The condo smelled like sweat, instant noodles, and mild desperation. The fan spun weakly overhead while Kai's laptop hummed on the fold-out table, cables running everywhere like veins in an exhausted heart.
Adrian sat beside Kai, elbows on the desk, eyes fixed on the screen.
"Pull that shot tighter. Zoom in—yeah, hold that frame for half a second longer," Adrian said, his voice low and precise. "Cut the pause before I blink. Make the silence hit sooner."
Kai nodded silently, mouse flying across the timeline in Premiere Pro. His fingers were a blur, editing like a man possessed. Behind them, Joms lay flat on the couch, tapping on his phone.
"I ordered sisig, tapsilog, and... whatever lumpiang shanghai combo they had," Joms called out. "We feast like kings tonight, mga maestro."
Adrian gave a small grunt. He was too deep into the cut to respond.
"Okay," Kai said, sitting back and letting out a breath. "Final render in five minutes."
Joms sat up and stretched. "So, uh... speaking of kings — you gonna call back that scout dude?"
Adrian didn't even glance over. "We're focusing on this. Not that."
Joms raised his eyebrows but didn't press it. He already knew what Adrian's silence meant: Not now. Not while there was still something to prove.
---
### The Upload
By 2:47 AM, the short film was done.
They uploaded it to **YouTube**, shared it on **Facebook**, and even posted the link on **Twitter**, using every last bit of Kai's 2015-era social savvy.
They titled it simply:
**"Voicemail."**
Runtime: 4 minutes, 27 seconds.
Genre: Drama
Description: *A man listens to his late father's final message. One shot. No cuts.*
As the video uploaded, Joms made the sign of the cross dramatically. "Lord, if this thing goes viral, I swear I'll stop pirating movies for a week."
Kai snorted. "We just need one post. One reshare. That's it."
Adrian, eyes steady, leaned back in his chair. "It will catch. People will feel it."
---
### Two Days Later
They sat in the exact same spots, but now the room felt heavier.
YouTube: **231 views.**
Facebook: **38 shares.**
Twitter: **2 likes. One was Kai's burner account.**
That was it.
No overnight explosion. No flood of emails. No mysterious producers in their DMs. Just... silence. The kind that stung harder than hate comments.
Kai was the first to speak. "It's good. Right? I mean... we *know* it's good."
"It *is* good," Joms muttered. "It's just that no one saw it."
Adrian didn't say anything.
They spent that day like ghosts — going through the motions, refreshing pages they knew wouldn't change. Joms stopped joking. Kai stopped editing. Even Adrian… looked shaken.
"I thought this was it," he admitted quietly, staring out the window that night. "The comeback. The proof."
Kai sat at the table with a bowl of reheated rice and nothing else. "We did everything right."
"Maybe," Joms said from the floor, "doing everything right isn't enough."
None of them had an answer for that.
---
### The Twist
At 1:14 AM, the notification came.
Just one ping.
**\[Email Received – Subject: Rights Inquiry: "Voicemail"]**
Kai squinted. "Wait. What?"
He opened it.
> *Hi. This is Marla Ignacio from Bayanihan Film Collective. We curate short films for independent showcases in Southeast Asia. One of our staff came across your film randomly on YouTube. It moved him to tears. We'd like to feature it in our next microfilm event. Please let us know if the creator is available for a quick call.*
They all froze.
Adrian leaned over and read the email. Twice.
"She said *staff*. That means more than one person saw it," Joms said slowly.
Kai clicked into the link the woman had included. The site was legit. Real sponsors. Local press coverage. International collaborations.
"Holy crap," he whispered. "They have streaming deals. *International*."
Then another notification popped up — this time from **YouTube**.
**\["Voicemail" has been added to the Bayanihan Film Collective's curated playlist (Featured: Up Next | Southeast Asian Spotlight).]**
It had **just jumped to 2,347 views**.
Joms sat up straight. "Dude. DUUUUDE."
Kai nearly knocked his chair over. "We're *in*. We're actually in."
Adrian didn't say anything at first. Then — finally — he smiled.
Not a cocky grin. Not even a victorious one.
Just... relief. The kind that settles into your bones after years of wondering if any of it still mattered.
---
**\[MISSION COMPLETE – "First Film"]**
→ *Short Film Uploaded and Recognized by Industry Curators*
→ *Minimum View Threshold Achieved*
→ *Reward Unlocked:*
✅ +5 Attribute Points
✅ Experience of One of the Greatest Directors in History \[Random Assignment Incoming]
✅ ₱10,000,000 Credited to Digital Wallet
**\[NEW PERK UNLOCKED – "Director's Eye"]**
→ *You can now instinctively analyze any scene, actor, or story idea for cinematic potential. Bonuses apply to production speed, shot composition, and emotional delivery.*
---
They didn't scream.
They didn't jump.
They just sat there quietly, finally exhaling, as Manila hummed outside — unaware that somewhere in a tiny condo above a karaoke bar and a leaking pipe, three nobodies had just made their first dent in the world.(End chapter)