I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

After setting up the equipment, Lu Ban quickly prepared to start the screening.

The first film is a folk-themed film with horror elements, but the folk customs in Europe and America are really rudimentary. It's basically a plus version of shamanistic rituals, and many images are more disgusting than terrifying.

Eyeballs, blood, severed limbs, and various other restricted images appear.

Lu Ban watched the movie and felt that its subject matter was somewhat novel, the plot was relatively simple, and the actors' performances were quite good. Overall, it was a movie worth spending time watching.

He wrote down his review comments and then looked at the mental patients.

These patients remained unmoved, like middle school students standing on a sunny playground in 35-degree weather listening to their principal recount his achievements and past glories.

It seems they didn't like the movie very much.

He thought about it and figured it might be because many of these mental patients were highly skilled criminals. The number of people who died in the movie might not even be as many as the number of people some of these patients had killed. For them, this was not scary at all.

Lu Ban then wrote it down.

Films should take into account the experiences and needs of a wide range of viewers. Even a heinous murderer might see the film while in custody, and in that case, the film might not be able to evoke enough emotion in them, which is a shortcoming.

A good movie should be able to evoke something different and be touching for people who don't have relevant experiences.

However, Lu Ban also felt that the special effects in this movie were indeed very ordinary, and the ghosts looked like cheap slides, which was a point that detracted from the film.

Special effects are very important for a surreal film. They require not only imagination but also quality. If the quality is good, even if it seems rudimentary to audiences decades later, it can still move people's hearts.

Especially now, these wealthy people may have seen Lu Ban's movies, or at the very least, they may have seen similar clips on short video apps. Their appreciation threshold for special effects is already quite high. Under these circumstances, poor special effects will cause the movie's rating to drop further.

But if they want the special effects of these movies to catch up with Lu Ban's level, Lu Ban doesn't want to be too impolite, but he might have to prepare brain implants for them.

Thinking about this, Lu Ban felt that he couldn't just watch; he had to take some action.

So he placed his hand on the projector, and countless words appeared.

[For an old-fashioned projector, just being able to start up is a victory.]

Don't expect high image quality; just being able to see the colors clearly is already pretty good.

[It is recommended not to leave it on for too long, as the light bulb may burn out.]

It seems this projector has a big problem; the playback equipment isn't very good, so the movie picture quality is definitely not going to be great.

So, Lu Ban added a few strokes to it.

In the blink of an eye, the projector was completely transformed, as if it had been equipped with some kind of cutting-edge technology.

Lu Ban started playing the second movie.

This movie has a more mainstream theme: a serial murder case. It has more blood and gore and is more violent, but it's not particularly scary.

Even halfway through the movie, Lu Ban was still wondering if it was based on one of the patients in the audience.

However, after Lu Ban's minor modifications, this projector has acquired a certain amount of extraordinary power.

For example, when the video is played, as the image of a deranged killer wearing a plastic raincoat and holding a chisel dismembering his victim bit by bit on a chopping board appears to evoke a sense of pain and fear that spreads through the minds of those mentally ill patients as if it were real.

Several people were huddled together, trembling, and some even tried to cover their eyes, unable to watch.

Some, however, rolled their eyes back and fainted, as if the memories of the dead were trying to attack them.

After watching a movie, less than one in ten mentally ill patients who were sitting peacefully in their chairs remained alive.

They felt as distressed as high school seniors who had just finished a month of intensive summer tutoring, studying diligently from 6 a.m. to midnight every day to prepare for the college entrance examination, only to be suddenly told that the exam had been postponed for three months.

"The film is quite innovative in its structure, using the killer's perspective to film the scene and incorporating misdirection and trickery. Although the cinematography is average, the concept is very good."

Lu Ban offered his comments.

He believed that mentally ill people shared the same thoughts.

After another movie finished airing, Lu Ban prepared to continue.

The leopard beside him was already dozing off.

"Is this all the movies you humans make? They're not funny at all."

She muttered.

"So you were looking for a joke?"

"Seeing the monsters inside is quite fun."

Leopard nodded obediently.

"It's actually more amusing to see how scared these people are."

She looked around and saw that all the mental patients were crouching down with their heads in their hands, trembling, as if they had seen some indescribable horror.

Seeing this, Lu Ban picked up the gun again and fired a warning shot into the sky.

bang——

"Sit still, everyone! How are you supposed to watch a movie like this?"

He shouted, and the mental patients, fearing Lu Ban's gun, obediently sat back down.

The third movie started playing, and Lu Ban watched it with great interest, but he noticed that the audience below were all distracted, and some people were even looking at their phones.

This feeling is like when you're in an elective class at university, one or two students are either sleeping or playing on their phones, doing nothing but listening to the lecture, while the teacher stands on the podium and has to interact with the students and finish the lecture.

"Look, why aren't you looking!"

Lu Ban reminded him.

He approached a patient who was looking at their phone, and without making a sound, simply observed what the patient was looking at.

Then, Lu Ban discovered that the patient wasn't daydreaming, but was actually texting his lawyer.

[Please find a way to get me out of this damn mental hospital, to jail, anywhere is fine with me. I'll confess, I'll confess to anything, I'll turn myself in. This place is too terrifying!]

It seems he wanted to escape the mental hospital by confessing.

Although Lu Ban didn't know why this patient chose to repent and admit his sins, it was a good thing that the prodigal son had turned over a new leaf.

Lu Ban waited until he finished communicating with the lawyer, then gently patted him on the shoulder.

"You did a great job. I've decided to treat you to another movie."

Upon hearing Lu Ban's words, the patient's face turned ashen.

Chapter 799 A Merit Donation

Leaving the Arkham Cinema.

It was the next morning when I was released from Arkham Asylum.

The sunlight gently caressed the asylum shrouded in a thin mist, revealing a touch of human kindness and beauty.

Lu Ban felt very satisfied. He watched several good movies. Of course, some of the movies participating in the review were boring and clichéd, but the flaws did not detract from the overall excellence. The joy that human creativity brings still made Lu Ban feel gratified.

As for Leopard, he was also very satisfied and ate and drank to his heart's content all night long.

The thrill of the movie played on the extraordinary projector, along with the fear of being forced to watch the movie by Lu Ban, all these emotions became her best nourishment.

The next morning, dozens of patients were discharged from Arkham Asylum. Some of them had been there for five or six years without ever recovering. Now, Lu Ban had helped them return to normal by showing them movies, allowing them to regain the lives they deserved. This could be considered a meritorious deed.

congratulations.

Upon leaving the hospital, Lu Ban immediately handed over the review comments to the review committee across the hall.

He had no interest in participating in the subsequent awards ceremony.

Lu Ban has always believed that liking a creator does not necessarily mean you have to communicate with them directly. You like their work, but the creator may have all sorts of personalities. You may change your opinion of a work you initially appreciated after interacting with the creator, making it impossible to appreciate the work purely and thus losing sight of the original intention of creation.

For example, some people like to idolize and glorify creators. They will approve all the works of any creator they like. Over time, this forms a closed circle that cannot tolerate other opinions. Creators who are not clear-headed will become immersed in it and will not make progress.

Fans may think that supporting creators regardless of the quality of their work is a form of support, but this is actually what makes them stagnant and unable to grow.

Similarly, it's normal for some people to like a certain work, but the creator's opinion may clash with their own in some harmless aspects, leading to prejudice and ultimately affecting their appreciation of the work.

After watching these films, Lu Ban had no intention of befriending the creators, mainly because he was worried that his opinions might influence their creative process.

As Lu Ban walked out of the organizing committee, he felt that this trip to Miskatonic should come to an end.

He and Leopard randomly picked a restaurant and ordered two simple breakfasts.

While having breakfast, he noticed a man next to him reading a book about the evolution of ancient beliefs.

These days, not many people read physical books outside, which Lu Ban finds quite novel.

After watching for a while, he noticed that the young man could also make notes in the book with a pen.

On the young man's table was a cup of hot coffee and a half-eaten sandwich, as if he had forgotten about it after eating half of it.

Suddenly inspired, Lu Ban came to his side and looked at the young man's notes.

They're quite professional.

Of course, in Lu Ban's view, who has already come into contact with the real world, all of this is very superficial, or rather, wrong.

However, just as the emergence of relativity should not negate Newtonian mechanics under low-speed macroscopic conditions, these theories and thoughts are indeed valuable for reference when we do not yet have knowledge of related knowledge in other fields.

"Your idea is quite good."

Lu Ban suddenly spoke up.

Hearing a sound behind him, the young man stopped writing and turned to look at Lu Ban.

"I found it quite interesting that people's perception of the ocean can vary greatly depending on the region, so I wrote down some of my thoughts."

The young man quickly rattled off a long string of words, which Lu Ban listened to attentively, while Leopard, who was eating nearby, also ate very attentively.

"...Therefore, I think this difference arises from the different understandings of the sea among people in different regions. The more people rely on the sea for their livelihood, the more they will fear it. On the contrary, people living on land, due to their abundant resources, have less need for the sea and therefore do not have the same fear of it..."

He talked about fear, perhaps because the films shown at the Miskatonic Film Festival all had some elements of horror and suspense, which attracted the young man.

"Therefore, I have found that people's fear of something decreases as their understanding of it deepens, but it begins to increase again after reaching a certain level, especially when they realize that they may never be able to fully understand such a thing, at which point the fear reaches its peak."

He spoke eloquently.

"Therefore, the fear of the unknown stems from the known. Just like Zeno's paradox, human cognition is a circle. The more we know, the more unknown things there are."

He and Lu Ban discussed it for a while longer, becoming more and more excited as they talked.

“Indeed, I made the right decision to come from Providence. It’s wonderful to meet someone with such insightful views as you here.”

As he spoke, he glanced at the time again.