My name is Mo Ke, eight years old. Doused in blood that I was, I was currently being pressed against the floor by a little girl with purple hair and purple wings, dressed in an elaborate princess dress… In short, I was in hell…
“Cut!” I couldn’t even begin to remember how many times it had been since the director, Aunty Qiao, had jumped out of nowhere to yell that single word. The filming took place in a virtual space, so after the first few shocks, everyone had basically gotten used to the way she just popped in at random.
“Lixiang! What the heck was that? Why can’t you act better?” Director Qiao thwacked the expressionless You Qin Lixiang on the head with his rolled up script. “And here I was thinking that you were better at least; the number of times you messed up is already on par with Bitong!”
Hearing that comparison, Bitong, still in her little Nicole form, couldn’t stop herself from jumping out and exclaiming, “Aunty Qiao! Was that a cheap shot at me?”
“No. That was called directing!”
Had this been an everyday setting, she would not have treated Bitong like this, but everyone was a part time actor now. Actors who hadn’t even read the basics on how to act, else she would have not blown her top so many times already…
Glared at, Bitong grumpily pouted, but said nothing against the older woman, merely turning her head away in anger.
Ignoring the girl, Aunty Qiao turned her sights onto Lixiang, who was currently pretending to count the ants on the floor. “Lixiang, I’ll give you one last chance: do it right, or I will swap you out.”
“Swap her! Swap her!”
Qiao Jiaojiao frantically cheered from the side, eyes practically bulging with excitement. Couldn’t really blame her there. Out of everyone present right now, she was the only one who hadn’t gotten a role, not even a monster costume…
Thankfully, this little girl was still relatively well-behaved, barring the times when an actor messed up, and she was happily calling for their replacement.
In contrast, Bitong and Lixiang were the ones who had constantly made mistakes, despite the high hopes we had placed on them initially… If I had known earlier, I would have just gotten Jiaojiao to play the role of Yi Yi instead…
“I don’t care if you hear me or not, but you don’t have many chances left. Two chances, if you purposely mess up two more times, I’ll swap you out.” Aunty Qiao pulled no punches as she chided the girl.
Just like Bitong, Lixiang did not talk back to her, instead turning away in protest. However, Aunty Qiao wasn’t about to care about her little tantrum, instead preparing for another reshoot.
Knowing our resident middle school syndrome girl, she definitely heard what Aunty Qiao said, she just did not want to respond.
“Aunt–Director… Qiao…” I almost called her aunty by reflex, but quickly stopped myself. It would have been inappropriate to do that right now, while she was still directing everyone.
“What’s the matter, Ke?” Aunty Qiao smiled as she ruffled my hair. “And what do you mean director? You’re being too distant, just aunty is fine. Honestly, your aunty thinks you should call her mum instead.”
“…” I almost recoiled in shock. “Aunty Qiao… maybe we should start on the next shoot…”
“Do your best, big brother! Just two more mistakes!” Just as I found myself stuck in that awkward position, Qiao Jiaojiao suddenly jumped and tugged on Aunty Qiao, excitedly saying to her, “Mum, get to shooting already, then we can swap out sister Lixiang. I guarantee I will be a perfect Yi Yi… I can act… so how about just giving me a chance right now?”
I swear… is there no one here that isn’t a troublemaker… all problem children, the lot of them.
Now that Aunty Qiao had left the acting area, the shoot started anew once more.
The system projected me in my dying form once more. I laid there as before, surrounded by countless green goblins and red-skinned devil corpses.
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