movie was drawing to a close. After breaking up and getting back together, the male and female leads reunited at the place they first met. There was no dialogue, just them gazing at each other. Under the aesthetically pleasing slow-motion lens, the music began to swell.

The couple diagonally ahead of them was still fully immersed in the film, completely oblivious to what was happening behind them.

Tang Cuo’s heart was beating a bit fast. He turned his head away, his brain short-circuiting for a moment. He was now thoroughly convinced that people in love truly might do things that lower their IQ; the movie’s plot suddenly didn’t seem so brain-dead after all.

“I—” The straightforward words faltered at his lips. Tang Cuo finally composed himself, intending to settle the matter once and for all. But unexpectedly, another melody suddenly began to drift through the air.

The overlapping of the two distinct melodies caused their expressions to change drastically.

The Song of the God, Lambs, and the Crow.

Jin Cheng frowned. Whatever ambiguity or romantic atmosphere had been brewing vanished into thin air in an instant. The couple ahead jumped up in alarm. The girl nervously grabbed her boyfriend’s arm. “Didn’t it just play yesterday? Why is it playing again today?!”

The guy was equally shocked. “Don’t worry just yet, maybe it’s something else.”

But the girl was still terrified, pressing tightly against her boyfriend. The guy had no choice but to continue comforting her. “Look, nothing happened yesterday, right? We’re even able to come watch a movie now, which proves things are heading in a good direction. Don’t be scared. No matter what happens, you still have me.”

But Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo knew full well they didn’t hold a second Movement. The song echoing again meant something had slipped entirely out of their control.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the familiar system broadcast delivered the worst possible news.

“Ding!”

“Fifth Movement detected. Holder: Official Player D11119.”

“The Edicts fall within the prescribed authority limits. Verification passed. Effective immediately.”

“Commencing server-wide broadcast.”

“Edict: The time limit for triggering mandatory missions is changed from one month to one week.”

“Edict: Effective immediately, all Black Dragon Scales, Pale Hearts, Drake Gems, and Sparks of Forgiveness from instance clearance rewards shall exclusively belong to Official Player D11119.”

“Edicts effective immediately.”

The system announcement had to broadcast three consecutive times. By the end of the first broadcast, the girl in front was crying, slumped on the floor. Her boyfriend hurriedly tried to help her up, but before he could offer any comforting words, the girl dissolved into a flash of white light and vanished from the theater.

“Nannan!” He panicked, pacing frantically like an ant on a hot pan. Suddenly realizing what had happened, he bolted for the exit.

The girl had definitely triggered a mandatory mission.

“Official Player D11119. Black Hat,” Jin Cheng’s tone grew heavy.

Jin Cheng, Lin Yandong, and others already knew Black Hat held the Fifth Movement. But since he was already a civil servant, he merely had to wait until his term was up to reincarnate. For him to pull a stunt like this right on the heels of Jin Cheng issuing the Sixth Movement was entirely unexpected. Tang Cuo pondered for a moment and asked, “Haven’t you interacted with him? Were there no warning signs?”

Jin Cheng: “Black Hat isn’t like K. He doesn’t often interact with others and rarely shows his face. The man has a very eccentric temper. I’ve done a few trades with him, but I’ve never managed to figure out his background. If there’s anyone who might understand him, it would only be K and the Izakaya boss lady. Lin Yandong might know something as well.”

K was the boss of the Ruby Tavern.

The current situation was disastrous. Most ordinary players couldn’t run instances back-to-back; the vast majority took breaks longer than a week between missions. With the Fifth Movement’s edict in effect, there was no telling how many people were being abruptly dragged into mandatory missions.

Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo walked briskly out of the movie theater. As expected, the streets were noticeably more desolate than just moments before. Everyone’s face bore expressions of panic and heavy anxiety. The atmosphere that had only just eased yesterday snapped taut once again today.

But right at that moment, the melody that should have stopped resumed its haunting tune, striking the players like a bolt of lightning.

“Ding!”

“Twelfth Movement detected. Holder: Official Player D11119.”

“The Edicts fall within the prescribed authority limits. Verification passed. Effective immediately.”

“Commencing server-wide broadcast.”

“What’s going on?! Why is there another one!”

“My god—”

“Stop, please, just stop!”

“Don’t read it!”

“…”

Begging and shouting couldn’t stop the system’s cold, ruthless broadcast.

“Edict: Effective immediately, Black Hat’s Grocery Store will launch the Dream Infinite Market. All players are welcome to visit.”

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