Doha cried, tears brimming in his eyes as he looked at Zeno.
“Don’t tell me—”
Zeno sighed, running his hands through his hair.
“It’s only going to be a month.”
“A month too long!” Doha exclaimed. “Aside from that, you’ll only have a short break, and then you’ll go back there for another month.”
“I was in the military for two whole years. You’re telling me you’ll miss me for a month? It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Right, Minji?” Zeno asked, turning to his other friend. However, he saw that she, too, had tears in her eyes.
“Unbelievable,” Zeno muttered, shaking his head. He turned to his last chance at an ally, Eli. However, even then, the medical student seemed to be sad as well. Zeno ran his fingers through his hair.
Zeno was currently outside of their units with a duffel bag and a backpack at hand. It was what he needed for a month-long non-stop filming for ‘The Forsaken Prince.’ He had already informed his friends beforehand, but they were giving him a hard time leaving.
“Are your items even enough?” Minji asked out of concern, looking at his bags. “You’re going to be there for a month. Will you be able to eat well? Doha and I are not there to cook for you.”
“We’ll be fed well,” Zeno said. “I’m with the likes of Oska Baek and Hyunbin Lee. There’s no way they’re not going to give us good food.”
“That is true,” Minji muttered right after.
“I’m going then,” Zeno said, already receiving a text from Moby that he was waiting down the stairs.
He turned around. However, he felt something wet on his shoe. He looked at the culprit and saw Maxie with an innocent look on her face.
“Seriously?” he exclaimed.
“You looked like you didn’t care last night,” Zeno muttered, shaking his head. “Watch my bags for me. I’ll change into something else.”
With that, he entered his unit again and wore another pair of shoes, one that was more worn out, before leaving the tarnished shoes outside.
“Doha, wash that for me while I’m away.”
Doha didn’t answer as he was still sobbing. Meanwhile, Zeno ruffled Maxie’s head, who barked in response.
“I know. I know. You’ll miss me,” Zeno said, clicking his tongue. “Be a good girl.”
“Well… I doubt you would be as much of a problem to them as you are to me. You love these guys better than me.”
Maxie’s ears went down, and she leaned against Zeno’s touch. “I’ll be back in no time.”
Then, he stood, giving one last wave to his very sad friends, before running down the stairs with his bags. He entered Moby’s car right away. He was going to accompany him through their filming while Bobby would be taking care of their business in Seoul.
“What took you so long?” Moby jokingly asked.
“My friends wouldn’t let me go,” Zeno honestly said.
Moby chuckled. “Well, you can rest. It’s a four-hour drive from here.”
Zeno nodded and settled in his seat, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking out of the window. They were going to North Gyeongsang, where a large historical site was located, for their filming.
After the play, Zeno finally accomplished his mission—Impart a skill to another person. Now, he had two more missions that were due in a week.
[1. Get a scene done in one take.
2. Impress someone from the Imperial Class.]
Aside from that, he had also improved his acting skills.
[+1 Talent and Skills. Acting skills leveled up. Current grade: A++]
[+3 Job and Income. Main role obtained. Recognized as a good actor by experts.]
[Fame Meter: 20%]
He also had a new item.
[ +1 Draught of Immersion. One-time use only.]
For some reason, there wasn’t a description for this item.
“Immersion,” Zeno muttered.
“That’s right,” Moby said, snapping him out of his thoughts. “You’re going to immerse yourselves in the role. The filming will take place away from civilization. It’s going to be in the middle of nowhere.”
“Yeah?”
“The nearest neighborhood is 21 km away if I’m not mistaken.”
“That is far,” Zeno said. “A half marathon.”
“Which is why you’re going to be staying there for a month. Let’s hope that none of the actors have a bad attitude. Otherwise, it would be unbearable, wouldn’t it?” Moby chuckled, probably joking. However, Zeno could already pinpoint a few cast members who would be unbearable.
Fortunately, Daniel wasn’t cast at all, so that was one less whiny person in their cast.
“You can sleep,” Moby said. “It might be your longest sleep for the entire month.”
Zeno nodded and closed his eyes. Despite the rough roads and Moby’s shitty truck, he managed to fall asleep.
***
“Zeno,” Moby shook him awake. Zeno quickly opened his eyes and looked out of the window, seeing them in the middle of nowhere.
“Don’t tell me your truck broke down,” Zeno said.
“Fortunately, no,” Moby chuckled. “This is how far cars could come. We’ll have to walk three kilometers to the filming site.”
“Oh,” Zeno said, grabbing his bags and placing them over his shoulder. He jumped down the truck and looked around. A small smile appeared on his face. He was reminded of his very first life.
It was almost as simple as this. However, his smile quickly fell when he remembered his castration.
“Let’s go,” Zeno said, and the two of them made their way to the filming site. Moby glanced at him from time to time.
“You can walk this far?”
“Yes,” Zeno said. “I’m young. There’s no reason for me to be unable.”
A smile appeared on Moby’s lips. Zeno was so down-to-earth! The trail was much muddier than he expected. So, Maxie peeing on his shoes was actually a good thing because he wore ones that could withstand the mud.
After a while, they finally arrived at the filming site. The very first person Zeno met was, unfortunately, Oska, whose manager was wiping his shoes with what seemed to be his jacket.
“Make it quick,” Oska snapped. “I can’t meet the other actors like this.”
“Yes, sir,” his manager said, his eyes cast downward.
Moby and Zeno stopped in their tracks, with Zeno’s brows slightly furrowed. So, this was his true nature. A scum on Earth.
Just then, a familiar voice was heard a bit further away.
“Senior Oska! Come on. Everyone is waiting for you!”
Zeno turned his head to the side and was met with a disappointing sight.
What was Daniel Byeon doing here?