"Hmph—"
Chen Yulin snorted lightly, looking Xiao He and Liu Zehang up and down with disdain: "Some people are really ridiculous. They're clearly competitors, yet they put on this act of mutual flattery as if they actually stand a chance. They probably won't even be able to eat when the results come out."
Liu Zehang: "Haha, if even we can't get selected, what makes you think you will?"
Actually, according to seniority norms, Chen Yulin as the junior shouldn't dare to challenge Liu Zehang like this. But Hao Entertainment behind Chen Yulin excelled at marketing and generating traffic, which meant that despite never having played a male lead role, Chen Yulin's fan numbers were no less than those of a skilled actor like Liu Zehang who had multiple male lead roles under his belt. This became his confidence.
Chen Yulin: "Mr. Liu should worry less about others and more about yourself. What if your good friend ends up as the male lead while you play a supporting role? That would take some time to adjust to."
Liu Zehang rolled his eyes dramatically: "Mr. Chen should also give fewer suggestions to others. After all, you've never been a male lead yourself, so you probably haven't experienced whether that requires any adjustment."
Chen Yulin: "Tch."
Xiao He: "..."
You two are making me not know how to respond.
Just at that moment, a staff member came over and took Chen Yulin in for his audition.
After a while, Liu Zehang also prepared to enter.
Before leaving, Liu Zehang cheered Xiao He on: "Good luck, Brother Xiao. I won't lose to you."
Xiao He also encouraged him: "Alright, I'll be waiting! You do your best too!"
After Liu Zehang left, more people gradually arrived in the hall, but Xiao He didn't know any of them and didn't force himself to interact with others, continuing to look down at his script.
However, he hadn't been sitting long when someone suddenly sat down beside him.
Xiao He glanced at the person and found it was a middle-aged man around fifty years old, wearing a mask. The eyes that were visible had several deep creases at the corners. His overall attire was very simple and low-key, and he seemed to have a staff badge hanging on his chest, looking completely out of place with everyone else here.
Meeting Xiao He's gaze, this uncle curved his eyes and nodded at him friendly.
Xiao He didn't sense any dangerous aura from the other person, so he politely nodded back slightly.
Then he continued looking down at his script.
And this guy was quite tactful too, just sitting quietly to the side without speaking or making any strange movements, seemingly just sitting in this spot for no particular reason.
But Xiao He could feel a faint, almost imperceptible gaze repeatedly examining him.
Xiao He pretended not to notice.
After waiting another ten or so minutes, Xiao He finally officially entered the preparation area. A staff member handed him a script containing the audition scene he needed to perform next.
Xiao He quickly scanned it - it was a monologue scene.
The character he played had finally escaped with his life, having fled back from outside, but what greeted him wasn't people's concern, but panic.
Everyone looked at him with eyes full of fear, all suspecting he had been infected with the zombie virus and could turn violent at any moment.
While everyone debated whether he should stay or go, he just sat quietly in place, silently tending to his wounds—
Yes, he was injured, but not from a zombie bite. It was a knife wound, meaning it was caused by a human.
In this dangerous environment filled with zombies everywhere, the most dangerous thing, in the end, turned out to be people...
This segment had no dialogue for the character, relying entirely on actions and expressions to highlight the character's psychological process. If performed poorly with vacant eyes, it might look more like the character spacing out, failing to convey any tragic grandeur. So this scene was actually the most challenging performance segment for this character in the entire storyline.
Fortunately, Xiao He had been diligently practicing his acting during this period, and since gaining the "Art of Lies" enhancement, his performances had become more infectious and persuasive. For such a difficult performance segment, Xiao He had developed his own understanding and approach.
Running through his upcoming self-introduction and performance silently in his mind, Xiao He began carefully checking his attire.
For this audition to better fit the character, Liu Rulan had specially put together an outfit for Xiao He that matched the character setting - a tactical fitted shirt and khaki cargo pants, with dark brown combat boots on his feet. Combined with Xiao He's diligent training during this period, his broad shoulders and narrow waist gave him a powerful, steady presence that perfectly matched the character's identity as the "strongest fighter" throughout the entire story.
Although this was just going through the motions, Xiao He didn't want to be perfunctory about it, aiming instead to deliver his best performance.
As for other issues, with Sister Liu around, he didn't need to worry at all.
Finally, guided by staff members, Xiao He knocked on the door to the performance hall ahead.
"Creak—"
The performance hall door was somewhat old and actually made noise. But what came even before the sound was the chilly air-conditioned wind from inside the performance hall. The moment Xiao He stepped inside, he felt like his entire skin was wrapped in something, making him both cold and uncomfortable.
Xiao He instinctively frowned.
"Hello esteemed teachers, my name is Xiao He."
Following the temporary arrows stuck on the floor to the center of the performance area, Xiao He bowed respectfully to the several people ahead.
But when he clearly saw the faces of the people on the stage, Xiao He's pupils involuntarily constricted slightly.
Sitting in the middle of the judges' panel was Director Feng, Feng Zhengyang. Now over seventy years old, he still maintained robust health with jet-black hair and a full face. But the way he looked at Xiao He was full of scrutiny, and those somewhat turbid upturned eyes made Xiao He extremely uncomfortable, inexplicably giving him the feeling of being compared and measured like merchandise.
What made Xiao He even more uncomfortable was the familiar aura coming from Director Feng...
—No, not just him. Actually, this entire group on stage felt very wrong!
Director Feng in the center had a strong smell of blood about him, so thick it reached levels of rotting stench that made people nauseous.
Next to Director Feng was an elegant man in his thirties with quite handsome features. His narrow phoenix eyes carried a gentle starlight, his overall aura possessing the mature masculine charm of a university professor—
Xiao He recognized him as Tong Junhui, an artist formerly managed by Sister Liu, and also the male lead personally selected by Director Feng for this film.
Before this, Xiao He had seen his photos but never felt this way. Meeting him in person this time, Xiao He discovered the other's aura was particularly chaotic. Although there was no blood smell, there was still a faint familiar aura. Those phoenix eyes that fans often praised as warm jade now revealed indifferent coldness beneath the gentle facade, as if obscured by fog, making it impossible to see his true inner thoughts.
What made Xiao He even more wary was the unfamiliar man sitting on Director Feng's other side. The man had ordinary looks with a pair of harsh triangular eyes that naturally carried criticism and scrutiny when looking at people. He even had more eye white than normal people, and when staring at Xiao He, his face bore an arrogant expression.
According to the nameplate on the seat, Xiao He knew this person was the film's producer, Dong Zeng.
He also carried a strong smell of blood.
Finally, there was the screenwriter sitting in the corner. Xiao He could also sense something wrong with him, but ironically, this screenwriter was actually the "cleanest" one among this group.
—In other words, these people should all be in jail rather than pretending to select actors here.
At this moment, Xiao He almost forgot what he had come here for.
Holy crap, where have I ended up? Is this still an audition venue? How did it turn into a convention of criminals?