Chapter 13: Double the Rewards!

At the entrance of a restaurant in Hengdian, Ji Yu did not expect to run into Li Yapeng. Just moments ago, he had been thinking about how Li Yapeng had become the top candy artist. Unexpectedly, the man turned around and came over to welcome him, even bringing along quite a few paparazzi.

As a professional actor and, in reality, a skilled spy, Ji Yu easily noticed the paparazzi trailing behind Li Yapeng. “There are paparazzi following us; let’s go inside first,” Ji Yu quietly warned. Li Yapeng smiled and said, “It’s fine, just chatting.” Nearby, Sun Li whispered, “It’s Sister Cai’s arrangement to give us some extra exposure.”

Only then did Ji Yu understand and began chatting with them, smiling. It was all Old Cai’s plan—a big publicity package for Ji Yu’s debut. At the same time, it would help build momentum and increase buzz for the upcoming detective series, “Detective K Lan.”

The three exchanged pleasantries at the entrance for a few minutes, allowing enough time for the photographers to take pictures before entering the restaurant together. The entertainment industry certainly had many tricks! Ji Yu felt quite curious about how tomorrow’s news would portray this meeting and wondered if his photo would be published. Otherwise, if only his name appeared, no one would know who he was.

Ji Yu trusted that Old Cai would arrange everything well—after all, he was a master of publicity.

Inside a private room at the restaurant, Ji Yu, Sun Li, and Li Yapeng chatted quite amicably. Since Li Yapeng came with goodwill, Ji Yu naturally didn’t act coldly. Honestly, he even envied Li Yapeng a bit; the man’s talent for living off women was impressive. Ji Yu was eager to learn a few tricks from him. When it came to coaxing women, Li Yapeng was undoubtedly number one in the industry—the top soft rice eater!

They didn’t talk much inside; after about an hour of dining, they each went their separate ways. Ji Yu returned to his hotel and lay on the bed, feeling the urge for romance. The night alone was truly lonely. As a solitary soul, Ji Yu had no one to share his thoughts with. After taking a cold shower in the bathroom, he turned over in bed and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, he got up and went to the set to take a stroll. Although his scenes were scheduled for the afternoon, arriving early helped him familiarize himself with the environment. Ji Yu didn’t know many of the actors in “The Lotus Lantern.” The two male leads were Lin Zhiying and Guo Jing’an, the female lead was Yu Li, and the rest were unfamiliar to him. There was also a pretty actress named Shen Aojun—an unusual name.

While watching them act, Ji Yu pondered his own task. Soon after arriving at the set, he received a new mission. This one was different.

[Notification: New mission received.]

[Disguise yourself as a little bat demon to follow Chen Xiang and collect evidence of his violation of heavenly laws.]

[Mission rewards: Stealth skill fragments *10, Exposure points *100.]

The mission wasn’t very difficult, but the reward was substantially higher. It also unlocked a new skill—Stealth! Completing it would directly upgrade the skill to intermediate level. The problem was, Ji Yu couldn’t quite imagine the practical use of the stealth skill. Avoiding paparazzi? He wasn’t famous yet, so no need. Sneaking out at night for secret meetings with female stars? Hmm, that sounded promising.

Suddenly, Ji Yu realized how useful this skill could be. He loved it! From now on, he wouldn’t worry about being caught by paparazzi while sneaking out on dates. Date as many as he wanted! But then, thinking about not even having won over Teacher Li, he felt a bit discouraged. Who could he possibly date? Better to focus on filming the afternoon scenes first.

Afternoon came quickly. Ji Yu was assigned to the third group under Director Huang Weiming. This group filmed small roles with minor scenes, loosely connected to the main storyline. They were probably just filler shots to pad out the runtime. While the leads were engaged in romantic exchanges, the supporting cast might have a short scene delivering a menacing line or two.

The scenes weren’t difficult, though the makeup was a bit elaborate. After all, as monsters, they had to exhibit some non-human traits. After makeup, Ji Yu acted in a manner so simple it was almost insulting. It was similar to his previous bit parts, except he had a few more lines. But the lines weren’t many—where would a minor character have long speeches?

He filmed four scenes in total that afternoon and then clocked out. The mission rewards were successfully claimed. His mind also absorbed much knowledge about stealth, though much overlapped with disguise and tracking skills.

Ji Yu opened the system panel.

[Profession: Actor]

[Skills: Intermediate Disguise (1/100), Basic Stealth (Upgradeable), Basic Tracking (7/10), Basic First Aid (1/10), Basic Eavesdropping (4/10), Basic Combat (2/10), Basic Voice Changing (1/10)]

[Tasks completed: 22]

[Exposure points: 520 (Please actively participate in film and television!)]

[System shop: Basic eavesdropping device... refreshing soon]

[Profession evaluation: As an actor, your acting skills are terrible—just shaped differently!]

Good news—improving stealth skills also upgraded disguise and tracking. Looks like the system wasn’t so rigid after all. Would these skills eventually merge? Perhaps giving rise to an ultimate skill—something like “King of Spies.”

However, his exposure points were currently too low. Last time, he redeemed four eavesdropping devices at once, consuming half his exposure points. This time, he only regained a hundred points; five hundred points allowed only five purchases. What if next week’s refresh offered something good but he lacked points to exchange?

After studying the system for a while and upgrading his stealth skill, Ji Yu couldn’t help but shake his head. His mind tingled pleasantly, almost like being massaged by a soul extractor.

After wrapping up, Ji Yu returned alone to his hotel. Passing a newsstand, he bought over a dozen entertainment tabloids, hoping to find reports about himself. These were mostly unofficial gossip papers. Flipping through them, he did find news about himself, but the photos were black and white, taken from a distance with his face unclear. What a pity.

The articles weren’t sensational—just mentioning that Li Yapeng and Sun Li had come together to welcome the company’s junior brother. Then there was a brief introduction of Ji Yu, stating he had taken on an important role in “Legend of the Lotus Lantern.” Important my foot, Ji Yu thought, too lazy to complain. Old Cai’s real publicity push probably hadn’t been released yet.

Once “Detective K Lan” was officially approved, there would be plenty of promotion. Sticking close to Li Yapeng would surely help him ride the wave of popularity.

Still, Ji Yu really wanted to play a villain. After all, he had a full set of spy skills. A handsome, crazed, psychopathic villain would be memorable.

He had overheard Old Cai and others discussing the show. “Detective K Lan” was about a psychopathic killer who raped and murdered many female stars, eventually implicating the Japanese Black Dragon Society. The story was set in the old Shanghai of the 1920s and 1930s.

Ji Yu felt this script suited him perfectly—a psychopathic killer who raped before killing and dumped bodies in the Huangpu River, targeting female stars. Click, click.

Ji Yu wondered if the system was nudging him to do such things.

Tonight, he decided to test his stealth skill!