Transmigrating into the Rival's Fanfiction - Chapter 6

“What if we can’t get back?” Sheng Mingluo murmured, her voice tinged with worry as she leaned against Qin Zhi’s shoulder. Her soft hair brushed against Qin Zhi’s neck, and Qin Zhi hesitated before finally reaching out to pat her head.

“Don’t overthink it. Let’s just follow what the System said…”

Qin Zhi wasn’t confident either, but she refused to give up before even understanding the situation.

“Okay.”

“Senior, let me lean on you for a bit.”

This was all she could do for now. She was truly exhausted. Though Qin Zhi disliked physical contact with strangers, she had no choice but to silently tolerate Sheng Mingluo’s actions.

Once they were in the car, Sheng Mingluo rummaged through her bag and found her car and apartment keys. Confirming it was indeed her apartment, she gave Fang Qing the address.

“This place is nice, Teacher Sheng. And quite expensive, too.” Fang Qing set the GPS and drove toward the residential complex.

“Of course! I’ve poured all my earnings from the past few years into this apartment.”

Fortunately, the car and house she had saved up to buy were still hers. Otherwise, Sheng Mingluo would have seriously considered jumping off a building. She was just a hardworking actress who specialized in supporting roles, and even making a living wasn’t easy.

In her early years, when she first started taking on roles, she still had to rely on her parents for financial support.

“I see. I also want to buy a house someday, but I don’t know when that will ever happen… sigh.”

“Keep working hard.”

“My previous dream was also to have my own house, without having to ask my parents for money.”

Sheng Mingluo comforted her. Beside them, Qin Zhi was scrolling through her phone. Nothing much had changed… including her family situation, which remained as frustrating as ever.

However, there was one significant difference. Qin Zhi found an electronic contract on her phone. After carefully reviewing it, she finally understood why she and Sheng Mingluo were in bed together at the hotel.

A patronage agreement.

And it was one she had proposed herself… Qin Zhi didn’t dare look at the detailed terms of the agreement. She felt that whoever had drafted such a document was utterly deranged. In the real world, she would never have done something like this.

There was also a proposed cast list for a film, which Qin Zhi scrolled through carefully. The director was Zhao Le, a renowned figure in the entertainment industry. This man was a real person in the real world, and Qin Zhi had collaborated with him several times, finding him to be of excellent character.

Moreover, Zhao Le possessed solid professional skills, ensuring his films were usually box office hits and critically acclaimed.

Long Blade’s Bitter Regret.

This work was famous, and Qin Zhi was familiar with it. It was considered one of the rising stars of wuxia literature, featuring numerous forbidden romances. The story followed the daughter of the Swordforging Manor’s leader as she led disciples to retrieve stolen swords from bandits. After being delayed for several days, they returned to find the entire manor massacred.

Prince Anshi’s Crown Prince and Princess were dispatched to investigate the case, leading to a tragic love triangle filled with bl00d, tears, and passion.

In the real world, the film rights to this story had yet to be secured, though Zhao Le had indeed been in talks about the script.

They’ve directly transplanted something from the real world into this fanfic… Qin Zhi found it quite amusing. She had read a portion of the novel but never finished it due to her busy schedule.

Intrigued by its world, she hadn’t expected to find a legitimate acting role in this strange new realm. She had genuinely assumed it would all be about… unspeakable things.

This electronic contract appearing on her phone meant she must be one of the leads. Scrolling further down, Qin Zhi spotted a familiar name.

The person was sitting right next to her.

Sheng Mingluo.

She’s playing the female lead? And I’m the second female lead?

Well, this virtual world truly was magical—anything could happen. Qin Zhi felt a flicker of displeasure. After all, she was a Three-Golden-Award-Winning Actress, having swept up awards both domestically and internationally… and now she was playing second fiddle to her junior.

The main issue was that Qin Zhi had seen Sheng Mingluo’s performances. While not terrible, they were far from exceptional. Most of her characters were overly stereotypical, which severely limited her acting range.

Sheng Mingluo was deep in conversation with Fang Qing when her phone suddenly vibrated. Glancing down, she saw two documents Qin Zhi had sent her.

The first one, judging by the title alone, made her reluctant to open it.

I’ll just read it later when I get home, she thought. The novel had only mentioned the existence of such an agreement in passing.

But when she opened the second document, Sheng Mingluo’s excitement surged. This was the single most satisfying aspect of the entire story: Qin Zhi, the legendary Best Actress who had won so many awards her hands ached, was not only acting alongside her but playing her second female lead.

Although the film was marketed as having two female leads, the novel’s plot unfolded entirely from the perspective of Sheng Mingluo’s character, the daughter of the Swordforging Manor’s leader. Consequently, the character development of the other two leads—especially the Crown Prince—was rather thin.

The Crown Prince was essentially a plot device used to pass censorship, with relatively little screen time.

Finally, Sheng Mingluo had been given a chance to shine. Having never received such a good script in reality, she could finally indulge herself in the fanfiction world.

In the fanfiction, this was one of the rewards Qin Zhi had given herself. However, to make it more satisfying, the story contained some inconsistencies.

First, which wealthy patron would pay to have themselves cast as a supporting character?

Since she was already here, Sheng Mingluo decided to fully embrace the experience of playing the Great Female Lead. Channeling her grief and anger into determination, she resolved to make the most of this opportunity. After a lifetime of playing supporting roles, she could finally snag a leading role in a major production.

Who wouldn’t be thrilled?

Alright, she’d temporarily set aside her thoughts of assassinating the author.

Back at home, Sheng Mingluo was still happily reviewing the script, nearly finished when a “ding” sounded in her mind.

The familiar mechanical voice chimed in again.

Congratulations, Host! You have completed reading the script. Completion value +1.

Your current value remains negative. Keep up the effort!

Well, Sheng Mingluo thought, at least things were still unfolding as she’d anticipated. She’d focus on finishing this Great Female Lead role first. After all, a nonsensical wish-fulfillment drama like this would never translate to reality—it was like waiting for a pie to fall from the sky, and even then, it would never land in her lap.

She stayed up all night, poring over the script under the lamplight.

Sheng Mingluo read with feverish excitement. Having read the original novel, she knew the intense debates surrounding the various character pairings—the plot was a rollercoaster of twists and turns.

Checking the contract’s date, she realized the deal had been finalized just recently. Soon, the Director would likely contact them to begin filming.

Sheng Mingluo scrutinized this section with particular care… and naturally noticed the numerous explicit scenes, the author’s perverse indulgences.

Reading them had been thrilling, her face flushed crimson. But now she had to perform these scenes herself!

Recalling the script’s descriptions, she realized this was indeed a dark transaction of capitalist power. Securing prime resources wouldn’t be easy.