….
[After A Week]
….
Regal's phone buzzed violently across the glass table, the name flashing:
[John Wick]
He answered it, not even getting a "hello" in before.
[Regal, you goddamn fucker!] Keanu's voice exploded through the speaker. [How the hell do you skip my movie premiere?! I will fucking remember this, you hear me?!]
Regal calmly pulled the phone away from his ear. Let the yelling soften into distant, angry muffling.
He waited a beat. Brought it back to his face.
"You done?"
[No!] Came the furious reply. [Wait? You aren't ignoring me are you?!]
"Yeah, I am listening." Regal said flatly, stretching his legs on the couch.
There was a pause on the other end. Faint shuffling. Maybe someone had walked into the room with Keanu.
[Tch. Whatever.] Keanu muttered. [Look - just watch the movie. Tonight. No bullshit. Then call me. And if you don't tell me what you think by midnight, I swear to God, I will kill you.]
"Got it."
[I am serious!]
"I know."
[Midnight.]
"Yes, Keanu."
Click–!
Regal tossed the phone to the couch cushion beside him, then leaned his head back with a long exhale.
"Midnight review... or death."
He smirked.
It had been a week since Regal met Gwen's father - a meeting that still lingered in the back of his mind like an unfinished scene, half-scripted and full of implications.
He had just over two weeks left before he was expected back on [The Hangover] set.
The clock was ticking. Deadlines, production windows, actor schedules - all balanced on a knife's edge.
And yet, today wasn't about any of that.
Today was about Keanu.
The film had just dropped.
Word was already spreading like wildfire online.
Critics didn't know what to make of it.
Audiences were intrigued.
But Regal hadn't gone to the theater.
He wasn't scrolling through reviews. He was sitting alone in his office, quiet, focused, staring at something no one else in this world could see.
A faint flicker hovered in front of him. The translucent, futuristic blue panel, his system interface - waiting.
He inhaled. Exhaled. Then whispered.
"Time to use it."
•-------[ITEMS]-------•
» [Title Token] x 1
[Description : A one-time-use item. The user can redeem this token to unlock the full set of a series, including all available parts under the same title.
ⓘ The User should have one part of the series with him to us this item.
ⓘ User can directly use it by clicking on it.
•---------------------•
He tapped the glowing icon with his index finger.
The panel rippled like water struck by wind.
Then - a new panel unfolded.
•----------------------------------------•
[TITLE TOKEN REDEEMED]
» Series Identified.
– [Harry Potter]
– [Following]
– [Solo Leveling]
– [ORV]
– [Death Note]
– [Lord of the Mysteries]
– [The Hangover]
ⓘ Please select one title to apply the [Title Token].
•----------------------------------------•
Regal's eyes scanned the list. A beat of silence passed.
"Right… Only one shot."
He muttered aloud as his thumb hovered.
"Why the hell is [Following] even here?" He mused, tilting his head. "That's just a standalone. What am I gonna unlock - director's notes and the background score?"
Still, it wasn't even a consideration.
"And [Death Note]? Not now… Maybe next time?"
"[The Hangover]'s original. Doesn't need a roadmap."
His eyes paused on [Lord of the Mysteries] - then [Solo Leveling] - then [ORV].
Tempting. But not urgent.
….
•------------------------------------------------•
✔ [Harry Potter] selected.
Unlocking-
[-Main Books-]
–> Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Purchased)
–> Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Purchased)
–> Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
–> Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
–> Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix
–> Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
–> Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
ⓘ [Full Set Purchase:] 15M EP
….
[-Companion Books-]
–> Quidditch Through the Ages
–> Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
–> The Tales of Beedle the Bard
ⓘ [Full Set Purchase:] 3M EP
….
[-Play Script-]
–> Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Parts I & II)
….
[-Otherable Not Works-]
–> Harry Potter: A History of Magic (A picture book)
–> The Hogwarts Library
–> Short Stories from the Wizarding World
–> Illustrated Editions
–> Hogwarts Textbooks and Reference Books
–> Marauder's Map
–> Harry Potter Dishes
ⓘ [Full Set Purchase:] 20M EP
….
[-Harry Potter Films-]
–> Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
–> Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
–> Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
–> Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
–> Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
–> Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
–> Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
–> Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
ⓘ [Full Set Purchase:] 25M EP
….
[-Fantastic Beasts Film-]
–> Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
–> Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
–> Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
–> Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
ⓘ [Full Set Purchase:] 8M EP
….
[-Other Related Films-]
–> Harry Potter: A History of Magic
–> The Making of Harry Potter (A documentary)
–> Harry Potter and the Magic of the Wizarding World
ⓘ [Full Set Purchase:] 6.5M EP
….
ⓘ [All materials are now accessible.]
ⓘ Note - The User still has to perches each book, movie, material according to it price on when it appears on [Bulletin Board]
Ⓘ 20% discount to the user on each purchase since the user has used title token.
•------------------------------------------------•
Regal didn't move for a second.
It wasn't just seven books - or eight films.
It was a universe.
A world's worth of emotional architecture, character arcs, faction histories, magic systems… all now under his hand.
Not as a copycat - but as its originator in this world.
His jaw clenched slightly. He now had the golden goose.
Not just [Harry Potter] - but the entire mythos.
And with Comic-Con on the horizon…
He leaned back, a small smile rising as he whispered to the glowing screen.
"You guys have no idea what's coming."
"But before that.. Just how much EP do I need to purchase all this?"
….
Location: Osterra Dante, Bel Air – Private Dining Room
Saturday(Same Time) – 2:13 PM
….
The light from the copper chandelier caught the rim of untouched wine glasses, casting slow shadows across a table too clean for comfort. Water beaded down the side of a chilled bottle, the only movement in the room.
Four men. Each powerful in their own lane. Each tired of smiling through meetings that no longer favored them.
Brad Carter of - Pixy Studio - tapped his pen on the table like it owed him money.
Dana Voss from - Apollo Pictures - was everything Brad wasn't: composed, calculated, with pale grey eyes that looked through people, not at them.
Leon Cho - Vista Crown's International - sat with his blazer still buttoned, jotting notes silently on a digital pad. Not a single drink in front of him. He never drank during negotiations - he preferred to remember what everyone else forgot.
And Marlon Keswick - of Whitebridge Studios - all linen suits and a smirk that never quite left. Theatrical, charming, but shrewder than he let on.
They weren't allies.
But for the moment, they shared a single, silent ambition.
To survive.
And then - to dominate.
Not a big 5 finish. Not second-best.
Number one. Or nothing at all.
Each man seated at that table wanted the crown. But before any of them could dream of wearing it, they needed to weather the same storm.
Regal Seraphsail.
They had talked circles around a dozen issues that afternoon - budgets, market shifts, overseas pipelines - but somehow, everything kept coming back to him.
Brad was the first to break, as expected. Impatient. Wound too tight.
"Regal. He is an annoyance. More than we accounted for."
Marlon sipped his Pellegrino. "You say that, like he is the first guy to make a surprise hit. Calm down, Bred."
Brad's teeth clenched. "Don't call me Brad like we are friends. I passed on [Following], remember? You know what it did after that? Or should I draw you a graph?"
Leon didn't look up. "You passed on it because it broke every rule we all banked on - no cast, no hype, no campaign. You thought it would sink. Instead it floated… and now you are drowning in your own call."
Brad scoffed. "No. I did think it would sell, sure. But it didn't just sell - it soared. Beyond what it was even built for." He leaned back. "That wasn't a misjudgment. That was him overshooting and somehow landing on the moon."
"So you are angry he got where he aimed? That he succeeded where you thought he shouldn't?" Leon said flatly.
Dana, who had remained silent until then, finally stirred. "Enough. Let's cut the self-pity. This isn't about bruised egos. It's about the line he is crossing."
Marlon gave a soft, knowing laugh. "Sure it is. Sounds a lot like ego from where I am sitting."
Dana didn't bite. "He is sidestepped the entire machine - twice. Now with [The Hangover]. And what does he do? He waves the project in front of all our studios, not because he needs us, but to play us against Red Studio. We were leverage. Nothing more."
A slow pause followed, the weight of that truth settling in the room.
"He never intended to partner." Dana went on. "He knew exactly how far to push before walking away. Got the deal he wanted without ever opening the door. And we let him."
He didn't need to say it outright, but the sting was clear - we were used.
"And the worst part?" Dana added, voice low now. "Some of us even considered giving him what he wanted. That doesn't sit well with me."
The silence that followed wasn't agreement. It was wounded pride - shared and unspoken.
Because in the end, no matter what they called it - strategy, precedent, disruption - this was about one thing:
Ego.
And Regal had just outplayed theirs
Leon added. "He is making kids think they can skip the power ladder. Self-produce. Control their rights. Launch from nothing and still make noise."
Marlon leaned back, fingers laced over his stomach, voice smooth like a blade slipping from velvet. "So what? We crush him? Blacklist the boy like it's 1955? When it is't?"
Dana didn't answer, but the look in his eyes was dangerous.
Marlon let out a slow chuckle. "Or we get smarter. That golden goose? I say we don't kill it. I say we teach it to lay for us."
Dana frowned. "You are saying we… partner with him?"
"I am saying we offer him power, but with a leash. We give him the money, the reach, the platform - but on our terms. Frame it like freedom, but slip in the reins."
Brad scoffed. "He would never go for that."
The words came bitter, certain. Not just prediction - conviction.
He and Regal couldn't exist under the same sky.
Not as equals. Not as anything.
To Brad, Regal's downfall wasn't just inevitable. It was necessary.
And more than that - it was within reach. Within his reach.
Brad scoffed. "He is not that naïve."
Then added, voice hardening. "And even if he agrees, he will find a way to screw us from the back-end. That kid's a snake in auteur skin."
He muttered under his breath. "Not like his father…"
Leon shot him a look. "Easy, Bred. You are really getting personal with this again."
Marlon smiled. "He might just bite if the illusion is good enough. If it looks like we are conceding to him. Let him think he is breaking into the castle, while we hand him a gilded cage."
Leon said nothing for a moment. Then quietly: "You want to sell him the system disguised as revolution."
Marlon's grin widened. "Something similar."
Dana folded his arms, unreadable. "And if he smells the trap?"
Marlon's voice dropped a note. "Then we make sure the trap smells like gold."
A silence passed. He wasn't joking - and they all knew it.
Something darker passed between them - an unspoken acknowledgment that this wasn't just strategy.
It was a war.
A quiet war.
A Hollywood war.
And the name on their dartboard had just been circled in red.
.
….
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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