Trembling in the Skies

Chapter 45: A Hellish Performance

“I only get ten points as pay for a performance—I’d have to be out of my mind to just hand two of them over to the guild for nothing.” The female office worker found herself increasingly baffled by the guild’s existence. “Joining a guild isn’t just about handing over points for nothing—there are plenty of benefits.” “The guild has a formidable reputation, and it engages in various business dealings with other guilds. For example, during a performance, if an actor is killed, the person in charge might—out of fear of retaliation from your guild—exclude you from the list of targets right from the start.” “Maybe in a certain scene, you’d be a sure death, but because of the guild’s presence, the opponent might think twice and shift their target to someone else. A few points for a life—isn’t that worth it?” “Another example: Guild members can earn contribution points by paying points or performing tasks for the guild. With these contribution points, you can rent high-level performance props—ones you could never afford on your own—from the guild warehouse for free or at a minimal fee. You can even learn various skills from senior actors in the guild that you wouldn’t otherwise have access to.” “Members of the same guild who appear in the same production crew will all play roles on the same side. The film studio officially recognizes this collaboration and gives priority to the needs of guild members when casting roles.” “If a guild member is attacked and killed by an actor from another guild or an independent actor during a performance, the killer is automatically added to the guild’s bounty list. Whenever any guild member opens a terminal, the bounty mission automatically pops up. If other guild members track down the killer—or encounter them on the same production set and eliminate them to successfully avenge their guild’s victim—they’ll receive corresponding points and contribution rewards.” “For actors struggling to make a living in the film studio, a guild is like a protective umbrella.” “When it rains, everyone else has an umbrella, but if you don’t, you might be the one who gets soaked and dies of illness.” “That pretty much answers my question. The guild is exactly that kind of organization, and the Silver Wolf Guild welcomes every actor to join. Of course, you’ll need a referral from someone like me and have to pass the guild’s entrance exam first.” The fair-faced man concluded his answer to the first question and glanced at the bespectacled man. “I’ll leave it up to you, Boss!” The guy with glasses wore a fawning expression; clearly, he was eager to join the Silver Wolf Guild. After the fair-skinned young man finished speaking, it was the woman in sunglasses’ turn to answer. The female office worker posed the question. “What I want to know is, we only earn 10 points for filming a scene—15 points if we’re lucky. But that amount of points is gone in the blink of an eye just for a meal, let alone buying clothes or anything like that. There’s absolutely no way we’d have any points left over to lower the height of the stone pillars or level up, much less use points to support some guild. How did you actors who successfully leveled up manage to save up enough points to do all this?” The office worker asked a question that truly puzzled her. If you can’t level up, you’re stuck earning only base points; earning base points makes it hard to save anything; without savings, you can’t level up; and if you can’t level up, you’re still stuck earning only base points. It’s a vicious cycle. Plus, they deduct 1,000 points at the drop of a hat, turning you into a wax figure on the spot. If this were a game, it would be way too difficult—nothing an average player could handle. “It’s definitely hard for complete newcomers to earn points. Try taking on more extra performances—maybe that’ll help you stand out from the crowd of extras,” the woman in sunglasses replied to the office worker. “Extra performances?” “Yeah. After a newcomer has done two or three shows—four or five at most—the director might arrange some opportunities for extra performances. The rules for these extra performances are different from regular ones; they’re riskier, but you can earn more points.” “Once you level up, you’ll have more ways to earn points, allowing you to break even—or even turn a profit—faster. I was able to save up enough points to level up precisely because I took part in a few high-risk extra performances and managed to survive them,” the woman in sunglasses replied to the office worker. This question wasn’t very difficult and wasn’t worth much; the director only awarded the woman in sunglasses 1 point as a reward. Next, it was Gao Fei’s turn to ask the pretty-boy a question. “For a large-scale guild like your Silver Wolf, wouldn’t it be unfair to gang up on a newcomer? Aren’t there any rules to protect newcomers? If this keeps up, how are newcomers supposed to have any fun at the film studio?” Gao Fei asked. The pretty-boy thought for a moment before speaking. “Of course there’s protection for newcomers, and it’s actually pretty good. Here, a ‘newcomer’ is defined as an extra who hasn’t joined a guild and whose level is at or below ‘Crew Member.’ ” “During a performance, if a newcomer’s character is killed by a member of a guild, they won’t immediately lose 1,000 points and turn into a wax figure. Instead, they’ll be forced to participate in one ‘Hell Mode’ performance. If they survive that Hell Mode performance, they’ll be exempt from the wax figure penalty,” the fair-faced man concluded his explanation. The woman in sunglasses listened intently to the Fair-Faced Man’s explanation. Clearly, based on the classification he’d outlined, she now fell into the “newcomer” category as well. “So what you’re saying is that if Li Teng isn’t the real ghost this time, but the Old Witch is, and he gets killed by her, he won’t immediately lose points and turn into a wax figure—instead, he’ll get a ‘newcomer protection’ chance and be forced to participate in a Hell Mode performance?” Gao Fei continued to ask. “Could you please stop calling her the ‘old witch’? It’s disrespectful to the deceased,” the fair-faced young man protested to Gao Fei. “The protest is valid, but since your answer regarding the newcomer protection rule was incomplete, you won’t receive any bonus points,” the director interjected. “Alright… Regarding the newcomer protection, let me add a few more points—just what I know, since I can’t speak to what I don’t know.” “If a newcomer participates in a competitive performance, and during that performance the newcomer and guild members are on opposing sides, the newcomer has one opportunity to self-destruct.” “This self-destruction is limited to competitive performances. If a newcomer realizes victory is hopeless, they may choose to violate the plot’s established rules by initiating self-destruction to forcibly eliminate a guild member from the opposing faction who plays a major role in the storyline.” “Once a newcomer initiates a self-destruct, regardless of the outcome—and regardless of whether the guild member is killed—the newcomer will be forced into Hell Mode for the performance.” “If a guild member is killed by a newcomer’s self-destruction, and the member’s account balance exceeds 100 points, 100 points will be deducted, and the performance continues. If the guild member’s account balance is less than 100 points and that member is playing a major role, the performance ends immediately; the guild member is eliminated on the spot, their points turn negative, and they are sealed as a wax figure!” “Therefore, guild members face significant risks when hunting newcomers and must remain constantly vigilant against their self-destructs. In particular, guild members with account balances below 100 points must guard against being killed in retaliation when a newcomer’s self-destruct forcibly interrupts the performance.” “In a sense, the threat of a newcomer’s self-destruction acts as a deterrent against guild members hunting them down.” “Of course, once a newbie triggers a self-destruct, they’ll be forced to participate in a Hell Mode performance, which isn’t fundamentally any different from being turned into a wax figure,” the pretty-boy added. The director approved the Fair-Faced Guy’s response and rewarded him with 3 points. “What’s the Hell Mode performance like? Is it hard? Why do you say it’s essentially no different from turning into a wax figure?” Gao Fei continued to ask.