Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 343 - 262: Jiuyue the Great Director

Chapter 343: Chapter 262: Jiuyue the Great Director

The Judge finally adopted Jiuyue’s suggestion, acknowledging that it had no other ideas for the time being.

Turning the prisoners on Prison Planet into people in boxes, although physically situated in the same place as those living in the Digitalized World, seemed to inhabit an entirely distinct universe.

It was like the relationship between humans and film characters.

Since there were always prisoners trying to find loopholes in the server to escape, the Judge preferred to personally guide these inmates. Besides providing entertainment to the audience, it could use the "protagonists" to evaluate the security risks of each ward, treating them like guinea pigs.

It would have never done this in the past, but now...

It was all Jiuyue’s influence.

The Fox Demon from Blue Star was incredibly cunning, skilled in flattery and deception, and knew how to cook spicy chicken, with many culinary skills worthy of praise.

After reaching a preliminary consensus, everyone was assigned their corresponding tasks.

Duan Mingyuan’s primary focus recently was to help the Judge establish a stable channel connected to the outside world, where people should have the right to enter and exit freely before the day of destruction truly arrived.

This was an initiative Duan Mingyuan proposed himself, supporting Eisenberg’s "Haven Plan."

After all, this time they faced a formidable foe, labeled "the strongest in history" and also the most ancient "Cocoon."

Battle was unavoidable. Although Duan Mingyuan advocated for peace, if a terrorist suddenly appeared intent on blowing up the entire universe, he couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.

Facing an opponent that might be unbeatable by human efforts, Duan Mingyuan thought it necessary to prepare comprehensively.

On the other hand, the Judge ran into difficulties when choosing a director.

He Ya mentioned that Universe Company had many famed directors, and with her connections, it would not be an issue to enlist some big-name directors. She believed they would definitely be interested in this theme, but the Judge didn’t want Universe Company to play such a significant role.

Directors not only arrange scenes and decide on personnel changes, but also have a certain degree of involvement in the layout of the wards. The Judge wanted to find someone without any company or Chamber of Commerce background who could be trusted.

With the backing of these two forces, it was inevitable that their stances would influence their work.

Especially since the recent battle of public opinion began, directors, scriptwriters, and actors had started to insert their own agendas in various events they attended.

The construction of the Digitalized World was far from as simple as imagined; it also had to prevent companies and chambers from bringing their conflict into this world.

Unfortunately, even this seemingly simple requirement proved to be as difficult as reaching the heavens.

He Ya expressed that all film and television-related projects in the universe had long been monopolized by companies and chambers. Even directors without political leanings, who only wanted to make good films, were forced to take sides. In today’s increasingly fierce war of public opinion, those who remained neutral had the hardest time.

They would become enemies of both sides, and for those directors whose stances were unclear, a word from the higher-ups of a company or chamber could easily end their careers.

Thus, Jiuyue took charge in an emergency, and somewhat reluctantly became the director for the first season of "Prison Break."

The idea was hers, and among everyone, she had watched the most movies. The Judge, having just gotten used to human thinking, hoped to have a reference to emulate.

Therefore, Jiuyue’s responsibility was even greater. She would set the tone for the entire series. After her departure from Prison Planet, the role of director for the second season would be taken over by the Judge. With its highly capable learning abilities, the artificial intelligence could perfectly replicate Jiuyue’s filming style.

Luckily, this filming method was very special; the director didn’t need to meet the actors or conduct any on-site coordination but instead prearranged the direction of the story’s development, and the overall planning of the sets and layouts. Aside from casting, almost all tasks were those of a scriptwriter.

When it came to casting, Jiuyue faced a significant challenge.

The protagonist in any film or television series is particularly important. Whether they possess charismatic personality often determines the life and death of the show. However, Jiuyue was now dealing not with actors who had years of experience but with a bunch of notorious, evil-doing criminals. It was difficult for her to find redeeming qualities in them.

It was already extraordinary if they were not detested, let alone having charismatic personalities.

Jiuyue carefully reviewed the detailed introductions of popular contestants from past seasons’ trials and was thoroughly disappointed.

The reason these individuals were popular was mostly that they had certain quirks, or they had won a lot of money for people by winning all the way.

But a TV drama has nothing to do with gambling, and whether it can win the audience’s favor can only be judged by their performance in the show.

"Ah—!"

Deep into the night, Jiuyue tossed and turned in bed, "This prison claims to be the most heavily guarded in the entire universe, so why can’t I find the kind of ambitious villain with leadership skills and personal charisma?"

Many of the works she had seen certainly portrayed villains with strong personal charisma.

There were examples of this in real life too.

But what about Prison Planet?

The villains here seemed more like sociopaths with antisocial personality disorders and disturbed psyches.

Far from liking these people, after reading their introductions and knowing what they had done, Jiuyue felt like giving them a whack on the head.

Jiuyue turned over and stared straight at Duan Mingyuan, she couldn’t help but ask, "Why is there no great villain with personal charisma like Mr. Mingyuan?"

"Firstly, I’m a good person,"

Duan Mingyuan corrected Jiuyue.

How could a support character who serves as the pillar of healing in a team possibly be a villain?

"Moreover, the kind of villain you’re describing is most likely not tried formally, but executed on the spot when they’re captured,"

Duan Mingyuan had long noticed this phenomenon.

The company wouldn’t give these people a chance to defend themselves in court; they would identify the most irredeemable link in the team, thrust them into the tribunal, and have them display their disgrace, leading everyone to subconsciously believe that everyone on the team was just like them.

"Then... why don’t you play the leading role?"

She was now a big-time director, and she had always heard that directors wielded great power, not only choosing the female leads but even sleeping with the main actors.

Many entertainment news outlets said so, also claiming that the film industry’s culture was rotten, throwing parties every day where who knows what happened behind closed doors.

Hmm?

But suddenly, Jiuyue thought that this directorial power seemed to offer no substantial benefit to her.

Even if she wasn’t a director, she could sleep with Mr. Mingyuan every day.

"I have no availability,"

Duan Mingyuan said, "You might want to take a different approach, focusing on ’immersion’."

"Immersion?"

"Choose a new inmate who has just arrived, and make him the main point of view, letting the audience discover the secrets hidden in this prison along with him. In this case, a character that’s too striking is not good; it would affect the audience’s ability to immerse themselves."

Duan Mingyuan already had a suitable candidate in mind.

In the list of those on trial, there was one name that was difficult to forget after just one glance.

—Big Smartie.

It was unusual for a member of a pirate gang entering the prison to choose such a nickname for themselves.

Although he hadn’t had much interaction, Duan Mingyuan trusted that this person would definitely bring a lot of fun to the show.