Why Are You Coming Out From There?
“Ah, this is the most delicious thing in the world…”
“It’s so good I could cry that I can’t eat any more.”
My companions and I were eating the Tyrannosaurus meat.
It was seriously fucking delicious.
The mole-rat meat we’d eaten last time had been insanely good too, but this was on a completely different level. Texture, flavor—everything surpassed that mole-rat by a mile. I wanted to keep eating forever, yet the thought that once we left this movie I’d never taste it again was pure agony.
“By the way, Dokja-ya? What have you been hoarding over there this whole time?”
She flinched—exactly like a married man who’d just been caught with his secret stash.
“What’s this? A stamina-enhancement ampule? Hmm~?”
“Th-that’s, um… I was going to share them with everyone, of course…”
“Dokja-ya.”
“Y-yeah? Wh-what is it?”
“Hogging is bad, right?”
“…Yes…”
“Good girl. Hand it over.”
She obediently passed me the ampule.
“Everyone~ come over here for a second~?”
“What’s going on, Hayeon-ssi?”
“Here. Everyone take one.”
I handed an ampule to each of my companions. Plenty more remained, of course—I had plans for those.
“They boost your stats, so pop one each.”
“A strength-enhancement ampule? Mister, where’d you find something like this?”
“Dokja found them. So be grateful.”
At my words the others turned reverent gazes on Dokja. In truth she still had far more ampules stashed away, but once you share first, people stop getting suspicious. I smiled and shot her a wink.
The Theater Owner is satisfied with the altered ending of the film.
You may now proceed to the next floor.
We walked out toward the helicopter that had just landed outside.
“Bye, Titano…”
Gilyoung even offered a farewell to the praying mantis, clearly reluctant to part with it.
Once everyone had climbed aboard, the helicopter began to rise.
You have reached the first ‘Ending Credits’.
Cast: Kim Dokja, Jung Heewon, Lee Jihye, Lee Gilyoung, Park Hayeon
Each performer has received 500 coins as appearance fee.
“Whew. How many more floors do we have to climb like this?”
“Yoo Joonghyuk’s already cleared some of them, so it’ll go faster than you think.”
We returned to reality. The poster that had been perfectly intact moments ago was now torn to shreds.
“Maybe only movies with intact posters are still screening?”
“Looks that way. This one must have ripped because we cleared it.”
“Let’s hurry. We don’t know how many films are left.”
We rode the frozen escalator upward. The second- and third-floor posters were all shredded—Yoo Joonghyuk had clearly already finished them. Before long we reached the fourth floor and stepped into another movie.
“Ugh.”
“Uweeeehk—”
“It’s okay, just throw up.”
“I-I’ve got seasickness…”
The scenery had already transformed into a ship on the open sea.
“This movie—it’s the one where the ship sinks, right?”
“Seems so.”
“So do we have to sink the ship?”
“Wait… is Auntie the female lead?”
Just as Jihye said, Dokja’s clothes had changed into a dazzling dress. Honestly, she looked stunning. The original face had already been beautiful, but with the outfit complete she was so gorgeous it could drive a person insane just looking at her.
“Then that means that mister over there is the male le—uweeeehk!”
“Did you really have to throw up right there, Jihye?”
“Dawson!”
A voice rang out behind us. The film’s villain came charging straight at me.
“Perfect timing.”
I tripped him, slammed him to the deck, and in one smooth motion bound him with a nearby rope.
“So… what do we do with this guy? He is the villain, after all…”
“Kidnapping him isn’t getting any reaction.”
“Then… let’s just kill him.”
“What…”
High-school girls these days are terrifyingly ruthless.
“The Theater Owner’s a catharsis-pass type, right? Then the answer is to kill bastards like this as fast as possible.”
“But… he really does look like a real person.”
“Huh?”
“This is a movie, right? Yet he feels completely real.”
Yeah. This is a movie. Even the being standing right in front of us isn’t real—just a fictional construct. So then, what did the Lee Jihye standing before Kim Dokja’s eyes mean to her right now?
Shhk—
The Theater Owner is reasonably satisfied with the altered ending.
A passage to the next floor has opened at the bow.
“See? We did it right.”
“Master’s about to die—we don’t have time to sit around fretting!”
You have reached the second ‘Ending Credits’.
Cast: Kim Dokja, Jung Heewon, Lee Jihye, Lee Gilyoung, Park Hayeon
Each performer has received 500 coins as appearance fee.
Back in reality, we immediately rode the escalator up to the fifth floor.
You have entered the 5th Floor — Reward Room.
“Huh? A reward room?”
“Looks like no movies play here.”
The fifth floor was lined with items of every description.
Reward items are limited to two per person.
“Whoa, are all of these actual items?”
“This must have been the exhibition hall for movie props.”
“Holy crap, look at this sword!”
Jung Heewon snatched up a blade that had been on display. Finally free of the Stone Age, huh?
Dokja picked up a shield for Lee Hyunsung.
“Argh, why won’t this come out?!”
Lee Jihye was struggling to pull a hammer embedded in a rock. They’re handing out Mjolnir here of all places?
“Isn’t that the kind only special people can use?”
“Damn it, I am special!”
Gilyoung wandered over, curious.
“Hey, brat! That’s mi—!”
Shlick—
Mjolnir slid free with absurd ease.
“Why is it only me who’s unlucky… only me…”
“Dokja-ssi, Hayeon-ssi, what are you two taking?”
Dokja pulled on a bulletproof vest. As for me, I didn’t really have anything particular in mind. Gear was already covered by Identities and E.G.O equipment, so I didn’t need much. If anything, something that boosted stats would be nice…
But what was this pocket watch?
◈ A replica of the pocket watch once used by a watchman who sought to protect the person he admired.
◈ Once per day, restores the user’s physical condition to peak state.
…This is broken as hell.
At this point you could call it a free once-a-day resurrection. And that design… isn’t this the pocket watch Hokma used? Why a watch Hokma carried was sitting here I had no idea, but the options were so broken I grabbed it without a second thought.
Alright… that leaves one more slot…
Then a golden fragment caught my eye.
A genuine fragment that broke off from ??? — not a replica.
Holds the potential to grow into ???.
Ambiguous. I didn’t even know what the ??? was, and it was just a fragment. Even if the original was something incredible, this felt like too much of a gamble. Still, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. As if possessed, I reached out and took the golden shard.
“Everyone finished picking? Then let’s go.”
At Dokja’s words we climbed the next set of stairs.
“So that guy really was the culprit?”
“No spoilers. Someone might not have seen it yet.”
Yoo Joonghyuk wasn’t on the sixth floor. The skill book that appeared as the sixth-floor reward went to Dokja, and we started walking again.
“Yoo Joonghyuk is probably on the rooftop! Any moment now…!”
But Dokja’s words were cut short as blue light once more washed over us.
“Kh! There’s still more of them?!”
And then I saw it—the familiar logo etched into the poster that was firing light at us. A nauseating lurch hit me, and the scenery changed.
A corridor lined with doors. A familiar feeling I could never forget no matter how hard I tried.
“What is this place? Was there a movie like this?”
“What the hell… even Ways of Survival never had a film like this…”
“…Why. Why the hell… is this here?”
“Hayeon-ah. Do you know something about this movie?”
“…This isn’t a movie. And everyone—brace yourselves.”
“This place… isn’t something you can take lightly.”
A person who has directly or indirectly influenced this film has entered.
A ‘Role’ is being assigned to the individual.
A message window floated before my eyes and my vision wavered. In an instant my appearance changed. White wings and black wings burst from my back. The Big Bird E.G.O gear I’d been wearing vanished without a trace, replaced by entirely different equipment. Another message window appeared.