Chapter 25: Newly Released Movies and the Next Game

"Are seven crystals really that expensive?" On the screen, Lin Shao had just finished off two zombie dogs. Only then did he reluctantly turn his head and cast a dismissive glance at him. "Isn't it written right there by the door? Play if you want, leave if you don't. If you can't afford it, don't play. Don't disturb this young master while I'm killing monsters!"

"What the hell!" Li Kuan's face twitched. "What kind of attitude is that?"

"Only seven crystals? As if I can't afford that!" To his surprise, he had actually been looked down upon by a mere kid. A wave of irritation washed over Li Kuan's heart. After pondering for a moment, he ultimately called the owner over, pointed at the shop, and said, "Out of respect for Brother Liang, I shall reluctantly give it a try. But if I find out you are just playing tricks..."

Fang Qi said with a hint of impatience, "I've heard words like yours dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Try it if you want!"

"How dare you speak so arrogantly?!" Li Kuan put on a fierce expression and sneered, "Then we..."

"Then we what?!" The few warriors behind him were already cracking their knuckles and sneering in unison.

Li Kuan slapped the table and shouted in a righteous, booming voice, "Then we shall try it first!"

"...???" The few eager warriors behind him froze on the spot in utter bewilderment!

"...Wait... shouldn't we be talking about smashing the shop?" one warrior muttered under his breath.

"Didn't you hear the owner say he's heard that plenty of times? Using that line again won't work!" Li Kuan whispered back. "Since Brother Liang recommended it, we'll try it first. If we are truly unsatisfied, we can settle the score then."

"Makes sense!"

It just so happened that Lin Shao and his group were about to finish their session. Before long, the new group entered the game.

"Is this a creation of cultivators?! This is incredible?!"

The eyes of the men turned green with envy and excitement. They never expected that a few crystals could grant access to something so...

"Have I traveled to another world?!"

"What kind of monster is this?!"

"These weapons look far too exquisite and lifelike!"

Unwittingly, six hours had already slipped away.

"There is a time limit for playing this?!"

"It's already been six hours? I've damn well just killed a dozen zombies, and you're telling me six hours are up?"

"No way, I haven't even figured out what on earth is going on with these monsters! I have to play a bit longer!"

"Why do I feel like my strength has actually improved? No, let me try again!"

"This won't do! Since when is money refused from someone who wants to play?!"

At this moment, Xi Qi and the others waiting behind them had no idea how long they had been standing there. The entire crowd was now staring at the trio with glowing, eager eyes.

These newcomers clearly possessed no ordinary status, and their intense gazes made the trio feel a chill down their spines. They hurriedly looked toward Liang Shi, who stood nearby. "Brother Liang, what is going on here?"

"Brother Li, and fellow brothers, just leave when your time is up." Liang Shi gave a bitter smile, glancing at the queue of people waiting behind them as he explained, "Others are waiting to play."

"Waiting to play? Why should I care about them? On what grounds are you denying me my play?" Li Kuan said angrily. "Brother Liang, aren't you well-acquainted with this owner? I'll pay double the price, just let me play for two more hours!"

"Get the hell out of here!" Xi Qi cursed. "I would gladly pay five times the price to play for a whole day! Move your asses the moment your time is up! Talking about double the price, you sound just like a bumpkin entering the city."

"What did you just say, kid?!"

Li Kuan flared up instantly. Gripping his weapon, he looked ready to strike. Terrified, Liang Shi rushed to hold him back and said in a heavy voice, "Brother Li, if you cause trouble here, don't blame me, Liang Shi, for not standing by you!"

He pointed toward the small blackboard. "Causing trouble isn't as simple as losing six hours of playtime. This shop owner means what he says. The rules here are set in stone, no matter who comes!"

"Is it really the same no matter who comes?!" Li Kuan weighed the pros and cons. Finding a convenient excuse to back down, he snorted, "If that is truly the case, then I, Li, shall respect these rules! But if I ever find out later that the owner gives anyone special treatment, I will not be polite!"

Fang Qi let out a small laugh and shrugged his hands. "Suit yourselves."

Thinking it best not to put Liang Shi in a difficult position, Li Kuan and his men reluctantly stepped back from their seats, shouting loudly, "If the owner truly keeps the rules like this, then I shall grant you this face!"

The young man with the mustache had also finished his session a while ago. Still craving more, he remarked, "Owner, is it really impossible to play just a little longer?"

He was immensely interested in the vast array of novel items within the game, such as firearms and viruses. Yet, after only a brief moment, he was barred from playing?!

Fang Qi shook his head and smiled. "No exceptions."

The young man sighed softly. Indeed, several other players were standing beside him, staring expectantly for him to vacate the seat. He rose from the chair and pointed to the computer before him. "I like these spiritual artifacts very much. Is the owner willing to sell them?"

Fang Qi paused for a moment. He had initially thought the man was just here to play games, never expecting him to eye the computers themselves.

Fang Qi shook his head. "I have no plans to sell these items for the time being."

The mustached young man smiled and said, "To be frank, the place where I reside is quite remote. I only came to Jiuhua City recently to visit a friend, which is how I heard of such a place."

"I am quite interested in Owner Fang's game, but traveling back and forth is truly troublesome. I might as well buy a few sets. I know these things must be extremely costly to make, so regarding the price, everything is negotiable."

He held up two fingers. "Two thousand crystals for one set of this spiritual artifact. How about it?"

Hearing the figure of two thousand crystals, Fang Qi was slightly moved. If this had been the past, he probably would have sold them on the spot.

However, with only eleven computers now, he had already earned over seven hundred crystals in just a few days. Two thousand crystals was no longer an astronomical sum to him. Furthermore, he would not kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. "I run an internet cafe, not a spiritual artifact shop. If you want to play, you are welcome to come to the store."

"Is that so?" The young man sighed softly, as though he had long anticipated this outcome. "Thank you, Owner."

Accompanied by the two people who came with him, the mustached young man departed.

"Speaking of which... I also want to buy a few sets of these spiritual artifacts to take back." Xu Zixin, who was currently guiding Shen Qingqing through her game, had clearly overheard the conversation. She chuckled and asked, "Will the owner really not consider it?"

Fang Qi simply smiled and did not offer a reply.

Knowing this would be the result, Xu Zixin was not particularly disappointed. Dropping the topic, she asked instead, "I wonder if the owner will have other games here in the future, perhaps ones closer to our own world?"

Fang Qi thought about it. If it were a world similar to this one, there actually seemed to be options, such as Legend of Sword and Fairy, which was a world where both cultivators and warriors coexisted.

Fang Qi replied, "There will be in the future."

...

The next day, looking at the quest list, his total revenue quest progress had reached 763,800.

This meant that the quest was on the verge of completion!

"Why did you two arrive so early today?" Because they had come late the previous day and found no vacant seats, Xu Zixin and Shen Qingqing arrived at 7:30 AM today. They originally thought they would absolutely be the earliest, but upon arrival, they found a row of people already standing before the shop door.

Song Qingfeng and his companions had arrived at some unknown time, looking as though they had been waiting for a while.

She frowned. "Wasn't it said that the owner hasn't been opening the door on time these past few days?"

"Surely it won't be the case today..." Hearing this, Lin Shao said with some uncertainty, "The owner can't possibly be having a breakthrough every single day, right?"

"The owner mentioned that the Resident Evil 1 Movie Version would be released today." A single game was already so captivating; what could a movie version possibly be? This left Song Qingfeng incredibly curious, which was why he had arrived far too early today. "It just so happens there are no classes this morning, so I rushed over to check out the new content."

"The movie version comes out today?" Xu Zixin's interest was piqued, and she smiled. "Then I really came at the perfect time."

Just at that moment, the crowd saw the shop door suddenly swing open.

"The owner opened the door so early today?"

"You all are quite early as well," Fang Qi remarked as he looked outside, slightly stunned. He had thought he was early enough today, but he hadn't expected a circle of people to be waiting outside already.

It was just a different group of people; yesterday it was Liang Shi and his companions, while today it was Song Qingfeng.

After paying the fee, the few individuals immediately found seats and sat down. "Owner, didn't you say the movie version would be released today? We didn't come too early, did we?"

"Of course not!"

Quest: Total internet cafe revenue reaches 800 crystals.

Quest Progress: 800/800 (Completed).

Quest Reward: Resident Evil 1 Movie Version

Meanwhile, Fang Qi received new tasks.

New Task 1: Sell 50 and 100 movie tickets for Resident Evil One: Movie Edition.

Task Reward: Diablo Two Virtual Reality Remastered, Act One and Act Two.

New Task 2: Cybercafe Upgrade.

Task Description: Due to the limited space, this establishment can no longer accommodate more computers. The host is requested to expand the area as soon as possible.

Task Reward: Upon completion, this cybercafe will be upgraded once again, and the number of computers will increase.

Indeed, his storefront was not large to begin with, and arranging eleven computers had already made it feel rather cramped. If more were added, it would severely impact the internet environment.

To expand the storefront, he would have to wait until he could acquire the neighboring shop before making further plans. Fortunately, he was already considering this matter, and now he only needed to wait for Auntie Wang to help him contact the owner.

Although anything produced by the system was guaranteed to be a masterpiece, Fang Qi still felt a hint of trepidation regarding the movie. After all, he had not even watched a preview himself, yet he was expected to sell so many tickets?

One had to know that a single ticket represented at least one new customer! At present, the store's regular clientele only amounted to about half that number.

"Will this actually work?" A movie was not a game, after all; there were no monsters to kill and no levels to gain. If the price were cheap, it might pass, but at a price like this, Fang Qi could not fathom how he was going to sell these tickets.

"Produced by this system, absolutely honest and without deceit!"

"Is that so?" Fang Qi pursed his lips in mild skepticism.

Soon, the group noticed an icon appearing on the computer screen, roughly the size of the monitor itself, labeled: Super Cinema.

"Super Cinema?" Perplexed, they clicked it open, and a poster immediately materialized on the large screen. The protagonist, Alice, looked heroic and spirited in a red dress and black boots. The entire poster, including her attire, was cast in a blood-like crimson, evoking an indescribable atmosphere of terror.

The problem was that although the person displayed was a beauty, she seemed completely unrecognizable.

Below hung a prominent viewing price: 3 crystals.

It was slightly cheaper than the price of a game.

Song Qingfeng asked in confusion, "Boss, is this another novel? Why is even the protagonist different?"

Fang Qi explained, "Although you can think of Resident Evil One as a biographical novel, it features more than just one protagonist. As for the movie edition, you can understand it as watching this biographical novel through virtual reality."

"Multiple protagonists?" The group was clearly a bit disappointed. "Watch? We can't play it?"

Fang Qi shook his head.

"We can't even play it ourselves..." Song Qingfeng looked at Fang Qi with a face full of gloom. "And what's the point of watching if even the protagonist has changed..."

"I'll just stick to playing my own Resident Evil One and strive to clear it soon." Song Qingfeng felt rather disappointed. He had originally wanted to know the subsequent plot, but who would have thought that even the protagonist had changed? Besides, how could watching compare to the fun of playing it yourself?

Fang Qi felt a wave of dejection and spoke to the system, "Just a promotional poster? Can't you provide a trailer or something?"

"True quality requires no such things."

"..." Fang Qi advised earnestly, "Don't you know the old saying, 'Even the aroma of fine wine fears the deep alley'?"

"The original saying is, 'The aroma of fine wine fears no deep alley'."

"..." Fang Qi looked thoroughly vexed. It was actually acting arrogant now!?

"If you won't watch it, then I'll watch it myself first." Fang Qi could only shrug his shoulders helplessly.

"Give me a ticket as well!" Xu Zixin directly paid three crystals.

"You're going to watch it even though the protagonist has changed?" As loyal gamers, Song Qingfeng and the others cast looks of disdain.

.