Chapter 68 - The Holy Sinful City
Felix left the stadium under the thunderous cheers of the audience over having such a dark horse as their champion.
The audience never hated cheering for the underdogs, even if they lost a bet on the process.
He immediately took a cab towards the Gambling Den to transfer the coins to his bank account.
15 minutes later...
He exited the den with an even wider grin than he entered with before.
Without further ado, he started his investment plan by heading to the Teleportation Company, planning to pay a visit to the Oblivion Film Studio, the production company responsible for producing the movie Human Melodies.
He didn"t want to waste any more time since only one month was left before the official release of the movie.
Therefore, his investment opportunities on the movie had already shrunk to a large degree, leaving him only with marketing and advertis.e.m.e.nts.
But that was enough for him, as he knew that the more spotlights were on the movie, the bigger the reception would be.
In turn, the words would spread quicker about this hidden gem, making it a blockbuster movie much faster than in his previous life, when it took at least a month before it truly drew the attention of everyone in the Alexander"s Kingdom.
This way he would return his investment capital plus a windfall of profits after it goes viral everywhere much earlier than expected.
After a while, he reached the teleportation company and paid the fees to pa.s.s the queue this time.
He walked inside the device and clicked on the destination he planned to head to. The Studio was in a different city after all.
...
Two hours later...
Felix sat in a coffee shop, wearing a business suit, and drinking bloodish thick coffee that had a soul capturing aroma.
Felix took a small sip with closed eyes in contentment, then said composedly to a bearded man sitting in front of him, "Sir, I know that your movie had some difficulties during the production period." he began mentioning some of them using a finger for each problem. "Investors pulling out, actors losing faith during the filming, cut scenes leaked by your own staff, and much more."
Felix closed his spread-out fingers into a tight fist and said pa.s.sionately, "But you managed to pull through all of them. Sure it was a difficult process that drained all of your budget, but still, you did it."
Felix opened his tight fist and left only one finger extending upward while adding in temptation. "But you only have one more step to take, just one. That is to advertise your work that might turn out to be the masterpiece of the year to everyone to see."
"I am not talking about the normal advertis.e.m.e.nt of releasing only one trailer online and praying to draw some interest." He shook his finger and continued, "No sir, I am talking about a kingdom-wide advertis.e.m.e.nt that will feature your movie trailer or poster in every notable website, every screen in the Supremacy Games, and every billboard in those neon streets. I am talking about pumping 300 million SC into pure advertis.e.m.e.nt for over one week continuously until everyone in the kingdom must watch it to sooth their curiosity!"
Felix suddenly stood up and put both of his hands on the table and smiled confidently, "That"s what I am willing to offer you for only 40% of shares in your movie."
"You spent two hours hara.s.sing my staff to get me here, so you can say this preposterous offer?" The man scratched his grey beard in irritation and asked, "Are you out of your d.a.m.n mind?"
"I honestly do not see any absurdity in my offer. It is as sincere as it can get." Felix took a quick sip to fuel his throat for the upcoming negotiation, then said unhurriedly, "Mr. Cosby you do realize that I am taking a huge risk by gambling on your movie after only seeing a few scenes that were leaked. I am putting my entire fortune on your movie success. So it is only fair I can expect some good returns."
"don"t you think?" He asked
Mr. Cosby neither agreed nor disagreed with his claim, he simply said his own piece, "But do you honestly think that 40% of shares on a movie that I spent my blood and sweat-producing are only worth 300 million SC?"
"Aren"t you looking down on me too much Mr. Felix?" He questioned Felix calmly without a hint of anger or humiliation in his expression, as he claimed.
Felix chuckled softly while pointing at himself in derision. "Do you honestly believe that I am dumb enough, stupid to such a degree, to invest in a movie without investigating everything about you and your staff?"
He laid his question without expecting an answer. He simply continued his mocking while shaking his head. "No, no, no, my dear Mr. Cosby. I already did my due diligence and found everything there is about your movie, from the good to the bad. And believe me, there is more bad than good on my list." His eyes turned rigid instantly and added. "If you think that my price is wrong or low, then you are the one who is looking down at my capabilities Mr. Cosby. As my offer is perfect for what I have written on my list."
Felix without waiting for Mr. Cosby to ask about it, immediately displayed holographic list mid-air that only he and the producer could see.
The moment Mr. Cosby saw those scandals that he put a large amount of money and manpower to bury, his composed expression couldn"t help but break, as his pupils enlarged for a few seconds. But, he quickly blinked and his pupils were back to normal like nothing happened.
Felix did not miss such a hint. After all, everything that he wrote in the list was merely pieces of what he remembered about the scandals between actors and staff within the movie crew.
He was simply fis.h.i.+ng for weaknesses that might keep his shares as close as possible to his offer, and the producer just handed him the ammo after his suspicious reaction.
Felix immediately went on offense after he got what he wanted. "Now can you tell me, whether my offer was plausible or not? I am putting my money, my reputation, my everything in a movie that is filled with problems both ways, outside and inside. If it was not for the beautiful scenes that captured my attention. I would not even dare to put a dime in your irresponsible crew!" His aggressive approach was smoothly replaced by a softer one, "But I am still willing to follow my investment instinct and take a gamble on this one."
"So Mr. Cosby, one last time, are you willing to cooperate with me and accept my fair offer. Or are you willing to throw the dice all by yourself, without a single coin in your budget to market your movie?" Felix asked calmly, meanwhile, his heart was pumping faster and faster from nervousness.
A few minutes later of drinking coffee silently, Mr. Cosby stood up from the table while fixing his suit.
Felix"s heart immediately sank, as he thought that his aggressive approach before might have offended the producer.
Fortunately, a sentence from Mr. Cosby managed to calm his heart a bit. "Make it 35% and I will think about it."
"I apologize but that"s impossible." He shook his head and clarified, "The best offer I can give you is 39% and that"s only because I loved your other works. Otherwise, you won"t even get that 1% removed since my offers are always fair and within reason to avoid those kinds of long-winded negotiations."
"Alright, I will think about it with my crew." Mr. Cosby sighed over not being able to successfully cleave more percentages.
But, 1% was still quite a lot considering that 40% had 300 million SC worth.
"You will hear from me a week before the movie release." Mr. Cosby smiled and offered a handshake.
Satisfied about how things turned out, Felix shook the producer"s hand after the first part of the deal was done. He then paid for the coffee and left the shop.
Now, the only thing left was to wait patiently for them to call him, unless there were variables, such as other investors intervening after seeing that someone heavily pumped funds on a movie they labeled as unprofitable.
This was Mr. Cosby"s reason for not agreeing at once. He wanted to delay the deal"s conclusion as much as possible, since the more variables resurfaced in that period, the lower the shares Felix was going to hold.
Felix understood what was on Mr. Cosby"s mind, as he didn"t even hide it from him. However, Felix had his own plans to reduce those variables to the limit, if not completely uproot them.
Anyone who had thoughts of competing against him for the shares, would have to think twice about it.
....
After leaving the cafe shop, Felix wondered around the dense neon streets with hands in his pockets for about 10 minutes now.
"Handsome why don"t you come and play?"
"Big Bother our establishment has everything that you desire."
Felix mused while walking near a bunch of escorts that were calling him flirtatiously to enter their establishment for some taste. Yet, he merely shook his head in rejection with a polite smile.
This is already his 5th catcalling since he entered the center of entertainment in Alexander"s UVR territory.
The Holy Sinful City.
A strange name, but an understandable one. As this city was known for being the Holy ground of all entertainment platforms.
Movies, Series, Games, Animations, Shows, Streams, and other more interesting platforms.
Anyone who desired to be an actor, gamer designer, movie director, streamer, and any other career that included entertainment, must come here to seek opportunities.
Meanwhile, the sinful part in the name entailed the enjoyment of those entertainment establishments by the customers.
From Casinos, red districts, game centers, Cinemas, conventions, and many more that would make anyone"s head spinning just from their bright neon light and never-ending crowd noises.
This city was the perfect combination of Hollywood, Akihabara, and Las Vegas all together to form one ma.s.sive entertainment Giant that never sleeps.
Thus, the nickname neon streets.
Felix walked only 100 meters before he got catcalled again to come inside and play. But this time, he pondered seriously whether to enter or not, as he truly did not get laid for over a long time.
For a playboy like him who slept with plenty of girls in his previous life, it was truly quite humiliating.
But to do it with escorts or go hunt for girls in bars this night. Currently, he had no idea what should he do.
"f.u.c.k it; I am not that desperate to pay for s.e.x yet. Let"s go for some hunting. I hope I did not get rusty."
He immediately rejected the offer and entered a bar near him, hoping for a nightstand to celebrate his investment deal.
....
One hour later he was kicked off the bar with bruises and blood all over his face.
He threw some insults at the two bodyguards who threw him outside and walked away from the entrance, making grumbling noises under his breath.
"How do the f*ck would I have known that she is your wife?" He spat some blood in irritation, "Wear a ring at least you seductive b*tch."
Sadly, Felix"s hunting mission ended quite early after hitting on the wrong woman at the wrong time.
Thus, concluding his night with bruises on his face and unfulfilled desire.