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nChapter 1065: Play Dead

nTranslator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

nWang Ling actually felt that he was well-suited to work in show business. After all, it wasn’t uncommon for teen idols in show business to sometimes be criticized for their poor acting since they weren’t trained actors.

nHappy reaction: poker face wide eyes.

nAngry reaction: poker face wide eyes.

nFrightened reaction: poker face wide eyes.

nSad reaction: poker face wide eyes…

nThis all-purpose formula was some idols’ perfect answer to show business, so Wang Ling thought he could do it too…

nBut for now, Wang Ling wouldn’t know what it was like to be the lead actor. He was already very content acting as an extra, thanks to Dopey Guo’s help.

nBefore shooting the second scene, the executive director approached Wang Ling. “Student Wang, let’s talk about the second scene. It’s a fight scene; where will you be lying?”

nWang Ling: “???”

n“It’s like this: the pay is different for different areas.”

nThe executive director spread out a map of the site and said to Wang Ling patiently, “This green zone is basically safe. According to calculations, the actors’ movements and spells cast during the fight won’t affect the green zone. If you lie in the green zone, it’s 80 to 100 yuan a day.

n“The yellow zone is moderately dangerous and the daily reward is 100 to 500 yuan. A large amount of energy shock waves might pass through the air here during the fight scene. Calculating it precisely, it usually isn’t dangerous. But the point is that once you lie down, you can’t move as you like. No matter how loud the noise or explosions around you, you can’t be scared into moving even an inch, since that will create complications. We often have actors who choose to lie down in the yellow zone for money. In the end, they overestimated their mental endurance. Some got up halfway through, and their legs and feet got blown off. As long as you don’t move in this zone, you’ll be fine.”

n“…”

n“The reward for the red zone is 800 to 1,000 a day. How much an actor gets depends on their performance. The red zone is where the attacks are the most concentrated. The actors who lie inside this zone must be extremely strong of mind and professional. Since this zone will be covered in spells, you might be slightly burned while lying down, but the injury is manageable. We have an especially effective freeze cream. If you apply it to the burn immediately after the shoot, it won’t leave any scars. However, you’ll need to endure the pain.”

nThe executive director continued, “In addition, we give actors who play dead in the red zone green golden light shields. The moment the spells come raining down, the green golden light shield will be automatically activated, and isn’t life-threatening. If you flail about, however, you may be reduced to ash in an instant…”

nWang Ling was puzzled. “Green?”

n“To make things easier in post-editing. Once it reaches this fight scene, the green golden light shields can be edited out in one go,” Dopey Guo explained.

nWang Ling: “…”

nThe executive director nodded. “In short, the thing you need to pay the most attention to in the three zones is: Do not move!! As long as you don’t move, your life won’t be in danger! Student Wang, which one will you choose?”

nWang Ling’s face was expressionless. “Red.”

nHe already had a Sage Body – Great Dao spells couldn’t hurt him, let alone a few petty explosions.

nThe executive director was so moved that he even yelled excitedly, “Chief Director! Someone is finally willing to enter the red zone!!”

nWang Ling: “…”

nAfter hearing this decision, Dopey Guo felt a burst of nervousness. “Wang Ling, this is too much… Why don’t you choose again? The red zone is really dangerous!”

n“It’s fine.” Wang Ling’s face was as unruffled as an ancient well.

nDopey Guo had heard that Wang Ling was short of money, apparently because he wanted to buy a gift for his little sister.

nEven Dopey Guo hadn’t expected Wang Ling to actually go this far for his little sister…

n…

nRoughly twenty minutes later, Wang Ling lay down in his designated spot in the red zone with twenty or so green golden light shields stuck to his back. In other words, he would have to endure almost twenty attacks. A regular actor’s expression wouldn’t be able to help trembling when a shock wave hit them in the face, to say nothing of a high school student.

nHence, a lot of people were skeptical of Wang Ling’s ability to do it.

n“He’s so young – newborn calves aren’t afraid of tigers 1.”

n“A fine young man insisting on looking for death, hey…”

nSome seasoned extras on set talked about it behind the scenes. They felt that Wang Ling was courting death. They were all veterans who had already been acting for more than ten years, but still found it very hard not to change expressions when confronted with shock waves one after another. Furthermore, Wang Ling was playing someone who had died with his eyes wide open… In other words, Wang Ling’s eyes had to remain open the whole time… Could he really do it?

n“Extras, take your places!”

n“Actor, take your place!”

nAt the executive director’s instructions, all the extras lay down in their predetermined spots.

nThe actor then stepped onto the stage.

nThis was a baby-faced actor called Tong Ling. Actually, he was already very old, but thanks to special skincare techniques and special cultivation principles, he retained the body of a child, and looked like he was only eleven or twelve years old.

nIn this part of the plot, twelve-year-old Odd Zhuo was snubbed and despised by others after absorbing the Devil Bead. In the end, he couldn’t control his anger and his demonic qi erupted. There would be a lot of explosions in the middle of the scene, and Wang Ling played a villager who got caught up in the explosions and died. In fact, it wasn’t Odd Zhuo who killed the villager, but those on the demon path who framed Odd Zhuo and wanted the people to scorn him.

n“Brother Tong, we’ll be counting on you in this scene.” The executive director followed behind Tong Ling.

nTong Ling put down his cigar. With an assistant’s help, he changed into his costume and turned his gaze to the zones on set. Because of the big explosions and the fact that no extras had been willing to play dead in the red zone all this time, this scene had been delayed for a long time. Of course, the production crew had thought about using a dummy, but the overall effect was too fake and might be picked up with one glance after post-production.

nAt that moment, there was actually a high school student lying in the red zone, suddenly piquing Tong Ling’s interest. “Did that child volunteer or did you force him?”

n“Of course he volunteered…” The executive director wiped his sweat.

nTong Ling chuckled. “Doesn’t he know that there’ll be twenty large explosions in that zone? Will he really be able to stay still? Has he bought any insurance yet? If he gets hurt, it’s none of my business.”

n“We’ve already signed an agreement with him, and we promised him that as long as he doesn’t move, his life won’t be in danger…”

nTong Ling: “Ha ha, let’s hope that’s the case.”

nNewborn calves weren’t afraid of tigers – want to make quick cash on a film set? It wasn’t that easy to be an actor. Even an extra had to have some skills…

nThinking this, Tong Ling smiled slightly and suddenly felt like teasing Wang Ling…

nFootnotes:

nCh 1065 Footnote 1

nA Chinese idiom to describe young people as fearless.

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