When Zheng Xize woke up, he felt a sweet and metallic taste in his throat. His head was heavy, and his feet felt light. There was a thick, earthy smell beneath his nose. The ground beneath him trembled, and it seemed like there was a membrane separating him from the outside world. All the sounds from the outside seemed distant, as if they were isolated by this thin membrane. Although he couldn’t hear them clearly, those sounds were like wild beasts trapped in a cage, roaring and raging, trying to break free.
Finally, with a loud “boom,” the membrane seemed to be shattered all at once. A sharp and beast-like scream collided with Zheng Xize’s eardrums, as if a sharp blade deeply engraved itself on his eardrums.
The pain woke Zheng Xize up, and he immediately opened his eyes. Subconsciously, he covered his ears. After a while, the screaming subsided, but the trembling of the ground continued. The vibrations even grew stronger and more apparent.
As Zheng Xize raised his eyes, he saw an expanse of sandy terrain. The moist air interacted with the water vapor, forming a thin layer of sand ice on the ground due to the extremely low temperature. Above him stretched an endless gray-blue sky. Strange rocks lay horizontally around him, and apart from the sand and the towering rocks, there was no sign of anything else. No trees or wild grass, just a thick earthy smell in the air.
“Where am I?” Zheng Xize observed his surroundings in astonishment. For a moment, his mind couldn’t react, but as the sweet and metallic black blood was coughed out of his throat, he finally realized something—
Wasn’t I supposed to fall from the pressure and die on the mountain? Where am I now? Could it be beneath the cliff?
The cold water vapor seeped into his clothes and chilled him, causing him to shiver. He looked blankly at the black blood he had spat out and soon noticed something was amiss!
There was a partially melted fragment of a capsule mixed in that black blood. Although it looked different from anything he had seen before, as an actor who had performed in so many movies, he certainly recognized it— it was a fake capsule used for simulating blood when spitting it out! How could he not recognize such a thing?
But why was he holding such a thing in his mouth? Didn’t he just perform a fight scene while hanging from the harness? Instead of dying after falling from such a great height, he even coughed out a capsule filled with fake blood? What kind of joke was this?
Before he could ponder over what had happened, the ground suddenly shook again. He turned his head towards an open space and saw a gigantic monster, twice the size of a tiger, running towards him.
Although it was a bit far and difficult to see clearly, the monster’s gray-black armor reflected a dark shine. It roared, revealing its sharp fangs, as it ran in his direction. The force exerted by its limbs even caused the ground beneath Zheng Xize’s feet to tremble.
Zheng Xize’s black pupils contracted abruptly. After being stunned for two seconds, he quickly got up and started crawling, driven by the instinct to survive. He instinctively turned around to look for a place to hide and escape, but within his line of sight, there were only a dozen insects flying around and a few strange rocks lying nearby. Where could he find a place to hide?
Enduring the chilling cold that pierced his body, Zheng Xize lifted his leg to run, but after taking two steps, he was tripped by something and fell to the ground, face first, eating a mouthful of mud.
With a terrified look, he looked back and saw the monster opening its mouth, emitting a “hehe” roar. It seemed to be angered by its fleeing prey, and it ran even faster toward his direction.
Zheng Xize stood up again but accidentally kicked the object that had tripped him earlier. That thing had been completely submerged under the frozen sand, but now half of it was exposed. Zheng Xize turned his head and was astonished to find that it looked like a modified assault rifle. However, the gun body was shorter and more delicate, and the barrel was extremely slim.
Regardless of the current situation, the instinct to survive made Zheng Xize grab the object and stand up, running while tightly holding the gun. He thought to himself, luckily he had acted in crime films before and had handled guns!
There were many upright stones on the ground, both large and small, making it very inconvenient to run. But no matter what, preserving his own life was the priority! At the same time, he groped for the gun, raising it while using his left eye to aim through the sight. To his astonishment, a light blue control interface automatically appeared before his eyes, and a targeting line formed on the nearby stone within his field of view. Every movement flowed naturally, and he instinctively pulled the trigger. “Bang!” The stone not far away exploded into pieces.
Fuck!!!
Zheng Xize felt an urge to curse. He ran faster and faster, getting more and more excited. Even though he had no idea what was happening or where he was, this was definitely not acting! Where was the director, the film crew, the lighting, and the clapperboard? The monster was real! The gun was real! Fucking hell, even the bullets were real!
Zheng Xize couldn’t run in a straight line, nor could he find a clear path to escape. However, he didn’t have time to contemplate what was happening. He was solely seeking a survival plan. After running for a while, he finally spotted an elevated rock formation within his line of sight. He estimated the height from a distance and determined that he could climb up there. With agile movements, he leaped and climbed among the rocks, using his gun skillfully. Once he reached the top of the rock formation, he ignored everything else, especially those mysterious black insects that kept flying around flapping their wings.
After climbing up, he looked towards the nearby monster, half-knelt down, took out the gun again, aimed through the sight, and once more, a pale blue control interface appeared in his field of view. He aligned the crosshairs with the black armored monster, and he instinctively pulled the trigger. “Bang!”
The monster swung its enormous tail and let out a roaring sound. Its massive body fell horizontally to the ground…
Zheng Xize looked at it from a distance, squinting his eyes, not knowing what expression to have in such a situation. Consequently, his face displayed his usual blank expression.
Those little black insects that had been following him continued to flutter around in front of him. At this moment, two of them suddenly flew up and came within half a meter of him.
After blankly gazing into the distance for a while, Zheng Xize turned his indifferent gaze to the two little insects. He casually waved his hand, dispersing them, let out a sigh, and raised the gun again. Maintaining his half-kneeling posture, he then heard an incredibly angry voice in his ears, uttering a phrase he was all too familiar with—
“Cut!! Cut, cut, cut!!”
Cut? Cut?! CUT!!!
Zheng Xize nearly spit out another mouthful of blood. He was stunned for a moment, and then he quickly reached into his ear with his finger, pulling out a tiny black speck, no larger than a soybean. At this very moment, that small black object emitted the same enraged male voice as before—
“Are you kidding me? Is this how you audition? Who gave you the audacity to deviate from the script? That gun is for props only!!!”
Zheng Xize: “……..”
What’s going on? Is he acting? Is he dreaming? Where are the actors? The director? The film crew? Where are the people? Clearly, he was alone. How could this be an actual film set? And where exactly was he? What had happened?
Confusion filled Zheng Xize’s mind. However, soon he noticed that the sandy surface not far away slowly revealed a “door” as if a curtain was being drawn back. An elevator ascended from underground, and a group of people walked out from it. The leader was a bald and obese man, wearing slippers and holding a megaphone. He seemed extremely angry, on the verge of jumping up and down. He raised the megaphone and angrily scolded Zheng Xize, who was still kneeling on the rock formation, unable to react—
“What the hell are you doing? Have you gone mad? Are you prepared to compensate for killing the Kaya Beast? You idiot, get down from there now!”
Zheng Xize lowered his gaze, silently watching several of them quickly running towards the Kaya Beast. Meanwhile, the bald obese man below the rock formation continued his furious scolding through the megaphone, with the insults becoming increasingly offensive, almost resorting to foul language.
Before waking up, Zheng Xize had experienced the thrilling danger of the harness rope snapping and falling from a great height. After waking up, he was chased by an unknown monster in a desolate wasteland where there was no sign of human presence. Just as he managed to escape by relying on his own abilities, suddenly an inexplicable person appeared, angrily berating him…
Zheng Xize was actually a person with a good temperament who seldom lost his temper. But after experiencing so many life-threatening situations within such a short period of time, even the best-tempered person would find it difficult to handle. His mind went blank for a long time, not understanding what had happened. The angry voice of the bald obese man suddenly became distant and ethereal…
After the tremendous shock, not to mention his heart, even his blood pressure was overwhelmed. Previously, due to safety concerns, his blood had rushed to his head, but now that he was safe, the blood finally flowed back down, making him feel suffocated and short of breath, as if something was blocking his chest.
Maintaining his half-kneeling position, his expression appeared completely bewildered. He lowered his head and saw the bald obese man below, jumping and cursing, his big mouth opening and closing… It was remarkably similar to the roaring monster from earlier.
He took a deep breath, hearing the sound of his chest rising and falling…
Then, still in the half-kneeling position, with a cold expression on his face, he firmly grasped the weapon in his hand and raised it. He aimed at the opening and closing “monster” below.
Director: “…”
Followed by the crew members: “…”
Zheng Xize’s pupils were somewhat dilated, and his thoughts were becoming blurred. However, instinct compelled him to raise the gun. He didn’t even recognize these people. Who were they?
But suddenly, from his blind spot behind him, a black figure leaped up from below. With one hand, it struck the back of Zheng Xize’s head, while the other hand grabbed his wrist, snatching away the gun. Simultaneously, the person pressed Zheng Xize’s head and turned it around, their eyes meeting.
Zheng Xize’s black pupils were dilated, and after his gun was taken away, he stared blankly at the person in front of him. The figure that had just taken the gun wore a dark gray camouflage outfit, with half of their face below the eyes covered by black cloth. Yet, even so, the exposed pair of beautiful eyes held a hint of arrogance and curiosity.
Zheng Xize and the other person locked eyes for a few seconds. Initially, Zheng Xize was captivated by the mesmerizing ice-blue pupils, but soon his shallow consciousness caused him to tilt his head and faint in the arms of the other person.
The man, whose face was partially concealed, casually threw the gun down from above and used one hand to support Zheng Xize’s back, pulling him into an embrace. He looked down with disdain and calmly said to the director, who was left in shock with his mouth hanging open, “He fainted. Call for medical assistance.”
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