Chapter 141 - An Unexpected Connection (2)

'Maybe…?'

Kwon DaeHo knew how important Steven Young was in the movie industry.

His first movie opened the door for a new type of action movie. According to critics, his movies were perfect in all aspects—from the artist aspect to the popularity.

Some movie critics said they gave his movies a perfect score even before watching them.

What if that Steven Young created a movie with Asrian?

'If we're going to do it, we should do it properly.'

It wasn't just a simple, fun project but an important one. He wasn't planning to stay on the side and leave everything to Steven.

If they were to create a movie capable of shaking the world, they needed to make some preparations.

First, Steven needed some time to get used to the game mechanics, and they also needed a good actor.

They also needed someone who knew a lot about Asrian.

Because, in a movie, the scenery and props were important.

Kwon DaeHo thought of someone at that moment and nodded.

'I know a perfect person.'

There was someone who would be the perfect person to put in charge of the project…

Robert Connor.

Robert Connor spent a lot of time monitoring Asrian, so he probably knew more about it than him. He also had a lot of free time, so he would probably be able to help Steven perfectly.

Maybe he was even going to be able to cast the perfect actor.

He probably had many users he frequently eyed while monitoring.

Robert and Steven met because of Kwon DaeHo.

* * *

"Ugh, it's already this late…!"

Robert got up and began running.

He had forgotten about the meeting with Steven because he had been distracted looking at Hyun's play.

Thankfully, when he arrived at the place, rather than getting angry, he greeted Robert happily.

It was because he'd been waiting for that day.

'To think that Dr. Kwon DaeHo would be interested in my movies!'

After Steven realized Asrian's potential, he’d faced many obstacles.

Places like Iluna, which were incredible, were always full of monsters.

Drone cameras weren't provided to individual users, so recording footage from various angles was hard.

It was hard to get props!

He wouldn't be able to use wires. Also, creating special sets was impossible. Steven was starting to wonder if he should give up the project.

'I'm not sure how long it would take to get the foundations ready.'

He received a proposal from Kwon DaeHo while he was puzzled about that!

He was surprised when he told him he was interested in creating a movie with Asrian.

Everything began going smoothly after the two realized they had similar intentions.

"Oof… Director, I'm sorry for being late."

"Oh, Mr. Robert, don't worry. I have also just arrived."

Steven and Robert greeted each other.

Kwon DaeHo was always busy, so the movie project was given to Robert, who was comparatively free.

'We probably won't be able to make a movie immediately.'

Making a movie wasn't an easy task. They were both expecting there to be many hurdles in the future.

So the first step wasn't creating a full-fledged movie but a simple video.

For example, a guild or a party's named boss raid…

A large-scale battle between guilds—a war…

Or maybe a huge-scale hidden quest that wasn’t known yet by most people!

Steven and Robert had decided to create a 30-minute video based on a large-scale hidden quest that they called a 'playing documentary.'

When the plan took form, Steven asked about possible actors.

"Is there a way to make an NPC an actor?"

"An NPC? Ah… You're talking about that NPC."

Robert realized Steven was talking about a second-generation artificial intelligence.

The second-generation artificial intelligence was used to create transcendents like Great Angels or Great Demons, but moving beings at a higher plane like them was impossible, even for Kwon DaeHo.

First-generation artificial intelligence probably couldn't make an expression as Steven wanted… and generation-and-a-half ones also probably wouldn’t be suitable.

"Asrian is a simulator… so we cannot program NPCs' actions. And on top of that, second-generation artificial intelligence have a stronger conscience…"

Steven seemed disappointed after hearing the explanation.

"I guess there's nothing we can do about it. Then can you introduce me to the user Salon?"

"Salon…? Oh, you mean ‘Salon’."

"Oh, is he a user that Mr. Steven knows well? He seemed to have talent as an actor!"

Robert seemed to be thinking about something, and then he smirked.

"There's probably a better option."

"Hmm? Option?"

"A way to get the NPC Mr. Steven wants, get Salon, and even solve the playing documentary issue all at once!"

Robert smiled while thinking about someone.

To be honest, he wasn't sure if they were going to be able to make him interested in the project.

He was a more calculative player than anyone else, at least in gaming, so his intelligence was probably comparable to his. Getting him to sign a contract was probably going to be hard.

But he couldn't think of anyone better than him to put in charge of the project.

"I'm not sure if we're going to be able to grab his interest… but we can at least try."

"It seems like you know a good actor."

"Not only is he the best actor, but he's one capable of arranging the best possible stage. That's if we can make him sign the contract."

Robert sent the first message to Hyun while feeling nervous inside.

* * *

In an empty, white space…

There were three chairs there, and one of them was empty—that was Hyun's place.

Robert told Director Steven of all of Hyun's achievements while they waited for him.

"Woah, is he really that amazing?"

"Yes. There probably isn't any better user to have as an actor. That's it if we can convince him."

Robert seemed confident.

Kwon DaeHo had given him some authority after he put him in charge of the project.

—The authority to move a variable that was under level two, and on top of that, 20 million dollars.

If he used those two weapons, he would probably be able to convince Hyun.

'But I still need to focus.'

It was the first time he’d met up with Hyun face-to-face.

Hyun wasn’t stupid, so Robert had thought about how to convince him to do the project rationally.

After all the preparations were ready, Robert used the developer's authority and summoned Hyun.

Paf-!

Suddenly, the two people sitting at the round table became three.

Just like magic, Hyun suddenly appeared in the chair.

'Hmm?'

Robert flinched for a moment.

'Even though the scenery changed, he didn't change his facial expression?'

After seeing that he didn't even blink, Robert realized Hyun's status.

'Ah, he's in rest mode!'

In Asrian, there was the option of leaving to do other things and maintaining your online status for at least three hours.

It was to ensure people didn't have to log in again whenever they had something urgent to do.

While in rest mode, a user couldn't do anything, so they could only use it if there was an ally around or if you were in a safe place like a private room.

Director Steven tilted his head while looking in confusion at Hyun, who showed no reaction. Robert explained to him what rest mode was.

"He just went to do something; he'll be back soon."

"Oof… I'm starting to get nervous."

"We're going to be able to convince him if we just tell him what we've prepared."

Robert was expecting the day’s contract to be hard to concrete.

Before he came back, Robert went over the conditions again.

There was a summary of the plan on the table.

They were going to start talking about what a playing documentary was and how long it would take to produce.

He had also thought about how much money to offer first and, if he refused, how much more money he could propose.

"I'm going to offer five million dollars at first."

"Five million? Isn't that lower than what we talked about before?"

"Yes, that's true, but the money I received from the director isn't as much as I expected."

"I see…"

"Even if it's five million dollars, it's an amount of money that a normal person couldn't even imagine. Even if Hyun is very intelligent, since he probably doesn't know much about this industry, it's worth trying to offer that. If he doesn't show any reaction, we can always offer more."

At that moment, Robert said the maximum amount of money he could offer.

They were so focused on talking about important stuff that neither noticed that Hyun's eyebrows had moved slightly.

"What will you do if he asks for more money than you can offer?"

"Even if the actor is good, we have to spend lots of money in other areas too, so if that happens, we'll have to refuse."

"Hmm… Yes, that's true. After all, we're already making the preparations. We have to leave aside the money required to film the movie."

They'd gone through all of the topics they were going to talk about.

Robert and Steven waited for Hyun to return.

"Hmm…? Where am I?"

Hyun looked around, acting as if he were surprised.

"What an interesting place…! Is this… Somewhere reserved for developers…?!"

"Ah, you came! Nice to meet you. I'm developer Robert Connor. This is Director Steven."

Robert Connor greeted Hyun.

After a short introduction, they began explaining things.

"So a playing documentary is a video that's about 30 minutes long that shows a specific quest or a battle. It may seem similar to a YouTube video, but it's different from that! We're going to use more than a hundred drones and even put some special effects in!"

"Hmm…"

"How about that? You don't need to use a separate time to record the documentary because we're aiming to record natural gameplay."

"Hmm…"

"And if possible, we wanted to ask if other guild members could participate, too. Especially Ain and Salon! The director seems to have an interest in Salon, haha."

Robert made it clear that he wanted to drag in all members of the Shade Guild.

He already knew that Hyun was the guild leader—that's why he could make a proposal like that.

"Hmm…"

Robert noticed something weird while he was talking.

'His reaction is weird…'

Up until then, he was the only one who had talked.

Hyun had just been listening in silence.

'There's probably content that should be hard to understand at once.'

The fact that he wasn't asking any questions meant one of three things…

The first one was that he was just nodding when, in reality, he didn't understand anything, but he didn't think that Hyun was the type of person who would pass on things he didn't understand.

The second one was that Hyun wasn't interested in it. Since he was someone who prioritized personal growth, he may think that investing time was ineffective. He thought it was the most probable reason.

But if he emphasized that he didn't need to invest extra time in filming the documentary, Robert thought he could convince Hyun.

What about the third option?

If Hyun already knew how the industry worked, maybe he would've understood the content after hearing it. If that were the case, he probably wouldn't need to ask any questions.

'I'm not sure what the reason is.'

Robert tried to guess what Hyun was thinking about.

"Of course, you may be worried about becoming the main actor, but we aren't planning to make a real movie. You don't need to act. You just have to play as always."

A playing documentary was just a way to show a large-scale event of Asrian and some battle videos using movie production techniques.

They planned to use a hundred drones to ensure they didn't have to re-record anything.

Hyun's reaction still wasn't what he had expected.

"Ah, I think I know what you're worried about!"

Robert smiled.

"If you want, we can customize your outer appearance and even change the skill effects!"

After monitoring Hyun for a long time, he realized he was someone who didn't like to show himself.

That meant that they were willing to hide his identity.

And then he mentioned the most important thing.

"So, if you're willing to participate in the project, we'll give you five million dollars."

Just like Robert had planned, he was waiting to see how Hyun reacted to try to negotiate a price.

"I'm going to send you the contract, so feel free to read it and ask me about any details!"

It was at that moment…

Even before checking out the contract, Hyun smiled and looked at both people.

Robert was starting to feel nervous when Hyun opened his mouth.

"Let's make it 9.8 million dollars."

"…!"

With just that one sentence, the flow of the negotiation was completely reversed.

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