Trembling At A High Altitude

Chapter 13: Life Is A Theater

Translator: Atlas Studios

Editor: Atlas Studios

“Hahaha!” Upon hearing Li Teng’s question, Gao Fei burst into laughter again, just that his laughter was a little embarrassed this time.

Li Teng didn’t say anything. He waited for him to be done laughing instead.

“When I was checking my points on the terminal after I got off the helicopter, a mission to prank a newbie suddenly popped up on the screen. Of course, it’s also a mission to help the newbie to earn points. I took up the mission along the way,” explained Gao Fei.

“I was also pranked by others when I had first arrived on the island, but it’s my turn to prank newbies this time.

“The mission informed me of where you would arrive. It also informed me of the way to operate the mechanisms in the waxwork museum, such as moving some of the statues over to block the door or getting all the statues to look at someone in the room in unison.

“If I pranked the newbie successfully and scare them sh*tless, I’d be able to earn a reward of 5 points.

“Even if I didn’t scare the newbie but ended up enraging them instead, causing me to get beaten up, I’d also receive 5 points.

“In addition, informing the newbie of the filming rules, and bringing him to the film set successfully, will also entitle me to another reward of 5 points.

“In other words, whether I scare you sh*tless or enrage you such that you beat me up, I’ll be able to get 5 points as a reward. I’ll also get another 5 points by answering your questions and bringing you to the film set.

“These 10 points are too easy to earn, that’s why I came across as very happy at that point,” Gao Fei explained in detail the reason why he had been so delighted despite being beaten up.

“I think it’s because you’re a natural masochist instead.” Li Teng glared at Gao Fei in contempt.

“Brother Tang hasn’t answered me yet. How did you pick me out from so many wax statues?” asked Gao Fei, changing the subject.

Li Teng replied, “The other wax statues in the room didn’t move any part of their bodies when they shifted. They either shifted or spun silently as a whole. You were the only one walking with your legs. How wouldn’t I be able to tell?”

“But I was clearly behind you, and I only shifted discreetly when you were observing the paintings intently. I didn’t see you turning to look behind you…” Gao Fei was still rather perplexed.

“The metal frames of those paintings are so smooth that they are practically mirrors. Did you think the only thing I was doing there was looking at paintings? I was checking out what was going on behind my back.” Li Teng revealed the answer.

“I see! Brother Tang is so smart!” Gao Fei gave Li Teng a thumbs up.

Li Teng didn’t look like he agreed with Gao Fei. Under those circumstances, only fools wouldn’t bother to keep a lookout as to what was happening behind them.

“My guess is that your last name isn’t Tang, and neither is your name Tang Na. Am I right?” While looking at Li Teng, Gao Fei laughed sneakily.

“My name is Li Teng, the Li of ‘child of the wood’1, and the Teng of ‘soaring’2.” Li Teng gave him his real name.

“How do you do, Brother Li? I was here a few days before you, so I can’t say that I’m that experienced, either. There’s no concord without discord, and every additional friend gives us an additional chance. In the future, as we try our best to survive on the film sets, if we can help each other out, then let’s do so.” Gao Fei stopped in his tracks and reached his hand out toward Li Teng.

Li Teng reached out and shook his hand, signifying that he had forgiven him for his prank earlier.

“By the way, the filming today commences at 12:00. The name of the film is Race of Ruin. As extras, we’re only taking part in a small scene in the whole film. After we’re done with filming this scene, as long as our characters don’t die, we’ll receive a reward of 10 points. As for the concrete story and what characters we are casted as… Nobody knows until they are part of the set.” Gao Fei began to officially introduce to Li Teng the show that they would be filming today.

“Race of Ruin? That sounds like a show about racing. Isn’t that kinda different from the style of the posters I saw in the Waxwork Museum?” Li Teng raised a question.

“Brother Li is so observant. You’ve even noticed something like this. Hehe, the wax statues housed in that particular Waxwork Museum are actors that died during disaster films. There are a lot of Waxwork Museums that house actors that died in movies of other genres, such as horror, sci-fi, action films, and so on. For example, if we die while filming Race of Ruin, we won’t enter the museum for disaster films but the one for either action or racing films instead,” answered Gao Fei.

“Is the box lunch rate high for the show we’re filming today?” Li Teng asked a critical question.

Gao Fei shook his head and replied, “No. The difficulty level of those with newbies taking part is typically very low. Under typical circumstances, out of eight actors, only one or two would die, unless they sought death or acted foolishly during their filming. In that case, there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

“If I survive today’s filming, will I be able to take on missions to prank newbies and earn points in the future too?” Li Teng thought of another question.

“Yes.”

“How do I do that? Is there a trick to it?”

“Haha, there isn’t anything like that. You just have to hurry to the streets and look for a terminal when you reach the film studio after you get off the helicopter. Any terminal would do. After you slot in your card, if a yellow question mark appears at the screen’s side, that means there are additional missions that you can take on. This… is completely dependent on your luck, it seems. I just so happened to turn on the terminal when you arrived just now, so I managed to take on the mission.”

“I see.”

“Alright, we’re here!”

As they spoke, they arrived at an area near a cafe in the middle of the street.

On his way here, Li Teng had observed the sides of the street carefully. There were signs that indicated film set locations in a lot of places in the streets. Even if there wasn’t anyone leading the way next time, he would be able to follow the signs and find his way to the film set himself.

A large round bar table was placed outside the cafe where the film set was. There were quite a few people seated on the bar chairs next to the table.

This time, everyone present was alive and kicking. Some of them were in the midst of an animated conversation, some had looks of apprehension and perplexion on their faces, while some looked rather down and dejected.

A man and a woman occupied two seats on the inside. Both of them were wearing large sunglasses, with the woman even wearing a big beach hat. The pair was dressed very fashionably, giving off a feeling that they were big shots in the filming industry.

Those who looked apprehensive and at a loss, or dejected, were probably newbies like Li Teng.

Everyone had a steaming cup of coffee in front of them on the table.

The two seats beside the street were unoccupied. Gao Fei brought Li Teng over, and they sat down.

It was 11:59 a.m. There was only a minute before filming commenced.

Li Teng did a quick count. Including him, there were a total of eight people seated around the table, just like what he had seen in the posters. From the looks of it, these were the full cast for the scene today.

Life was like a theater. Li Teng had never thought that he would actually become an actor one day.

Li Teng asked Gao Fei, who was seated beside him, softly, “The coffee doesn’t cost any points, right?”

“No.”

“Can I have refills?”

“Yes.” Gao Fei pointed at the coffee machine beside the wall.

The moment Li Teng heard that it didn’t cost anything and that he could even have refills, he hurriedly picked up the coffee cup in front of him.

It was too much of a waste if he didn’t drink it, so he might as well do so.

Unfortunately, it was too hot, so he couldn’t finish it quickly.

Li Teng could only blow hard at the coffee as he observed his surroundings.

Next to the cafe was a wide and spacious street, while a pedestrian crossing was right in front of the cafe entrance.

The streets were empty. Neither were there cars passing by in the middle.

Dozens of drones with cameras on tripods hanging on them circled in mid-air around them, recording everything that was happening on-site from every possible angle.

Suddenly, a woman’s voice rang out, interrupting Li Teng’s ongoing observation. “Hello, everyone. I am the director for Road of Ruin. I shall give all of you a brief introduction about the filming that you are about to do.”