<🎧 Song Recommendation: APT. by ROSÉ, Bruno Mars>

...

Leviathan finished reading the article on his MyPad and violently hurled the device across the room, breaking it instantly.

"That little rat!" Leviathan felt visibly angry for the first time. "Sammy leaked this! He told them to twist the story to make it look like he rejected us!"

Marcus was sitting on the edge of the sofa with his elbows resting on his knees and his face buried in his hands. He didn’t even flinch when the iPad shattered. He just looked exhausted.

"It doesn’t matter who leaked it... It’s out there. We are officially a laughingstock."

As if to prove Marcus right, Leviathan’s phone immediately started ringing. It was one of the major film distributors who had been secretly monitoring the movie’s progress,a company that had casually discussed a $20 million handshake deal just weeks ago.

Leviathan snatched his phone from the table and answered it. "Yo listen, it’s fake news—"

"We’re pulling our offer, Levy," the executive on the other end cut him off coldly. "My board isn’t touching a cursed project. Your lead actor is in a coma, the budget will be blown, and the press is already labeling it a disaster."

"He ain’t in no coma, he’s very good now! Don’t do this, man."

"I can give you five million," the executive offered ruthlessly. "That’s our final offer. We’ll buy the rights, scrap the theatrical release, and keep it at a streaming platform to cut your losses."

"Five million?!" Leviathan’s eyes widened in sheer insult. "We’re spending fifteen million to make it! Ain’t no way I’m collecting just five from you!"

"Then good luck, Levy."

The call ended and Leviathan slowly lowered the phone from his ear. The silence in the hotel room was deafening. The movie was almost dead.

***

It was late evening on the seventh day when Von finally opened his eyes.

And this time his mind felt clearer than usual. He felt like he could process Aiden’s feelings much better now.

Considering all he had been thinking about while asleep was Aiden’s life, the character’s persona didn’t feel like a forced mask anymore. It felt more natural.

Von checked his system right away.

[Character Proficiency]

[Aiden: 78%]

Von gasped seeing the high figure. That was almost double what he had when he acted the last scene.

’All that progress from a night sleep, damn,’ Von thought inwardly with a smile on his face.

Trying to sit up from the bed, he felt something restricting his hand. He looked down to see an IV drip was taped tightly to his skin.

Seeing that gave Von flashbacks and made him frown. Without a second thought, he pulled it off and wanted to stand up when he heard a voice.

"Oh, you’re awake."

Von turned his head to see Chloe sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. She was wearing simple clothes, and there was some relief in her eyes when she saw him sit up.

"How long was I sleeping for?"

"Six days."

"SIX DAYS?!?"

Before Chloe could explain anything else, the door to the hotel room swung open. Marcus and Leviathan walked in. Chloe had texted them when she saw him shifting on the bed some minutes before he got up.

"Glad you decided to join us, Von. Did you enjoy your beauty nap?" Marcus asked Von with sarcasm.

Von had nothing to answer. His smile completely vanished. His mind was already reeling with the consequences of his actions and how his long absence might have negatively affected the movie’s schedule. He knew how much money a single stalled day cost a production set.

"Did something happen to the movie?" Von managed to ask after a while of tense silence.

The duo producers didn’t say a word. Leviathan just looked away, looking stressed, while Marcus rubbed his temples.

Seeing the atmosphere, Chloe came to the rescue. "About that..."

Chloe sat forward and filled him in on the nightmare that had unfolded while he was unconscious. She told him about the production bleeding money, a terrible article by the entertainment tabloids, and the major film distributors pulling their multi-million-dollar offers.

After Von finished listening to the story, a deep pit formed in his stomach.

"I’m.... so sorry," Von said, feeling really terrible for jeopardizing everything.

"But I’ll try to make up for everything. I’m a lot better now, so we can get back to acting immediately. You can deduct the lost money from my pay."

"We already did," Marcus said with a light facepalm. "Your agent signed the papers two hours ago. Your base salary is now wiped out, so you’re officially acting in this movie for free."

Von’s jaw slightly parted. He didn’t even know what to say in reply to that. His entire paycheck was gone just like that.

Ding! Ding!

But at that exact moment, the System interface lit up with a two Quests, one of them reminding him he had failed numerous daily quests.

But it wasn’t just the failed quests that caught his attention, a new main quest lighted his screen, and as he read the description, Von realized it might just be the exact answer to all their worries.

***

(31st July, 2020 — Perfect Ruins | Act 2 | Scene 21 | Take 1)

Aiden rushed to the door the moment he heard someone knocking on his door. A rare, genuine smile had already taken over his face as he quickly smoothed down his messy hair.

’I can’t believe she’s really sleeping over,’ he said to himself while turning over to make sure the room was perfectly arranged and he was smelling nice.

He had spent the last twenty minutes making sure everything looked somewhat presentable. It was a crappy apartment, but he still wanted it to be perfect for her.

Camila had texted him earlier saying she was coming over. It was quite late, but Aiden didn’t mind at all. He opened the door with excitement, but that joy left him just as quickly as it had come.

"Ugh what’s that stench?" Aiden covered his nose as he tried to adjust to the strong scent of the alcohol. It was like she had been literally bathed with alcohol, what he didn’t know was that was truly the case.

"The dorms locked me out," Camila groaned, walking past him without waiting for an invitation. She looked around his small room with disgust.

"Ugh... it smells like desperation in here. Do you even have a heater? It’s freezing."

Aiden closed the door with an upset smile already, but quickly tried to fix his face. He swallowed the disappointment forming in his throat. She wasn’t here because she wanted to see him; she was here because she had nowhere else to go.