(Arthur POV)
It's mind-blowing how fast "Demonfather 2" accumulated 180 million dollars in just four days!
Fuck, it even surpassed the box office of commercial films from my previous life!
And that's with tickets selling for 2 dollars here, compared to 12 or so in my old world. Surpassing 100 million in four days was rare even there.
I guess it makes sense - people here have limited entertainment options. Films, radio, music, and newspapers are their main pastimes. Spending 2 dollars on a film doesn't seem like much to them.
Plus, the theatre infrastructure here is surprisingly well-developed for its time. Cities have multiple theatres with hundreds to thousands of seats each.
Even before "The Demonfather" introduced colored films, popular actors' movies were making 100 thousand or more in nations like Morningstar or Bharat Kingdom.
It's thanks to the thousands of theatres established by major studios in large nations like Morningstar, Bharat, Empirica, and others. People here are used to watching films for entertainment, which further boosted theatre infrastructure.
Ironically, those studios trying to bring me down actually paved the way for my success. Without their established distribution networks, accumulating millions would've been impossible.
{Creator's Realms}
Thanks to them, I received the system reward yesterday when the film hit the 100 million mark.
I also got a reward for my fifth film surpassing 100 million box office - a new magic element, {Sin Magic}.
Nothing too impressive, it's the same magical element my siblings have. But I can see my proficiency in it improving.
I tried using {Creator's Realms} yesterday, but it needs about 3 million magical power to activate. A pain, but not impossible. I just need to upgrade the {Devourer Ring} to level 4.
The catch? It costs 50 million points to upgrade. I'm at 38 million now, so I just need to wait a week to hit 50 million entertainment points.
At level 4, the ring will have a 10 million magical power storage. Accumulating that won't be a problem. I'll use the portal to visit the Moonlight Kingdom, or maybe the Gloomstone Forest, and suck the mana dry before making a quick exit.
Then I can use the ring to activate {Creator's Realms}. Simple enough. Just need patience.
And I'm not in a rush, especially with "Dragon Ball" gaining popularity not just in Horn Kingdom, but also Morningstar, Choson Dynasty, and Japon. I've been using my free time to draw volume 2.
I bought a skill from the shop to make my hands more flexible and draw faster. Cost me 500 thousand Entertainment points, but worth it.
Hours later, one chapter was done.
These past weeks, after wrapping up "Demonfather Part 2" filming, I've been laser-focused on "Dragon Ball." I'm already approaching completion of volume 2.
A day later, I finished the drawing and submitted volume 2 for mass production.
Soon, Horn City Dragon Ball fans will get their hands on volume 2. Then it'll hit Morningstar, Thorn, Choson, and Japon.
In Japon, Shounen Manga was saved from bankruptcy thanks to Dragon Ball.
I've also started talks with Empirican comic publishers to bring Dragon Ball to their market.
***
(3rd Person POV)
Diddy, Puffy, Daddy, and the other ghosts were having a field day scaring people around.
Demons proved disappointing targets, treating the ghosts like annoying children rather than fearsome specters. Dwarves, with their lack of emotional intelligence and excess of regular intelligence, were equally unimpressed.
So the ghosts turned their attention to elves and, especially, humans.
Humans were by far the most entertaining to scare.
"Shit, I knew I shouldn't have come to the demon realm! There are ghosts here!" One human shrieked, much to the ghosts' delight.
Diddy and the others giggled mischievously.
They'd been enjoying themselves for weeks, determined to make the most of their freedom before Arthur inevitably called them back to work.
Strangely, they'd been feeling more energetic since Arthur had taken them on as employees. They couldn't quite explain it.
As the ghosts continued their pranks on unsuspecting humans, their luck took a turn for the worse. They unwittingly targeted a Solarus bishop.
Diddy and the others found themselves paralyzed with fear as the bishop prepared to unleash a famous Holy Magic spell.
"You ghosts won't escape!" The bishop roared, his anger palpable.
"No!" Diddy exclaimed in terror.
"Run!" Puffy yelled to the others.
They managed to flee, but not before Diddy sustained a serious injury. The bishop gave chase, but the ghosts' speed proved superior.
"Hmph. Lucky," the bishop muttered disdainfully as the ghosts disappeared from view.
As they fled, the ghosts realized they might have pushed their luck too far. The encounter with the bishop was a stark reminder of the dangers that still existed for them, even in their spectral forms.
***
Arthur occasionally glanced at his system entertainment points. After just a day, they'd reached 41 million. Once Dragon Ball volume 2 hit stores in Horn City in a few days, that number would climb even higher.
Meanwhile, a giant company called "HOLLOW" had begun selling televisions. This normally wouldn't have caught Arthur's attention, but HOLLOW, a dwarf-based electronics company worth billions, had partnered with the USE human-based "Waves Corporation".
Waves Corporation had successfully developed signal towers not just in Horn Kingdom, but also in Empirica, parts of Evros, and the Eden region.
Arthur could see the "Era of TV" approaching, and with it, an opportunity to create a TV program called "Hellfire Got Talent". He envisioned hiring Horn's popular and veteran singers as judges.
Waves Corporation was open for business, selling signal towers or offering assistance in building them. Arthur considered the potential of a "Hellfire Channel".
Most of the world had yet to grasp TV's full potential. Many studios were reluctant to risk investing in TV and signal towers. Even governments, barring USE and dwarven kingdoms, hadn't established laws and regulations for TV and signals.
The rest of the world underestimated TV's impact.
Newspapers, feeling threatened, attempted to mock the new technology. "Who needs a TV when we have theaters to watch films on wide, large projections?" proclaimed one major Empirican newspaper.
More newspapers worldwide expressed their disdain for TV, publishing negative press about HOLLOW and Waves Corporation, despite these being multi-billion dollar companies.
Even magazines, with their colorful pages, expressed negative views on television.
Radio wasn't fond of TV either. One famous radio host declared, "What's the need for TV? We have newspapers, magazines, and films! VFX-heavy films are the future! TV is just a waste of electricity!"
The public, constantly hearing criticism of television, adopted a similar stance.
But not Arthur.
He recognized TV's potential to revolutionize entertainment and information dissemination. While others hesitated, he saw an opportunity to get ahead of the curve. With his experience from his previous life, he knew the impact TV could have.
In fact, after contacting "HOLLOW" and "Waves Corporation", Arthur found their higher-ups eager to meet him. They seemed to respect his influence and wanted his support for TV, signal towers, and the concept of "channels".
As Arthur pondered this in his office, he suddenly frowned. The ghosts, Diddy and the others, passed through his office walls.
"Boss, help! Diddy and the others are injured!" Puffy exclaimed.
"Nani?" Arthur stood up, surprised.