noveldepot Chapter 28: The Star Absorbing Technique Unleashed
Chapter 28: The Star Absorbing Technique Unleashed
February arrived in the blink of an eye.
The weather in Beijing was still cold, but the enthusiasm of the "Police Story" crew for filming had not waned.
Guan Shengbai calculated his role in the drama and realized that he would only have a few important scenes left at the end.
The film crew has been moving between several shooting locations recently.
Fortunately, they are all located around Beijing, with the furthest being an abandoned factory in the suburbs, a little over an hour's drive away, so it's not too much of a hassle.
Guan Shengbai stayed with the crew the whole time, eating and sleeping in hotels arranged by the crew. Although it wasn't exactly comfortable, it was a world of difference compared to when they were filming "Tiny Times".
Speaking of "Tiny Times," that production team was really a makeshift crew.
The shooting schedule was changed at will, the lighting and sound recording were inconsistent, and even the director, Guo Xiaosi, often had to revise the script on the spot, leaving the actors in a scramble.
When Guan Shengbai first entered the industry, he didn't think much of it. But now that he's joined the "Police Story" crew, he truly understands what industrialized production means.
We start work promptly at 7:00 AM every morning, and the production assistant sends today's schedule to everyone's mobile phone, accurate to the minute.
The filming location was clearly divided into zones: the actors' rest area, the director's monitor area, the lighting area, and the props area, each with its own responsible person and duties.
Even the boxed meals are delivered uniformly, with a balanced mix of meat and vegetables, which is infinitely better than the daily takeout orders in the "Tiny Times" movies.
Guan Shengbai quite liked this atmosphere; it was orderly and everything was taken care of, so he only needed to perform his role well.
Moreover, he discovered that the supernatural ability of "forced plunder (criminal)" was incredibly effective on the film set.
The description of the supernatural ability states that there is only a 5% chance of absorbing skill points, which seems like a very low probability at first glance.
But Guan Sheng couldn't resist spending all his time on set, interacting with every staff member and actor.
Over the course of a day, at least dozens of judgments will be triggered. No matter how low the probability is, the large number of judgments makes up for it.
So I was able to eat dumplings a few times.
The first one to "suffer" was none other than Uncle Jackie Chan.
During a break in filming a car chase scene that day, Kwan Sing-pak and Jackie Chan sat side by side behind the monitor watching the playback and discussing their blocking.
Guan Shengbai was listening intently to Jackie Chan explaining the rhythm of the action when a soft "ding" sounded in his mind, as if something had been pulled away. Immediately afterward, a warm current flowed into his limbs and bones.
[Forced acquisition successfully triggered, absorbing the target "Jackie Chan's" special skill "Essence of Martial Arts Films" and converting it into +1 to Constitution.]
Guan Shengbai was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously glanced at Jackie Chan next to him.
Uncle Long was staring at the monitor when he suddenly frowned, sighed, and then smiled as he said something to the director.
"I'm getting old. I used to be able to film these kinds of scenes without even breaking a sweat, but today after running around three times, my legs feel heavy."
His assistant quickly handed him a water glass, which Jackie Chan took, drank a sip, and then rubbed his lower back.
Guan Shengbai raised an eyebrow but didn't reply, feeling a little guilty.
But then again, the +1 to Constitution really does have an immediate effect.
Guan Shengbai clearly felt that he was much more energetic, especially in his waist and abdomen, where a warm current seemed to be lingering.
Guan Shengbai was secretly pleased, but on the surface he remained calm and continued filming with the crew.
After experiencing the benefits, he became even more "diligent".
I spend my days wandering around the set, chatting with this person and rehearsing lines with that person, all in an effort to trigger more judgments.
Persistence pays off; in the following days, the "plunder and extortion" event was triggered twice more.
One instance was when I acted opposite Liu Ye, and I absorbed Liu Ye's acting experience, which turned into "acting skills +1".
It felt like I suddenly had a better grasp of the character's emotions, and many ways of handling things that I used to have to figure out by thinking about them now came naturally to me.
Another time, when I brushed past Nazha, I actually absorbed "charm" from this junior sister, turning it into +1 charm.
Guan Shengbai found it a bit strange at the time; could Nazha's "charm" be considered a skill point?
But that's how the system makes its judgment, and there's nothing he can do about it.
The next day, he heard Jin Tian say that Nazha felt she had become uglier during those two days.
Isn't that strange?
While removing her makeup, Jin Tian gossiped with him, "After filming a scene that day, Nazha insisted that she wasn't photogenic and made the cameraman reshoot it three times."
Later, when the makeup artist touched up her makeup, she looked at herself in the mirror again, saying she felt her complexion was bad and asking if her recent skincare products were ineffective. I told her she looked exactly the same as usual, but she didn't believe me.
Guan Shengbai coughed lightly but didn't reply.
Jin Tian added, "These past two days she's been avoiding you a bit, saying she's afraid 'Little White Senior Brother' will see how ugly she looks. I asked her where she looks ugly, but she just couldn't put her finger on it; she's just insecure."
Guan Shengbai thought to himself, "Isn't this just because I absorbed 1 point of charm?"
Although theoretically it's only 1 point less, a woman's intuition is so sharp that she can notice even the slightest changes.
He felt a little guilty, but then he thought there was nothing he could do. The supernatural power was triggered on its own; he hadn't actively absorbed it.
Besides Jackie Chan, Liu Ye, and Gulnazar, Guan Shengbai also absorbed a lot of bits and pieces of information from other crew members.
All in all, Guan Shengbai gained 3 points of charm, 2 points of physique, 1 point of camera skills, 1 point of acting skills, and 1 point of makeup skills through [forceful acquisition] during this period.
Attributes like physique and charm are relatively straightforward.
My physical condition has improved, and I'm much stronger now. Before, when I would sneak in a few hours of exercise during filming, I would be out of breath after doing 50 push-ups in a row.
I can do eighty now without even panting.
My charm level has increased, my skin has visibly improved, and my overall complexion has improved a lot.
Jin Tian stared at him for a long time once and asked him if he was using any skincare products. Guan Shengbai just laughed it off.
The effects of skill-based bonuses are even more subtle and gradual.
It's like a memory suddenly appearing in someone's mind, or someone's accumulated experience and knowledge about a certain matter being directly "imparted" to them.
When acting, he naturally knows how to transition between certain emotions and how to express them with his eyes.
When he's filming, he can tell you which angles produce better shots and which lighting creates what kind of atmosphere.
This feeling of "getting something for nothing" almost made Guan Shengbai lose control and want to take advantage of everyone.
But as he continued to inhale, he realized he couldn't inhale anymore.
Because after absorbing the attribute points of one person, if you try to absorb the attribute points of the same person again, the system will prompt "Target attribute points cannot be absorbed temporarily".
After trying several times, Guan Shengbai finally figured out the hidden details of this supernatural power.
In a short period of time, a person can only have a maximum of 3 attribute points absorbed.
In other words, everyone has a "limit" to their capacity; after consuming 3 points, you have to wait a while before you can continue.
As for how long this "period of time" is, the system does not specify, and Guan Shengbai cannot make a judgment.
So later on, apart from Jackie Chan being unlucky enough to have three points of his constitution absorbed by Guan Shengbai, and feeling quite weak for several days, even lamenting to his assistant in the hotel that "I'm really getting old and my stamina can't keep up," no one else felt much of a difference.
Liu Ye lost a bit of his acting skills, but Liu Ye's acting skills were profound, so losing a bit of his skills had no impact on him at all.
Naza lost a bit of her charm to him. Although the young girl was suspicious for a few days, she recovered after two days.
As for the other staff members, they were only having their skills absorbed, which were insignificant and they weren't even aware of it themselves.
Guan Shengbai breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that although this supernatural power was domineering, it was not enough to ruin a person.
It's good to have restrictions; restrictions make it less likely for things to go wrong.
Moreover, even setting aside this somewhat buggy supernatural ability, Guan Shengbai's learning ability is extremely strong.
During his time working on the project, he truly experienced and learned a great deal.
Jackie Chan's sense of rhythm when filming action scenes, his coordination with the camera during movement, and even his ability to anticipate safety risks before dangerous stunts—these are experiences that cannot be learned from textbooks.
Guan Shengbai observed and remembered Liu Ye's emotional shifts during dramatic scenes, Yin Tao's control over the rhythm of her lines, and even the stagehands' methods of directing the extras.
He felt that he had made great progress during this period, not only due to the system's bonuses, but also due to his own solid accumulation of knowledge.
Just as filming was getting into full swing, news came that filming for "Tiny Times" had officially wrapped up.
Guan Shengbai has finished filming all his scenes for "Police Story" and "Tiny Times," so his relationship with them should end there.
But that's clearly not the case.
"Guo Biting? She came to visit me on set?" Guan Shengbai was looking at tomorrow's schedule when he heard this and looked up.