Trembling At A High Altitude

Installation progress bar at 90%...

Countdown to the end of the script at zero seconds...

"The script has ended."

"All actors will be forcibly removed after ten seconds."

"Please try to remain as still as possible."

Installation progress bar at 100%...

"Transporting now..."

"Transportation complete..."

The first thing Li Teng did upon waking up from the transportation pod was to look at his wristwatch.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

The Virtual Companion APP had finished installing.

Everyone else started to get up from their virtual pods, so it wasn't a good time for Li Teng to try out his Virtual Companion APP.

When he had first come in, nobody paid any attention to Li Teng.

But now, Li Teng had become the center of attention.

They all gathered around him and escorted him back to the lounge.

"To think that everyone made it back alive," the temporary director was somewhat surprised.

"We should support world peace and fill the human world with love. Fighting and killing isn't good," the actors replied to the temporary director.

The temporary director looked perplexed... Who had brainwashed them?

After a quick summary and distribution of points, everyone said their goodbyes and returned to their respective film crews.

Li Teng got another 20 points from this performance, bringing his total points to 140.

When he got back to the cafe, Liu Shiyuan was there, seemingly waiting for Li Teng.

He didn't look very happy.

"I've received a notification," Liu Shiyuan broke the silence.

"Oh?"

"They're suspending your performances for a while, but they didn't specify for how long," Liu Shiyuan frowned.

"Suspended? Can I stay in Film and Television City then?" Li Teng hadn't expected something like this to happen.

Had his recent performances been too noticeable? Was he being targeted because he stuck his neck out?

Fortunately, he had a Consumption Voucher for Two Thousand Points, which should be enough for him to live in Film and Television City for a while.

"You can't. You have to return to the stone pillar," Liu Shiyuan shook his head.

"Return to the stone pillar? Then suspend my performances, do they want me to starve to death?" Li Teng found it hard to accept.

"A suspension isn't a full stop. It probably won't be too long. They're investigating something. I'm not quite clear on what it is, but they should resume your performances once their investigation is complete," Liu Shiyuan tried to offer a few comforting words to Li Teng.

"What if they never clear it up? Then I'll just starve to death there..." Li Teng didn't know what to say.

"You should have some points in your account now, right? Try to lower the stone pillar as much as you can. The lower the stone pillar, the higher your chances of survival," Liu Shiyuan seemed to have no other comforting words for Li Teng.

Li Teng had 140 points in his account which could lower the height of the stone pillar to 860 meters. After lowering the stone pillar to 860 meters, he would get 500ml of water to drink each day.

But there was still no food.

He could only wait for the special aid that came every three days.

The food provided by the special aid was very limited, not even enough for two mouthfuls for Li Teng.

The key issue was that he didn't know what had happened or how long the investigation would take.

"Come on, let's go to the bathroom," Liu Shiyuan suggested to Li Teng.

Li Teng guessed that Liu Shiyuan had something to say that wasn't appropriate to discuss in public, so he stood up and went to the bathroom with him.

After confirming that the washroom was empty, Liu Shiyuan returned to Li Teng's side and started running the water together.

"There's something you might not know, and I need to tell you. Don't tell anyone else," Liu Shiyuan spoke.

"Mm, I won't," Li Teng nodded.

"The play you guys are acting in actually has an audience."

"The audience are all some mysterious bigshots."

"It's said that Film and Television City is supported by these bigshots."

"There are many actors, and many directors, but not every script or every actor gets attention."

"The bigshots have different tastes; some like this type of movie, others that type, some like this type of actor, others that type."

"As far as I know, you have now caught the attention of some bigshots."

"However, they have had a controversy over your performances in some scripts."

"A portion of the bigshots... probably think you've had it too easy in the recent few scripts, so they are not pleased and have lodged a protest with Film and Television City."

"This might be why the investigation team put your performances on hold and had you wait on top of the stone pillar for a while."

Liu Shiyuan explained softly to Li Teng for a few sentences.

"Have I had it too easy?" Li Teng couldn't help but feel deeply sad and angry.

He had endured for over fifty years in the "Time Prison".

Every day he suffered inhuman tortures.

But he trained hard every day.

It was over fifty years of persistence and hard training that, after he got out, finally allowed him to not be as miserable as before in the "Guardianship", "Old Mountain Village House", and "Zong Town", using the Death God APP to show off just a little.

The bigshots couldn't stand it?

Did he have to be abused continuously to satisfy them?

This world...

"Controversy is a good thing, the bigger the controversy, the more attention you're getting."

"You see many actors, they perform in show after show without any bigshot taking notice. Those are the truly miserable ones. Look on the bright side, if bigshots are paying attention, the resources of Film and Television City will subtly lean towards you. An actor who isn't backed by bigshots, even if they manage to survive a few more shows, in the end, they all meet a wax-sealed fate." Liu Shiyuan then offered a few words of comfort to Li Teng.

"Is an actor's destiny always to be at the mercy of others?" Li Teng sighed.

"No, as more and more bigshots become your steadfast fans supporting you, Film and Television City won't dare to move against you lightly, and you'll have the capital to negotiate tough with Film and Television City. Gradually, you will take control of your own destiny, I believe in your potential and strength," Liu Shiyuan added.

"Can't think too much about it, just hope this suspension of performances doesn't last too long." Li Teng appeared quite disheartened.

"Go grab something to eat, in half an hour you have to leave, and you may be facing a long wait." Liu Shiyuan patted Li Teng's back and turned to walk out of the restroom.

...

Li Teng left the restroom.

After thinking for a bit, he headed to the restaurant.

He exchanged the consumption vouchers for over a dozen steamed buns, a roasted chicken, and several plates of vegetables.

Despite being old and frail, he could only try to eat as much as he could.

To brace for the tough times ahead.

In order to store as much food as possible inside his body, he even activated "peak state" so he could eat as much as he did when he was younger.

That was all he could do right now.

After a bout of frenzied gorging, Li Teng went back to the café entrance, spent all his points at the terminal, and redeemed a 140-meter reduction in the height of the stone pillar.

A bus came along.

Li Teng got on and was taken to the airport.

Then, a helicopter delivered him back to the top of the stone pillar.

Sitting silently on top of the stone pillar, Li Teng had never felt so dejected.

Liu Shiyuan's words had hit him hard.

"I'm back!"

"Satisfied now?"

Suddenly standing up, Li Teng roared into the air in front of him.

"I know you're watching me."

"Come on! Strike me down with lightning!"

Li Teng raised his middle finger high and turned a circle facing all around.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"