Deep in the Living
Chapter 337 - 325: The Movie

Chapter 337: Chapter 325: The Movie

The audience of the Grand Theater filed out one by one,

the other nine newcomers who had triumphed during the festival, and who had called Luo Di "boss," were also forcibly taken away, each sent to different areas to start a new life based on their Game Brain traits.

Luo Di, however, was an exception,

His performance during the newcomer’s play was quite unique and deeply loved by the audience. If capitalized on timely, it could attract an enormous audience and bring unimaginable traffic, generating massive dramatic value in a short period.

Moreover, the theater’s chief David Dai saw in him a deeply ingrained Disguise attribute, an important quality for an actor.

Luo Di had also, under semi-coercion, signed an acting contract, although this contract didn’t contain any overbearing terms and was relatively fair.

It required him to join the Grand Theater as a trainee actor, during which time the theater would advance a portion of his medical expenses.

This contract would last until the entire debt was cleared, at which point Luo Di could choose to continue at the theater or leave.

For Luo Di as he currently was, signing was the only option.

His current situation could be described as extremely dire.

Without a physical body,

unable to contact the outside world,

unaware of his comrades’ conditions,

he was alone, relying on a body provided by an Evil Play.

In this absolutely passive situation, Luo Di had no say whatsoever.

To gain initiative, to clarify the situation and the stance of the Evil Play, he had to follow their requirements for now.

Looking at the signed contract, David slapped his belly forcefully.

"Excellent! With this, you are one of us now! Welcome to the Grand Theater."

Extending an arm from behind the curtain of David’s heavy-lidded eyes, he took back the signed contract into his body. Some connection formed between him and Luo Di, seeming to promise a terrifying outcome should there be any breach of the rules.

Luo Di looked directly at the head of the theater: "What about Agatha and Calen?"

"Oh? The first thing you do after signing the contract is not to worry about your own body, but your friends? I’ve never seen such a Spine; no wonder the Monastery accepted you.

Don’t worry, we have no reason to kill a nun and an important lighthouse worker.

Moreover, they are both quite special, having survived that sea disaster.

You were the most severely injured among them, so severely that you should have died on the spot, yet you unexpectedly survived. When our Insects found you, they couldn’t understand at first why you were still alive.

It seems as though some force is sustaining your life,

neither your Hell System nor that strange pituitary in your brain,

but... the essence of your ancestors.

It’s as if they wanted you to live."

"Where are they? And where is my physical body?"

"The Repair Center, our largest hospital here, which is also one of the five hospitals in True Hell capable of healing ’ancestral injuries.’

Before proceeding with physical repairs, they need to drain all the ancestral residue from your body. This process will be lengthy and must be lengthy, as even the slightest material residue could cause disorder in your body."

"How long will it take?"

"Your case will need at least a month, I guess? Your friends will need at least half a month too."

"Am I allowed to go to this so-called Recovery Center to check on things now?"

In response to this request, David shook his finger, "You’ve just signed an employment contract, and next, you need to complete the onboarding process. Let’s talk about it once everything is settled.

As long as you work peacefully, your body will receive proper treatment."

"So, you’re saying that once I complete the onboarding process, I’ll be able to go to the Repair Center?"

Seeing Luo Di’s insistence, David tapped his front teeth, "Tsk~ Being cautious is good, no wonder you’ve grown such a ’cautious tongue.’

Fine~ once you’ve completed the onboarding process, I’ll let you visit the Repair Center to check on your body’s state."

"What processes are these?"

"It’s about giving you an initial orientation as an actor.

To see what kind of scripts you fit, what roles you suit, how to perform to achieve the best effects?

If your next performance is even better, you might become a popular actor here.

If you have any roles you want to play, or ideas related to theater, you can put them forward. We need to prepare quickly, while your current popularity has not yet faded."

When talking about performances, Luo Di naturally first thought of movies, but he still had questions that needed to be clarified.

"Apart from making money, what significance does such a performance have for your Evil Play, or for me?"

This question made David pause for a bit, then his whole body jiggled with laughter.

"Hahaha! That question isn’t like one an Insect would ask.

You must have slain Insects before you came to us, right? You have a very faint rat scent on you, you must have also seen his [Play].

The reason he can weave scenarios, can influence the environment, is exactly due to the ’externalization of Play’."

Our brains need "plays" to exert influence over the outside world, hence the origin of the term Game Brain. It is also the fundamental reason why we can be a major power in True Hell.

Whether performers or viewers, everyone can draw inspiration from high-quality drama to refine their own plays and strengthen their brains.

Intense pleasure can also satisfy the brain, much as our bodies need nourishment.

[Play] is an essential part of us.

Actors who can deliver quality drama, regardless of their background, are respected.

Our growth doesn’t require endless fighting like the Spine,

Immersing in and watching drama can also grant us combat experience. Often, disguise and deception are deadlier than swords and blades.

The reason I took the risk to specially recruit you, a unique newcomer, isn’t just because of your performance in the newcomer’s theater, but also because I see in you the qualities of an actor.

You’re quite good at disguising yourself, aren’t you, Mr. Di?

Or is it that creatures from your world are all adept at disguise?"

As David Dai spoke, the black curtains around his eye sockets opened once more. This time, what emerged were not arms, but two bulging eyes, like copper bells, seemingly piercing into Luo Di’s thoughts.

Luo Di nodded, "So, my Game Brain can also be completed and perfected in this process, right?"

"Correct. Performing in plays often leads to greater improvement than just watching... If you can deliver a quality performance, your Game Brain will quickly fill up, reaching saturation just like your spine.

Well, do you have any thoughts about drama yourself?"

"Do you have something like movies here?"

"Electricity? Shadows?" David rubbed his belly, struggling to comprehend this unfamiliar concept, breaking it down to make sense of it.

"It’s like recording a play through image processing, followed by relevant post-production, ultimately creating a continuous story about two hours in length.

I’m very fond of murderer movies.

And my true nature happens to lean in that direction. If you can accommodate me here, perhaps we could try an enactment."

David was very interested in anything related to drama.

"Recording plays, post-production, a two-hour-long story? Sounds quite interesting. It’s a product of your world, isn’t it? Can you bring it over for me to see?"

"I’ve arrived in True Hell through Consciousness Projection. Movies are recorded on something called a disc, which is inanimate, and they also require corresponding playback equipment, all inanimate, and can’t be projected here."

"Inanimate objects~ that’s simple..."

Having said that,

the curtains around David’s eye sockets closed and reopened, and from within crawled an insect brimming with brain tissue.

"’Copy Brain Worm,’ it just needs to stick to the so-called inanimate object and it can replicate the precise structure."

"We can give it a try~ But, I need my body’s spine as the carrier for my consciousness to return to my original world."

David nodded, "Hmm~ that is indeed troublesome.

It’s not that I don’t trust you, but to verify that the film you spoke of really exists, please allow me to search through the memories in your Game Brain.

You can now actively try to recall the scenes from when you watched a movie, which will make it easier for me to directly extract them."

"Okay."

Luo Di naturally reminisced about the winter holiday when he watched movies with his class president.

Another of David Dai’s eyes extended a tiny arm, gently touching Luo Di’s forehead. It transformed into a viewer and began to enjoy the spectacle.

He watched for an hour and a half,

twitching all over, drooling profusely, with a strong stench in the air.

"Great! Fantastic!

I’ve never experienced such a presentation of drama. The worlds we’ve invaded never developed a similar culture. Your native world is quite fascinating.

It seems the movie format might indeed be viable. After all, what we’ve been putting on at the Grand Theater has always been live performances.

Live performances inevitably have flaws or boring transitional scenes.

I’ll consider this matter thoroughly. Later, I’ll personally take you to the Repair Center to check the state of your body. I’ll try to get you back sooner and use the Transforming Brain Worm to bring back as many movie discs and players as possible, ideally including their filming process. I need to study them closely.

If possible, also copy the filming equipment over.

If this works out, I’ll let you star as the Murderer.

The Grand Theater will keep up with the necessary technology and equipment.

By the way, can you also bring over the girl called ’class president’ from your memories? Even I couldn’t tell her disguise at first glance.

She’s a natural-born actor,

Seemingly intentionally approaching you from the memory footage. Such a dangerous person beside you, and she hasn’t killed you?"

"She’s my friend, currently in a distant area, unreachable."

"A distant area~ It seems your world has a hierarchical structure. It makes me want to go see it for myself."

The arm that grew out from David’s curtained eye socket rubbed vigorously in front of him, his whole demeanor exuding immense excitement, "Let’s go, I’ll take you to see your body~ see if we can get you discharged early."