Chapter 201 (2): The Same Cinema, the Same Screening Room

“A higher lifeform can change the life essence of a lower existence...”

Wayne tightened his arms around the beautiful elf. He knew that his existence was advanced, having copied—no, referenced the form of an ancient god. However, Filomina wasn’t his follower. Why would she evolve to resemble him? Was it just because she had let him enter her? Or was it because she had lowered her mental guard?

Forget the first possibility. The second one was likely the answer.

The more Wayne thought about it, the more curious he became, and the more he felt the urge to explore the possibility of creating a religion to become a god. That was a distant possibility, though. He should focus on becoming a Gold-ranked mage first!

Moreover, Filomina was a single case. She could very well be an exception. He would have to test it on someone else when he had the chance, like Mona!

She was obedient and definitely wouldn’t reject being reshaped by her master.

Since his transformed state strayed far from the mainstream standard of beauty—especially from his own standard—he decided to proceed one cautious step at a time.

Wait, I seem to resemble the original angels in this state. If I corrupt Mona with my thoughts, will I turn her into a manmade angel?

His imagination ran wild, coming up with various possibilities. Those chaotic thoughts influenced Filomina and distorted her facial features. She almost underwent metamorphosis and lost her human appearance.

Wayne hurriedly stopped himself from imagining things, reaffirming to Filomina that she should maintain her human form. However, the more he told himself not to think about the pink tentacle monster, the more he thought about it. His struggle was torture to Filomina. By the end of it, her thoughts were thoroughly abused.

The dark domain was empty and did not reflect the passage of time. When Filomina woke up, it was morning.

The Gate of Truth closed, and the lunar phase cards lost their contents to Wayne. She rose to her feet, feeling her sore body protesting. She realized that she had broken out of her elven transformation at some point.

And she had lost the white shirt.

“Jerk, won’t even let me keep the shirt? You’re so stingy.”

She stumbled out of the dark domain. When she saw her young boyfriend in her bedroom, she forgot about maintaining her composure and threw herself at him.

“At least you didn’t leave as I expected.”

“Of course I didn’t. I...”

“You’ve never stayed the night before!”

“In the future, I’ll... stay the night every once in a while.”

Wayne picked the High Reverend up and kicked the bathroom door open. “How do you feel? Have you become a legendary mage?”

“Not so quick. It should take at least three months...” Filomina trailed off, looking at her hands in surprise. She sensed something different about her body. Cocking her head, she asked, “You didn’t do it while I was asleep, did you?”

“Of course not. We haven’t gone through all of the dating plans in your diary. Speaking of that, how sappy can you be? You even wrote a love letter to your future boyfriend—”

Filomina muffled his mouth before he could finish. Embarrassed, she snapped, “How could you read my diary without my permission?!”

“The drawer isn’t locked,” Wayne said shamelessly. A diary left in an accessible place was supposed to be read by others. That was a simple truth that even Veronica understood.

“Still, you can’t—hmph...”

Wayne pulled back and carried her to the bathtub. “Tell me, how has your body changed?”

“That... I’m not sure. I feel like it’s become easier for me to reach Legendary rank, with or without your help.” Filomina didn’t have Wayne’s large chest eye, so she couldn’t see how different she was now without the filter. She only knew that her mana had become unusually pure, and her Golden Triangle had changed significantly.

She was so pure now that she even had the confidence to become the Holy Maiden.

The source of that change was Wayne. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, eyes brimming with desire.

***

December fifteenth.

Filomina’s evolution continued. In the meantime, Wayne had visited her thrice to observe her closely. Indeed, without his help, Filomina could still acquire new knowledge, but her mana would be corrupted once more, covering her Golden Triangle with a layer of dust.

The Astral Plane was dangerous. Studying it required caution.

Today was the day

King Kong

premiered. Due to the advertisement in newspapers, everyone who knew Wayne learned that he had starred in the movie, including Veronica, Vera, and, most shameless of them all, Kael. He called Wayne to ask for tickets, and he requested

ten

for his dates with his temporary girlfriends.

Disregarding Kael’s unorthodox standards of beauty, it was absurd that he had gotten a whole fleet of nine girlfriends.

Wayne envied him, even more so because those girlfriends were temporary.

Kael’s handsome face wasn’t something Wayne could acquire, though, so he had to be content with maintaining his image of a devoted lover. He reserved a screening in the morning for Kristen.

He didn’t want to subject himself to such humiliation, but he couldn’t say no under Kristen’s insistence.

The movie surprised him.

The dramatic parts were moving. With the added scenes shot by the body doubles, the characters came alive with a rich backstory and touching arc, elevating the monster movie into a romantic classic with a refined script.

Wayne gaped at the screen throughout the movie. The director had added a lot of meat to the bare-bones story. With the double looking similar to him from the back and the replacement of on-site dialogs with newly recorded lines, he might as well have acted in those scenes.

Although he was supposed to be the third male lead, he had a lot of screentime. As the female lead’s first love, his devotion was well portrayed. He was forced to leave the female lead due to their difference in social class, and in the last few minutes of the movie, he gave his life to save the woman he loved, crushed by the monster’s stomp.

A graduate student who still held a romanticized view of love was weak to such emotional manipulation. She buried her face in Wayne’s chest and bawled.

Wayne was still confused. At the end of the day, though, the result was good. When Kristen asked him about the shooting, he claimed that he was a naturally good actor.

“Lily is so pretty. Vera said that she was your idol.” Through her tears, Kristen asked the crucial question. “What’s with the kissing scene? Did you kiss her for real? No wonder you were so good at it when we first kissed. You must have redone the shot many times on purpose.”

“Nonsense. My first kiss was with you. That was staged with a specific camera angle.”

***

In the afternoon, in the same cinema and the same screening room, Vera wailed in Wayne’s arms.

“You died so terribly, Wayne! You were crushed!”

Wayne looked at her with resignation.

“You said that the kissing scene was staged, and that you’d only shot a few scenes. You lied! You’re the main star. Did you kiss your idol for real?”

“No, I still have my first kiss!”

***

Evening

.

The same cinema, the same screening room.

The ticket inspector was beyond shocked. It was ridiculous enough for the man to bring two women here in the morning, but he came with an older woman and a younger woman in the evening? No wonder there were more and more men seeking the company of the same sex in Windsor; all the pretty girls were taken by this bastard.

The pair in question was Silvia and Veronica. Wayne had watched the movie twice. The story was touching, and the portrayal of the devoted man was vivid, making it the best tearjerker of the year. Thus, when he invited Veronica, he also invited his in-laws and Megan.

Auston derisively refused to watch the dreadful movie; he would rather stay at home and pet the cat. Silvia expressed her support for her student. She would like to see how amazing the movie her student made was.

When the end credits started rolling, Silvia cried in Wayne’s arms, and on his other side was Veronica, who lifted her head to stop her tears from falling.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

“You’re in the wrong pair of arms, Master. This spot isn’t meant for you,” Wayne mumbled, asking Silvia to make room for her daughter. He had reserved the screening room to win Veronica’s affection points, not to see his master sob for his terrible death.

Silvia realized her mistake then. She looked around, but didn’t find the bastard she should be seeking comfort from. She clenched her teeth.

Why do I keep you around if you’re not here when you’re needed? I’m gonna make you fly once I’m home!

Silvia turned to her daughter, who was fighting back tears beside Wayne. Damn it, she shouldn’t have come today.

She couldn’t have anticipated how touching the monster movie would turn out to be, though. At least it wasn’t too late for her to make things right.

Wiping her tears, she coughed into her fist and reprimanded, “Wayne, what’s with the kissing scene? You said that it was staged, but you lied, didn’t you? It doesn’t seem fake.”

Veronica pricked up her ears. She felt the same.

“It is fake. Please don’t falsely accuse your obedient student, Master. I’m still waiting to give my first kiss to the right person!” Wayne protested.

“Oh, who’s the lucky girl?”

“I can’t say it. She’d hit me.”

“Tsk, young people these days are too violent!”

“Maybe it’s love!”

“Right, I agree.”

Veronica sulked.

Are you done?!

***

Late night.

The same cinema, the same screening room.

The ticket inspector was already exhausted from working overtime. When he saw Wayne walking in with another beautiful woman, he cursed and tossed the ticket punch away.

“How unprofessional!” Wayne rolled his eyes, leading Mona to the same seat. He hadn’t complained about watching the movie four times in a row. A ticket inspector should have known what they were signing up for. It didn’t make sense for him to get angry.

Once the movie ended, Mona burst into tears in Wayne’s embrace.

“Boss, I’ll kill that ugly gorilla and avenge you!”

“And that bitch! She dumped you and kissed you! She defiled an angel!”

“Don’t be silly. It was staged. I still have my first kiss.”

“That’s too dangerous. I’ll keep it for you!”