Hugo wasn't sure if he was overthinking things, because he really didn't understand how auditions for a lead role worked. Forget Hollywood auditions—he wasn't even familiar with the process back home. So, Hugo couldn't be certain whether he was just imagining things or if it was his sixth sense kicking in.
Earlier, Hugo had been immersed in the excitement of getting into character and hadn't paid much attention. But now, Elizabeth's unusual behavior made him alert. Without much hesitation, he blurted out, "Elizabeth, why are my lines Norman's and not Paul's? Does this mean the role I'm auditioning for has changed?"
Elizabeth paused briefly at Hugo's directness, then showed a composed smile. "No," she shook her head, emphasizing her denial. "No, I just wanted to see how you handled the lines. The role isn't what matters most—I just randomly picked a scene." But the reasoning didn't seem all that convincing. Elizabeth noticed the subtle light rippling in Hugo's amber eyes and couldn't help but look away awkwardly. After a brief pause, she looked back at Hugo again.
"You know, playing Paul requires a high level of fishing skills." Elizabeth shifted the topic back to Paul's role, successfully capturing Hugo's attention. "So do you know anything about fishing, or are you secretly a master angler?"
Hugo didn't know what "he" used to be like, but personally, he had no clue about fishing. "No, I've never fished before, but I don't mind trying it out and learning." If he was confirmed for the role, then Hugo would definitely put in the effort.
Robert De Niro once drove a taxi twelve hours a day for a month to prepare for Taxi Driver. He even studied mental illness in depth—and ended up delivering one of the most iconic performances in film history.
"Haha, then that's great to hear." Elizabeth responded with a cheerful laugh, but then suddenly changed the subject. "If there are no other questions, I think that concludes today's audition. Please wait for our notification."
"That's it?" Hugo blurted out without thinking. His inner-country bumpkin instincts flared up again. It was true—Hugo lacked experience and had little understanding of the audition process, especially the complex and elusive Hollywood system. But even so, Hugo could clearly feel that today's audition was off. The sense of failure was growing stronger and stronger.
Elizabeth was momentarily stunned by Hugo's sudden outburst. Hugo had given her too many surprises today. Compared to the rumors floating around the industry, this Hugo Lancaster seemed quite different—one surprise after another. But she was used to big waves. She quickly regained her composure. "Yes, today's audition is over."
That firm response made Hugo realize at once—his feeling of failure was spot on. He had wanted to give it his all, to seize this opportunity that had come after his transmigration. During the lines performance earlier, he had fully unleashed all the skills he had at this stage. But today's audition seemed hopeless from the start: stripping down, performing misaligned lines, then wrapping up with a vague and abrupt conversation it all screamed to Hugo: today's audition is a bust.
He couldn't help but feel disappointed. His bright eyes dimmed in an instant. He gave Elizabeth and Jon a polite smile and said, "Goodbye," then turned to leave.
Watching Hugo's disappointed back, Jon looked toward Elizabeth with a trace of guilt. The two exchanged a glance. Elizabeth casually set Hugo's file aside and prepared for the next audition. Jon could only sigh lightly and try to calm his tangled emotions.
Hugo left the conference room with his head down. The female staff member at the door politely opened it for him again. Though his mood was low, Hugo still lifted his head and gave her a faint smile. "Thank you." That warm smile made the woman's heart skip a beat. A subtle blush appeared on her cheeks, and she returned a polite smile.
Hugo walked out over the carpeted floor, feeling his footsteps unusually heavy. His mind was a chaotic mess, unable to settle on a single thought. Just earlier, he'd been full of ambition, ready to carve out a path for himself. Isn't that how webnovel stories usually go? The protagonist travels through time, uses their skills and knowledge from a future world, and builds a new life during their second chance. Whether it's a cheat code or a protagonist halo, everything falls into place.
Hugo had thought he was finally stepping into the spotlight, no longer a side character. This transmigration was supposed to be fate giving him a second shot.
But who would have thought it'd fall apart so quickly? Not even twelve hours had passed since his transmigration, and the confidence he had just started to build was already crushed. He felt utterly lost. Why had he even traveled through time? What was the meaning of it all? How were his Death Or Glory bandmates doing? How would his parents feel? And now, this whole mess—drugs, a Golden Raspberry Award—it all made Hugo Lancaster's current life feel full of uncertainty. What would the Lancaster couple think if they found out their son's soul had been replaced? Would Joseph, who still held hope for Hugo's acting career, finally give up?
Hugo's mind was packed with all kinds of thoughts. He simply couldn't sort them out. To be precise, he hadn't had a single moment of clarity since last night's transmigration. Everything had happened too fast, too complicated. Hugo felt like he couldn't keep up with life anymore. He had finally worked up the courage to embrace his destiny—only to be slapped hard by reality.
Maybe… he wasn't the protagonist. Just a side character. Maybe all of this was just a fluke, or a joke.
"Hugo Lancaster." A call interrupted Hugo's train of thought. In truth, Hugo didn't even react at first, still not yet instinctively responding to that name. But the sudden thunderclap of a voice amidst the low, noisy hallway still snapped him out of his thoughts. When he looked up, he saw that everyone else in the corridor was whispering, their ambiguous glances all falling on him. Only then did Hugo realize: that call was for him.
The one who spoke was George Wood, the man with golden straight hair. "So the audition ended so quickly, and you came out with the expression of someone whose girlfriend just ran off with another guy. Looks like someone failed the audition, huh?" The schadenfreude on his face couldn't be more obvious. These frequent audition-goers all had their own criteria to judge results, and judging by Hugo's state, the result was clearly not great.
"Total failure." Standing next to him, William Stone joined in, even starting to chant like a cheerleader, "Loser! Loser!" as if they were on the sidelines of a basketball game, cheering at completely the wrong moment. This was supposed to be a tense, on-edge atmosphere, yet they were obnoxiously shouting away.
Unfortunately, neither George nor William realized how foolish they looked. Though the people nearby were enjoying the joke on Hugo, in their eyes, George and William were at best clown-level street acts. After their chant, both George and William burst into laughter, clearly satisfied with having successfully mocked Hugo.
Hugo temporarily pushed aside the chaotic thoughts in his mind and responded with a smile. Then, grinning cheerfully, he said, "I thought this was the audition site for 'A River Runs Through It.' When did it become the set for 'Beverly Hills 90210'?"
"Beverly Hills 90210" was a trashy soap opera that premiered in 1990—this was Hugo saying the two of them were being ridiculously childish.
George and William's smiles instantly froze on their faces, while someone in the crowd couldn't help but snort with laughter. Though the laughter didn't spread, the color still drained from George and William's faces. George immediately exploded, "A crybaby little sissy like you, what can you do besides run your mouth? Oh right, you can also use that to get through the system." He placed his hands on either side of his hips and started thrusting his waist lewdly, implying that Hugo had climbed up the ranks by selling his body.
As soon as those words came out, the room fell silent. This kind of thing was fine to joke about privately, but saying it out loud was just plain awkward.
Hugo had just transmigrated and knew very little about the past of this body. The memories hadn't fully merged, and everything felt like walking on eggshells. But that didn't mean Hugo would surrender. His smile grew even brighter. "Jealous?" One line of rebuttal made George's face turn bright red like a monkey's butt. "Or are you saying you offered that kind of service but didn't get anywhere?" Hugo's insinuation nearly sent George charging at him, but Hugo's next line nailed him to the floor.
"Stop making that motion," Hugo said as he lifted his right hand, spread his fingers wide, and ran them through his hair. This was George's habitual move—his golden shoulder-length hair always rippled dramatically with each toss, oozing "allure." "You're not Freddie Mercury."
Freddie Mercury, the soul of Queen, had died last November 24th from AIDS.
After speaking, Hugo strode toward the elevator. As he passed George and William, he paused again, gave his own butt a loud slap, and then walked off without looking back—leaving only a wave of stunned silence behind.