{ New Mission Unlocked: Find a Paying Acting Gig Within 7 Days }
Reward: Perception Recovery | System Update
Penalty: System Retrogation (Loss of Progress and Features)
The golden screen flashed before Ethan's tired eyes, casting a faint glow against the dim walls of his apartment.
He let his phone fall onto his chest, where it bounced once and slid off onto the bed.
"Of course," he muttered. "Another timer. Another threat."
"Not a threat," the System corrected. "A nudge. A very aggressive, reality-warping nudge."
Ethan turned his head and stared at the ceiling, the mission text still floating faintly in the corner of his vision.
"System retrogation?" he asked.
"Means I get dumber. Less helpful. Less witty. More basic. And so do you."
Ethan groaned. "Great. So we both suffer."
"Teamwork!" the System chirped, but without much spirit.
Ethan was too drained to argue. He'd just gotten off the phone with Felix a couple hours ago, and the sting of rejection still hadn't worn off. The script in his hands still read like a jumble of disconnected sentences. And now he had a deadline hanging over his head—again.
He tried to focus. Opened casting websites. Looked through the usual listings. Nothing paid. Nothing was remotely within his capacity given the penalty.
He ended up in the deepest corner of the internet: random video essays, indie short films on autoplay, late-night stream highlights.
Then something caught his eye.
An ad. Glitchy and low-budget.
ACTORS WANTED – LIVE STREAM DETECTIVE ROLEPLAY EXPERIENCE
PAID GIG / VOICE + CHARACTER / APPLY NOW!
He clicked it on impulse.
The streamer was someone he vaguely recognized—a niche creator with a cult following. Interactive games. Livestream murder mysteries. Viewers could vote on decisions, try to solve the case. But the twist? The suspects were real actors, playing their parts live.
And they needed someone for the next episode.
Paid.
It was weird. Unconventional. Possibly humiliating.
But it was acting.
And it was paid.
And with his script comprehension scrambled, playing in a live format with improv sounded... manageable.
"This is what we've come to," Ethan whispered.
"No shame in streaming," the System offered. "Half of Hollywood is online now anyway. Besides, improv might help you get your rhythm back."
"Or I'll crash and burn in front of a thousand people."
"If you do, make sure it's dramatic. At least get us clipped on TikTok."
He clicked into the application. Name. Experience. Availability. Headshot upload.
He hesitated.
His demo clip was a few months old, taken in bad lighting with no proper audio setup. His headshot? A self-timer photo with a wrinkled sheet behind him.
"Do me a favor and update your portfolio someday," the System chimed in. "That clip makes you look like you're auditioning for a student horror film from 2004."
"It's all I've got," Ethan muttered.
"Just saying... We'll never make it to the A-list with mugshots and one-take wonders. But hey, desperation's aesthetic now, right?"
Ethan sighed but hit Submit.
Sometimes, the path forward wasn't glamorous.
Sometimes, it was strange, digital, and a little desperate.
But it was a step.
And maybe, just maybe, a clue toward something more.
LENA'S POV
Lena Quinn clicked through audition applications with a focused squint and a mug of energy drink-tea hybrid steaming beside her. Her room was a colorful chaos—LED lights behind velvet curtains, a corkboard cluttered with string and post-its, and shelves filled with mystery games and vintage reality show DVDs. On her desk was a calendar meticulously labeled: STREAM SEASON 5 – MURDER NIGHT: EPISODE 3.
She wasn't a big streamer. Not huge. But she was consistent. Her average viewers barely cracked five hundred live, but her replays? Thousands. Tens of thousands. She had replay value, and she knew it.
Drama. Suspense. Theater.
She had always loved theater. Loved staging her dolls in crime scenes as a kid. Loved sneaking into school plays to help backstage even when she wasn't cast. She dreamed of directing—stage or screen—but never let go of her love for games. So she made her own playground.
A detective reality show-style stream. With actors. With secrets. With improv.
She scrolled through headshots, watching short audition clips her applicants had submitted.
"Too stiff."
"Too actor-y."
"Way too enthusiastic. It's a murder mystery, not brunch."
She paused when she reached Ethan Blackwood's clip.
The camera quality was a bit grainy, but his tone was grounded. Measured. She watched as he read a vague script prompt—a man accused of poisoning his business partner—and delivered the lines with something she didn't expect.
Something a little unpolished.
Something raw.
She leaned back.
"Interesting."
He wasn't perfect. But there was texture. Something real behind the eyes. And from the application notes, he had film set experience. Background mostly. Still—experience.
She clicked the checkbox next to his name.
"Let's see what you can do live, Mr. Blackwood."
Her mouse hovered over Send Confirmation.
She clicked.
Ethan's POV
Back in his apartment, Ethan's inbox chimed again.
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS – CAST CONFIRMATION / STREAM MURDER NIGHT EP. 3
Attached to the email was a link to a private Discord server and a long PDF.
Ethan opened it, scrolling through the details. The game was structured like a live-action version of Clue—a closed setting, a murder mystery, and multiple suspects. Each actor would be given a character bio, a personality brief, and a secret: either they were innocent, or they were the killer.
No script. No teleprompter.
Just improv. Full ad-lib.
The audience would vote on who to question, who to follow, and eventually, who to accuse.
Ethan blinked.
"This is either going to be brilliant... or a complete mess."
{ Mission Complete: Find a Paying Acting Gig }
Rewards Unlocked: Perception Recovery | System Update Installing…
The screen shimmered with a soft chime. The fuzziness around the script on his desk suddenly began to dissolve. Words aligned. Meaning returned. The penalty had lifted.
But then, another notification appeared.
{ Side Mission Unlocked: Go Viral }
Objective: Gain Viral Attention During the Stream
Reward: New Skill (??? Surprise Skill) | No Penalty
Ethan stared at the new mission, mouth slightly open.
"Oh look," the System said, voice practically purring. "Something fun for once. No punishment. Just glory. A clean win... if you can pull it off."
He narrowed his eyes. "Viral? Like... trending?"
"Think drama, think charisma. Think memorable. It's not about being perfect. It's about standing out."
Ethan leaned back in his chair.
He had the gig. His perception was back. And now, a new kind of stage was waiting.
This time, the audience wasn't just a room of casting directors—it was the world watching from behind a screen.
And if he played it right?
He could make them remember his name.