7: Romance of the Three Kingdoms

"You've been playing Honor of Kings for quite a while today. How many of the heroes in there do you know?" Ye Bai asked as he took a sip of water.

Chen Chen sat down and recalled a few of his favorite heroes. "Hou Yi, Daji, Sun Shangxiang!"

"And Xiang Yu, the one who throws ice balls, and Liu... Liu-something Chan," Grom added.

It seemed they had played quite a few heroes in Honor of Kings today.

Vilan, sitting on a chair nearby, suddenly spoke up. "Why the sudden talk about this?"

"Is the show you're filming related to these heroes?"

Ye Bai glanced at him. He hadn't expected Vilan to be so sharp. "That's right."

"In the game Honor of Kings, most of the heroes actually have their own origins."

Chen Chen: "You mean the hero stories in the descriptions?"

He had taken some time to look at them today; every hero inside had their own background story.

Ye Bai shook his head. "No, those stories take place on the Continent of Kings, but their original sources aren't from there."

"Take Xiang Yu, for example."

He briefly explained the background. "During the late Qin period..."

"Wait, what is the late Qin?" The three of them looked bewildered.

Ye Bai coughed. "Well... Qin was a country back then. It reached its final years, and because many people were dissatisfied with the country's policies and the emperor, they decided to rise up and overthrow his regime."

The three of them suddenly understood.

Ye Bai continued, "In the late Qin period, Xiang Yu followed his uncle... Never mind, let me give you a simple character background. This Xiang Yu was from the State of Chu, and he wanted to rebel against Qin."

"And then there are several very famous stories."

Ye Bai carefully told them the stories of 'Breaking the Cauldrons and Sinking the Boats', 'Ambush from Ten Sides', 'Songs of Chu from All Sides', 'Farewell My Concubine', and 'Slitting His Throat at the Wu River'.

The others felt more and more that something was off as they listened.

"Holy crap, he died?" Grom laughed in frustration.

He really liked this hero from hearing Xiang Yu's voice lines, things like 'If the Heavens won't tolerate me, I shall defy them,' and 'Fate? It's not worthy of being my opponent.'

Ye Bai looked at his gradually contorting expression and couldn't help but take a step back. "Well, well... he's a hero."

Grom: "But he still died!"

Ye Bai mused, "It's not just him; they all have to die."

Chen Chen and Vilan: "???"

Ye Bai thought back and finally reached a conclusion. "Currently, all the released heroes are dead."

The three of them looked at Ye Bai in disbelief, their eyes filled with 'you're a pervert, aren't you?'

Ye Bai: ... "Some aren't killed for the plot; some just died of old age. It's because I set their background to be a long, long time ago, get it?"

Grom: "I don't get it. Xiang Yu is so powerful, and you just let him die?"

Ye Bai looked up at the sky.

"There are also those who don't die."

For example, the journey to the west quartet. Of course, the Monkey and Jin Chan haven't been released yet.

"Alright, stop obsessing over this. What I'm thinking about now is filming these stories."

As he spoke, he looked at Chen Chen. "Do you have any actors to recommend?"

Chen Chen was from the Acting Department, so he definitely knew more people than he did.

He thought for a moment. "If you want to film this, the investment will probably be quite high. Do you have the money?"

Ye Bai: "Don't we have the holographic pod?"

With the holographic pod, a lot of money could be saved.

Chen Chen shook his head. "Scenery, costumes, and even some extras can be handled by the holographic pod, but you can't save on actors' fees."

"And then there's the music. Of course, you can edit it with the holographic pod, but the effect isn't that great."

Ye Bai knew what he meant. He had used materials directly from the game editor for the Honor of Kings hero voices.

The voices were a bit stiff, but they weren't bad.

"Can we get investment?"

Chen Chen smiled. "You've never filmed anything, and you're from the Game Production Department. Do you think investors will put money into you?"

"Even if your script is excellent, it'll be hard for them to trust you."

After all, the entertainment in this world was so subpar; who would believe someone majoring in game production could film a show?

"You'd also need to hire a director, find screenwriters... all of that costs a lot of money."

Ye Bai: "I can try doing it myself."

He couldn't exactly tell them that standing before them was a big shot who had just won a Best Director award.

Chen Chen was about to say something when Vilan suddenly spoke up, "I'll invest in you!"

Everyone looked at him, confused.

Vilan: "This game is fun, and the stories you tell are quite interesting. Isn't it normal to invest in you?"

"Besides, don't forget about my assessment."

Right, his assessment was about investment.

Ye Bai looked at him expectantly. "How much can you invest?"

Vilan held up one finger.

Ye Bai: "Ten... thousand?"

Vilan shook his head.

"One million?"

Vilan smirked. "Yes."

Ye Bai: ... "What the hell can one million get me?"

Vilan looked at him. "Your hero stories shouldn't just be about Xiang Yu. You can start filming with a simpler story. Once I see the results, I'll continue to add more investment."

"I guarantee I'll give you the money you need. How about it?"

Ye Bai pondered. Basically none of the currently released heroes had simple stories. Even filming Daji would be very complex.

Wait.

Why have I been so obsessed with live-action filming?

Since there's a holographic pod, I can totally make an animated version.

There's an animated version of romance of the three kingdoms; that 2009 version was actually quite well-made.

It's just that because it was for teenagers, the original's complex historical background, political intrigue, and character portrayals were slightly simplified.

Also, some plots were extremely condensed—for example, Sun Ce's parts were completely gone.

And the pacing later on was too fast.

If that first point was a flaw in the original world, it seems much more appropriate here.

This world itself has no ancient history, so they might not understand a series of complex historical backgrounds at all. A simplified version is more suitable for them.

Ye Bai suddenly laughed. "One million is enough. But I'm not filming anymore—I'm going to make an animation!"

The others looked at each other. "Animation?"

This world does have the concept of animation, but to them, animation means something for children.

They hadn't really watched much animation, though the younger ones in their families did.

Their impression of animation was that it was childish.

Ye Bai hummed in agreement. He decided to make the animated version first. Once the audience in this world could accept the world-building, he would film a live-action version.

After all, there's still a big difference between an animated version and a live-action version.

Live-action emotional expression is more delicate, and it will be more complex when the time comes.

"But isn't animation... a waste of these stories you've told?" Vilan said.

He didn't quite understand how Ye Bai's train of thought had jumped to animation.

Ye Bai didn't say much more, just lay down in the holographic pod. "Wait until I finish the first episode, then you'll see."

He wanted to produce the animated version of romance of the three kingdoms in the shortest time possible.

Otherwise, how would he sell skins and rake in money once Honor of Kings went live?