"Number 520".
"Don't worry." Chang Ji patted Ye Chu on the shoulder, encouraging her: "Keep going!"
"Okay." Ye Chu took a deep breath and carefully pushed open the door to the audition room. It's okay, she comforted herself.
The audition room was very large. Ye Chu stood in front of the stage and said, "Hello everyone, I am Ye Chu, number 520, and I am auditioning for the role of Cheng Lu."
"Not bad, young lady. There are quite a few people here today. You are the fourth one who dares to audition for the female lead, Xiao Mu." The middle-aged man facing Ye Chu smiled. Someone waiting to the side immediately handed Ye Chu a lottery box and said to her, "Draw an audition scene."
Ye Chu nodded, took out a piece of paper, opened it and read: Cheng Lu and Qing Zhi's first meeting.
She slowly lay down on the ground, closed her eyes and recalled the plot for a moment. When she opened her eyes again, she was dazed: "Did you save me? Hmm..." Yes, the scene where Cheng Lu and Qing Zhi first met was placed at the very beginning of the series, in a way that was half-introduction and half-story. It told the story of Cheng Lu and Qing Zhi from their first meeting to fighting side by side and then falling in love and making promises. Some real-world situations were interspersed in between. It took up about 8 episodes in the 24-episode series, which can be regarded as building the world view for the audience and guiding the newcomers.
Of course, these eight episodes are not just filler. In addition to the two protagonists' thrilling escape and the investigation of missing and dead people in reality, many foreshadowing elements are planted in these short eight episodes...
The story begins with Cheng Lu, the female protagonist, who narrowly escapes a survival game for the first time but is seriously injured. She is then rescued by the experienced player, who is also the male protagonist, Qing Zhi.
Ye Chu felt as if Qing Zhi from the play had appeared in front of her, staring at her expressionlessly.
"Where is this?" Her voice was a little hoarse, giving the impression that she had just recovered from a serious illness.
"Hospital."
"..." Cheng Lu fell silent. Everything she had experienced before losing consciousness was still vivid in her mind: the monsters that chased humans, the space filled with the smell of blood, and her severed hand!
She looked at her left hand with some panic. Was it still there?
“The data prosthetic limb functions much like your original hand,” Qingzhi said, standing to the side. “I think you should understand that here, what is lost is lost forever, and death is death forever.”
"Here?" Sensing the wording in the other person's words, Cheng Lu turned to look out the window. No wonder she hadn't recognized this as a hospital at first; everything here seemed rather old, the sheets on the hospital bed were faintly yellowed, and the windowsill still had a wooden frame...
"I didn't go back?" She straightened up agitatedly, the pain from the torn wound on her back irritating her nerves causing her face to contort for a moment.
“Those who don’t actively sign up are long-term players of the game.” Qingzhi frowned and, fulfilling his duty as a veteran player, began to explain to the selected newbie: “Those who actively sign up can return to reality if they survive and complete the game. We involuntary players, who are recruited by the rules, can only return to the virtual world provided by the rules even if we survive and complete the game.”
Cheng Lu's eyes widened, her voice trembling with disbelief: "No...this...I..." Her mind was in disarray, and her words were illogical.
“You’ll understand once you’re discharged and have a look around. This place is no different from reality, except for some living conditions.” Qingzhi glanced at his watch. “Your medical treatment is over. Can you walk by yourself? You must leave the hospital.”
"What..." Cheng Lu was somewhat shocked: "Medical time?"
"The rules will assign a corresponding medical time based on each person's situation. Once the time is up, you must leave the hospital; otherwise, it will be considered a violation and will be eliminated by the rules."
Ye Chu snapped back to reality, quickly composed herself, and stood up to bow to the row of people opposite her.
"Hmm, not bad. Go back and wait for news."
Ye Chu nodded her thanks, as if she had accomplished something great, and she felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
Back in the van, she took the half-glass of water Changji handed her and slowly drank it: "Let's wait for their notification."
Changji adjusted her glasses but didn't speak. She flipped through her notebook: "A magazine shoot we've been working on for a while, this season's theme is..." She closed the notebook, opened her phone, and checked her messages: "Career."
"Profession?"
"Yes, the information from our partners is that this quarter we plan to focus on people from all walks of life. The magazine's content consists of stories and information from interviews with workers from all walks of life, as well as clothing designed based on these materials."
Ye Chu twitched her lips. She thought she would never understand the designers' thoughts. The car slowly drove on the highway, and the people inside took the opportunity to rest. Meanwhile, in the building that had already disappeared from sight, after all the auditions in the morning were over, the director, producer, screenwriter, and others gathered together to discuss casting.
"Old Gu, you've been hiding on the sidelines all day, looking around. So, have you found anything suitable?"
The person he called out reluctantly took off his sunglasses and mask and stepped out from the side: "Doesn't Director Lin already know what's going on?"
"Hey! You're getting more and more boring. Director Lin, call me senior."
"Get lost." Gu Yu said coldly, "I have a magazine shoot later, I'm leaving now."
Watching the other person disappear behind the door, Lin Mu pouted and muttered, "What kind of attitude is that? I'm a year older than you, you know."
"Come on, I don't think your mental age is even half that of Gu Yu." The one making the comment was Lin Jin, the screenwriter who ran away, and Lin Mu's twin sister.
If Ye Chu were still here, she would have noticed that the person who handed her the lottery box just now was none other than the renowned director Lin Mu.
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