One night passed.
The data for the third day of the movie's release was released.
Box office revenue, 1.965 million yuan.
Number of viewers, 98,260.
Both revenue and attendance had decreased again compared to the second day.
Gao Fei faced the latest data for the third day with the same composure.
He knew that it was not yet time for "The Shadow" to experience a box office explosion.
Jin Qiqi, who had accepted the situation the day before, no longer paid attention to the box office. Like Gao Fei, she woke up early and started browsing the news.
After two days of rest, her complexion had recovered. As long as she didn't dwell on the images from the movie, the fear wouldn't resurface.
Seeing no news related to "The Shadow" on social media platforms, she put down her laptop and voiced a question that had been on her mind.
"Boss, people have been going to the hospital for two consecutive days after watching our movie. The media are all reporting the news truthfully, but why are netizens still questioning it? Wouldn't they just check with the hospital? And wouldn't the hospital clarify things?"
This question had been troubling Jin Qiqi for two days.
Were the netizens in Hong Kong not thinking?
If they had doubts, they could just call the hospital.
Also, the hospital should at least come forward to confirm.
Even if they didn't clarify with an official account, some medical staff could speak out.
But no one spoke up for the audience who went to the hospital after watching the movie.
"Is this problem really that difficult?"
Gao Fei opened yesterday's trending news and pointed to the small, anonymous accounts. "See here, whether it's in the mainland or Hong Kong, there are always paid commenters.
As long as these paid commenters keep pushing the narrative, netizens would rather believe it's a publicity stunt than believe the news is real.
A small portion of netizens might investigate the past events, but with constant manipulation, how could anyone see the truth?"
Jin Qiqi frowned and nodded.
Both of them equally detested paid commenters.
After explaining the netizens' questions, Gao Fei continued, "As for the hospitals and medical staff clarifying, don't even think about it.
This is a period of major transition. As you've seen, whether on TV or online, the most discussed news is about the major transition.
If hospitals come out to clarify that viewers sought medical attention after watching the movie, the attention would explode.
At this critical juncture, who would dare to act against the prevailing trend?"
"Then, at this pace, when will the movie become a big hit? It's not like we have to wait until after the transition, right?
If we have to wait that long, the opportunity will be gone!"
"Didn't I say yesterday that within a week, the box office would definitely pick up? Just wait and see."
Gao Fei knew that Jin Qiqi was worried that the attention generated by people seeking medical attention would be short-lived, preventing the box office from soaring and only allowing them to break even.
However, he felt no concern whatsoever.
The reason was simple.
Hong Kong was undergoing a major transition, and the local film and television companies already had complex backgrounds. A slight misstep could involve them in this struggle.
During this period, no one dared to stir up trouble, nor would they allow their company's artists to create gossip.
The Hong Kong entertainment industry had largely gone into hiding. The only topic of discussion online was "The Shadow" scaring audiences into hospitals.
Therefore, Gao Fei had no worries about the attention waning.
On the contrary, in the absence of any gossip, the more people went to the hospital, the longer the attention would last.
Moreover, Gao Yue Film and Television was a new company with no political or social background, so it wouldn't be entangled in this conflict.
In Hong Kong, a land of freedom of speech, Gao Yue Film and Television would at most be suppressed by paid commenters; they would face no other pressure.
As Gao Fei and Jin Qiqi were talking, the trending topics on Hong Kong social media platforms were refreshed again.
Besides the news about the major transition, there was once again news related to "The Shadow."
"On the third day of 'The Shadow's' release, after a rough count, a total of 9,000 viewers went to the hospital last night after watching the movie."
"According to our reporter's on-site stakeout, the number of people who fainted from being scared by 'The Shadow' has increased to five, and twelve were sent to the hospital by ambulance."
"Shocking exposé, a man has contacted Chu Renmei on the third day, and the man has now disappeared!"
The three news items on the trending list were no different from yesterday.
It was just that the number of viewers seeking psychological counseling had decreased, due to a sharp drop in viewership last night.
However, unexpectedly, the number of viewers sent to the hospital immediately by ambulance had increased by two, and the number who fainted on the spot had increased by three.
It could be seen that the psychological fortitude of the third batch of "death-seeking teams" from the horror forum was not very strong.
As for the third news item, netizens saw it as merely riding the coattails of the trend.
Upon entering the comment section of the first news item, the paid commenters were still there, but many netizens were no longer calm.
"I still feel it's a publicity stunt. I remain skeptical and strongly boycott publicity stunt movies."
"I agree with the previous comment. It's definitely a publicity stunt by the film company. Continue to boycott the movie."
"Rubbish, publicity stunt my ass! Viewers have been going to the hospital for three consecutive days. I suspect there's no publicity stunt, just that the media is exaggerating the number of people seeking treatment."
"Yesterday, I swore that if any more viewers went to the hospital because of 'The Shadow' today, I would organize a group to go watch the movie. I'll take people tonight."
"I went to stake out the cinema at midnight. If anyone faints on the spot or is sent to the ambulance, I hope everyone will pay attention to me and await my first-hand information."
In the comment section, there were still paid commenters flooding the page, pushing the narrative of a publicity stunt.
However, some netizens were gradually beginning to believe that the movie was scaring people into hospitals.
But these people did not choose to watch the movie; instead, they prepared to stake out reality to see if it was different from the news reports.
Since tomorrow was the weekend and no one had to work, many netizens soon signed up to form groups for stakeouts.
The second trending news item.
Most of the netizens who commented were eyewitnesses.
Although there were still paid commenters causing trouble, the number of viewers who had personally experienced it had exceeded 200,000, and the comments from paid commenters were gradually decreasing.
As for the comment section of the third news item, it was not worth mentioning.
....
On the fourth day of release.
The number of viewers decreased to 60,000.
The number of viewers seeking psychological counseling also decreased relatively, with only around 5,000.
However, the number of people who fainted on the spot due to being scared by the movie increased, with eight people fainting due to the movie.
And the number of viewers who were immediately sent to the hospital from the cinema also increased to sixteen.
Coupled with the photos and videos taken by netizens who went to stake out the scene.
The evidence and data immediately shocked Hong Kong netizens.
On the social media trending list.
There were still the two news items recording the statistics, and the gossip news item riding the trend.
Because of the photos and videos taken by netizens at the scene as evidence.
Many netizens were led to believe the news was real.
But soon, the paid commenters who were pushing the narrative and creating rumors of a publicity stunt reappeared and began to make all sorts of excuses.
They claimed that the netizens taking photos and videos at the scene were definitely hired by the film company as moles to increase the film's buzz.
Their objective was still to promote the film and increase box office sales.
The influx of a large number of paid commenters caused some hesitant netizens to believe it was a publicity stunt again.
Even though the netizens staking out the scene argued vehemently, they could not compete with the keyboard warriors who were born as paid commenters.
On the fifth day of release.
The number of viewers of "The Shadow" no longer saw a significant decline, but remained at 53,000.
However, the number of people going to the hospital for psychological counseling remained stable at 5,000.
The number of viewers who fainted on the spot increased to twelve.
The number of viewers who were taken away by ambulances waiting outside the hospital increased to twenty-two.
Still at ten in the morning, on the social media trending list, besides the news about the major transition, there were still the two statistical news items related to "The Shadow," and one gossip news item.
As soon as the news appeared on the trending list, it was immediately bombarded by paid commenters.
But netizens who were paying attention to the incident were not stupid.
There had been five consecutive days of news about viewers going to the hospital, fainting on the spot, and being sent away by ambulance.
Even without the evidence from netizens staking out the scene, netizens who were still skeptical yesterday had begun to believe the news was real.
Furthermore, after careful observation by some netizens, they discovered that all the accounts constantly claiming it was a publicity stunt by the film company were small, anonymous accounts of level two or three. These accounts' identities as paid commenters were exposed.
Ultimately, the paid commenter accounts were besieged by netizens and completely drowned out in the comment section.
Just as netizens were scolding the paid commenters, netizens from the horror forum appeared.
Nearly 400,000 horror film enthusiasts directly created a separate topic section for "The Shadow" on the platform.
Then, enthusiasts posted evidence of themselves or their friends going to the hospital for psychological counseling.
Evidence of someone fainting on the spot in the cinema, and evidence of them calling the hospital from the scene, were all posted.
Initially, the horror forum enthusiasts did not want to respond to the online rumors and manipulation.
However, after the forum administrator initiated a vote to clarify the rumors of a publicity stunt for "The Shadow."
In one day, over 300,000 votes were received.
Therefore, today, the horror forum enthusiasts created a separate topic section to prove the movie's authenticity.
As it was a topic section with hundreds of thousands of people, it immediately climbed to the trending list.
Netizens who had been manipulated by paid commenters clicked on it immediately after seeing the trending list.
Seeing the real evidence of people going to the hospital, the rumors of a publicity stunt were thoroughly debunked.
In the comment section of the topic, netizens who had not watched the movie began to ask how terrifying the movie was, and why it could scare audiences into hospitals.
However, not a single horror enthusiast answered the question directly. They all told them that if they wanted to know how terrifying it was, they should go and watch it themselves.
Through the various temptations and provocations from the horror enthusiasts,
Finally, many netizens who had not watched the movie could no longer sit still and formed groups in the comment section to go watch the movie.
They refused to believe that a movie could be that powerful.
Late at night, at 1:30 AM on the sixth day of release.
A deserted cinema suddenly welcomed a large wave of customers.
At a glance, it was no different from the bustling scene during the day.
When the staff learned that these people were all going to watch "The Shadow."
The staff first put up a sign at the ticket counter.
It read: "Not for the faint of heart. Consequences are your own responsibility."
Seeing the warning, netizens who were provoked to watch the movie became even more determined and bought their tickets.
As the movie was about to begin, the audience immediately entered the theater.
The staff member in charge of the theater brought a glass jar and shouted to the audience lining up to enter: "Each person will receive a dose of quick-acting heart medicine, free of charge from our cinema."
That night, the number of viewers of "The Shadow" reached a new high.
Excluding the decimals, a total of 480,000 people watched the movie.