Atlas Vance was genuinely helpless.
If he stopped paying attention to Sadako Yamamura for even a moment, she somehow found a way to create trouble.
Fortunately, everyone in the conference room was focused on Atlas and the Ring screenplay, so nobody noticed the female ghost floating outside the window behind them.
Sadako, come back quickly!
Atlas immediately issued the command through their mental connection because explaining why his actress could float several stories above the ground would be almost impossible.
Sadako received the instruction and promptly passed straight through the conference-room window instead of returning to Atlas’s office.
Atlas’s expression stiffened because in his hurry, he had apparently failed to make the destination clear.
“Hm?
Why is there a woman here?” one of the executives suddenly asked.
Everyone followed his gaze and discovered Sadako standing silently near the window, immediately creating a new problem.
“She’s beautiful.
Did we sign a new actress?” another executive asked, while someone else frowned and added, “Forget whether she’s beautiful.
How did she get inside?
I didn’t see the door open.”
Atlas could only force himself to remain calm and walk toward her.
“I was originally planning to surprise everyone, but apparently she got tired of waiting inside one of the storage cabinets.” The conference room was large and contained several floor-to-ceiling cabinets, so although the explanation was ridiculous, it was at least physically possible.
The executives looked toward the cabinets and gradually accepted it.
One of the quicker senior managers immediately asked, “Atlas, is she the female lead for the new movie?” Atlas shook his head and replied, “No.
She’s playing the female ghost.”
“A ghost?” Several executives looked at one another before glancing back toward Sadako’s beautiful face.
“Why would someone who looks like that play a ghost?” Atlas smiled faintly.
“Because when it comes to playing Sadako Yamamura, nobody in the world is more suitable than her.”
The executives remained confused, but Atlas was the director and owner of Vance Studios, so they had little reason to argue about his casting choice.
After sending Sadako back to his office, Atlas continued discussing the production plan with the remaining management team.
Building a film crew required cooperation between dozens of specialized departments, but fortunately the studio had produced enough terrible movies over the years to become extremely experienced at assembling crews.
The larger problem was the company’s actors.
Most of Vance Studios’ contracted performers were still demanding releases because none of them wanted their names attached to another horror movie from the studio formerly infamous for producing disasters like A Hand Reaching Out of the Toilet.
Atlas therefore delegated extras and smaller supporting roles to the casting department while personally handling auditions for the important characters.
Several days later, the temporary production crew was finally assembled.
Atlas brought the core staff to a major film-production complex outside Atlanta, where Vance Studios had rented working space and several sets for Ring.
News that the notorious horror company had changed its name and immediately begun another movie spread quickly among actors and crew members working throughout the production complex.
“Did you hear?
That terrible company Vance Horror Pictures renamed itself Vance Studios and is making another movie.”
“Yeah.
Apparently it’s a horror movie called Ring.
I’ll admit the title and trailer concept sound creepy.”
“I heard they’re casting all over Atlanta, and the director is some twenty-two-year-old who basically just finished college.”
Similar comments appeared constantly around the production complex, but Atlas couldn’t care less.
Right now, his biggest concern wasn’t gossip or reputation.
It was figuring out how to convince a genuine vengeful spirit to behave like an ordinary actress.
“Sadako, could you please come down from the ceiling?” Atlas asked helplessly after entering the temporary studio.
Sadako was clinging upside down above him like a pale spider with her black hair hanging toward the floor.
Fortunately, there were no outsiders in the room; otherwise Atlas would have needed another explanation even more ridiculous than the cabinet.
An idea suddenly occurred to him.
Why not simply issue a compulsory command forbidding Sadako from using supernatural powers while they were filming?
Before Atlas could celebrate the solution, the system immediately destroyed his fantasy.
[Friendly Reminder: Issuing this compulsory command will reduce Sadako Yamamura’s Favorability to -100.
Please consider carefully.]
Atlas stared at the message before silently abandoning the idea.
After Sadako eventually came down from the ceiling, she moved behind the door and stood facing the wall without saying anything.
Atlas decided that as long as she wasn’t floating, phasing through walls, or terrifying employees, strange behavior was acceptable.
“Director Vance, one of my university classmates agreed to come audition for the female lead.
She should be here soon!” A pretty young woman hurried excitedly into the temporary studio while holding her phone.
Her name was Emily Brooks, a fourth-year film student assigned to intern at Vance Studios, and because so many employees had resigned or terminated their contracts, Atlas had temporarily made her his assistant.
Emily was Japanese-American, born and raised in the United States, with her mother’s family originally from Japan.
She used her American father’s surname and spoke English as her first language, but her Japanese heritage and appearance had already caught Atlas’s attention when he began thinking about who could naturally portray Reiko Asakawa.
At the moment, however, Emily still thought of herself as nothing more than an intern.
“Your classmate?” Atlas asked curiously.
“Has she acted in anything before?”
Emily thought for a moment.
“She had a role in a movie called Chasing Dreams in the Arctic.”
Atlas vaguely remembered the title.
It had been some low-budget independent production that received poor reviews and disappeared almost immediately after release.
Still, Vance Studios’ reputation was so bad that finding anyone with actual screen experience who willingly came to audition already counted as progress.
Atlas looked at Emily again and suddenly had another thought.
“Emily, would you be interested in playing Reiko Asakawa yourself?”
Emily froze before immediately shaking her head.
“Me?
No way.
My acting grades are the worst in my class.
I couldn’t handle the female lead.”
Atlas was about to respond when Emily’s phone rang.
She answered quickly and listened for several seconds before standing.
“You’re already here?
Okay, I’ll come get you.”
She hung up and looked toward Atlas.
“Director Vance, she’s outside.
I’ll bring her in.”
Emily hurried from the studio.
A few moments later, voices approached from the hallway before Atlas could see anyone.
“Emily, what’s so great about interning at a garbage company like this?
Why don’t you apply to the studio where I’m interning?” A young woman’s teasing voice continued, “Oh, right.
Your acting grades are terrible.
They probably wouldn’t take you.”
“Samantha, keep your voice down,” Emily whispered.
“Director Vance’s office is right ahead.”
“So what?” the other woman replied dismissively.
“If you hadn’t asked me, I wouldn’t have come here at all.”
Her voice arrived long before she did.
Atlas sat behind his desk and rubbed his forehead.
He had a feeling Emily had brought him a difficult one.
Soon, Emily entered with a fashionable young woman wearing sunglasses and carrying an expensive designer bag.
“Director Vance, this is my university classmate, Samantha Quinn,” Emily introduced before turning toward Samantha.
“And this is Atlas Vance, the director of Ring.”
Samantha looked Atlas up and down, gave him a perfunctory smile, and sat in the chair opposite his desk without waiting for an invitation.
“Director Vance, how much are you paying?”
Atlas stared at her.
Wasn’t this supposed to be an audition?
He hadn’t even decided whether he wanted her in the movie, and she was already negotiating salary.
“Miss Quinn,” Atlas said, “shouldn’t we at least learn something about each other first?”
Samantha took off her sunglasses and inspected her perfectly manicured nails.
“Learn what?
This isn’t a date.”
Atlas frowned slightly.
“With that attitude, I’m not sure our production can afford you.”
Samantha finally looked up.
“Fine.
I’m twenty-three, and I served on the student council at school.
I participated in a charity event helping senior citizens, placed tenth in a campus singing competition, received a nomination in a university beauty-pageant event, and during the annual sports meet—”
“Stop, stop.” Atlas quickly raised a hand before she could continue listing irrelevant achievements.
“I want to know about your acting experience.”
Samantha straightened proudly.
“I acted in Chasing Dreams in the Arctic.
You should’ve heard of it.
It was pretty popular for a while.”
Atlas nodded slowly.
“Were you the female lead?”
Samantha lifted her chin.
“I played a polar bear.”
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