Prison

Li Teng turned around quietly and continued to view the paintings on the wall.

Although the scene just now had been rather frightening, to Li Teng, who felt like he had already died once at the top of the stone pillar, nothing would drive him to the point of panicking and losing his composure, as long as it didn't threaten his life seriously.

The paintings on the wall were very exquisite. Smooth and shiny metal frames framed the paintings, which were covered by a layer of glass.

After he did a close examination of the last few paintings, Li Teng turned around abruptly once more.

As expected, all the wax statues behind him looked at him in unison again.

Li Teng slowly walked toward one of the statues positioned slightly toward the back and examined it closely.

A few seconds later, Li Teng suddenly slammed his fist into the "wax statue" of a man beside the one that he was currently examining.

The "wax statue" was clearly caught off-guard. He didn't expect in the least that Li Teng had already discovered him. It was too late by the time he wanted to duck.

With a muffled "bam!", Li Teng's fist landed heavily on the face of the "wax statue".

"Ouch!"

With his hand covering his face, the "wax statue" collapsed onto the ground with a cry.

Li Teng stepped forward immediately and held the "wax statue" down with his knee. Then, he raised his fist high up in the air again.

"Bro, bro! Stop! I was wrong!" cried out the "wax statue" as he pleaded for mercy.

Obviously, this particular wax statue was actually someone who was alive. Li Teng had seen through his pretense just now after some thinking.

"If you don't wish to be beaten up, then you'd better come clean! What's going on?" Li Teng pressed his forearm hard against the man's chest, preventing him from struggling to his feet.

"I don't have any ill intentions. I was just joking around and playing a prank on you! Don't be angry, calm down…"

"Joking around? Playing a prank? What kind of goddamn prank is this? If you don't explain yourself properly, I'll rip your head off and kick it around like a ball at once!"

Li Teng looked furious.

After being trapped on top of the stone pillar for such a long time and suffering through all sorts of torture, Li Teng had almost lost the courage to live on.

He didn't believe that the man in front of him was the one behind all of this… If he really were, then he shouldn't be this weak. But at the very least, he should know a little something.

"Cough… I was also very bewildered and furious when I had first arrived. I understand how you must feel right now. Don't hit me. You can ask me whatever you want instead. I promise I'll tell you everything I know," replied the man. He had no intention of resisting or struggling at all and merely smiled sheepishly at him in hopes of placating him.

"Fine. The first question—what's the deal with that stone pillar?" The first question that Li Teng asked was the most important one, of course.

In the movies and novels that he had read, whenever the lead character finally got a chance to ask a witness about the various strange events that they had encountered, they tended to ask about a whole bunch of trivialities first and never got right to the point.

By the time they got to the critical questions, the witness would either have been silenced in the movies or the chapter of the novel left at a cliffhanger by the author.

Thus, Li Teng didn't beat about the bush. When given the opportunity, he went straight to the point.

"That 1,000 meters-tall stone pillar?" Obviously, the man knew about the stone pillar too.

"Yes," replied Li Teng as he tried to suppress his agitation. He wanted to know the answer very much.

"I don't know concretely who those stone pillars were made by, nor who the one that transported you to the top of the stone pillar is, either." The man shook his head.

Li Teng kept quiet. His fist rose high into the air again.

"Don't hit this handsome face of mine… I'm also on top of a stone pillar right now, so I'm not faring any better than you, bro. It's your first time here, right? Judging from how you have so many doubts, it looks like you haven't been on top of the stone pillar as long as I have," added the man hurriedly.

Li Teng remained silent, his eyes watching him intently.

Based on what the man had said, it seemed like there wasn't just one stone pillar in the world? In addition, it seemed like there were people stuck at the top of every pillar?

"Although I'm not sure how the stone pillars came to be, or who the ones behind them are, I do know how to lower the height of the stone pillars. As long as we can find ways to lower the stone pillars' height bit by bit until they are only a few meters tall, we'll be able to return to the ground," said the man.

"Aren't we on the ground right now?" Li Teng interrupted him.

"Haha, this is just temporary, like giving us a bit of time out of our prison cells. See that countdown over there? The stone pillars are like prisons, and their height our jail terms. The countdown here can be considered our out-of-cell time. When the countdown ends, we'll have to work. When we're done with work, we'll be sent back to the top of the stone pillars to try our best to survive till the next out-of-cell time…" A look of despair, as though he had nothing to live for anymore, appeared on the man's face.

"We'll be sent back?" Li Teng's heart sank. He was absolutely unwilling to return to the stone pillar, ever.

"Yes. Bro, what's your name? My name is Gao Fei, and you can call me Old Gao. Let's sit and talk instead. Lying down like this doesn't feel that great!"

"How do you lower the stone pillar's height?" Li Teng didn't let go of Gao Fei.

"You've made a membership card just now, right? After you've gone for your first filming session, you'll be able to redeem the stone pillar's height reduction using the membership card points. One point entitles you to one meter. When you've accumulated 1,000 points, you can take 1,000 meters off the stone pillar's height using the terminal. This is the only way you can truly return to the ground and regain true freedom," answered Gao Fei honestly.

"How do I earn points? Look for a job here?" Li Teng didn't care whether the man was being truthful or not. He would think about it again after he listened to what he had to say.

"See those posters on the walls over there?" Gao Fei motioned at the walls around them.

"Yes." Afraid that the man was pulling a fast one on him, Li Teng didn't turn to look.

There was a chance that the man had companions here, but the current Li Teng didn't have the leisure to pay that much attention to things like traps and ambushes. He would think about it again after he had this man completely under his control.

"This is a massive island with a huge film studio, much like a city, on it. Unlucky souls like us take part in the filming of various scenes in this film studio. Of course, we start off by just being extras in the shows and running errands and things like that. Every scene completed entitles us to a few points as a reward. These points may be used for expenses here, or to redeem the stone pillar's height… As reduction, of course," explained Gao Fei in detail.

"Take part in the filming of various scenes? I've noticed that there are people that looked exactly like the wax statues in the posters. What's up with that?" asked Li Teng.

"Being an actor here isn't quite the same as how being an actor in the world we came from is like. When you're an actor here, if your character in the show dies, you'll also die. You'll become a wax statue and end up being displayed here, just like them," replied Gao Fei.

"All of them are people who died after taking part in filming?"

"Yes."

"What will happen if I don't participate in filming?" Li Teng's brows drew together.

"Then you can continue to be stuck on top of the stone pillar and wait to die from starvation! By the way, when you arrived, you ate the food in the cafeteria and even took clothes from the clothing store, right?" asked Gao Fei.

"What's the matter?"

"Hehe, your points must be in the negative now, then. Your only option is to take part in the filming scheduled at 12:00 and earn enough points, such that your point count isn't negative when you leave. Otherwise, you'll end up like them, sent to the Waxwork Museum after striking a pose. You won't even be able to return to the stone pillar, even if you wish to." Gao Fei laughed gloatingly.