Ch.58Memory Loss (6)

The reality I frequently experience is far more terrifying than any game, which is probably why I’m startled much less often while playing games now.

But games still seem to be scary. As if to prove that point, my heart is racing like crazy right now.

At least I’m not the only one who’s scared. Ju-an’s heart is beating just as fast as mine.

Still, I don’t particularly want to stop playing. If anything, I want to play for as long as possible.

I used to never understand people who watched horror movies, but now I think I get it. There’s definitely something appealing about it.

Unfortunately, enjoyable things always pass quickly.

“We beat it.”

“Yeah.”

The ending played on screen and the credits started rolling. Despite this, we both sat there blankly staring at the screen.

Only after the screen had completely gone black were we finally able to get up from our seats.

“That was fun. What did you think?”

“It was scary, but still fun.”

“You seemed pretty composed though. Last time I could tell you were trying hard not to scream.”

“I guess I’ve built up some courage from all those requests.”

A lot has certainly happened in the past week. Nearly dying while fighting a demon, then nearly dying while fighting another demon, and then nearly dying yet again while fighting a demon.

…Do I have some kind of relationship with demons? Why are there so many demons entangled in my life? And whenever demons get involved, things only go in bad directions.

Like that demon that keeps regenerating without divine power, or the countless demons inside that orb, or that demon disguised as a holy knight with pink hair.

My life would be so much better without demons. Especially mentally.

“So what do you want to do now?”

“Want to play fighting games like last time?”

“Not even if I were dead.”

“Then what else is there to do?”

“I don’t know.”

What did I used to do when hanging out with friends… I don’t really remember since we usually just wandered around without any specific plans. Come to think of it, last time we also wandered around until we found something to do.

“Let’s just walk around and find something to do.”

“Like we did last time?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, but with your lifespan shortened, making your body weaker, can you walk as much as before?”

“This ring somehow makes it work.”

It’s amazing how wearing just one ring can make moving around so much easier. How does this ring even work? I should ask Ha-eun about it later.

Anyway, we left the arcade and started looking for something else to do.

***

While walking aimlessly, Ju-an pointed at a movie theater and said:

“Want to watch a movie?”

This world is similar to the one I came from, but also completely different. None of the novels or comics I enjoyed exist here, but there are plenty of new ones.

In that sense, movies are perfect for passing time. No matter what movie we choose, they’ll all be new to me.

Plus, the sensibilities here are quite different from our world. For example, while regular people are the main characters in movies from our world, here it’s ability users who take center stage.

You might think that’s no different from watching superhero movies, but the feeling is completely different.

Let me give an example from a video I watched before. It was an ordinary love story between a man and a woman. But the way they lived their lives was anything but ordinary.

The man earned money by creating electricity like a human wind turbine using his wind-generating supernatural power, while the woman worked as a doctor healing patients with divine power.

This might sound crazy, but here, these things are everyday life. So there’s bound to be a difference in sensibility.

Still, thanks to these differences, most videos feel fresh and interesting.

“Sure, let’s watch a movie.”

As we entered the theater, we were greeted by a scene that was both familiar and strange.

The structure of the theater was similar to those in our world, but the movies being shown were completely baffling.

[Supernatural Power Soccer]

The title seemed normal at first glance. But reading the description changed my mind completely.

[TS Beam for our team! With that power, we’ll conquer our team!]

“…What on earth is this?”

“…I have no idea either.”

“Let’s check the tags at least.”

Maybe the tags will give us some idea of what this movie is about.

[Tags: TS, Internet Broadcasting, Physical Sports, Devastation, Regret, Obsession, Academy, Harem, Pure Love, Yuri, NTR, NTL, Comedy, Evil Devastation, SF, Medieval]

“…Seriously, what is this?”

“…I really have no clue.”

“Let’s definitely not watch this one. I have a bad feeling about it.”

“I completely agree.”

While looking for other movies, I found a familiar name.

[Hero’s Office]

Something about it feels similar to our office name, giving me a sense of kinship. The content should be normal, right?

[TS Beam for the people in our office! With that power, we’ll conquer our office!]

I immediately looked away to find another movie. Then I spotted a title that seemed somewhat familiar.

[Still Living On]

[TS Beam for me! With that power, I’ll conquer internet broadcasting!]

…Let’s try another.

[A First-Class Chef’s Culinary Journey]

Finally, it seems like I’ve found a normal movie. But I shouldn’t let my guard down. For all I know, they might shoot a TS Beam at the chef and conquer cooking.

[TS Beam for the food I cook! With that power, I’ll conquer aliens!]

“Should we just do something else instead of watching a movie?”

“Why don’t we look a little more?”

“I don’t think we’ll find anything normal even if we keep looking.”

“That’s true, but we don’t have anything else to do.”

I wanted to leave this cursed place immediately, but decided to keep looking just in case.

During this painful search, I found a movie with a title that was a red flag from the start.

[Woohoo www Super Rare Magic Get It www]

At this point, I’m curious about the description. Will they shoot a TS Beam at magic this time? Or will they simply shoot it at a magician?

With these expectations, I checked the description, but it was completely different from what I anticipated.

[A magician with no talent for magic and a one-armed swordsman set out on a journey to defeat the Demon King. This is the story of the noble love that blossoms during their journey.]

Surprisingly, the description was normal. But I still couldn’t relax. Let’s check the tags as a final confirmation.

[Tags: Fantasy, Pure Love]

Seeing these tags, my trust skyrocketed. It’s amazing how just two tags can inspire such confidence.

Just as I was about to ask Ju-an what he thought of this movie, I noticed the review section. Let’s check this one last thing before deciding.

[Movie Review: Garbage / Author – Leo]

…Why is Leo the most recent reviewer? If Leo said something like that, there must be some flaw in the content.

[Garbage movie. They claim to have thoroughly researched magic, but none of the research is accurate.

Below is a list of inaccuracies:

1. There are three awkward circuits in the magic circle for ‘Fireball’.

2. In the work, it should take at least 70 years for an intermediate mage to cast the highest-level magic ‘Meteor’, but in the film, it’s cast in just 10 minutes.

3. Magic doesn’t become more powerful just because feelings are put into it. But in the film, there’s nonsense about magic becoming stronger through the power of love.]

There were over 100 points of criticism, but strangely, nothing about the actual plot of the movie.

To fill over 100 points just with inaccuracies about magic—neither Leo who discovered these errors nor the production company that made them seems to be in their right mind.

As I skimmed through, I reached the final point.

[But even this trash movie got one thing right: the treatment the protagonist receives from the tower master at the magic tower.

‘Even talented ones have to rot in the magic tower for 10 years to barely become intermediate mages. But someone without talent like you would need to stay for 30 years to barely become an intermediate mage. So shut up and write your thesis.’

They perfectly captured the disgusting behavior of the tower master who forcibly keeps people at the magic tower, talking about passion and whatnot. I stood up and gave a standing ovation for this part.

I was so focused on the magic that I’m not sure about the movie’s story. But judging by the magic standards, this movie is definitely garbage.]

It was a completely meaningless review that only pointed out inaccuracies in the magical research without evaluating the actual content of the work. So I immediately looked for other reviews.

After reading 3-4 other reviews, I concluded that this movie was worth watching.

“Ju-an, how about this one?”

“Woohoo www Super Rare Magic Get It www…? The title is really weird…”

“According to the reviews, the content is good despite the strange title.”

“What’s it about?”

“Just a romantic fantasy.”

Ju-an hesitated for a moment, looking somewhat displeased, before speaking.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Is there anything else worth watching?”

“Not really.”

“Then we have to watch this, what else can we do?”

“Alright, I’ll trust you for now.”

Though he said he trusted me, Ju-an still looked at me suspiciously.

Honestly, I’m not thrilled about it either. But there’s nothing else to watch, so what can we do?

So we went ahead and bought tickets. The reviews were mostly positive, so it should be fine.

“We still have some time before the movie starts. Want to get some popcorn?”

“Will we be able to finish it all?”

“We can eat it together. Then we definitely won’t have any leftovers.”

“I guess that works.”

After buying popcorn, we entered the theater. There, an unusual sight greeted us.

There were huge seats labeled “Orc Exclusive” and small seats labeled “Dwarf Exclusive.”

“Do orcs and dwarves actually exist?”

Elves and beastkin are common enough that you can see them passing by occasionally. But I’ve never seen orcs or dwarves on the streets.

“Different races tend to live in their own communities. That’s probably why you don’t see them much.”

“Then why do we see elves and beastkin so often?”

“Those races have similar body types and eating habits to us humans. But orcs are very different from humans, both in size and culture.”

“But is there really a need to live separately?”

“There are language differences, and their eating habits and cultures are very different. So it’s probably just more comfortable for them to live together.”

Is it something like Chinatown? If so, I understand why there aren’t many people.

Chatting about such things, we found our seats just as the lights in the theater dimmed. The movie will start soon.

Although I said I didn’t have high expectations, I’m still excited since this is the first movie I’m watching since coming to this world.

After a few advertisements, the movie finally began.