Trembling At A High Altitude

The next day.

Liu Shiyuan still didn't show up, but he sent a bodyguard to escort Li Teng to the set.

He also delivered some bad news, which was that the abandoned script and the scene Li Teng was acting in today were not compatible; there was no way to interface, so Li Teng couldn't use several of the "Time Prison" app's features.

Specifically, it meant he couldn't scan for biological energy around him, couldn't teleport, and couldn't use items from his storage space such as energy drinks, machetes, guns, and other props.

Li Teng figured the cell repair issue was probably off the table; Liu Shiyuan was avoiding him these past two days, likely because he felt like he had lost face.

However, Li Teng didn't have any intention of blaming Liu Shiyuan.

Staying in there for so long was his own fault.

If the Scripted World hadn't been forcibly shut down, he wouldn't have cared if he died inside it.

To be alive and to do what one enjoys, happiness is most important.

So, he should be the one to bear any consequences.

Li Teng was quite satisfied with his current life.

After Liu Shiyuan arrived, he even had the chance to live like this, no longer needing to return to the stone pillars, able to visit sets and take on roles every day.

...

"Today's scene is a ghost film."

"It's called 'Old Mountain Village House'."

The temporary director announced to the eight assembled temporary actors a few sentences.

"The difficulty will be quite high, and the number of people who gets a boxed lunch, sealed with wax, will exceed expectations."

The temporary director announced a few more sentences.

The eight temporary actors started mumbling amongst themselves after hearing what the temporary director said.

Among them, some were forcibly recruited to play roles, and others, like Li Teng, had come on their own initiative to explore the set.

For the lower-level extras, a ghost film was an absolute nightmare.

A difficult ghost film like this—one that blatantly disregarded their lives—was it not?

"You will stay in the designated scene for a full three days."

"Every night, the ghost will come to your location."

"Only after successfully killing one person, or after dawn, will the ghost leave."

"Thus, among you, three actors might end up getting their boxed lunch."

"But it's also possible for the entire cast to survive, it all depends on your wisdom to stay alive," he said.

"There is only one little tactic I can share with you."

"That is, in this kind of ghost film, the person who is alone is in the most danger."

"So, try your best not to be alone."

"Good luck to you all."

The temporary director made a few more announcements.

"Is the ghost one of us eight?" an actor asked the temporary director.

"No, the ghost is native to the script; among the eight of you, there is no ghost. However, it's not ruled out that some types of ghosts, using their abilities, might transform into one of you and mix in to take the opportunity to kill," the temporary director answered the question.

"Isn't that too difficult?" the extras complained in unison.

Complain as they might, at this stage, the thought of quitting was certainly out of the question. In Film and Television City, if an actor dares to quit, there's only one outcome: immediate elimination with the wax seal.

After the temporary director finished the briefing, everyone entered the teleportation chamber and found a pod to lie down in.

Once inside, Li Teng's consciousness gradually became blurry.

The staff adjusted various parameters on the control panel screen...

The countdown numbers kept changing, until finally, all the numbers turned to zero.

On the screen by the wall, some fuzzy images began to appear.

A bus, a cornfield, a courtyard, a Taoist temple, ghostly shadows...

A soft electronic female voice appeared in the ears of the already bewildered crowd.

It was like a dream, illusory.

"Scanning…"

"..."

"..."

"Body transport program initiating…"

"Initialization complete…"

"..."

When Li Teng regained consciousness, he found himself on a minibus.

The minibus was parked by the side of the road.

There was a stall selling drinks by the roadside.

Li Teng held a drink in his hand, identical to those sold at the stall.

The scene appeared to be that the minibus had stopped by the roadside, allowing its passengers to buy drinks.

The other seven actors were also on the minibus.

The driver was one of the actors, too.

On each actor's lap was a file clipped together with several sheets of paper.

It was actually the background introduction to the scene they were acting.

The eight of them belonged to the same company.

Their roles were that of the general manager, secretary, driver, manager, supervisor, salesman, finance officer, and janitor.

The general manager was also an employee, and he had recently bought a 'villa' in a mountain village; it was really just an old house sold at a low price, but the general manager thought he had gotten a steal.

To prevent his newly acquired 'villa' from lying idle and to fully exploit its commercial value, he organized this business trip using company funds, which was essentially a holiday, to his 'villa' to play for three days. The daily rent was two thousand yuan, with meals and other services charged separately.

Such practices were quite common.

Abuse of power for personal gain could be found everywhere, permeating all levels of society.

In theory, the employees should have been quite happy, after all, they got to play for a few days without working.

But all the actors had unsightly expressions on their faces.

Clearly, from the introduction of the plot, the general manager's bargain purchase had turned out to be a hot potato; he had been tricked into buying a haunted house.

And now, these innocent employees were about to spend three days being hunted by ghosts in that place.

Moreover, it was very likely that three of them would 'receive a boxed meal.'

Possibly due to his age, none of the other roles were quite right for Li Teng.

So the director had assigned him the role of the company janitor.

The other roles were as follows: general manager (male), secretary (female), driver (male), manager (female), supervisor (female), salesman (male), and finance officer (female).

Including Li Teng, there were four men and four women.

"Can I get off the bus and not go?" the woman playing the secretary asked.

"You can choose not to go, and then, you'll be directly eliminated," the actor playing the general manager said with a smile.

"We've all been screwed over by you!" the female manager also spoke up.

"Hahaha... Is that also my fault?" the general manager gave an awkward laugh.

While everyone was talking, the driver received the plot directive instructing him to start the bus and head towards the destination.

Unlike Li Teng's first performance in Film and Television City, the actors were not wearing Bluetooth headsets. Instructions like this one to move towards the destination, or special prompts for lines, would suddenly resound in the air, and depending on the script's design, some could hear them while others might not.

The driver started the bus, driving toward the old house in the mountain village as instructed by the plot.

Various crops flanked the road.

Sometimes they passed vast fields of corn that obscured the view on both sides of the road.

After leaving the drink-selling area, there were no people to be seen along the way, just various crops and no houses, making the journey feel increasingly desolate.