Chapter 24: Take a Chance, Turn a Bicycle into a Motorcycle
It was nothing unusual for resources to be snatched away in the entertainment industry. Su Mu, in fact, wasn’t particularly angry or anxious about it. After all, it was just the male lead in a “historical romance” being replaced—hardly a catastrophe.
First of all, the drama was being produced by Jumbo Elephant Studios, an internal project. The pay for working for his own company was never that high to begin with. According to the contract, Su Mu would have to give the company a higher cut; in the end, he might not even make as much as Zhang Huaimou did filming “Raging Tide.” With his contract with Jumbo Elephant still in effect for another two or three years, he needed to hit his KPIs anyway. Filming in-house dramas brought him traffic and exposure, but the monetary benefits were slim, and it consumed a lot of his time. He’d be better off taking on more lucrative variety shows, films, or TV series elsewhere.
Now that the company had chosen to replace him with Li Xinjie, it was actually a blessing in disguise. Of course, losing something already in your grasp was never pleasant. If Li Hui, Li Xinjie’s agent, asked politely, Su Mu might have been willing to let it go. But if they made things unpleasant for him, there was no reason for Su Mu to just accept it. Newcomers should tread carefully; if you rush in with your mouth, you’ll only end up biting your own tongue.
...
[Male Artist Mastery Panel]
Strength: 1.1
Speed: 1.1
Endurance: 1.1
Mental Calculation: 1.1
Skill Points: 2.88
[Public Speaking Proficiency Lv2: 23/50 (Getting Established)]
[Script Mastery Lv2: 15/50 (Getting Established)]
[Vocal Range Mastery Lv2: 21/50 (Getting Established)]
[Emotional Control Mastery Lv2: 2/50 (Getting Established)]
[Facial Control Mastery Lv0: 1/10 (Just Starting Out)]
Task Blind Box: 0
Work Blind Box: 0
Talent Blind Box: 0
Skill Blind Box: 0
Item Blind Box: 0 (Kissing Chewing Gum x1)
Attribute Blind Box: 0
...
Su Mu sat on the return flight to Galaxy City, the current stats of his proficiency panel floating through his mind. At present, he had five proficiency skills, but only two—emotion and facial expression—were directly related to acting. That wasn’t enough. He pondered: after all the trouble he’d gone through to wrest this role from Zhang Huaimou, it would be absurd to just phone it in.
Since he had joined the cast, he was determined to make the character Gao Qiqiang a sensation. If Gao Qiqiang became a breakout role, Su Mu could successfully transition from being just a handsome idol to a respected actor. To gain a firm foothold, he had to make this first battle not only beautiful but resounding.
He recalled in detail how, in his previous life, Teacher Zhang Songwen had portrayed Gao Qiqiang. Judging by his current panel stats, Zhang Songwen’s acting would be at least Lv3—an outstanding craftsman, fully mastered, and just a step away from being a true master. If Su Mu wanted to anchor himself with this role, his acting needed to reach that level too. Therefore, he had to raise his acting-related proficiencies to Lv3.
Gao Qiqiang was a role with rich psychological complexity, making emotion and facial expression particularly important. But he also needed to develop other acting proficiencies—camera awareness, kissing technique, line delivery, passion, character experience, and so on.
But to further improve his acting skills, he faced a small dilemma. He currently had 2.88 skill points. Each time a proficiency leveled up, it only increased by 0.01 points. Until now, he hadn’t even added to his basic attributes, making the skill points quite precious. If he exchanged for acting-related blind boxes, he could get at most two. The main benefit was the direct boost to his acting, which was targeted and efficient.
Yet Su Mu hesitated, thinking the task blind box seemed the most cost-effective. Judging by the last task, the rewards were far more generous than now—potentially more blind boxes and skill points. By any measure, drawing another task blind box would be more profitable than putting everything into talent blind boxes.
After much thought, Su Mu finally decided to exchange for one task blind box, betting on a big win, and one talent blind box as a safety net.
[Exchanging a blind box requires 1.0 skill point.]
[Current skill points: 2.88]
[If you wish to exchange, please select a category.]
Su Mu said, “Talent blind box, acting category.”
[1.0 skill point deducted.]
[Unpacking blind box...]
[Congratulations, you have obtained ‘Line Delivery Proficiency’!]
[Line Delivery Proficiency Lv0: 0/10 (Just Starting Out)]
Seeing his new proficiency, Su Mu breathed a sigh of relief. This particular skill was extremely useful.
Line delivery was an essential part of acting—how to say a line, in which dialect, what tone, what rhythm, whether passionate, shy, angry, or sorrowful—all required skill. During his previous audition, Su Mu had cut a few lines, not out of carelessness but because he doubted he could deliver them well, which might ruin the mood and emotion he’d built. However, once he improved this proficiency, such worries would vanish.
Su Mu said, “Now exchange for a task blind box.”
[Tip: 1.0 skill point spent, exchange successful!]
[Remaining skill points: 0.88]
[Unpacking task blind box...]
[Mission issued: Within 30 days, raise any proficiency skill to Lv3—Outstanding Craftsman level. (1/30 days)
Mission rewards:
[Work Blind Box +1]
[Item Blind Box +1]
[Skill Blind Box +1]
[Skill Points +2.0]
Done!]
Wonderful. Su Mu’s eyes lit up with excitement—he really had bet on a winner! The mission reward was three blind boxes and two skill points—a considerable sum. One work, one item, one skill box; though there wasn’t a talent box, it was still a great haul.
Reaching full Lv3 in any proficiency within thirty days didn’t seem too hard. Of course, he couldn’t be too confident; after all, he didn’t know how many repetitions Lv3 required. Any skill was like this: getting from novice to competent wasn’t too difficult, but true excellence required relentless, day-after-day repetition and perseverance. Any outstanding craftsman at this stage had endured countless trials. The number of repetitions needed for Lv3 could be worlds apart from the levels before. More importantly, he’d need sufficient base attributes as well.
Still, Su Mu felt confident he could pull it off. Thirty days—just in time for him to join Zhang Huaimou’s crew and start filming.
...
Two hours later, the plane landed. As soon as they arrived in Galaxy City, Qian Jida didn’t even suggest heading home first. Instead, he took Su Mu and Little Orange straight to the company.
From the look of things, Su Mu knew there was a good chance he’d soon be facing off in a war of words with Li Xinjie’s agent, Li Hui...