My Idol System: An Idol, But Also A Savior-Chapter 172: Audition

After a series of perilous, bizarre incidents that could not be resolved through the law—because they all occurred suddenly and were impossible to guard against—

no matter how thoroughly they were investigated, everything appeared to be mere accidents. There was no evidence that anyone had deliberately tried to harm the male lead.

The male lead did not want to die. Even though he was afraid, he could only keep going. Naturally, he hired people to accompany him.

But no matter how many people he hired, after traveling a certain distance, there would always be sufficient reasons for them to leave. The male lead knew that he could only continue along this strange path on his own.

However, along the way, he encountered others as well—one invited under the pretense of being his mother, another as his father, and another as his elder sister. A complete "family," invited back to attend the wedding of a relative they had never met in their lives.

After talking with one another, they realized they shared something in common: all of them were orphans.

Of course, even though they had been assigned the roles of parents, in reality their ages were only around the same.

Despite their fear, at least for now they had companions. As if bolstered with a bit of confidence, the group was no longer as terrified as before.

They continued forward, following the map indicated in the invitation, and eventually arrived at a certain village. There, the male lead met his "younger brother," and the horrific details hidden within the village began to unfold. From beginning to end, the younger brother did not stand out much. Yet when the final boss was dealt with, the younger brother revealed his true identity as the one manipulating everything from behind the scenes.

The film ends with the male lead awakening in a hospital, shown from his own point of view. He is tightly restrained, and someone is continuously questioning him.

It is an open ending. The male lead may have merely been trapped in a nightmare, or he might simply be a psychiatric patient. The story could have been nothing more than his dream, or it could have been events that truly occurred.

And Joshua—the role he was auditioning for today—was precisely that younger brother.

Most of this younger brother’s scenes portray him as a victim seeking protection from others. Although he sounds like a key character, his screen time is not as extensive as that of the three main protagonists.

As for why there are only three main protagonists—because the father character dies as soon as they enter the village, due to a separate plot point.

Joshua looked down once more at the script card in his hand.

This was a flashback scene. From the male lead’s perspective, he had killed the father character who attempted to assault the younger brother. However, in the flashback, the truth was that the father character had already been killed before the male lead arrived.

The male lead stepping in to save the younger brother was also the turning point that drew the younger brother’s attention to him, the reason he did not kill him right from the start.

The moment the investors heard which scene it was, they immediately wanted to clutch their hearts and collapse on the spot.

Good heavens—more than half of the people who had cried their way out of the audition room were because of this very scene! Lance truly did not care about his choice of lines at all!

Joshua so clearly had a face that fit this role perfectly, so why did he have to draw this scene of all things?!

Lance could not help but pause for a moment. He thought to himself that he would still give a serious evaluation. No matter how Joshua performed, he could teach him—so long as Joshua was willing to learn.

For this scene, Joshua naturally needed a partner actor.

The assistant was about to step forward, but at that moment Luis suddenly stood up from his seat and said, "I can work with him."

Hearing this, Lance frowned slightly and looked over. Luis immediately added, "If he’s chosen, I’ll be his co-star in the future anyway. This is also a chance for me to observe, objectively, how far he can go."

The investors clearly had not expected Luis to speak up. They almost cheered—excellent, Luis, bring Joshua onto the film crew!

After all, Luis was the most prestigious actor at the moment. His words were certainly enough to make Lance give the matter some consideration.

Lance had always felt that Luis’s attitude was a little strange, but when it came to work, he was consistently serious. In the end, Lance simply nodded in agreement.

Joshua looked a little dazed as he watched Luis walk up to him, and finally asked without quite understanding why, "So... you’ll be playing the father now?"

Luis was certain to play the male lead. Could he really handle suddenly switching to such a detestable role?

As if sensing Joshua’s thoughts, Luis could not help but laugh. "You don’t need to worry. Even an assistant could do this role. What matters here isn’t the acting of your partner, but yours. Just treat me as the villain."

Hearing this, Joshua nodded seriously.

The call of "Action!" rang out immediately afterward, accompanied by the sharp click of the shutter.

Joshua was slammed down onto the ground. Luis seemed to transform into another person entirely, his movements decisive as he tore open Joshua’s clothes.

Clear terror spread across Alex’s face. He screamed and begged without stopping, his eyes brimming with tears, filled with panic and despair. Yet even so, Robert showed no intention of letting him go.

"I really, I really don’t want to do this..."

Alex burst into tears, yet there was a gentle smile at the corner of his lips. "Don’t worry, Father. I, and everyone else, will continue to remember you..."

The moment he finished speaking, he lowered his gaze. The gentle smile was still on his lips, yet his eyes seemed utterly devoid of emotion, chillingly cold.

"Cut!"

The shout rang out sharply. Joshua flinched, and at the same time Luis had already pulled him up.

Seeing Joshua’s dazed expression, his face still streaked with tears, Luis could not help frowning slightly. He reached out to wipe away the tears on Joshua’s face and asked with concern, "Did I hurt you just now?"

Joshua instinctively tilted his face away. He shook his head, and before he could say anything, a figure suddenly lunged forward. Lance wrapped Joshua in a tight hug and shouted, "Amazing, Joshua! Why didn’t you say earlier that your acting talent was this good? If I’d known, there wouldn’t have been this whole drawn-out audition today! Damn it, I really didn’t see this coming at all!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Joshua stiffened, held upright by Lance like a plank of wood. He struggled a little and said, "Thank you for the praise, Director, but could you let go of me first?"

At this moment, Luis had already pulled Lance away. He frowned and said softly, "Director, please mind your boundaries."

Hearing this, Lance immediately bristled. "What boundaries? I’m just expressing my fondness for my beloved actor!"

Luis let out a cold laugh. "People outside say you value my acting very much too, but I’ve never seen you hug me."

Lance froze. Imagining that scene, a wave of nausea rose in his stomach, his expression turning as if he had swallowed a fly.

He cleared his throat lightly and looked at Joshua with a straight face, even though the smile had not yet faded from his lips. "Alright, Joshua, go back and wait for the results."

He had not given an official answer yet, but in truth, everyone present already knew what the result would be.