The shop smelled of plastic wrapping and old paper.
Behind the counter, the owner held a disc binder, searching through it as he asked, "Disaster movies are pretty niche. What kind are you looking for?"
"Viral infections, mutated beasts, alien invasions... the kind where ordinary people try to survive before the end of the world..."
"Got it, got it. Hang on, I'll find you some."
Standing in the shop, Su Jin kept scanning the wall of movies.
They were only movie covers, but they offered quite a bit of information.
Movies could essentially be seen as a condensed slice of society.
He had come to rent disaster movies partly to get a clearer idea of how this world approached disasters.
If a disaster really struck, digging through real-world reference materials himself might be nowhere near as quick as absorbing information from movies.
He had spoken with Fu Qingdai before, and she had said she often rented discs to watch cartoons at home.
When he had the chance, he could visit her place and borrow her disc player.
But judging by what the owner said, disaster movies seemed pretty niche in this world... most of the movie posters on the wall featured people kissing.
That wasn't surprising. There probably weren't any films with particularly impressive special effects. Filmmaking technology hadn't developed that quickly, and their technical capabilities weren't there yet.
Two minutes later, the owner emerged from behind the counter with three discs.
He handed them to Su Jin. "Here, these three will definitely fit the bill!"
"Only three?" Su Jin took the discs and examined them. "They're covered in scratches. They won't skip, will they?"
"Just these three. Don't worry. If they skip, I'll refund you." The owner smiled. "Buddy, after all these years in the business, you think I don't know what you're after? I like this kind too. The others don't quite cut it. These three have no romance, just pure disaster!"
"You know your stuff! How much to rent them?"
"Same price as the sign outside. Five per disc, with a deposit of ten."
"All right, I'll take them all."
Su Jin readily took out his money. The owner put it away and smiled. "Want anything else? I've got all the latest releases. Guaranteed to satisfy!"
"Pick me a historical movie, a contemporary one, and a military war movie too. They have to be realistic. I don't want any trash."
"Don't worry, buddy. I don't stock trash!" The owner turned around, picked up the disc binder, and started searching again.
Before long, Su Jin had another three discs in his hands. He briefly checked the covers and took out his money. "Not bad. I'll take them all."
"Want to look at anything else?" the owner asked with a smile.
Plenty of people rented discs, but they usually rented only one or two, dithering around the shop for half an hour before deciding.
This young man was interesting. He didn't fuss over anything and made his choices straight away. He was probably a seasoned movie buff.
"Hmm..." Su Jin's eyebrows twitched. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Hey, buddy... got any... you know?"
The owner raised an eyebrow, unconsciously lowering his voice too. "Any what?"
"The good stuff."
"Of course I've got good stuff. All my movies are good."
"That kind of good stuff."
"Nope. I run a respectable business here." The owner straightened up and shook his head.
Su Jin stared at him and clicked his tongue. "Come on, buddy. I've already rented six discs from you, and I'll be back for more."
The owner looked Su Jin up and down, then ventured, "What type are you after?"
"Pretty girls, something exciting... I'm serious about buying, don't worry. But let's get one thing straight first: you have to let me preview it. I don't trust the covers."
Doesn't trust the covers... this guy knows his porn.
After thinking for a few seconds, the owner nodded. "All right. Come with me."
Su Jin followed the owner through another door in the shop.
Behind it was a small, sparsely furnished room, with a mattress on the floor and a low table holding a bulky old television. Clothes and disc cases littered the floor. It looked like the owner lived there.
The owner bent down, picked up a disc binder from the floor, and opened it for Su Jin. "Here, pick one yourself. Twenty each. Sales only, no rentals."
Su Jin flipped through the discs in the binder, all covered in pictures of swimsuit-clad beauties. After looking through them once, he asked, "Are these actually dirty enough?"
The owner laughed. "Buddy, that's a new one! If porn discs weren't pornographic, wouldn't that be a crime?"
"All right, pick one and let me see."
"No problem. Everything here is top quality. You'll know once you watch!"
The owner pulled out a disc at random, stuck his backside out, and slid it into a device that looked like a VCD player.
The machine whirred as it read the disc, and a picture appeared on the old, bulky television.
"I'll skip ahead for you." The owner picked up the remote, pointed it at the television, and fast-forwarded.
As the video advanced and its content flashed past, Su Jin watched closely.
The two people on-screen were going at it with gusto, their battle exactly as he had imagined.
Honestly, though, material at this level was nothing to a veteran like him, long hardened by exposure to Japanese adult entertainment.
But when the camera began zooming in, Su Jin immediately widened his eyes and moved closer to the television.
Right then, a close-up of the action appeared!
Closer, then closer still. Every detail was perfectly clear.
Seeing Su Jin practically pressed against the television, the owner's smile slowly faded. He reached out and patted Su Jin on the lower back.
"Hey, hey, hey! Buddy, is that really necessary? You're practically climbing into it."
Su Jin raised his head and rubbed his eyes, inwardly pleased.
The anatomy on-screen was perfectly normal. They were ordinary humans, and even the shape of their muscles matched his recollections perfectly.
Their movements were all normal, technique-based movements too.
This provided further indirect confirmation of the strong similarities between this place and Earth.
If people really did turn into zombies, he would at least have some idea of what to expect. There probably wouldn't be any bizarre mutated organs.
"Sorry, I got a little carried away watching." Su Jin gave an awkward smile.
"What do you think of this one? Take it if you like it," the owner said, holding up the disc.
Su Jin shook his head and tightened his grip on his bag. "I'll pass for now. Maybe next time. Thanks, boss."
"This one's really good! Personally recommended by the owner! You were so into it just now, so why..." The owner stopped mid-sentence, his eyes going wide.
He stared straight at Su Jin's hand, hidden beneath his trench coat.
Under the coat, Su Jin seemed to move a couple of times before quickly going still again.
"Wait..." The owner tilted his head, blurting out in shock, "You're done already!?"
"What do you mean, I'm done..." Su Jin abruptly stopped. Following the owner's gaze, his face darkened.
"Thanks. May a good man like you live a long, peaceful life."
With that, he turned, left the room, and hurried out of the shop.
Left alone in the shop, the bewildered owner watched Su Jin retreat and burst into curses.
"What the fuck is wrong with kids these days! Three minutes? People mooch rides and meals, and now they're fucking mooching porn too!? Forget watching porn, go see a fucking doctor!"
Before you continue