Dragon, choose cultural victory to make money

Chapter 20: The Wildest Theater in Town
"Hurry up, Marlene. The troupe's carriage is waiting for us."

Raul walked into the bedroom, drew the curtains, opened the window, and lifted the quilt in one go.

"Can you sleep for another five minutes?" Marlene asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Of course not. You forgot that it was you who wanted to audition for the Moying role. If you go too late, it won't be your turn."

"Okay, Dad." Marlene got up aggrievedly. It was not easy to leave the bed.

A few minutes later, Raul rushed out of the house holding Marlene.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting."

"It doesn't matter. The Hybrid Behemoths will not abandon any of their companions." The orc driving the car said in a muffled voice.

Although it sounds like the name of a mercenary group, they are actually a genuine theater troupe.

It’s just that most of their peers don’t recognize them.

Because their members include all kinds of races, orcs, half-elves, underground gnomes, and even a shapeshifter who is responsible for playing various special roles.

Moreover, he had not received any academic acting education, and he figured out his methods on his own when performing in villages and towns.

Drama critics and the Grand Theater believed that they were insulting the "noble art" of drama and did not allow the Hybrid Behemoths to perform on stage in the theater in Twin Towers City.

But today they have got the long-awaited opportunity. Drogo's Toy Store is recruiting actors to star in the magical film "The Journey to the Holy Mountain".

Raoul thought that since it was a toy store looking for actors, the big theater troupes in the city would probably not look at it favorably.

He had heard of the name of Zhuogo's Toy Store. Almost every child in the city had a yo-yo, and now the yo-yo had spread to the suburbs. He heard that there were people on the train who sold yo-yos to tourists from all over the world.

A few days ago, he saw someone playing with something while walking. He was so focused that he bumped into a tree. It seemed to be a Rubik's Cube, also from Drogo's Toy Store.

He thought that with such good business, he could at least make several gold coins every month.

That's a huge amount of money.

His intuition told him that although this store had never staged a play, it must be very innovative, and this was their opportunity.

"Dad, what is the magic shadow?" Marlene's face was full of excitement because she was going into the city.

"Well, it should be similar to drama. Their recruitment requirements state that those with experience in a theater company are preferred."

"Oh, that must be boring." In Marlene's impression, plays are long and difficult to understand, and the plots are old-fashioned, not as good as the story she wrote for Rado.

What, who is Rado?

Rado is her best friend, a big yellow dog, the best listener when she tells stories, and it would be even better if he didn't lick her after eating poop.

The carriage drove along the suburban road towards the Twin Towers City. Two hours later, the group arrived at Cornflower Street.

The exquisite buildings were in stark contrast to their patched old clothes.

Raul had never been to this street before. The consumption here was too high. Anything he bought would be enough to cover the living expenses of him and his daughter for several months.

There was a long line of people outside Drogo's Toy Store, which was completely different from what he had imagined.

Raul was a little embarrassed. He persuaded his troupe mates to come for the audition on the grounds that there wouldn't be many people coming to rehearse a play in a toy store.

"Look, is that someone from the Purple Lily Troupe?"

Raul looked in the direction of his companion's finger and saw a group of people gathered outside the store, all with purple lily badges on their chests. They were one of the best theater troupes in the city.

It’s bad. I was hoping to get a role with some screen time, but now all my hopes are dashed.

Under the awning outside the store, a half-elf was counting the registration information. There was a small clock beside him, and every few minutes he would mutter, "One copper coin, another copper coin earned."

Now that he was here, he couldn't back down just because he saw the Purple Lily Theater, so Raul went over to fill out the registration form.

Seeing the personnel configuration of the Hybrid Behemoth Group, the half-elf became much more enthusiastic and carefully introduced to them the information they needed to fill in.

However, the more Raul wrote, the more disappointed he became. The people at the top of the registration form were from various prestigious theater troupes, not only Viola, Swan Castle, and The Wranglers, but almost all the top theater troupes in the city had come.

This is not even the Hybrid Beasts' turn. They originally thought that if they couldn't play the main role, they could play the supporting role. Now it seems that they can't even get the extra role. It's probably a wasted trip.

How could this be?
On the table there is an introduction to the roles that can be signed up for, as well as the corresponding salaries.

After watching it once, I immediately knew why the competition for roles was so fierce.

Even characters with only a few lines in a scene are paid three gold coins. The magic shadow here does not need to be performed many times like a drama, it only needs to be performed once and recorded. This toy store is insanely rich!

The audition place is on the first floor. The shelves containing toys have been removed, and the space is very open. There are many dummies in the middle. There are a few people sitting behind the desks at the back. They should be the judges of the audition.

Raul tiptoed to look inside. The judges seemed to be two ladies, one very young, one slightly older, and the other one was, was that a sub-dragon? The orcs in the group were so nervous that they kept wiping their sweat and their legs were shaking.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you so nervous? If you can't be selected, then you can't be selected. Just treat it as gaining experience."

"No, it's the dragon and the man. They are very dangerous and scary. Let's run."

"Ah?" Raul was puzzled. "Even Marlene isn't afraid, so what are you afraid of?"

"No, this is different. My intuition is very accurate."

As Raul was comforting him, the young judge called out the next auditioner.

"Julien, the Swan Castle Company."

The crowd watching the excitement exclaimed in amazement.

Raoul had also heard of this name. He was the leading actor of the Swan Castle Theater. All the plays he had performed in recent years had been a huge success. It was said that some nobles had spent a fortune to support him. He must have come for the male lead.

After reading the script, Julien did some warm-up exercises, got into boxing stance, and began his performance.

"stop!"

Less than half a minute later, Elsa called Julien to stop.

"You've never been in a fight?"

"Of course I have learned it. My boxing coach is the best in the city, and I never miss any practical training sessions."

"This is not a drill, it's an actual battle. You are facing the evil creations of the Necromancer and the irrational and violent zombies. Are you just playing house here? Try again."

Julien was indignant. He had been on stage since he was twelve years old and had always received compliments. How could this little girl say that he was just playing house?
If it weren't for the money and Mrs. Fulin's face, he would have cursed back directly.

Madam Fulin didn't even look at him?
She must have been too sleepy. If she had watched carefully, she would have felt the charm of his performance, and it would have been the girl's turn to speak.

Julien adjusted his mentality, got into position again, and started performing again.

"stop!"

This time the call was stopped even faster than the first time.

"Don't you understand what people are saying, or do you not understand what a life-or-death crisis is? Who are you acting for?"

"This is called a theatrical performance. Have you ever seen a truly good play? What qualifications do you have to judge me?" Julien finally couldn't help it and retorted.

"Did I say this is a theatrical performance? Maybe your pretentious tone is liked on stage, but it's not needed here, next one." Elsa's tone was contemptuous.

"Then you know nothing. Don't think you are great just because you are with a rich man who pays you to fulfill your dream of acting. Bah! Ask Madam Fulin to evaluate whether my performance is excellent or not!"

Julien became more and more excited as he spoke. He thought that Madame Furynn would definitely support him. She had come to see the performances of the Swan Castle Theater many times and must admire his charm.

He felt emboldened at the thought that someone would support him. Elsa didn't look like a noble, so she must have relied on her body to get to the top. He had gotten to that position that way, too.

They are not clean, why do you humiliate me like this?

Julien got so angry that he even started cursing.

"No vision bitch..."

Before he could utter the last word, his throat suddenly tightened and he couldn't make a sound. Then breathing became increasingly difficult.

It's a sensory illusion!
Mrs. Fulin looked at him like he was trash and made a shushing gesture.

"sorry……"

Julien almost squeezed out an apology from the crack of his throat, but Mrs. Fulin remained indifferent and pointed at Elsa instead.

Julien felt the dizziness getting stronger and stronger. He fell to his knees and tried to apologize to Elsa, but he was completely unable to utter a word. Before his vision went completely black, he vaguely saw Elsa nod.

Suddenly, oxygen flooded back into my lungs.

Raul was stunned.

Julien, who was originally arrogant, lay on the ground like a stray dog, gasping for breath, his breathing so heavy that it seemed as if he was going to vomit out his lungs.

"Next one, from the Hybrid Beast Group, Raul."

Raul looked back at the orc who was almost shaking like a sieve, and his intuition was right.

In the past, if I didn’t perform well, at most I would be booed off the stage. But if I messed up today, I won’t lose my life, right?
(End of this chapter)