Bad Contract (3)
Manhattan, New York. Times Square.
Right in the center, on the massive electronic display known as the Sony Jumbotron, a video began to play.
With a deep, resonant voiceover, spectacular action unfolded. A man runs through the desert! He fires a gun! He chases a helicopter on a motorcycle!
Times Square in New York was one of America's most famous landmarks. A place bustling with tourists all year round. The "heart of America," where running a single advertisement for a certain period cost at least hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars due to its immense impact.
People walking down the street looked up, staring blankly at the promotional video playing on the giant screen.
"Oh... looks like something new is coming out?"
"Who's the lead?"
As if waiting for that very question, a name appeared.
"Oh my goodness."
"Is... is that Sion...? What in the world... He is absolutely gorgeous!"
The moment it was revealed that the man performing all those intense action sequences with a muscular physique was Sion Lee, the onlookers couldn't help but gasp in sheer admiration.
He looked like a modern-day Hercules, his entire body sleekly optimized.
People who had gathered from all over the United States returned to their respective homes with today's trailer etched into a corner of their minds, raving to their acquaintances.
"Did you hear? Sion Lee has a new movie coming out."
"Yeah, I saw. They were advertising it on TV."
"Bad Contract. It felt a bit like Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible."
"I'd put my money on Sion. Just looking at him, he's incredibly sexy."
"Come on, no matter how good he is, he can't beat Tom's experience. And that gaze of his..."
While The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which had opened earlier in May, was following in its predecessor's footsteps and recording massive box office numbers, Bad Contract instantly captured the public's undivided attention the moment its full-scale promotions began.
And no one could deny that the lead actor played a massive role in that.
Sion Lee.
Needless to say, he was the hottest rising "Prince" in Hollywood today.
An actor who, at some point, had transcended his "brat" reputation and firmly established himself in the public's mind with his unique charm. His bold remarks and actions left many wondering, What is this guy going to do next?
When news spread that such a man had built up a muscular physique to star in a gritty action film, and with proper promotion leading up to the release, the reaction exploded like a chain reaction.
Starting with various advertisements, it was a global-scale "carpet bombing" preparation for Bad Contract, spanning video games, novels, soundtrack albums, action figures, and T-shirts to be released alongside the movie.
And the reactions from the first press preview were revealed across the nation on the day of its release.
"A perfect harmony of action, wit, and sex appeal. Sion Lee's new adventure."
"Gritty and powerful. A thrilling, globetrotting chase!"
"The contract was bad, but the movie is spectacular! A must-watch multiple times!"
The bombing was over, and the public's brains were thoroughly scrambled by Bad Contract. Now, they had only one choice left: to watch this movie.
...Me?
Meanwhile, Sion Lee tilted his head in confusion.
June 7, 1997. Saturday.
The long-awaited release date of Bad Contract.
The first installment of a blockbuster project that had been ongoing for over two years.
Normally, to relieve tension, he would have gone out somewhere to cause a bit of trouble or immerse himself in another project... but strangely, he ended up going to watch the movie. And on its very release date, no less.
What on earth am I doing?
Yet, he meticulously picked out a shirt and jeans, put them on, and even sprayed some cologne. It was an act that was half-habit as a public figure.
...Well, one thing was for sure.
"Still handsome today."
Sion joked to himself as he stepped out the door.
The sun had already set, and night had fallen. Hollywood, which had been in an uproar since morning, was relatively quiet now. But as if today was just beginning for him, Sion got into the Porsche he had received as a sponsorship and headed to Elena's mansion to pick her up.
Up to this point, it's the same as during Fragment.
However, the flow of events after this was slightly different.
"You're here?"
Unlike their first date, which had begun with her jumping out of a window, Elena walked out proudly through the front entrance. Her white dress suited her incredibly well.
Leaning against the car, Sion casually opened the door for her and teased, "How did you come up with a date like this?"
"Someone taught me. They said dates are much more fun at night."
"And who might that be?"
"Oh, you know. My very first date partner."
The direct remark slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. But it was the truth.
"..."
"..."
Having answered boldly, she suddenly fell silent. A slight awkwardness settled into the quiet, and a part of it transformed into a flutter of excitement. Fortunately, the roaring engine of the Porsche 911 masked it to some extent.
Driving the car, they quickly arrived at a theater that had already finished all of its screenings for the day and turned off its lights. But when they slipped to the back door and knocked, the theater owner, who had been waiting for them, opened the door.
Had Elena said it was someone she knew through family connections?
Sion followed Elena as she led the way inside. Seeing her naturally walk over to the snack bar to grab popcorn and soda, he joked again.
"Have you worked here before?"
"I only work the dawn shift to get overtime pay. Care to join?"
"I'll have a Diet Coke."
A date for just the two of them in a closed theater late at night. While it felt romantic, Sion couldn't help but feel a bit strange realizing that the movie they were about to watch was one he starred in.
"This is probably the best we can do for a 'normal movie date' given our situation, right?"
"Well, if we came when other people were around... it would have been absolute chaos. We'd probably get caught up in so much trouble that we wouldn't even make it into the theater, let alone watch the movie."
Just like all the movies Sion had filmed after his regression, Bad Contract had drawn massive crowds in front of theaters since dawn—no, since the previous evening.
And the moment the theaters opened, the lines shrank rapidly as tickets flew off the shelves, selling out every single showtime for the day in less than an hour.
The same phenomenon occurred in countless theaters across the nation. Everyone who loved movies and sought entertainment came together as one to watch.
"What do you think? Do you think the response to the movie will be good?"
"I'll be moving to a bigger house soon."
"Is... is it that much...?"
Entering the empty screening room and waiting for a moment, the surroundings soon darkened, and the movie began. A special moment, like a date just for the two of them, prepared by the theater owner.
"Want some popcorn?"
"Leave it there. I'll eat it slowly."
"Yeah, okay."
The Warner Bros. logo appeared, and silence fell.
Stealing a glance at Sion's focused profile, Elena silently picked up a piece of popcorn and put it in her mouth. For some reason, she couldn't chew it properly, rolling it around in her mouth before finally swallowing it whole.
Though she was trying to act casual, her heart was beating much faster than she had imagined. It was so loud that she worried he might hear it right next to her.
"..."
Pretending as if nothing was wrong, she had gone to Sion's house, cooked for him, and shared various conversations, which eventually led to scheduling this date. But even so, she had never expected things to unfold like this.
A date for just the two of us, renting out a theater after hours.
It was a situation straight out of a romance movie.
What should she do? Should she hold his hand? Would that be okay? But wait, didn't she just grab some popcorn?
"..."
Just when... did she start being so conscious of him like this?
Why did she keep looking at his face without ever getting tired of it?
Staring at Sion with stolen glances, Elena turned her gaze back to the screen at a sudden roaring sound.
A city in a desert somewhere in the Middle East.
Bad Contract opened by showing two groups engaging in an urban firefight with several houses between them. A barrage of bullets flew, and grenades exploded. A movie that pulled the audience into the screen in a thrilling manner right from the start.
The stalemate, which had lasted for a while, ended in victory for one side as a man with his entire face covered by goggles and cloth showed brilliant resourcefulness.
"Alex?! Alex...!"
"Leave him! He'll end up as minced meat doing that stupid shit!"
His comrades reacted as if they were already used to him breaking formation alone.
Having climbed up to the rooftop, he leaped between buildings, taking down every enemy in sight. He occasionally engaged in close-quarters combat, easily overpowering his foes and ramping up the audience's excitement.
And finally, after the battle ended, he pulled off his headscarf, revealing Sion's face.
"Phew. I don't know why there's no overtime pay for this job, no matter how hard I work."
"..."
That face, that line.
Watching the opening sequence, Elena was instantly and naturally sucked into the movie.
The scene transitioned. A man who appeared to be today's mission team leader scolded him as he took off his military jacket and chewed on beef jerky in a sleeveless shirt.
"The team almost got wiped out because of you. Do you even realize that?"
"Hmm. Are you saying the guy I just shot was an ally?"
The sarcastic tone and attitude. It was unmistakably Sion Lee.
But... something was different.
His bulging, muscular forearms and broad shoulders.
Elena, who had instinctively tried to cover her face with her hands, soon decided there was something to learn from this as well and began to openly observe Sion's—no, Alex's—body on the screen.
He was a mercenary belonging to a PMC.
The setting is quite unique.
Elena felt a spark of interest.
Usually, in this era, the "heroes" of such major commercial content belonged to "state institutions." They were secret agents or police officers.
But she had never imagined they would boldly present someone who didn't belong to a nation as a hero.
Alex Riley, a man who was once a soldier but discharged for some reason, became a mercenary, and ended up participating in this operation through a "bad contract."
And that man takes an interest in the "sample," the target of this operation.
Because it was by no means an ordinary target.
The PMC he belonged to merely told him to "mind your own business and focus on the mission," but Alex, born with a rebellious streak, takes the code written on the sample and begins a personal investigation.
Thus, Bad Contract began in earnest.
Aside from Sion Lee, the only other famous actor was Jodie Foster, who played the CIA operator.
The main villain, Wolf of the PMC, was by no means an actor of the caliber to play the main antagonist in a blockbuster of this scale.
Warner Bros. probably slotted in an actor they want to push in the future.
Even though she could deduce minor "industry circumstances" from the casting, as the movie progressed, Elena became certain.
This is bound to work.
The energy Sion possessed as an actor seemed to burst right through the screen.
He caused trouble wherever he went, plunging into this mess out of personal curiosity and a tiny shred of justice, only to suffer terribly for it. It was a point he brought up multiple times, constantly grumbling to himself.
Yet, he didn't stop.
"Where do you think you're going? We've got round two of this boxing match."
Even when he was trading fists one-on-one with a massive Russian mobster.
"It was you? Wow, I really had no idea."
Even when he discovered that his PMC superior, Wolf, was the mastermind behind the entire plot.
"Whew, alright. Let's save the world for once... and if I die, at least tell them I fought well."
Even when communicating with the CIA operator right before the final battle.
He always kept the mood light, and even when he was beaten to a pulp and knocked down, he stood right back up.
At some point, thoroughly entangled in this "bad contract," he fought for the people while uncovering the full scope of the conspiracy.
Alex fought against a defense contractor planning to plunge the world back into the flames of war by launching a biochemical gas terror attack in the middle of New York, and the PMC that secretly aided them.
Watching Sion Lee perform all kinds of action with his muscular body, Elena felt a sense of "sincerity" in this movie.
The feeling was different because of his intense acting, meticulous psychological expression, and the fact that the actor performed many of the action sequences himself.
The fact that Alex, who had essentially abandoned his country to live alone, continued to fulfill this unwanted "bad contract" not for the nation, but for his adopted daughter and the countless citizens who would be caught in the crossfire, felt incredibly charming.
It was a role that only Sion Lee, "Hollywood's broken prince," could pull off.
"It really was a 'bad contract'."
Finally, after everything was over and he had saved America, Alex grinned.
The movie concluded as CIA agents arrived late at the scene where he stood.
The epilogue followed.
"A man who was at the scene at the time was of great help in resolving this case."
A briefing room shrouded in darkness. Jodie Foster, who knows the entire truth of the incident, continues the briefing.
"His name is Alex Riley. ...He was a soldier in the past, but he is currently working as a mercenary."
"A mercenary? That's unusual. Why would a guy who only moves for money cooperate in this case?"
"Well..."
As Jodie Foster pondered the high-ranking official's question and answered, the screen transitioned.
Back to the Middle Eastern desert.
"Okay, let's do this."
Alex, stretching widely, heads out into the desert in his mercenary gear.
"..."
As the movie ended, Elena Asimov stared blankly at the rolling credits.
"How was it?"
Sion asked on purpose, even though he knew she had been completely immersed in the movie and enjoyed it.
An empty theater with just the two of them. Because of that, they could focus even more.
Her first reaction was as follows.
"..."
"You always suffer so much like this."
"If they offered ten million dollars and asked someone to do what I did, there'd be plenty of people lining up."
"That's not the point. It was a wonderful movie. Truly... to the point where I could feel exactly how much you suffered for this film. This isn't just a simple action movie. It's a work that clearly shows who the actor Sion Lee is. It's truly amazing. ...And to someone like you, I want to say this."
Stopping for a moment to take a deep breath, Elena offered words that no one else had ever said to him.
"You've worked so hard all this time, Sion."
"..."
Hearing those words, Sion suddenly felt his mind stuttering like a broken clock.
The tension and hardships accumulating within the human Sion Lee, behind the actor.
It felt as if a side of himself that he had deliberately ignored since deciding to live as an actor had been discovered.
And the fact that it didn't feel bad at all for her to uncover it was incredibly strange.
"Hehe, say something funny at times like this, you dummy."
And Elena, noticing even Sion's mood, playfully showed her consideration.