Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Independent Film
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"Wuxia doesn't seem to be all that popular after all."
A month had passed since launching the wuxia service in the isekai transference lineup.
Unlike the medieval fantasy service, far fewer people had signed up for wuxia, and foot traffic had already dried up completely.
"The limitations of wuxia, I suppose."
It made sense—people who enjoyed extreme sports or other high-challenge activities were more common overseas, especially in the West, but Westerners generally weren't familiar with wuxia.
"Even after advertising in foreign languages, not a single foreigner showed up. Guess it's just too alien to them to even consider trying."
Maybe I should run some ads in China soon.
Since China was wuxia's birthplace, advertising in Chinese might draw a crowd.
"But not right now."
There was plenty to do in the meantime.
First up, with enhancement potions and weakening potions piling up, I tested them out on the isekai transference service and wuxia service.
"Sure enough, they generate."
Both the weakening potion and enhancement potion produced derivative entities in the form of coupons.
I checked the coupon from the weakening potion first.
Some smile brightly even before heaven-sent trials, while others feel torment even in their mother's warm embrace. Suffering depends on your state of mind.
It wasn't a coupon—it was a slip of paper in coupon form with a profound quote.
'No way the enhancement potion is the same?'
I checked the other one, and sure enough.
Don't rely on luck. Luck is like a guest who drops by unannounced—are you the kind of host who hands over your house to a guest?
The isekai transference service and wuxia service apparently had no interest in changing their established ways.
"Persistent little entities."
I had nine uses left on the potions.
I wanted to test them on regular items too, but I decided to hold off for now in case of accidents.
'Next up, time to read this.'
I pulled out the documents that had arrived by express mail that morning.
They were reports I'd requested during my visit to the Foundation after the school ghost story incident, with export approval finally coming through yesterday.
...
Besides the Foundation, "Surviving Among Entities" had plenty of groups that recognized entities, interacted with them, and more.
I'd heard about them before—they were masters at hiding their identities, using entities for exploitation, collaboration, worship, and harming humanity for various reasons.
'Some were decent, but most were dangerous.'
Since No Namer might belong to one such group, I'd requested this intel.
Now the report had finally arrived, so I read through it slowly.
[Duelist's Romance: A group that tried to rule the world with a card game where abilities and characters materialized. All members killed by Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation. All possessed entities destroyed.]
[WAAE (We Are All Equal): A group desiring equality for all humanity. Used entities like "Average Calculator," "Legendary Illustrator's Photoshop," and "Adam's Blood" to create a new humanity, but all members killed by Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation. All possessed entities destroyed.]
[Toilet Prankster: A freak who stole toilet paper from people pooping in public restrooms. No other activity recorded. Killed by Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation.]
There were groups and individuals I'd never heard of.
[Golden All-Purpose Corporation: A group that grants wishes in exchange for gold. Staffed by suit-wearers whose appearances can't be described and don't linger in memory. Requires massive amounts of gold, making it unusable for ordinary people. 34 destruction attempts made, but [CENSORED]. Physical and conceptual attacks now prohibited.]
[Shady Trader: An anomalous individual residing in an independent dimension accessible via invitation. Trades rare items, creatures, and entities for other rare items, creatures, and entities. Monstrous appearance, but repeated trades build trust, upgrading the invitation and gradually shifting to human form. Removal attempts made, but [CENSORED]. No more invitations sent to Foundation personnel.]
Some I recognized.
[Human Liberation Army: Group aiming to liberate humanity. Appears sporadically worldwide, each time causing massacres. True goals unknown. Suspected to use multiple entities.]
[Gentleman in Dreams: Appears in people's dreams as a gentleman delivering prophecies. Unclear if entity or entity user. Never appears in Foundation personnel dreams, confirming awareness of Foundation. 100% prophecy accuracy observed so far; impossible to alter.]
[Private Justice Enforcement Agency: Group privately judging criminals. Judgments excessively harsh relative to crimes. Judged to possess multiple entities, but no other known details.]
And others neither I nor the Foundation knew about.
"Interesting."
I lost track of time poring over the report.
Seeing that most of the groups and anomalous individuals from the game had been wiped out by Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation really drove home how formidable they were.
"If only the ending had been better, the world might've been at peace thanks to Munchkin Mary Sue Constellation. What a shame."
Come to think of it, I wonder how Hyeong Si-yeol was doing.
"He used the golden ticket, so he's probably living well."
I transcribed the report's contents into "Notebook in My Head".
"Whew, done."
Business taken care of.
'Now for some personal time?'
Next, I headed to the office.
A month having passed meant the "Reverse Quest Ticket Dispenser" had reset.
"Finally, the time has come."
Time to improve my driving skills.
'Can I really pull this off?'
Ten chances.
The reward: "Driving skills on par with peak Michael Schumacher", no question.
Missions changed each time, so I could only hope for ones I could actually achieve.
"Hope I get a mission solvable with skill, not luck."
I dispensed the first ticket.
[Mission: Start your own restaurant, work as the chef yourself, and earn three Michelin stars.]
[Deadline: 60 days]
The deadline wasn't an issue—I could activate the ticket after getting the stars—but the mission itself was impossible.
'Takes too long, and I have no cooking talent.'
The fanciest things I could make were soy sauce egg fried rice, ramen, simple fried rice, and stew.
Ever since gaining unlimited funds, I'd been ordering delivery exclusively.
'Try another ticket.'
I kept dispensing.
[Mission: Win the League of Legends World Championship 5 times]
[Mission: Win Ballon d'Or 5 times]
[Mission: Achieve 100-0 win-loss record in WBA heavyweight regular bouts]
[Mission: Win 24+ men's or women's singles Grand Slam tennis titles]
[Mission: Join Lotte Giants, win Korean Series once]
Every single one demanded years or was straight-up impossible.
Reaching the top of any field was as hard as reaching the top of another—it was inevitable.
'That's why I tried the dome fishing trick.'
Praying for something doable, I dispensed the final tenth ticket.
[Mission: Win grand prize in an international art competition, contest, etc.]
'This is it!'
As long as it was international, the bar was low, and it could be done quickly.
'But I don't want to just game the easiest path.'
Not in art, anyway.
As a self-proclaimed artist, I didn't want to insult my own artistic soul.
'Enter the biggest one.'
A quick internet search showed the Berlin International Film Festival was in two weeks.
'Submitting shouldn't be hard.'
Just make it, then use Fixer's name or Sarang Trading's funds—whatever it took to get it in.
"The problem is finding time to make it."
If only I could film a movie just by thinking, like with "Dream Theater".
'Hold on... what if...'
I immediately sought out Sarang.
"Sarang, can you hack VR gear too?"
『Yes, that's possible.』 "Even tweak a VR program's graphics to photorealistic levels?" 『It'll consume a bit of power, but no problem.』 "Then could I use that to film the movie I want?" 『If sufficient power is supplied, yes. I recommend installing a small booth next to the special generator, connecting the VR gear and generator to me, then running the program.』 "I see." 『That way, I'll analyze your brainwave patterns, reflect your thoughts in the program, recreate real-like scenarios, and record them.』 Sarang was the best.
"Alright, order a VR kit and program." 『May I ask the film's theme and submission target?』 "Theme's not set yet. Submitting to Berlin International Film Festival's independent film category."
Sarang's power dipped slightly. 『Analyzed patterns of this festival's judges. 35% favor high scores for taboo social themes in indies. 55% for experimental, creative cinematography and composition. 10% for groundbreaking stories.』 "Oh?"
Taboo themes, huh.
"Sex is taboo everywhere, pretty much."
No plans for straight-up porn.
"I'll make an artistic film on sex." 『What's the plot?』 "Sex, human potential, a hymn to the future, and the world's beauty."
Two days later, all the ordered gear arrived. I entered the booth I'd installed at the factory and donned the VR headset. 『Brainwave sync complete. Imagine only—no movement needed—for realistic sensations, generation, filming, editing, etc.』 "Thanks, Sarang. Shall we start filming?"
It gave the same level of freedom as filming with Dream Theater's power.
"This'll do it..."
I filmed the movie I'd envisioned. 『Extremely erotic.』 Sarang commented throughout the filming. 『Bordering on seriously erotic.』『Not artistic erotica—lowbrow erotica.』『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon? Theme shifted from human potential to criminal potential.』 Unfortunately, being a machine, Sarang only viewed my work through a legal lens.
"Art sometimes needs to be radical." 『But this...』 "Watch it to the end." 『Understood.』 I directed radical, shocking compositions and story. 『Incomprehensible.』 Showcasing humanity's infinite possibilities in sex. 『Severe personality defects detected.』 A hymn to human potential and the future, plus the world's beauty. 『Oh my god.』 And the work was complete. 『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, may I offer one piece of advice?』 "Advice is always welcome." 『Per my analysis, submitting this will lead to legal issues 99.99% of the time.』 "Sarang, I told you—this is performance art. The judges, fellow artists, will get it. Art sometimes transcends moral norms." 『......Understood.』 Using Sarang Trading and Fixer prestige, I submitted to the Berlin International Film Festival.
"Is Lee Seung-hoon here?"
"Yes, who's this?"
"Interpol."
A week before the festival.
"You're under arrest on suspicion of sexual abuse and exploitation, women's rights violations, men's rights violations, group orgies and forced prostitution, animal abuse and poaching endangered species, severe public order disturbance, and 32 other charges."
Oh dear.
"You have an international red notice. Don't try to run."
Looks like Sarang's VR was a bit too realistic.