37: Horror Universe

This announcement from the Hongguo Novel Website exploded across the internet late at night.

S+-class investment.

The original author personally serves as the chief screenwriter.

Creating Huaxia's number one terror universe...

Every single word was stimulating everyone's nerves.

The terror that originally only circulated within the novel circles

at this moment, obtained a ticket to a broader public view.

After Wu Di dropped this bomb in the class chat group, the entire group went crazy.

["Really? I just went to check the official website, and the server crashed again! I can't even get in, bro!"]

["-Dream Weaver is the chief screenwriter! This time my idol isn't just getting into magazines, he's going straight to TV! Dream Weaver is awesome (voice cracking)"]

["-I almost dare not imagine, if 'Ghost Knocking on the Door' and 'Last Train' were adapted, what kind of effect would that be? Wouldn't a whole bunch of people be carried out of the cinema on the spot?"]

["-No, with that kind of plot, you still want to see it on the big screen? This has to be a web drama!"]

["-Exactly! With this level of boldness, which censoring elder can handle it? Wouldn't they have to dial 120 overnight?"]

Wu Di was rolling around on the bed in excitement,

frantically @ing Lin Que, sending over a dozen messages in a row.

Just over ten minutes later, Lin Que calmly replied with a single sentence.

["Got it, going to sleep."]

...

SOHO Future City, 28th floor.

Lin Que was, of course, not really sleeping.

He was currently on a video call with Hong Hu, the Editor-in-Chief of the Hongguo Novel Website.

On the screen was only Hong Hu's flushed face,

whereas on Lin Que's side, it was pitch black,

and only a processed, cold, and deep voice came through the video.

["-Dream Weaver, the conditions you proposed, we... no, the group, accepts them completely!"]

Hong Hu's tone carried unconcealed excitement and... awe.

Last night,

when informing Lin Que that the group started wanting to adapt the human world is like a prison into film and television,

Lin Que gave near-tyrannical terms.

He had also bit the bullet and reported it to the group's higher-ups.

Thinking he would be cursed to a bloody pulp,

unexpectedly, the group's vice president, known for his viciously sharp eye,

after listening to the report, fell silent for a full five minutes.

Inside the meeting room, everyone didn't dare to breathe loudly.

["-Does he mean that we invest the money, and he comes to be the supreme ruler?"]

The vice president's voice was very calm, yet it sent a chill down Hong Hu's back.

["-Uh... that can also be understood that way..."]

Hong Hu bit the bullet and replied.

["-Arrogant."]

The vice president spat out two words, but his fingers were rhythmically tapping on the table.

["-However, I like this arrogance."]

He stood up and walked to the middle of the meeting room.

["-Everyone has read the initiative letter from the Jiangcheng Writers Association Chairman, right?"]

The people off the stage nodded one after another.

["-That joint statement from a dozen or so Writers Associations, if it were any other IP, it would have been thoroughly dead by now."]

["-Yet what was the result?"]

He turned around, his gaze sweeping across the meeting room in a circle:

["-Not only did he not die, but instead, taking advantage of the stage Wang Shouyi built for him, he turned around and beat Wang Shouyi into the internet's biggest clown."]

["-Throughout the entire process, he didn't spend a single cent, using only two articles. Who among you has this ability to manipulate public opinion and turn crises into opportunities?"]

There was dead silence in the meeting room.

["-A genius who can be roped in with money and resources is not a genius, but a senior hired hand."]

["-And a person who can play official authority and folk public opinion in the palm of their hand, daring to forcefully seize dominance..."]

["-His value is simply immeasurable."]

He glanced at Hong Hu one last time, making a final decision:

["-Promise him! Everything he wants, give it to him!"]

["-I only have one request, weld him tightly to the Red Fruit boat for me!"]

...

Thus, carrying the imperial sword, Hong Hu contacted this mysterious grand god once again.

["-Teacher, the adaptation authorization fee and the screenwriter advance payment can be wired into your account within three days."]

["-After the project starts later, you will have veto power over the crew preparation, casting, and filming."]

["-As for what you said about needing a real-world proxy, our side will also fully cooperate."]

["-We will help you scout the industry's top-tier production and director teams, and they will absolutely listen to your command."]

Hong Hu said it all in one breath, cautiously observing that pitch-black screen, fearing that the other party might have any dissatisfaction.

["-Very well."]

Lin Que's voice remained as calm as an ancient well.

["-But the proxy, I will find them myself."]

["-Ah? You... you already have a suitable candidate?"]

Hong Hu was somewhat surprised.

["-No."]

Lin Que answered crisply and neatly.

["-But my people, I only trust the ones I pick myself."]

Lin Que's words made Hong Hu instinctively straighten his back, and the smile on his face faded a bit,

Facing the pitch-black screen, he guaranteed with a tone a bit more solemn than before:

["-Rest assured, the decision-making power is entirely yours."]

["-We are only responsible for bridging the connection and will never interfere with any of your decisions! Whoever you take a fancy to, we will help you negotiate!"]

["-Additionally, I will provide the script in batches."]

["-The filming progress must also strictly follow my script."]

He paused, deliberately slowing his voice down by a fraction:

["-I don't want to see any 'improvisation' with my book!"]

On those two words, he deliberately emphasized his tone.

In his past life, he had seen too many original works being savagely modified by investors into neither fish nor fowl,

and the crappy affairs where the author still had to take the blame in the end.

He certainly didn't want to lose control because of capital intervention.

["-Understood! Completely understood!"]

Hong Hu wiped the sweat from his forehead.

This grand god's desire for control was so strong it was suffocating.

But it was precisely this assertiveness that made his confidence in this drama inflate unprecedentedly.

Hanging up the video, Lin Que took off his headphones, and the voice changer turned off.

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the myriad lights of the city beneath his feet.

With the sky-high authorization fee and various revenues credited,

when he clicked open the banking app, that string of numbers was quietly displayed,

lacking the impact he had imagined.

Instead, it was like a key, opening the floodgates of memory.

In his previous life, the painstaking effort he brewed for over a decade

exchanged for his parents was nothing more than a second-hand apartment of less than seventy square meters.

He still remembered

his father's stooped figure hiding on the balcony, quickly wiping away the tears at the corner of his eyes with a rough back of his hand.

But now,

that string of numbers was no longer cold wealth;

it was his father's straightened backbone, the confidence for his mother not to have to look at price tags anymore, and the echo of all his regrets from his past life.

And this was still far from the end of his territory.

This was also the first cornerstone with which he would pry open this world.

He knew very well

that the reason he could so easily manipulate Hong Hu, and even the capital behind them,

relied not on that contract, but on the incomparable value of the IP the human world is like a prison,

as well as the irreplaceable mystery and authority shaped by his identity as the Hell Dream Weaver.

He pushed himself onto the altar with one hit chapter after another.

And now, what he needed to do

was to sit even more steadily on this altar.

As for that "proxy"...

a few vague shadows flashed through Lin Que's mind.

He needed someone absolutely reliable, outstanding in ability,

and who could understand his creative intentions and fend off all real-world troubles for him.

This person was not easy to find.

But there was far from any rush.

Currently, the serialization of the human world is like a prison had just passed the halfway mark,

and the reason the film and television adaptation information was announced so early

was merely a commercial tactic by Text Jumping Group to generate hype and increase stock prices.

His gaze withdrew from the brilliance outside the window

and landed on the New Tide magazine at the corner of his desk.

The route of the Hell Dream Weaver had already been laid onto the rails.

Then, it was time to let another "teacher" continue down the path he ought to walk.

The story of The Miracles of the Namiya General Store was about to reach its end,

but its warmth should not stay only in the magazine's serialization.

He turned around and returned to the computer.

He logged into Jian Shen's email and sent a new email to Xu Lan.

["-Editor Xu, hello. Regarding the reply letter column, I have an immature idea."]

["-Perhaps we can try inviting some readers to play 'Grandpa Namiya' and answer other people's troubles."]

["-Allowing those who have received warmth to pass it on to others. What do you think?"]

After sending this part of the content, he thought for a moment,

and started another paragraph:

["-Additionally, The Miracles of the Namiya General Store is also about to close its doors."]

["-I hope its existence can become a lighthouse that never goes out, rather than just a past serialization."]