Chapter 2549: Chapter 1707: Everything Is Ready (There’s No Spring Shadow in the Mobile Game)

The performance ended smoothly.

As for those two idiots crying their eyes out, Duanmu Huai moved them to a side room, so they didn’t cause any issues at the venue.

When they walked out of the room, both of their eyes were red, and they felt a bit embarrassed.

"Re-really sorry..."

Fukawa Shoko bowed her head apologetically to Duanmu Huai, but Duanmu Huai just waved it off.

"No need to apologize, I didn’t do much. I couldn’t just leave you two crying in the venue; that would be a bigger problem."

"Ugh... I’m really sorry!"

Fukawa Shoko’s face turned as red as a fire. Just thinking about how she lost her composure in front of everyone made her wish she could bury herself. Even Banai scratched her head awkwardly. Though their situations were different, maybe Shoko’s emotions resonated with her, causing her to break down too.

Though the reasons for their breakdowns were probably entirely different.

With Shoko’s personality, she’s not the type to wail and cry. But seeing Banai clutching her and crying so sadly, Shoko ended up feeling even sadder, and the two ended up crying together.

They did feel a lot better after crying, but it was really embarrassing.

"Everyone else has left, let me take you home."

Duanmu Huai checked her phone.

"My car has arrived. I’ve already talked to Ruoya Mu, and she left it to me to handle."

"Ah, right now it’s..."

Only then did Fukawa Shoko notice how quiet it was around. Even though the concert ended, there should have been some guests lingering around, but there seemed to be no one.

"You guys can really cry. One hour straight, that’s impressive."

Hearing this, Fukawa Shoko felt even more ashamed, and Banai laughed heartily, followed by...

"Grumble..."

"Ah, my stomach’s growling."

For Banai, this was perfectly normal.

Afterwards, Duanmu Huai drove Banai and Fukawa Shoko home. Banai mentioned she’d go for a midnight snack, while for Fukawa Shoko...

"Sorry for the trouble, Miss Duanmu."

As she stepped out of the car, Fukawa Shoko bowed to Duanmu Huai again, and Duanmu Huai just shook her head.

"No need to be polite, by the way..."

"?"

"Never mind, it’s nothing."

Duanmu Huai shook her head, then looked away as the car moved away from the dilapidated apartment complex where Fukawa Shoko lived. Duanmu Huai sat in the back, staring blankly ahead—or rather, she was just watching the system dialog box in front of her.

[GM21345: Regarding the trial issue... I’m sorry, I can’t say more. It’s determined by the nature of the trial]

"I still don’t understand this nature."

Duanmu Huai shook her head silently. Whenever she had free time, she would complain to the GM and occasionally chat with them. Of course, Duanmu Huai also tried to get information about this trial world’s ’clear conditions’ from the GM, but no matter how many GMs she asked, their answer was always unclear or unspeakable.

[GM21345: I’ve already asked my father... superior, and they only gave one hint]

"What’s the hint?"

"[GM21345: With so many girls, it’s easy to clear... that’s the message]

"So what if there are a lot of girls?"

Duanmu Huai rolled her eyes. Sure, there were many girls around her, but so what?

"I’m also a girl now. Are they suggesting I use my female identity to start a harem?"

[GM21345: It’s one strategy]

"What a bother. I think I’ll just stick to my own way."

Duanmu Huai shook her head. These answers weren’t much different from before. They only hinted that there were many girls around Duanmu Huai—but to Duanmu Huai, what’s the point of having many girls?

In the previous world, maybe she could have used it to her advantage, but in this world, she’s also a girl, and those girls around... well, there wasn’t really anything particularly noteworthy about them in Duanmu Huai’s eyes.

If anything, it’s that the girls in this world are quite talented singers and dancers.

But what’s the use of singing and dancing, really? They can’t fight evil gods, nor can they combat chaos. They might help maintain stability in the rear, but the Tribunal doesn’t even have a rear to speak of.

Letting them live in this world is probably the best choice.

[GM21345: But, the world’s trajectory is changing]

"How does that work?"

[GM21345: This is just a personal reminder. Since the user hasn’t followed the requirements of the trial world, the world might judge you as having different needs.]

"Of course, I have different needs."

Though it’s not about bringing the world to its end, Duanmu Huai still prefers to speak with fists. If the world could lean towards that level, it would naturally be a good thing for Duanmu Huai.

[GM21345: What I mean is, the world might judge you as having opposite needs.]

"What the hell are opposite needs... damn."

Even though the GM was being cryptic, Duanmu Huai understood what they meant.

The other side hinted earlier that everyone here is a girl, and that one way to clear the level seems to be by forming a harem.

But Duanmu Huai feels there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about the girls in this world.

So the trial world might think Duanmu Huai isn’t interested in girls.

Which means... it won’t throw a bunch of guys at me, will it?

Duanmu Huai knows there’s a type of game akin to girl games with corresponding elements to pretty girl games. Simply put, a pretty girl game is about a male protagonist pursuing a group of pretty girls, while a girl game is about a female protagonist pursuing a bunch of men. Does the world think Duanmu has no interest in the former, hence assumes interest in the latter?

What nonsense is this?

If a bunch of handsome guys were to appear before him, Duanmu Huai would absolutely make them bleed and leave corpses everywhere.

The thought of opening his eyes to a bunch of handsome guys saying "Miss, time to wake up," makes Duanmu Huai’s hair stand on end!

This won’t do, absolutely not!

Thinking of this, Duanmu Huai silently resolved that this time, the movie must succeed!

No room for failure!

To others, they had no idea what Duanmu Huai was contemplating, all they noticed was that afterward, Duanmu Huai surprisingly became enthusiastic about promoting the movie. The previous programs were forced due to contracts, but now, Duanmu Huai unexpectedly actively expressed willingness to do more promotions!

To those familiar with Duanmu Huai, this was like the sun rising from the west!

Of course, some believed that since this movie was a global simultaneous release, it was a big deal, even Duanmu Huai would be nervous... To this, Duanmu Huai didn’t say much, but either way, this movie must succeed! Then he’d have enough strength to destroy the subspace and the monsters inside, which would hopefully clear the level!

Though the GM had already told Duanmu Huai that forming a harem by pursuing girls was one way to clear the level, Duanmu Huai also knew the implied meaning: it’s only one of the methods.

Just like in RPG games, facing a heavily guarded fortress, players can choose to sneak in, disguise as soldiers, or charge in directly.

Duanmu Huai prefers the latter, but that doesn’t mean the first two methods can’t clear the level.

Ultimately, it’s all about the methods.

In short, no matter what, don’t throw me into a world full of handsome guys, Duanmu Huai really can’t stand that. Basically, just seeing handsome guys puts him in a bad mood. The entertainment industry is full of handsome guys, making Duanmu Huai perpetually unhappy, and it gets worse if they come directly to him.

Thus, Duanmu Huai’s schedule unexpectedly became busy, and of course, he brought people in to help.

Needless to say, it was Fukawa Shoko.

Although B-Komachi’s martial arts convention needed manpower too, the movie was the top priority for now, so Fukawa Shoko followed Duanmu Huai, in charge of checking and managing affairs, reporting program arrangements, among other tasks.

Of course, having more work became a bit annoying for Duanmu Huai.

After this, the days passed by one by one.

Finally, as summer vacation arrived, Duanmu Huai’s movie was released.

To put it simply, the response was quite positive.

As a popcorn-level movie, it perfectly fulfilled its mission, offering audiences a visual feast. Naturally, film critics weren’t too fond of it, which wasn’t surprising. After all, it wasn’t the type of artistic film reliant on plot that fitted critics’ tastes. It simply presented explosions, battles, gore, and excitement to the viewers as a popcorn movie.

But the reason this movie attracted attention wasn’t just because it had decent quality, but because of the bloopers at the end.

Generally, the credits at the end of a movie don’t have much to show, but Duanmu Huai persuaded Director Qing Shui to play some fighting scenes filmed on set as bloopers.

This way, audiences could see the behind-the-scenes moments of the movie.

For movies purely built on CGI, the bloopers aren’t interesting. After all, when viewers see those "thrilling scenes" were actually completed against a green screen, it creates a feeling of "being fooled." However, since this movie employed a lot of real-shot scenes, it wasn’t an issue.

Especially the scene where Duanmu Huai, clad in armor, jumped off from the rooftop. In the movie, it left a deep impression, but when viewers saw this scene captured through various camera angles in the bloopers, the impact was even more profound. Moreover, at that time Duanmu Huai truly hit the ground hard, without any tricks.

Especially when the camera further captured Duanmu Huai removing his helmet, gesturing to show he was okay, leaving even deeper impressions on the audience.

From box office, discussion frequency, and hype perspective, this movie met Duanmu Huai’s expectations. Not only globally recognized but also earned quite a lot. Domestic critics and magazines were full of praises. But to Duanmu Huai, none of these mattered. What he hoped was for the movie to create enough resonance in the subspace as he expected.

As for the result...

Duanmu Huai lifted his head, looking out the car window. Out there, one could faintly see the remnants of the mental hospital’s reflection.

The moment to verify it was near.