createChapter 100: Film Industry.
[Hyde POV]
"So, are we trying to find the next Al Pacino?" Eric said teasingly.
I snickered and said, "No. The next Michael Kelso."
"That's silly. You don't get a Michael Kelso at an audition. You get
a guy like that at a mental institution." Donna joked.
Ophelia was staring at the three of us with confusion.
We went through twenty people in the audition. Five of those
didn't even pass through the first round of audition– the looks.
But I did take note of the people with a good delivery and
characters.
"Next, number 21." Mary Elizabeth called the actor.
A young man in his early twenties entered the room wearing
only a white tank top undershirt, ditching the traditional look.
He was quite sweaty too. He has a face that reminded me of a
young Johnny Depp, but with a slight difference.
"Hoo." I placed my pen on my chin, looking at him, slightly
impressed.
"You're Don?" I asked. "Don… what?"
"Just Don." He replied. "It's short for Donatello."
"You're Italian?" I asked. "Yes. Although I don't look like one." He said confidently.
"Did you take off your shirt to look more like the character?" I
asked again.
He nodded and said, "He's a blue collar worker. I've worked
construction with my uncle before. This is what we wore in the
summer."
He took out his resume and placed it on the table. I checked and
he has no experience in acting other than doing theater in high
school.
I didn't mind that.
"Can you show me your interpretation of the character?" Donna
asked.
"Sure." He nodded and his gaze turned deep and sorrowful.
"I miss you." He reached out his hand, but at the last second, his
eyes widened and he pulled back away immediately.
I smiled in satisfaction and said, "Everyone picked the easier
scenes. You're the only one who picked the PTSD scene. Why?"
He went silent for a bit and said, "The story. It's familiar to me."
I checked his resume again, and it turned out he went to
Vietnam when he was 18 years old.
I nodded and said, "Ophelia. Why don't you go there, and see if
there's chemistry with you two? Start at scene 13." Ophelia nodded and walked next to Don.
They acted like high school sweet hearts. Being giddy and
playful.
"Now stare into each other's eyes and slowly move towards each
other."
They followed direction, stared into each other's eyes.
"Cut." Donna called before they could kiss.
"That'll be all. Thank you." Eric told Don with a polite smile.
"Wait. Don." I stopped him before he could leave.
He turned around, confused.
"Can you pick a stage name? I like Donatello, but I feel like if you
have two words, it will be much better. Like Donny Osmond."
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"What do you think will work best for me?" He asked.
"What about Donnie Brasco?" I suggested.
His eyes lit up immediately.
"Donnie Brasco. That sounds nice. I think I'll make that my stage
name now." He said with a grin.
After he left, Eric asked me, "So. Do you think he's our guy?" "Let's take a look at the rest of them first. He's close, but maybe
we can find someone better."
The audition went on till 9 in the evening. Eric yawned and said,
"I'm hungry. We have gone through everyone, right?"
"There's still ten more people waiting outside." Donna sighed.
"Let's make this quick."
On the casting call, there were a few roles instead of just the
male actor. A young widower, an old lady in her mid 40s, a guy
best friend, and a girl best friend.
A waitress entered the audition, her white shirt had coffee
spilled on it. The stain was already quite dry now.
"I'm Julia Samberg." She trotted to give her resume to me.
I picked it up and studied it closely.
Twenty-two years old. Studied acting in Goodman School of
Drama. Has a couple of TV appearances.
"You can begin now." Donna said tiredly.
Julia nodded and began reading her lines as the girl's best
friend.
I watched her closely and finally called it.
"Cut."
"Is there anything wrong with my performance?" She was taken
aback. "No. You're really good. You're in." I said casually.
Taken aback, she widened her eyes in shock and stammered,
"I'm– I'm in?"
"Yeah. It's a two week filming starting this Friday. Can you take
time off from work?" I asked.
She nodded seriously. "Yes. I can!"
"Good. About the payment?"
"Do you have an agent?" I asked again.
She shook her head slightly.
"You should get one. I can tell you now, you're getting paid 5000
bucks for the role."
"That's plenty." She grinned and said, "Where do I sign?"
"I'll call everyone who passed the audition tomorrow." I said
dismissively.
With everything done, we finally had time for dinner. Then, as if
energized again after the meal, we ended up going to a
nightclub too.
"Ah. I'm so tired." I groaned tiredly as I laid down on my bed, still
wearing my suit.
Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door.
"Hmm? Did Eric forget his keys?" I sighed and went to open it up, only to see Ophelia standing
there.
"What are you doing here?" I asked tiredly.
"Um. Donna and Eric… They are… on the bed–"
"Say no more." I invited her inside the room. "You can hang out
on Eric's bed."
We had separate beds in the room. I went to the bathroom to
change into my pajamas– tank top and sweat pants, then laid
down on the bed, eating chips while watching TV.
Ophelia flipped through the script and tried to talk to me about
it.
"So, this scene. Where she finally–"
"Zzz." I pretended to snore to avoid talking. She got pissed and
threw a pillow at me.
"You just laughed a second ago." She snapped.
I chuckled and said, "Can we not do this? I'm so tired right now. I
don't want to talk about the movie."
"You're a director. You're going to need to direct people during
the shoot. Tell people what they should do! Help them
understand the character better!" She nagged.
I dropped my head down on the pillow, which made her even
angrier. "I'm so tired." I whined.
"Well. Tough. I want to know why my character went to Paris."
Ophelia asked me a lot of questions about the character that
night. Eric never returned to my room. That bitch.
The next morning, I woke up groggily. Ophelia however, already
had a shower and was ready for the day.
"Chop chop. We need to get breakfast. Go brush your teeth." She
nagged me.
That afternoon, I called the actors who had passed the auditions.
They came back to the same room they auditioned in.
"The shoot is going to start tomorrow. In Point Place. If you don't
have transport, you can come with us."
With the contract, they were obligated to be at the town for the
shooting. But I tried to help whenever I could.
Most of them have their own car, except for Julia who opted to
ride with me.
Finally, it was time for me to test out my skills as a director.
…
Point Place. Megan's house.
I set up a camera facing the front porch.
Ophelia opened the door in a rush and giggled as she saw Don in front of the house. She hugged him, grabbed his hand and
pulled him as she ran.
"Cut. Nice." I shouted. The camera still rolled and the cast broke
from their characters, laughing slightly.
"We're not shooting any dialogues." Ophelia laughed with
disbelief.
I grimaced and said, "I need to set up the set first. Give me a
break."
Suddenly, Jackie approached me with a letter in her hand.
"Huh?"
"The school said you can use them for the shoot." She said with
a smug smile. "And I already called the students to become
extras for the shot. So, you're welcome."
I accepted her help readily and said, "That's actually really
helpful. Not in a bad girl way, but more of a good girl kinda way."
Her eyes flickered at the hidden sarcasm and she said, "Hmm,
maybe I should be a bad girl and just rip off the letter?"
I grimaced, "I never asked you to go pick it up anyway."
"Just say thanks."
"Okay. Thanks."
For the extras, I had already hired them through a talent agency
in Chicago. But most of them looked pretty old. I mean, they were in their early twenties, but seemed like they were in their
early 30s instead.
Chain-smoking, not even once.
I still use them for scenes around the town.
Jackie helping me with calling actual students was actually
pretty helpful.
After the shoot, Ophelia and Donnie approached me.
"Don, how are your living arrangements?" I asked him.
"I'm living at a motel for now. Some of the other actors also live
there." He said, trying to hide his displeasure at the motel.
"Is it the 66 motel?" Eric asked. It was the same motel Eric and
Donna went after prom.
"Yeah." Donnie replied casually.
"That place is really bad." Eric turned to me as he turned off the
lighting. He helped me with the camera and lighting at times.
"You're living with your girlfriend right? Why didn't you get a
hotel room?" I asked him.
"We're saving everything for us to get married." He replied. I
already gave him five thousand dollars in advance for the role.
Both him and Ophelia would get twenty thousand each for their
roles as the main lead of the movie.
I thought about it and said, "I'll see what I can do about it." "You don't have to. I'm fine with the motel." He said with a
satisfied laugh. The concern was already enough for him.
"No. Since I'm going to bring a lot more important people to the
town, I need a place to store all of them."
I was thinking of buying a small apartment, but there was none
in town. The closest thing to an apartment here was a motel.
'Maybe I'll buy the motel and change it up?'
…
Five days passed by very quickly as we started the shoot. Eric
and I had to learn a lot of skills on the go, which made both of us
feel frustrated.
"Aww. Eric, you worked really hard. I've been watching you from
the side, and you look really handsome while you're working."
Donna placated Eric.
Taken aback, Eric pretended and said, "Yes. That's why I do this.
To seduce you."
I grimaced and said, "get a room."
"You're just jealous because you don't have a girlfriend." Eric
snarked at me.
"What?!" I snapped at him angrily. He flinched and ran away
with Donna quickly.
"You single bitch." Donna teased me. "Go get a girl if you're so
jealous." "I'm busy." I checked the call sheet and finally ended the filming
for tonight.
…
The next day, I filmed the scene inside the house. By the dining
table, a picture window was installed.
Ophelia held a painting of hers made 7 years ago. Her eyes
widened in shock as she realized her painting had come to life.
The apple tree, the lily bush, the farm in the backyard, the green
watering can, and so on.
Tears slowly flow from her eyes.
"Idiot." She turned and ran outside the house. It began to rain
heavily.
The camera followed her until they found the man who was
walking away.
"I LOVED YOU!" She shouted.
The man slowly turned backward.
"I LOVED YOU NOAH!" She confessed loudly. "And.. I STILL LOVE
YOU!" She panted heavily.
Noah walked towards her, and she walked towards him. Then,
they ran to each other. She jumped on his arm, and made out
with him in the pouring rain.
"Okay. Cut." I shouted. The two actors who were kissing in the rain broke away from
each other. Donna and Eric went to them, wrapped them in
towels and brought them back to the tent.
"Donnie. Well done. The after shot is all done, so shave your
beard off. We're going to go 7 years before." I told him.
"Are you sure? What if we need to reshoot?" He asked with
concern, touching his beard slightly.
I smirked and said, "Then you might need to stay here until your
beard grew."
He flinched slightly before smiling. "Hey, I have nothing to do
anyway. I might stay here."
His girlfriend, Serena, quickly approached him and kissed him
passionately on the lip. I saw her glaring at Ophelia for a few
seconds before pulling Donnie away.
Ophelia rolled her eyes and muttered, "Like I even want her
boyfriend."
I laughed and said, "Your acting's too good. You really look like a
woman desperately in love. That's why she's insecure."
Ophelia smiled mischievously as she looked at me. "I see. I'm
just too good."
I grimaced slightly. "Now, don't get your ego all inflated. I'm
going to need the innocent girl for the next scenes."
She giggled slightly. "Your character, not you." I sighed.
She widened her eyes and cackled like usual.
Big Red approached me as I was talking with Ophelia.
"Hey, are we really shooting in Paris?" Donna asked, her eyes
glittering.
"I'm only taking the bare bones crew. Only Ophelia, me, and…
that's it." I replied.
"So you're going on a date with her to Paris?" Donna was
jealous. "I'm the scriptwriter. I want to go there too!"
"Fine then. Ask your parents if you can go."
She got deflated immediately. "No, they won't let me go alone."
I planned to go to Paris for one day to shoot the montage on the
streets in a few days.
"So we're going to Paris alone?" Ophelia was blushing.
"For work." I was exasperated. "This is just a work thing."
After the shooting, I went back to my office.
The marketing office that I used to set up meetings with the
Radioshack people before had turned into a temporary space
for the production company.
The place used to be empty. Now it's filled with all sorts of props.
Wardrobes, artworks and such. I turned on the projector and watched Shannon Tate's movie
with the scoring in place.
The music elevated the film greatly.
I made a fictional sound company called 'Echospace', and
registered it on Cayman Island with Bruce's help.
It sounded like money laundering, which was partially true. The
music I used in the movie was copy-righted to prevent future
hassle.
Since the music was made by a company in 2025, I need to
make sure the movie could trace the origin since there was a
huge risk of lawsuits if I didn't.
People could just claim they were the one who made the movie
and tried to get a piece of the profit.
"Knock knock." Bruce entered the office happily, carrying a huge
bag with him.
"Who's there?" I said.
"Bruce."
"Bruce who?" I smiled slightly.
"Bruce, the owner of AIP and is rebranding it to be Rockwell
Pictures." he said happily as he sat next to me, watching the
movie too.
"Ah. This is nice. My wife really loves this movie." He said with a
satisfied smile. "She didn't beat you up for wasting money?" I teased.
"No. My brother almost did. But he watched the movie and
changed his mind. Although, Patty said the movie needs the sex
scene at the end."
"I'm not doing that." I grimaced. "We never had sex."
"She also said that if you're in LA, people will fight all over you for
your editing work."
Bruce chuckled and took out his cigar. "Maybe even pay you a
quarter million for it."
This time, we could light it up and smoke it in the office.
"Ah. This reminds me. I got a guy to handle the distribution
company. He's the butler's son. He's pretty loyal. He'll answer to
you after today."
"Good." I nodded slightly. "Are you really going to let me handle
the direction of the company?"
He smiled softly and said, "I'm pretty lazy. So I will not be
manning it at the helm. You have a vision. It's better for you to
handle the company direction now."
"Hmm… 70-30?" I tried to haggle the profit share with him.
"How about 75-25?" He grinned. "Once you give me 5 million, I'll
make it 70-30."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" I was confused. "What are you talking about?" He was confused too.
"Profit sharing from a movie." I explained.
"Oh. I'm talking about shares of the company."
"What?" I was shocked. "You're giving me 30% shares?"
"Yes. I wanted to do 40%, but my brother took 40% already. So I
split the rest of the shares with you."
"So you have 30% too?" I was really surprised.
"Yes." He smiled innocently. "We're partners. I have to give my
brother 40% since I used his money, and all of his lawyers to do
this."
The bastard in front of me didn't even use his own money to
create the company. Ross Rockwell had to fork out 20 million
dollars to buy the production company.
Bruce said he'd use his own money to finance a production
company and buy movie rights.
I gave him the list and a check for two million dollars to get the
rights for the movies I wanted. Whether its distribution rights or
buying the whole movie outright, it depends on the capability of
the butler's son in negotiating it.
"Are we really not going to do anything this summer?" Bruce
was a bit depressed.
"Star Wars is going to dominate the summer. We should wait
until the fall before releasing anything." Bruce nodded dejectedly. He has connections with the theaters
now, so he has itchy fingers. He really wanted to put movies into
the big screen.
"What's in the bag?" I asked him.
"Oh. Right. I forgot. Here." He gave me a bag filled with tapes.
"You gave me 400 thousand two days ago to buy out the rights
for Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
He furrowed his eyebrows slightly, "The company is having a
legal battle right now, especially for this movie. So I managed to
get it for 300 thousand, for you to have the US distribution
rights."
I grinned in satisfaction and said, "You want to put a movie in
theaters? Now, we can do it."
"The movie's 4 years old. If it's going to succeed, it'll have
succeeded already." Bruce was skeptical about my plans.
"It did succeed. It made 16 million on a 140 thousand budget." I
looked at him with disbelief.
"Really?" Bruce was shocked. "It didn't look like it succeeded."
"Because the company who has the right was a front for the
mafia. They covered it up so they didn't have to pay the
production company their true cut."
"Oh." Bruce was shocked. I laughed and said, "Just wait and see. But first, I'll need to edit
the movie. My printing company can make posters now. So we
can save some money there."
I stood up and said, "I'll see you tomorrow."
He threw his hand in disbelief. I left and went straight home.
I put in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film reels into the film
scanner and began editing it again using my laptop. Just to fix
the pacing of the film.
I alternated between shooting my movie and editing the film
that very same night. The most important thing for a horror film
was the sound.
The jumpscares, the uneasy music, everything was elevated
with the help of my future software.
The next day, I gave Bruce the new version of the movie.
"We can start it up at drive-ins and late night theaters." I told
him. "Star Wars are conquering the mainstream timeslots, so we
can only do this."
He was confused at first by all of the cinema release dates, but
he decided to just trust me on this.
"I'm going to buy this town's drive-in theater." He said suddenly.
"Why?" I was confused.
"I just want a place to test this." He smirked.
I nodded and said, "I too want to buy a theater. I talked to the mall about turning the upper floors into a cineplex. But it will
cost me like half a million dollars."
Bruce was surprised. "In this town?"
I nodded and said, "Yeah. In this small town."
Bruce's strip mall was already filled with new businesses.
Otherwise, I could just transform one of the lots there into a
cinema.
"Instead of buying the drive-in, why don't you let me handle
this?" I told him.
"Sure. I'll leave it to you."
…
I went to the mall to talk with the owner the next day. We had
already communicated before, and I was just there to sign the
lease.
"A 10-year lease." He said with a nervous expression. Mark was
quite slim, and he had fully white hair at 40 years old.
I shrugged and signed the papers. My trust manager then
helped me officiate the document since I was only 17 years old.
"I want to start the construction today." I told him.
He nodded gleefully and said, "The west wing is now yours. Do
whatever you want with it."
"Pleasure doing business with you." I said and left his office. First, I went to check the place. The entrance was covered with a
white wall. There was a small door at the side.
I entered through the door and frowned slightly as I saw the
place.
"This is just an empty space huh?"
I immediately took photos of the place and contacted an
architecture firm. I wanted a design for a cinema. This time, I
picked a place outside of the US.
Malaysia.. One of the most mall-heavy countries in Asia.
Their cinemas were built inside malls, not as standalone
buildings like in the US.
That meant every square foot had to be efficient. Everything was
designed for flow. How people walked in, where they stopped,
what they saw first.
If I was going to build a cinema inside a mall, I might as well
copy from people who already solved the problem.
'Can I really make it in three months?' I was quite nervous about
it.
Then, I went back to the film shooting. This time, I was shooting
the scene at school.
Donnie had already shaved off his beard. I even made him cut
his hair to seem more like a student.
I filmed the two of them from the school window as they stood
face to face with each other underneath a tree. It was a full body wide shot. The two of them were standing on
the right side of the shot, and the tree balanced them out on
the left side.
"Great. I got the shot I wanted." I smiled in satisfaction.
Chapter 101: Theater.
[Hyde POV]
It would take too long for me to build the Cineplex. Mostly
because I needed to create exit pathways, merge two floors into
one giant auditorium, and a lot more structural changes.
Therefore, while I waited for that, I decided to use the platforms I
had ordered, and also the chairs which came too early to good
use.
"I'm buying this whole building." I told Gary, my realtor. We were
standing facing the closed down place. It was a tiny strip mall with plenty of parking and a nice enough
distance to the town. The windows were covered with plywood.
The paint was all dingy.
It was only ten minutes from the Forman's house. Thirty if we
walked.
Gary blinked at me, surprised. "The whole building?"
"Yeah." I said simply. "How fast can we close?"
By the next morning, I had the keys. I bought the place for only
190 thousand dollars.
The place smelled like dust and wet dogs. The previous tenants
had already cleared out, leaving behind nothing but empty walls
and cracked tiles.
I stood in the middle of the space, hands in my pockets, looking
around.
'Four halls.'
It has four stores, which I could easily modify to become theater
halls.
There were a lot of old theaters that had flat surface seating, not
tiered seating like an auditorium, in small towns in the Midwest.
I already had the seats. I already had the platforms. All I needed
was to turn this into something usable.
"Alright." I muttered. "Let's not waste time." I activated Build Mode. I already had most of the stuff inside my
system storage.
"I have 100 Rating points. I can use 20 Build Mode for this. I can
surely finish this by myself… but I wouldn't."
I borrowed the tools from the construction company. Hammer
drill, concrete mixer, and so on.
The world shifted slightly. The empty space in front of me broke
down into lines and measurements, like a blueprint overlaying
reality.
I marked out the divisions first.
The largest hall went to the left. The center two were smaller,
tighter. The last one sat at the far end, tucked away but still
accessible.
Four rectangles. Then I started building. Mostly I made sure the
walls were insulated to ensure the sounds didn't bleed into each
other.
So from the 4-inch thick shared walls, I made them almost 20
inches thick with soundproofing materials.
The prefab platforms snapped into place first. This was made in
China, and it was really easy to install.
Metal frames locked together with sharp, mechanical clicks.
Wooden boards followed, forming the tiered steps row by row. It
rose steadily from the ground, each level calculated for clear
sightlines. But, I had to put stairs at the entrance, so people needed to
climb up and then climb back down to find their seats. Sort of
like a bleacher situation.
Within minutes, the flat floor had turned into a proper
auditorium. Luckily, they had enough ceiling space here.
"Damn…" I exhaled quietly. I wasn't even finished with one Build
Mode. In fact, everything took me less than 30 minutes.
"When I prepare the tools and materials properly, Build Mode
efficiency is scarily fast."
I used bamboo charcoal wood veneer on the walls to finish it up,
and then LED strip lights underneath for class.
Then, I installed the speakers around the walls. Everything was
connected to the projection booth at the end of the seats.
"I'll need to test out the projector."
I tested it out by screening The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on
the painted white wall. I was still waiting for the screen to arrive.
Sound mattered more than looks at this moment. I installed a
microphone in the other room to ensure the sound didn't bleed
and tested out the movie.
I ran my hand across the wall and nodded slightly after
checking all of the audio.
"No bleeding." I smiled in satisfaction. Next came the seating, also from China. I bought one thousand
of those chairs, priced at 120 bucks per chair. It was made for
cinema, complete with numbers and cupholders too.
People could even lean backward slightly on these chairs.
It was just like playing a game. I arranged the chairs neatly in
the first hall.
Ten chairs per row. The maximum I could put into it was 150
chairs.
"Oh damn it. I didn't account for how big this chair is."
The 350-chair hall could only fit 150 chairs.
Rows filled up quickly. I could only fit 600 seats in all four
theaters.
"I made a huge blunder here. But this is good enough, since this
place is temporary."
The chairs would be brought over to the cineplex. Or maybe I'd
keep them inside the place.
"Lastly, air conditioning, and the wiring."
That took me only 5000 dollars. A lot of old theaters didn't even
have air-conditioning. This would get people to come to my
place especially in the summer.
It took me only 3 hours to finish four theater halls. That's 3 Build
Mode.
"Wait." I suddenly realized something. "Why am I doing this here… when I can just make the changes
in the Cineplex easily with the same amount of Build Mode I use
here?"
I I sighed, lamenting the fact that already hired a team of
professional contractors there, so I missed out on the
opportunity to do that.
…
"Hyde. Did you hear? A movie theater is opening in town." Eric
said excitedly at breakfast.
"I heard." I said casually.
"Really?" Red asked with furrowed brows. "They aren't going to
play dirty, degenerate movies on their screen, do they?"
"Red. I think it's very good. Especially for the town. Now, kids
didn't have to go all the way to Sheboygan to watch movies. You
know how those people are."
Mrs Forman said calmly while showing disdain to the
Sheboygan people.
Sheboygan has a few nightclubs, roller rink, disco, and more. It
wasn't that bad, but since Red and Kitty were highly
conservative, they disliked the place since they thought it was
ruining the youth in the country.
Bob came to the kitchen while we were still eating.
"Hey there. Hi there. Ho there." Bob greeted us happily. "Red, did
you hear about the movie theater? The town is finally rising up." "Rising up?" I was confused.
Red grimaced and said to Bob, "Too much isn't a good thing,
Bob."
"Hey, we can deal with having a little bit more. Let's just hope it
won't get closed down in a few weeks." Bob said seriously. "Like
the one in the 60s."
"There's a movie theater here in the 60s?" I asked again.
Bob said seriously, "Yes. But it showed an X-rated movie. People
got mad and burned it down." He patted my shoulder and said,
"Hopefully, this one can survive longer."
I swallowed my eggs and looked around warily.
While I was taking a break from shooting the movie scene, I
heard some conversation from the townspeople about the new
cinema.
I thought of sending out flyers, but it might not be necessary.
People were pretty excited about having their own screens.
The same night, I hired a concession stand worker, projector
operators, technical manager, and two cleaners to take care of
this theater hall.
I did it after I finished the filming session at school so it was
almost 8 pm now.
"I didn't even know this town had something like this." Emily, the concession stand worker with blonde hair and cute dimples
asked with confusion.
I smiled and said, "The owner went bankrupt before they could
open it. So it's been abandoned for a long time."
"Ah." She accepted the explanation easily. She held the yellow
vest and said, "So we can wear whatever as long as we wear the
vest?"
"Yes. Although I highly recommend wearing something black." I
told her casually.
The popcorn machine, the soda machine, everything was
bought in 1977, not in the future.
Since I need to only contact one company to get all of the
machines, supplies and also servicing, I took advantage of it
since it was quite cheap anyway.
"There will be a screening of Texas Chainsaw Massacre tonight
at 9. Sort of a grand opening event for this cinema. I already
spread the word in town by giving out fliers." I told the workers.
"So, this will be a trial by fire sort of thing. Two people will handle
ticketing, two people on the concession stand, and technicians
should be on standby."
I clapped slightly and said, "We can open the door now."
I managed to get the cinema signboard that showed screening
for cheap in a second hand store. I even had the word 'Cinema'
in neon red light to attract people to come to the strip mall. 'I actually have a couple of empty spaces here, maybe I could
talk to vendors about it.'
Usually, people bought their tickets outside the front door. But
this place, they had to get in to buy it.
There were quite a lot of people around the place, swarming
into the theaters as the door opened.
"Hyde!" Donna greeted me cheerfully. Everyone followed behind
her, walking towards me.
"How did you get in so quickly?" Jackie asked with disbelief and
annoyance.
"He's like that. His fingerprint is all over this town." Eric said
sarcastically.
I nodded and said, "Yeah. I helped here too, with the planning."
"So is there only one movie here? That's disappointing." Fez
muttered.
"I know. What even is Texas Chainsaw Massacare?" Kelso
laughed.
No one in my friend group ever watched the movie. That made
sense since it has limited release, and the lawsuit made it
impossible to be put on TV.
"Just go inside and watch it." I took out the tickets and handed
them to my friends.
"Sweet! Free tickets!" Eric was exhilarated. Donna asked, "Don't you have any popcorn coupons or
something?"
I grimaced and said, "Popcorn's 75 cents. You can afford that
yourselves."
They left me alone to find a good seat since there was still a long
line of people trying to get tickets.
I didn't expect the turnout to be like this. It was way outside of
my expectations.
"Hi. Welcome to RustBelt Cinema. How many tickets do you
want?" The ticketer asked the couple who waited in line.
"Two." They replied giddily.
They looked around 16-17 years old. I stopped them and asked,
"Hey. I'm conducting a survey about theater culture. Can I ask
what makes you come to this place?"
They were confused at first. The guy then replied, "It's… close?"
"We don't have a car. This is really great. We need to get rides
from our parents every time we want to watch a movie." The girl
said with exasperation. "Seriously, what took them so long to
open a movie theater in this town?!"
I smiled and said, "Okay. I got all I needed. Thank you for your
feedback."
They left to buy popcorn. I watched the staff quickly adapt to the
job. Suddenly, I saw Laurie with a sleazy guy. He was kissing her
neck. She giggled and hugged him.
"Isn't she dating Kelso?... Whatever." I sniffled and pretended not
to see her. My nose was quite stuffed this last couple of days.
I didn't watch the movie, since I already watched it four times in
each hall to check the sounds.
At 11 pm, there will be another screening. Some people just
bought two tickets at the same time so they didn't need to get
out of their seats.
It was wishful thinking though. Since the usher would kick
everyone out for the cleaning team.
I called Patty while the movie was going on. I had set up an
office behind the concession stand and a lounge area for the
workers too.
"Hey. It's me."
"Steven. How are you?" Patty asked cheerfully. "Have you
changed your mind yet? I can get you three films for you to edit,
right away."
"All that's telling me is that your studio has made a lot of bad
decisions." I chuckled.
She laughed and said, "We sure did. I assume that's a no? What
can I do for you?"
"I need to get 20th Century Fox to deliver Star Wars to my movie theater. I have 4 screens here. There's a max like 600 seats, so
this is a small theater."
Patty went silent for a bit. "I'm sorry." She was frustrated. "You
want me to get you 20th Century Fox people?"
"Just the distributor. I can offer my service in exchange if you did
this for me. Maybe 1 movie? I'll touch up one movie, as long as
you let me talk to the director using a phone call, and he's not
around when I'm editing."
"That's hard to do. Directors usually work closely with the
editing. But I think I can find directors who've already given up
on their works. Hmm, I'll call you tomorrow. I think I can get in
touch with the guy tonight."
"I'm going to Paris tomorrow. So you won't be able to reach me
for four days. Bruce will help me handle stuff when I'm not
around. Just the Star Wars deal. That's it. I want to be the first in
the Midwest to show the movie."
The movie was released 2 weeks ago. Usually, Midwest area
would get it around 4-5 weeks after the New York and LA
release– for limited release movies that depended on word of
mouth to grow.
Star Wars was one of the movies.
I needed them to keep my summer slots full. Two theaters
screen, just for Star Wars. Once the seats drop to 40%, then I'll
change it up.
Once the first movie was over, I made sure to hear people's
feedback. "The sound is insane. It's like the killer is next to me." Donna
wasn't thrilled about it.
"I got way too absorbed into the movie. I even forgot to make
out with Donna." Eric said with a disgusted expression.
Jackie hugged my arm and said, "Steven. That's movie fucked
up. Why are you screening that?"
"It is horror night." I comforted her. "You should watch the next
one, Death Race 2000."
Kelso and Fez were pale.
"Fez, you don't think there's a serial killer in this town carrying a
chainsaw around, do you?" Kelso asked fearfully.
Fez shook his head and said, "I sure hope not!"
"How about the sound–" I tried to ask, but Fez snapped at me.
"Who cares about the sound!? The movie's terrifying."
Fez couldn't even watch The Exorcist. Same with Kelso, who ran
away in the middle of the movie. Both of them were scaredy
cats.
Jackie made a chainsaw noise behind them, causing both of
them to flinch.
"Wreng Wreng Wreng Wreng."
"AH! Jackie!" Kelso snapped. "Don't do that!"
… The next day, I spoke with the actors before leaving for Paris.
"Shooting will be delayed for 4 days. In the meantime, use the
face mask and the face products to make yourself look
younger." I said casually.
Donnie asked, "Can my girlfriend use it too?"
"Sure. I have enough." I smiled and agreed easily.
Ophelia grabbed her suitcase and put it in the car trunk. Eric
would drive me to Chicago today, since he's still my bitch.
Donna went with him, and asked me while we were on the road,
"So where are you staying in Paris?"
"With a friend." I told her casually.
"You have friends in Paris?" Eric was skeptical.
"I hooked up with her once. Then she went to Paris for research."
I explained vaguely.
Ophelia looked at me with disbelief. "We're staying with the girl
who you hooked up with once, and never called again?"
"She has a nice apartment. I already called ahead and confirmed
it with her. We might have sex there, so if you hear anything, just
pretend that you don't." I teased her.
It was Austen, Bruce's niece who I hooked up with at the
auction. Bruce already called her ahead, and she's even picking
me up from the airport. She's even helping me rent out a classroom for me to shoot
Ophelia's montage scenes.
The flight to Paris took 9 hours. I mostly slept in the first class flat
bed, only waking up for the meals.
They had lobsters and steak inside the giant 747 plane. It was
truly the epitome of classy air travel.
Ophelia slept with a face mask on, and cucumber on her eyes.
The flight attendant allowed this since I explained that Ophelia's
an actress.
Ophelia also straightened her hair to seem younger.
We arrived in Paris, and the first thing Austen did was to bring
me to see the art galleries.
It was nice to see her again. She was calmer here in Paris–less
murdery.
At night, we hooked up like wild beasts in the sheets without
even talking much with each other.
I followed Ophelia on the streets of Paris with a small camera.
The montage scene was pretty simple. Ophelia walking around
the streets, painting something on the stairs of a historical place.
She took a class and slowly adapted to the city.
"That's it." I told Ophelia as I turned off my camera.
"Great. Now, we can actually enjoy this place." She pulled my
hand and brought me with her as she sight-see. The trip went smoothly. Before we knew it, we were already on
the plane ride back home.
…
[2 days. 13 hours. 23 minutes.]
'I have two more days before the season starts huh?'
Eric picked me up from the Chicago airport. As I got back to the
Forman's house, I crashed out on my bed for a full 14 hours,
fighting off the jet lag and the delirium.
I yawned as I went back to the shooting. I shot a lake scene
today, where the couple were playing around on the lake.
"I think I can finish this in two days." I smiled tiredly.
Since I already knew what I wanted, the shoot went pretty well.
After today's shooting ended, I overheard Donnie asking his
girlfriend to go and see the new Star Wars movie in the theater.
I grinned in satisfaction and stopped by the theater to check the
report.
Patty greased the way for me to get the Star Wars print that was
in hot demand right now.
I had to pay 10,000 deposit for each print since the studio wants
at least two weeks of guaranteed turnout in exchange for it.
It was a standard industry practice. If the location was hot
enough, they would usually forgo the deposits. Not only Donnie, even Eric and Donna went to the movie.
"Hurry up. I need to buy the ticket before it's all gone!" Eric
pulled Donna as they went to the ticket counter.
"It's all sold out." The ticketer told him.
"What?!" Eric exclaimed with frustration. "All four halls?!"
"Yup." The ticketer nodded.
"Damn it!" He cursed loudly.
"There's a screening in 4 hours. At midnight." The ticketer told
him. "There's 10 tickets left for that timeslot–"
"I want two tickets to that." Eric said quickly. "No, give me five
tickets."
Donna turned to him and asked, "Who are you bringing?"
"All the guys." Eric replied casually.
"You've been watching this movie for three days straight. Aren't
you bored of it already?" Donna grimaced.
"Donna! Star Wars is the greatest movie of all time!" Eric
exclaimed, dissatisfied that his girlfriend couldn't see what he
saw.
I checked the numbers for the movie. It started with only 50% of the audience seat filled for the first
screening, but then, it jumped up to 99% of seats filled because
the word of mouth was too strong.
Even people from Sheboygan came here to watch the movie.
There's 10 screenings of the film in the last 3 days.
On the first day, it conquered all four halls. The second day too.
But today, I had already turned one hall to screen something
else. A romantic movie, 'Goodbye Girls'.
The seats in that hall were almost filled too.
From Star Wars alone, I made around 25 thousand. Adding
Goodbye Girls and the Texas Chainsaw Massacare, I made
around 38 thousand, in just five days.
This is mainly because of the sound, the projector quality, and
the comfy seats. Air conditioning also helped a lot.
The concession stand made around 16 thousand. That profit fully
went to me.
65% out of the 25 thousand I made from Star Wars went back to
21st Century Fox. That leaves me with 8500 in pure profit. In the
first two weeks, they'd get 65% of the cut. Then, it'd go down to
55%.
I also have to give cuts to Texas Chainsaw, Death Race 2000, and
Goodbye Girls too.
I was supposed to give a 65% cut to 21st Century Fox, but since I
paid the deposit, I didn't have to give them anything until I
made enough money to cover that. '35 thousand in less than a week. Not bad.' I thought secretly.
"This truly is the golden age of cinema."
Chapter 102: Wrap Party.
[Hyde POV]
'I wonder what will happen when the new season starts. I think I
got all 10 out of 10 needed to rise through the character ranks.
But it didn't show me anything yet.'
{12 hours until new season start}
I checked the system while I wrapped up the final scenes.
"Good job everyone. We really made it in two weeks." I said with
amazement.
The actors were in disbelief.
Julia Samberg, the supporting actor approached me and said,
"Thank you for your hard work, director."
I waved her off and said, "Don't do that. That's too cringy."
I strictly avoided Hollywood speak around the shoot. Stuff like
ass-kissing and whatnot.
"What?" Julia smiled, baffled by my reaction. Ophelia approached me and said, "Good job Hyde."
"Lia. You're coming to the wrap up party?" I asked.
"Of course I'm coming. I'm the lead actress." She giggled.
Once we got back from Paris, Ophelia and I had become close
friends. To clarify, we didn't have any romantic feelings for each
other.
She loves that I trusted her call for the character. I was excited
because I didn't have to do much work when working with her.
"Once I edit the movie, I might call the actors again for a
reshoot. Hopefully, it won't come to that." I said casually.
Donnie, Ophelia, Julia, and the other actors all nodded, smiling
slightly.
"What about your next movie?" Ophelia asked.
I said honestly, "In this shoot, I realized that I'm way out of my
head here. I'm going to need to structure the film crew better
for the next movie, since it has a lot of practical effects scenes."
I added, "I'm postponing it for three more weeks while I'm
figuring things out."
The wrap up party would be held in one of the properties I
bought.
A small house that we used for scenes in a dirty, abandoned
house. It was shot in the dark, so people couldn't figure out that it was
shot in another house instead of Megan's house.
I used my Build Mode for that house after we finished shooting
scenes in it. The house was in a good condition despite being
sold for only 15 thousand dollars.
It was a 1500 square feet house on a half acre land, located on
the outskirt of the town. I installed a new roof, insulated the
house, and used the bamboo charcoal wood veneer here.
There was a trend of wood panelling in the 70s so these panels
didn't seem out of place, but it looked really high end.
The bathroom was made with tiles instead of bathroom panels
so it looked better.
"The best part is, the pool."
It wasn't hard to install the above ground pool. It cost me like
800 bucks to set it all up.
Then, I put the furniture inside the house. I put a pool table, a
foosball table, darts, and even a basketball court in the backyard.
I was thinking of turning this place into a short term living
arrangement for guests that come to the town. Like an AirBnB.
It has 3 rooms, and 3 bathrooms. Every room has its own TV.
More than 20 cars were parked in front of the house when I got
there. I went back home first to pick up some food for the party.
"Happy Birthday to you!~" People sang for Julia as I brought the cake to her. I bought a
couple of Baskin Robbin's ice cream cakes online for the party.
The party was in full swing. The song, 'Rock N Roll All Nite' by
KISS was playing in the background.
People danced in the living room while a few of them played in
the pool.
"My goodness Hyde." Donna was in disbelief as she saw the
place. "When did you do all this?"
"Just a couple days ago." I lied to her. "Why don't you change
into a bikini and play in the pool?" I teased.
"What– I'm not going to do that, you perv." She snapped at me
angrily.
"Wait, you're not?" Eric was taken aback. "I thought we're here
for the pool."
"We're not!" Donna pulled Eric away angrily.
I shrugged and turned around. But then, I caught someone
doing something bad.
"Jackie. What are you doing?" I called her with disbelief.
Jackie grinned and turned off the music. I saw my cassette tape
in her hand.
"Did you steal that from my car?" I asked, annoyed.
"Steven, I stole this two weeks ago." She put on the cassette on
the player, and skipped a few tracks to listen to her favorite song. Winner Takes it All, by ABBA.
As the intro played, Jackie danced slightly and walked towards
me, with a full on intense eye contact.
I rolled my eyes back and said, "Are we still doing this?"
"We are. I told you, I'm not giving up on you." She twirled slightly,
dancing around with the music.
"What if I told you, I'm dating someone?" I asked.
Jackie froze abruptly. "What– Who?!" She was astonished.
I looked around the party and pointed at Talia– Megan's sister.
"Her." "Her?!" Jackie snapped. Then, she furrowed her eyebrows and
asked, "Who is she?"
"Megan's sister. She's a very talented artist." I waved at Talia from
afar. Talia saw me and waved back with a confused expression.
"So, give up. You said you don't want to become like Laurie and
stole another person's boyfriend, right?" I said with a
mischievous grin.
Jackie stomped her feet in frustration and said, "You're going to
screw it up with her sooner or later. I'll give you two weeks!"
She went away angrily.
I sighed and shook my head slightly, then I walked towards Talia
who was talking with Julia Samberg, the birthday girl.
"What's that all about?" Talia asked me.
"She's mad, because I said you're my girlfriend." I said casually.
"What?" Talia widened her eyes in shock.
"You're not dating anyone right? Can you help me with this?
Just pretend to be my girlfriend for now. Till she moves on to
another target." I asked, locking eyes with Talia.
She looked at me with a surprised expression.
"Okay. I don't have anything to do anyway." She shrugged. "Just
come watch movies with me, and we'll be fine."
"Great." I grinned and said, "I'll grab you a drink." "Is this how this works in a small town? Just so casually
becoming someone's girlfriend?" Julia looked at us with
intrigue.
Talia turned to her and said, "We do have a surprising number of
swingers party here."
"We really do." I nodded along.
Julia froze in shock after hearing it.
…
People began leaving around midnight. I went inside a room
and laid down on the bed as I had been drinking too much.
"Ugh, 7 more hours… so it's starting at 7 am. What's the plot
going to be?" I groaned tiredly. "Maybe continuing this isn't a
good idea after all?"
I heard a soft knock on the front door. Talia entered the room
with a wine glass in her hand.
"Hey. I wanted to ask you to drive me home, but you're also
drunk huh?" She said with no change in her expression.
"Why don't you call your sister?" I asked her. "She can pick you
up."
"She's asleep at this time. I can call my other sister, but I don't
remember her number."
I nodded in understanding and said, "Want to just sleep here?"
"Sure." She sat on the edge of my bed, taking off her slippers. I looked at her with confusion and said, "I mean, in the other
bedroom."
"There's no other bedroom. Everything is full." Talia turned off
the lamp, crawled underneath the blanket and said, "Scooch
over. I have no space here."
I groaned and rolled to the left side of the bed. She covered her
entire body, and slept perfectly still like a vampire.
I rubbed my head in frustration and wanted to stand up, but she
said, "You can sleep next to me. I don't mind."
"Oh I am going to sleep here. Just want to know how many
people are left in this house."
She nodded and closed her eyes.
I checked the deck and the living room, turning off the lights
one by one. I also put on the pool cover to prevent bugs from
getting into the water.
Donnie and his girlfriend Serena were sleeping in one of the
bedrooms. Ophelia and Julia were in the other room.
All of them were too drunk to drive. I locked the front door and
went to sleep, but I set the alarm to wake me up at 6.
"This room is really pleasant." Talia said suddenly as I came back
to the room.
"It's the air conditioning." I smiled and crawled underneath the
blanket too. "You know about the music festival next weekend?" Tali asked.
"Yeah. I do." I replied. "I'm the organizer."
"Oh." She exclaimed flatly, still covering her eyes. "It is pretty
weird to combine cars and music festivals. But it's not that weird
if you're the one who planned it."
"Are you saying I'm weird?" I laughed.
"You are." She teased.
I turned to her with a slighted expression. She opened her eyes
and giggled as she turned to me.
"Can I draw a mural for the festival?" She asked.
I thought about it and said, "Sure. I'll ask my staff to build a wall
for you. It can be a backdrop for photos. I can charge people…
even better, I'll just do an instant studio thing there."
She grimaced and said, "I'm not doing it for people to pose in
front of it."
"Yes yes. The artistic expressions…and such." I replied lazily. "I'll
give you a 50% cut."
"Deal." She accepted it instantly.
We talked for an hour before we finally went to sleep.
The alarm clock woke us up abruptly.
Talia whined and said, "Turn that off." I hunted down the alarm with my eyes half open. It was a
struggle, but I managed to turn it off.
"Damn. I need to go home now." I grimaced and walked
groggily to the car, still hungover from last night.
…
I came home and slept on the basement couch. Mrs Forman
walked down cheerfully and said, "Steven! It's time!"
"Huh? Did it start?" I jolted awake, fully confused.
"Yes! Breakfast has started!" She giggled and walked upstairs
again. "Be there in five minutes."
"Ugh." I groaned and forced myself up to go to the breakfast
table.
I ate like usual, but I couldn't help but shift my eyes all around.
Eric looked at me weirdly and asked, "Why are you practicing
your prison manner so early in the morning?"
"I had a bad dream last night. Got framed by my best friend. So
now, I have to watch my back." I joked with a serious face.
Eric laughed and said, "What if they stabbed you from the
front?"
"Then I'd die."
Red grimaced as he heard our conversation and read his
newspaper. "Can it. I don't want to hear your dumbass
conversation so early in the morning." "Hangover huh?" I said casually, which made Red give me a dirty
look.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Mrs Forman picked it up cheerfully.
"Uhhuh…" She listened and turned to us.
"Red, it's PriceMart again."
Red sighed and said, "I already have a job! I don't have to get
another one!"
"They said they are raising the salary to 20% more than what you
make as a factory supervisor." Mrs Forman said giddily.
Red was taken aback and immediately rushed to the phone to
pick it up.
"Hi. It's Red Forman."
Mrs Forman walked towards us and sat down. "Ooh. If he's going
to that interview, who's going to help me at the store?"
"I'll go with you mom." Eric offered.
"I have nothing to do today. So I'll go with you two." I said
casually.
Mrs Forman was touched and said, "Oh. Both of you are
wonderful boys."
It was a really nice morning. I didn't think season 3 would start
this way. The recorded scene ended, and I finally checked the system
notification.
[Steven Hyde– Main Character.
(Spin-off Favorability: 0/150)
Money multiplier: 1:10.
Story tickets: 3
Title earned: Artist.
System slot: 25 → 50
Story impact: 1/10.
–One full impact could change a character's fate.
Three gifts are waiting to be claimed.]
"Huh?" I was confused as I read it. My eyes especially went to the
money multiplier.
Last time, I had a 1:5 multiplier. Now, it has evolved to 1:10.
My chest tightened and blood rushed to my head. I balled us my
fist and slammed it on the table, causing Mrs Forman and Eric
to turn to me in shock.
"There's a mosquito." I said casually. "I missed it."
They nodded in understanding.
I had a very complicated internal turmoil in my brain. 'Oh god.
Does that mean… I could've bought the movie theater stuff even
cheaper?'
It felt like such a waste to buy everything before the money
multiplier changed value. I rubbed my face in frustration.
"What's wrong with you?" Eric asked with an alarmed look.
"Nothing." I tried to calm myself down and ate the cereal angrily.
Even that didn't work.
My mind kept showing me the numbers I could've saved.
'Two hundred thousand! Two hundred thousand I used for
everything. I could've saved 100 thousand. That's worth around 1
million now! FUCK!'
"Hyde. You look really dangerous right now." Eric said warily.
I sighed and took a deep breath. "Nothing. Just… ignore me."
I saw a video on Instagram where it mentioned that if someone
working minimum wage in 2025 wanted to match the buying
power of minimum wage in 1977, they had to make 66 dollars an
hour.
The current minimum wage was 2.30 dollars per hour. So that's
a 28.7 times inflation factor. I thought getting 5 times was
already good enough.
I didn't expect to get ten times the multiplier.
'This is great. I can expand my businesses cheaper with this.'
I tried to stay positive, but the frustration didn't go away that
easily.
Okay, I was wrong. It went away when I checked the gifts that
the system gave me. My first time, I picked the bulb instead of the Mustang. I guess
today's option would be better. The second time, I picked the
auto tools and the 2 inch enhancement.
I guess that one was a bronze and silver gift.
In the system space, three slots were taken by the gift. It has a
bronze box, silver box, and golden box.
Just like before, when I touched the bronze gift, it asked me to
pick random gifts or pick from a few choices.
I decided to go with the choices.
[Pick one out of three.
1. Professional Prop & Wardrobe Vault (2025-grade)
● full costume sets (romance, military, horror, period)
● props, furniture, accessories
● makeup kits
2. Advanced Sound Recording Kit
● studio-grade microphones
● portable field recorders
● mixing tools
3. Industrial 3D Printer (2025)
● prints props, small tools, parts
● can replicate rare items.]
"All three will be really helpful though."
I thought about it seriously, and decided to go with the prop &
wardrobe. I picked that one since the other two I could buy from 2025
easily. It would be hard and tedious for me to find the prop &
wardrobe for everything else.
I opened up the silver gift with excitement. This time, I also
picked the choices instead of a random gift. But first, I went to
take a shower.
[Silver gift pack. Pick two out of five choices.
1. Title: Budget Master.
– Everything will be under budget.
2. Singing Ability.
3. McLaren 750S.
4. Metal CNC machine.
5. Unknown Tactical Device.]
"Why is it so simple?" I was confused. The water was still pouring
on my head. "Wait. A McLaren 750S?"
My smile grew bigger. I almost pressed it, but in the end, I
decided not to.
"That's just for my ego. I know a metal CNC machine, it's
basically laser cutting machine fabrication. It would be nice to
get one, but it has to be paired with a computer."
In the end, I decided to pick the title and the singing ability. I
didn't even look at the unknown tactical device. It gave me such
an eerie vibe.
[Would you like to see what's in the number 5 option?] The
system asked. "Sure."
It opened the box and revealed the weapon inside.
[Anduril Roadrunner: A reusable, twin-jet autonomous
"kamikaze" drone that can land vertically for reuse if no target is
found.]
I sang, "Hell NO~~"
My voice was melodious, but soulful. Like an African-American
singer.
To test it out, I decided to sing in the shower. I picked the song,
'Yesterday' by The Beatles.
"♫♪ Yesterday~ ♫♪ "
I crooned, "♫♪ All my troubles seemed so far away. ♫♪"
"♫♪Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in
yesterday.♫♪"
The water kept raining on my head. I put soap on my body and
continue singing.
" ♫♪ Suddenly~ I'm not half the man I used to be~♫♪"
"♫♪ There's a shadow hangin' over me. Oh, yesterday came
suddenly♫♪"
I sang loudly and emotionally, "♫♪ Why she had to go, I don't
know, she wouldn't say!"
" ♫♪I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday. ♫♪" I finished showering and went back to my room, massaging my
throat slightly.
"My range improved, but I still need a lot of practice."
Once I was done changing my clothes, I finally opened up the
golden box.
It didn't have a split screen option like the rest, entering the
selection straight away.
[Pick four out of seven options. 5 small random gifts after
selection.]
"So I get both options at once here. Nice."
[1. Master Automotive Engineering (Passive)
– Equivalent to top-tier PhD-level knowledge + elite hands-on
skill
– Can:
● design vehicles from scratch
● optimize engines, suspension, aerodynamics
2. Marketing Genius (Passive Trait)
– Instinctively understands:
● branding
● audience psychology
● viral appeal
3. Warner Brother Modular Film Production Studio (2025-grade)
– Full studio lot with sound stages + sets
4. Advanced Martial Arts Mastery (Passive)
– Combat instinct, reflexes, control – Highly efficient, not flashy
– Jeet Kuno Do, Taekwondo, Jiu Jitsu.
5. Practical Effects & Stunt Mastery (Passive)
– Expert-level:
● stunt coordination.
● safe fight choreography.
● practical effects (blood rigs, impact hits, wire work)
– Can design and execute scenes safely and efficiently.
6. Presence Null (Passive)
– When not actively engaging, people are less likely to notice
you.
– Will allow tax evasion from authorities.
– Politics would never follow you.
7. 50 Acre Solar farm.]
"I can pick four of these?" I was quite shocked.
I first pick 1, 2 and 3 without much thinking. I could pick one
more now.
'Presence null is quite good. However, it will work for me as an
individual, not as a company. My employees will suffer if I don't
take care of the taxes properly.'
'The solar farm is too much. I'd definitely get interrogated if I
brought it out.'
Number four and number 5 are left. I was leaning towards
number five since it has a lot more stuff other than just fighting
skills.
"Alright. Number 5 then." Once I finished the selection, the bonus gifts showed
themselves.
{Kawasaki Ninja H2®R ABS motorcycle}
"Nice. I can keep this for emergencies."
{Primary Weapons Systems | MK118 MOD 2 with 300 rounds of
bullets.}
"Also for emergencies."
{Aprodisiac chocolate x 100}
"Is this the bedroom chocolate?"
{DNA Test}
"I can create a family court TV. 'Mr Forman, you're not the
father.'"
{Aids Medicine x 1000}
"Huh?"
All of the items entered my system shop immediately.
"Aids medicine?" I was surprised by that. Even more surprised
than I got a rifle in the random gift.
"I haven't done random gifts since I got the fern. Should I do
ten? I have a lot of rating points."
I decided to do it later. Chapter 103: Reefer Madness.
[Hyde POV]
I went to the grocery store with Mrs Forman and Eric after
breakfast. Eric drove us in his Vista Cruiser.
We went to the Piggly Wiggly supermarket as it was the closest.
"Boys, what do you want for dinner today?" Mrs Forman asked.
"Fatson Burger." Eric replied.
"Paella." I replied.
"Huh?" Mrs Forman was confused by both of our answers. "I
guess I'll make meatloaf again." She teased.
The cashier scanned our items while blatantly checking out Eric.
It surprised me a lot.
She hinted at him, flirted with him slightly, yet he didn't even
realize it.
'That dumbass… he has a girlfriend, but still a dumbass…'
Outside the store, a crowd of Hare Krishna's hippies surrounded
us as we were trying to get through. "Oh god.. What is happening?" Mrs Forman was almost swept
away.
"Get away from me you freaks!" I almost punched one of them.
Eric was startled and he dropped his paper bag.
The crowd scattered quickly as I was becoming hostile with
them. They weren't even Indians. They were just white hippies
culturally inappropriating other cultures.
"Eric. You're ruining the bread." Mrs Forman scolded him and we
all picked the groceries from the ground.
"Huh? What's this?" Eric was confused as he saw a brown paper
bag. Mrs Forman snatched it from his hand and put it in her
bag. "Don't waste time. We still need to go to three more
places."
"But the ice cream will melt!" Eric whined.
We stopped by four more stores, walking in a hurry each time
and returned home as fast as we could. .
"Quick, put the ice cream in the freezer." I told Eric.
"Already on it!" he said and quickly took out the ice cream from
the bag. "I think it's too late. It feels all sploshy." He shook the
tub.
"Damn it. We lost him. Grab a straw. Let's drink it."
He nodded and grabbed the straws and two cups. He brought
them to me while I sat down on the kitchen table. We poured the melted ice-cream into the glasses in equal split,
and started drinking, enjoying the moment and completely
ignoring the bags of groceries on the kitchen counter.
While we were drinking, Laurie came to the kitchen still half
asleep.
"I need coffee." She said with a raspy voice.
"You need to stop smoking." Eric said sarcastically.
Laurie stuck her tongue out at Eric mockingly.
Red came back from his interview, wearing a maroon Price Mart
jacket.
"Red you got the job!" Mrs Forman squealed in excitement.
"Yes! I'm now the boss of the autoshop." I said in excitement too.
Red turned to me and said firmly, "I'm still the boss. I'm going to
check up on the store as frequently as I can."
"Damn it." I cursed slightly.
"Honey, I bought you an imported beer as I thought this would
happen." Mrs Forman said excitedly.
Red laughed and teased, "Because it's close to the wine
section?"
She froze slightly and said, "No…" Then she whispered, "...yes."
Laurie smiled and hugged Red. "Daddy, you look so handsome
in that suit." "Thank you sweety. And there's a job as a cashier there if you
want to take it."
"What?" Laurie was taken aback.
Eric laughed and mocked, "Ha! Your couch potato days are
over!"
Red smiled and everyone was in a good mood, except for Laurie.
Suddenly, a small brown bag dropped from the kitchen counter,
being knocked over by Eric.
Red picked it up and looked inside of it. His smile vanished
instantly.
"Marijuana?"
Everyone in the kitchen froze. Red turned around and asked
angrily. "Who brought this thing into my house?!"
…
Red looked at us angrily, demanding an answer. But no one
could speak up.
"Well?" He urged.
"Red, this must be a misunderstanding." Mrs Forman said
quickly.
"Misunderstanding? I know what marijuana looks like." He
replied angrily. "Now one of you better fess up, or everyone will
face the consequences!" "Daddy! It must be Steven!" Laurie quickly acted innocent,
holding Red's arm and accused me. "He and Eric must've
smoked it in the basement…"
"Hold on." Eric was taken aback. "I have to argue with that logic
here. If we smoke it in the basement, shouldn't it be found… in
the basement?"
I nodded and backed him up, "Yeah Red. Besides, just look at
where it is. It's just laying there on the counter."
"What's about the location of where I found it?" Red asked
angrily.
"It seems pretty convenient, doesn't it? If this is a contraband,
illegal substance… just plain sin..., why in the world would we put
it there for everyone to see?
Red was slightly convinced by my argument.
"Besides, this is not the first time Laurie tries to frame Hyde." Eric
added.
Red turned to Laurie immediately.
"No– No! Daddy! No! I literally just woke up!" Laurie stammered.
"See there. Evidence! Lazy, slow moving, sleeps a lot." Eric
accused Laurie, pointing his finger at her.
Laurie smiled tauntingly and said, "Oh shut it."
"Aha! Dad, get her!" Eric moved his finger to Laurie, gesturing for
Red to beat her up. "It doesn't make any sense. Why did it just pop up in the
kitchen?!" Red grimaced.
"We're with Mrs Forman the entire morning." I spoke up. "So
she's like, our alibi."
"Yes Red." Mrs Forman said quickly. "We were together the
whole time. If any of them were–"
"Why did you pause?" Red asked interrogating.
"N-Nothing."
"Kitty? What's wrong? Speak up."
Eric was the one who spoke up, "Mom. You don't think that. I
didn't do anything! I just went to the toilet."
"Uhuh. I believe you Eric." Mrs Forman said with a flat
expression, standing on her toes slightly as she was really
nervous.
"Forman didn't do it. In fact, even Mrs Forman separated from us
to go to the ladies room. I'm not thinking, 'Hey, she's in there to
meet her dealer to buy drugs', just because she has to relieve
herself, do I?"
I backed up Eric slightly.
"Daddy. There's an easy way to figure out whose bags are those.
Why don't you check the boy's room? Surely you can find
evidence there?" Laurie said with a devilish smile.
"Great. I have nothing to hide." I said casually and sat down on the dining table. "But, let's be fair and check everyone's room.
Not just ours. Eric, you're good with that?"
Eric nodded with a nervous expression. "Uh-huh."
We all had to wait in the dining room as Red went to check up
our room. He went to the basement first.
"Eric, Laurie, if you have something to hide, go get it now!" Mrs
Forman, the one who Red told to block the kids, was the first to
betray him.
Laurie and Eric rushed away, but Red came back to the kitchen
and exposed them.
"AHA! I knew you had something to hide! We're all going to go
together now so I can keep an eye on all of you." Red said
sternly.
I snickered slightly as I saw it. Red looked at me and said,
"Steven. You sure are relaxed. Are you perchance, on it right
now?"
"I'm relaxed because I have no guilty conscience." I said casually.
"Unlike those two."
"Or he can be a good actor." Laurie said quickly.
"None of you are exempt. Let's go!" Red ordered firmly.
We went to Eric's room next. Red checked his coat pockets, and
the closet.
"God, please don't let him check underneath my bed." Eric
prayed whisperingly. Red bent over and found the first contraband.
"What's this?" He took out the stack of PlayPen magazine
underneath Eric's bed.
Eric laughed nervously and said, "I just keep those… because it
has educational articles.." he lost his breath slightly.
"Red, it's disgusting. But it's not really a big deal." Mrs Forman
said placatingly. "All boys do it."
"Not me. Your boy is a little sick. So he needs those." I teased.
Eric gave me a dirty look.
"Dad! He needs to be grounded. That thing objectifies women."
Laurie complained.
"Oh you sure are a raging feminist! Why don't you learn to keep
your mouth… and legs closed!" Eric snapped at Laurie.
"Eric. You're grounded for two weeks. And get rid of all of these!"
Red threw the magazines on the bed.
"Okay Sir. I will do it after this." Eric picked up the magazine
quickly and put it back on its hiding spot.
Then, we went to Laurie's room.
Red checked her room and found a stack of cigarette boxes.
"Daddy! I was framed!" Laurie whined, looking at Red nervously.
"Grounded for two weeks!" Red said decisively. I took out the 'back massager' from under her bed and asked,
"Red. What about this one–"
Laurie snatched it away from me and kicked it back under the
bed.
"That's just… I have a sore shoulder…" Laurie looked at Red
nervously.
Red smiled and said, "I'll bring you to a doctor after this."
Laurie gave me a dirty look. Eric was snickering at the side. Mrs
Forman was confused and asked, "Why are you laughing? It's
just a massager? I used that all the time too."
"MOM!" Eric was horrified.
Finally, we went to the basement.
As we walked down the stairs, we saw Fez, Donna, Jackie and
Kelso hanging out, watching TV.
"Everybody run!" Eric shouted.
Donna, Kelso, and Fez stood up immediately.
"FREEZE!" Red shouted and they froze. Kelso's eyes shifted to
Fez.
Fez whispered, "Why are we freezing?"
"I… don't… know." Kelso replied with a frozen pose too.
Jackie turned around to us and greeted casually, "Oh, hello Mr
and Mrs Forman. What are you doing?" Mrs Forman replied, "Kids. Something has occurred that–"
Laurie rolled her eyes and interjected, "Red found marijuana in
the kitchen. Now, everyone's a suspect."
Kelso raised his hands up and said, "I didn't do it!"
"No one is saying you did it. But why did you raise your hands
up?" Red asked, walking towards Kelso menacingly.
Kelso shook fearfully before he pointed his hand at Donna. "She
went upstairs! It must be hers!"
"What?!" Donna was shocked. "I went upstairs to see if Eric's
home! That's it!"
"Check her pockets! Check everyone's pocket." Laurie whispered
to Red like the devil.
"Laurie!" Mrs Forman scolded her with exasperation.
"That's right. Empty out your pockets." Red told everyone.
Kitty turned to Red and asked, "Don't you think this has gone
too far?"
"Kitty. I have to do this. Do you know what would happen if I left
this thing alone?"
Red started daydreaming.
-Reefer Madness Black and white 1930's shot of the Forman porch with the title
"The dоpе Fiends" appeared on the screen.
Hyde was standing on the porch with a hat on his head, tilted
sideway like a gangster.
Eric walked out with a bunch of flowers in his hand, dressed like
a 1930s youngster.
"Say, chum, where ya headed?" Hyde asked Eric with a deep,
1930s way of speaking.
"Just to see my best girl Donna, that's where. We're gonna split a
soda pop. It'll be keen." Eric replied like a dork.
"Soda pop, eh? I have something that's even keener than soda
pop. It's called mɑrіjuɑnɑ." Hyde offered, grinning slightly.
""Mari-what-a"?" Eric was confused.
"Come. I'll show you." Hyde grabbed the flowers Eric was holding
and threw it away to the driveway.
In the Forman's living room, rag time music was playing loudly.
Jackie was dancing on it like a madwoman.
Kelso sat in a chair laughing hysterically. A thin smoke filled the
air.
"Hyde, you were right. mɑrіjuɑnɑ's the bee's knees." Eric untied
his tie and smiled slightly.
"Yep. All it takes is one puff to make you hopelessly addicted"
Hyde smirked. "I am... hopelessly addicted." Eric said casually.
Kelso was still laughing hysterically. Fez came into the room
with a giant paper bag.
"Here's a new shipment, fresh from whatever-the-hell country I
am from." Fez handed the bag to Eric.
Donna walked in wearing an old fashioned gown, and had curls
on her hair.
"Gee whillikers, Eric. Where have you been? You missed choir
practice." She scolded him.
"Sorry, dollface. But now, thanks to mɑrіjuɑnɑ, I'm incurably
insane."
The camera closed up to Eric to show his crazy look, sweat
dripping over his face, showing paranoia and his unfocused
eyes.
"Well, I'm not gonna let a swell kid like you ruin your life." Donna
said exaggeratedly and grabbed the bag from Eric, trying to
walk off.
Hyde drew a gun and pointed it at Donna. "Not so fast, sister. I
need that for the schoolchildren."
Eric wrestled with Hyde over the gun. "NOOO!" he yelled.
The gun was pointing upwards and an accidental gunshot
happened. Suddenly, Donna, who was standing at the side, fell to the
ground.
"Alas, mɑrіjսɑnɑ has ended my young, promising life." Donna
struggled before she died.
Red came in through the front door. "This is what's happening
all over America. And it could happen in your home," He pointed
at the camera, "or yours, or yours!"
–Reefer Madness ended–
Red was still looking upwards as the daydream ended. Mrs
Forman scrunched her face and said, "I don't think that's going
to happen Red!"
"It's not going to happen, because I'm not letting it happen."
Red said seriously. He turned to Kelso and said, "In the
meantime, everyone's a suspect."
I emptied out my pockets. I have my wallet and a lighter. Eric
has 20 bucks. Kelso has a magnifying glass and a rubber ball.
Jackie's purse contains… multitudes, but no drugs.
"Empty your pocket." Red turned to Fez.
Fez whimpered and said, "No."
"Do you want me to call your host parents? Or Immigration?"
Red threatened him.
Fez cried and pulled his pocket out. A number of candies
dropped on the table. Red looked at him with disbelief.
"You have a problem Fez." I told him seriously. "The last place to look is Hyde's room." Laurie said cheekily. "Why
don't you save us the trouble and just kick him out now?"
"Laurie!" Mrs Forman was exasperated. Red gave me a look and
said, "So. Do you still have no guilty conscience?"
"No." I shrugged casually. "You can check my room."
Everyone went to my room and watched Red do a spotcheck
there.
"Hyde. Are you really sure you don't have anything?" Eric
whispered to me.
"I'm 99% sure."
All of my contrabands were in my system storage.
Red checked my bed and underneath it.
He pulled out a large box of VHS movies and asked, "What's
this?"
"It's movies that's not really in the family friendly genre." I replied
carefully.
Red pulled one out and read the title, "Barry Lyndon."
"It's one of Kubrick's underrated films." I replied with a smile. "It's
3 hours long though. I never could sit through it."
Red sighed and said, "If this is filth, I don't want it in my house."
"It's art Red." I argued back. "How about this one? The Happy Hooker?" Laurie picked one up
and sneered.
"I mean, I thought it's your story. Just trying to support you." I
smirked.
Laurie gave me a dirty look again.
Red checked my closet next. As he reached his hand on my
denim coat pocket, he furrowed his eyebrows and took out the
brown bag in the shirt.
I widened my eyes in shock when I saw it. Red opened it up and
looked at me with disappointment. "No guilty conscience huh?"
"Wait. Is that– Red, I have no idea how that got there." I was
astonished by it.
"Red! Calm down!" Mrs Forman said quickly. "There might be a
reasonable explanation for this!"
"AH!" Jackie exclaimed suddenly. Red turned to her.
"Um. That's mine." Jackie stepped up to Red.
"WHAT?!" Kelso, Fez, and Mrs Forman exclaimed with disbelief.
…
"Jackie, you bought this?" Red looked at her angrily.
"No. I brought it to Steven when he came home from work."
Jackie explained nervously. "He took it away from me and scolded me. I think he forgot it's there, since we saw a cop and
had to run away."
"I don't believe you." Red said sternly.
"Well, you can check inside. I left a note for him." Jackie said
quickly.
"What are you doing?" I whispered to her with concern.
"It's fine Steven. The most Red can do is call my dad. And I can
blame my housekeeper for this. But he'll kick you out." She
whispered back.
Red checked the weed like Jackie said, and pulled out a small
pink paper.
Mrs Forman snatched it and read it quickly, "I love you Steven
Hyde. –Jackie Hyde. Yup, this is hers alright."
"Why did you bring him this filth?" Red asked angrily. "Did he
ask you to?"
I threw my hands with disbelief.
Donna interjected. "I can explain that. She just tried to impress
him. You know how teenage girls in love would act. But he
didn't get impressed, and scolded her about it. He took it away
and I think he forgot about it till now."
"Jackie. Even if you were just trying to impress him, I'll need to
call your dad about this." Red said sternly.
Donna interjected again, "Mr Forman. Hyde rejected her. He even got a new girlfriend now. So can you let this go? She's
already hurting badly."
"You have a girlfriend?" Kelso peeked at me, his anger dissipated
quickly.
"Yeah man." I nodded.
"Alright!" He grinned and high-fived me.
"Enough about that– Although I'm going to need details later."
Eric spoke up. "Dad, this means none of us is the owner of the
stash we found in the kitchen, right?"
"Then explain to me how it got there?" Red was fuming. "If
there's no answer, I'm going to ground everyone for a whole
month!"
"Well there's one more room we didn't check." Laurie said and
slowly turned to Mrs Forman.
"Me?!" Mrs Forman was taken aback.
"Sorry honey. I need to treat everyone fairly. I didn't want to, but I
need to know."
Everyone went silent, not really having an answer.
Mrs. Forman knitted her eyebrows before her eyes widened, as if
she suddenly realized something. "AH! The Hare Krishnas!"
"What?" Red was confused.
"We ran into them as we got out of the store. Eric bumped into
one and–" "Oh, all of the groceries fell off." Eric finished her words. "I knew it
saw something weird. I tried to ask mom, but she's in a rush to
go to the button's store."
"That must be it Red. He must've picked up something from the
crowd. You know how those hippies are." Mrs Forman said
quickly as she wanted the incident to be over.
Red was still skeptical. Everyone held their breath.
"Fine." Red sighed. Everyone cheered.
Red grumbled and said, "Now I have two bags to get rid of."
"We can help you with that Red." Kelso said and casually tried to
take the bags, but Red pulled his arm away.
"What do you think you're doing?" He asked Kelso angrily.
"I'm… Trying to help you get rid of it." Kelso said fearfully.
"I know how to really teach you all a lesson." Red said gruffly.
…
In front of the garage, Red started an open fire inside a metal
bin. He threw the marijuana inside to burn it down.
Eric, Donna, Jackie, Mrs Forman, Laurie, Kelso and Fez were all
standing by the open fire, in a circle.
Everyone got high from the fumes.
I smirked and said, "This is a really nice lesson, Red." Red smiled intoxicated and said, "I know dudes."