Nightmare Cinema: I Make Horror Come True

Chen Ye's life has hit rock bottom: unemployment, heartbreak, and a dwindling bank account. Just as he's at his wit's end, he unexpectedly inherits a dilapidated, old cinema—the Starry Cinema. Thinking his fortunes have turned, he discovers the place is filled with gloom and the only "legacy" is a strange roll of film labeled "Do Not Show." A rash attempt at a test run results in him being forcibly bound to a device called the Horror Director System. The system tells him: Want to survive? Want to make money? Then make the scariest short film and terrify your audience! Collecting their fears is your newest KPI!

Thus began Chen Ye's journey as a director of magical remakes. Would he use the system's high-tech drone to film Sadako crawling across the TV? Would he use the audience's frightened spirits to upgrade the cinema into a "4D Netherworld Experience Hall"? Suddenly, the short film's ghostly figure in the mirror, footsteps in the hallway, shadows under the seats... all became real-life extras! The audience, terrified, peed their pants while enthusiastically praising the cinema: "This cinema's special effects are way better than Hollywood's! It's just... a little bit frustrating!"

As the cinema's popularity soars, Chen Ye gradually discovers that the horror films here are more than just "special effects." Those awakened "things," the eyes that watch him from the darkness, and the ultimate purpose hidden behind the system's tasks... The century-old secrets of the Starry Cinema are slowly revealed with every shot he captures.