Chapter 410 - 277: Zog’s Little Tricks

Chapter 410: Chapter 277: Zog’s Little Tricks

’A Lord of Hell and a Legendary Red Dragon. Is that supposed to be scary? Honestly.’

Zog fought the urge to shout for a new batch, asking instead, "And how exactly are they like rabbits?"

"Rabbits! They’re just like rabbits!" Asmodis said, gesturing wildly as he tried to prove he hadn’t made a mistake. "Those things are super timid, right? They’ll drop dead if you so much as scare them, they’re always in heat, and they pop out babies by the dozen! Rabbits!"

Asmodis gestured with both hands toward the terrified actress candidates, trying desperately to prove how very "rabbit-like" they were.

Zog was speechless. ’So this is what a rabbit is in Asmodis’s eyes?’

’No, wait... that actually is the image of a rabbit, isn’t it?’ he thought. ’There aren’t any books or movies here that portray them as lively, cute, or inspirational.’

"So you’re saying this is what you came up with based on my request?"

"Yes!" Asmodis immediately shot back. "Do you have any idea how hard I worked in Hell to find all these for you?"

Zog tapped his skull, feeling a headache coming on. "Alright, fine. Let’s see what they’ve got. Who knows, maybe one of them will be suitable."

Despite saying so, Zog didn’t have high hopes.

The first one stepped forward.

"First, perform whatever you’re best at. Then, choose a scene from the script excerpts I provided and perform that," Zog instructed.

The first female Devil quickly got into character. Her expression became frail and sorrowful, and her voice, miserable and on the verge of tears, began her tale. "My family’s had it rough since I was a child. My father’s a gambling addict, my mother ran off with another Devil, and I was raised by my grandparents, but their health isn’t good. I also have a younger brother who was born sick... I had no choice but to get into this line of work..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Zog cut the female Devil’s performance short.

’What the hell was that?’

A gambling dad, a mother who ran away, a sick little brother, and her own tragic story.

’Is this the same routine every girl in this line of work uses?’

’It’s designed to win the john’s sympathy, triggering his inner hero complex to ’save a fallen woman,’ which makes it easier to squeeze more money out of him.’

Zog quickly crossed number one off his list.

It wasn’t just her. The next several candidates all pulled a similar stunt.

Zog’s last shred of hope was extinguished.

"You know what, let’s just forget it," Zog said to Asmodis. "How about I give you a new, more specific character profile? You can take another crack at it, or you can have some other Devil do it for you."

Before the Lord of Hell could reply, a rather short female Devil stepped out from the group of glamorous Devils.

Her voice trembled slightly, but she spoke forcefully. "I’d still like to give it a try."

Zog looked at the Devil who had stepped forward on her own accord.

She looked young, by his estimation. He didn’t know much about how Devils aged, but he saw in her a strange, clear-eyed quality, like someone fresh out of school. Of course, that wasn’t to say she was actually a student—Hell didn’t have institutions like schools.

Still, everyone joked about the "clear-eyed stupidity" unique to students.

But alongside that so-called stupidity, there was also a precious sincerity.

It was the kind of thing that vanished completely the longer one was away from school.

Out of curiosity, Zog asked, "What’s your name?"

His tone had the feel of a villainous old man teasing a child.

"Starling," she replied, neither servile nor arrogant.

’That’s the character’s name.’

"Is that your real name, or have you already read the script excerpts?"

"Low Tier Devils don’t have names."

"So you can read Common."

Many Devils could speak Common, but far fewer could read it.

"I taught myself. Online."

That caught Zog by surprise. ’So she’s an ambitious Devil.’

"Why teach yourself to read?"

"Because I don’t want to do this forever."

The more Starling spoke, the more confident she became, and her voice steadied.

"Very good. In that case, what are you best at performing?"

"Can I perform scenes from the script for both parts?"

"Of course," Zog said. The whole point of letting them perform their specialty first was to help them relax; jumping straight into the script was even better. "Be my guest."

"I’ve chosen the final scene. The one where Starling kills Buffalo Bill."