A corner of the film set.
A handsome young actor was writing with his head down, while a beautiful actress who debuted as a child star rested her chin on her hand, watching his side profile with a serious expression.
The scene was quite picturesque, but unfortunately, Yuan Chuan You wasn't interested. Even with a super beautiful girl sitting beside him, he remained unmoved, because grinding for entry experience points was the only thing he wanted to do right now.
If she wanted to stay here, she could. As the female lead of this drama, she would probably be called away soon.
Sure enough, after about ten minutes, Yuan Chuan You's guess came true.
A female staff member with a black crossbody bag slung over her hip came over and called Sakurajima Mai away, informing her that she needed a makeup touch-up to prepare for the official shoot.
As the star of this TV drama, the girl knew her priorities and couldn't cause trouble for the other crew members.
"Yuan Chuan-san, once you're done writing, you must remember to show it to me."
Before leaving, Sakurajima Mai looked into Yuan Chuan You's eyes and urged him, word by word.
"Yeah, I know."
After the girl left, Yuan Chuan You glanced at the [Entry Production Station] on the system's light screen.
[Production Queue 1: Writing]
[EXP: 76/100]
"I should be able to get this entry soon, and then it's on to the next one..."
Yuan Chuan You stroked his chin. According to the synthesis path he saw last time, [Writing (White)] + [Focus (White)] + [Burst of Inspiration (White)] = [Junior Novelist (Green)].
Therefore, after the production of the [Writing (White)] entry was complete, he still needed to produce the [Burst of Inspiration (White)] entry.
"A long and arduous road ahead~"
After writing for another half hour, the young man closed his notebook, stood up from his chair, and stretched.
Slacking off felt great, but Yuan Chuan You figured his scene was coming up soon, so he'd better go to the set and prepare honestly.
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Asano Nagahiro was a veteran director who had been in the business for seven or eight years.
As a seasoned screen professional, although the TV drama's investor, Johnny & Associates, had made many unreasonable demands this time, he still wanted to do his utmost to film "49" well, at least to meet his own standards.
But today, he immediately faced a serious challenge in his career—the acting skills of that Johnny & Associates talent named Yamada Shu were truly abysmal.
As the story's male lead, he couldn't even recite the most basic lines without stumbling. One could say he had nothing but a handsome face. However, with the managers and staff from the investor, Johnny & Associates, on set, the director couldn't just blow up and had to force himself to continue filming.
After pushing through to finish filming the first act, Asano Nagahiro only started to feel much better once the female lead, Sakurajima Mai, came on set.
Although the girl who debuted as a child star's acting couldn't compare to the old veterans who had been immersed in the entertainment industry for years, she could at least make the story on camera seem real enough, allowing the audience a greater sense of immersion.
"Thank goodness the female lead didn't disappoint me..."
Standing in front of the lens, Asano Nagahiro silently stroked the camera, finally feeling a bit better.
The second act of the plot was about the male lead, [Kagami Dan], whose body was controlled by his father, going to school to participate in club activities. There, he ran into the campus goddess in the tennis club, who was the female lead, [Minazuki Mana].
[Kagami Dan] submitted an application to join the tennis club and, as expected, was met with ridicule from everyone.
The next scene was the male lead arriving on the rooftop and running into his good friend, [Inoue Satoshi]. This was where Yuan Chuan You would officially make his entrance.
"Next scene, Yuan Chuan-san, please get ready!"
After a female staff member with green hair shouted, Yuan Chuan You, already in makeup, arrived at the school rooftop. He had firmly committed this scene's plot to memory, a confident smile on his face.
"Let's do a test run first. Yuan Chuan, get ready to enter!"
The director, holding a megaphone, raised his voice a few notches. After all, Yuan Chuan You was someone he had specially added a scene for during the auditions, and he was looking forward to his performance.
"Action!"
The camera locked onto the scene from a preset angle. In the shot, the expressionless male lead, [Kagami Dan], slowly pushed open the rooftop door.
The next second, a handsome male high school student appeared in his field of view.
Yuan Chuan You was holding an envelope, leaning lazily against the rusty wire fence of the rooftop. He had his school uniform jacket slung over one shoulder, his tie was crooked, and a pair of headphones hung around his neck.
"Yo, isn't it Kagami-kun? C'mere, I've got something good for you this time."
Yuan Chuan You beamed and beckoned to [Kagami Dan]. After the other boy walked over with a stiff nod, he threw an arm around his shoulder and enthusiastically handed over the envelope.
"What's this?"
In the plot, because [Kagami Dan]'s body now contained his father's soul, he quickly posed the question.
"Playing dumb with me, are you?"
Yuan Chuan You nudged his arm with his elbow, a reckless smile playing on his lips. "These are photos I worked hard to get. Close-up shots of [Minazuki Mana]'s side profile, you know~"
"Side profile shots?"
Opening the envelope revealed three photos of Sakurajima Mai sitting in a classroom, her side profile facing the camera. Since these had been taken in advance by the crew's photographer, the composition was very professional, perfectly capturing the girl's fresh and beautiful face.
"How about it? They look pretty good, right? It's only 3000 yen this time."
Staring at [Kagami Dan]'s somewhat dazed expression, Yuan Chuan You's face took on a suggestive look. "Don't worry, I've been keeping your crush on her a secret. Never selling out a client is part of my professional ethics."
"I..."
Just as the male lead was stumbling through his lines, Director Asano, who had been staring at the monitor, found his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
Yuan Chuan You didn't have many lines, but with just a few sentences, he effortlessly portrayed the image of a flippant high school photographer, including his mercenary and cynical personality.
There were few traces of "acting" on his face; his tone of voice was natural. Although this was just a casual take, the image in the camera was just right!
"You really didn't disappoint me, Yuan Chuan..."
Director Asano stared at Yuan Chuan You's sharp-featured face with a fiery gaze. For some reason, he suddenly felt the character was still missing something.
What could it be?
Something to make the character's image stand out more...
To make the audience remember his face at a single glance...
"I've got it!"
An idea flashed in the director's mind. After shouting "cut," he darted in front of Yuan Chuan You.
Although he couldn't change the male lead Yamada Shu's terrible acting, as a creator with high standards, he wanted to leave more perfect shots in this TV drama.
There was a piece of unpolished jade right in front of him, how could he possibly let it go?
"Director?"
"Yuan Chuan-kun, you... want to try dyeing your hair blond?"
"Blond?"
"If it's blond hair, it might make [Inoue Satoshi]'s image more three-dimensional. Yes, that must be it!"
The excited middle-aged man's eyes burned with a flame called creative desire, his hands clenched into fists at his chest.
Yuan Chuan You had no objection to this and quickly nodded.
"Of course. It's up to you, Director."
"Good!"
The director waved his large hand magnanimously, as if he had become a great general commanding his troops.
"Makeup artist, dye Yuan Chuan-kun's hair blond as fast as you can! Don't use cheap dye, I want the most perfect [Inoue Satoshi]!"
"Understood."
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