Chapter 45: Performances On Hell-Mode

The white-collar woman said, “I would be dumb to give the guild 2 points for no apparent reason when I only get a remuneration of 10 points per performance.” She was increasingly baffled by the purpose of the guild’s existence.

“You don’t just submit points to the guild for nothing after you join it, of course. You receive a lot of benefits, too.

“A guild has a reputation among actors, as well as commercial dealings with other guilds. For example, if an actor has to be killed in a performance, the person with the authority to act may exclude you from their list of targets first because they are afraid that your guild would seek revenge.

“Or maybe you were initially doomed in a scene, but the guild’s existence causes the other party to develop reservations about killing you, so they end up changing their target to someone else. Isn’t it worth it to use a few points in exchange for your life?

“Other than that, a guild member will also receive a contribution count when they submit points or carry out the guild’s tasks. With the contribution count, you can rent high-level props that you can’t afford at all from the guild warehouse at no or low cost. You can even learn various skills that you can’t get your hands on from veteran actors in the guild.

“If members of the same guild are performing in the same film crew, all of them will act as characters in the same camp. The film studio’s official authorities also acknowledge this form of cooperation and prioritize grouping members from the same guild together when they assign roles.

“If guild members are attacked and killed in a performance by members of other guilds or actors that don’t belong to any guild, the murderer will automatically be listed on the guild’s bounty list. Notifications for the bounty mission will automatically pop up when any guild member logs on to the terminal. Suppose fellow guild members find the murderer or encounter the murderer in the same film crew, and successfully kill the murderer and avenge the victim. In that case, they will receive the corresponding number of points, as well as contribution count, as a reward.

“For actors struggling to survive in the film studio, a guild is a form of protection providing cover, much like an umbrella.

“When it rains, if everyone has an umbrella while you don’t, you may very well turn out to be the one dying of illness after getting caught in the rain.

“I’m more or less done with answering the question. That is what a guild is. The Silver Wolf Guild welcomes everyone to join. Of course, you’ll need someone like me to refer you and also pass the guild’s entrance assessment before you can join, though.”

The pretty boy finished his answer to the first question and cast a glance at the spectacled man.

“I’m counting on you, Boss!” There was an ingratiating look on the spectacled man’s face. Evidently, he was now looking forward very much to joining the Silver Wolf Guild.

After the pretty boy’s response, it was now the sunglasses-wearing woman’s turn to answer questions.

The white-collar woman was in charge of raising the question.

She asked a question which had been perplexing her, “We can only earn 10 points with one performance. If we’re lucky, we can earn 15 points. However, these points are gone after just a meal, not to mention if we want to buy clothes and so on. There’s no way we’ll ever have any points leftover to reduce the stone pillar’s height, level up, or anything like that, much less offer them to a guild or whatnot. So, what I want to know is how actors like you, who have successfully leveled up, managed to save and accumulate enough points to achieve all of this?”

If one couldn’t level up, they would only earn the basic number of points. And if one could only earn the basic number of points, it would be very difficult for them to have any surplus. Without any surplus, they wouldn’t be able to level up. If they couldn’t level up, then the only thing they could do would still be to earn just the basic number of points. It was practically a vicious cycle. Moreover, they also faced the risk of being penalized 1,000 points and turned into a wax statue at the drop of a hat.

If this was a game, then the difficulty level of this game was simply too high. It wasn’t a game that typical players could handle at all.

The woman in the sunglasses answered, “It is indeed very tough for pure newbies to earn points. Try and challenge more additional performances. You may be able to stand out among the extras that way.”

“Additional performances?”

“Yes, after a newbie participates in two to three, or four to five at the maximum, performances, there is a chance that the director will set up a few additional performances and cameos. The rules of these additional performances are different from the ones in regular performances. It’s more dangerous, but you get to earn more points from them.

“After you’ve leveled up, you’ll have more channels of earning points, so you can earn points at a faster rate and achieve a balance between your income and expenditure, or even have a surplus. The reason why I was able to earn enough points to level up is precisely that I had taken part in a few high-risk additional performances and successfully survived them,” answered the woman in the sunglasses.

The difficulty level of this question wasn’t that high and didn’t hold much value. Thus, the director gave the woman in the sunglasses only 1 point as a reward.

It was now Gao Fei’s turn to ask the pretty boy a question.

He asked, “If members of a large-scale guild like your Silver Wolf Guild gang up to bully a newbie, the rules won’t be that reasonable anymore, right? Isn’t there anything that protects newbies and things like that? If this goes on, how are newbies going to survive in the film studio?”

The pretty boy thought for a while before he responded.

“Newbies have ways to protect themselves, of course, and these are even considered pretty good methods. Newbie is defined here as extras who haven’t joined any guild and are at the level of character actors or below.

“During a newbie’s performance, if the role they are acting as is killed by someone who’s a member of a guild, they won’t be penalized 1,000 points and turned into a wax statue right away. Instead, they’ll be forced to take part in a hell-mode performance. If they can survive the hell-mode performance, the penalty of being turned into a wax statue will be canceled,” said the pretty boy as he ended his explanation.

The woman in the sunglasses was also listening seriously to his explanation. Evidently, based on the pretty boy’s definition, she still belonged to the newbie domain.

“So, what you mean is that if the demonic granny had been the real ghost this time instead of Li Teng and she managed to kill Li Teng, he wouldn’t be penalized 1,000 points and turned into a wax statue directly? Instead, he would be given a second chance because he’s a newbie and be made to take part in a hell-mode performance?” asked Gao Fei.

“Can we not use the term, demonic granny? It’s disrespectful to the dead,” protested the pretty boy.

The director replied, “Objection valid. However, the answer regarding newbie protection is not complete. Points will not be awarded.”

“Alright… I’ll supplement a bit more information about newbie protection. This is just what I know, though. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.

“If what the newbie is partaking in is a face-off style of performance, in the situation where the newbie and the guild member belong to two opposing camps, the newbie has a chance to self-destruct during the performance.

“This type of self-destruction is solely limited to the face-off style of performances. Suppose the newbie realizes that victory is impossible. In that case, they can consider going against the plot to activate self-destruction and forcibly kill the guild member on the opposite camp that’s acting as the lead character in the story.

“Once the newbie activates self-destruction, no matter the outcome and whether or not the guild member is killed, the newbie will be forced to enter a hell-mode performance.

“When a newbie’s self-destruction kills a guild member, if they have more than 100 points in their account balance, 100 points will be deducted, and the performance continues. If they have less than 100 points and also happen to be taking on the lead role, the performance ends, and they’ll be disqualified on the spot. Their point balance becomes negative, and they will be sealed into a wax statue!

“Therefore, there is a huge risk involved when a guild member goes after a newbie. They must be on guard against their self-destruction at all times. In particular, guild members with less than 100 points in their account must guard against a newbie counterattacking and killing them by self-destructing and forcibly discontinuing the performance.

“From a certain perspective, a newbie’s ability to self-destruct has deterred guild members from hunting newbies.

“But of course, once a newbie activates self-destruction, they’ll be forced to participate in a hell-mode performance. There’s no real difference between that and being turned into a wax statue, either,” supplemented the pretty boy.

The director approved his answer and gave him 3 points as a reward.

Gao Fei asked, “What’s a hell-mode performance like? Is it very difficult? Why do you say that there’s no real difference between that and being turned into a wax statue?”