Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Unexpected Action Director

"We have no guns, no cannons; the enemy will provide."

Zog hummed a little tune from his hometown as he prepared to brew himself a pot of milk tea.

’Making it in the entertainment industry is all about your peers making you look good by comparison.’

He had been worried about finding people to film *Mechanical Warrior*, but then the Drama Guild went and imploded.

It delivered a batch of veteran professionals right to his doorstep.

’How could I possibly accept?’

A future where new shows aired seven days a week was already beckoning to him.

Once the channel-surfing function was available, he’d be the first to launch a dedicated drama series channel. No ads, but you’d have to pay to watch.

Of course, viewers could also choose to buy a membership on the Zog Magic Vision Platform, which would let them watch some of the paid programs.

’First month half price, 40% off for a full year’s subscription. Too bad the banks aren’t networked, so there’s no monthly auto-renewal function.’

’If auto-renewal were possible, I’d definitely hide the unsubscribe button in the most obscure, out-of-the-way corner, making it incredibly hard for anyone to find.’

’By the standards of internet companies, that’s actually highly ethical. At least it gives you the option to unsubscribe.’

’In the early, wild-west days, some apps or mobile games would secretly deduct money from users’ phone bills without telling them.’

’An unregulated market... "How truly magnificent!"’

Zog broke off a small piece of brick tea, a product from the second batch of R&D at his beverage factory.

He added water, spat a burst of fire to bring it to a boil, poured in some milk, and gave it a stir.

He could also add a bit of butter and milk skin. He had to make the milk skin himself; all you could buy in Twin Tower City was cheese, and that just didn’t taste right in milk tea.

He took a sip. Rich, fragrant, and mellow. Zog would call salty milk tea the cilantro of the grasslands: those who liked it, *really* liked it, and those who couldn’t stand it couldn’t stomach a single drop.

Like Elsa.

Watching Zog drink his salty milk tea, she wore a look of utter bewilderment, quietly taking a sip of her own green milk tea. Sweet was more her style.

"Have a bowl of salty milk tea. I’ll give you Ten Copper Coins," Zog said, trying to force his preference on her.

"Ew, no way. You think you can buy me for just Ten Copper Coins? Add more or the deal’s off."

Elsa was no longer the same girl who would change her tune at the sight of Twenty-Five Silver Coins.

She and her brother had even taken out a loan to buy a house in the city and were planning to bring their parents over to live with them.

This obsession with buying property felt oddly familiar to Zog.

"Has the Drama Guild gathered enough members to register yet?" Zog asked. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

In the Sutton Kingdom, registering a guild required at least twenty members to prevent any oddball from registering some bizarre organization.

Not that it was completely effective. Who would have thought the "Foot Shape Research Guild" could attract over ten thousand members in a single day?

This had forced the Kingdom’s guild administration department to add a new rule: for a guild’s initial registration, all attending members had to have their identities publicly verified.

Previously registered guilds also had to be re-verified.

The Foot Shape Research Guild disbanded on the spot.

Galina’s grandfather, however, clearly didn’t have the influence to summon tens of thousands of people in a day.

He couldn’t even summon twenty.

A week had passed since that chat in the square, and the guild still hadn’t finished registering.

Most of his old comrades were unwilling to get involved in controversy again, and his former students, after working for a few years, no longer possessed the same fearless, forward-charging spirit they once had.

That was why people were so nostalgic for the passion of youth.

Today was the deadline. If the guild wasn’t successfully registered, Zog was planning to send members from Shepherd and the Mixed Giant Beasts to make up the numbers.

"He came by this morning and said he had enough people. They should be in the process of registering now," Elsa replied.

’Morning? What was I doing this morning? Why didn’t I know about this?’

’Oh, right. I was sleeping.’

’Now that there are games to play, what self-respecting Dragon would wake up early? It’s already hard to find a match for auto chess in the middle of the day.’

"Boss, an old gentleman calling himself Leontien Frederick wishes to see you." The goblins had also started calling Zog "Boss" now.

"Alright."

When he saw the old man, his beard was a mess, as if he hadn’t groomed it in days, but he couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes.

"We have everyone! There are 24 of us now, and a few more who live too far away will be arriving in a few days."

Zog was quite satisfied with that number. He never expected the claim of gathering over a hundred people from a week ago to actually come true.

’It was just painting a pie in the sky to rally support. I do it too.’

A dozen or so actors were enough for *Mechanical Warrior*. The Evil Demons who get beaten up would be in suits anyway; no one would recognize them.

They had already trained a whole bunch of them when filming the commercials.

The recruited members were currently at the Shepherd’s Theater Troupe; the third floor of the toy store couldn’t fit so many people.

It was a good opportunity to use the theater’s space for a simple audition.

While *Mechanical Warrior* didn’t have very high acting requirements, the actors at least had to be competent.

With this kind of show, the line between painfully cringe and awesomely hype could be surprisingly thin, and it was up to the actors to get it right.

They arrived at the Shepherd’s Theater.

Among the twenty-something people, there were a few directors, screenwriters, and logistics staff, with the other half being young actors.

You could tell they were professionally trained. Regardless of their actual skill level, they certainly looked the part.

What does it take to become a Mechanical Warrior?

Strength, courage, and justice?

’No, the main requirement is being handsome. It can’t be helped; this show has an idol-like quality to it.’

The audition consisted mostly of action scenes. In the plot, the dramatic scenes were far less frequent and important than the monster-fighting segments.

However, that was precisely where the problem lay.

This batch of actors was more than competent in the dramatic scenes, but their action skills were pure audience torture.

The "action performance" taught in the Sutton Kingdom’s academies was beyond ridiculous.

Calling it dance would be a compliment; at best, it was synchronized calisthenics.

It seemed some rigorous special training was in order.

In his plan, *Mechanical Warrior* would also have a live stage show to go along with the Shadow of Evil version.

Thanks to Shield Magic, the fight scenes could be truly full-contact, which would make for an incredibly cool live performance.

The camera had a way of severely weakening the visual impact of action.

Zog used to watch boxing and MMA, and it always looked slow and soft. He couldn’t understand how someone could go down from a single punch.

Then he went to a boxing gym for a trial session with a coach who had retired from a provincial team.

Seeing him throw a punch up close, it was so fast he couldn’t even see it clearly. The power was immense; it felt like one hit would be fatal.

Therefore, this group of actors would also need to take the mandatory course for all aspiring Demon Shadow Actors: a trip to Shudian.

The second park area on Shudian Island had opened: the *Firepower Young King* zone.

Since the show was currently a hit, there were many visitors.

To make things more interesting, several "bosses" were placed around the park for visitors to challenge with their Yo-Yo skills.

You could also call them Gym Leaders, because beating them would earn you a commemorative little badge.

Each one had a backstory and a type of trick they were weak against. Even though they were played by professional Yo-Yo players, without this design, no tourist would ever stand a chance of winning.

He led the actors through the Yo-Yo area and into the as-yet-unopened Special Effects Zone.

This was where they would be living, training, and filming for the foreseeable future.

"I have prepared the most professional action instructor for you, and he will also serve as your action director during filming."

The role of action director, or martial arts director, was born on Hong Kong Island and spread to the rest of the world with the wave of Hong Kong cinema.

It also saved Hollywood from the laughably fake fight scenes in its older action movies.

It was just that later on, as the number of action-capable actors dwindled, directing alone wasn’t enough to save actors who couldn’t fight. They had to rely on a flurry of quick cuts instead.

Hearing Zog’s introduction, the actors began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Is the instructor a Beastman? I think their axes and Warhammers are so cool."

"Maybe a Zor? Their movements are incredibly slick."

"It’s not a goblin, is it? I can fight better than a goblin."

It wasn’t surprising they thought this way; none of the staff they had seen on their way here were Human.

Zog motioned for everyone to be quiet.

"Allow me to introduce, with great honor, Shudian Island’s greatest martial arts designer, master action instructor, and proficient user of the eighteen arms of war—"

SPLISH, SPLASH... The sound of wet footsteps came from behind them. Everyone turned to see a short, dark blue figure.

"The Fishman Martial Monk—Pang Tou!"