After parting ways with Plot Protagonist Lin Xuan, Zhang Guangmu took Flame Wolf Bai Yue to a bookstore. Without paying a single cent, he bought a large pile of assorted books.
The owner, whose store had been looted for free, did not dare show anger, let alone say anything. He could only force a smile and see Zhang Guangmu out of the bookstore.
Zhang Guangmu actually felt rather awkward about it. As the winner of the Water Prison Trial, he could afford to spend quite a bit of money. Unfortunately, as a Wolf Rider, he was a typical member of the upper class in Wolf Fortress. No matter what he bought, everyone was too afraid to ask him for money.
Because of the world's setting, the temporarily bestowed False Memories and the script's guidance, everyone was accustomed to this sort of thing.
After buying some wolf feed and daily necessities, Zhang Guangmu returned to Wolf Den—the residence Masked Person had arranged for him, right here.
The residence itself was nothing special. It was far better than what the other commoners in Wolf Fortress had, yet it was still extremely ordinary. There were no luxurious decorations, and there was not even a chair.
He had to go out and find food for himself. There was no way he could receive regularly distributed Nutrient Paste automatically, and he had to fetch his own water as well.
All in all, Zhang Guangmu's quality of life and living conditions in Wolf Fortress, as a "Wolf Rider," were even slightly worse than those of the Empire's commoners in the Real World.
"Tsk. As expected of the treatment given to an unknown Extra."
After thoroughly cleaning his residence, Zhang Guangmu piled the newly bought books in a corner. Wiping away his sweat, he mused inwardly, "Everything reeks of perfunctoriness..."
Come to think of it, that made sense. Most of the Production Team's energy and resources had been poured into Big Villain Lin Yan and Protagonist Lin Xuan. Someone like him, an "unknown Assassin," had no important scenes in the Original Script apart from delivering his life to the protagonist. Being given such a shabby house was only to be expected.
After all, according to the Empire's Iron Law, once a Film World had been constructed, the Production Team was no longer allowed to interfere materially with it.
Even though Zhang Guangmu had now relied on his own efforts and used his Debate Skill to score a small victory over Plot Protagonist Lin Xuan, transforming gloriously from a nobody into a named supporting character, his living conditions had not improved in the slightest for the time being.
After all...
The true master of all Wolf Fortress was Fort Master Lin Yan, not Lin Xuan, whom Zhang Guangmu had just slightly outmaneuvered.
Unless he received a reward from the former or managed to rise to power himself, Zhang Guangmu would have to endure these hard times for at least another three months!
But the problem was...
Zhang Guangmu did not want to obediently become Fort Master's lackey.
Although being honest and obedient might earn him praise, perhaps even a higher position, greater fame, and more wealth, that...
Was all meaningless to Zhang Guangmu!
Not to mention that, according to the plot, Fort Master Lin Yan would assign him the task of assassinating Protagonist Lin Xuan, sending him straight to his death.
Even if he managed to survive and achieve fame and fortune in Wolf Fortress, so what?
This was ultimately only a Film World.
Zhang Guangmu's goal was crystal clear. He had never wavered.
Tear Script!
Steal the show!
Show Off!
Make everyone remember his name and make the audience's emotions move with him!
How else could he rise rapidly?
From this perspective, Zhang Guangmu himself was actually somewhat similar to Hou Zhengbeng, who had previously wanted to kill him.
Besides...
In the world of "Wolf Fortress," humans themselves had little combat power. The strongest forces were concentrated in the Flame Wolves, which was why Wolf Riders held such a noble status.
As the plot's Big Villain, Fort Master Lin Yan was one of the strongest fighters in the story!
Trying to bring him down and seize power was like challenging an unnerfed Zhao Zhengrong to a one-on-one fight. The difficulty was extremely high!
Thus, Zhang Guangmu did not rush into action. Instead, he chose to calm down.
He planned to keep observing, learning, and accumulating knowledge while searching for a way to break the deadlock!
And so, after settling Flame Wolf Bai Yue in, Zhang Guangmu sat cross-legged beside the window and began reading. Although Director Sun was fundamentally different from Director Qian Yiyuan, Zhang Guangmu believed that the former was a standard commercial director, with the traces of formulas clearly visible in all his works, he had to admit that there might be names that were wrong, but there were never nicknames that were undeserved!
Director Sun had naturally possessed his own distinctive qualities to break through among so many directors, establish a reputation of his own, and earn the title of Real Director.
Online, whether people liked Director Sun or disliked him, they all had to admit that when constructing Subconscious Film Worlds, this director often pursued realism and perfected every detail.
After receiving the role of a minor Extra in "Wolf Fortress" through Li Xiaoxiao, Zhang Guangmu had also looked up information about Director Sun. He discovered that, like the vast majority of directors, the man had been a Subconscious Actor filtered out by the market and the audience before entering the industry. Only after failing miserably as an actor had he been forced to change careers.
It seemed that Director Sun had capsized at a crucial moment in his acting career because he had been careless in the Real World and frequently overlooked details. From then on, he had never recovered.
Precisely because of this, his obsession with details had nearly reached a pathological level.
It was said that many of the Supernatural Creatures and Fantasy Artifacts that appeared in Director Sun's films could be completely recreated in the Real World using the technology currently mastered by the Xuanlong Empire!
Because of this, the director himself had a large group of fans and supporters.
What Zhang Guangmu intended to take advantage of now was precisely this characteristic of Director Sun.
"Guide to Raising Flame Wolves," "Wolf Rider's Code," "Explosive Stone Scripture"...
"My Wolf is My Life," "Manual for Common Flame Wolf Diseases"...
Of the many books Zhang Guangmu had purchased for free, ninety-nine percent were related to Flame Wolves.
And they were not merely books in name. After opening them, Zhang Guangmu discovered that every book contained substantial material. They seemed to be full of precious knowledge that could help him quickly develop Tacit Understanding with Bai Yue.
Most frightening of all, although the writing, prose, and styles of the books varied, their content was logically consistent. They even vaguely confirmed one another.
To achieve this, one either had to expend a tremendous amount of effort or spend plenty of Dragon Shields hiring the Professional writing team to write them.
After flipping through several books at a glance, Zhang Guangmu felt as though he were living in a world that was truly real.
All he could say was that Director Sun truly deserved to be a mainstay among commercial directors. He had enough skill to dare shoot a story with a timeline stretching beyond three months.
In this respect, Director Qian, the one behind "Endless Food Bag," was far inferior to Director Sun. He had simply used the real-world "Piglet Rearing Manual" to fob people off.
When they saw Zhang Guangmu settle down and focus on reading, the Little white light orbs floating around him began chattering among themselves.
"What's this guy doing?"
"Reading? Is he serious?"
"All the old fans know that Zhang Guangmu is a 'scholar' himself... What's there to make such a fuss about?"
"When I watched 'Endless Food Bag,' I already wanted to complain about this. I never expected that after coming to 'Wolf Fortress,' he'd still be reading! Is he really going to devote himself to reading the sages' books while remaining oblivious to everything outside?"
"All I can say is that this guy really hasn't forgotten his original intention. In a sense, that's also a rare kind of subconsciousness."
"Come to think of it, if they had him play a scholar in a costume drama, he probably wouldn't feel out of place at all."
"I strongly recommend that he play a middle school student from the Pre-nuclear era!"
"I originally followed him because he had slightly outmaneuvered Yang Chi in the previous performance duel. But now he isn't fighting or causing trouble everywhere. He's actually reading instead of doing his proper job? How boring! I'm out!"
The Little white light orbs' behavior did not affect Zhang Guangmu much.
Under the script's original setup, he would not receive the mission to assassinate Plot Protagonist Lin Xuan until a month and a half later, after which he would receive his death notice overnight. If he did not find some books to read, he would probably die of boredom.
What was more...
These books revealed a great deal about the nature of the world of "Wolf Fortress," helping Zhang Guangmu find the key to breaking the deadlock.
It was not impossible to go out now, pretend to coincidentally encounter some important plot characters, and brush up his presence. But in Zhang Guangmu's view, there was no need for that.
A film only had so many shots in total. He did not need to seize all the benefits. Becoming the most dazzling star was enough!
After the audience realized that Zhang Guangmu was not pretending and was truly studying in concentration, they quickly dispersed.
That included some fans who called themselves "Shou Mu Ren." They also chose to switch the camera temporarily, saying, "We'll switch back to Mu Zai's perspective when something exciting happens over there." In reality, nine times out of ten, they followed the director and never returned, wandering off until they lost contact.
In the end, only a few lonely light orbs remained by Zhang Guangmu's side.
Several of the viewers had been deeply moved by Zhang Guangmu's performance in "Endless Food Bag" and had become his die-hard fans. The others simply liked reading and were interested in the worldview and fundamental workings of "Wolf Fortress." They stayed on Zhang Guangmu's perspective because they could read books for free.
Time flew by!
A month passed in the Film World of "Wolf Fortress."
A black-clad figure wearing a Wolf Bone Mask pushed open the door and appeared before him. "Fort Master wants to see you!"
Zhang Guangmu unhurriedly closed the book in his hands and beckoned to Flame Wolf Bai Yue. The corners of his lips curved slightly, and his smile held a hint of confident composure. "Lead the way."
The road to breaking the deadlock had already been paved.
--
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