Movie ratings

"Pearl?"

"Just as I thought." Wei Yanchi's fingers curled slightly. He coughed, then said after some thought, "Our theater was showing The Lion King, a g rating film. It looks like there should be two more theaters. Maybe the movies being shown are clues to clearing this place."

Pearl was a slasher film from Country M, part of the X Series, which consisted of three films. It told the story of a girl born on a farm who killed her parents so she could enter a dance competition, then killed her lover and her sister-in-law after failing the audition. Its theme seemed to be how society's suppression of human nature drove women in Country M to erupt, though everyone had their own interpretation.

The previous film was called X. Pearl was both its sequel and its prequel.

Unlike that oppressive, bloody film, The Lion King was an animated movie about love and courage.

Early on, Country M had classified movies by rating because their content and target audiences differed. From lowest to highest, these were the g rating (general audiences), m rating (parental guidance), r rating (restricted), and x rating (strictly restricted).

After this rating system was introduced, many pornographic films, horror movies, and dark, violent films flooded Country M's movie market under the banner of X.

But as movie themes became increasingly complex and required more categories, that rating system was abolished.

As for the previous film being called X, the title fit its theme, marked a stage position, and drew attention.

The reason Wei Yanchi thought this cinema had four theaters was precisely because of Country M's old rating system. Xie De had been unlucky enough to land in the x rating theater right from the start.

Wei Yanchi and the others' theater had been showing the g rating animated film The Lion King. Although the atmosphere was still eerie, it was nowhere near as frightening as the x rating one.

It had merely played the scene of the monkey holding up the lion cub over and over. Since it was a childhood memory and they were familiar with the plot, opening the door had been easy.

"Now we need to find out what's playing in the other two theaters." Wei Yanchi looked at 39, paused, and continued, "This place looks pretty big, but it also feels dangerous. Maybe we should stick together and see if we can find them?"

By the time Xie De had listened to all that information about Country M's movie ratings, he had already given up thinking for himself and was once again impressed by the expert's ability to connect the dots.

Seeing Wei Yanchi asking him, he naturally nodded. He wanted nothing more than to stay with the expert. Being alone gave him no sense of security whatsoever. Besides, he really hadn't expected this Instance's theme to be movies, let alone movies that weren't all horror films. There was even an animated movie among them!

The Instance was definitely up to no good.

With a cigarette between his lips, Xie De walked irritably at the front. Beiwei squeezed past Wei Yanchi to follow him and said very quietly, "Mr. 39, I still don't have your contact information. Once we're out, I won't be able to reach you, so I might not be able to help you with anything. Besides, I still have Old Eugene's gold bars from the last Instance. How should I give them to you?"

Beiwei stuck to her usual style, showing no fear whatsoever, her face taut and expressionless.

Despite her cute looks, she went for a cyberpunk style, with accessories jingling all over her body, around her wrists and ankles. She even had a lip piercing.

But her eyes sparkled when she looked at Xie De, filled with an admiration and longing that she recognized and freely admitted.

"When I want to contact you, you'll receive a message," 39 said coldly.

That was indeed true. The Player Forum required real names, and with a cheat like 455 around, finding someone was easy.

As a result, Beiwei's gaze grew even more ardent.

She was probably letting her imagination run wild again. Xie De had no energy to deal with it for now. Let her imagine whatever she liked; it wasn't a bad thing, anyway. All he could think now was why this cinema was so big. And the farther they went, the more wrong it felt.

The cinema was enormous, its corridors forming a tangled maze. A layer of moss had grown over the carpet. As they walked, they saw that every movie poster hanging on the walls was for a film from before the eighties. There were no windows, and the overhead lights flickered. Everything seemed designed to make them uneasy.

A woman suddenly appeared ahead. The flickering lights made her features impossible to see. Xie De's hand clenched tightly around the gun in his pocket. He was scared, but his legs had gone weak, and three people stood in the corridor behind him. He had nowhere to retreat.

The woman facing them snapped her fingers three times.

"It's Yue Xiamo," Wei Yanchi said.

Sure enough, Yue Xiamo approached in a long dress, with all sorts of bangles around her wrists. They should have looked like decorations worn out of a love for beauty, but her expression made them seem like an array of deadly weapons.

Her face was pale. She quickly scanned their group and said, "My theater was playing a clip from Inception. Two newcomers fell asleep while running. They're pretty much dead by now."

"Inception?"

That was one of the few movies Xie De had seen. It told the story of a dream architect, Cobb, leading a team into other people's dreams to steal secrets from their subconscious. It was entertaining, mind-bending science fiction.

But having it appear in an Instance wasn't exactly reassuring...

Inception had a PG-13 movie rating. Under the old system, it could probably have been given an r rating or an m rating.

Xie De's face fell. He felt there was absolutely no way he could clear this place on his own.

Now there was only one theater left whose movie remained unknown.

Their group of five, four veteran players and one newcomer, continued forward in silence. Along the way, the faint clinking of Beiwei's jewelry could be heard.

Searching for something to say, Xie De asked, "455, why do you think they wear so many accessories into an Instance?"

Whatever 455 had been doing, it hadn't spoken for a long while. Now it replied as though it had suddenly come online.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. You know how clearing an Instance lets you bring in one weapon that isn't an Instance item? They might be exploiting a bug in the Instance, because accessories and clothing don't count as outside weapons. That means you can bring as many as you like, though you have to wear them for them to count."

"Host, look. Beiwei has ear piercings, a lip stud, and an eyebrow stud. Most of her accessories have pins in them. They might not just be accessories. Assembled together, they might make a weapon."

Xie De fell silent for a long moment. This time, he had only brought a gun and bullets into the Instance, along with his lighter and cigarettes.

The gun and bullets were both items given by the Instance.

The lighter and cigarettes counted together as one outside item.

He had originally wanted to bring the little house centipede, but that coward hadn't even dared to enter. It was a disgrace to such a terrifying appearance. He'd had no choice but to leave the little house centipede at home to watch the villain.

If anything treated as an accessory could be brought in freely, he would have tied a whip around his wrist had he known.

Speechless, Xie De asked, "Why didn't you tell me sooner? You'd better not tell me it's because I didn't ask."

"Uh, because the Instance discriminates by gender. Its detection system seems to assume that only girls need accessories. Turn around and look. The protagonist isn't wearing any either."

455 told him frankly, "Besides, what you need in an Instance is your wits. Find clues, make connections, and clear the Instance. You don't necessarily need that many weapons. One gun is enough. You know how lethal a gun is."