Chapter 297 - 233: The Most Casual Film Set in History (2)

Chapter 297: Chapter 233: The Most Casual Film Set in History (2)

He pulled his real right hand out of his sleeve and showed it to Sir Gordo.

"Surprise! My fake hand is more realistic than your fake hand."

Sir Gordo took several deep breaths to calm down. After another moment, he said, "How old are you?"

"You scared me the same way before," Morris said, retracting the fake hand. "I was startled back then, too. Now we’re even."

Morris was referring to the time he’d taken his younger brother to the orphanage to find Sir Gordo.

He had even upgraded the prank.

It seemed that during his recent downtime, Morris had spent all his time researching how to make a better prosthetic hand. All those years studying Magic, and this was what he used it for.

"Well, I wish you luck with your recruitment," Morris said with a wave.

He really didn’t want this caregiver job. He was idle at the moment, but even spending all day researching pranks was more interesting than waiting on someone.

He had only come today to get his "revenge."

With that, Morris turned to leave.

Zog turned to Sir Gordo, who gave him a nod.

"Excellent. Congratulations, Mr. Morris. You’ve got the job," Zog said.

"Huh?"

Morris spun around, a look of shock on his face.

"No, no, was I not clear just now? I said, ’I wish you luck with your recruitment,’ meaning I hope you find someone more suitable among the next applicants," he explained earnestly.

"Yes, I understood perfectly. However, it seems you are the most suitable candidate," Zog replied with certainty.

It wasn’t a random choice on his part; Morris was, by far, the most suitable person they’d seen.

He didn’t come here wanting the job, which fit the character’s profile.

He didn’t treat Sir Gordo like a disabled person, similar to Zog, which matched Sir Gordo’s own needs.

He had great screen presence, which wouldn’t be bad for filming a Shadow of Evil.

His only weakness was his lack of professional experience as a caregiver, but that didn’t matter. The team responsible for Sir Gordo’s care had no shortage of professionals.

"But I don’t need this job," Morris tried to refuse again.

"I suggest you take the job. Because in addition to being a caregiver, you’ll also be the lead actor in a Shadow of Evil. The content will be you taking care of Gordo’s daily life."

"Oh, is that so? So that’s why there are so many cameras in this room."

Zog nodded.

He then asked the goblin cameraman, "Did you get that whole prank on film? I think that part would fit perfectly in the final cut."

It wasn’t in the script, but Zog thought it was good.

The terse goblin cameraman gave a thumbs-up.

"And you’re the director!" Morris pointed at Zog in astonishment.

He knew it had been a long time since Zog had personally directed a Shadow of Evil.

This comeback was undoubtedly a major project for the Zog Group.

’This means that I, Morris, a student from the Loman Empire, so overshadowed by my younger brother’s talent I can’t even hold my head up, a poor schmuck who recently turned into a Tiefling... I have a chance to become a Big Star?’

Morris absolutely loved the idea of being a star. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen to be an online influencer and do anything and everything to be in the spotlight at school.

"So, what do you think?" Zog asked again.

"I accept!" Morris replied excitedly. "No one is more suitable for this job than me! I would absolutely love to take care of Sir Gordo! I was born to—"

"Alright, alright," Zog interrupted Morris’s manic self-praise. "Sign this Contract, and take this script. The script is confidential, so don’t go revealing it to anyone. Not even Xiaomo."

Zog added a warning. Although *Beyond Reach* wasn’t the type of movie that was easily ruined by spoilers, leaking the plot before its release would still affect the box office.

A charity project was a charity project, but if he could earn back a little more profit, he was going to earn back a little more profit.

"I’ll remember. Thank you for giving me this opportunity."

"I’m not asking you to remember, I’m warning you to be careful. If you reveal the plot, a spell in the Contract will electrocute you. There’s a confidentiality clause in this Contract. After you get zapped, you probably won’t be able to act anymore," Zog said, "thoughtfully."

"Okay," Morris said, looking extremely excited. It was unclear if he had even heard a word. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow. To be precise, we’ve already started. But the official start is tomorrow."

"Oh, so tomorrow, is it the caregiver work or the filming work?"

"They’re one and the same."

"Okay, I’ll definitely prepare well. I’ll have my lines memorized by tonight," Morris said, running excitedly out of Sir Gordo’s mansion.

Zog didn’t even have a chance to tell him that the script didn’t actually have any lines; he just needed to familiarize himself with the scenes.

「The next day, work officially began.」

「6 AM.」

Morris arrived at the mansion. He had indeed prepared—a little too much so.

"Are you serious with that makeup on your face?" Zog asked.

He could barely stand to look at Morris’s face. It was like he’d plastered putty all over it.

You could probably peel that layer of makeup off and use it as a mask. If he walked through an alley at night looking like that, he’d scare the daylights out of anyone he met.

"Yes, aren’t I supposed to be on camera today? So I had this makeup specially prepared. Isn’t it great?"

"Wash it off."

"Wash it off?" Morris’s expression was one of shock. "But I spent 5 Silver Coins to have a makeup artist do this for me at the crack of dawn!"

"Where did you find this makeup artist?"

"He does makeup for stage plays. A veteran artist, very well-regarded in the industry."

"You really know how to pick ’em," Zog urged him again. "Filming is about to start, so hurry up and take it off. The requirements for a Shadow of Evil and stage makeup are completely different. You’ll just look like a clown if you appear on the big screen like that."

For stage performances, the makeup has to be exaggerated to be seen by audiences far away and to work with bright stage lighting. Up close, it’s terrifying.

It took a full half hour to remove the makeup, even with several blasts of the Cleaning Technique. That veteran stage artist really was skilled; at least his makeup wouldn’t smudge on stage.

"Scene one."

After a bumpy start, they finally got to the actual filming.

The first scene was simple: Sir Gordo wakes up, and Morris helps him get out of bed.

This included cleaning him, changing his clothes, and lifting him into his wheelchair.

It sounded easy enough.

But anyone who has cared for a patient knows how much effort it takes to do these things for a grown, immobile person.

And the physical effort wasn’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem was the psychological barrier.

"What? You expect me... to put socks... on a grown man!"

Morris was so agitated he could barely speak properly.

"It’s not... I don’t have that kind of special fetish, changing a grown man’s socks! Hah, if I were into that sort of thing, I’d be posting pictures of myself in white cotton socks on social media. I’d probably get more followers that way," he grumbled.

Zog, for his part, was surprised Morris had even considered posting white-sock photos.

What was even more surprising was that there was a market for such photos on the Feilin Continent.

’Maybe I should start an OnlyFans?’

"You don’t just have to put on his socks. You also have to change all his clothes, empty his urine bag, and, of course, deal with his feces."

Zog emphasized Morris’s tasks.

"A urine bag... and feces!" Morris shook his head frantically. "No, no, no, this is not happening! This isn’t right! I came here to film a Shadow of Evil, not to handle... ugh, this is absurd!"

"Yes, yes, yes! That’s the emotion! That’s perfect! Your acting is brilliant!"

Zog couldn’t help but praise him.

"I’m not acting! I really can’t stand it!" Morris made a final struggle.

"Mhm! Perfect! Remember this emotion. You need to keep this energy for the first few scenes."

Zog hadn’t expected Morris to fit the role so perfectly—even better than Sir Gordo, the actual paralyzed person. Compared to the original character, Morris could even use Mage’s Hand.

Sir Gordo was also having a rough time. Because of Morris’s makeup removal, he had been forced to lie in bed for an extra half hour after waking up.

Along with his own excrement.

"No, no, no, I can’t do it! Can we shoot a different scene?" Morris paced in circles.

"No," Zog denied him flatly.

"Hurry up. Maintain this emotion, and then go collect the poop. This is your first step to becoming a Big Star. You don’t want to get zapped, do you?"

Zog launched a full-on psychological assault on Morris.

After a brief moment of mental preparation, Morris gritted his teeth and surrendered a personal first.

Wiping another man’s ass.

After he was done, his expression was vacant, as if he himself had become unclean.

"Very good. Scene one is a wrap. You have plenty more ’great scenes’ to film."