I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Lu Ban spoke the truth.

His most precious quality is honesty; he never lies.

"?"

Qin Tiantian was taken aback.

Isn't that thing some kind of evil monster under the bed?

garbage can?

What is the subtle feeling behind this chainsaw killer slipping on a banana peel and falling on his head while being rushed to the emergency room, only to die because the surgeon, who had been caught cheating the night before, was so distraught that he forgot the scalpel in the surgeon's head?

Qin Tiantian didn't know how to respond for a moment.

"...Are you someone who specializes in 'that kind of' thing? An exorcist? A Taoist priest?"

After a long while, when her small portion of braised chicken and Lu Ban's medium portion of braised chicken were served, the two ate in silence for a while before Qin Tian finally found an excuse to ask.

"No, I work in the film and television industry."

Lu Ban continued to speak the truth.

"So those...were all special effects?"

Qin Tiantian seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Thinking about it carefully, it makes perfect sense!

There are no ghosts in this world; they're all computer-generated special effects. No matter how realistic they are, they're still special effects!

"No, that doesn't count; it actually happened."

Lu Ban continued to speak the truth without any embellishment.

"??"

Qin Tiantian's eyes turned into question marks.

"By the way, you absolutely must not try to do what's done in the video, it could really cause trouble. Well, I deliberately obscured the gameplay, so you probably won't be able to learn it anyway."

Lu Ban spoke the truth in a serious tone.

He definitely wouldn't try this game again. Lu Ban wasn't sure if it was a problem with the game or his own system, but it was always better to be cautious.

"???"

Qin Tiantian was completely bewildered.

Isn't this a scary entertainment video?

How can you say it as if it were a real thing?

Which one should I believe?

A shiver ran up her smooth back. Even though it was midday in the shop, Qin Tiantian felt short of breath and cold all over.

She felt a slight weight on her shoulder, as if something was lying there. Qin Tiantian didn't dare to turn around, only feeling her shoulder getting heavier and heavier.

"How about this, let's add each other on WeChat, so you can contact me directly if you encounter any problems later."

Looking at Qin Tiantian's ashen face, Lu Ban took out his phone and showed her the QR code.

Hearing Lu Ban's words, Qin Tiantian felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders, as if the pressure had disappeared, and it was as if everything before was just an illusion.

Qin Tiantian obediently added Lu Ban on WeChat. She looked at his WeChat name, which was "Unmoved," and his profile picture was a picture of an ever-extending road and a small white flower, which gave off a somewhat fresh and innocent vibe.

...Would I be considered to have been tricked on WeChat?

Qin Tian was slow to realize it.

She saw Lu Ban finish his meal, put down his chopsticks, and prepare to leave.

Lu Ban walked to the door, then turned back as if remembering something and glanced at Qin Tiantian.

"how?"

Qin Tiantian held chopsticks in her hand, completely bewildered.

"You'd better not wander around today and stay home."

Lu Ban said something and then turned around.

Qin Tiantian nodded blankly, but soon she realized something.

—Just now, Lu Ban wasn't looking at her, but at a certain spot on her shoulder when he said that sentence.

Chapter 010 can certainly be used next time.

"Two million views, that's fast."

Lu Ban shifted his gaze from the girl's shoulder, and the distorted and eerie system text suddenly disappeared, turning into prints on the girl's clothes.

While eating, Lu Ban discovered that he could get click data simply by checking his system panel without opening his phone, so he glanced at it casually before leaving.

The weather was nice and sunny. Lu Ban quickly forgot about the girl he had just met and took the subway to Jiangcheng City Library.

Jiangcheng City Library is just one subway stop away from the old street in the center of Jiangcheng City. A few steps further away are Beihu Lake and Zhongshan Mountain. It is a quiet place in the bustling city.

There is a university near the library, so you can see many young college students walking around and studying in the library.

Lu Ban bought a pen and notebook at the entrance, registered, and went into the library. He picked up two books on folklore, then went to the film section and borrowed two analytical works on film and television. He found a sunny spot, sat down, and began to read attentively.

This angle, this lighting, this appearance—it's like the youthful beauty of Fujii Itsuki's first encounter with Fujii Itsuki in the library in "Love Letter," enough to stir the heart of any budding young girl.

The premise is to ignore what Lu Ban is writing.

"Terror theories: ① Terror is a process, laying the groundwork for terror by providing information in stages; ② It doesn't require the audience to identify with the protagonist; ③ Don't reason with them. Having a cause and effect makes it less scary; terror is irrational..."

This is a horror theory he learned in class in his previous life, which comes from the famous screenwriter Chiaki Konaka. This guy has long hair and looks very artistic. His representative works are also well-known, such as "Ultraman" and "Digimon Adventure". Chiaki Konaka is best at making horror in works for children.

He wrote down about twelve theories of terror, but Lu Ban only remembered six of them; the rest were a summary of his experiences last night.

The reason he studied this was because he felt that the director profession in his system might not actually be that of a horror film director.

Maybe in the future he will go to explore all sorts of eerie and terrifying places, and then make short films about his exploration experiences.

In that case, Lu Ban definitely needs to learn how to make people feel even more terrifying.

People as dedicated as Lu Ban are rare these days.

He browsed through some film theory books about this world and found that the development of horror and thriller films in this world was indeed somewhat lagging behind. Most of them were still stuck in the formula of Western horror films with blood and gore flying everywhere, and had not yet formed the psychological horror model like that of East Asia. There was great potential in making horror films.

Lu Ban learned these things not only for making movies, but more importantly to prepare for possible future missions.

The most important thing for people is a sense of security, and what Lu Ban encountered was the elimination of that sense of security, dragging people into the unknown and creating fear.

The best way to eliminate fear is to face it, and Lu Ban firmly believes this.

While he was engrossed in reading, things were not quiet around him.

A girl was sitting next to Lu Ban, holding an engineering mechanics textbook, wearing earphones, and playing a video on her phone.

This wouldn't normally be noteworthy; everyone at Lu Ban's table except him was a girl, nothing special.

However, the girl's headphones were of poor quality, and sound leaked out.

Lu Ban glanced at it and saw that the video on the girl's phone screen was of himself.

"Ok?"

Lu Ban frowned, realizing that things were not so simple.

Because the voice in the girl's headphones is definitely not the original voice from her video.

Although it was somewhat impolite, Lu Ban still watched for a while.

and many more.

This video is also suspicious.

In the video the girl was watching, Lu Ban kept getting up and lying down on the bed, as if the tape was stuck. Coupled with the clown's face appearing from time to time and Lu Ban's slightly serious expression, it wasn't scary at all, but rather seemed a bit funny and comical.

More importantly, the background music for this video is "Good Luck".

Lu Ban thought that no matter how terrifying a video was, it probably wouldn't be scary anymore if it was paired with "Good Luck".

It's obvious that Lu Ban's video was turned into a ghost O video by a skilled content creator.

It's only been half a day, and they're already jumping on the bandwagon pretty fast.

Lu Ban felt that the video industry was currently too competitive and cutthroat.

"...Hello, could you tell me the name of the video you're watching?"

He gently touched the girl's arm next to him, and only after she took off her headphones did he politely ask her what was wrong.

"Ah, um? Oh, this, this is... Huh???"

The girl was clumsy and didn't seem to expect Lu Ban to talk to her, but in her flustered state, she realized that the handsome guy next to her looked a lot like the person in the ghost O video she had just watched!

She glanced at her phone, then at Lu Ban.

Exactly.

This feeling is like having "Loop" playing in your headphones and bumping into Teacher Ge Ping, or looking up at the ghost O while watching Jin Ke La and seeing Captain Dong Xian, or finding your chair being lifted up by six men in black suits while being brainwashed by a professional team.

It's hard to say.

"It's me."

Lu Ban guessed her surprise and replied immediately.

The other women at the table all looked over, probably thinking Lu Ban was some kind of celebrity.

"May I take a look?"

Lu Ban asked another question politely.

"...Yes, that's fine."

The girl handed her phone to Lu Ban, looking bewildered.

Lu Ban took the other person's phone, then directly picked up the other half of the earphone, put it in his ear, and pressed play. The two of them ended up in a scene that only appears in a romance drama set in their student days, each listening to one earphone.

Envy, jealousy, and hatred.