Gamer Superstar

Chapter 152 152 - Observe again

When Laura saw me, she managed to calm down.

She wasn't in perfect condition right away, she had to redo her scenes a few times, but little by little she got better and better, to the point where she stopped making mistakes and her acting came very close to the level we had maintained when we practiced together at school.

From what I analyzed, it turned out that Phil and Edward, the man who played Phil's father-in-law, who were the only two B-rank actors, were the two with the highest acting ability, surprisingly followed by Laura, even though she didn't manage to show how good she really was.

The character of the two had the typical standard son-in-law and father-in-law relationship in most shows that had two such characters.

The father-in-law is a rich man and the son-in-law is an ordinary man who isn't good enough for the father-in-law's daughter, but the wife likes him anyway because he's a good person and has a good sense of humor.

As soon as I noticed how well they acted together, I activated my [Observe] skill to learn as much as possible from them.

Edward was at the scene with an arrogant tone, looking at Phil as he fiddled with a tool. "Do you really think you can fix this? My dog would do a better job."

Phil smiled nervously, trying to keep his cool and respond with humor. "Well, maybe I should ask your dog for help next time. He seems more qualified than me, at least according to you."

Edward raised an eyebrow, obviously not amused. "It's not just about qualifications, Peter. It's about responsibility. And you have a lot to learn about that."

Phil replied without missing a beat. "Ah, responsibility! That explains why you keep watching me so closely. I'm just trying to learn from the best."

During their interaction, the two of them kept up a very fast pace, really making me believe that they were arguing, as if this wasn't real acting. Edward raised his voice to show his character's frustration with the presence of Steve, Phil's character, while making exaggerated gestures to make the situation even more comical.

"It's not just about learning, Steve. It's about being worthy. Do you think you're worthy of my daughter? She deserves the best, and frankly, you're nowhere near it."

Because this was a pilot episode, even though I felt that this dialogue was more expository than it would have been in reality, it was important for the audience to immediately understand what the relationship was between these characters and how they saw themselves in this world.

Steve' tried to remain calm, but his discomfort was palpable. He stuttered a bit, trying to regain his composure. "I may not be perfect, but believe me, I'd do anything for her. And maybe one day I'll even be able to prove that to you."

The tension between the characters reached its peak with "Eric," Edward's character practically exploding with rage. "Anything? Let's see how long you can stand this attitude. Patience is a virtue, but even mine has its limits."

Steve" desperately tried to calm him down by showing a vulnerable and sincere side. "I know I have a lot to prove, and I'll do my best to earn your respect. I just hope you'll give me a chance."

Watching all this, I was impressed by her skill. Edward managed to convey the arrogance and disdain of a disapproving father-in-law perfectly, while Phil captured the essence of the well-meaning but often inadequate son-in-law.

Even though this was their first scene together as these characters, I was captivated by how they acted and only woke up when I felt my body getting weak.

This made me quickly stop using [Observe] and look at the result.

[+1 Acting].

[+1 Stage Presence].

[+1 Acting]

[+1 Stage Presence]

[+1 Acting].

[Acting Mastery Lv 23 -> 26]

[Stage Presence Lv 14 -> 16]

[Mana 150/150 -> 29/150].

In just two minutes, I had increased my Acting Mastery by 3 levels and, surprisingly, my Stage Presence by another 2 levels!

When I thought about how imposing Phil and Edward were on stage, and how they clearly made their presence known and drew the attention of everyone around them with their performance, I had to admit that it really made sense for them to have a pretty high Stage Presence.

Getting two more levels was great news for me.

When I felt the knowledge I was gaining just by observing them, I was very satisfied with my [Observe] skill, how useful it was.

Unfortunately, I still hadn't found a way to recover my mana faster.

Even though I tried to learn how to meditate on the Internet, I couldn't even get a skill out of it!

This made me think that there might be some detail I didn't know about that was preventing me from figuring out how to solve the problem.

For the time being, I had to make do with recovering only 6 mana points per day, which was an extremely low number, and it would take me almost a month to fully recharge my mana and be able to use the skill again.

So for the time being, I was still using this skill sparingly.

However, looking at my improvement in [Acting Mastery] and [Stage Presence], I couldn't help but be satisfied.

When I saw Laura's character interacting with the other characters on stage, I thought it would be fun to act as her as well.

But there was something that made me a little worried from what I observed of their interactions.

The girl who played the middle sister of Laura's character, Sophia, ignored Laura whenever Luara tried to talk to her when they stopped recording.

The thought that she was a lower C-rank artist while Laura was a high D-rank left me confused.

It is not possible for this girl to be so arrogant because of such a small difference in rank, is it? I thought as I began to analyze her.

From what I observed, she actually acted nice and humble while interacting with other artists with a higher rank than her, such as Julia, Phil, and Edward, while ignoring Laura and Nolan, the little boy who played the youngest son in the family, because they were both D-rank artists.

And while I was paying attention to the show, Sophia also noticed me, and I could see a slight surprise on her face as she looked at me.

There was even a slight, awkward attempt on her part to... flirt with me?

I could see how strange she was acting as she looked at me from time to time with a smile on her face, apparently checking to see if I was paying attention to her and smiling at me from time to time.

Since she was the younger sister of Laura's character, it was obvious that she was younger than Laura, who was my age, maybe 13 or 14?

The way I saw it, she looked about the same age as Olivia and Isabella's older sister.

What is it with these girls? I asked myself in surprise. When I was that age I just liked to play and fight at school, where did I have time to think about dating someone else?

The worst thing about it was that she had a lot of scenes with Laura, which made me pay attention to her for Laura's sake, who needed my emotional support, but that made the girl misunderstand that I was paying attention to her...

But I just decided to ignore it and support Laura until the end of the recording.

Obviously they couldn't finish the whole episode today, so Laura would have to come back in the next two days to finish her scenes.

"If you want, I can bring you here in the next few days." I said as we left the studio after Laura took off her costume.

I could tell she was embarrassed because she wanted to talk to me but couldn't bring it up.

As soon as I said it, I noticed that her eyes lit up.

"Really?!" She asked as she grabbed my arm.

"Yeah, I might need to come in from time to time to record so I can take the opportunity to familiarize myself with the place...of course I won't be able to come every time since I have my own things to do as well, but this week and next week it wouldn't be a problem to come and help you out." I said. "Do you think you'll be able to calm down after two weeks?"

The first part of what I said made her very excited, but when she heard the end she became worried and thoughtful.

"I think so..." She said. "I'll try my best!"

With that statement I relaxed and smiled.

"Okay, let's try to improve your anxiety in the next few weeks." I laughed as we got on the bike and rode back to school.

Luckily, I didn't run into Sophia as we left, because I was worried about how she would act and what I would have to deal with.

Artist personalities were hard enough to deal with, especially when the artist was so young and had already let it get to her.

So I just preferred to keep my distance and not have to deal with it.

After dropping Laura off at school, I came home and was excited as I looked at my channel and 'Bailando', wondering how many views it had and how much it had moved me up the charts.

Seeing a song grow so much more than my other songs made me want to look at it all the time to see how many views it had.

I knew it wasn't healthy, but I wanted to do it anyway.