How to Become a Master of Acting

How to Become a Master of Acting

Galveston County, Texas, County High School.

1989.

Graduation ceremony.

"Let's welcome the graduate representative, the inspiration for the book Amazing Amy, Amy Dunne!"

Clap clap clap!

Amid the enthusiastic applause, a beautiful young woman with a distinctive air walked onto the stage. She stepped up to the microphone and swept her gaze over the alumni scattered across the tiered seats in the front rows. Her eyes lingered briefly on a handsome boy before she began her polished speech.

Below the stage.

The handsome blond boy's tightly held expression of "adoration, reluctance, sorrow, and pain" instantly vanished. Rubbing his somewhat stiff face, he smiled bitterly to himself.

That was right!

He was a master of acting!

But he had no choice. Anyone who knew that the distinctive girl onstage was his girlfriend—oh, no, his ex-girlfriend, who was about to leave him and had dumped him first—and knew what she would do in the future, would put on a humble, conciliatory expression around her.

As for why he knew the future?

Heh heh!

"Hey, are you okay?"

At that moment, someone gently nudged him. It was a girl.

"I'm fine!"

The boy instantly slipped back into character, lowering his head as though he could not bear to say more. He did not even look at her.

"Hey, isn't that a bit much?"

The girl beside him failed to take the hint and leaned closer instead. "It's just a girlfriend. Even if she's Amazing Amy, you're Adam Duncan! Have you had that few girlfriends? Do you really need to look like you've lost your one true love?"

"Juno, don't get so close!"

Adam shifted sideways to avoid the girl leaning against him. Nervously, he glanced at Amy, who was speaking onstage. When he saw that she had not noticed them, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're afraid of her?"

Juno seemed to realize something and gave him an odd smile. "So you're afraid of her!"

"What are you talking about?"

Adam's heart tightened, but he calmly replaced his expression with one of confusion and looked at the girl beside him.

She was a delicate-looking girl with refined features, fitting his aesthetic tastes from both this life and his previous one. However, the far-too-many freckles on her face, compared to girls from the East, greatly diminished that beauty. What was more, she wore a red hooded sweatshirt. The red was painfully eye-catching, and combined with the girl's amused gaze that seemed to see through everything, it made him unable to meet her eyes.

Ugh, this is too hard!

Adam could not help lamenting inwardly. This is another ruthless one...

"You're afraid of her," Juno said with certainty, smiling.

"I'm not, don't talk nonsense, I'm not!"

Adam instinctively denied it three times in a row.

"Won't admit it?"

Juno's lips curled up as she leaned toward him again.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Adam jumped, quickly glanced at the stage, and touched his neck with a bitter smile. "What exactly do you want?"

"Nothing~"

Juno clearly understood that missiles were most powerful when left on their launchers. She sat back upright and said casually, "Hey, why have I been seeing you sneak looks at some little boy lately?"

Buzz!

The moment Adam heard that, his head rang and his body turned cold. The acting skills he had honed to deal with that "Amazing" Amy onstage were about to kick in. Then he remembered that the girl beside him was even more terrifying than the future Amy, so he instantly put away the act and decided to tell the truth.

"You mean Sheldon? He's a genius. He's about to skip a grade and go to high school. I want to be friends with him, learn a little from him, and get into a good college someday!"

"Huh, you're actually telling the truth."

Juno tilted her head and stared straight at Adam for quite a while. This time, Adam gathered his courage and met her gaze, because he really was telling the truth!

"Of course I am! You know this is a public high school. The teachers are only so good. If I want to get into a good college, I'll have better odds finding a genius classmate to tutor me!"

Adam said cautiously, "That's okay, right?"

"Of course it is!"

Juno smiled. "I just never expected the famous rock-and-roll boy Adam Duncan to want to study hard too..."

Before Adam could breathe a sigh of relief, Juno changed the subject. "But you don't need to find him. I can tutor you."

Boom!

Adam felt as though he had been struck by lightning. His mind went blank as he stammered, "Y-you'll tutor me?"

"What, do you think I'm not capable?"

Juno smiled without smiling.

"No!"

Adam shook his head. She might be every bit as terrifying as his ex-girlfriend, but her grades were excellent. She was one of the rare top students at a public high school, after all. Her IQ was no joke!

"Then you have a problem with me?"

Juno's tone was faintly teasing.

"No, no!"

Adam hurriedly shook his head.

"Not this, not that..."

Juno narrowed her eyes. "Could it be that you've really changed your tastes and prefer little Sheldon instead?"

Adam froze. He keenly sensed the danger in Juno's words and screamed inwardly, Damn System, I hate you! If you weren't completely useless, would I have to live in such constant fear?

Suppressing his impotent rage, Adam smiled ingratiatingly. "Don't joke like that. I just don't want to trouble you, considering my reputation..."

"I don't care!"

Juno cut him off. "Everyone else thinks I'm a freak too. Four out of five psychologists said there was something wrong with me, but aren't I doing just fine? Don't care so much about what other people think. Living like that is exhausting!"

At that, Juno paused. Looking at Adam, she said meaningfully, "You were pretty good the way you used to be. Even if you've changed your tastes, don't change them in the wrong direction..."

But I'm scared...

Adam's mouth twitched, but he did not dare say what he was thinking. With a bitter smile, he said, "Don't worry. I know what I can and can't do. I really just want to be friends with Sheldon!"

"As long as you're happy!"

Juno smiled. "One last question?"

"Go ahead!"

Adam breathed a sigh of relief.

Juno stared at Adam and asked, one word at a time, "You're afraid of me too. Why?"

"..."

Adam had no answer. After a long while, he muttered, "My reputation is well known, and you always dress like Little Red Riding Hood... I just want to study hard and improve myself now. I really don't want to invite any trouble!"

"Little Red Riding Hood~"

Juno chuckled, turned away, and stopped looking at Adam.

Adam sat there woodenly, his gaze following Amy as she gave her speech onstage. At any moment, he put on various dramatic expressions, struggling to make it through the final stretch. Yet in his mind, he was staring at the nameless, utterly unresponsive system that contained only a single panel!

Intelligence: 108 (100 normal, 120 excellent, 140 genius, 180 super genius)

Strength: 180 (100 normal, 200 strong, 500 superhuman, 1000 not human)

Endurance: 300 (100 normal, 200 excellent, 500 Just You Show, 1000 not human)

Speed: 140 (100 normal, 200 excellent, 500 Just You Show, 1000 not human)

Lifespan: 35.06 (dies young, 80 normal, 100 excellent, 150 Just You Show, 200 not human)

Other: Locked

Ding!

Intelligence +1

Ding!

Speed +20

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