Over the past two months, Martin Hayes had used his extensive connections to quietly spread one message throughout the entertainment industry: nobody was to hire Daniel Mercer.
Not for a starring role, not for a supporting part, and preferably not even as an extra.
Daniel wasn’t famous with the general public, but within acting circles he had a reputation as someone obsessed with sharpening his craft, especially through independent and art-house films.
Martin hadn’t bothered trying to physically destroy Daniel after being beaten by him.
He knew Daniel valued acting more than almost anything else in his life, so cutting off his career would hurt him far more than a simple beating ever could.
Martin wanted to watch him lose every opportunity, sink into despair, and eventually break under the weight of having no future left in the industry.
What Martin hadn’t expected was for some small production company to hire Daniel anyway and even cast him as the male lead.
To Martin, that wasn’t merely disobedience; it was someone publicly ignoring the blacklist he had deliberately created.
When he learned that Vance Studios had finished filming and was holding its wrap party at the Grand Meridian Hotel tonight, he immediately brought several people with him to pay the crew a visit.
Even more irritating was Atlas Vance’s attitude.
Martin had expected a young independent director to become nervous the moment he recognized him, yet Atlas barely seemed impressed.
Instead of lowering his head or trying to smooth things over, the twenty-two-year-old director looked at Martin as though he were simply another unwanted guest.
Martin decided that needed correcting.
Bang!
Daniel Mercer suddenly slammed both hands against the table and stood up.
He understood perfectly well what Martin meant by questioning Atlas’s choice of male lead, especially after everything Martin had already done to destroy his career.
The man had slept with his wife, helped ruin his marriage, blacklisted him, and now had the nerve to walk into the wrap party of the one movie willing to hire him.
“Daniel, don’t get so emotional,” Martin said with an amused smile as he stepped closer.
“Even if nobody lets you act anymore, there are still warehouses hiring.
I’m sure you can learn to move boxes.”
Daniel’s eyes turned bloodshot.
Martin leaned close enough that only Daniel and the people nearest them could clearly hear him.
“Oh, and I forgot to tell you something.
Claire is playing the female lead in my new horror movie, The Haunted Bridge.”
Daniel’s fists tightened.
Martin’s smile widened.
“Your ex-wife is still very talented.”
Then he stepped back.
The bodyguards behind him immediately moved closer, already understanding what their employer was trying to provoke.
Daniel finally lost control and swung a fist toward Martin’s face, but before it could land, one of the large men caught his wrist and stopped him.
Martin calmly adjusted his jacket.
“Everyone saw that, right?
He attacked me first.”
Before the situation could escalate further, Atlas walked up behind Martin and lightly tapped him on the shoulder.
“You always talk this much when you’re trying to get punched?”
Martin slowly turned.
One of his bodyguards reacted immediately.
The man clenched his fist and drove it straight toward Atlas’s face with enough force to drop an ordinary person.
Atlas didn’t move at all, and there was even a faint smile on his lips as the fist closed the final few inches.
Then a slender hand appeared.
The punch stopped less than an inch from Atlas’s face.
The bodyguard’s eyes widened.
Sadako Yamamura stood beside Atlas with one pale hand wrapped around his wrist.
The size difference looked absurd.
The bodyguard was broad enough to make Sadako appear almost fragile beside him, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move his arm another inch.
His expression shifted from anger to confusion and then finally to unease.
He had spent years boxing before becoming a professional bodyguard.
Even while holding back, that punch should have been more than enough to stagger most men.
Yet the young woman in front of him had caught it effortlessly with one hand.
Then he noticed something else.
Her hand was freezing.
Not merely cool.
It felt like being gripped by a corpse.
The bodyguard swallowed and tried pulling away.
Sadako didn’t move.
Atlas’s voice entered her mind through the contract.
Sadako, they’re yours.
Don’t kill anyone.
Her fingers tightened.
“AAAH!”
A sickening crack echoed through the banquet room.
The bodyguard dropped to his knees and screamed while clutching his wrist.
Sadako had shattered it almost casually, and the sudden violence finally wiped the smug expression from Martin’s face.
“What the hell are you standing around for?” Martin shouted as he backed away.
“Take her down!”
Several bodyguards immediately moved forward.
To everyone watching, the sight almost looked ridiculous: multiple large men advancing on one slender young woman in ordinary clothes.
One of them apparently thought the same thing and threw a hard kick directly toward Sadako’s abdomen.
His foot connected.
His expression immediately changed.
It felt like kicking a concrete wall.
Sadako looked down at his leg, reached out, and caught his ankle.
Then she squeezed.
Crack!
The man screamed and collapsed.
“My ankle!
Holy shit, my ankle!”
The remaining bodyguards hesitated for only a moment before trying to overwhelm her together.
It didn’t help.
Less than a minute later, the banquet room looked like the aftermath of a bar fight involving something that wasn’t human.
Several heavily built men were scattered across the floor, groaning and clutching shattered wrists or ankles while the cast and crew of Ring stared in stunned silence.
By the time hotel management rushed into the room, the fight was already over.
The paramedics who arrived shortly afterward were equally confused.
Nearly every injured bodyguard had suffered severe fractures around the wrists or ankles, yet the woman supposedly responsible for all of it was barely half their size.
Nobody could understand how she had done it.
Martin hadn’t stayed around to find out.
The instant he realized his bodyguards were being dismantled one after another, he fled the hotel.
His chauffeur-driven Lincoln stretched limousine sped away from the Grand Meridian, quickly reaching nearly seventy-five miles per hour.
Martin didn’t even care where the driver was taking him anymore.
He only wanted distance between himself and that terrifying woman.
Far away from the hotel.
Far away from Vance Studios.
Far away from Sadako Yamamura.
Martin leaned back against the seat and tried calming his breathing.
Then he glanced into the rearview mirror.
His entire body froze.
A woman with long black hair was sitting several seats behind him.
“AH!”
Martin nearly screamed himself hoarse.
He spun around.
The seat was empty.
For several seconds, he remained perfectly still while his heart hammered against his ribs.
Eventually, Martin released a trembling breath and convinced himself that fear had made him imagine it.
Then he turned toward the passenger seat.
Sadako was sitting there.
Martin screamed again.
Back at the Grand Meridian Hotel, Atlas stood inside the men’s restroom and checked the time on his phone.
Almost two minutes had passed since Sadako teleported after Martin, and Atlas figured that was more than enough time to frighten the man without causing permanent damage.
He was just about to mentally order her back when the air in front of him distorted.
Sadako appeared.
Atlas looked her over.
“Is he dead?”
Sadako nodded.
Then she shook her head.
Atlas stared at her.
“What does that even mean?”
Sadako remained silent.
Atlas suddenly wished she could speak instead of forcing him to interpret mysterious head movements every time he asked a question.
Judging from the fact that the contract hadn’t warned him that she had violated his no-killing command, Martin was probably still alive.
Sadako’s clothes were covered with several dusty shoeprints from the bodyguards who had attacked her, and her long hair had become slightly messy during the fight.
Atlas reached forward without thinking and gently smoothed several strands back into place before brushing the dirt from her shoulder.
“Sadako, thanks for helping me tonight.”
She looked at him.
Atlas’s expression became more serious.
“I’ve been thinking about something.
From now on, I’ll try not to use the contract to order you around unless it’s really necessary.”
Sadako remained still.
Atlas continued, “Except for the rule about not randomly killing people, I’m canceling the other compulsory commands I’ve given you.”
Her eyes changed slightly.
“I don’t want us to be just a contractor and a ghost forced to obey him,” Atlas said.
“We’re working together, and I’d rather treat you like a friend and a partner.”
Sadako quietly stared at the young man standing in front of her.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Then the system suddenly sounded inside Atlas’s mind.
[Ding!
Sadako Yamamura’s favorability increased by 10!]
[Current Favorability: 5]
Atlas’s eyes widened.
It had finally become positive.
[Ding!
Sadako Yamamura’s favorability has crossed into positive territory!]
[Sadako Yamamura acquired ability: Speech!]
[Current Emotional State Toward Host: Indifferent]
[Host Reward Acquired: Top-tier Special Effects Editing!]
An enormous amount of professional knowledge flooded Atlas’s brain in an instant.
Compositing, digital effects, color work, rotoscoping, CGI integration, image manipulation, cleanup, and countless post-production techniques became perfectly familiar.
Within only a few seconds, Atlas possessed the skills of a world-class visual-effects editor.
Once the information settled, however, Atlas immediately turned back toward Sadako.
The special-effects talent could wait.
Something much more important had happened.
“You can talk now?”
Sadako stared at him.
Atlas leaned closer with obvious excitement.
“Come on.
Say something so I can hear your voice.”
Sadako’s lips slowly moved.
“Your mom.”
Atlas’s smile disappeared.
“…”
Enjoyed the chapter?
A review helps a lot.
P1treon: