Back at the apartment that night, Cassius took a shower, washing away the exhaustion of running around and rehearsing all day.
He collapsed on the sofa. Instead of going to sleep immediately, he pulled up the attribute panel that only he could see.
Time to tally up the recent harvest.
[Acting Attribute Panel]
Dialogue: Lv0 (89/100)
Physicality: Lv1 (67/200)
Expression: Lv0 (95/100)
Gaze/Eyes: Lv0 (82/100)
Emotion: Lv1 (24/200)
Rhythm: Lv0 (78/100)
Presence: Lv0 (88/100)
...
[Expression] was just a hair away from leveling up!
[Dialogue] and [Presence] weren't far behind!
Even the others had accumulated significant progress. This panel was a direct visualization of his insane improvement over the past few months.
Whenever an attribute orb dropped, Cassius never let it go.
After playing significant supporting roles in two productions, his stats were flying up!
He was just one step away from a comprehensive upgrade!
"Tomorrow, I'll go to that student film set and snag those last 5 points!"
Cassius stared at the dazzling [Expression: Lv0 (95/100)], formulating a plan.
He had no qualms about it.
Student crews had high turnover and intense emotional investment during rehearsals. The environment was relatively pure—a perfect hunting ground for attributes.
Besides, helping them rehearse let him consolidate his own action design skills. Win-win.
The next afternoon, Cassius returned to the USC rehearsal room.
There were more people today. Besides Director Mark and the core team, students handling lighting and sound had shown up, making it look a bit more official.
Mark saw Cassius like he was seeing a savior.
"Cass! So glad you're here! We're doing a camera rehearsal today. Can you help check how the action looks on screen?"
"No problem!"
Cassius agreed readily.
Rehearsal started.
Once the camera was set up, the atmosphere changed instantly.
The students playing the villain's goons were visibly nervous, their movements stiff.
Cassius patiently guided them again on how to coordinate, how to cheat the angles, and how to react realistically.
While demonstrating, he kept an eye on his surroundings.
One student, frozen with nerves, kept trying to make a frightened face but failed repeatedly. A grey orb dropped at his feet: [Expression Attribute: Nervousness +1].
Absorb!
Progress: (96/100).
Next, the student playing the lead was doing the scene where he interrogates Cassius for clues. He pushed too hard, contorting his face. A grey orb dropped: [Expression Attribute: Overacting +1].
Absorb!
(97/100).
Cassius smirked internally. This efficiency was even higher than he expected.
It was Cassius's turn.
He didn't phone it in just because it was a student film. Instead, he was even more focused.
When Jay was cornered and looking for a way out, Cassius mobilized the [Piercing Gaze] he absorbed from Tsai Chin and his own understanding of the character's plight.
His eyes changed instantly. The actors opposite him felt pulled into the scene, their performance losing its stiffness.
Shot complete!
"Cut!"
Mark shouted from behind the monitor, his voice excited.
"Cass! That look was killer! That feeling of being cornered but refusing to give up—perfect!"
The moment Cassius completed that look, a green orb dropped right next to him.
[Expression Attribute: Character Immersion +2]
Absorb!
The progress bar filled instantly: Expression: Lv1 (1/100)!
A cool sensation flowed through his facial nerves and muscles.
He felt his control over his facial muscles become finer and more effortless, as if every tiny muscle unit could be mobilized individually to combine into subtle emotional layers.
Expressions that used to require conscious effort now seemed to flow naturally.
Level up!
Cassius suppressed the urge to pump his fist and just nodded at Mark.
"Let's continue!"
For the rest of the rehearsal, Cassius felt even more in his element.
Precise facial control allowed him to convey massive amounts of information through subtle micro-expressions, even without lines.
He could even spare attention to observe others, picking up a grey [Rhythm Attribute: Focus +1] from a gaffer who was overly obsessed with lighting.
By the end of the rehearsal, Mark and the entire crew were practically worshiping Cassius.
"Cass, you are literally the anchor of this production!"
Mark said excitedly. "Principal photography starts next week. You have to come! I feel like this film has a real shot!"
Walking home, Cassius was in a great mood.
Looking at the other attributes on his panel that were close to leveling up, he hatched a new plan.
Before the next official gig came along, maybe he should take on more student films or low-budget indie shorts like this!
He could probably get all his attributes to Lv1 very quickly!
He felt that once his main attributes all hit Lv1, his overall acting ability would take a quantum leap.
Then, when he fought for weightier roles, he'd have even more confidence.
Thanks to Mark's recommendation, Cassius quickly gained a reputation in the USC student film circle.
The word was out!
There's a pro actor named Cassius. Union member. Just wrapped a real movie. Willing to cameo in student films!
Free of charge!
Comes with his own action design and acting coaching!
Insanely professional!
Suddenly, Cassius became a hot commodity!
Student directors who were pulling their hair out over their thesis films—short on actors, especially experienced ones—sent distress signals to Cassius through Mark or directly to Lee So-yeon.
Cassius accepted them all.
As long as there was no scheduling conflict, he threw on his backpack and headed to campus!
He was like an efficient attribute harvester, shuttling between various student sets.
In a psychological thriller short, he played a convenience store clerk with just a few shots and creepy eyes.
When he saw himself on the monitor delivering a smile mixed with numbness and a hint of inhumanity, the director almost jumped for joy.
A grey orb dropped: [Emotion Attribute: Excitement +1].
And from his own precise performance, he dropped: [Gaze Attribute: Creepiness +1].
In a rom-com scene.
Cassius cameoed as an Asian delivery guy who awkwardly stumbles upon the leads kissing.
He designed a clumsy, flustered move where he almost dropped the delivery box, cracking up the whole set.
He absorbed [Rhythm Attribute: Comedic Timing +1] dropped by the director for nailing the beat.
Cassius even participated in an abstract experimental video art piece. Following the director's request, he draped himself in black cloth and writhed slowly in front of the camera to interpret "existential nothingness."
Although he felt a bit silly doing it, the hyper-focused director dropped a green [Presence Attribute: Artistic Paranoia +2].
Cassius absorbed it while writhing, feeling like he was losing his dignity for these attribute orbs.
His attribute panel was accelerating like crazy:
Dialogue: Lv0 (98/100)
Physicality: Lv1 (71/200)
Expression: Lv1 (15/200)
Gaze/Eyes: Lv0 (96/100)
Emotion: Lv1 (31/200)
Rhythm: Lv0 (92/100)
Presence: Lv0 (99/100)
...