Chapter 2: Rewards and Training

When Qian Cangyi arrived at his front door and reached into his pocket, he discovered he didn't have his keys. To his surprise, the security door swung open automatically.

After the series of bizarre and harrowing bombardments by the Hell Movie, he had begun to accept everything that defied reality. Everything in his room remained exactly as it was when he left, except for one thing: time. Although it was still afternoon, an entire day had passed.

Qian Cangyi sat down in his computer chair, powered on his PC, and logged into his email. There were over a dozen unread messages. Upon opening them, he found that nearly ten were simply game discounts or newsletters. However, one unique email caught his attention. The subject line read "Evaluation Report," and there was no sender address.

This was an email from the Hell Movie.

Qian Cangyi clicked on it. A blood-red vortex appeared on the screen, and crimson characters flew out from its center, freezing in place. After about five seconds, the vortex vanished, and the bloody text settled onto a background image of Yuxi Village.

[Name: Qian Cangyi]
[Movie Participated: "Death Sacrifice"]
[Remuneration: 20]
[Official Actor: Fifth-tier Actor]
[As you have reached the status of an Official Actor, you may choose to spend your Remuneration to redeem one vial of Full-Body Activation Serum. This is a one-time offer.]
[Full-Body Activation Serum Description: Upon use, it accelerates the effects of physical training. Note: The scope of acceleration is strictly limited; it only takes effect in the deficit area between the actor's current physical condition and standard physical fitness.]

Qian Cangyi felt a surge of adrenaline as he finished reading. Although the text on the screen was brief, its implications were profound. It meant that everything he had experienced was not a dream. If he had held onto a shred of hope before turning on the computer, that final fantasy was now shattered.

He moved his mouse cursor over the word "Remuneration," and a small line of text popped up in the upper right corner: "The standard remuneration for this film is 30. Remuneration is adjusted based on the actor's overall performance."

"The standard is 30?" Qian Cangyi felt a tinge of disappointment, though he found it reasonable; after all, many of his dialogues in the script had been glossed over by Eagle Eye. Regardless, because of Eagle Eye's prior warnings, he didn't dwell on the rating—no matter how high a score was, it only mattered if one survived.

Being alive was enough.

Just then, a new email arrived. Qian Cangyi checked it and found it was also from the Hell Movie. The subject line read: "Remuneration Exchange Center."

"Remuneration exchange?" His eyes lit up, and he quickly clicked inside. The interface looked like an old browser game, divided into three sections: two exchange areas at the top and bottom, and his current balance at the very bottom. The two exchange areas were labeled "Ordinary Item Exchange" and "Special Item Exchange." The black-and-white color scheme with blue text looked quite dilapidated. At the bottom right of the page, it read: "Current Remuneration: 20. Special items are currently unavailable."

"This interface is so cheap. Why aren't the special items available?" he muttered to himself. Despite his grumbling, he was quite interested in what he could exchange for.

The Ordinary Item Exchange allowed him to convert his remuneration into local currency at a 1:1000 ratio, with no limit. 20 points of remuneration could be exchanged for 20,000 yuan.

The Special Item Exchange offered two choices. The first was to extend the interval period. The interval period refers to the rest time between two movies. Usually, it lasts about a month, though it can be shortened or extended based on circumstances, with a minimum of two weeks. Extending the interval costs 10 remuneration points and can only be done once per film cycle, adding 10 days to the break.

The second choice was to redeem the Full-Body Activation Serum. It could only be redeemed once and would not refresh. The cost was not stated; instead, there was a question mark where the number should be.

At first, Qian Cangyi didn't fully grasp the description of the serum, but after reading it twice, he understood. Leaning back in his chair, he said, "In short, after drinking it, the training process is accelerated. However, it only works on someone who lacks proper physical conditioning. If an actor already possesses the fitness of an athlete, the serum has no effect. If the actor is essentially a couch potato, the training effect accelerates."

"What would normally take three months to show results might show in a week. But once the physical condition approaches a normal level, the acceleration effect disappears."

With that, he made up his mind to redeem the serum. While the idea of money was tempting, like many illegal ventures, you need to be alive to spend it—and it wasn't even that much money to begin with. Extending the interval was useful, but it didn't compare to the value of the serum.

Qian Cangyi clicked the exchange option. Less than three seconds later, a knock sounded at his door.

"Who is it?" he called out, turning his head. There was no response from outside.

"I didn't order any packages. Could it be..." His eyes lit up. He ran to the door and opened it. Outside, sitting on the floor, was a black box adorned with an exquisite narcissus pattern, roughly the size of a glasses case. Qian Cangyi poked his head out and looked left and right, but saw no one. He grabbed the box and retreated inside.

Opening the black box, he found a prism-shaped glass bottle containing half a vial of transparent liquid. As he picked it up, the words "Full-Body Activation Serum" surfaced in his mind.

"It really is the serum." Without further hesitation, he opened the bottle and drank the liquid.

A cooling sensation spread from his lungs, surged through his body, and finally reached his head. Suddenly, an uncontrollable feeling of suffocation washed over him. His face turned deathly pale, his mouth hung open, and it took three seconds for him to return to normal.

"Damn it..." He bent over, hands on his knees, gasping. He had nearly thought he was going to die. However, once the suffocating sensation passed, he felt an intense craving for physical activity. The serum had taken effect.

Qian Cangyi took a deep breath, recalling the helplessness he felt in Yuxi Village, and steeled his resolve. Tomorrow, he would go to the office to resign. He would dedicate himself to training to ensure that the same situation would not happen in the next movie.

He turned to look out the window and said, "I will survive every single movie and find a way to end all of this."

With that, he clenched his fist.