Hollywood: Lights, Ink, Entertainment!

….

[Next Day]

….

•-------[NOTIFICATIONS]-------•

Ⓘ [Following:] Movie

→ [Collect Accumulated Rewards:] [Y/N]

→ [Achievement Available] (Collected ✓)

→ [Achievement Available] (Collected ✓)

([┘]- 22 days of Accumulated Rewards)

---------------------------•

Regal's eyes lingered on the '22 days' notification. It had been exactly three weeks and a day since he last collected his rewards.

"Umm, guess it really has been that long." He murmured, rubbing his chin.

Checking his current balance, a new set of numbers flashed before him.

•----•

ⓘ [EP Available: 1,058,536]

----•

"…little over a million." Regal sighed.

Three weeks ago, he had around thirteen million.

But that had quickly vanished when he upgraded two of his core skills to [World-Class] rank.

•-----[SKILL SLOTS]-----•

» [Slot-1:] Director (Rank – World-Class) [Inactive]

» [Slot-2:] Writer (Rank – World-Class) [Inactive]

•----------------------•

Did he regret it? Not one bit.

Even though some of the [World-Class] effects required specific conditions to fully activate - conditions he still hadn't figured out - the base improvements alone were in a league of their own.

He had never felt clearer in his craft.

Both [Direction] and [Writing] had become something …unique to him.

Regal still remembers what happened yesterday when Gwendolyn had dropped by and he was immersed in writing the script.

The skill had activated to its full potential, and the sensation had been unforgettable.

He didn't just see the script anymore - he understood it on a deeper level.

It was more than words on a page. It was real - Disturbingly real.

For a moment, he had felt like he was inside that world, as if he might never leave.

…though, maybe he was exaggerating.

Either way, the skill helped him write, and that was all that mattered to him right now.

"Let's just collect this reward for now." Shaking off his thoughts, Regal decided to move on.

This would be his second time collecting rewards from [Following] - and possibly his last.

The movie was already in its sixth week, nearing the end of its theatrical run.

It was almost time to say goodbye to his first film.

•---•

「Ding! User successfully collected [Following] rewards!」

[Total Watch Count:] = 18,012,671 + ↑4,599,431

[Total EP Earned:] = 2,299,715

「Your total EP is now: 1,058,536 + ↑2,299,715 = 3,358,251」

•---•

"Right, 3.3 million." Regal muttered.

It is within what he had expected. The film had made 150 million in its first three weeks. And following that, it still performed well in its fourth, but the inevitable drop in its fifth and sixth weeks overall added 52 million since then.

A 75% decline.

A steep drop on paper, but honestly? The industry had predicted worse.

Just as Regal was about to close the panel, the system screen, one that should have disappeared or at least remained idle, suddenly shifted again.

"…there is more?"

A new notification popped up.

•---•

「Ding! New Accomplishment Recorded!」

「User Film [Following] - Rank Up!」

 ➥ [Rank: C] → [Rank: A]

「Ding! User is Rewarded a Unique Skill [Polyglottery]!」

Ⓘ Polyglottery: Enhances language acquisition speed, comprehension, and fluency across multiple languages.

•---•

Regal blinked. "…Wait, is this a..?"

Did this mean he could just learn any language like that?

"…Hold on. Can someone even have two Unique Skills? Even Stephen Hawking only had one last time I checked…"

He sighed, shaking his head.

"This [System] keeps getting more and more mysterious…"

Without wasting another second, Regal pulled up his skill slots to check the updates.

•-----[SKILL SLOTS]-----•

» [Slot-1:] Director (Rank – World-Class) [In-active]

» [Slot-2:] Writer (Rank – World-Class) [In-active]

» [Slot-3:] Drawing (Rank – Expert)

» [Slot-4:] Cinematographer (Rank – Intermediate)

Ⓘ [Unique Skill:] Insight

Ⓘ [Unique Skill:] Polyglottery

Ⓘ Note: [Word-Class] Skills cannot be swapped

•----------------------•

Tring-! Tring-!

Just then, his phone rang on the table.

Regal picked it up immediately. "Yep. What's up, Simon?"

["Don't give me that, you are the one who called me over."] Came Simon's casual voice from the other end.

Regal leaned back. "I mean, where are you?"

There was a reason for asking, if Simon had already arrived, Samantha would have let him know by now.

["Where else? Your office."]

Right on cue, a knock came from the door.

Regal pulled the phone slightly away. "Yeah?"

As expected, it was Samantha.

…So, they are here.

"Just send them in." Regal said.

Moments later, Simon and Darren stepped inside, led by Samantha.

Right. Darren was here too. Regal had invited them together.

The five of them moved over to the lounge area beside Regal's desk, settling into their seats.

After a bit of small talk, Regal got straight to the point.

Darren blinked, tapping his ear like he was checking for interference. "I need a second opinion here. Did he really just say he wants both of us as Line Producers for his second film?"

Simon chimed in, arms crossed. "Actually, I have a more important question. How do you keep coming up with these weird titles? First [Following], and now [Death Note]?"

Darren shot him a flat look. "That's your takeaway from all this?"

"Obviously." Simon deadpanned. "Priorities, my guy."

Then, as if something had just clicked, his eyes widened, and he snapped his fingers. "Wait, hold on - Regal's joking about the budget, right? No way he's actually pulling in 50 to 60 million."

He let that number hang in the air for a moment, then exhaled. "…Right?"

Darren exchanged a glance with Regal.

Regal, unbothered as ever, simply gave a small nod. "That's the gist of it."

This wasn't a decision he had made lightly.

After a lot of thought, he had finally brought in these two, Darren and Simon, because he needed them on board.

Darren, his senior from college, had experience handling extras on set and was skilled at assembling the right people for a proper film crew.

Back when Regal was working on [Following], it was Darren who had helped him scout the locations, get the permits, gather the crew, and even rent the film equipment.

And then there was Simon.

Other than his mid acting powers, among them, he was the most experienced in the filmmaking business. His expertise was invaluable, and his involvement would be crucial in making this project work.

Darren let out a long breath. "This guy… He was reckless back in college, but now? I don't even have words."

Regal understood Darren's and Simon's reaction.

60 million - that was a huge amount.

If we are talking about pure scale, then it was 120xtimes the budget of [Following], which had barely scraped by at 500K.

"Man, just how much did [Following] rake in for you to throw this much cash around now?" Simon let out a low whistle. He shook his head. "…And you really have no concept of savings, do you?"

Simon didn't know exactly how much Regal had made from [Following], but he was certain it wasn't more than what Regal was now planning to invest in his second film.

And the worst part?

From what Simon knew, Regal had done this before.

He had poured everything he earned from his book into his first film.

Now, he was doing it again.

Throughout the conversation, Samantha remained silent - not because she didn't have anything to say, but because she had already said her piece.

Before reaching this point, Regal had already discussed his plans with the people in his closest circle, more precisely - Gwendolyn, Keanu, Seren, and… her.

Though, discussion might be a generous way to put it. It was more like Regal was informing them of his decision rather than asking for input.

When he laid out the rough budget for [Death Note], Seren had tried to talk him down, but, as expected, it hadn't worked.

About Gwendolyn? Samantha didn't even want to bring her up. Forget trying to talk Regal out of it, she had looked like she was ready to invest in the film herself if he happened to be short on cash.

In the end, the numbers they were looking at now were the inevitable result of that so-called conversation.

"Are you sure about this, Regal?" Simon asked, this time with a tone of finality.

"Sure as always." Regal smirked.

Simon exhaled, eyeing him for a moment before shrugging. "…Alright, I am in."

Faster than expected.

But then again, it was a tempting offer.

Simon had done his part, tried to warn Regal, but as expected, it hadn't worked.

So that was that.

Despite all his concerns, deep down, he believed that, if there was anyone who could actually pull this off, it was Regal.

Simon had worked on countless films and short projects, but nothing had ever given him the same feeling as working with Regal.

Back in their younger days, they would shoot random short films together, purely for the love of filmmaking. He had felt that same passion on Regal's set.

…and, well, the pay was great too.

Regal had always been the type to reward people generously.

In fact, after the success of [Following], he had given bonuses to everyone who worked on the film, no exceptions - from the lead actor to the lighting crew.

"I don't even have a choice… I owe him too much to say no." Darren muttered.

Regal arched his brows. "You're still hung up on that? That's exactly why I didn't call you first, I didn't want to give you time to overthink it."

Leaning back slightly, he added, "Just do it if you want to."

Samantha and Simon exchanged glances but stayed silent. There was definitely something unspoken here, but neither of them chose to call it out.

A brief pause. Then—

"Ugh, whatever. Let's do this." Darren exhaled sharply before standing up and extending a hand toward Regal. "This time, I won't leave you on your own."

Regal let out a small chuckle.

"Haaa! Group hug, guys—"

Before anyone could react, Simon stretched his arms wide and yanked both Regal and Darren into a crushing bear hug.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

"…Did—did you just dislocate something?" Darren wheezed.

"I-I am out—I quit! I quit!"

Regal exhaled in a slight pain. "Och… Don't worry, Darren. You will get used to it."

Darren's expression twisted in horror. "Get used to it?! That's even worse!!"

.

….

[To be continued…]

★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★

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