FPE Chapter 24

Town Projection

The internet era’s heat came and went quickly. Originally, five days had passed and the buzz surrounding Fantasy Amusement Park had gradually cooled down. Fantasy Amusement Park’s name no longer appeared on the entertainment trending charts these past few days, but since it was ultimately the only place in the entire country — and even the world — capable of producing “holographic” technology, the vast majority of people who knew about Fantasy Amusement Park still kept a close eye on it.

On the day Fantasy Amusement Park opened for business, many netizens had been glued to their screens waiting for news about it, their channels being nothing more than Weibo, Bilibili, and other interactive internet platforms. Early that morning, up-and-coming Bilibili creators like Xiao Zhou — who had ridden Fantasy Amusement Park’s wave of popularity to gain a following — entered the park to livestream, followed by Fantasy Amusement Park’s official accounts, which continuously posted real-time updates about the park that day.

With the help of these promotional channels, netizens quickly learned about the two newly opened experience zones and the various changes within the park.

“After the trial operation period ended, ticket prices went from ten yuan to fifty. Although buying just one ticket still granted access to all four attractions, making it not much more expensive than before, the Abandoned Park and the Magic Beast Viewing Corridor were simply too well-crafted — not even the most cutting-edge equipment available could support them. No, to be more precise, even the most advanced technology available internationally today couldn’t support them. Fantasy Amusement Park is one of a kind! That’s why I initially didn’t hold high expectations for the two newly opened experience zones — I even thought that even without holographic technology, setting up a Ferris wheel or roller coaster like an ordinary amusement park would have been just fine. But I never imagined the park would still manage to surprise me! Come on everyone, just go buy a ticket — trust me, you absolutely won’t regret it!”

“Today Xiao Zhou is here again to take everyone on a virtual tour of the park. Besides the two new experience zones, the changes to the small details inside the park were also quite touching. First off, there were now ticketing machines at the entrance. Personally, I don’t think these are ordinary ticketing machines — they must be equipped with an extremely advanced intelligent ticketing system on the inside. Based on my observations today, the machines had already identified ten elementary school students trying to pass themselves off as middle schoolers. On top of that, they also had a voice announcement feature, which could announce the ticket purchaser’s number of visits, their Fantasy Amusement Park Merit Leaderboard nickname, and their ranking when issuing a ticket — but surprisingly, some guests with more introverted personalities mentioned that when purchasing their tickets, the machine seemed to be able to detect their mood and automatically turned off the announcements for them. I, Xiao Zhou, found this absolutely baffling, so I spent 500 yuan out of pocket to get ten guests to test it out, and sure enough, the machine really could identify socially anxious users. Some guests jokingly called this the machine’s mind-reading ability… Mind-reading is obviously impossible! I think Fantasy Amusement Park’s technology is incredibly advanced — they must have some sort of technology we currently can’t even fathom that accurately detects what’s going on in a user’s mind. I specifically tracked down the park director for an interview about this, but the director just smiled mysteriously and said it was a trade secret and they couldn’t say anything…”

“I’m inside Fantasy Amusement Park right now. Even though the park has been expanded, the moment I walked in I felt like Fantasy Amusement Park was still the same small amusement park it used to be — because there are just SO many people! If the park’s capacity hadn’t been maxed out and ticket sales halted, I think I could have been squished into a sandwich cookie. Thankfully I managed to squeeze in. The person who tried to buy a ticket right behind me heard the ticketing machine announce that capacity had been reached and that they should come back after 2:00 PM — their face turned completely green.”

“Hahaha you guys, I walked in and saw two uniformed staff members maintaining order, and my first reaction was pure shock — wow, the park actually has money to hire employees now! A far-sighted big investor must have put money into the park! Wahhh, Fantasy Amusement Park is finally having its moment after all the hardships!”

The far-sighted big investors responded: Bullsh*t — Fantasy Amusement Park is just a shrewd, mercenary little miser. They refused every single investment offer. They’d rather make money alone without letting anyone else in on it! Cheapskates!

As Fantasy Amusement Park’s popularity climbed once again, someone finally noticed the background projection inside Fantasy Amusement Park’s new experience zone — Jasmine Town.

Most games on the market these days had some kind of background story, known as a cutscene. Impatient players would skip through them at lightning speed without a second thought, but many players would watch them all the way through and weave the story into their gameplay experience, deepening their emotional investment and sense of immersion.

Since Fantasy Amusement Park’s format was fundamentally different from screen-based games and couldn’t be skipped at all, every group of players entering Jasmine Town had no choice but to watch the cutscene in its entirety first. But during this time, not a single guest showed any impatience. On one hand, the cutscene was projected directly into mid-air — this kind of projection technology, which was currently still considered impossible to achieve, gave the audience more than enough novelty to keep them captivated, like watching a mirage materialize before their eyes. On the other hand, the animated storyline itself was simply too stirring. No — not animated. It was more accurate to call it a short live-action film.

The people depicted in the footage — some in the prime of their lives, others aged and weathered — had faces that fell somewhere between Eastern and Western: high noses, dark eyes, curly hair, and fair skin. In the enlarged projection, the fine lines and pores on their faces were rendered with startling clarity, which made their performances all the more striking and human. The wariness and practiced readiness as the magic beasts drew near, the fear that gripped them when they realized the beasts were far too powerful to fight, the fierce determination to defend their homeland, and the anguished fury of watching loved ones fall — every one of these emotions felt viscerally real, enough to make anyone who watched with genuine attention feel their eyes grow hot and their throats tighten.

Perhaps the one feeling every single person in the world could relate to was the instinct to protect one’s home.

This projection was recorded and spread across the internet. Everyone who saw it first cried out in amazement at the mid-air projection, then was immediately shaken by Jasmine Town’s harrowing history — and found themselves instinctively reaching out to like and share. Before long, “The Story of Jasmine Town” had made it onto the trending charts, sitting right alongside the keyword “Fantasy Amusement Park New Experience Zone,” pulling in a wave of netizens who had never paid the park any attention before.

At first, people assumed it was a promotional clip for some foreign film — after all, who didn’t know what domestic films had been like these past few years? This clip featured none of the delicate, paper-thin beauties, none of the lavish yet artificial costumes and sets. The people on screen were grimy and dust-covered, strikingly realistic — nothing like the style of a domestic fantasy film. When they found out there was a place called “Fantasy Amusement Park,” and then learned that this was actually a cutscene projection from one of its experience zones, they were completely dumbfounded.

“Ah, there was something about ‘holographic’ something-or-other that went viral a few days ago — I thought it was just another case of false advertising, so I didn’t bother clicking on it. Is the holographic technology actually real?”

“This was actually made by a small amusement park? The special effects are insane!”

“And it’s not just the special effects — the actors’ performances are absolutely stunning too. Did they bring in a whole lineup of award-winning actors for this?”

“May I ask — is this animation or live-action? If it’s animation, please accept our team’s invitation to join the production team for my new film. If it’s live-action, I also sincerely hope you’ll consider my invitation — the performances from these actors are extraordinary!” This comment came from Liang Huiyan, one of China’s most prominent directors.

At first, netizens didn’t quite dare to believe it — but once they clicked on the profile and confirmed it really was the man himself, with tens of millions of Weibo followers, they collectively erupted in stunned exclamations, and countless people piled into the comments section beneath his post.

Liang Huiyan had long been known in the industry for having an eye for talent — famously even-tempered, technically masterful, and genuinely gifted. He had not only produced a string of acclaimed film and television works and launched many an artist’s career, but had also built a strong reputation in the animation world as well. Earning his recognition meant Fantasy Amusement Park genuinely had something going for it.

At this point, even many people who had previously shown no interest in so-called “holographics” and had never followed the park couldn’t help but grow curious. They started digging up information about Fantasy Amusement Park — and then discovered, in stunned disbelief: Wait, the holographics are real? Wait, tickets are only fifty yuan? Wait, you can actually farm drops from holographic monster battles?

Had they lost their minds? Or had the world’s technology leaped forward a hundred years overnight?