Chapter 183: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (2)
The system quickly gave Rong Rong the answer: “You have a total of five girlfriends—would you like to play the opening animation?”
Rong Rong: …
She felt like she wasn’t playing some “Breakup Strategy” game, but rather PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The game had thrown her into this movie theater right from the start, with five high-level players targeting her. How was she supposed to survive?!
Just then, she noticed the “newbie protection period” the system had mentioned earlier and quickly asked what that was about.
She quickly got her answer: “During the newbie protection period, if a player unfortunately cheats, is discovered by their girlfriend, and is killed, they can reload. However, once a player survives in the game for more than 30 minutes, it is assumed that the player is familiar with the rules. If another accident occurs after that, it will be considered a game failure, and the save will not be reloaded.”
[What is the result of a game failure?]
[Although this game is a holographic game, it adheres to the principle of ultimate realism. Game failure may cause irreversible damage to your real-world body.]
Rong Rong: ?
Good grief, so the so-called internal testing was just grabbing random lab rats? What a black-hearted game!
Her face was etched with the desire to complain about the shady company, but after her two previous death experiences, she was now like a startled bird. The perfectly timed adrenaline rush had her brain cells working at an unprecedented level. While talking to the system, she collected information about the movie theater.
Rong Rong noticed that even though she and the system had already talked quite a bit in her mind, the two main characters in the movie had only managed to say one line of dialogue.
She knew that since this holographic game had surpassed any technology she understood, she couldn’t approach it with a mindset of complaining.
So, she suppressed her extra emotions, pulled out her phone, turned on the screen, looked at the time, and estimated how much of her newbie protection period she had left. At the same time, she asked the system, “How long does your opening animation take to watch?”
Rong Rong needed to figure out a way to prevent the couple in the next seat from finding out about her relationship with the president before the cola bottle at her feet rolled over.
“In the conscious world, it only takes one microsecond,” the system quickly replied.
[Play it.]
“You are an orphan, raised in an orphanage. You always got into conflicts with other children, often fighting, until you received sponsorship and began to live a slightly better life.
But this sponsorship only lasted until college. Fortunately, you were very driven and supported yourself with part-time jobs for living expenses and tuition. Every weekend, you had to work many jobs. To best manage your work and study, you had a strict schedule.”
“Until recently, you noticed some problems. At first, you just realized that you could never remember what happened between the time you got out of class and the next day when you went to school. But your homework was always done well, and your classmates treated you the same as before. You gradually relaxed, thinking you were just too tired and stressed, which was causing these memory lapses.”
“But the problem gradually became more serious. You realized you were losing more and more memories. Even the items on your schedule became particularly strange. Although all your part-time jobs were completed successfully, there would always be a strange ‘entertainment time’ after. Not only that, but a lot of strange clothes and accessories that didn’t fit your taste appeared at home. Even on your phone, you would often get messages from IDs you didn’t know, but they would ask you out in a very familiar tone. You finally began to panic.”
“You secretly sought help from the school psychologist. Fortunately, you quickly understood what your symptoms were. Unfortunately, your mental problems were already quite severe. You had to take a leave of absence from school to receive treatment. Fortunately, your treatment expenses were fully covered by a charity fund. You received the best treatment, and these memory lapses never happened again… but those forgotten parts from before never returned.”
“The ambiguous words and unfamiliar IDs on your phone kept sending you strange messages from time to time. You finally couldn’t resist your curiosity and decided to figure out what exactly you had done in the time you had forgotten— You discovered that the invitations they sent were all to a movie theater in the city center. To quickly resolve things and explain to them what had happened to you recently, you agreed.”
“Until you walked into this movie theater, you realized that the situation seemed to be much more complicated than you had imagined…”
The opening animation played frame by frame in Rong Rong’s mind. At the end, the movie in the scene was the same one that was playing in front of her.
…How terrifying.
Had this holographic game ever considered partnering with Resident Evil? It would guarantee scaring players to death at the start.
Rong Rong hadn’t experienced any sense of romance or breakups at all. She just felt like she was acting in “Horror Movie Theater.”
“Gluglugluglu.”
The familiar cola bottle rolled to her feet.
Rong Rong froze for a moment, then felt the woman sitting to her left turn her head, asking with some concern, “Don’t you like this movie?”
She had noticed Rong Rong’s action of looking at her phone earlier.
Rong Rong slowly swallowed and shook her head. At the same time, she felt like the plastic bottle at her feet was a death warrant. She didn’t dare to stay here any longer, waiting for the beautiful doll-like woman next door to discover her relationship with this rich woman. She also didn’t dare to run to the restroom like last time and deliver another headshot.
She had to find a safe place and get enough information as quickly as possible.
Rong Rong remembered the kill from picking up the cola bottle, and she couldn’t guarantee that this time, lowering her head wouldn’t attract the attention of the person next to her. This time her excuse was still “I need to go to the restroom,” and the woman in the white suit didn’t stop her either.
But after hurriedly opening the door, Rong Rong looked left and right, not heading to the restroom, but looking at the movie theater number 4. She quietly crossed the hallway, quickly went to movie theater 2 on the opposite side, pulled open the slightly ajar door, and closed it bit by bit without making a sound.
Other movies were playing here. When movies were playing, no audience members would be in the hallways. She stood in this dark hallway, listening to the anxious thumping of her heart.
Rong Rong looked left and right, gradually relaxing. She knew that movie theater 4 had a rich woman, a pink doll who might move to the restroom, and the restroom had a wheelchair-bound yandere. So, that meant there were only two people left outside!
Hahahaha, surely this big movie theater couldn’t be filled with all her death-prone girlfriends, right?
The person standing in the hallway took a long breath, slid to the ground, and said to the system in her mind, “Didn’t you say I had a newbie gift pack earlier? Let’s take a look?”
[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have obtained the skill: Sea King Boat Skills (Level 1). Cooldown: 2 hours. Usage conditions: Currently not met.]
Rong Rong: ?
What the heck?
What the heck was this?
She looked at the skill button that had lit up next to her. She clicked on it for a long time, but it didn’t do anything. She had no choice but to temporarily give up on this ineffective skill that didn’t meet the usage conditions.
At the same time, Rong Rong took out her phone and, using the light from the screen, started looking through the original owner’s chat logs, trying to capture some information about her death-prone girlfriends.
Buzz—
Her phone vibrated, displaying a message.
Tangyy: “Come back soon.”
She started flipping through the chat logs and found out that this Tangyy’s real name was Tang Yiyi. Her profile picture was a landscape photo that artistic people liked. The timing of her messages was very regular, conforming to the work schedule of a company employee, and she even often worked overtime. Most of their chats were about her telling the original owner to go to her company at a certain time. Although the content was very warm, it easily gave off a vibe of a superior giving a task to a subordinate.
And the last record was Tangyy booking a movie for her, taking a picture, and telling her the location.
[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have unlocked Girlfriend 1’s information:
Name: Tang Yiyi (President of Xincheng Co., Ltd.)
Age: 28. Characteristic: Extremely controlling.]
Buzz—
Po: “You asked me to come out, and then you stood me up?”
Po: “Baby, aren’t you going to explain who was sitting next to you earlier?”
Po: “ps: We agreed to meet in the restroom, but you ran away again. Are you playing hide-and-seek with me?”
While feeling despair, she couldn’t help but click on this person’s profile picture and continue searching for information. At first glance, it was a very beautiful painting, especially pretty, like a beautiful woman sleeping in a sea of flowers. But when she clicked on it, she realized that the flowers…
They were all growing from the woman’s body, from her nails, eyelashes, and the ends of her hair, extending into one flower after another. And the woman in the flower sea looked exactly like her.
The oil painting instantly changed from a woman sleeping in a sea of flowers to a woman cultivating flowers.
Rong Rong: Crap.
Her hand trembled as she flipped through the chat logs, wondering why the girlfriends in this trash game were all characters from crime documentaries.
[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have unlocked Girlfriend 2’s information:
Name: Po Er (Freelance Artist)
Age: 21. Characteristic: Likes bright and beautiful things.]
After reading the chat logs, Rong Rong racked her brain and started typing a reply: “I didn’t run away. I just thought the restroom in the movie theater was too far, so I went to the mall outside. But my stomach feels really bad; it must be because the air conditioning in the theater was too cold. And this movie isn’t very good. I want to go out and find something hot to drink.”
Po: “I even went to the restroom to look for you. Where are you? No, don’t change the subject. You still haven’t explained who you were sitting with earlier?”
Rong Rong: “My boss from when I had an internship. I just ran into them. Ah! I actually mixed up the seat numbers. I thought you had gone to the wrong seat. I waited for you for so long.”
Po: “Okay, send me the address when you come out. I’ll go find you something hot to drink. Don’t drink anything random. Be careful not to ruin your body again.”
Rong Rong knew that the crisis of encountering number one and two had been resolved, and she let out a long sigh of relief.
It was also at this moment that she felt like something was off.
The person standing in the hallway couldn’t help but turn her head, listening to the movie dialogue being played in the theater. She realized that it was actually a comedy. But there was no laughter in the entire theater. It had been completely silent since she came in.
Had someone booked the entire theater?
Rong Rong was about to move forward when she felt a chill on the back of her neck, like she was being watched by something.
“Clang, clang.”
The sound of hollow metal railings being knocked came from above.
The woman looked up and realized that someone was holding her chin, looking down at her from above. The person looked very heroic and had a smile on her lips, dressed in short sleeves and seemingly not afraid of the cold.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was that on the railing she was leaning on, there were countless eyes looking straight at her. They looked especially eerie in the unlit theater—
Until one of the eyes moved and let out a sound: “Woof!”
Rong Rong broke out in a cold sweat. She belatedly realized that they were actually a lot of black dogs. And it was very obvious that they had all been brought by this woman.
She looked up at her, staring at her for a long time, her heart turning cold.
Because Rong Rong saw the gaudy heart on this woman’s head.
And the number “99” in the heart.
Just then, the woman lazily hooked her finger at her, “Have you looked enough? Little thing, if you’ve looked enough, come over here. Me and the kids have been waiting for you here for a long time.”
Rong Rong: “…”
This was just ridiculous.
Movie Theater 4.
Su Mingxiu felt the power that had restrained her finally disappear. She heard the manager in her earpiece ordering her to clean up the trash for the distinguished guests in the last row while telling her not to disturb their movie experience.
But Su Mingxiu, who had regained her freedom, ignored the voice in her earpiece. She had already heard the same dialogue repeating like a broken record many times, and she had also seen the familiar figure making movements in different poses in the last row of seats.
She pondered for a moment and tried to walk in the direction that the person had left. All the way until she opened the theater door, she wasn’t stopped again.
But Su Mingxiu forgot about the exit of the movie theater and realized that it was just a mist, like a map that wasn’t open to her.
“Woof, woof!”
Su Mingxiu heard a dog barking nearby. Even though it was very faint, she still caught it.
But the manager in the earpiece, who was constantly monitoring all the distinguished guests, didn’t react at all. After thinking for a moment, Su Mingxiu walked towards movie theater 2 on the opposite side.
As soon as she pushed the door open, the previously faint dog barking became extremely intense, even reaching a terrifying level, as if the entire theater was open to dogs.
“Someone’s here to disturb us?”
An interested voice rang out amidst the movie’s dialogue.
At the same time, the manager’s scolding came from her earpiece, “Why did you go to theater 2? It’s been booked by a VIP. Don’t go near it without instructions. If you want to live, get out of there now.”
Rong Rong also heard the sound of the movie theater door being opened. But at this moment, she was sitting in the couple’s seat in the very center of the last row, acting as an emotionless popcorn feeding machine. When she heard the sound, she was afraid it was another one of her five fish, and her heart couldn’t help but feel a bit panicked.
Her expression was captured by Wei Shang, who paused her popcorn-biting motion. Her teeth slowly bit down on Rong Rong’s fingertip, which was still holding the popcorn, as if it was an accidental touch.
But soon—
Rong Rong, who had lowered her pain sensitivity, saw a bead of blood appear on her fingertip.
She instantly realized that this wasn’t an unintentional action. Because not only did the other person not dislike the blood falling into the popcorn container, she even quite satisfyingly licked her fingertip with her tongue. It didn’t hurt, but instead, it was a numbness that made Rong Rong unconsciously bite her lip.
Wei Shang propped her head up and leaned against her, laughing lazily. Suddenly, she grabbed Rong Rong’s fingertip, letting her spill the popcorn container in a startle. Her light eyes looked at her clearly, like a large dog resting in her arms.
“You have the scent of someone else on you, and you know that I don’t like it.”
She seemed to be explaining why she had bitten her earlier, just to leave her own mark.
Rong Rong… Rong Rong was already numb.
She knew that every fish in this game was a pervert.
Seeing that she wasn’t talking, only being silent, Wei Shang raised her hand to pat Rong Rong’s head, then patted it again. Then, she said to the side, “Since the ground has been dirtied, have someone come clean it up. Oldest and second oldest, go.”
The mop and bucket in Su Mingxiu’s hand were seized by the quickly pouncing black dogs. The two black dogs, with their cold and fierce gazes, used their physical strength to pull her towards the viewing seats. She followed their force and walked in that direction.
Until she stood in front of these two audience members.
As if there were instincts engraved in her body, she mechanically picked up the mop and began to clean up the popcorn that had fallen all over the ground.
Rong Rong, on the other hand, subconsciously glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, afraid that there would be another accident. But once she looked, she couldn’t help but keep her eyes on her, her eyes twitching. Then, she looked again—
Damn it.
How strange.
She had been shocked by the appearances of Tang Yiyi and the others she had seen earlier. After all, from that President Tang to the artist Po, and then to the wheelchair-bound yandere in the restroom, they each had their own sense of beauty, including Wei Shang, who was now leaning on her and eating—but the potential danger of these people diluted Rong Rong’s perception of beauty. She only felt fear.
But all of them were no match for the attention that the cleaner A who had just appeared was drawing.
Because…
In a world that was generally high-definition and flawless, this “Cleaner A” was like a different art style that had barged in from another dimension. She was actually a…
Pixelated person. Although her appearance seemed okay, in this world where the holographic simulation was so real that you could even see the fine hairs on people’s faces, she was inexplicably a bit comical.
It was like a Contra character, made up of squares from the old Little Tyrant learning machine, had suddenly walked into a high-definition game with 1080t graphics.
Rong Rong knew that looking at someone else while being in front of Girlfriend 3 was dangerous. But she couldn’t control her gaze. She watched this pixelated person use a mop that had details so fine that even the dirt stains could be seen clearly, carefully cleaning up the popcorn on the ground.
Pfft.
It was really strange.
No, one more look. Even if she died, she had to look one more time!
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