The audition was held at one of the office buildings of Worldly Entertainment Corp. Not a skyscraper like Wu Xiaoming had assumed, but a simple one with five floors. It was not that unlike an office building back from Wu Xiaoming's previous world, the only difference was the metal detector at the front and the smell of - what he assumed was weed in the building.
Douglass Kirkland had to handle some other business after dropping him off, and he would probably need to catch his own ride after he was done. With his heart racing, he walked out of the elevator on the second floor. Room 204 would be where he should be.
"Come in." A slightly weary male voice answered the door after he knocked.
"Hello. " Wu Xiaoming nodded at the young man waiting for him inside behind a table. This young man had a full head of red hair, a nose ring and some ear piercings. The room was small, dim, and did not have an inner room like some of the TV shows depicted. It was just the young man, Leslie McKinsey, the director. "Nice to meet you, Mr. McKinsey."
"Good to meet you, Mr. Wu." Leslie McKinsey stood up and extended his hand at Wu Xiaoming: "Welcome to the audition, sorry for this - very poor auditioning room. But it's the only one available on such short notice."
"Yeah yeah yeah, no problem." Wu Xiaoming shook the director's hand, a small wooden carving sitting in the corner of the room caught his eyes for a moment, but he turned his focus on the director immediately: "I'm just - I'm just happy to be here."
"Okay. Let us begin - my assistant might join us in a bit, since you're - you're five minutes early." Leslie McKinsey checked his phone and pulled out a clipboard: "Now, before we start reading some impromptu scripts, a few questions. First, what makes you interested in this project?"
"Oh, paranormal investigation is - it's one of my hobbies. I mean I read a lot about them and watch videos daily." He was facing only one man, yet Wu Xiaoming was still nervous: "And - I actually really want to do some myself some day, if possible - "
"Oh? What do you watch?"
"Uh - some - some online videos, I really like this - this guy who goes to abandoned, haunted houses in China - " Wu Xiaoming was not lying, though the person who did that was in another world: " - his performance was a bit overdramatic, but it's good fun."
"Nice. Nice." Leslie McKinsey nodded: "And - what were your expectations of our show?"
"I haven't really thought much about it. I assume I will be going into some haunted houses as well? Maybe stay somewhere overnight - "
"That's part of it. But sometimes we will need you to be a good communicator as well. Because - " Leslie McKinsey smiled and pulled out a piece of paper with the picture of a hotel printed on it: "For example - this is a hotel that's notorious for being haunted, and having people commit suicide every year. But it's still actively run, under regular management. So in this case, you will need to interview the hotel staff, be friendly with them, and get as much information out of them as possible."
"I see." It was not an unexpected request, so Wu Xiaoming simply nodded.
"And it's not going to be super awkward, because our people will talk to their people beforehand and set things up. But still, you need to be natural and likeable on screen - " Leslie McKinsey was still explaining, when a young girl with freckles and shoulder length red hair came in: "Tammy! Did you get the test scripts?"
"Yes. " The young woman came over, handed the scripts to Leslie McKinsey and smiled at Wu Xiaoming: "Good afternoon, Mr. Wu. I'm Tammy, Mr. McKinsey's assistant"
"Good afternoon." Wu Xiaoming nodded back: "Nice to meet you."
"Now. Let's try this one." Leslie McKinsey handed Wu Xiaoming a script, and another one to Tammy: "Basically it's a list of questions, and I want you to ask Tammy, who'll be playing as the hotel manager. "
"Alright." Wu Xiaoming took a quick glance at the script and asked as the script was written: "Mrs. Grant, what is the first case of unexplainable suicide inside of this hotel?"
"I would say - the first would be in the early 1950s, I don't think we have an exact record of when it was. Back then, the hotel was still new, and under the management of founder Norman Sproutlinger. It was a guest from France, who was visiting here to meet his family. Only a few days after his arrival, he jumped off the balcony."
"And what happened with his case?" Wu Xiaoming followed up as the script instructed.
"Even though there was a lot of suspicion of foul play, there was no evidence supporting it. Therefore it was closed very soon, and ruled as suicide."
"And - when did people start to theorize something supernatural is going on?" Wu Xiaoming frowned and asked directly, not following the script at all.
"Well - " Tammy hesitated for a short moment before responding: "It was not until the third strange suicide that year."
"Did they jump from the same room? Same balcony?"
"No - different rooms. But they all died the same way - " Tammy smiled at Wu Xiaoming: "- they jumped down from the height, face down, well dressed. None of them showed any signs of suicide ideation beforehand."
"Wait - this is a real hotel, right?" Wu Xiaoming turned to the director: "Not a made up hotel for our audition?"
"Yes." Leslie McKinsey and Tammy answered at the same time.
Wu Xiaoming's heart skipped a few beats. It was just a gut feeling, but there must be something there.
"Alright, I think I learned enough." Leslie McKinsey stood up and came up to Wu Xiaoming, ready to shake his hand again: "I don't always say this, but Mr. Wu, the show is yours if you want it."
"Oh, that easy?" Wu Xiaoming was genuinely not expecting it.
"Yeah - you asked the right questions. The script's just a guideline." Leslie McKinsey nodded: "We'll be in touch, okay? I am looking forward to working with you. "
"That's - great - thank you!" Wu Xiaoming did not know how to respond, so he just gave the director and his assistant a light bow: "I'll talk to my agent."
"How do you feel about shooting a test episode first?" Leslie McKinsey asked: "It'll be a place you are already kinda familiar with - Sproutlinger Hotel, a pretty well-known haunted hotel."
"So - the strange suicides are all real?"
"Most of them, yes."