In the second layer of the dream, Cobb deliberately reminded Fischer, making him realize he was in a dream.
Meanwhile, Arthur and Ariadne entered the hotel and began planting explosives.
This was the method for waking up in the second layer—through explosions.
Since they were in a triple-layer dream, if they wanted to wake up simultaneously, they needed a signal.
Although Yusuf's sedative was extremely potent, it still preserved inner-ear function, meaning they would wake up the moment they experienced free fall.
To ensure a synchronized wake-up from all three dream layers, they used music as the signal.
The instant the music stopped, the explosion would happen, causing everyone to fall and wake up at the same time.
With Cobb's guidance, Fischer escaped his pursuers and returned to the hotel room, where he saw the other team members.
However, he believed they were part of his subconscious defense, so he let down his guard completely.
When his godfather, Uncle Peter, entered the room, Cobb immediately questioned him about the kidnapping in the previous dream layer.
Fischer could recall the details of the dream, though he didn't think it was a dream—he believed it was reality.
Thus, under Cobb's clever manipulation, Fischer quickly grew suspicious of his godfather.
He suspected that Peter might be testing him, trying to obtain the will from his father's safe to take over his company.
"That wording is brilliant! My God!"
Milon gasped in a low voice, his mind racing as he grasped Cobb's true intentions.
First, in the first-layer dream, Eames had disguised himself as Peter and deliberately mentioned the will in the safe, baiting Fischer into revealing his thoughts and asking for the password—planting doubt in his mind.
Then, in the second-layer dream, they fueled that doubt further, making Fischer's suspicions about Peter grow stronger.
That way, in the dream, Peter would eventually say the one thing Fischer least wanted to hear: that everything had been part of Peter's scheme.
But in reality, Peter was just a projection of Fischer's subconscious. His responses were merely reflections of Fischer's own thoughts.
And yet, it still wasn't over.
Cobb then told Fischer they could enter Peter's dream to uncover the truth.
Now, in his eagerness to confirm whether his godfather truly intended to take over his inheritance, Fischer willingly cooperated—he even inhaled the sedative himself.
Thus, they successfully entered the third-layer dream inside Fischer's mind.
Arthur remained in the second layer to clean up loose ends and soon found himself in a fierce battle against Fischer's subconscious security forces.
Meanwhile, in the first-layer dream, the van they were in was rammed by Fischer's armed defenses, causing it to roll over completely.
As a result, the hotel corridor in the second-layer dream also began spinning uncontrollably.
"That's so cool! Absolutely amazing!"
The audience exclaimed in astonishment as they watched Arthur elegantly take down enemies in the rotating hallway, tying them up one by one. They found the concept to be incredibly inventive.
On the other side, in the third-layer dream, they arrived at a heavily guarded casino bank.
Here, Fischer himself joined their team because, in his mind, they were infiltrating his godfather Peter's dream—not his own.
So he actively cooperated with all of Cobb's instructions.
However, when he saw the masks and guns, he couldn't help but be a little shocked.
"So… we're robbing a casino?"
"Of course not. We're robbing the bank behind it."
Cobb pointed into the distance, and Fischer immediately saw the massive vault in the background.
"Hands up! Nobody move!"
They had no time to plan a proper heist. With the wake-up time approaching fast, they had to break into the vault immediately and complete the inception.
Thus, they resorted to the most violent method.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Gunshots shattered the crystal chandeliers on the ceiling, plunging the entire room into darkness.
At the same time, the vault in the lower level began ascending into the lighthouse.
"Aren't we going to get killed for doing this?" Fischer was confused by Cobb's tactics.
"Relax, Mr. Fischer. Just follow us. We're just robbers, not dream invaders."
That's right. As long as the dreamer didn't believe they were intruders, the dream's defense mechanisms wouldn't react as aggressively.
Besides, Cobb and his team had designed this dream environment themselves.
They knew of a hidden shortcut that led straight to the core of Fischer's subconscious.
So they climbed the staircase rapidly, engaging in intense gunfights with the guards along the way.
During the battle, Saito was wounded again, his consciousness gradually fading.
After much struggle, they finally made it inside the lighthouse.
Cobb and Ariadne held their guns up, providing cover for Fischer, while the injured Saito and Eames fought off the remaining enemies.
Only Fischer advanced alone into the vault, standing before the tightly locked door.
"Hurry, Mr. Fischer! Open the safe! Everything you want to know is inside!"
However, at this critical moment, an unexpected event occurred.
Mal appeared again.
"Cobb, no! She isn't real!"
Ariadne urged him to shoot.
But after hesitating for two seconds, Cobb replied, "How do you know?"
"She's just a projection of your subconscious. Fischer—Fischer is real!"
While Cobb hesitated, Mal had already raised her gun.
A single shot struck Fischer.
Instinctively, Cobb fired back, shooting Mal down.
"FXXK!"
Milon couldn't help but curse, feeling like the protagonist had just ruined everything.
"Is there still a chance?"
Judy's heart was in her throat, worried that the entire operation had failed.
"I don't know, but there should be a way to fix it."
Milon held her hand to comfort her.
At that moment, the rest of the audience also felt their nerves tighten.
"This is a disaster…"
"If it were you, would you have pulled the trigger?"
Inside the VIP booth, Jessica suddenly turned to ask Ethan.
Without hesitation, Ethan answered, "Of course not. I couldn't do it."
"Yeah… But if he didn't, Cobb might never see his kids again… Ethan, you're smart. You'd definitely figure out a solution, right?"
"If it were you, would you shoot?" Inside the private room, Jessica suddenly asked Ethan.
Ethan answered without hesitation, "Of course not, I couldn't bring myself to do it."
"Yeah… but that way, Cobb wouldn't get to see his kids… But Ethan, you're so smart, you must have a solution, right?"
"A solution… Of course."
On the screen, Cobb and Ariadne ran to Fischer's side.
Eames also rushed over and started using a defibrillator to save him, but Cobb looked completely dejected.
"Sorry, guys, I screwed everything up."
He seemed lost in self-reproach, the light in his eyes completely gone.
But just when everyone was feeling down, Ariadne spoke up, "Actually, there's another way. We follow Fischer down."
"There's not enough time," Eames knew she was referring to entering Limbo and bringing Fischer back.
"There's plenty of time down there," Ariadne explained.
Time in Limbo passed at a rate many times faster than the previous dream layers, potentially lasting decades.
"We can find him. When Arthur's music plays, we'll revive him with the defibrillator, and then we'll use the kick down there to bring him back."
"It's worth a try," Eames found the idea feasible; it was definitely better than simply blowing up the vault door.
Seeing this, Cobb also agreed to Ariadne's plan.
So, the two of them entered the next dream layer—Limbo.
This layer was different. It was a shared dream space for everyone. Here, they saw the various buildings Cobb and Mal had created together.
They found Mal in the upper floors of the city.
The moment Mal saw Cobb, she played with a fruit knife in her hand and mocked, "Not even a little bit of doubt? Not even a tiny bit of confusion? Are you so sure that the world you're in is real?"
"Everywhere you go, police chase you, just like projections chase a dreamer. Admit it, you're dreaming."
"So, make your choice. Stay here, and be with me."
Mal cupped Cobb's face, their eyes locking.
"You know what I have to do. I need to go back to our children. Because you abandoned them. You abandoned me."
"You're wrong," Mal instinctively refuted.
"I'm not wrong."
"You're confused. My children are right here!" She turned her head to look at the room beside them, where the two kids were playing, though their faces remained unseen.
"Yes, but I will return to reality to see them, Mal."
"You've always thought you knew what was real. But what do you believe? What do you feel?"
Hearing these words, Cobb's expression turned serious. His lips moved unconsciously, as if some deeply buried secret had been exposed.
After a moment of contemplation, he decided to face his inner truth.
"Guilt," he said. "I feel guilt, Mal. It reminds me of what's real."
Mal looked dazed. "What truth?"
"The truth is, you started doubting reality because of me."
"You planted that idea in my mind?" Mal instantly understood Cobb's meaning.
"What?!" Ariadne was stunned.
"That's right. The reason I know inception is possible is because I already did it—to her."
At this critical moment, Cobb finally revealed the truth.
Years ago, when he and Mal had stayed in Limbo for decades, Mal could no longer distinguish between reality and the dream and refused to leave.
So, Cobb infiltrated Mal's dream, found the hidden secret in her mind, and implanted a single idea into her subconscious.
That idea was: "This world is not real."
With this idea in place, Mal indeed realized the dream was false and committed suicide with Cobb to return to reality.
However, the idea spread like a virus. It quickly eroded Mal's perception of reality, ultimately leading her to take her own life again.
"Oh my God!" Both Milon and Judy, along with the other audience members, were stunned by this revelation.
"My God, he did it to free her from the dream, but it ended up causing her death!"
"Why didn't the protagonist just enter the dream again and re-implant another idea?"
Many viewers clutched their heads, shaking them in disbelief. They never expected such a bombshell revelation to drop so close to the film's conclusion.
But in the movie, Cobb's team didn't have much time left. The wake-up music had already begun playing.
To save Fischer, Cobb chose to stay in Limbo to find Saito, who had fallen into it through death.
After killing Mal—who had tried to stab Cobb—Ariadne took the kidnapped Fischer and jumped off the building.
At the same time…
In the first dream layer, Yusuf drove the van off the bridge, about to plunge into the river.
In the second dream layer, Arthur had tied everyone inside an elevator, set explosives, and the elevator was about to fall.
In the third dream layer, Fischer was revived. He stepped through the vault door and saw his father's deathbed.
On the bed, his father finally spoke his last words.
"I'm disappointed. You wanted to become another me."
Hearing these words, Fischer seemed to have a revelation. He finally understood why his father had never approved of him.
Seeing Fischer's expression, Eames knew the inception had succeeded. The next step was to get everyone out of the dream safely.
But Cobb and Saito were still in Limbo, their fates uncertain. If they didn't return, they might die in the dream and become permanent vegetables.
In Limbo, Cobb woke up on a beach.
"This is the opening scene of the movie!" Milon clenched his fists excitedly. He knew Cobb could do it—Ethan wouldn't mess this up.
Judy nodded, putting down her bucket of popcorn, which was still more than half full. She had been too engrossed to eat.
Cobb was taken by armed guards to Saito. But by then, Saito was already an old man, nearing the end of his life.
Saito looked at Cobb and said, "I've been waiting for someone. He came from a dream… a dream I can no longer remember. Cobb? Impossible. We're about the same age, yet now I'm so old."
"Filled with regret," Cobb replied.
"Waiting to die alone," they said in unison.
"I came back for you, to remind you of something you once knew," Cobb said, as if awakening from a dream. His eyes drifted toward the small spinning top on the table in front of Saito.
"This world is not real."
As he spoke, both of them remembered everything.
Tears welled up in Saito's eyes. His old, trembling hand slowly reached for the gun on the table.
The next moment, Cobb woke up in his airplane seat. He looked around, his eyes filled with confusion and disbelief as he listened to the flight attendant speaking to him.
Across the cabin, Fischer was already awake.
His teammates—Arthur, Ariadne, Yusuf, Eames, and Saito—were all looking at Cobb.
They had succeeded. They had returned to reality.
Saito quickly picked up his phone and made a call. Cobb knew—that was his ticket home.
After disembarking, Cobb passed through security without a hitch. As he exchanged glances with his teammates one last time, he finally returned home and saw his children.
But this time, they finally turned their faces toward him.
He casually set the spinning top on the table and let it spin. Then, he walked away to embrace his children.
The camera slowly zoomed in on the spinning top. It kept spinning, showing no signs of stopping.
Just when it began to wobble slightly, the screen cut to black.
"So… was that really reality?" Milon clutched his head in confusion.
Judy frowned. "I don't think so. It was still spinning."
"No, it's real! The top wobbled at the end!"
"I didn't see it," Judy shook her head, unconvinced.
Their debate reflected the confusion of countless viewers, who left the theater obsessed with the question—was Cobb truly in reality or still dreaming?
Jessica also asked Ethan the same question.
But Ethan simply shrugged, wrapped an arm around her waist, and said, "I won't tell you, but I'll tell our baby."
He pointed to Jessica's baby bump, lowered his head, and whispered the answer to the unborn child.
"So what was it? Baby, tell me!" Jessica leaned down, asking her belly.
Inside, the baby kicked—a response just for Jessica.
A day later, various reports about Inception were flooding in.
But compared to the still-developing discussions about the plot, everyone was more concerned about the opening-day box office numbers.
After all, this movie's advertisements had been spread across the globe. If it didn't achieve a high enough number on its first day, then Ethan's first major commercial film would be declared a failure.
That would be a huge blow to his career.
Unfortunately for the naysayers, despite a few remaining skeptics, Inception captivated audiences with its fresh and intriguing concept, gripping suspense, and an ending that kept everyone guessing. As a result, it achieved a jaw-dropping opening-day box office performance.
$35 million on its first day in North America!
$70 million from other regions around the world!
In just one day—just a single day—Inception had already crossed the $100 million mark!
This was an unbelievable box office result.
Even Norton's Eye and the other investors were left utterly stunned by this number.
In fact, even Ethan himself hadn't expected the film to blow up like this.
It simply benefited from great timing. This year's other major films—I Am Legend was set for a December release, Transformers wouldn't hit theaters until July, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was also scheduled for July.
The only two blockbusters that had already been released were Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Spider-Man 3.
But both had finished their theatrical runs before Inception premiered, leaving it as the only blockbuster currently showing.
This created a siphon effect—even though June wasn't as competitive as July, Inception was so eye-catching that other movies screening at the same time immediately faded into the background, with their box office earnings being siphoned away.
Especially since Inception was also a film suitable for the whole family.
In North America, family-friendly films are the most popular—many families would take their children to see movies together.
With all these factors stacked together, Inception ignited the North American box office and achieved a far greater success than expected.
As a result, the film's other investors immediately called Ethan, expressing their intent to increase the budget and expand advertising, determined to capture every possible viewer.
However, some so-called "professional" media outlets responded with sarcasm.
"Inception is overall a decent film. The acting isn't particularly outstanding, but it's good enough to keep viewers immersed. However, in terms of story logic, I believe there are some shortcomings. It seems like the film deliberately crafted a floaty, unrealistic backdrop just to create the dream-theft setting, which I see as putting the cart before the horse. Therefore, I believe this movie has already peaked at the box office, and starting from the second day, its numbers will return to normal—perhaps even drop quickly."
Some media figures had likely been paid off by competing studios to undermine Inception.
Clearly, after witnessing the film's overwhelming box office momentum, upcoming movie releases were feeling threatened.
They were desperate to put out this raging fire, as if they wanted to open up a fire hydrant and douse the box office heatwave.
But when the second day's box office numbers came out, they delivered a slap in the face to those naysayers.
$36 million in North America!
$80 million from other regions around the world!
No one had expected this—the box office was still rising!
On its second day, Inception directly surpassed the $200 million mark!
This sent shockwaves through professional forecasting agencies. They scrambled to release new predictions, now estimating that Inception was heading for a $1 billion box office run!
If nothing unexpected happened, this movie would become a new milestone in film history!
At the same time, Ethan's marketing strategy kicked into high gear. Clips of directors and actors praising the film became the talk of the town among audiences.
"Look, even Spielberg says it's great—what are you waiting for?!"
"Morgan Freeman also thinks this movie is amazing—I have to check it out!"
"Wow! Charlize Theron and Angelina Jolie both recommend it? Oh my god, this movie must be incredible!"
Audiences had never seen this kind of promotional method before—they found it refreshing. Encouraged by these celebrity endorsements, they eagerly flocked to theaters.
In just one week, Inception's North American box office had reached $140 million!
Meanwhile, the global box office had climbed to $250 million!
"There's no doubt—there's no surprise—this movie is destined to hit $1 billion at the box office."
"Ethan, at just 27 years old, is about to join the billion-dollar club!"
"Following Titanic, Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, another billion-dollar film is about to emerge!"
"Unbelievable! Hollywood has witnessed yet another miracle!"
This wasn't like the explosion of billion-dollar films that would come a decade later. At this point in time, only a select few directors had ever achieved such a feat.
Spielberg, Cameron, Peter Jackson—each one a legend, holding an irreplaceable position in Hollywood.
They weren't just rule followers anymore; they had become part of the rule-makers themselves.
But now, with Inception, Ethan had finally knocked on the door of Hollywood's highest temple.
.....
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