When Yuan Chuan You was led to the dressing room door by two makeup artists, he immediately smelled the cloying scent of cosmetics. Looking up, he saw various bottles and jars piled up in front of the mirror, all imported brands he didn't recognize.
"Please don't worry, Yuan Chuan-san, we'll definitely give you the best hairstyle!"
The female makeup artist with curled hair ends stared unblinkingly at Yuan Chuan You's handsome profile, her voice tinged with excitement.
"That's right, that's right! The hair dye the crew uses was specially purchased by the director. The quality is excellent~"
The other female makeup artist, wearing a mask, had neat short hair that revealed her smooth forehead, giving her a very fresh look.
The makeup artists on the crew were very professional; they had become part of the permanent team after passing through several rounds of screening. Because the director wanted to prioritize speed this time, two of them were working together to dye the young man's hair.
While the two were busy with his hair, Yuan Chuan You simply closed his eyes and continued to study the system panel.
[Production Queue 1: Writing]
[EXP: 83/100]
If things went smoothly, he could obtain the [Writing] entry today, and then only one last entry would be needed to synthesize [Junior Novelist (Green)].
Yuan Chuan You found the production conditions for that entry.
[Burst of Inspiration (White)]
[Producible]
[Production Condition: Obtain 100 inspiration-gathering experience points.]
"Inspiration-gathering?"
Judging by the text description alone, acquiring experience for this entry would surely be more troublesome than simply writing novels. After all, gathering material meant personally trying different things to accumulate experience and create inspiration.
If that's the case, could acting be considered a form of gathering material?
Yuan Chuan You didn't have an answer to that question for the time being.
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Thanks to the diligent work of the two makeup artists, who buzzed about like little bees, the major task of dyeing Yuan Chuan You's hair was completed in less than two hours.
Opening his eyes, he stared at his reflection in the mirror, slightly stunned.
The young man in the mirror's once ink-black hair had been dyed a bright flaxen gold, with the ends intentionally styled at an angle. This accentuated the sharp line of his jaw. The bright gold color softened the composed look of his handsome face, replacing it with the uninhibited and bold flair unique to youth.
"What do you think, Yuan Chuan-san? Are you satisfied?"
The two makeup artists stood to the side, beaming. They were both extremely pleased with their work. The blond hair had taken Yuan Chuan You's good looks to another level; he would definitely give everyone a shock when he walked out.
"Yes, thank you, Taneda-san and Kashiwagi-san."
Yuan Chuan You touched the slightly upswept ends of his hair and thanked the two female makeup artists.
"Hehe, you can go out and let the director see, Yuan Chuan-san. It's sure to be a big surprise for him."
"Okay."
Stepping out of the dressing room, Yuan Chuan You returned to the school rooftop, which was crowded with staff. The moment he approached, he instantly felt countless gazes fall upon him.
"Whoa! Yuan Chuan-san's blond hair looks amazing!"
"Incredible. It's just a different hair color, but it's like he's a completely different person."
"That's because Yuan Chuan-san has a good foundation to begin with, right? Hee hee!"
Seeing the blond Yuan Chuan You, the surrounding staff and extras all turned to look, some even letting out involuntary gasps of admiration.
Just moments ago, they had been wondering why the director would suddenly have a supporting actor change his appearance, suspecting he might have gotten the role through connections. But now, seeing the effect after the hair dye, they instantly felt the director's decision was truly brilliant.
If the black-haired Yuan Chuan You could shape the character of [Inoue Satoshi] through acting alone, then with the addition of the blond hair, his every move now aligned even more perfectly with the frivolous yet naive high school photographer from the script. It was as if the character had been lifted directly from the pages.
"Excellent, excellent!"
Director Asano applauded as he walked, an irrepressible, beaming smile on his face. He circled Yuan Chuan You, scrutinizing him, his expression growing more and more satisfied.
"Director Asano, I just took up two hours. We should probably hurry up with the filming now, right?"
"That's right. We'll reshoot this part of the scene right now. Yuan Chuan-kun, please continue to showcase your acting skills."
"Alright."
As Yuan Chuan You was led back to the previous set by the director, some of the other young actors with more significant roles couldn't help but cast curious glances his way.
For instance, Kurokawa Akane, who had been on set since the morning, had just witnessed Yuan Chuan You's acting firsthand and held great admiration for him. Now, seeing his change in appearance, a new thought popped into the girl's mind.
Should I... go find him later to rehearse our lines?
Almost all of Kurokawa Akane's scenes in the show were with Yuan Chuan You. If they rehearsed in advance, it would definitely make the shoot go more smoothly.
This being her first time participating in a TV drama production, she wanted to leave the best possible impression on the crew and the director.
On the other side, Sakurajima Mai, script in hand, was also studying Yuan Chuan You's face.
The young man who had appeared with black hair this morning now had a completely different aura after dyeing it blond. The eyes beneath that golden hair exuded a vitality unique to teenagers, making him seem like a completely different person from the one who was just writing his novel with his head down.
Can a person change so much just by changing their hairstyle?
The girl propped her chin on her small hand, her thoughts swirling.
Should I go talk to him about acting later?
And what kind of story was he writing? Sakurajima Mai was incredibly curious about it.
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The reshoot went very smoothly.
With the blond hair enhancing his performance, Director Asano was extremely satisfied with how this part of the scene turned out. When he finally called "cut," he even seemed a bit reluctant.
After this scene was finished, the rest was the main part for the male lead, [Kagami Dan]. The actor, Yamada Shu, continued to earn a pained expression from the director with his terrible acting.
But none of that had anything to do with Yuan Chuan You. His attention had long since been captured by a small gray cart that the staff had just wheeled over, on which were stacked several white styrofoam boxes.
The crew's bento boxes!
It was already five in the afternoon. It was finally his turn to enjoy the tangible reality of freeloading a meal on set.
Soon, the young man received a bento from a staff member. Perhaps because the production had a large budget, the quality of the bento for a supporting actor like Yuan Chuan You was surprisingly good.
The bento box had two layers. The top layer was neatly arranged with main dishes like tamagoyaki, fried chicken, and salmon. The bottom layer was fluffy rice sprinkled with sesame seeds, garnished with a pickled plum and other pickles at the edge. Even the wrapper for the disposable chopsticks was printed with the production's original '49' logo.
Just as he was about to find a quiet corner to eat, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from behind.
"Yuan Chuan-san, do you have a moment?"
Sakurajima Mai's voice came from his left. She was holding a bottle of mineral water and seemed to have followed him all the way here.
At the same time, Kurokawa Akane emerged from the other side, holding her script. "Yuan Chuan-san, can we rehearse our lines for a bit? I think..."
The two sentences were spoken almost simultaneously. The next moment, the two girls, realizing what had happened, met each other's gaze in mid-air before tacitly turning back to Yuan Chuan You's face.
The young man held his chopsticks suspended in mid-air and blinked. "Did you two... plan this beforehand?"
Sakurajima Mai's gaze swept over the script in Kurokawa Akane's hands, and a faint smile touched the corners of her lips. "Kurokawa-san, why don't you go first? I can talk to Yuan Chuan-san later."
Kurokawa Akane looked a little awkward. "No, it's fine. I can wait."
Yuan Chuan You looked to his left, then to his right.
Then.
He chose to break apart his chopsticks first.
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