<🎧 Song Recommendation: Don’t Stop Til’ You Get Enough by Michael Jackson>

...

The next day was meant to be the day Von would have his audition, but after dressing and waiting for the call up, he got a text from the production assistant.

[Notice to all Cast and Crew: Due to an unforeseen breach in safety protocols, the mandatory quarantine has been extended by another 72 hours. All auditions and table reads are delayed. Please remain in your rooms. Security has been increased on all floors.]

Von stared at his phone for a few seconds before returning the device. Curious, he walked over to the door and peered through the small peephole.

Sure enough, pacing down the carpeted hallway were two large security guards wearing black masks. They definitely hadn’t been there yesterday. The hotel had turned into a fortress overnight.

After considering the timing, the sudden breach in protocol, and the increased patrol outside his door, Von only had one idea in mind.

’It has to be Chloe... She must have done something.’

Von leaned against the door, a proud smile naturally forming on his face when he had that thought. She had actually listened to him. He had been harsh on her in the car, telling her how selfish her actions were, but he didn’t expect her to confess so quickly.

If she had the guts to come clean, then that was very mature of her. It showed she genuinely cared about the production and the safety of the crew more than her own convenience.

It also meant there would be a much lower chance of things going wrong in the future, as long as no one escaped the bubble again.

’Hopefully she’s not in too much trouble,’ Von thought to himself, walking away from the door. ’And I really hope she didn’t contract the virus while we were out.’

For the production team, a three-day delay was a headache, but for Von, the extended quarantine wasn’t really a setback at all. It was actually the complete opposite. It was a blessing in disguise!

Now he had more time to rehearse and truly become Aiden.

Without wasting any time, Von completely rearranged his hotel room. He pushed the table and the chairs against the walls to clear out a large open space in the middle of the carpet. Since he couldn’t leave, this room was going to be his stage.

For the next three days, Von continued with his rigorous schedule. He was relentless.

Sometimes, he used a small bit of his EXP to test out [Immersion], just to feel how it was to become Aiden, but most of the time he practiced alone.

He also used Loki as a scene partner to bounce his lines off, and everything was going well.

At the end of the three days, his hard work began to show results on his System interface. He had managed to improve Aiden’s Character Proficiency from 19% all the way to 29%.

Von’s plan was to increase it as high as possible before the audition finally arrived. He could already see the noticeable change in how much he naturally played Aiden with each percentage point.

Von was really curious to find out what happened when Character Proficiency eventually hit 100%.

His instincts told him it was something incredibly special, but for now, he could only guess.

To have a real shot at that goal, he had devoted almost all of his waking hours to acting out the script. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

And now the intense days were officially over, it was finally time for his audition once again.

***

Von was currently sitting cross-legged on the floor, breathing heavily with sweat dripping down his forehead after running through a highly emotional crying scene.

Suddenly, a notification window popped up in his vision, accompanied by a pleasant chime.

[You’ve practiced Acting for 50 hours!]

[Your dedication to your craft is remarkable. You’ve gained 500 EXP!]

Von had his mouth wide open when he got this notification on the morning of the fourth day. His shock quickly turned into a proud smirk seeing the System actually appreciating his efforts.

"Well, you can’t say I don’t deserve it," Von chuckled, wiping the sweat from his brow.

He quickly opened up his System interface and looked at his current stats. The extra 500 EXP was a massive boost, and he immediately chose to spend a bit of it.

He knew he had to save most of his EXP to activate [Immersion] during the audition and shooting process, but there was always something else that was crucial to him right now.

[EXP -300]

[EXP: 1140]

[Willpower: C- >> C (0/300)]

The moment he confirmed the purchase, Von felt a sudden, cooling sensation wash over his entire head.

The heavy mental fatigue and the brain fog from the last three days of rehearsing instantly vanished.

"It’s not a big upgrade, but we’ll have to manage," Von sighed in thought, clenching his fists to test his focus.

It was such a pity he was being so sparing with his EXP now when he needed it most. He really wanted to push his Willpower to a B-rank, but he couldn’t risk emptying his reserves.

"It will be of great help if you could just give me a Quest right now," Von pleaded to the empty air, hoping the System would trigger something easy.

But unfortunately, the screen remained unresponsive as usual. The System didn’t take requests.

Von shook his head and got back on his feet. He walked over to the bed and picked up his phone to check the time.

Just as he unlocked the screen, he heard some knocks on his hotel room door.

"Mr. Varley. It’s time for your audition."

Von had already been informed by the production assistant earlier that morning that he would be called soon, and now the moment had finally come. It was time.

He stood up and quickly had a shower before walking over to the large mirror in the room, running a hand through his hair before wearing a pair of glasses he had in his bag.

"Time to go get that role."