Chapter 483 Evaluation Criteria

Chapter 483: The Evaluation Criteria

"The most important thing on the first day probably isn't acting."

After hearing Feng Ling's words, Su Bai's gaze briefly met hers, and a moment of tacit understanding passed between them.

"Lian Xiangyu and the others are completely controlled by the game, becoming puppets in the audition script. Whether their acting is good or bad has become meaningless to them." Su Bai's eyes shifted toward the villa's windows. "So, the key lies in the unseen director's evaluation."

"The administrator and the voice in the hall never mentioned the director's judging criteria," Feng Ling murmured softly, as if talking to herself, yet her tone carried a thoughtful edge.

Then, she looked directly at Su Bai and said seriously, "Because this game revolves around an actor's script, we'd subconsciously assumed the evaluation standard would be acting skill. But for puppets like them, acting skill can't possibly be the criterion for judging Lian Xiangyu and the others."

Su Bai nodded thoughtfully and analyzed calmly, "Perhaps from the very beginning, acting skill wasn't the standard for passing this game. Both the administrator and that voice mentioned 'brilliant performances,' even repeating the word 'brilliant' several times. Maybe the key is to put on a more spectacular show."

"Is that why their scripts are so insane?" Feng Ling muttered under her breath, a hint of uncertainty in her tone. She looked up at Su Bai seriously and continued, "Anyway, we haven't been pulled into the script yet. Why don't we wait and see how the director evaluates Lian Xiangyu and the others' performances after the first day ends? Let's see if our current slacking off on the sidelines will be judged as unqualified. Then we'll know what their standard for 'brilliant' really is."

Su Bai sighed, "That seems to be the only way." They exchanged a look, settling on their plan for the next steps.

For now, the safest approach was to watch and wait, observing Lian Xiangyu and the others follow the script, and then listen to the director's evaluation of their performance at eight o'clock tonight. Yes, hearing the director's firsthand evaluation of their first-day performance was now their top priority.

Only by understanding the mysterious director's evaluation criteria could they clearly grasp the true conditions for winning this game.

"Most likely, they want to see a more spectacular show, right?" Su Bai lowered his head in contemplation, a slight frown on his brow. "But the script inside already sounds quite 'spectacular.'"

Although the villa door was closed, Su Bai's sharp hearing could still pick up the sounds of Lian Xiangyu and Shen Dong'er arguing in the hall. Even though Shen Dong'er had been "asked to leave" earlier, all the players were trapped in the mist. Leaving the villa was impossible, so they had no choice but to stay in the hall, continuing their arguments with Lian Xiangyu and spouting insane lines that made no sense on closer inspection.

"If a script like that isn't spectacular enough, then we'll just have to find a way to make tomorrow's script even more spectacular." Feng Ling's smile, illuminated by the red moon, looked downright mischievous.

After finalizing their plan, Su Bai and the others didn't just sit around in the following hours. With the bored Lord Wu's help, Su Bai, in his role as the gardener, dutifully gathered basket after basket of flowers. Then, with the assistance of the maid Feng Ling, they "forcibly" stuffed the flowers into every corner of the villa.

Within just an hour or two, the villa hall was filled with flowers. Different varieties emitted their own strong fragrances, saturating the enclosed space. This caused Ning Yi, who might have had pollen allergies, to sneeze repeatedly in the hall, yet she still had to force herself to spit out her various bizarre lines.

This gave Su Bai and the others an idea to begin an experiment. Since they weren't controlled by the script's power, could their actions influence the direction of Lian Xiangyu and Ning Yi's script?

To test this, having Lord Wu intervene would be the easiest. A simple line from him, like "I approve of you being together" to Lian Xiangyu and the female lead, would reveal how the script might change. However, the first day was still a time for probing. Su Bai and the others didn't dare make drastic changes and could only experiment with smaller interventions.

For example, Feng Ling approached Lian Xiangyu just before mealtime, claiming she had injured her wrist and couldn't cook.

"Wrist injury?" Lian Xiangyu showed a hint of surprise upon hearing this, his brow furrowing. "Weren't you just moving flowers a moment ago?"

Lian Xiangyu looked around at the hall overflowing with flowers, an expression of incomprehension on his face. The flowers were piled up like mountains—reds, whites, yellows—forming a dazzling, chaotic sea. The mixed floral scents pressed upon their senses with an unsettling intensity, creating a scene where beauty and madness intertwined.

"Yes, I hurt it while moving the flowers," Feng Ling nodded matter-of-factly, as if this reason were the most natural thing in the world.

Hearing their conversation, Ning Yi slowly walked over to Lian Xiangyu. A gentle smile graced her face, her soft gaze carrying a hint of shyness as she spoke in a tender, warm voice, "I'll cook for everyone..."

However, halfway through her sentence, Ning Yi's expression suddenly froze. Her brows slightly furrowed, as if a memory string had been unexpectedly plucked.

"Wait..." Ning Yi hesitated, asking, "Do I know how to cook?"

This simple question instantly froze the air, like invisible gears jamming abruptly. Her face showed confusion, as if she had suddenly discovered a contradiction she herself didn't understand.

Clearly, as a player, Ning Yi didn't know how to cook at all, and her question seemed to cause an unexpected interruption in the script.

Su Bai and Feng Ling stood to the side, witnessing the bizarre scene before them—Lian Xiangyu, Ning Yi, and Shen Dong'er all froze in place simultaneously for about a second. Though brief, that momentary stillness felt like a thread of time being abruptly snapped, sending a chill down one's spine.

After that second, Lian Xiangyu's face immediately adopted an indulgent, helpless expression as he said fondly, "Yiyi, have you forgotten? You don't know how to cook."

"Forget it, useless woman!" Shen Dong'er snorted coldly, tossing her hair without another glance at Ning Yi. She strode directly into the kitchen, skillfully retrieving various ingredients to start preparing dinner. Within minutes, flames danced on the stove. Shen Dong'er's cooking movements were deft and fluid, completely at odds with her usual haughty, cold, and glamorous image.

Watching from the side, Su Bai couldn't help but rant internally. While this small experiment confirmed that they, as cannon-fodder supporting characters, could indeed alter the plot... the villainous young lady, without a second thought, personally cooking a meal for her love rival? What kind of insane script was this...

To Su Bai, the whole scene reeked of incongruity. But to ensure the script could continue, "making sense" seemed to have become the least important concern.

The crisp sounds of Shen Dong'er chopping vegetables kept coming from the kitchen, as if reminding everyone that no matter what happened, the script must go on.