LAVW – Chapter 144 Icefield Filming

“Is it The Mobius Kingdom?”

Hearing the production name on the other end, Merlin was completely shocked.

The Mobius Kingdom was a top-tier project jointly produced by several major TV networks to compete with the increasingly dominant Hollywood.

The script was based on the globally popular fantasy story The Mobius Kingdom, and the director was none other than Reg Spright, one of Hollywood’s “Big Four” directors today.

When the news broke, countless actors wanted to ride that wave, and for a while, The Mobius Kingdom overshadowed numerous big-budget films, becoming the undisputed “hot topic.”

Now, The Mobius Kingdom had already aired two seasons, enjoying global popularity and earning enough money to make even several Hollywood giants envious.

“Of course, I have no reason to lie to you.”

“But shouldn’t the third season have already filmed a lot, or even finished? I’ve seen many newspaper reports about it.”

“More or less what the papers say is true, but there are always unexpected things. The original animal actors had an accident, so we had to urgently find replacements. Miss Merlin, if you’re interested, please be sure to bring your animal to the audition on time.”

“Alright, I’ll seriously consider it.”

Merlin chatted with them a while longer and then hung up. By now, she was certain she hadn’t encountered a scam, which made her all the more shocked.

After a minute, the reality sank in.

Merlin, still visibly amazed, looked at the calm little tiger. She reached out, pinching the tiger’s fluffy face, stretching the bold “king” mark on his forehead.

“You’re really enviable!”

“That’s The Mobius Kingdom! Mobius!”

“No one dislikes Mobius unless they haven’t seen it.”

Merlin truly envied the little tiger. “Qian, just by going with me to an audition, you get acting opportunities coming to you. Now, sending in a photo for a minor role could land you a chance to audition as a Mobius stand-in. You’re so lucky! What a lucky boy you are!”

Qian: “Roar-roar-aoo—”

Of course, it was thanks to being handsome.

Luck probably played only a tiny part.

After sharing her thoughts, Merlin started looking for the original Mobius Kingdom books in the house with Qian.

It was a full set of books, totaling an astonishing twelve volumes.

The first few volumes looked neither new nor old, showing signs of previous reading, but clearly hadn’t been opened recently.

Skipping the first two volumes, Merlin quickly flipped open the third. “Isn’t this volume three?”

She tried the next one.

“Found it—the tiger role. The second season covered parts of volume three; this season should cover volume four!”

“Wait, the magical tiger Will seems to have a magical tiger army later, with two other named magical tigers.”

Merlin busily collected information, while Qian stared at the open volume three, his eyes going dizzy.

The little tiger… of course, was illiterate.

Expecting a real little tiger to recognize written words was asking too much.

So Qian had to rely on the small amount of vocabulary he had retained from previous learning.

As a result, he couldn’t read independently or gather information effectively.

It had been many years since he wasn’t illiterate.

Qian sighed, stretched out all four legs, and flopped down.

If he had to learn foreign words himself, then what was the point of having a caretaker?

“Roar-roar.”

Merlin, Merlin, you can do it!

Qian cheered on the beauty as encouragement.

Merlin smiled: “Don’t worry, I’m very familiar with The Mobius Kingdom. It won’t take long.”

“Then we’ll work hard together, and wait for Deanna to come back with suggestions—we’ll definitely land the role.”

Merlin’s beautiful eyes sparkled: “The Mobius Kingdom production team is extremely, extremely wealthy!”

Still in debt, Merlin felt like she’d fallen into a pit of money. But this sudden, hopeful feeling from the heavens wasn’t too bad, right?

Not long after, Deanna returned from her part-time job and joined the effort.

Deanna was also a fan of The Mobius Kingdom, even more familiar with the original books than Merlin, able to recount the differences among several tiger characters.

The one that fascinated the little trio most was the magical tiger Will, who appeared most in volume four.

Will was a key magical tiger of a villain in the books, powerful in combat and extremely intelligent.

Before Will’s master died, they were fully fleshed out characters, not just annoying, one-dimensional villains.

Because of Will’s owner’s charm, handsome looks, sharp aura of evil, and interesting interactions with the main cast, Will’s owner had quite a few fans who adored this kind of character.

The turning point came after Will’s owner died. Other characters began chasing the corpse that carried a great treasure, and naturally, the demon tiger Will protected it with his life.

Until he fell into a hopeless situation, Will, with blood and tears in his eyes,… ate his master, and then fell into the demon pit.

When he emerged from the demon pit, the once-innocent demon tiger had evolved into a giant demon tiger king that killed both good and evil alike, starting a flashy storyline that both made fans heartbroken and gasp in amazement. He even brought out the demon tiger legion, plunging the world into chaos.

Of course, this character eventually died, but the cause of death was that someone found and used Will’s owner’s relic.

Revisiting this part of the story, Merlin still couldn’t help shedding tears. “Will really is too lovable.”

Deanna said, “Even knowing that the author did it on purpose, I still feel for Will, because his previous innocence was so touching—he didn’t feel like a monster at all.”

Shi Qian: That’s just cruel.

Using a little animal as a plot device for abuse—who could bear that?

The three of them decided to have dinner together to ease their emotions.

After dinner, during a short break, Deanna suddenly remembered and said, “Actually, someone wanted to buy my script today.”

“Really?!”

“How’s that?!”

Merlin: “Really?! Today has been such an amazing day!”

“Calm down, calm down.” Deanna raised her hand to stop Shi Qian’s excitement and said helplessly, “But they wanted credit for it, so I refused them.”

“That’s okay. Being noticed just means your script is brilliant—otherwise, they wouldn’t be interested!”

Merlin comforted Deanna, “Believe me, it won’t be long before you receive truly good news.”

“I believe that too.”

Deanna and Merlin hugged, making Shi Qian beside them envy their friendship.

So, the little tiger peeked his head in.

Among all big cats, tigers are the most formidable. So even as a cub, the patterns on Shi Qian’s face held a mysterious charm, as if some mystical power had fallen on them, forming a powerful, enchanting rune that drew everyone’s attention.

His two blue eyes seemed a little deeper than before, though the gaze remained pure, filled with “I want to join.”

Both arms stretched out, pulling the little tiger into the middle.

The two humans and the tiger squeezed onto the sofa, which creaked under the weight.

Merlin: “The sofa won’t break, right?”

“Don’t worry, I reinforced it,” Deanna reassured.

Shi Qian asked seriously, “Really?”

“Well, just politely asking—what’s the weight limit?”

Shi Qian thought that if he grew more, he might weigh even more than he does now. Even without the thousand-plus pounds from his previous life, he must be a few hundred pounds at least.

After living with Merlin and Deanna for a while, besides growing smooth, healthy fur, Shi Qian had gained a little weight. Compared to his pitiful appearance at first, he was now a healthy tiger, probably weighing around a hundred pounds.

With time pressing, after five days of preparation, Merlin took Shi Qian directly “onto the battlefield.”

Compared to any previous audition, Merlin prepared with even greater care: she studied the materials, considered the character in advance, practiced classic scenes that fit the character, and grasped the essence of the role.

Other than this not being her own audition, there were no problems.

Shi Qian also studied seriously, though he didn’t show off much, afraid of drawing too much attention.

He planned to be as simple a little tiger as possible in this life.

Because—this was the third world.

After completing the tasks in the three worlds, he could unlock the [Visit Old Friends] function in the system.

Thinking of Long Ye, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, Shi Qian felt eager to go “meet” him soon.

Merlin was strong, and with a good friend like Deanna, Shi Qian could rest easy.

But before leaving, completing tasks and resolving Merlin’s debts were two things that had to be done.

Originally, Shi Qian thought that once Merlin became famous, she would have no more financial worries. But now, it seemed he could replace “Merlin becoming famous” with “himself becoming famous.”

Once he was famous, maybe… he could solve the financial problems too.

If not, he’d just find another way!

“Hey, Qian, we should go in.”

Merlin squatted down and said to Shi Qian, interrupting his myriad thoughts.

Shi Qian: “Roar-roar.”

Let’s go, let’s give it our all.

One human and one tiger walked into the audition room, performing as the auditioners instructed.

A few minutes, ten minutes…

Shi Qian finished several rounds of performances.

The people sitting at the long table looked both pleased and concerned, whispering to each other. Their discussions lasted several minutes each time.

“This is the best-performing little tiger we’ve seen today.”

“It looks as cute and charming as Will. I completely believe Will looked like this as a cub. But the problem is—it doesn’t look like a demon tiger at all now.”

“Demon tigers are all strong and muscular, especially since Will later has to play the Giant Demon Tiger King… so, unfortunately…”

Merlin felt a little disappointed. She had assumed the crew had considered this.

She tried to argue: “But the original work never mentioned how big Will’s body was. It repeatedly emphasized Will’s innocence—even later as the Giant Tiger King, Will isn’t a vicious giant tiger, just a pitiful tiger seeking revenge for his master.”

“Ma’am, you clearly know the original work very well. We’re really sorry. We must apologize. In our rush to make up this part, we were so busy we didn’t conduct a thorough pre-selection, which made you come here for nothing.”

Even leaving empty-handed, Merlin and Shi Qian still received a generous bonus from Mobius Kingdom.

But that little reward was far from being officially selected.

Back in her car, Merlin muttered softly, “White tigers aren’t so easy to pick. Don’t think I don’t know—you just couldn’t find a suitable one.”

Shi Qian nodded.

Will’s tiger design was so stylish that even a human playing it would be difficult, let alone an animal actor.

Shi Qian sensed, somehow, that his fate with Mobius Kingdom wasn’t over yet.

Two weeks later, the phone rang again.

Having just finished a small role, Merlin received the call and fibbed a little: “This might interfere with some of Qian’s scheduled work. We’d have to spend all the pay.”

—They wanted more money.

The Mobius Kingdom crew was generous: “Beautiful lady, how about doubling it?”

Merlin hadn’t thought of a way to respond without seeming deliberate, but they continued: “We can double it again, four times the original pay. This is the maximum budget.”

Any further negotiation might not end well.

Merlin graciously said, “I’m glad you ultimately chose Qian! It’s an honor for Qian and me to participate in Mobius Kingdom.”

With the contract settled, Shi Qian boarded a transnational cruise to the ice plains.

Upon arrival, Shi Qian and Merlin were taken deep into the snowy forest for urgent pre-shoot preparations—bonding with “Will’s master.”

Will’s master was played by a handsome, tall boy with a hint of mischief. His long black hair flowed behind him, and his brown eyes, at first glance, looked like stained old blood.

The boy’s exquisite costume exuded a sexy, mischievous vibe, revealing a patch of white across his chest.

As soon as the scene ended, Ross gasped: “Oh, mama, I’m freezing!”

This was Shi Qian’s first time seeing his “master” in the show. He could tell the boy would definitely like him.

Because the tiger’s fur was thick and warm.

Shi Qian spent half a day, and Ross had been “lured” to the other side where Merlin wasn’t, daringly snuggling up to the tiger.

“You feel so warm, Qian.”

Two days later, Ross was already tempted to crawl into Shi Qian’s sleeping bag.

His manager warned: “Ross, be rational—that’s a tiger! No matter how good-tempered, it’s still a tiger.”

Ross said: “Haven’t you noticed Merlin isn’t afraid of Qian at all? Qian is friendly.”

“But Merlin is a caretaker. What are you?”

“His ‘master.’”

“Then go ahead. Don’t just talk.”

“But there’s definitely Merlin in the sleeping bag…” Ross explained why he couldn’t act.

Compared to the still-nervous humans, Shi Qian enjoyed himself greatly on the ice plains.

The temperature was very cold for humans, but for Shi Qian, it wasn’t particularly chilly. Instead, it brought an inexplicable comfort, making him feel the vastness of the world and complete ease.

Perhaps it was because tigers were meant to live in such natural environments.

Shi Qian even hunted a rabbit for Merlin, but it seemed to scare the crew a little, so afterward, he obediently ate prepared food, no longer trying to privately provide extra meals for himself and Merlin.

But honestly, who wants to hunt in the middle of winter?

If possible, the tiger wouldn’t either.

On the third day on the ice plains, filming officially began.

Shi Qian’s first scenes were playing in the snow with Ross and some simple pre-storyline sequences like warming by the cave fire.

Filming went smoothly. Aside from Merlin not being “tiger-like” enough—too human, and repeatedly corrected by the acting coach—there were no major issues.

The acting coach preferred to show by example, but Shi Qian would only mimic Merlin’s actions.

Faced with Merlin’s struggles at playing a “human” poorly while she was already forced to play a “tiger,” Shi Qian could only give her a loving nuzzle.

“Roar.”

Merlin was resilient. They earned money and got free coaching from the acting coach—a double win.

Still a day of “killing two birds with one stone,” profitable every day.

Merlin adapted to the slightly grueling schedule in three days, learned many of the coach’s tips under pressure, and by the fourth day, was fully active.

Early one morning, Merlin shook the little tiger: “Qian, get up and exercise with me?”

She had a fanatic habit of early-morning workouts to stay in shape. She had paused for a few days due to learning tiger acting, which was exhausting.

Awakened Shi Qian: ?

Shi Qian resolutely shook his head: “Roar.”

Nope.

Merlin said: “Exercise will make you stronger and look better. If you get fat, you’ll look ugly.”

Shi Qian was cheeky: “Roar.”

You can’t fool me.

I’m fluffy—fat looks good on me.