Early in the morning, Zong Qi got out of bed.
By the time he finished washing up and getting dressed, and was packing bread and water into his backpack, the clock had just passed six.
After all, it was his first time filming, and even though the system said that actors and directors were provided with meals and accommodation, Zong Qi was sure that meals didn’t include late-night snacks. So, just in case, he brought two sets of simple changeable clothes and some food to satisfy his hunger in an emergency.
“Xiaohong, time to go!”
After finishing all this, Zong Qi turned around and called his only employee.
Maybe it was because Zong Qi bought a lot of delicious dishes on his way back from Jiangzhou University yesterday and made a table full of delicacies. The attitude of the red-dressed female ghost towards him had significantly changed.
After enjoying Zong Qi’s specially made rare steak and delicious roast chicken, Xiaohong reluctantly agreed to her boss’s decision to take her along for the movie shoot.
Indeed, there’s no one who can’t be bribed with good food; if there is, then just offer more!
Unfortunately, Xiaohong’s throat was badly burned and she couldn’t communicate. Otherwise, Zong Qi could ask her some questions about the actor system.
“Huh huh huh huh huh.”
Hearing the sound, the red dress floated lightly in the air, turned into black mist, and stuck to the back of his head. If one looked hard at the ground, they could see a faint, indistinct ghostly shadow next to Zong Qi’s shadow.
Commonly known as a “spirit behind.”
After returning yesterday, Zong Qi carefully studied the “New Director’s Handbook” sent to him by the system, which contained many basic rules that directors need to know.
For example, the director’s assistant must not appear in the shot, and Zong Qi must ensure that Xiaohong is not exposed to the camera; otherwise, points will be deducted.
The assistant can only play an indirect role and cannot directly influence the filming process. So Xiaohong could only follow him in this spirit form, and it was best not to be discovered, otherwise, it would really scare people.
As he stepped out the door, Zong Qi could clearly see the edge of his shadow flicker on the ground, looking very happy to go out.
According to Qi Ningzhou, such beings transformed into fierce ghosts are generally earthbound spirits and can’t leave their haunted place unless someone with their resentment is hunted down. It was evident how happy she was to stick to Zong Qi and go out.
Seeing the stark contrast from Xiaohong’s aloof demeanor yesterday, the black-haired youth couldn’t help but laugh.
He closed the door and pressed the elevator button with a skip in his step.
“This is our first shoot. Let’s do our best together!”
The sky was overcast with a lead-gray color, looking like it might rain.
【Arrived at the designated location, director’s privileges are now enabled】
After changing several buses, Zong Qi arrived at the filming location of “Haunted Village” at exactly 8:30.
This was considered the outskirts of Jiangzhou City, surrounded by dilapidated old houses.
As he got off the bus, a light drizzle began to fall.
Under the broken station sign, a blond man smoking a cigarette glanced at him, “New here?”
At this time of day, even the 996 workaholics should be heading into the city, not many would be coming out here, making him stand out.
Zong Qi grabbed his backpack and walked over somewhat nervously, “Hello.”
He saw the basic information of the person in front of him from the director system in his pupils.
【Actor Alias】: Blondie
【Actor Level】: D-level actor
【Representative Work】: None
So he was really called Blondie. Zong Qi was speechless.
But since he was a D-level actor, it meant he had participated in at least one major script.
Actors and directors are different; without a director’s invitation, actors can only participate in major scripts and cannot do improvisational filming or participate in minor scripts. In other words, the latter two are the director’s privileges to earn points and recruit staff.
“Are you actors too?”
Hearing their conversation, a timid man in blue spoke up quickly, looking anxious, “What the hell is going on! That app suddenly appeared on my phone and then demanded that I come here today, or else…”
Just thinking of the nightmare where he was run over and turned into minced meat for not showing up on time for two consecutive nights, his fear was uncontrollable.
The nightmare was so real, even the feel of the flesh was still vivid. It was so real that it seemed like if he didn’t come, the nightmare would come true.
Not just the man in blue, but a young man also looked pale. In contrast, a girl in a white dress seemed much calmer.
They were all E-level actors like Zong Qi, meaning they had never participated in a major script film and were newbies just bound to the system. It was normal to be flustered encountering such supernatural events.
“Don’t panic.”
Blondie impatiently interrupted the man in blue: “Everyone’s like this, it’s not just you.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
As Zong Qi had previously guessed, besides him, many others in this world also had systems like his.
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However, after being bound by the system, they all had an additional identity—actors.
The system knew their lives inside out, and this mysterious horror movie system would randomly draw from their free schedules to arrange different movies for them to participate in.
If they didn’t join the set on time according to the system’s information, they would die in any possible accident within the next twenty-four hours.
But if it were just ordinary filmmaking, they wouldn’t be so scared.
The root of the actors’ fear was simple—this was real horror movie shooting!
The filming might involve ghosts, vengeful spirits, murderers, and all sorts of terrifying beings. During filming, actors could die due to various accidents.
Once dead, it was real death, often a gruesome one.
“Wait, I have a question.”
Zong Qi silently raised his hand.
He didn’t plan to reveal his director identity but wanted to understand the differences between the actor and director systems, so he could only use a roundabout questioning tactic.
“Is there any reward for successfully completing the movie?”
“Reward? At most, you’ll improve some basic physical qualities, like not catching colds easily after filming, better than nothing. Of course, if you accumulate rewards, it’s different. Actors above B-level might be lucky to get some special items during filming…but you might not encounter such things even after filming ten movies. Some forum posts are locked due to insufficient actor levels, and only advanced actors know what rewards are available after completing movies…”
Blondie stomped out his cigarette, “In short, the goal of filming is only one—to survive.”
Hearing this, the man in blue turned as white as a sheet.
He trembled, clutching his umbrella, scared out of his wits.
Zong Qi, on the other hand, stood aside, showing a look of pity.
These people with the actor system not only were forced to film movies but were also working for free? So miserable, the actor system really should hang with the capitalists!
“Everyone, don’t be afraid.”
A man who had been observing and hadn’t spoken suddenly said: “Have you all read the new actor handbook sent by the system? This is just a low-difficulty horror film. As long as you act according to the requirements, surviving isn’t hard.”
He stood straight, with a buzz cut, and like Blondie, he was also a D-level actor.
At first glance, he seemed more reliable than Blondie, who looked like a street thug, exuding a serious and upright aura.
Hearing that surviving wasn’t hard, several people sighed in relief and then listened to him speak again.
“Since we’re all actors in the same movie, we’ll be colleagues for the next seven days. Let’s get to know each other. My alias is Repairman. You can ask me if you have any questions.”
Seeing Repairman extend a friendly olive branch, the tallest guy embarrassedly scratched his head, “My alias is Dragon Ao Tian…don’t laugh, I really thought I was the chosen one.”
Speaking of this, Dragon Ao Tian was a bit depressed.
He was a seasoned otaku, so when the actor system bound to him, not only was he not afraid, but he was also extremely excited. He got up early today to rush here, only to find out that this was not a system that would let him get a promotion, marry a wealthy girl, and reach the peak of life; instead, it was life-threatening, truly unlucky.
“In short, big shots, please take care of me. I am quick and skilled at work, will definitely follow orders!”
Because of Dragon Ao Tian’s introduction, the atmosphere on the scene became slightly lively. The other few people also briefly introduced themselves.
The girl in the white dress said lightly, “My alias is Anna.”
Her back was straight, obviously tense with fear, but it was clear she had learned about posture.
Now, everyone’s eyes fell on Zong Qi.
The black-haired youth was good-looking, even the equally pretty Anna couldn’t help but look at him several times.
Just a glance, the man in blue suddenly jumped up: “Why are you here? Aren’t you the spirit-seeking anchor broadcasting from the mental hospital?”
Zong Qi was puzzled: “Yes, how do you know?”
The man in blue stammered for a while, then awkwardly said his alias was Village Wang.
Oh, Zong Qi did have an impression of this name.
A professional fake-busting anchor, he recently slandered Zong Qi online.
Zong Qi showed a friendly smile, “Oh, so it’s you, what a coincidence.”
For some reason, Village Wang felt a chill staring back at him.
He shivered and found that the handsome black-haired guy had already looked away, “Hello everyone, my alias is Wage Earner.”
Dragon Ao Tian burst into a hearty laugh.
Blondie rolled his eyes, “What’s so funny, my alias is Blondie. Anyway, in the last movie, I met a newbie who called himself Dad. We beat him to a pulp before the shoot ended. After all, you don’t remember each other’s faces after filming, so we got even.”
This was a critical moment, and Village Wang had thick skin, determined that the small anchor couldn’t do anything to him, so he nervously asked: “What do you mean?”
“Just what it says.” Repairman said: “After finishing the film, we forget the looks of the actors we filmed with.”
Dragon Ao Tian hesitated: “What’s the use of that?”
“It protects actor privacy; apart from filming, it doesn’t let the actor’s identity affect your real life. You’ll understand later. If you’re really curious, you can log into our dark web forum after filming. It’s full of actors like us.”
Repairman took out his phone, “There’s no time now, I’ll give you the website after the film.”
“Alright, enough talking.”
Blondie interrupted their conversation: “Wait, it’s already 8:50, why isn’t there one more person?”
There were seven actors in “Haunted Village,” including Zong Qi, but only six were here.
They didn’t know, but Zong Qi understood that the last one missing was the C-level actor he had hired with a 5% high salary.
The group stood in the rain, waiting, and finally saw a black umbrella coming slowly three minutes before the time was up.
The newcomer wore a long trench coat, his appearance unremarkable, the type you would ignore on the street. However, his deep eyes made him look stern.
“Raven, C-level actor.”
He nodded slightly, not intending to explain more, just glanced at each person before looking away.
Quite arrogant.
Blondie didn’t speak, but Repairman went up to try chatting.
The number of top-level actors is very few; there is only one S-level actor, and the number of A-level actors is no more than one hundred. In comparison, there are the most B-level and C-level actors.
D-level actors only need to have acted in one movie to automatically advance, but to rise to C-level, they need to receive a rating of at least C-level in three different movies.
It can be said that every level among actors is like a chasm, difficult to cross.
Raven had a look that seemed to say “strangers, keep away,” and in response to inquiries, he only nodded.
Helpless, the mechanic turned around and, pretending to be casual, asked, “By the way, you all saw the movie from the recruitment post, right?”
“Huh? What recruitment?” The new actor looked confused. Seeing their expressions, Zong Qi also immediately feigned confusion.
It seemed they really didn’t know.
“Haha, nothing, just asking casually.” The mechanic deflected the question, not pressing further.
The horror movie actor system is a very simple system.
After binding to the system, it only notifies actors to join the crew at fixed times. As for which movie to film, who the co-actors are, or their levels, these are all unknowns.
However, all this was broken the day before yesterday at noon.
In the previously empty recruitment section of the actor system, a notice suddenly appeared.
[Posted by Director Q: Actor Recruitment]
- Recruitment Movie: “Horror in the Deserted Village”
- Number of Actors Recruited: 7
- Recruitment Conditions: Unknown, not displayed
This recruitment notice undoubtedly swept through the entire actor forum.
Actors could only be notified by the system to make movies, with no autonomy. Now, an advertisement offering the choice to participate or not was truly surprising.
About five days ago, all actors received the message “Director ‘Q’ has taken position” in their backstage.
This forum had existed for decades, covering various clues, and the horror movie director system was not unfamiliar.
In fact, the horror movie director system was considered almost unattainable by all actors.
Because only S-level actors were eligible to apply to become horror movie directors.
However, there was only one known S-level actor. When the system message was received, everyone naturally assumed that the big shot known as the “Artist” had obtained the director qualification, only to be proven wrong.
Because of this, the recruitment notice attracted almost all the actors’ attention.
The “New Actor Handbook” clearly mentioned that only directors could shoulder the responsibility of leading all actors into a new world.
Although this sentence sounded quite bizarre, there were all kinds of talents among the actors who had long analyzed it, finally concluding the most reliable deduction:
- The director system must have permissions that the actor system does not.
As for what permissions, it was unknown. However, it was certain that the appearance of the director system could make the actor system more effective.
Zong Qi could never have imagined that his casual recruitment post would cause a storm in another actor world, being interpreted and discussed word by word.
No one expected that the mysterious director would end up recruiting one C-level, two D-level, and four E-level newcomers.
This overly simple configuration once again shocked the forum.
According to everyone’s logic, even if the director wasn’t the Artist, at least he should have been a top-level actor. Such a high-level actor making a movie should start with an all-A cast.
However, this was undoubtedly good news, at least for the mechanic.
Recalling how the Ouroboros organization, which always stood aloof in the actor world, took the initiative to contact him and assign him a task after he was recruited, the mechanic was filled with anticipation.
Just submitting surveillance records of the entire movie could earn him a full ten million in cash. If he could provide any information about the director system, he could get an additional ten million, with no upper limit.
Such generous rewards were irresistible.
It’s not known what information he could get from this movie with low-level actors. At least it was the first recruitment by Director Q, so there should be some clues.
The mechanic’s mind was racing.
As everyone harbored their thoughts, three minutes quickly passed.
The system prompt arrived as scheduled.
[Time’s up, the movie “Horror in the Deserted Village” officially starts]
As if in response to the system prompt, a thick fog suddenly arose near the old bus stop sign, enveloping everything in a white mist, reducing visibility to less than five meters.
“Beep beep beep.”
Accompanied by a huge spotlight, an old-fashioned dark red bus silently emerged from the fog and stopped accurately in front of them.
“This, this, this” Master Wang jumped in fright, “I’m superstitious, don’t scare me.”
[Actors, please board the red bus to go to the filming location]
As soon as the words fell, Raven silently put away his black umbrella and boarded the bus.
The mechanic, remembering his task, was also willing to spend more time establishing a friendly image in front of the newcomers: “Come on, don’t be afraid, the first scene generally won’t be dangerous.”
Zong Qi weighed his backpack and boarded the bus with the spirit behind him, Little Red.
The bus was quite empty, with only the driver and the six of them for now.
After everyone boarded, the driver closed the door and drove slowly forward.
“This bus should be heading to the deserted village where the movie is being filmed, right?”
Long Aotian glanced at the direction and found it was the road out of the city.
Their meeting place was already on the outskirts of Jiangzhou City, and going further out, who knew where they would end up.
“Probably.”
The yellow-haired guy seemed absent-minded: “Hope I get a reasonable role card this time.”
The director’s manual and the actor’s manual both mentioned that every major movie had a three-act structure: setup, development, and climax. The first act was the simplest, and the third act was the most dangerous.
Actors had to perform literally. So, each actor’s character and role were randomly assigned.
Unlike the director’s clearance requirements, actors had a related value called “Character Performance Value,” ranging from a minimum of 1% to a maximum of 100%.
The higher the performance value, the more into the character the actor was; the lower, the less qualified the performance.
The most important point—the higher the performance value, the higher the chance of surviving and completing the entire movie, a key point highlighted in the actor’s manual.
So, no matter how absurd the character, or how different from their personality, actors could only do one thing: perform the character well, striving for a slim chance of survival in the dangerous horror movie.
[Role cards have been placed in each of your backpacks, please check]
[Actors have ten minutes to read and discuss their roles, after which the first act will officially start]
Here it comes!
Everyone’s eyes sharpened as they quickly took out their phones.
Zong Qi also took his phone, discreetly standing in a corner to avoid others seeing his screen with the different director system.
Before this, he subconsciously glanced to the side, his pupils shrinking sharply when he saw something.
He saw the always silent Raven raise his hand.
He also saw that on the half-exposed wrist under the man’s sleeve, there was a deep black Ouroboros tattoo.
Oh oh. Oh oh.
Now it makes sense. It started with the system then the actor(s) make organization to protect themselves.