Chapter 2

Zhang Huen was discovered at a public performance bar by Jin Baihua Studio. With a leaping ambition, he joined the studio. After three years of hard work, he found himself back at the starting point of his career. He walked towards Jin Baihua Studio with a blank expression, looking at the bustling crowd on the street, unsure of his own direction.

In any case, it was right to cause a commotion at Jin Baihua Studio. Although we signed short-term contracts, there was still a contract. The attitude of treating us, the extras, like trash was truly infuriating. Moreover, there's a saying in the industry: "Even if it's unreasonable, as long as it scares people, it's profitable."

"We want to survive, we want to eat!"

Arriving at the warehouse-like "pigsty" of Jin Baihua, many extras who had received text messages had already gathered and were confronting the tightly closed doors. A man with a makeshift baton made from a newspaper led the charge, shouting slogans at the security guards standing guard inside, drawing the attention of passersby.

"We want to survive, we want to eat!"

"Lin Nianxiu of GRD, come out! How dare you withhold our hard-earned money? The government has repeatedly stated that migrant workers' wages should not be withheld..."

"Down with Lin Nianxiu! Long live the extras!"

A large group of agitated extras and background actors, led by the commander, held various signs and shouted loudly outside the door. This almost hooligan-like attitude gave Zhang Huen a headache. He had originally hoped to use connections to stay at Jin Baihua, but the enthusiasm of his former comrades-in-arms completely shattered that hope.

(Well, causing a commotion is pointless. They've already given us the breach of contract penalty, which is fair enough. If we continue, we'll end up in jail.)

At heart, Zhang Huen was a law-abiding citizen. When the moment came, he backed down. He walked away from the agitated group, fearing he would be infected by their emotions. As he walked back, he kept questioning himself.

(How will I explain this to my parents and daughter? My parents are nearly sixty, and my daughter is only two. How can I support this heavy burden of life? I'm a coward, a complete failure.)

"Flowers bloom and wither, relationships form and end. Life is just a wave in a great river. Cherish the present, look to the future, and start all over again..."

Someone had played this old song from a decade ago on a public speaker. Listening to the former star's mournful voice repeating "start all over again, just a starting point in the ups and downs..." made Zhang Huen want to swear. A surge of anger rose in his heart.

I used to be a worker at Echeng Machinery Factory, swinging a hammer and lifting steel plates every day, disregarding safety. What great crime did I commit to be put on hold for training, receiving only 50% of my salary, and then forced to take a leave of absence without pay after half a year? When your products don't sell, why should the workers bear the blame? What are those fat, bloated factory leaders for?

My parents worked hard all their lives to send me to university, thinking I would finally have a stable job. But in the end, I still had to find my own way. Isn't this a form of humiliation?

After a lifetime of hard work, I find myself back in the storm. Is it really that easy to start all over again? Food, clothes, medical care, raising a daughter, and various taxes are like hungry tigers lying in wait, making life unbearable. Is it really that easy to start over? Come on, let's switch places; I can sing better than you.

The more he thought, the angrier he became. He felt like he had been knocked to the ground and was forced to praise the emperor and the officials, feeling utterly degraded. His face turned red, and his expression twisted.

(Start all over again, fine, I'll start all over again!)

Enraged, Zhang Huen made up his mind. He walked back to the Yuejin neighborhood, pushed open the door of "Sandou Dou Public Performance Bar," and looked at the movie access device flashing blue in the quiet room. He felt a strange sense of coming home.

(Truly, the flowers that once bloomed have fallen, and the swallows that once left have returned.)

"Brother, want to act?"

The owner of the public performance bar was still the same fat man from three years ago, with a popular Dage-style haircut and a patched-up old robe. Business was neither good nor bad. In today's rapidly developing, competitive society, it was hard to make a living. There were profitable jobs, but they came with high risks. Guarding hundreds of devices and playing online card games to support a family was a relatively comfortable life.

The public performance bar was still the same old, dilapidated place. The "Loyalty to the Emperor and Love for the Country" slogan on the wall hadn't been changed in years. The complaints of a few scholars were still hanging on the blackened wall, while the slogans praising the government were occasionally wiped clean. The yellowed dragon flag of the Great Xia was like a mirror, hanging all over the corners of the wall.

Zhang Huen placed his hand on the fingerprint scanner, looking at the remaining 566 credit points. He felt bitter. Since his wife's death in a car accident, his family's situation had worsened year by year. His elderly parents had to take care of his two-year-old daughter, and his career offered no hope. The pressure of supporting the family was increasing, and his insomnia was getting worse. He didn't know how long his seemingly robust body could hold up.

"Brother, want to sign up for a monthly plan? Only 100 points."

(A penny can defeat a hero. Living expenses, my insurance, and my daughter's kindergarten fees are still unresolved.)

"No."

He coldly declined the owner's offer, found a semi-old access device, put on the helmet, and logged into the Big Movie Network. He skipped the amateur movies and went straight to the professional movie test section, looking at the upcoming films.

There were seven big-budget movies: two war films, two fantasy films, one horror film, one sci-fi film, and one martial arts film.

Among them, the Sino-American co-production "Super Ability Battle" and the international co-production "Kingdom of Dominance" were the hottest, with seven stars each. They were the most ambitious, grand, and epic productions of the seven films.

Recently, international co-productions were popular. Although Chinese actors generally performed poorly on the international stage, this didn't stop the Chinese film industry's enthusiasm for entering the world market. Just one Oscar, even for a supporting role, could break the vicious cycle of the Chinese film industry's decline.

Other countries were also happy to accept Chinese actors, who were known for their willingness to play minor roles. As long as it was a big production, especially one that spent a lot of credit points, they would invite Chinese film companies to co-produce. In simpler terms, the Chinese film industry was seen as a place where people were easy to fool and money was easy to make.

Zhang Huen looked at the synopsis of "Super Ability Battle." As soon as he clicked, a black dialog box popped up:

"The greatest joy in life is to chase and kill your enemies, invade their lands, plunder their wealth, and hear the cries of their wives and children—do you want revenge?"

(Bullshit!)

Zhang Huen didn't even bother to read the intrusive ad, clicking the red X to close it. He continued reading the synopsis of "Super Ability Battle":

"Super Ability Battle" tells the story of superpowered individuals who suddenly appear in China and the United States, leading to an uncontrollable superpower war. The plot includes conspiracy, human experiments, love, ambition, world destruction, and saviors, making it a potpourri of a big-budget film. The recent American TV series "HERO7" has swept the global TV market, and the movie version of "HERO7" is seen as a follow-up, but it has a strong market among fans.

The black dialog box kept popping up, but Zhang Huen dismissed it without hesitation. He had seen countless ads and knew how to deal with them.

(The more you make me click, the less I will. You won't get any clicks, and you'll be angry.)

He looked at the schedule for "Super Ability Battle," which was five months away, not fitting his goal of finding temporary work. So he turned to "Kingdom of Dominance," a light fantasy war film.

"Kingdom of Dominance" has a broad historical background, telling the story of numerous ambitious figures fighting for the Surya throne on two continents. It involves war, slaughter, eroticism, incest, and disgusting scenes, similar to the no-limits war drama "The Tudors 18."

The shooting was scheduled to start in a week, and they were currently recruiting a large number of background and extra actors through test movies.

The black dialog box had popped up dozens of times, annoying Zhang Huen. He took off the helmet and shouted at the fat man:

"Boss, what's wrong with this machine? It keeps showing ads."

"Huh?"

The fat man checked the status of the access device on his computer and said innocently:

"Nothing's wrong, everything's fine!"

"Fine? Come and see for yourself."

The fat man muttered something about a lunatic, walked over, put on the helmet, and operated it. Then he took off the helmet and asked:

"Everything's fine, no problem?"

Zhang Huen was frustrated. He put on the helmet again and found that the pop-up had disappeared. He felt a bit embarrassed and said to the fat man:

"It was popping up just now... I don't know why it stopped."

The fat man chuckled and left. Strange things happen every year, but this year was particularly strange. The ads on movie access devices were implanted by legitimate operators and wouldn't show inappropriate content like on a computer. This guy looked depressed, probably having a tough time. With the World Cup and college entrance exams approaching, more and more people were jumping off buildings. This guy would probably contribute to the high number of suicides in the Great Xia after a few more outbursts.

The owner patted Zhang Huen's shoulder and said earnestly:

"Brother, take it easy. It's just starting over."

(F**k you, are you trying to provoke me? Am I that obvious?)

Zhang Huen, feeling humiliated, touched his nose, suppressing his anger. Even the owner of a small public performance bar could see his failure, which made him realize how truly failed he was.

(Test Movie — "Kingdom of Dominance" — Test Role: Farmer of Notz — Test Slots: 1000/1000 <Full>, Test Company: Jubaopan)

The test movie listed seventy roles, each with exactly two thousand people. Originally, there were more, but following the principle of shared benefits and local protection, the quota for Echeng was limited to the average number of participants from a county. This was the result of the Echeng Film Association's efforts. In less developed areas, the total number might not even reach ten thousand.

In the film industry, the more prominent the actors, the more slots they get. Despite the real movie's openness, it still needed to give some incentives to regions with excellent actors.

Each company listed a different number of test slots (allocated based on performance), with most already full. Only a few were still open.

Among the remaining roles, Zhang Huen ignored the maid and bed slave roles. The slots for the toilet cleaner and corpse collector were filled within ten seconds. Only one role remained:

(Test Movie — "Kingdom of Dominance" — Test Role: Gladiator Slave of Cenats — Test Slots: 881/1000, Test Company: Jin Baihua)

(Test Movie — "Kingdom of Dominance" — Test Role: Gladiator Slave of Cenats — Test Slots: 265/1000, Test Company: Continental Shelf)

Seeing the two companies competing, and given that Continental Shelf's influence had been overshadowed by "The Great Jianghu," Zhang Huen chose Continental Shelf without hesitation. He had lost all faith in Jin Baihua, and they probably felt the same about him.

As he clicked on the test page for Continental Shelf, the black dialog box popped up again, blocking his mouse pointer. Before he could react, he felt dizzy, and his consciousness was pulled into the real movie.