Second Take On Romance - The A-List Actor Wants Me
Chapter 181 : The Third Round

Chapter 181: Chapter 181 : The Third Round

Shen Jingwei had a mixed feeling when he returned to the audition venue two days later.

Gratitude, yes.

Confusion, yes.

But also discomfort from having to see the same judges again for the third round of audition.

As expected, the judges remained the same, but Producer Gao was no longer among them.

"First of all, Mr. Shen, we would like to apologize for how your audition went in the second round," the casting director earnestly said.

"As you can see, Producer Gao has been removed from the panel of judges. Yunhuan Entertainment does not discriminate based on genders or sexual preferences. We wish to give you a smoother experience from today onward."

Shen Jingwei was speechless.

From behind the long table, Feng Jietang shot him a grin and two thumbs-up.

"..."

Certainly, Shen Jingwei was happy that Yunhuan Entertainment removed a homophobic judge from the audition, but this kind of thing did not even happen even once in a blue moon right?

Not to mention that the casting director himself decided to apologize to him!

Feng Jietang, oh, Feng Jietang, Shen Jingwei was overcome with the urge to smack his own face. Just what have you done?

In the third round of the audition, twenty participants were assigned distinct roles within a shared neighborhood.

Each character were given a unique occupation, a detailed family background, and certain personality traits to adhere to.

"The previous night, a mysterious fire had razed the entire neighborhood. At present time, the neighborhood gathered to uncover the culprit," an assistant read from the provided script out loud.

"Everyone, no dialogue will be provided. Your performance will be rated through your ability to stick with the role provided to you, your interaction with each other, and also the ending of the scene."

"That being said, feel free to improvise," the drama director said. "Remember to stay in character. We will stop the scene from time to time to dismiss failed participants."

The twenty participants glanced at each other.

The pressure was high.

This was literally a battle royale. Only the ones who survived this little scene would be considered for the role of Su Jiahong!

No role was inferior or superior to the others.

In order to shine, the easiest way was simply to stand out.

Unfortunately, Shen Jingwei was not the kind of person who liked to stand out.

Fortunately, he was very good in one thing -- sticking to his character. And his character this time around was a manipulative and calculating person.

"When the fire broke out, I was sleeping," Participant 1 cried out. "I slept so soundly that I did not notice the fire in time. If it had been a second later, surely I would be burned into ashes!"

"The fire originated in Participant 7’s home," Participant 2 spoke up all of a sudden. "Participant 7, what do you have to say about this matter?"

"..."

Shen Jingwei happened to be Participant 7.

He broke into a placating smile.

"Beloved neighbors, when the fire broke out, I was outside with my dog for his evening walk. It was not me who started the fire."

"No one is accusing you of starting the fire, Participant 7," Participant 5 folded his arms and frowned at Shen Jingwei. "Did you maybe leave the stove on? Or did you have any problem with your electrical circuits?"

Shen Jingwei shook his head.

"Habitually, I turn off all unused electrical appliances. I didn’t cook anything the entire day yesterday."

"Still, the fire originated from your house!" Participant 11 cried out.

"Yeah, if it was not you, who can it be?"

Shen Jingwei held both hands in front of his chest in a placating gesture.

"Neighbors, I do not wish to accuse anyone, but Participant 12 recently had a brush with the law for attempted arson. Could it be Participant 12 after all?"

Sorry, sorry Participant 12! Shen Jingwei cried out in his heart. I am not deliberately targeting you!

Participant 12 had the role of a rowdy criminal who had a penchant for fire.

Unfortunately, he was unable to get into character in time.

"I... I..." He stammered in panic.

It was one stammer too many.

"Cut! Participant 12 is out," the casting director announced ruthlessly. The shaken Participant barely had time to pick his jaw off the ground before he was escorted out of the room.

The remaining 19 participants swallowed hard.

Barely five minutes went by, and one participant already bit the dust.

The neighborly dispute escalated, and soon more participants were removed for letting their emotions cloud their acting.

From nineteen, they went down to sixteen.

"I saw Participant 8 with a canister of gasoline!"

"Participant 15 had some beef with Participant 7, maybe Participant 15 did it out of revenge!"

Then fifteen.

"I have seen Participant 3 lurk around my house several times," Shen Jingwei pointed out. "But I am not sure what his motive was. Participant 3, why don’t you tell everyone where you were yesterday night?"

Then twelve.

"Honestly, Participant 7 has been shoving blame down everyone’s throat. Maybe Participant 7 is the real culprit???"

Then ten.

Several participants were so dejected that they broke into sobs on the spot. Some even tried to argue with the judges.

"This is not fair!" Participant 18 shouted. "I was not out of character! I acted according to my character! Judges, please give me another chance!"

Unfortunately, once the judges made their decision, no one could change their minds.

Shen Jingwei could not help but sigh in his heart.

He merely hoped that the failed participants could recover in time and received another opportunity.

By the time the body count went down to three, the casting director ended the third round.

"Cut! Good job, everyone!"

The remaining three contestants, including Shen Jingwei, stood straight and wiped beads of sweat off their faces.

"Good job," they told each other.

At this junction, anyone would be a great fit for the coveted role.

All that remained was praying.

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Author’s note :

Readers are allowed to build prayer circles for Shen Shen