Chapter 37:Money and Talent Pour In

 Chapter 37: Movie Release (1)

On the way back to the orphanage.

Ryu Seong called two restaurants and ordered dinner based on the menu he had discussed with the director.

(“Yes, we’ll be there by 6 PM!”)

“Thank you.”

At one restaurant, he ordered Korean native chicken baeksuk (samgyetang-style), and at the other, he ordered lobster, king crab, and snow crab. In this world where delivery worked so well, there was no major issue. Of course, because the distance was a bit far, an extra delivery fee was added.

“They said they’ll arrive by 6.”

“They’ll be here soon then.”

“Yeah. I hope the kids enjoy it and eat well.”

The children following behind had bright, cheerful expressions.

Especially the middle and high school students.

They were now at an age where they were starting to understand how the world worked and began worrying about the future. Their eyes showed both a premature sense of responsibility as they tried to figure things out on their own, and a hint of exhaustion that was already visible. Even to Ryu Seong, who wasn’t even thirty yet, it was painfully clear.

Bowing their heads.

When their eyes met, two of the high school students bowed to him once again. Ryu Seong lightly nodded back and then looked forward again.

“Um, Director.”

“Yes?”

“Would it be okay if I stayed a little longer?”

“Of course.”

Since things had come to this, he decided to properly sponsor them and try to get even a little closer to the children. If he hadn’t seen it, he might have been able to ignore it, but having seen it with his own eyes, he couldn’t turn away. Above all, once he started helping, he believed it was only right to see it through to the end.

Ryu Seong’s own childhood had been exactly like that.

Either turn a blind eye from the beginning.

Or, if you couldn’t do that, help until the very end.

There had never been a middle ground for him.

However, after entering university, completing his military service, and preparing for employment, he had gradually blended into the flow of time. By the time he came to his senses, he had already started averting his eyes from most things. The help he gave as a child and the help he gave as an adult were fundamentally different in nature.

It was clearly different from those pure days.

Had he simply adapted to that kind of life?

These days, he didn’t even look at bad news articles.

Murder, robbery, sexual assault, and so on.

Because it only made him feel worse.

What was the point of looking at things he couldn’t do anything about?

And yet, he would still think to himself:

I hope… someone would properly help them.

And now, that “someone” had become Ryu Seong himself.

Because he could do it.

So he simply did what he could.

*

Getting close to the children was easier than he expected.

Their wariness disappeared quickly.

However, the middle and high schoolers were definitely more reserved and shy.

He would just need to take his time.

If he approached them slowly, they would warm up.

♪♩♩♬♪.

Just then, a message arrived saying the food had been delivered.

“They said it’s here.”

“Really? Kids, shall we go get the food?”

“Yes!”

“Food’s here, food!”

When they went to the orphanage entrance with the children, a car was parked there and one person was getting out to unload the food. There was quite a lot, so the children ran over and started taking the packaged bags.

Ryu Seong also carried a few. The packaging was so well done that he couldn’t even smell the food. It was only after they unpacked everything on the table that the plump Korean native chicken was revealed.

“Wow…!”

It looked like they were going to have a proper nourishing meal today.

“Hyung, look at this. It’s huge!”

“Woah, for real!”

“Its leg is as big as my face, hehe.”

Almost at the same time, the crustacean dishes also arrived.

King crab, snow crab, and lobster.

These too had been packaged perfectly to retain moisture and warmth.

The world really had gotten so much better.

When they placed everything on the large dining table, it became a true feast. Every single person, without exception, had sparkling eyes as they stared at the food. Seeing this, the director smiled warmly and clapped her hands.

“Everyone, let’s eat deliciously.”

“Thank you for the meal!”

Ryu Seong sat down with them and enjoyed the food as well.

Damn, this is art.

The quality of delivery these days was seriously no joke. It was almost no different from eating directly at a famous restaurant.

“Is it good, kids?”

“Yes! It’s the best!”

“It’s really delicious!”

“Eat a lot.”

After playing with them a bit and eating together, he felt much closer to them. Even the middle and high schoolers seemed to have a bit more friendliness in their eyes now.

This is nice.

He really liked this atmosphere.

A little while later.

It was already 8 PM by the time he got home.

“Did you eat well?”

“Yeah. What about you, Mom?”

“I ate well too. You must be tired—go wash up and rest.”

“Yep!”

He went into his room, took a shower, and lay down on the bed. Lucky, who had come through the slightly open door, jumped onto the bed with a soft thump and settled on Ryu Seong’s chest.

“You’re here?”

Lucky had grown a little bigger before he knew it.

He still looked like a baby in Ryu Seong’s eyes.

Still, it was undeniable that he was bigger than when he first saw him.

Purrrrr.

With his left hand, he gently stroked Lucky, while his right hand operated his smartphone. He opened the securities app, logged in with his fingerprint, and checked his current profit and loss status.

**Stock Name:** Jinsang Science

**Shares Held:** 2,252

**Purchase Amount:** ₩50,219,600

**Return Rate:** -1.27%

**Unrealized Gain/Loss:** -₩637,789

**Total Valuation:** ₩49,581,811

Jinsang Science was down about 630,000 won.

**Stock Name:** Matrion

**Shares Held:** 572

**Purchase Amount:** ₩50,050,000

**Return Rate:** -0.63%

**Unrealized Gain/Loss:** -₩215,215

**Total Valuation:** ₩49,834,785

Matrion was also in the red, but it was doing better than Jinsang Science. The last company, Arang Life, was the only one showing a profit of about 150,000 won and performing well. Adding them all up, he was currently sitting on a total loss of around 780,000 won.

“Not bad.”

Instead of disappointment, a faint sense of anticipation rose on Ryu Seong’s face.

It was already early August.

It wasn’t that long until mid-August, when the real reaction would start coming in.

Until then…

He just had to wait.

He closed the securities app and looked over the schedule list he had recently started organizing.

**<August – Items to Check>**

- 9th – *Darkness Falls* Release

- 11th – Money-Making Quest Settlement

- Mid-month – Bio companies begin to gain momentum

- 25th – *Seoul War* Release

- End of month – Regular Sponsorship Quest Settlement

Five major events were listed.

Ah, the movie…!

He had almost forgotten that the movie release date was tomorrow. Since the scenario had given him goosebumps when he read it, he had decided to watch it on the very first day.

He definitely had to go see this.

He thought about who to watch it with, then shook his head.

No matter how much he thought about it, there was no one available to watch a movie with him on a weekday morning. Even his mother had plans with her friends tomorrow.

His father was going to work.

His younger siblings had school.

Lee Shin-woo had to prepare for his business.

“…Let’s not even ask.”

If he asked and got rejected, he’d only end up getting teased.

“You don’t have any friends?”

“You should get a girlfriend instead,” and so on.

It was such a predictable repertoire.

In the end, he booked a solo ticket for *Darkness Falls*.

Still, he was excited.

The scenario he had read was still vivid in his mind.

How would it look on screen?

He couldn’t even begin to imagine how they had expressed it visually. He quickly checked YouTube, but it seemed the movie wasn’t getting much attention. The main trailer had very low view counts, and there were almost no comments.

“Hmm.”

The casting was a bit disappointing. A supporting actor who was well-known had been chosen for his first lead role, which probably explained the lack of buzz. But once a film like this started gaining popularity, it could become unstoppable. Hoping for a good outcome, he spent the rest of the night that way.

*

The next day, after eating breakfast, he went to the gym for a workout and then headed straight to the movie theater. He arrived 10 minutes early and ordered a single-person set that included a cola and a mini-sized caramel popcorn.

He also went to the restroom.

With nothing else to do, he decided to enter the screening room early and wait.

He stepped onto the escalator right next to him, went up to the third floor, and showed his ticket to the staff member in front of Theater 2. She stamped a circle on the ticket and handed it back to him.

“Seat E-7, confirmed.”

Then, she suddenly raised her hands above her head and waved them enthusiastically from side to side, even bending her knees slightly.

“Please enjoy the movie!”

“Ah, yes…”

It felt a little awkward, but her bright and energetic energy was surprisingly pleasant. With a small smile, he entered the darkened interior and found his seat.

Slightly behind the middle.

Right in the center.

It was the best possible seat.

He fiddled with his smartphone while looking around.

*There are even fewer people than I thought.*

Looking around, the number of audience members was really small.

At most twenty?

After confirming the headcount and waiting a little longer, the lights inside the theater finally went completely dark. Ryu Seong turned off his phone and focused on the screen.

After the promotions and trailers ended,

the movie that began pulled him in with gripping intensity from the very first scene.

“…”

Was this what it felt like when time was erased?

Even though the movie had clearly ended, he couldn’t bring himself to stand up from his seat.

The surging tension.

The outstanding direction.

The actors’ perfect performances.

All of it came together and gave Ryu Seong something even greater than what he had felt while reading the scenario.

He quietly savored the lingering aftertaste.

Rustle.

Then, the sound of other audience members getting up and leaving brought him back. Ryu Seong slowly stood up as well, picked up his trash, and headed toward the exit.

“Wasn’t this really good?”

“Yeah, it was amazing…!”

“See? I told you it would be fun!”

“I didn’t expect it to be *this* good.”

The conversation between what seemed to be a couple drifted over from ahead of him.

The reactions were positive.

The same went for the people behind him.

“Gave me goosebumps.”

“I should recommend this to my friends today.”

“Absolutely, this one’s a must.”

“There hasn’t been anything worth watching lately, but this was seriously insane.”

“Ugh…!”

“Second viewing later? You in?”

“I’m in!”

A smile naturally formed on his lips.

Of course it did.

After all, he had invested 100 million won in this movie.

At the same time, he felt certain.

This was definitely going to be a massive hit. Once word-of-mouth really started spreading, it would probably become an unstoppable wildfire.

*

The public’s reaction came faster than expected.

[*Darkness Falls*]

Until yesterday, searching for the movie only brought up old articles, but now it was different. A flood of fresh, hot articles filled the internet.

Even more surprising was the movie’s rating.

9.6 points.

It was still early, but it was clearly an astonishing score.

[This is the best occult movie in Korea]

[This is seriously overwhelming…!]

[You have to watch it. Not watching it is a waste of your life!]

[A movie you need to watch two or three times]

[It was perfect from start to finish.]

[Best movie of the year]

[It will remain as one of the all-time greats!]

[It tore me apart, blew my mind, crushed it!]

The comments were all full of praise without exception.

“Good, very good.”

At this level, it might not reach a super mega-hit, but it seemed more than enough to generate a profit on his investment. After all, the break-even point was only 1.63 million viewers, which wasn’t that high.

This should be sufficient.

Still, he decided to keep checking the reactions periodically for a while.

Since the important part was done,

he figured he might as well head out.

With nothing particular to do, Ryu Seong decided to take a walk around the neighborhood.

“I’m going for a walk.”

“Okay, have a nice walk.”

As he started walking, Ryu Seong’s expression slightly furrowed.

It was because of the quest.

From August 1st until today — now the 11th, already deep into mid-month — not a single minor quest had appeared. That fact kept bothering him.

“Current points gathered: 20.”

They had been stuck there without increasing at all. Of course, today’s Money-Making Quest would be cleared, but that alone wasn’t enough. At this rate, even if he earned points from the regular sponsorship quest at the end of August, he might not even reach 30 points.

At least two or three.

He needed at least that many minor quests to pop up.

It was a kind of motivation.

He had set a short-term goal of collecting 30 points by the last day of August.

With his eyes wide open, he walked diligently.

One hour, two hours.

Before he knew it, his walk had taken him to a bustling downtown street. It was a crowded area filled with many people moving about, and even among them, one person caught his eye.

Especially the student right in front of him.

The zipper on the student’s bag was open, and it looked like the books inside were about to spill out at any moment.

He quickly stepped forward.

Step.

Quest or not, this was simply human instinct.

“Excuse me…”

He was about to call out to the student to let him know the zipper was open when—

[Ding!]

[Quest Activated!]

The long-awaited quest finally appeared.

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