Chapter 147 Statues

Over the next two days, Xie Chi browsed the new information open to him in the app.

He clearly felt that for the app, the third tier was a huge dividing range. Only actors above the third tier had the right to know many of the app’s core information.

For example, in the app, being an agent wasn’t the only part-time job. There were also part-time jobs as a screenwriter and death designer. It was just that the threshold to become an agent was low and it could be registered after the newcomer period. Meanwhile, screenwriters and death designers needed third-tier and above.

Xie Chi had asked before. Su Qing was a third-tier actor. He had stayed at this stage for a long time and had no intention of rushing to upgrade his title. Instead, he became interested in being a screenwriter. Zombie Lovers was his debut.

Su Qing saw that the part-time screenwriter reward was related to the quality of the movie. Zombie Lovers was a purple movie and first in the comprehensive evaluation for a purple movie got 500 points. Therefore, Su Qing finished writing Zombie Lovers and got one-fifth of the first place result, which was 100 points.

It didn’t seem like a lot but compared to possibly dying in a movie, these points were really easy to earn. If a higher quality movie script was written, the rewards would be higher. An orange movie was 200 points and a red movie was 400 points.

The app’s positioning of these jobs was actually very clear. They were part-time jobs rather than the main job.

These part-time jobs allowed actors to earn extra money during the cooldown period between movies. However, the real way to earn points was definitely to make horror movies. The part-time jobs also had a cooldown period. For example, a death designer could receive up to 10 drafts a month and it was 30 points per draft. In other words, an actor could earn 300 points a month by relying on the part-time job. The part-time jobs also couldn’t overlap. Those who chose to be an agent could no longer become a screenwriter or death designer.

It could be said that there were many restrictions.

Therefore, these things had always been chicken ribs, tasteless and abandoned. Actors who had time and were interested would choose to join it. People who were in a hurry like Xie Chi basically ignored it.

After all, for actors above the third tier, time was precious. If they had this energy then they could earn a lot more than the part-time jobs. In addition, part-time jobs only provided points. It wasn’t like horror movies that could give points, lineages or abilities to improve the actor’s strength.

Two days later, Xie Chi received an invitation from the app. He confirmed it and was transferred to a large temple.

The temple was white and should be made from marble. He was on the steps and actors could only see the main entrance if they looked up. The surrounding fog covered the foundation of the main hall, making it seem like it was floating on clouds, unattainable and unreachable. Xie Chi counted it and found it was supported by ten thick pillars.

He peeked in and could faintly see a tall statue. There was a red carpet below him, so long that he couldn’t see the other end.

An old man with a bent back was standing at the ticket counter outside the main hall. There was only one person nearby.

Xie Chi watched for a while before walking up. He stood on the steps and waited for two minutes but there was still no one. He was the only one in this place.

“Don’t wait. You are the only one who agreed to come.” An old voice filled with a bit of teasing was heard. “I thought I could take a vacation again this month. After all, no one has come for three months. There is actually an actor who cares about the history of the app. This old man is very pleased.”

The history of the app? The corner of Xie Chi’s mouth twitched. Yan Jing wasn’t so reliable. He managed his expression well and walked over with a smile, only to realize that the old man had no feet.

The previous clouds had covered his lower body. Now that the clouds were scattered, the old man was clearly floating above the ground. His body was abnormally transparent and the outline of his face was also a bit fuzzy and illusory.

Xie Chi murmured, “You are…”

“It is what you think,” the old man said. “I am a ghost.”

Xie Chi nodded without revealing a hint of surprise.

The old man couldn’t help looking at him more. Then his eyes fell on the two rings on Xie Chi’s right hand and his expression changed suddenly before returning to calm. Xie Chi felt that the old man’s eyes were a bit strange but he didn’t know this old man. He could only let go of this strange point and follow the old man inside.

“How long have you been here?” There were nothing but ten statues in the main hall and they could be seen with one glance. Xie Chi finished scanning the place and asked respectfully.

The old man replied, “It has been almost 40 years.”

Xie Chi was startled by the answer. Then the app was at least 40 years old? The old man stared deeply at Xie Chi and smiled. “It is just a passing flash.”

Xie Chi didn’t agree. How many 40 years could a person live?

The old man told him, “In fact, all of you came to the app to fulfill your wishes. The information of the app itself has little or no meaning to you. It is normal not to come and it is strange if someone comes.”

He obviously knew this point and knew he might be engaged in meaningless work, but he didn’t feel sad about it. He just learned to adapt and enjoy.

Xie Chi nodded and admitted it. If Yan Jing hadn’t spoken unclearly and he didn’t happen to be free, he might not have come. It would be better to use this time to watch more horror movies and prepare for his next movie.

“By the way, are your rings… items?” The old man lowered his head and seemed to ask casually.

Xie Chi looked down at his right hand in a stunned manner. He understood that the old man was referring to the two rings he wore and replied, “Yes.”

The old man smiled. “The app has more and more items these days.”

He started to do his job. He took Xie Chi around to visit while speaking as he walked. “This temple is called the Ten Temples. It sounds very high-end and looks very high-end but in fact, it is more appropriate to change the name to…”

Xie Chi looked at the clear face of the tall statue and spoke uncertainly, “The Hall of Fame?”

The old man was startled before laughing. “You are clever. Ten gods, in fact, they are the ten most outstanding actors in the app in the past 40 years.”

Xie Chi didn’t expect the app to do such flashy things as setting up statues for the actors, placing them in a temple and calling them gods. Xie Chi looked around and asked, “Is there Shen Yi?”

The old man laughed. “It is a possibility in two or three years.”

Xie Chi was taken aback before understanding something. “You mean, all the actors here were in the app for at least two years, most of them even four or five years?”

Shen Yi had spent more than a year in the app and was the movie emperor yet the old man said he could only possibly enter the Ten Temples in two or three years. So the actors these statues were based on…

The old man showed a bit of pride as he pointed to the surrounding statues. “Yes, everyone here is an immortal pearl in the history of the app.”

He sighed with a bit of loneliness. “It is just that people will always only look forward and remember the living. Only this old man remembers them. Generation after generation of viewers have long found new loves.”

Xie Chi comforted him. “It is human nature.”

Then he asked, “Did they leave or… are they dead?”

The old man’s face darkened at the mention of this. Xie Chi waited patiently and after a while, the old man forced out a smile. “Without exception, they are all dead.”

Xie Chi was surprised again. “Why?”

Such outstanding actors died without exception.

The old man didn’t answer and instead looked at him. “Do you know who the audience members are?”

“Ghosts?” Xie Chi answered directly.

The old man seemed surprised. “You know?”

“I guessed it.”

Xie Chi could more or less guess it.

The audience that the app served definitely wasn’t people. If they were people then the app should pay them ‘money’, a currency that circulated between people, rather than ‘points’. Points could achieve great wishes and it was by no means something a ‘human’ could do. The app was equivalent to a middleman. Actors should be dealing with another world and the laws and energy of that world were completely different from this world, so they could be used to realize the wishes of living people.

If they weren’t human then they were probably ghosts. It just so happened that the actors shot ghost movies. Ghosts watching ghost movies. It wasn’t known if they were afraid or not but it was quite novel.

Xie Chi had a good time.

The old man stared deeply at him with a slightly strange expression. “Since you know this, it is convenient to answer your previous question.”

“Why is it called the Ten Temples? It is because…” The old man paused as if to settle his mood before he could speak calmly.

Xie Chi’s heart jumped and he instantly realized what was coming. His expression abruptly changed. “They are… true gods? Or close to gods?”

The old man looked at him in a complicated manner and nodded. Xie Chi’s heart sank as he finally saw something higher and farther.

Three months ago when he first entered the app, he was no different from a normal person except he couldn’t get sick. Now three months later, his physique was enhanced, his strength increased and he had talents and items. He could instantly kill countless copies of himself from three months ago.

This was the result when he only stayed in the app for three months. What if someone stayed for three to five years, what if someone stayed for over 10 years? Could someone like that be called… a person? They used this method of entertaining ghosts in exchange for the opportunity to reach the top of the world in which they lived.

After all… the app rewards could be brought back to the real world as long as a certain confidentiality agreement was followed. It was like the gene technology of his world. It was hard to guarantee there was nothing else.

Xie Chi suddenly felt that Lu Wen’s merfolk lineage and the zombies in Yan Jing’s world had a certain degree of explanation. The things that didn’t belong to the world itself were likely to come from the app and were brought out from the app by actors. What about his own weird dreams? What was the explanation?

The complicated information filled his mind in an instant and his mind was about to explode. Xie Chi stood there silently.

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He understood the meaning of the Ten Temples. These people were the closest to being a god. Some of them might’ve even wished to live forever and they would really be completely separate from ‘a human’.

The Pet organization was insignificant compared to them. It was probably because countless dazzling pearls had fallen that the app saw the ending of the Pet organization early and did nothing, just quietly waiting.

Xie Chi wondered, “Then why did they fall?”

The old man seemed to be caught in a distant memory and took a long time to reply. “It is because of endless desire.”

“I can tell you this.” The old man looked at Xie Chi. “The app statistics show that most of the people who leave after fulfilling their wishes were from their lower tiers. It is because their wishes are small and the points required are few. It is easy to realize. Most of them do what they can and won’t miss this place, so they have a sense of happiness.”

“Then above the third-tier, the higher the title, the more powerful the actors and the more reluctant they are to leave. It is because their desires will expand with their strength. However, no matter how powerful, they will eventually encounter accidents. The instances are full of danger. Today they are the peak and tomorrow they are a corpse. They aren’t a minority. Moreover, the waves of Yangtze River keep pushing forward. There will always be more dazzling newcomers stepping on the corpses.”

“In addition, the app has a group of actors who left after achieving their wish. Within two or three months—” The old man paused and sighed. “They are back again. This time, their wish is even greater.”

Xie Chi nodded. The app pushed others and himself. However, he only needed Xie Xinglan. He knew exactly what he wanted and what he was doing.

“Let’s stop talking about it.” The old man organized his complex thoughts and smiled kindly. “I will introduce you to these statues.”

Xie Chi nodded slightly in thanks and followed behind him.

The old man took him to the first statue. The statue was of a handsome young man. He was dressed in elegant clothing and had an outstanding manner. He was leaning against the wall, his eyes slightly closed. He was probably sleeping. It was only from the cold carvings that one could see a bit of his charm back then.

The old man pointed to the statue. “He is the one who was closest to a god in the over 40 years of the app’s history so he is ranked first.”

Xie Chi asked with waning interest, “How did he die?”

The old man was silent for a moment. “He was the movie emperor.”

“Huh?” Xie Chi glanced at him.

The old man looked at Xie Chi and answered calmly, “He was conspired against and died in the siege of the peak nine actors.”

Proofreader: Purichan