Trembling in the Skies

Chapter 17: Only One Person Left

The director’s voice came through everyone’s headphones. The moment that would decide each person’s fate had arrived. The director briefly outlined the plot for everyone. The sports car driven by Guo Zhipeng was parked in a nearby alley. That alley was only fifty meters away from the crosswalk the group was about to cross. The director was about to start calling out names; whoever was called must immediately get up and cross the crosswalk in front of them to reach the other side of the street. A distance of fifty meters meant that the moment Guo Zhipeng’s sports car burst out of the alley at high speed, the extras walking on the crosswalk would have absolutely no time to dodge. They could only watch helplessly as they were knocked flying by the sports car! After the scene was explained, the elderly woman was the first to stand up. Clearly, she had received instructions through her earpiece—it was her turn in the scene. Among the six extras, she was the first to cross the crosswalk. Forcing herself to remain calm, she stood up, walked to the curb, and began crossing the street. She wanted to pick up her pace and run across the street, but she quickly received a warning through her earpiece telling her to slow down and walk. The director had said that if she disobeyed the instructions in her earpiece, she would be fired from the set and have 1,000 points deducted in one go! Losing 1,000 points was no different from being hit by a car, dying, and turning into a wax figure. So although the elderly woman was terrified, she dared not disobey the director’s instructions through her earpiece in the slightest. She had no choice but to slow her pace, walking step by step at a steady pace toward the other side of the street. Several extras watched the elderly woman cross the street with bated breath, deeply worried they might witness her being knocked down—yet secretly praying for exactly that to happen… As long as one person was knocked down, the scene would be considered a successful take, and those behind her would be safe. If the elderly woman got hit, it meant they wouldn’t get hit—and they could safely earn ten points! Li Teng’s thoughts differed from the others’. In his view, the other five extras were all safe. If the scene was considered a success as long as one person was hit, Guo Zhipeng’s target could only be him—and no one else. So, he might as well take advantage of the moment and drink a few more cups of free coffee. Who knows if he’d still be thirsty and hungry once he arrived in the other world? The elderly woman got up and took a few steps, and the young office worker also stood up, looking at the street ahead with a terrified expression. It seemed she, too, had received the director’s instructions—it was her turn to cross the street. Once the office worker reached the curb, new instructions from the director came through her earphones, telling her to run a few steps to catch up with the elderly woman ahead and then help her cross the street. The office worker silently breathed a sigh of relief, quickly catching up to the elderly woman ahead of her and supporting her as they crossed to the other side of the street. As far as she was concerned, as long as she made it to the other side of the street, she would be safe. Crossing the street with the elderly woman meant, at least, she didn’t have to worry about crossing with Li Teng. As they reached the middle of the street, a card fell from the office worker’s pocket onto the ground, but the midday sun was too bright, and no one noticed this extra detail the director had arranged. The four extras still sitting on this side, however, could see that in the midday sun, the legs of both the office worker and the elderly woman were trembling as they walked. From time to time, they would glance toward the alleyway, worried that a sports car might suddenly come barreling out of there. Faced with the possibility of a car accident at any moment—especially one caused by being struck by a speeding sports car—it would be difficult for anyone to remain calm. Just as the elderly woman and the office worker reached the middle of the street, the man in glasses stood up; he, too, had received instructions through his earpiece that it was his turn to cross the street. Gao Fei followed the man in glasses. By the time Gao Fei stepped onto the street, the office worker and the elderly woman had both already crossed and reached the other side safely! Once they were certain they had safely crossed the street, they both collapsed onto the sidewalk. The office worker couldn’t even hold back her tears as she covered her face and sobbed quietly. A car accident happens in the blink of an eye, yet that brief half-minute it took them to cross the street felt, to them, as long as an entire day. While the two on the other side of the street were relieved, two others were still sitting on bar stools around the round table on this side, suffering in agony. Li Teng and the young girl. They had not yet received the order to depart. “I want to be the heroine. I want to act out a whole play. I don’t want to turn into a motionless wax figure,” the young girl murmured, her face slightly pale. “Don’t be afraid. He’s not targeting you. You’ll get through this unscathed,” Li Teng said, offering a few words of comfort to the girl. “Thank you.” No sooner had the words left her mouth than her face turned pale, and she jumped down from the barstool in a fit of panic. Clearly, she, too, had received the command to set off. “Relax, it’ll be over in a moment,” Li Teng reassured her once more. “Okay, relax!” The girl bit her lip and walked stiffly toward the street. By the time the girl reached the curb, the man in glasses had already crossed the street and successfully made it to the other side. Once there, he looked remarkably calm. Upon arriving at the film studio, the man in glasses was greeted by Guo Zhipeng as a newcomer. Although Guo Zhipeng had played a prank on him that scared the living daylights out of him, the two had gotten to know each other fairly well. Since the man in glasses hadn’t done anything to offend Guo Zhipeng, he didn’t think Guo Zhipeng would choose to run him over. As it turned out, Guo Zhipeng did not choose to run him over. Gao Fei followed right behind the man with glasses, slowly crossing the street. Once he had crossed, a look of relief spread across his face. He turned to glance at the young woman walking down the street, then cast a sympathetic look across the street at Li Teng, who was still sitting on a bar stool by the coffee table, sipping his coffee. “Looks like one of them is bound to end up as a wax figure,” the man with glasses remarked with schadenfreude. Gao Fei shot him a glance but said nothing. The other two extras—the young office worker and the elderly woman who had arrived earlier—had also calmed down and come to the curb, watching the young woman who had walked to the very center of the street. “Do you guys want the girl to turn into a wax figure, or the handsome guy?” the man in glasses asked the group, clearly in high spirits. “Show a little compassion, will you?” the office worker scolded the man in glasses. “Compassion? Someone has to die anyway. Would compassion prevent this from happening? We’re just a bit luckier than others,” the man in glasses retorted. “This round has a one-in-six chance. Even if future rounds have only a one-in-eight chance, once we get through this one, we won’t last many more. Statistically speaking, we’re bound to die sooner or later,” the elderly woman remarked, having a rather clear understanding of the situation. “You’re an intellectual, aren’t you?” the office worker asked the elderly woman. “No, I suppose I’m more of a businesswoman,” the elderly woman said with a smile. While the extras were chatting, the young girl slowly crossed the street and joined the group. There was only one person left who hadn’t crossed the street yet. Everyone looked sympathetically at Li Teng on the other side of the street. Earlier, at the round table, Guo Zhipeng had already made his hatred for Li Teng abundantly clear. Now it seemed that the two of them weren’t acting—their animosity was real, and Li Teng was the very person Guo Zhipeng intended to run over. At that moment, everyone could only feel deep sympathy for Li Teng. At the same time, Li Teng received the director’s instruction through his earpiece to set off. Li Teng sighed again, closed his eyes for a moment, drained the last drop of coffee from his cup, and only then stepped down from the barstool, turning his gaze toward the street.