Chapter 138: Supernatural
"'The Chase' has already booked someone else to play that villain?" Rong Yu said in surprise. "So you were worried I'd be disappointed, and that's why you didn't tell me?"
Yin Chengjue cleared his throat lightly. "It's just… just that I thought I'd directly find someone to specially write a script for you to act in, making you the male lead outright, so you wouldn't have to suffer that kind of treatment. I wanted to get this settled properly before telling you."
Rong Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Brother, I'm really not as fragile as you think I am."
"Besides, if you had told me earlier, I wouldn't have spent all that time studying that script." Rong Yu said with a hint of reproach. "Brother, you made me waste a lot of time."
"Uh… sorry." That was something Yin Chengjue genuinely hadn't considered at the time; he was solely focused on finding a better project for Rong Yu to make up for it.
Actually, if Rong Yu really wanted to play the villain in "The Chase," it wasn't impossible. The message relayed by Sally had said that if Yin Chengjue was willing to invest more capital, bringing in more funds than the actor currently occupying the spot, the role could still be given to Rong Yu.
"Haha, brother, I was just joking. Like I said before, I know my own current capabilities. It's not me choosing the project, but the project choosing me. Whether I get selected depends on my own skills." Rong Yu's mindset was quite good.
Yin Chengjue: "But this time it wasn't because you acted poorly."
Rong Yu spread his hands. "Then it just means that I and this role weren't meant to be."
Yin Chengjue understood all these principles, but because it was Rong Yu who was being wronged, he couldn't help feeling indignant on his behalf.
"Toner suggested before that you try acting in a supernatural-style series. What do you think?" Yin Chengjue said. "I was thinking we could find an author skilled in this genre to write a script for you. If the author isn't good at writing scripts, they could write a book first, and then we find a screenwriter to adapt it from the book."
Rong Yu was puzzled. "Then why not directly find some already-written, ready-made books? There are many original supernatural-style books online, right?"
Yin Chengjue: "There are, but as I just said, I want to directly write a script and role that suits you, tailor-made for you. Those ready-made books, their main characters already have the author's poured-in emotions and soul. Combined with the readers' perceptions constantly reinforcing that impression, in the eyes of both readers and the author, those characters in the books already belong to independent, fleshed-out people in another world. This is also the reason why actors who play roles in book adaptations often face rejection from the readers."
Rong Yu nodded in strong agreement. "That is indeed true."
Yin Chengjue took a small notebook from his pocket. After opening it, inside were densely packed words.
Yin Chengjue: "So I thought, why not just write a role that fits you? Write something like a supernatural crime-solving type of script. The series would open with scenes from a group of trainees during auditions – it could be funny and silly, or serious talent showcases. The male lead is one of them."
"The male lead passes the auditions and reaches the stage for class assignments. Up to this point, the series seems like a very ordinary talent show, nothing scary. That is, until on the talent showcase stage for class assignments, the lights on site suddenly go dark. The lively music twists and turns into a children's song with a strange melody."
"The scene erupts in startled cries. The children's song loops repeatedly, finally ending with a string of silvery, bell-like laughter. The laughter disappears, the lights come on, and the music returns to normal. However, when everyone, still shaken, looks towards the stage, they discover that the trainee who was performing just before the lights went out has died on the stage in a bizarre posture."
After Yin Chengjue finished explaining some of his ideas, he heard several "papa pa" clapping sounds. Rong Yu said, "Brother, you've already thought this much through, why don't you write it yourself?"
Write it myself?
Yin Chengjue thought Rong Yu was joking.
"I don't have that kind of talent," Yin Chengjue said, closing the notebook. "These are just some ideas. When we find a suitable author, it doesn't matter if they don't adopt these. The important thing is that the role suits you."
Rong Yu leaned on the table, propping his chin with one hand as he looked at Yin Chengjue. "Then tell me, in this script you've envisioned, what kind of character image should I be?"
Yin Chengjue's hand, holding the notebook, paused. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "This main character… is actually a ghost."
Yin Chengjue's mind couldn't help but conjure the image of Rong Yu wearing that set of red clothes that day…
Rong Yu: "…Brother, what kind of expression is that?"
"Ahem!" Yin Chengjue cleared his throat lightly. "I already said my ideas aren't important. It's not like I'm going to write it. This is just a concept. Something with a similar plot like this would be fine."
"No, I want to hear Brother's ideas. Whatever role Brother wants me to play, I'll act it out for you!" Rong Yu urged Yin Chengjue to continue.
Yin Chengjue had no choice but to continue. "I just thought it would be more interesting this way. The male lead is actually a ghost, but he doesn't know he's a ghost. This story is divided into four time periods."
"The first period is during the talent show. Because someone died during the auditions, the show was forced to halt. The male lead, who was present at the scene, saw a suspicious person in black leaving backstage. He quickly chased after that person, but only saw a mask dropped on the ground. This talent show was suspended before it even officially aired, the news was suppressed, with only some rumors circulating online."
"The second period is when the male lead is working as an extra on a film set. While filming a period drama, someone in the crew dies. This time, the male lead actually bumps into a person in black wearing a mask. He immediately remembers this familiar mask and quickly gives chase, but still loses the other person. Due to the on-set accident, the drama being filmed was also halted."
"The third period is when the male lead attends a wedding banquet. He's a groomsman. At the banquet, that 'ghost' who has appeared twice in the male lead's life shows up to kill again. This time, the male lead catches him. The male lead takes off his mask and discovers the person is his good friend."
"The fourth period is a recollection of the past. The male lead and his good friend attend a graduation party, get drunk, and support each other as they walk out. Staggering, they walk onto the road, only to see a bright light suddenly shine on them, accompanied by the sound of a sharp, blaring horn."
Rong Yu listened, frowning. "It feels like this story is quite fragmented, and it doesn't seem like a ghost story, more like a serial murder case. Also, how are you going to show that the male lead is a ghost? Is it because the memory in the fourth period shows that the male lead and his friend were hit by a car on the road?"
Yin Chengjue wagged his index finger, a slight smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "No. In that car accident, only the male lead died. The friend did not die. The friend is human."
Yin Chengjue: "But in the male lead's perception, it was the friend who died, and he was the one who survived. So he always thought it was the friend's ghost causing trouble, killing people everywhere. Without exception, the people killed were those who had inadvertently taken the male lead's place. In the first period, the person on stage at that time was supposed to be the male lead, but for some reason, the male lead's performance was pushed back. In the second period, the person wearing that costume was supposed to be the male lead, but for some reason, the male lead's role was changed. In the third period, the male lead is a groomsman. When the groomsmen were rehearsing, the male lead was standing next to the groom, but because the male lead looked even handsomer than the groom in a suit, his position was changed."
"In other words, if the roles hadn't been changed, the one who should have been electrocuted on stage was the male lead, the one who should have been burned in the film crew was the male lead, and the one who should have been stabbed through the heart at the wedding banquet was also the male lead."
"During the second period, the male lead realizes that the person his good friend wants to kill is actually himself," Yin Chengjue said.
Rong Yu, still propping his chin, sorted through the information, but still had some doubts. "First question: Why does the friend want to kill the male lead? Second question: From the male lead's perspective, the friend is a ghost. But from another angle, from the friend's perspective, the male lead is the ghost. How should these two perspectives be portrayed to make it reasonable?"
Yin Chengjue reminded him, "Your second question answers your first question."
Rong Yu: "You mean, the friend wants to kill the male lead because the male lead is a ghost?"
Yin Chengjue nodded. "And a ghost that haunts him relentlessly, always following the friend. But actually, the male lead is just fixated on those murder cases, wanting to find the truth. Because from the male lead's perspective, if no one had died during the talent show, and the show had aired, he could have faced the audience sooner and debuted earlier. If there had been no accident on the film set, and the drama had aired normally, he could have been known by more people sooner."
Thus, from the friend's perspective, the deceased male lead is everywhere, shadowing him relentlessly. The immense psychological pressure becomes too much to bear, so he decides to exorcise and destroy the male lead's ghost. From the male lead's perspective, a hidden murderer is destroying his promising life, and he wants to catch this serial killer.
"It feels like there are still some bugs in this plot," Rong Yu said, seriously thinking it through. "Since the male lead became a ghost, how can he participate in the talent show? How can he join the film crew? How can he attend the wedding? If all the other people are also ghosts, then how does the friend survive among a group of ghosts? He's a human who needs to eat, drink, and sleep."
Yin Chengjue was taken aback by Rong Yu's questions. Thinking about it carefully, he said helplessly, "That's why I said I don't know how to make up stories. There are holes everywhere, it can't withstand close scrutiny."
Rong Yu encouraged him, "No, this story can still be improved. Add a few more people; two is too few."
"Alright, I'll think about it some more," Yin Chengjue said with a smile. "It just so happens that there are some promising talents in the company who need opportunities to showcase themselves. They can come and give it a try."
Rong Yu was silent for a moment, as if carefully considering his words, before venturing a suggestion, "Should we consider using some members of our boy group? I think there's one person very suitable to play the role of that friend."
"Who?"
Rong Yu pursed his lips into a smile, then said word by word, "Ming, Qian."
No comments:
Post a Comment