Global Film Emperor

The system to be unlocked in Chapter 1

"There are (9900/10000) days left for the host to unlock the first stage of the 'Actor System'. Please continue your efforts."

Lu Ze closed the system interface, his mind filled with the thought that he only needed 100 yuan more to unlock it. He happily picked up his lunchbox, sat on the green belt, and quickly ate a couple of bites.

"A period drama! Six men needed! They should be fairly good-looking! One hundred a day!"

Not far away, the group leader shouted, and instantly everyone at the door sprang into action, rushing forward like madmen. Lu Ze did the same, throwing his lunchbox on the ground and squeezing forward with his long legs.

"All of you, stand up straight! What are you pushing for! If you all stand in line, it'll be easier for me to find you, otherwise none of you will have any work to do today!"

With a loud shout from the group leader Liu Le, the group had no choice but to stand obediently in several rows, like goods waiting to be picked up, hoping that Liu Le would take them away.

"You, you, and you, the tall guy in the back! Yes, you, come on, come on, it's you guys, come with me! Everyone else, disperse!"

Lu Ze, the tall guy Liu Le had mentioned, took a couple of sips from his mineral water bottle and then happily followed Liu Le into the film studio.

Lu Ze wasn't exactly a newcomer; he'd been working in Hengdian for almost two years. Usually, being selected wasn't something to be particularly excited about, but today was different. After filming today's scenes and getting paid, he could unlock the system today!
As for the origin of this system, Lu Ze was still quite confused. He only remembered that he had drunk some wine that night, then watched a movie in the room, commented on the acting skills of the main characters, and then washed up and went to bed.

However, after falling asleep, Lu Ze dreamed that he became the male protagonist in the movie he was watching, and then followed the movie's plot until the movie ended and it was dawn.

When he opened his eyes, he suddenly found himself in front of an interface that he could see but couldn't touch, with only one sentence written on it.

"There are (0/10000) days left for the host to unlock the first stage of the 'Actor System'. Please continue your efforts."

I won't go into what happened after that, but it was a process of going from shock to acceptance. At the beginning, he was really trying to figure out what (0/10000) meant.

Then, after playing a minor role and earning a hundred yuan, he realized that the upper limit of ten thousand yuan referred to money.

Lu Ze followed Liu Le into the film crew, and then it was time to change clothes. He glanced at the costume and realized it was the same old thing—the same little eunuch he'd played eight hundred times!
The clothes had a very strong odor, not the rubber or plastic smell of cheap clothes, but the distinctive smell of sweat and smelly feet.

It smells like pickled vegetables that have been stomped on by someone with athlete's foot and left to sit in a jar for half a month, with a dog peeing on them in between.

Today's clothes are particularly smelly, ranking in the top three in Lu Ze's eunuch career, which is quite exciting.

Everyone knows that being an extra is a tough job. It involves physical labor, being thrown around, and having bad food.

What laymen don't know is that the worst thing for extras these days is that their intelligence is insulted by the production crew's work. Take a period drama for example, which is almost turned into a children's play, and it's even more cringe-worthy than the costumes.

"After a year in the industry, your IQ drops by half; after three years, it's completely gone." This is no joke. After playing minor roles for several years, I can watch a few good performances or storylines with more enthusiasm than the audience, and they can even make people cry.

However, Lu Ze didn't encounter any good show today. It was a palace drama where the female lead was a modern person, and she was walking the runway with palace maids. What a joke! Even Watt was unhappy and wanted to call Falk!

Lu Ze's job was to pretend to be serious in the play, while secretly watching the palace maids' fashion show, until the emperor arrived, at which point he would suddenly kneel down and shout, "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!"

It's over.

The scene went by quite quickly. Those palace maids were all extras, but they were a bit more high-class than Lu Ze and the others. They were just special extras, walking around a bit and showing off before it was over.

But the second scene completely fell apart because the female lead couldn't cry!

To be honest, Lu Ze recognized the female lead. She was a second-tier actress, a graduate of a professional acting school. But isn't it ridiculous that a graduate of a professional acting school couldn't even act a crying scene well? She rolled her eyes as soon as she put in some eye drops, and she often burst out laughing, completely delaying the progress.

Because this scene was taking so long to film, the time the director spent explaining the scene to the female lead became Lu Ze and the others' relaxation time. They found a quiet corner, lit a cigarette, and the group of extras started chatting. "Sigh, we're probably going to have to film for a long time tonight. I'm starving, it's past five o'clock, damn it!"

"Around 5 o'clock? You also have to film at around 5 o'clock tomorrow morning, right? Hey, Aze, what time did you leave for work this morning?"

An old extra who had been doing this job for several years patted Lu Ze on the shoulder and asked him a question.

"I came out at 6:30 this morning, which was fine. I finished filming by 11:00. I don't know when this one will be finished."

Lu Ze squatted down and rubbed the cigarette butt on the ground to extinguish it. He yawned, feeling sleepy. He finished work around midnight last night and only slept for about five hours. He was indeed exhausted.

"Where are the extras?! Where the hell are they?! Don't they know they're filming?!"

Hearing the director's angry roar, knowing he was in a bad mood, the six eunuchs quickly jumped up and ran away, then smiled and apologized to the director.

Then, after the scene was over, everyone was dumbfounded. Where was the female lead? Were they not going to film the crying scene?

Sure enough, if someone can't cry, they need to rest for a while. Lu Ze looked around and found that the female lead had started eating dinner. The food was pretty good; she ate eight dishes all by herself.

"That's what a star is like."

Lu Ze swallowed hard, snapped out of his daze, and knelt down with a thud: "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

The three scenes took more than eight hours to film, and it wasn't until after 9 p.m. that they were all finished. The female lead was quite "dedicated" and stayed until her scenes were finished.

They didn't use a stunt double, which is commendable.

After filming, Lu Ze and the other extras still had to help carry equipment, organize cables, move boxes, and so on. By the time they finished, they smelled like pickled mustard greens.

After changing into his own clothes, Lu Ze finally breathed a sigh of relief and waited excitedly for Liu Le to pay him his salary. He was just one hundred yuan short!

"Here, 120. The director said it's to cover the cost of my meal."

The extra twenty yuan left the six extras stunned, staring silently at the yellow banknote without saying a word.

Even a minor extra who looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old burst into tears. It wasn't just about the twenty yuan; it was about the genuine feeling of being respected. The director was a good person; at least he treated the extras like human beings.

This was the first time Lu Ze had ever encountered a situation where a director gave him extra money for his meals. He suddenly felt a sense of apology towards the director. When being scolded by a director, how many extras haven't cursed the director in their hearts?
Thinking back to how that director bowed and scraped to the female lead, it was actually quite pathetic. I guess besides filming, all he had was the power to pay extra for extras' meals.

After accepting the 120 yuan, Lu Ze thanked Liu Le and then left in silence.

On his way home, Lu Ze switched to the system interface.

"The conditions for unlocking the 'Best Actor System' have been met. Unlock now? (Yes/No)"

I silently said "yes" in my heart. There was no golden splendor or auspicious dragon and phoenix decorations. The interface was still the same, except that there were many more boxes.

A dialog box popped up on the screen, which read: "Congratulations, host, you have successfully unlocked and obtained the title 'Dazzling Green Leaf'. You can now browse the courses at will."

"."

(End of this chapter)