Trembling At A High Altitude

The chest contained only a piece of paper.

"Really, there's nothing left."

Li Teng cursed and quickly opened the teleportation APP on his wristwatch, teleporting himself back to the bedroom of the big house.

The entire Scripted World shook more and more violently, the walls emitting terrifying cracking sounds, with cracks appearing one after another.

Li Teng hurried to the wall and pressed the two characters for 'Prison Break.'

Then, from the subsequently popped-up options 'Yes' and 'No', he chose 'Yes'.

After taking one last look at this world, Li Teng's consciousness fell into a daze.

...

Losing track of time, Li Teng sat up from the teleportation pod.

A staff member came over and helped him out of the teleportation pod.

The covers of the other seven teleportation pods were open, empty inside.

"Where are they?" Li Teng asked the staff member.

"They're waiting for you in the rest area, turn right after you leave here, the second cabin door is it," the staff member answered Li Teng.

"Alright, thank you," Li Teng thanked the staff member and turned to walk toward the cabin door.

Perhaps it was because he had just come out of the teleportation pod, but Li Teng felt quite weak and disoriented.

After exiting cabin 206 of the Time Bubble, Li Teng walked to the right, and the second cabin door was open; indeed, the other seven actors and Director Liu Shiyuan were inside, gathered around a table enjoying snacks and chatting.

When Li Teng stepped through the rest cabin's door, everyone stopped.

Then, they all looked at him with puzzled faces.

"Sir, who are you looking for?" Gao Fei, sitting closest to the door, asked Li Teng.

"Sir?" Li Teng stared blankly for a moment. He subconsciously touched his beard and then his hair.

"This gentleman looks so familiar!" Elsa, who was cracking sunflower seeds, spoke up.

Liu Yin also looked at Li Teng, her expression somewhat stunned.

"That's Li Teng," Director Liu Shiyuan spoke up.

"No way?" Everyone's expressions turned incredibly shocked.

"It's me, don't you recognize me?" Li Teng said with a smile.

"He spent too much time in the script, my avatar in the script must have advised him repeatedly, it seems he's not one to be persuaded, staying inside unwilling to leave. According to the script's LOG file, he stayed in there for a full 53 years before coming out, which means he's now 78 years old," Liu Shiyuan clarified to the others.

"Isn't the script virtual? Aren't the pods we slept in virtual pods? How can you age inside?" Gao Fei challenged the director with a question.

"Those weren't virtual pods, they were teleportation pods. Your true bodies entered the Scripted World, and your body cells normally metabolize there too. Your breathing and heartbeat are also going on as usual, so of course, your body ages according to the normal flow of time. He stayed in the Scripted World for over fifty years, naturally, he would become this old," Liu Shiyuan continued to explain.

"It can't be true, can it?" Liu Yin, recognizing Li Teng from his smile and demeanor, saw the sudden aging and couldn't hold back her tears, which instantly fell.

"Why cry? I had a great time in there, I had food and drink, and I could play real-life shooting games every day, much happier than living on a stone pillar," Li Teng said to Liu Yin, with an indifferent look on his face.

After a month in the Scripted World, he already had plans.

Why not stay where there's food and drink? Why endure suffering on a stone pillar?

When his hair and beard began to turn white, he had also worried that he might age like this when he left the teleportation capsule.

As he got older, he no longer regretted his choices.

No matter what kind of life one leads, it is still a life.

Doing what one loves and continuing to do it is a form of happiness.

It was just that there was no time left to become the Best Actor, nor any way to fulfill the promises he made to Yao Xue.

Of course, there was also no way for Yao Xue to fulfill her promises to him.

Had she really made promises to him?

Li Teng, now elderly, couldn't remember clearly if she had, but he felt as though she did.

That must mean she did.

"I just received a message. Because he's been stubbornly staying inside the script, it has used up an excessive amount of resources, causing massive overloads and damage to the operating equipment. As a result, the Film and Television City has '404'd' the script, and I can't use this script for filming anymore. Plus, the Film and Television City has banned other directors from creating similar scripts. This scene you've all done today has become a limited edition!" Liu Shiyuan looked at the new message on his wristwatch with anguish.

"He's caused such a big loss to the Film and Television City and to you as a director?" Huang Xun quickly incited.

"It's not his fault, it's an issue with my design," Liu Shiyuan shook his head.

In the past, every actor that had entered this scripted world spoke ill of him behind his back after leaving this crew, warning other actors never to join his team.

This caused Liu Shiyuan's reputation for being 'perverted' to spread far and wide.

Now, he had encountered an actor many times more 'perverted' than himself, someone who blew up the script entirely.

And as a consequence, the same type of scripted world was banned too!

"Some people really know how to play. Ha ha, he played himself into an old man. This is just too interesting," Huang Xun continued to schadenfreude.

In the scripted world, seeing Li Teng charging into the Octopus Monster's lair all alone, majestic and invincible, everyone thought he would become infinitely awesome and slay in every direction from then on!

But instead, he ended up an old man in the twilight of his years.

Now he won't be able to scam anyone anymore, right?

"Director, isn't there a way to make him young again?" Gao Fei asked Liu Shiyuan.

"Yes! It's such a pity that he's like this now when he's so talented," Elsa also chimed in.

"Please help him, director, I beg you," Liu Yin spoke up as well.

"I think he's quite good this way! In the future, he can play roles of kind grandfathers, help him accumulate some good karma, so that in a few days when he dies he won't go to Hell, how nice!" Huang Xun continued to find joy in others' misfortune.

"You'd better accumulate some good karma for yourself!" Elsa retorted to Huang Xun.

"Turning back to young isn't impossible, it's just that the price is great. It depends on whether he's willing," Director Liu Shiyuan hesitated for a while before answering everyone.

"What price?" Liu Yin promptly asked Liu Shiyuan again.

"Let's go back to the café first, wrap up the summary of this performance, handle what needs to be handled, and then I'll have a detailed talk with him," Liu Shiyuan stood up and glanced at Li Teng.

Without saying anything more, everyone rose to their feet and left the resting capsule with Liu Shiyuan.

Li Teng seemed to have difficulty with his legs and walking was not smooth, so Liu Yin quickly came over to support him.

Seeing Li Teng's white hair, the wrinkles covering his face, and the familiar smile at the corners of his mouth up close, Liu Yin couldn't hold back her tears again.