Do You Want Some Cookies? (3)

At the same time, in a girls' dormitory at Stanford University.

"E-Elena...! Look at that!"

At Anne's highly excited shout, Elena, now quite used to it, nibbled on a cookie and focused on the television.

Seeing Sion's autograph written in white marker on the driver's seat headrest, the host made a huge fuss, and the female students in the studio screamed along in unison. Elena, like a white cat grooming itself in its own world regardless of the chaos around it, simply broke off a large chunk of chocolate embedded in her cookie and popped it into her mouth.

"This is insane! Wow, no joke!"

"Oh my god! The price of that is going to skyrocket! Sion Lee actually signed it...!"

"Can't I just have the headrest?!"

"No! I want the whole thing!"

"Haa, I wouldn't even dream of that... I just want to ride in the passenger seat while Sion drives."

"Me too..."

After shouting in excitement for a while, the girls suddenly stared intently at Elena.

Blatantly, intently.

"..."

Elena, who had been silently and slowly chewing her chocolate, couldn't withstand their gazes and answered.

"I-I've ridden in it."

"Kyaaaaaaaaah!"

Elena was nearly blown away by the sheer pressure of their high-pitched screams.

"Really?! Really?! You've been in a car driven by Sion Lee?!"

"Did you kiss?! Tongue?!"

"..."

"G-girls. Elena is getting uncomfortable."

Anne, the last bastion of conscience in the Stanford girls' squad, tried her best to cover for her.

Having lived together for over a year, they had naturally become this close. At first, everyone had hesitated to approach Elena, but as time passed, they gradually grew closer, and now they asked about such personal matters without a second thought.

And Elena... didn't particularly find it uncomfortable. She just didn't really know how to answer.

"Ah, they're drawing the winner."

Her brain half-frozen, Elena pointed at the television. Just in time, the final draw for the grand prize was about to take place.

On the broadcast, a large screen was set up, and Sion was presented with a button to spin the wheel.

The phone number was displayed on the screen with the caption "Call now!"

One of the more mischievous girls boldly picked up the phone right next to the TV and dialed. Watching her, Anne asked with a worried expression, "I-is that okay? Isn't it a toll call...?"

"Don't worry! Do you know how much tuition I pay to this school?!"

"What if you win?"

"There's no way!"

Though she said that, the girl couldn't hide her immense anticipation.

Just hearing that made the Stanford girls let out thrilled screams.

'Right, there's no way,' Elena thought, resting her chin on her hand after finishing her cookie.

Between on-site, mail, and phone entries, nearly five million people must have applied to the station by now. Besides, it was just a guess, but the station would likely want to award the prize to someone in the live audience to create a better picture.

In other words, once Sion pressed that button, everything would surely unfold according to the station's pre-arranged script.

"Kyaaa!"

"My dopamine!"

As Sion pressed the button with a bright smile, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the icons represented in dot graphics on the screen began to spin furiously. Icons of letters, phones, and people. While they spun like crazy, the brass band played intensely.

Then, gradually slowing down... it stopped on one icon.

The phone.

And then, a sound followed.

Click.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"Wait..."

The sound came from two places. Inside the television, and through their own phone receiver.

A triumphant fanfare and the roaring cheers of the audience erupted immediately after.

All the girls' brains instantly short-circuited. The phone receiver was passed around like a hot potato—"You take it!" "No, you take it!"—among them.

Unable to bear such a massive responsibility, the girls eventually scrambled and hid behind the sofa.

Only two remained on the sofa. Elena and Anne.

"E-Elena?"

Stunned by the fact that they had actually won a Porsche 911, Anne was practically hyperventilating.

Flustered, Elena looked back.

'If I answer, it's going to look totally rigged!'

...Her expression screamed those words, but the girls shot back looks that said, 'Please! We beg you! We're too terrified to have our voices broadcast on national television!'

The shy Stanford girls could only look at Elena with desperate, pleading eyes, while host Lily's final warning came through.

However, Elena Asimov, 21 years old with 15 years of acting experience, never let a given 'stage' slip away.

"H-Hewwo~!"

"..."

"..."

The girls watched in sheer shock as Elena put on the most childlike voice possible to hide her identity. But she was a professional. And if she willed it, this was just another stage. Her acting was flawless.

...And that was precisely the problem.

Oh, no! A child couldn't claim a Porsche!

Instantly realizing this fact, Elena delivered the performance of her life...!

"Uwah~? An aduwt? Mommyyy~!"

Rustle, tap. She even made the sound of handing over the phone.

"Ah, yes. Hello, I've taken the phone."

Elena began to speak in a voice far more elegant and mature than her usual tone. Watching her instantly shift her tone, cadence, pitch, and even the very impression of her face, the girls ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠felt goosebumps break out all over their bodies.

So this was a true actress. Someone who, the moment a cue was given, could transform into an entirely different person at any time, anywhere...!

Elena expressed her joy in the loudest voice she could muster. But then, a sudden wave of embarrassment washed over her. Lifting her flushed face, she looked at the TV screen and saw Sion turning his head away, desperately trying to hold back his laughter.

'He knows...! He definitely realized who it is...!'

Steam seemed to hiss and rise from Elena's small head like melting ice.

This was truly an unexpected turn of events.

Sion smiled at how cute Elena was being with her coy response. In any case, a massive coincidence had occurred, but thanks to that, the auction broadcast concluded successfully without any hitches.

'Goal achieved.'

After exchanging light jokes and well wishes, Sion ended the call, leaned back comfortably on the sofa, and checked the broadcast. MTV was airing edited highlights of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠special giveaway broadcast whenever they had a slot. Monitoring himself on the screen, Sion confirmed whether his intended message had been delivered.

Ultimately, there was only one reason he had gone through with this giveaway broadcast.

'At the very least, I want to beat Batman at the domestic box office.'

Furthermore, since he was set to participate in Batman Forever, the third installment of the Batman film series, he deemed it necessary to keep the momentum of Pain Walker going. Although the superhero film franchise couldn't fully utilize all its potential techniques yet due to the technological limitations of the era, he intended to push it as far as he could.

'You could say I'm applying the success formula of the future MCU, even if only in a minor way suited to the present.'

At the very least, he wanted to prove his box office draw through his current role as 'Lucid'. Having just transitioned into adult acting, he was about to turn 22. While he was doing exceptionally well for an actor in his early twenties, Sion recognized that he was still hungry for success and acting. He intended to prove himself as both an actor and a celebrity by taking on a wider variety of roles in even more projects in the future.

And the line he had delivered for that very purpose flowed from the television.

It was a point he had deliberately asked the production team to highlight. The screen showed the slightly surprised faces of the audience. Everyone seemed to immediately recall the word 'Bruce Wayne' that had appeared as a post-credits scene at the end of Pain Walker, and a murmur began to spread. The camera cut back.

On screen, Sion lightly shrugged his shoulders and answered the host's question as if it were no big deal.

He paused briefly there. Crossing his legs and lightly bouncing his foot, he teased the audience a bit before continuing.

"But I hope the day comes when we can say 'never say never.'"

Never say never. Sion had thrown out the bait in that manner. Naturally, the reaction was bound to be explosive.

All kinds of articles poured out from various magazines and newspapers, just as they had right before the release of Pain Walker. And with that, the movie's box office ranking began to climb once again. The film, which had been slowly preparing to yield its spot to the next movie after passing the two-month mark, rebounded significantly, delivering the exact result Sion had wanted.

A few days later, at the Warner Bros. office.

"I think we'll safely cross $300 million by the end of the year."

At those words from Terry Semel, who had specially attended the contract signing, Sion grinned.

"I should be getting paid more then. Where else are you going to find an actor like me?"

"Hahaha! Quite right, Mr. Lee. But rules are rules, so let's do that for the next movie. Whatever it is, if you say you'll star in our project, I'll give you a special rate."

"...I feel like I'm constantly getting tied down by these contracts."

"Let's do that for Batman 4."

Hearing that, Sion subtly avoided his gaze.

'I might manage to appear up to Batman Forever, but Batman & Robin is seriously dangerous.'

That movie was a legendary disaster that completely ruined the Batman franchise. Anyway, Sion figured he could decide after seeing how the third installment featuring Lucid turned out.

Once he finished signing the contract, which offered a $5 million salary with several added options, Warner Bros. immediately handed him the full script for the third Batman movie. Recalling the information stored in his memory, Sion slowly turned the pages to check the script.

'...Huh?'

And in an instant, his eyebrows shot up.

'The cast is different from my past life...?'

He asked naturally.

"The villain for this movie is the Riddler?"

"Ah, yes. We felt it was perfect for the shift in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tone. And we happen to have the perfect actor for it. You know him, right? Jim Carrey."

"Of course. I thoroughly enjoyed Ace Ventura and The Mask."

Pretending to casually flip through the pages, Sion subtly asked the writer, who was smiling brightly.

"...It's a bit of a shame Two-Face isn't in it. I thought it was about time for him to appear."

Originally, in his past life, the villains of the third Batman movie, Forever, were a duo: the Riddler and Two-Face. However, the name of Two-Face and the actor who played him, Tommy Lee Jones, were nowhere to be seen in the current script.

As Sion spoke and glanced over, the writer's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, you're incredibly sharp. Actually, we were originally planning a two-villain system with Two-Face and the Riddler. But with Lucid appearing, we wondered if there was really any room left for Two-Face, so we cut him out."

"I hope he definitely appears in the fourth one."

While saying that, Sion was inwardly celebrating his stroke of luck.

'Just by removing Two-Face from Batman Forever, one of Warner Bros.' biggest blunders is instantly erased.'

'Things are starting off well in more ways than one.'

At the same time, sensing that the filming of this movie would be a battle against Warner Bros., who were demanding an excessive shift in tone, Sion let out a confident smile.