CH 7

When Ji Ning woke up from his coma, it was already noon the next day.

He sat up from the bed in a daze, glancing at the blinking terminal on his wrist. The crew had left a message to say that filming had been suspended for the day and they would continue filming after confirming the safety of the set. 

In addition, the director and Gu Chen had sent him private messages. The director said he had come to visit Ji Ning but was stopped by his friend, so wanted to check up on him, and Gu Chen had left a similar message.

Staring at these messages, Ji Ning’s unsettled thoughts gradually became smoother. Before he could reply to them, he suddenly recalled what had happened before he fainted – Huo Wuling had appeared again and it was Herinos who saved him.

The cold he had felt at that time still echoed in his chest. Ji Ning touched his heart subconsciously. Although the system Future had said he could be resurrected, he couldn’t help but feel lucky he had managed to escape from death.

Reflecting, Ji Ning found that his memory had been read and modified by Herinos again. Herinos must have suspected that he knew Huo Wuling, or had some other doubts. He had probably checked his memory to confirm the relationship between the two of them. 

Ji Ning was unconscious at the time and couldn’t do anything about it, so it was Future who had intercepted the reading of Ji Ning’s memory and created false memories to give to Herinos. This ensured not only that Herinos didn’t discover any information about transmigration that he shouldn’t know, but also that he believed Ji Ning didn’t know who Huo Wuling was. Because of this, it seemed Herinos had tried to alter Ji Ning’s memory again, erasing the fact that Huo Wuling had come last night.

Ji Ning guessed that it was out of affection for him; to remove any traumatic memories Huo Wuling might have caused, but he was also certain that Herinos would investigate Huo Wuling secretly.

On the other hand, Huo Wuling might also be looking for Herinos…

With this thought in mind, Ji Ning mentally called out to Future, to communicate with him about the situation. Although it was unlikely, he still wanted to make certain these protagonists wouldn’t find out about time travel or novel transmigration.

【The investigation is still ongoing. The cause of the error is unknown at present. The only certainty is that all the planes you have previously entered are merging.】

The voice of Future was as cold as ever.

【The appearances of both Huo Wuling and Herinos in this world are as a result of the fusion of the planes.】

「You said the planes are merging?」 

Ji Ning was slightly startled.

「If Herinos and Huo Wuling realise that neither of them originally belong to this world, couldn’t they work out other details regarding transmigration?」

【This will not happen.】Future said,【When the planes merge, their worlds will be distributed across different star systems within this universe, at most they would guess the other is from a different galaxy.】

Hearing this explanation, Ji Ning nodded and relaxed slightly, asking,「Does that mean characters from the other novels could appear?」 

【Yes.】answered Future,【The fusion of these planes and their universes to this one will create a distortion in time and space. The earthquake you experienced was caused by plane fusion, and as the fusion continues it will create more serious problems.】

「What happens when the planes completely fuse together?」

【You will remain trapped in this universe, unable to return to the real world.】

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But if possible he would still like to break his power seal as soon as possible. According to Future’s calculations, he could meet other protagonists at any point in the future. Although Huo Wuling was the most terrifying, it didn’t mean the other protagonists were easy to get along with. On the contrary, they were all extremely difficult to deal with.

So he asked,「Then my power seal? Since you want me to help, shouldn’t you break the seal for me?」

【They rejected the first application on the grounds that the need for your assistance was only a theoretical possibility.】Future responded,【I have submitted a second application and am waiting for a reply.】 

「I see.」

Ji Ning guessed that before the system operator found out the reason for the planes merging, he wouldn’t receive approval to break his power seal. It seemed that before then, he would have to rely on Herinos’ power to protect himself.

They said previously that it would only take a week to solve the error. But could they really sort this in a week? Ji Ning already felt that he had no confidence in this.

【I will contact you if there is any progress.】said Future. 

「Thank you Future.」

Ji Ning responded, cutting the connection between them. Although Future was only an artificial intelligence system, the two of them had experienced many different worlds together. They had always had a good relationship and he could tell that Future was worried about his safety.

Even though he and Future had communicated a lot, in reality only a few seconds had passed. Sensing the movement of Ji Ning waking up, Herinos, who sat to the side with an ancient looking book, closed the book and moved closer. Concerned, he asked, “How do you feel?”

According to the memory altered by Herinos, Ji Ning had woken from a nightmare in the middle of the night feeling uncomfortable. He had then taken medicine and slept until now. Ji Ning did actually feel drained, an aftereffect of being touched by Huo Wuling’s power. 

“I’m alright.”

Ji Ning shook his head and used the terminal to respond to the crew, director, and Gu Chen, telling them he was fine.

“I will be there during filming tomorrow. I’ve discussed it with the crew and they’ve agreed.” Herinos stroked Ji Ning’s hair and smiled, “Your condition is worrying and I won’t feel at ease if I can’t follow you.”

Ji Ning looked up at him, guessing that this so-called ‘discussion’ was probably Herinos using his power of suggestion, but this was exactly what he wanted. If Herinos hadn’t insisted on going, he would have had to find a way to make him. 

Ji Ning spent the day resting. In the evening, the director personally visited him to check his condition. After checking that Ji Ning was alright, the director said the central optical brain confirmed it was highly unlikely for another earthquake to occur so soon. As the studio had been repaired and strengthened, they would continue filming the next day.

The next morning, the cast and the crew arrived early at the location. Because of Herinos’ suggestion, the others showed no objections to Ji Ning’s entourage and he seamlessly blended into the crew.

“Good morning Senior, have you had a good rest these two days?”

Gu Chen smiled brightly, taking the initiative to greet Ji Ning. Even in the face of Herinos’ cold gaze, the smile on his face didn’t fade at all. 

In front of everyone, of course, Ji Ning would continue his act, maintaining his cold persona. He gave Gu Chen a nod in greeting but didn’t speak. Faced with his attitude, several rookie actors who had wanted to speak to him became hesitant, but Gu Chen didn’t seem to mind and continued talking to Ji Ning.

However, before they could exchange more than a few words, Herinos put his arms around Ji Ning’s shoulders and pulled him close, blocking his eyes with his hands so he couldn’t see Gu Chen.

“Xiao Ning, didn’t you say you still needed to read the script?”

Herinos intimately held Ji Ning, glanced at Gu Chen absently, then said to Ji Ning with a smile, “I’ll play along with you.” 

“Ok.”

Naturally, Ji Ning couldn’t refuse, he slightly raised the corners of his lips and nodded.

His smile was slight, but it was extremely good looking. As if the ice had melted, his cold expression softened, revealing a gentle face that several of the newcomers were unable to look away from.

This was the first time they had seen Ji Ning smiling. After all, they were filming a horror movie and there had been no reason for him to smile before. 

“The two of them have a really good relationship.”

The newcomers gathered together and muttered a few words, the sound wasn’t loud but it was audible to Gu Chen.

“…”

Gu Chen’s expression didn’t change, but he lowered his head, looking away from the two people leaning against each other and left. 

Once the crew had finished preparing, the filming of ‘Ghost Mansion’ began again inside the old house. The actors took their place within the holographically simulated forest outside the building, whilst the crew positioned themselves closer than before, to prevent the unexpected situation that had occured last time.

Due to his power of suggestion, Herinos had also joined the crew, watching the practice shots filmed by the cameras alongside the director. He was unaffected by the exposure to sunlight. As a descendant of the royal vampire bloodline, the rays couldn’t harm him.

The recordings captured previously had been destroyed when the invisible cameras failed, therefore the film had to be shot from the beginning. Without Huo Wuling, the filming went smoothly and after only a few days, they were preparing to film the final scenes.

According to the plotline, the group was chased by ghosts and killed off one by one, until only the three characters played by Ji Ning, Gu Chen, and the female lead remained. 

In fact, according to the original script of ‘Ghost Mansion’, the role played by Gu Chen should have died a few scenes back, but Gu Chen had performed so well in previous shots that the director has specially revised the script to give him a bigger role.

The director had not informed Ji Ning and the female actress about the revised script, but since Ji Ning had read the entire plot of ‘Rebirth of the Interstellar Actor’ he knew that Gu Chen would play the final boss of the film, after ‘Li Gui’ his character becomes possessed by a ghost.

“Huh, huh…”

Chased by the ghost, the three of them raced inside the dark basement, blocked the door, and sprinkled a circle of salt they had desperately stolen from the kitchen, trapping the ghost outside the door. 

Inside the hastily drawn salt circle, Ji Ning and the female lead finally felt safe and slumped down, knowing the ghosts were unable to cross the line.

They would never have thought that inside of their salt circle, the most deadly terror was already among them, as it was them who had personally invited the ghost to their refuge, and so on…

Following the script, Ji Ning lowered his head and gasped as he noticed the oil lamp they had found earlier in the scene was emitting a faint light into the darkness.

“…” 

Ji Ning suddenly felt a little nervous and his spine went rigid. He knew from the original novel that in the next scene, Gu Chen’s character ‘Li Gui’ would reveal his true colours and stab him with a knife.

Although the knife in Gu Chen’s hand was a simulated holographic projection, in order to achieve a realistic reaction, the projection would simulate a certain amount of pain in Ji Ning’s body. Ji Ning was still a little afraid of pain.

It was almost time…

Ji Ning counted down the seconds in his heart, and gripped at the sleeves of his shirt to prevent himself from instinctively dodging the knife. But before he had fully prepared himself, he heard a soft ‘pfft’ sound. 

It was the sound of a knife piercing a body, but it didn’t come from him.

Ji Ning was taken aback. As soon as he raised his head a spray of blood splattered across his face. The actress’s expression was a little dull as she silently fell to the ground, a knife sticking out of her chest.

A blood-stained hand stretched towards him, his fingers icy cold and unnaturally pale as he tilted Ji Ning’s chin up. Slowly, Gu Chen’s figure entered his eyes.

The handsome man looked down at him, then gently wiped away the blood from his face, smiling. 

“At last…I can have you.”

The comments on JJWXC are so funny for this chapter. Here are my personal highlights:

‘Female lead: …I’m so angry, I’m the female lead but I’ve been fed a lunchbox by you gays’

‘Female lead: what use are gays (－‸ლ)’ 

Poor female lead, if only Ji Ning wasn’t so pretty.