Chapter Index

In a silver-white glow, Zhuo Yu detached himself from the cold sea water and returned to the guild base.

 

The system’s voice rang out.

 

[We are currently settling the profits for this copy.]

 

[Passed the highest difficulty k-illing machine film. Reward: 5000 Flame Points.]

 

[Reached the S-rank ending: the true ending. Reward: 5000 Flame Points.]

 

[Reached the S-rank side quest. Reward: 5,000 Flame Points and a random prop carousel.]

 

[Reached the B-rank side quest. Reward: 500 Flame Points, random props carousel once.]

 

 

[Gambling board dividend — reward: 20,000 flame points.]

 

 

[Comprehensive evaluation: S.]

 

 

[Proceeds settled. The next film set will open in a week; please prepare.]

 

“Captain!!! You scared me to death!” Liu Jingyun swooped over and gave Zhuo Yu a bear hug. “You’d have died if you stayed in the tower, weren’t you afraid!?”

 

 

Zhuo Yu was almost strangled and couldn’t catch his breath; feeling that all the tiny wounds on his body were repaired, and his mind had cleared up quite a bit, he replied, “Who said that death is always the way out?”

 

Strange Tales by the Lakeside was a murder film; the way to be eliminated was for the actors to die, but The Secret of Dark Beach wasn’t all like that; at least the actors who committed su-icide to enter the sixth level weren’t punished, and it was also the system that let Zhuo Yu pick the ending.

 

It wasn’t a violation to pick a death ending, was it?

 

 

Zhuo Yu comforted Liu Jingyun for a while, then asked, “How many points did you get?”

 

Liu Jingyun opened the system interface, “As usual, 5,000 flame points, 1,000 for the true ending assist, but this time there’s an extra 5000 points because we all reached the bottom level. We unlocked the map for the S-level branch line. The total is 11000 points.”

 

 

She was a little excited, feeling as if she had become rich overnight: “What about you, what about you?”

 

 

“Thirty-five thousand five hundred.” Zhuo Yu spat out a shocking figure.

 

Liu Jingyun was stunned. “Is that something a human can get?”

 

“It should be a matter of the betting board; the betting board’s option was for the audience to guess which groom I’d unite with in the end. But I destroyed all the grooms, and the bet was nullified. So the funds went to my hands; I probably tricked the audience as well.”

 

 

Zhuo Yu sighed, “We finally have the money to expand the union base.”

 

 

“It’s finally possible.” Liu Jingyun was shocked; she was so excited that she wanted to bear hug the captain again; however, the power of her converted blo-odline was very strong, and Zhuo Yu didn’t want to be hugged until he vomited bloo-d.

 

 

He subconsciously dodged, trying to deflect his body to the side.

 

 

“…… Eh?” Liu Jingyun froze.

 

 

Even Zhuo Yu himself suddenly paused, the expression on his face froze, his pupils narrowed rapidly, and only after a long time did he cover his mouth with a trembling hand.

 

“Unbelievable.”

 

 

–Zhuo Yu’s legs just moved.

 

 

He instantly remembered what Number One had said to him, that with enough films experienced…

 

But could passing through levels bring wholeness to him? He guessed not, since there was no necessary connection between Zhuo Yu and the films, and at best, he was designed to be a strange character by Number One.

 

Wait, Number One.

 

Zhuo Yu suddenly understood.

 

What the two films had in common wasn’t that he got through, but rather that he had ki-lled Number One.

 

First, he destroyed the Golden Lake, leaving Asha without a source of power, dust to dust. Then he tampered with the bonding, causing Long Ran to fail to become a god and die at the bottom of the tower.

 

 

Zhuo Yu felt that something wasn’t quite right; this faint feeling of depression even cancelled out the joy, leaving him with a heavy weight.

 

Liu Jingyun originally wanted to celebrate joyfully, but seeing Zhuo Yu’s unpleasant expression, she didn’t dare to continue this conversation easily. Just as she was torn between whether to open her mouth or not, Zhuo Yu interrupted the stagnant atmosphere.

 

“It did move.”

 

Zhuo Yu tried to use his legs to make a move, but that moment just now seemed to be fleeting, and he couldn’t move again. But it was that moment that reinforced Zhuo Yu’s thoughts.

 

His legs were related to Number One.

 

“There’s no need to mention this matter; lest we be happy for nothing, let’s just pretend it never happened.” Zhuo Yu patted Liu Jingyun’s shoulder.

 

 

Liu Jingyun quickly nodded; she didn’t understand. This was clearly a good thing, so why didn’t Zhuo Yu look happy? But she wouldn’t ask; she’d just follow what Zhuo Yu said.

 

[Private chat channel.

Luo Musheng: Hey, did you guys forget about me? I sent out all my friend requests, haha.]

 

Zhuo Yu remembered his agreement with Luo Musheng: if he could bring him out of the film alive, then Luo Musheng would join the union and reveal how he could view the film even as an actor.

 

Zhuo Yu immediately tapped on the friend interface and found that it wasn’t only Luo Musheng; Dong Yao had also sent a friend request.

 

After agreeing one by one, Zhuo Yu pulled Luo Musheng into the union.

 

With a flash of white light made up of data streams, the teammates who had fought for their lives together just now reunited in the union base, and as soon as Luo Musheng landed, he found that there was only a bare silver color in the vast space, and there wasn’t even a place to live, with only two tents pitifully stretched out.

 

 

He was sure that this was the most humble actor union on the entire set.

 

“I say, did you guys just buy a barebone house?” Luo Musheng smacked his lips. “These conditions are too tough; it’s like we’re back to the pre-liberation period overnight.”

 

 

The strange atmosphere was broken by Luo Musheng. Liu Jingyun was a little embarrassed and defended it: “When we established the union, we only had 5,000 points, so we didn’t have flame points to buy furniture and the buildings.”

 

 

“That time was your first film, right? To have the strength to take out flame points to build a trade union after your first film, I’m afraid that your captain is the only one in history.” Luo Musheng sighed, “After being ahead of a lot of people, it’s the first time I’ve seen someone like your captain.”

 

 

“Now he’s also your captain.” Liu Jingyun snickered.

 

 

Luo Musheng was noncommittal; he pushed down his glasses and looked at Zhuo Yu. “So, let’s talk business; you brought me out of the film alive; I naturally have to keep my promise.”

 

 

Zhuo Yu got right to the point, “I’m very curious about the question of how you saw the film.”

 

 

“Because I returned to the Allspark.” Luo Musheng shrugged and lightly spoke those surprising words.

 

The Allspark?

 

Zhuo Yu frowned.

 

It wasn’t that he hadn’t searched the forums for news about the Allspark; it was rumored that actors on the set wouldn’t die; the so-called ‘death’ was being sent to the Allspark for a few months to be punished after being eliminated from the game copy.

 

Therefore, Zhou Wu, Fang Hao, and the others didn’t die but were currently in a stage where life was worse than death.

 

Many of the actors who had gone there had gone insane.

 

“How did you pull through?” Zhuo Yu became even more curious.

 

“I can’t use the word ‘pull through’, I guess it’s because I took the initiative to negatively participate in the show and intentionally returned to the Allspark.” Luo Musheng recalled the situation and still had palpitations: “It was truly hell there.”

 

“Oh?” Zhuo Yu regained his composure.

 

He casually acquired a large sofa in the mall and arranged it on the ground. Liu Jingyun also held a large pile of snacks out, making Luo Musheng look at them with an amused expression, “Are you guys watching a film or eating melons!?”

 

[TN: It’s a Chinese Internet slang “Chi Gua Qun Zhong (吃瓜群众)”, having a literal meaning of “a crowd of people eating melon. It represents Chinese netizens who are amused by online stories but do not intend to offer any meaningful comments.]

 

 

He grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed them into his mouth. “I was probably one of the earliest batch to enter the film set; at that time everyone just assumed that the flame source was the energy system of the film set; I didn’t have many points at that time, and I didn’t dare to have any ulterior motives yet. It wasn’t until half a year ago that I discovered a strange phenomenon, which was that there seemed to be a high position on the set that we didn’t know existed.”

 

 

“Most people just assumed that the set was a system that dropped people into the film, but that wasn’t the case; crews and judges appeared quickly in the past six months, making it confusing, but the space on the set had expanded a lot, allowing people to move around freely as well.”

 

“So you braved the Allspark in order to find the truth?” Liu Jingyun clenched her teeth in fear, silently concluding that Luo Musheng was really a talent.

 

“That’s right, after I took the initiative to go out, I was transported to a weird space where the laws of physics were completely different from reality; I felt as if I was in space while my entire body floated, then a strange flame appeared.”

 

Luo Musheng shook the flame tattoo on his hand. “In fact, I couldn’t see anything at that instant; I could only feel extreme pain; being burned to death by fire is one of the most miserable ways to die, and I was burned for three months.”

 

“You actually didn’t go crazy…” Liu Jingyun couldn’t believe it.

 

“Because I found something interesting, at the moment I was burned, my privileges degraded into that of an audience; this is to prevent the actors who have redeemed advanced skills from rebelling, but it also made me understand one thing.”

 

“Actors are all selected from the audience.” Luo Musheng swallowed the snack and sighed, “Normally when a person is burned by the Allspark, they would be so immersed in pain that they wouldn’t be able to notice anything else, but I came with a purpose, so I kept a few moments of clarity, and after my permissions had changed to that of an audience, I was actually able to ascend to the film area like an audience member.”

 

Zhuo Yu understood, “So the reason you know the other actors so well is because you watched countless films during those three months you were burned in the fire, right?”

 

“Yeah, without finding myself something to divert my eyes, I’d probably go crazy just like everyone else.” Luo Musheng’s eyes went a little out of focus. “But it was worth it; I learned part of the truth.”

 

“How?”

 

“There is indeed a Magisterial presence on the set; I heard it with my own ears; the room of the Allspark is guarded by a technician; the Magister came there once, and he said that he wanted to refine us sinners properly.”

 

“…… ” Luo Musheng smiled bitterly, “Yes, as long as you enter the Allspark, everything you have redeemed in the system mall will be refined out; you can understand it as a death drop.”

 

“Sinner.” Zhuo Yu cupped his chin, thinking that this statement was a bit interesting. Why would they call an actor a sinner?

 

“One more thing, I noticed that the daily activity of the forum has been increasing, but recently it has been approaching saturation. I don’t know when the film studio will stop accepting new viewers; this is a good thing for the real world, but for us…”

 

“A big surprise is coming,” Liu Jingyun concluded.

 

Just as they were discussing, the system suddenly came online, and even the bright red color became even more piercing; it was flashing non-stop.

 

[Notification from the film studio: Starting today, the first version update will be available, with the following content.]

 

[Environmental Facilities: Closed management is lifted and two strongholds are opened, the Bar of Dawn and the Bar of the Long Night. Violent behavior is prohibited within the Dawn, with strict rules designated. Inside the Long Night, there are no rules. The pubs provide everything you need to watch the game, and food and drinks are free. More venues will be opened later.]

 

[② Gambling board changes: the original viewers could sign in daily to get 100 flame points, but now they can participate in the union bonus system. Viewers can choose their favorite union to vote for, but once selected, it cannot be changed. If the union advances one place, it will bring considerable income to the audience. The bar provides reward boards, life and death bets, and other gameplay for viewers to explore on their own. 】

 

【③Union Reform: Actors, the day has come to usher in the stage; your union will become the hottest attraction on the set, open to all the people; of course, you can place forbidden restrictions or you can charge paid admission; you can consult the system later for details.]

 

[The update content is introduced; next we bring you the first large-scale event on the set.]

 

[Golden Film Award]

 

[Description of the event: From now on, films will no longer be screened in rotation, and a total of 90,000 actors and actresses will participate in a unified large-scale film as an “audition.” If there is a union in the film, another union will be automatically selected by the system to compete against them. There will be a large screen in the bars, and the seats will be equipped with sub-screens for you to choose from, so that you can track the movement of your favorite union at any time.]

 

[Reward Mechanism: After the audition, the top three unions will receive a mysterious gift provided by the judge, as well as one month of real-world visitation rights. ah~ The three actors with the highest points will even receive the coveted opportunity to meet with the head judge].

 

The system’s notification ended.

 

“One month of… visitation rights…” Liu Jingyun felt a bit confused. “Being able to return to the real world for 30 days, this, how many flame points does this usually take?”

 

Luo Musheng said, “2,000 points a day, 30 days is 60,000 flame points; this reward is indeed generous; moreover, Zhuo Yu, you’ve thought about it too.”

 

Zhuo Yu nodded. There must be countless actors and viewers on set who wanted to go home but were constrained by the flame points; just by being a surrogate or bringing messages to their loved ones, these 30 days were enough to make a union earn a fortune.

 

Not to mention the mystery gift; Zhuo Yu was sure it would be something interesting or it wouldn’t be hidden.

 

“There’s also the meeting with the head judge; there’s something strange in this one too; maybe we can ask the head judge questions…”

 

“That audition tournament, do you have any clue about the audition?” Zhuo Yu asked.

 

Luo Musheng pondered for a while, then said, “Since it’s an audition, it has to be fair enough; the actors will definitely be divided into countless groups to go through the same film. The person with acting skills or means of survival that are superior will become obvious under the comparison of countless screens. Perhaps the way to judge is to see who gets more flame points.”

 

“But on a deeper level, why choose excellent actors? That’s up for debate.” Zhuo Yu felt that this matter was becoming more and more worth exploring.

 

Liu Jingyun sat between the two bigwigs with her scalp tingling. Feeling a huge amount of pressure, she could only try her best to narrow her presence.

 

For things that use the brain, it was best not to call her…

 

 

“In that case, raising the union’s strength has become an imminent matter.” Zhuo Yu opened his friends list, and of the few numbers of people, Dong Yao lay among them.

 

[Private Chat Channel]

 

[Zhuo Yu: Can I ask you a few questions?]

 

[Dong Yao: You’ve done me a favor; I’ll tell you anything.]

 

[Zhuo Yu: I want to form a trade union and make my base more useful. I heard that your union is very famous; can you give me some pointers?]

 

[Dong Yao: It’s fine to ask anything. Wait a moment; I’ll make a list of recommendations for you.]

 

Not long after, a long list popped up. Zhuo Yu clicked on it and found that it was all really very practical.

 

【Fighting Instructor (C): a battle-hardened special forces instructor, he can teach you fighting and survival skills, but be careful, he has a very bad temper】

 

[Soft Waterbed (C): a comforting bed on which a good night’s sleep will restore all the day’s fatigue and discomfort].

 

[General Purpose Domestic Bionic Man (C): the newest model of bionic man can solve all your troubles in the household, good at laundry and cooking.]

 

Zhuo Yu added a long list of things to his shopping cart, and at the same time, he had a new idea.

 

Since the system said that unions could make money by using their base to collect points, then he…

 

[Zhuo Yu: In return, let me give you some recommendations. I know that on a boring set, there is no relief from boredom except for films; if you can provide a place for entertainment and leisure, then you will definitely make a big profit.]

 

Zhuo Yu pushed all the fun rides he could see in the mall in one breath, and as expected, Dong Yao was very interested in his idea.

 

[Dong Yao: Are you trying to get the Flying Sickle Union to open an amusement park? Your brain really makes me feel inferior…]

 

Zhuo Yu didn’t know whether the words were a compliment or a curse, but it didn’t matter; Dong Yao was definitely interested.

 

Because millions, even tens of millions of viewers, had been trapped for a long time, and the only way to vent were the films. They had long become mentally tense lunatics, alienated by the environment, which was why there were so many cold-bloo-ded people in the comment sections.

 

If Dong Yao could really make it, he would be considered to have a connection with a rich union, and it would be easier to do things.

 

 

[Dong Yao: But I have to say, you’re quite business-minded; it’s awesome.]

 

 

[Zhuo Yu: Thanks for the compliment.]

 

[Dong Yao: What about your Knightflame union? I don’t think you’ll miss out on this wave of change.]

 

Zhuo Yu smiled; Dong Yao was already starting to understand him.

 

[Zhuo Yu: Of course, what I want to do is the opposite of what was given to you; I’m going to create a devil’s training camp. What do you think?]

 

[Dong Yao: Training camp?]

 

[Zhuo Yu: Turn the Knightflame base into an actor training base; in that case, those actors with money will definitely come to us for upgrading training in order to improve themselves and use it to test their skills.]

 

[Dong Yao: You’re not afraid of a competitor appearing and having your methods copied by other unions?]

 

[Zhuo Yu: Which competitor is earning more flame points and has a bigger name?]

 

[Dong Yao: That’s right, 90% of the unions that want to do this can’t even get the flame points, so they can only send people to you for training. But aren’t you training your competitors?]

 

 

[Zhuo Yu: No, films are never passed by force alone; what I’m doing will instead raise Knightflame’s status in the hearts of the actors; it’s excellent branding, and there are bound to be powerful actors willing to join us].

 

[Dong Yao: You’re right; if it weren’t for the fact that unions can’t be merged, I’d want to go to your side as well. The Knightflame union has a very high potential; you should treasure it.]

 

[Zhuo Yu: Of course.]

 

The conversation ended here. Zhuo Yu was glad that he didn’t ki-ll off Dong Yao in the film; Dong Yao owed him a favor, so the Flying Scythe Union would be the first ally of the Knight Flame Union.

 

After Zhuo Yu set his goal, Liu Jingyun and Luo Musheng both supported him. Although there were only three people in the union now, all three of them were rich and powerful, and at Luo Musheng’s suggestion, Zhuo Yu purchased a “Union Contribution” box, which would be used to collect dues on a regular basis, and they would regularly collect membership fees of 1000 points per person per film to purchase public facilities.

 

A thousand points was ridiculously expensive for an ordinary actor, but for those who were able to enter Knightflame, it wasn’t worth mentioning.

 

As the three founding shareholders, they put in more than a thousand.

 

 

The three had each contributed ten thousand flame points, and this exorbitant price was enough for them to purchase any equipment.

 

“First is the residence of our Knight Flame members.” Luo Musheng rummaged through the shop, “Don’t go for ornate and beautiful buildings; it’s fine as long as it’s solid and comfortable.”

 

“No.” Zhuo Yu smiled, “Let’s get something exaggerated; although it’s not my style, it can create a deep impression on the others, and it’ll be considered our signature.”

 

“Since it’s called Knight Flame Union and Devil’s Training Camp, why don’t we really make a hell out of it?” Liu Jingyun’s eyes shone brightly, as if she had already seen the future scene of people wailing here.

 

“We can.”

 

Zhuo Yu directly bought an underground base similar to the Umbrella Corporation’s “Hive,” which would be the home of the official members; the inside was full of technology, with holographic blue skies and green fields outside the windows, which would definitely not make people feel suffocated, while on the ground…

 

[Gravity Engine (A): can lay a hectare-wide gravity stance, the strength can be adjusted by the holder, usually used for training, can’t work in the film because the data isn’t interoperable.]

 

[Mountain of Blades (B): ornament, a mountain covered in blades; those who can climb to the top are brave.]

 

[Sea of Fire (B): An extremely hot sea of fire that doesn’t burn anyone but extremely tests endurance.]

 

 

[Special Forces Training Camp (B): A site used for training special forces, with weighted cross-country, obstacle jumping, and cliff climbing projects].

 

Zhuo Yu bought all these things in one breath, spending a full twenty thousand points.

 

There were still quite a few flame points left from everyone’s pooled funds. Zhuo Yu patted Luo Musheng’s shoulder, “I’ll leave the rest to you. Our initial investment is for future income, so I’m afraid the next movie will be a bit difficult because we can’t buy powerful skills.”

 

Luo Musheng nodded and said, “Don’t worry, I understand everything and have no complaints.”

 

He knew that even if Zhuo Yu’s idea went wrong, it didn’t mean that these things that were redeemed would be useless; every single one of their Knightflame members could enjoy special training. Even if Luo Musheng mostly used his brains, he felt that it was time to work on his physique; the combination of force and brain would allow him to survive better.

 

In this way, the transformation operation of the Knightflame union base was in full swing.

 

Within a week, Luo Musheng spent all the flame points used for construction, and the rest were used to strengthen skills, respectively.

 

Since she possessed an assassin’s blo-odline, Liu Jingyun bought a cheap but useful hidden weapon. Moreover, she had grown cunning this time. The hidden weapon not only used poison but also holy water and oil, truly achieving comprehensive damage in both physical and spiritual aspects.

 

Luo Musheng, on the other hand, had his eye on an auxiliary paraphernalia, which was a trajectory prediction AI module.

 

This module was very expensive, around 6000 points, and it took Zhuo Yu’s flame points to make up for it. After redeeming it, a small blue halo appeared on Luo Musheng’s left temple, which he covered with his hair.

 

As for Zhuo Yu, he stuffed a motorized wheelchair into the grid space and redeemed a supplementary skill in the process.

 

Vision Sharing.

 

In this way, Luo Musheng was able to predict the movement trajectories of humans and objects, and Liu Jingyun was able to see some movements in advance, making her prey unable to escape her. The three of them formed a very positive teamwork skill, and as long as they weren’t attacked at once, normal actors and NPCs wouldn’t be able to guess, much less crack it.

 

As the system counted down and the silver door fell from the sky, the three of them stepped into the new film together.

 

[Welcome actor “Zhuo Yu” to the set; loading of the film “Deadly Lover” is complete.]

 

[This film is classified as K-illing Machine. A union has been detected; another union team will be drawn automatically.]

 

[Extraction complete.]

 

[Please survive until the end of the film; good luck to all the actors.]

 

 

The system’s archaic and mechanical voice rang out as it added a new prompt.

 

[Auditions, officially start.]

 

[Auditions, officially start.]

 


TN:

Liu Jingyun is a mood 😂

The game’s heating up 🔥!!!!!

Support UntamedAlley

If you enjoy my content, please consider supporting UntamedAlley [which is just me lol] Thank you.

1 Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note