**Chapter 144: Audition Experience**

*Whoosh—*

Kate appeared.

And then Kate was gone.

The hallway returned to silence, as if nothing had happened. But Anson was sure scenes like this played out in Hollywood constantly—perhaps even a hundred or a thousand times more dramatically.

Jack looked at Anson.

Anson looked at Jack.

There was a brief pause, and then both of them burst into laughter, their spirits lifted.

The recent encounter hadn't dampened their mood; instead, it felt like watching a clown perform. A smile crept onto their faces as they shared a knowing look.

And just like that, they put the incident behind them.

Jack asked, "So, are you really going to try the audition?"

Anson shrugged slightly. "At the very least, we should check if it's some kind of pyramid scheme, right?"

Jack: ...

One second, two seconds.

"Haha!" Jack finally caught on and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Originally, Jack had planned to go home and think about it. A single brochure was more than enough for him. But now, after what Anson said, it did seem to make sense to investigate further.

Watching Anson approach the front desk to inquire about auditing a class, Jack hesitated for a moment before following, catching the latter part of their conversation.

"...three trial classes. You can take them anytime, but they're limited to beginner and intermediate levels. Advanced courses require enrollment in our program, and we don't offer free trials for those."

Anson nodded slightly and, noticing Jack nearby, gestured to him before asking, "What options do we have if we want to audit a class right now?"

The receptionist replied, "We have two different stages of beginner classes and three stages of intermediate classes available for auditing. Three of these classes start in five minutes, and you can choose freely from any of them."

A course schedule, along with a personal information form, was placed on the counter.

"If you're ready to audit, we need to register your personal information. Please provide your driver's license or Social Security card, or, alternatively, your Actors' Guild membership card."

The purpose was to prevent people from exploiting the free trials and taking all the beginner and intermediate courses without paying, given that these classes were quite expensive.

Of course, pulling that off wouldn't be easy.

Auditing three or four classes might slip under the radar, but if someone abused the system, the receptionist, students, and instructors would eventually catch on.

Anson was a bit curious, purely out of curiosity. "What if I came with a different fake ID each time?"

Teens under 21 often used fake IDs to sneak into bars for drinks, so surely someone could exploit this system in a similar way.

Jack burst out laughing at Anson's wild idea. "Wouldn't the cost of making the fake IDs already cover the price of the actual classes?"

Anson: ...

Honestly, Anson had no idea how much it cost to make a fake ID, because he'd never done it and never thought to ask.

Wait, I've seen this in TV shows, how much was it again?

Anson raised his hands in surrender, his face full of helplessness, as if caught red-handed. "Sigh, I've exposed the fact that I'm a rookie. But, Jake, how did you know?"

Jake Gyllenhaal was also under twenty-one this year.

Jake was taken aback, "Cough... cough..." and then started coughing violently.

The receptionist's eyes were full of amusement. She didn't expose Jake's pretense but looked at Anson. "If you can appear with different fake IDs but the same face without us discovering and exposing your mask, then it means you're a master of disguise and acting, and we can only admit defeat."

"No, in fact, we welcome such students to come to the academy and 'scam' us."

- "Genius actor comes to acting academy to study but fools everyone with perfect disguise for six months," this news headline alone would be explosive enough and should become the best promotional news for the acting academy.

Anson looked at the receptionist. Her alertness and intelligence left a deep impression. A smile appeared in his eyes, "Are you also an actor?"

The receptionist met Anson's eyes, "Aren't we all actors?"

The simple words seemed meaningful. Although she didn't directly answer Anson's question, the exchange revealed a deeper meaning.

Anson's eyes lit up, and he extended his right hand, "Anson."

The receptionist paused for a moment, then also extended her right hand, "Eva."

Although still young and tender, with some faint freckles on the tip of her nose, her hazy eyes exuded a mysterious and sexy aura, and her natural charm between her brows carried a French laziness.

If Anson remembered correctly, Eva Green should only be twenty years old this year. She was currently studying directing at an art academy and hadn't appeared in any movies or TV shows yet.

Despite this, the aura between Eva's brows left a deep impression.

Kate Bosworth was beautiful, but lacked some vitality. "Barbie doll" was indeed an apt metaphor; Eva Green also had a Barbie doll-like quality, but with a distinct touch of sensuality.

Eva's eyes were very calm and composed, without any fluctuation, as if she was facing the most ordinary potential student who came to inquire, nothing more, nothing less, that was all.

- New actors who came to inquire about courses but actually came to hit on her happened every day, sometimes even in double digits a day.

Eva remained calm. "So, are you ready for the audition? Have you chosen your courses?"

Anson didn't look down at the courses again, "I want to audition for this one, Beginner 1.3."

It was also a beginner course, but not the first introductory class. They could see some content, but it still remained basic, not too advanced.

More importantly, Anson had just finished his work on "The Princess Diaries" today and needed to relax. There was no need to jump right into intense training. Haste makes waste. Instead of rushing to achieve everything at once and getting half the results, it was better to slow down and explore.

Obviously, Anson had already completed his scan and judgment, easily making a decision.

Eva was a little surprised. She thought this man was just joining in the fun. Recalling the brief chaos in the hall just now, an image gradually became clear.

But Eva didn't show it and looked at the other person next to him, "What about you?"

Jake blinked. Was it time to decide already? So fast?

"1.3, same as him," Jake swallowed nervously and said.

Eva didn't say anything more and nodded. "It's the third room on the right side of the corridor, room 106. After registration, you can go in. Other students should have already arrived."

Anson didn't continue joking either. After registering, he and Jake walked towards the corridor, without stopping or further conversation.

Eva leaned out slightly and glanced at Anson and Jake's departing backs -

No turning back for a surprise attack.

Eva found it a bit interesting, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

On this side, Anson pushed open the door of the room and saw it was full of people, completely filling his vision. Because of the overlapping space, he couldn't even see the exact number of people, but a rough estimate was at least ten or more.

Seeing Anson and Jake, they didn't react. Just as Anson was hesitating whether he needed to introduce himself, the door opened again.

"Great, we're ready to start the class now. Let's begin with basic warm-up."

Wait, it was starting just like that? Full throttle right from the start?

Fifth update.