Work Prophet
Chapter 230 - 78: A Different Kind of Performance

Chapter 230: Chapter 78: A Different Kind of Performance

The performance on stage continued. The actor playing Gabriel cradled a dragon egg and arrived at Green Field. While the Arias family members were still immersed in their back pains, he sneakily dove into the swamp.

Not long after, the Black Dragon hatched from its egg. Initially, it was played by a sheepdog, which Timothy had fitted with a pair of wooden wings strapped to its shoulders, featuring small knives inserted, making it look quite fierce.

And as the dragon grew a bit more, the sheepdog was replaced by an actor under a black cloth.

Although Timothy always talked about art, as the Royal Capital’s top scriptwriter, every work he created was extremely popular—not exactly an inflexible conservative.

In reality, he also knew how to please the audience to the maximum.

For instance, in the scene where the giant dragon grows, he designed a battle between the Black Dragon and wild men, and it was portrayed in as comical a way as possible.

Regrettably, due to a lack of time to properly arrange it, he had to follow Li Yu’s suggestion of a quick fix, directly adapting his other drama "Drunken Man Battles the Boar King."

As a result, the actor playing the Black Dragon, perhaps too nervous or too carried away, even replicated the digging action exactly.

The Black Dragon was seen not using its wings at all, muttering while digging with its hind legs, chasing the staggeringly "wild men" all over the place, even knocking one over with its head.

For Ireya and others who had actually battled the real Black Dragon, the farce on stage at this moment was undoubtedly absurd.

But for most of the audience, if the Black Dragon were to act in its usual manner, they would have been baffled.

After all, the majority had never seen that dragon, or had only seen it from a distance—but never engaged with it (because those who had were no longer around).

But conversely, almost everyone had seen a wild boar. When the "Black Dragon" on stage grunted, everyone knew it was angry; with a flick of its head, everyone knew it was attacking—there were no barriers to understanding.

The wild men, stumbling and bumbling about, unable to even walk straight, were the same. Seeing their slapstick, the audience burst into laughter, dispelling the gloomy atmosphere from Caroman’s death.

Being in another universe, Timothy certainly did not understand modern concepts like emotional arcs or flow, but as a top creator, his instinct and extensive experience gave him an excellent command of timing.

When the curtain rose again, the young Ireya, suppressing her inner sorrow, personally buried her deceased father and then took up her father’s legacy to become the new Lord of Green Field.

But as soon as she took up that position, she faced a significant crisis sweeping across the entire western region.

The greedy and brutal Black Dragon left its swamp and started rampaging everywhere, burning, killing, and looting. To better incite the audience’s outrage, Timothy modified the attack, initially targeted at nobles, to indiscriminate slaughter.

As farm after farm was burned down and crops trampled, the Black Dragon even went so far as to steal all the bread from a bakery, and the atmosphere immediately tensed up, fists clenched tighter in the audience.

Seeing that the mood was sufficiently stirred and the groundwork laid, it was naturally time for the hero to make an entrance.

Just like in many knight novels, the new Lord of Green Field could not bear to see the world in chaos and the people homeless, so she courageously stepped forward!

She encountered the mysterious and wise Prophet Merlin and received his help.

When she saw "Merlin" in a black suit walking onto the stage, Ireya’s face couldn’t help but turn slightly red.

It must be said, the actor Timothy who played Li Yu was quite well chosen, young and handsome, and he bore a resemblance to Li Yu, just lacking Li Yu’s unique aura.

Of course, that kind of aura Miss Rabbit had also not seen in anyone other than Li Yu. To demand the male actor on stage to perfectly replicate it would indeed be asking too much, and the resemblance he achieved was already commendable.

Unfortunately, due to the "Merlin" heathen identity, the audience’s reaction when he appeared on stage was lukewarm, and the applause was scant.

But Li Yu wasn’t disappointed by this reaction because a few months earlier, the actor playing him would likely have been greeted only with boos.

After the Dragon Slaying, even the most radical followers of the Silver Moon Goddess rarely spoke ill of him anymore, and in the vicinity of Green Field, a continual stream of people had recently been flocking to join the Double Rest Sect.

This indicated that many people’s impressions of the Double Rest Sect were beginning to change. This change wasn’t instantaneous, but it was undoubtedly a positive sign and would also benefit his future missionary work.

Besides "Merlin," Ireya also received support from an ally—Sir Ferdinand and the backing of the Batoris Family, along with warriors from the Arias Family, they together engaged the Evil Dragon in a fierce struggle.

This was undoubtedly the climax of the entire play.

Although they had only two days to rehearse, Timothy still squeezed almost an entire day into rehearsing this scene.

Moreover, Li Yu contributed a Qinqiang skill he had found online, successfully enabling the actor playing the Black Dragon to spew fierce flames from his mouth.

The audience, witnessing this dramatic moment, all widened their eyes in amazement.

What surprised them even more was what followed. Li Yu also used his homemade smoke bombs as a stage effect, combined with various sounds of thunder and howling winds, putting together such a flashy setup that it genuinely supported the grandeur of the scene.

This left Timothy somewhat in disbelief, as he had initially braced himself for this part to completely fail, potentially ruining the reputation of ’Love and Honey Wine’ along with it.

But unexpectedly, the final performance turned out much better than anticipated.

As a professional, Timothy could tell that this part of the performance was technically unqualified due to the rushed rehearsals, with actors acting chaotically on stage and some even flubbing their lines.

However, this type of inserted sound effects and the significant amount of stage effects were very novel, diverting the audience’s attention and allowing them to overlook the mistakes made by the actors on stage, while also experiencing an unprecedented strong impact.

Although Timothy was reluctant to admit it, the black-suited foreigner had indeed saved him and his theater troupe.

He also brought some new artistic inspiration to Timothy, who even started to believe that if he ever hit a creative block, that person’s advice about Saturday might actually be of help.

Only due to the dignity of the god of art, the theater troupe leader found it hard to admit it openly.