…..
Finishing the things with Stephen and Alexander, Regal moved onto various other things that needed his attention.
However, these things didn't include anything related to [Harry Potter].
Right, surprisingly - with only seven days left before the cameras rolled - Regal took a break from [Harry Potter] pre-production work, and moved over other things:
Color comics of [Solo Leveling], and [ORV]. And MDC.
It was a decision he made as he was sure he will be consumed and won't be able to attend them once the filming has begun.
Following the line of decision is the meeting he is attending now.
…..
"I really am sorry, Sammy." Regal leaned back in his chair as the last of the dishes were cleared away, half-eaten salad, two espresso cups, and a plate of breadsticks they never touched.
His voice wasn't cold, just... clarity. "I can't take on anything else right now. I have got two films coming up, back-to-back. My hands are already split in too many places."
Across from him, Sammy nodded slowly, his fingertips brushing the rim of his water glass, rotating it absently.
Mid-forties, graying a little at the sideburns, but still carrying the nervous energy of a founder trying to hold things together with duct tape and vision.
"Yeah… I kinda figured" He said, not bitter, just wistful. "Still thought it was worth asking... ever since I watched [Death Note], I kept wondering what it could've been if it had a little more room to breathe... like a series maybe... and then someone mentioned there was a longer version, stuff that never made it in... and I thought maybe, I could help you bring that out"
Regal gave a half-smile, not wide but not dismissive either. "...huh, rumors really do spread fast these days." He said, not confirming but definitely not denying either.
Sammy gave a faint chuckle, eyes down. He had hoped for more than a smirk, but he understood.
The man in front of him wasn't just a director anymore - he was a stake-holder, a taste-maker.
And he was younger than half the interns the company had laid off last quarter.
The company?
Netflix.
Once upon a time, Sammy had built it from scratch, dreamed it up, pitched it door-to-door, scraped for every subscription.
He used to be the face of it. The force behind it.
Used to be.
Because now? He wasn't anymore.
The truth was, the DVD business was crumbling under his feet.
So… He had tried to sell Netflix.
When Regal first approached them with an offer to invest, Sammy had hesitated.
Not because he didn't need the money, God, they were drowning, but because he liked the kid too much.
The offers that came in were insulting.
One buyer wanted to rebrand the company as a digital documentary archive.
Another thought the name 'Netflix' sounded like something you would find in a sex toy catalog.
It hurt.
Then Regal came along - not just with a checkbook, but a plan.
Streaming. Real streaming. Content on-demand, delivered anywhere.
With no discs or rental windows. Just screens and choice.
Sammy thought the kid was mad.
But now, with Regal holding a 75% share in the company, he wasn't just their savior, he was their future.
And Sammy? Sammy was still there, trying to quiet his pride… and learning what it meant to follow someone else's lead.
"As you informed us - we have been working on it." Sammy said after a pause, straightening a bit in his seat. "Trying to grab rights to a bunch of old classics... stuff with heart, stuff people remember... we are gonna make them available online with a two-month trial, just get people comfortable with the idea of watching from home whenever they want without needing to buy or rent anything"
Regal nodded, resting his forearms on the table. "That will do for now, but eventually we will need our own original's too."
Sammy blinked. "Like... films? Series?"
It's true that Sammy did just propose to Regal that he should do a longer version of [Death Note] but it was not planned as a Netflix original.
Which means it should only be aired on their platform.
But instead he was going for the TV shows in channels and trying to pitch them… or Sammy has a TV channel of his own he can use it for that.
Regal leaned forward. "Anything… like documentaries, animation, game shows, reality content and even experimental ones. We just need to keep them watching and coming back."
Sammy leaned back, lips pressed together in thought. "Movies and series, they take time... they burn cash... but game shows? Reality formats? That's doable - fast, cheap, and they stick."
He added. "Or we can combine both game shows and reality shows."
...a game show isn't necessarily a reality show.
Regal nodded slowly, his gaze sharpening just a bit.
He hadn't thought about that angle in detail before - but Sammy had a point.
Those kinds of shows... they hooked people in different ways... they built routine, made people talk, made people stay
Especially families... women... older folks... the kind who didn't just binge, they brought others with them
Game shows that mix in a bit of reality… huh?
Something clicked in his mind.
"Actually…" He said quietly, more to himself than to Sammy. "I think I might already have a concept."
Sammy tilted his head, intrigued, but said nothing
And Regal - he just sat there for a moment, remembering something so familiar, so absurdly simple it almost made him laugh.
A seat.
A timer.
A question with four options.
A million-dollar answer.
…and the quiet panic of choosing the right one in front of the world.
Sammy waited, his curiosity piqued but his patience unspoken.
Regal said, the corners of his mouth curling into a slow smile. "I had an idea a while ago. A simple game show… but it might be something within our budget and could work."
"Okay. How long do you need to get the concept done?"
"Hmm, actually, give me half an hour."
Without waiting for a reply, Regal waved toward Rock who was standing a couple of feet away, asking him to bring his laptop from the car.
Within a few minutes, Sammy watched him with interest as Regal's fingers flexed, already itching to start typing.
Regal had actually planned to write something without using the system for a while.
He wanted to know what the result would be, however there is so much content he wants to tell from his previous world he couldn't ignore them and do something original right.
Also he believes there is no such thing as truly original in the first place - everything is an inspiration of something else, and his own writing he has been doing for each of the scripts he bought from the system is enough for him to truly believe he owns them in this world.
Anyway, as the situation arose, Regal was itching to write a concept of a famous and successful game show from his past world.
The cursor blinked on the blank page, but he didn't hesitate, and the first thing he typed is -
First, a title in bold:
[WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE]
Beneath it, Regal immediately began typing-
A high-stakes quiz-based game show where a single contestant answers a series of progressively harder multiple-choice questions, each with four possible answers. With every correct answer, the contestant moves up a tiered money ladder, aiming for the ultimate prize — ONE MILLION DOLLARS.
On the other hand Sammy simply leaned back in his chair, completely flabbergasted with what's happening in front of him.
Still, seeing Regal's serious face he stayed calm, and decided to not disturb him.
…..
.
Fifty-five minutes later.
The sound of keys stopped.
Regal didn't say much. Just turned the laptop around toward him, with a nonchalant. "Have a look."
Sammy straightened up, adjusted his collar without thinking.
He pulled the laptop toward him, eyes landing immediately on the bold title.and pulled the laptop closer.
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, huh?" He read aloud, and something changed in his face.
There it was. That flicker. Recognition - not of the name, but of the feeling.
Something took him over, wanting to learn as much as possible.
Regal saw it too, and let out a quiet chuckle.
Because really - who didn't want to be a millionaire?
Everyone did. The dream cut across class, age, ambition.
From the guy flipping burgers to the tech CEO who never forgot the climb... it always started with the first million.
That was the magic of it.
Seeing someone ordinary - a school teacher, a mechanic, a mother of two - climb that ladder in real time.
Question after question. Until suddenly, they weren't ordinary anymore.
They were rich. Changed.
And it all happened in front of your eyes.
Sammy barely noticed Regal's smile. He was already scrolling through the document, his fingers slowing as he reached the first breakdown - the structure of the show.
====
LEVEL STRUCTURE.
- Fifteen questions. Four options per question. Each correct response takes the contestant closer to the million.
- At question 5 and 10, guaranteed checkpoints. They can walk away any time. But if they answer incorrectly, they fall back to the last milestone.
====
Sammy nodded almost unconsciously, the clarity of the structure pulling him in. It was all there - the stakes, the pacing, the built-in tension. He could already feel how every choice would land like a heartbeat on live television.
It reminded him of Snakes and Ladders - except here, there were no tails to slither down. One wrong move and it was over. A sharp drop, not a slow slide. The climb was deliberate… but the fall? Instant.
His scroll continued.
====
LIFELINES.
- 50:50.
- Phone a Friend.
- Ask the Audience.
====
Simple and intuitive.
Sammy felt the strategy without needing to be told because - he was already seeing it.
A contestant stuck on a question, sweating under studio lights, the clock ticking in their head. Turning to the audience, or calling someone they trust. Or risking it.
This wasn't just a show you watched.
But instead… It made you play.
It pulled you into that seat, made you feel the weight of each question as if it were your own.
Another flick of the trackpad brought him further into the next section - a shift from the rules to the experience.
====
SET DESIGN. AND TONE
- Dark stage. One halo of light on the host and the contestant. A screen that gleamed overhead. Just two chairs and tension so thick it might snap in half.
Regal had it down to a science.
- The host is not a comedian. He is not flashy. He is calm, elegant, and deliberate. He treats each question like a sacred ritual.
- Music is subtle but ever-present - a quiet score that builds with each question. Stress rises. Time ticks. The silence after a wrong answer must feel like a tomb closing.
====
Sammy exhaled, long and low, not realizing he'd been holding his breath.
"You are not normal." He muttered.
Across from him, Regal lifted his cup and drained what little coffee remained. "Bit harsh." He said, grinning faintly. "Especially for someone on my payroll."
Sammy said nothing. His eyes dropped back to the screen.
He had expected a half-baked idea - maybe some clever gimmick but full of loose ends, a format with potential but in need of work.
What he found was something else entirely.
A complete show, from entry to exit, wrapped in a structure tight enough to survive real pressure, and just wild enough to be addictive, and more importantly it held something rare - a human factor.
It even had a future scope.
===
- Mobile games.
- Celebrity specials.
- International editions with local currencies and languages.
- Long-term: sponsored prizes, in-show product placements, special lifeline unlocks, tournament formats.
===
Sammy finally stopped.
There is nothing to scroll anymore. It was the end.
He just stared at the screen for a moment, unsure of what to say.
A franchise.
He could sense it… this pitch has the potential to become something big in the future.
A fully-formed ecosystem - a piece of entertainment with teeth, heart, and infinite legs to grow.
And Regal… he had typed it out in under an hour, between bites of a sandwich and sips of cold coffee, in a quiet corner of a fading restaurant.
….
Sammy saw his chance - and he wasn't going to let it slip.
For a moment he said nothing, just kept staring at the screen in front of him. Then, slowly, he lowered the laptop and looked across the table. Something had already taken shape in his mind - not fully formed, but enough to jump on.
Part instinct, part calculated risk.
"Regal." He began, his voice deliberate. "What if I make you an offer… What if I buy the rights to the game show?"
Regal didn't react at first. His head tilted slightly, his eyes narrowing with quiet interest. "You want to produce it independently? Under your own label?"
Sammy nodded. "Yeah. For my TV channel. Weekly episodes aired there first - then pushed to Netflix the following day."
It was a sharp move.
Right now, Sammy only owned a modest stake in Netflix - fifteen percent, not enough to steer the ship.
If this little show turned into something massive, he would be watching it sail from the sidelines unless he acted now.
What he couldn't yet imagine was just how massive it would become - or how those small shares would one day become giants.
Regal, of course, saw that immediately. He leaned back, arms folding with ease, eyes thoughtful but not surprised.
"I don't mind." He said after a beat. "But how about this instead… Don't pay me anything for the rights. You produce it. Your call on everything. But I retain the right to stream every episode on Netflix - no licensing fees."
Sammy raised his eyebrows. That was more than fair - it was generous.
"You're sure?" He asked. "That's basically giving me full domestic rights."
Regal gave a casual shrug. "I will still keep the international licenses. So yeah, for Season One, it's your risk if it tanks, and your stage if it hits. I won't step in."
He wasn't bluffing either. Regal already knew the show would be more than just an American success.
Back in his old world, it had been adapted into dozens of languages, broadcast in over a hundred countries. He didn't need to own everything - he just needed the long view.
And with [Harry Potter] entering pre-production, and the looming chaos of the MDC situation still brewing, Regal had no bandwidth to micromanage a game show.
Sammy understood that too.
This deal gave him a flagship series for his channel, one with built-in mass appeal, and Regal got premium content for Netflix, with no time drain, no upfront spend.
Sammy let it sit for a second, weighing it one last time. Then he smiled.
"I am good with that."
Regal reached across the table, extending his hand. Sammy met it with his own.
"It's a deal then."
"It is."
Just two words. But in that handshake was the spark of something far bigger.
Sammy had just landed what could be the breakout television format of the decade, prime-time gold with wide demographic pull and a sponsor-ready hook.
And Regal?
He had secured Netflix's first truly exclusive original game show - zero investment, all leverage, and global expansion waiting in the wings.
Even Rock, standing quietly nearby, gave a faint grin.
Regal hadn't just drafted a game show.
He had drawn the blueprint for a media empire.
.
….
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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