I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 197 - 197 Monster Encyclopedia_1

Chapter 197: Monster Encyclopedia_1 Chapter 197: Monster Encyclopedia_1 Lu Ban first searched for things related to IP, ecosystems, and worldviews.

In the famous knowledge answering website “Got It?”, he saw this description.

“Creating an IP closed-loop and a film universe can eventually form a massive cocoon of information, making audiences completely unable to pay attention to other similar products. Driven by the sunk cost fallacy, they will try the products within the loop one by one, ultimately retaining users…”

Lu Ban didn’t quite understand, but he grasped that the general idea was if these things were created, then everyone would immerse themselves in a series of worlds constructed by the movies, with no time for others.

“Seems pretty impressive.”

He searched a bit more about how such impressive things could be established.

He saw that several video websites were working on it.

For example, the iCraft Video website launched a project named something like the Homeland Plan, inviting several famous writers to jointly create an ancient fantasy world. However, Lu Ban checked the last update time of this project, and it had already been two years; it seemed to have cooled down.

There were also other cultural and creative industries working on similar things, but very few succeeded.

Lu Ban suddenly felt it was quite difficult.

“But, the task only requires attention, so I could entirely focus on pie-in-the-sky ideas to get eyeballs, and once the attention is gained, that’s it.”

Lu Ban thought this as he looked at the comments on “Got It?”

He saw a crowdfunded game that claimed to have very high freedom, capable of creating a real virtual world, and it even had a well-known producer endorsing it. It had initially raised hundreds of millions in funds, and every year it managed to rake in more money, yet it seemed that the game itself had no intention of releasing. Seeing the controversies over the trading of its investment shares, Lu Ban almost thought it was a Ponzi scheme.

So, sometimes whether you can make money or raise funds is not closely related to actual business; a big enough dream is all that’s needed.

Lu Ban could even work on a movie and switch to car manufacturing halfway through, and he estimated there would still be people investing.

Many classmates would think, are these investors stupid, spending money on projects that are completely profitless?

But actually, the money these investors put in is just a tiny part of their wealth. With dozens of invested projects, if one or two turn out to be profitable, they can recover all the expenses, which is why those with capital tend to get richer.

“I can’t be so unconscionable.”

Lu Ban had his principles. His passion for films was so strong that he even refused to rig box office sales and clicks for himself; how could he possibly use movies to scam money?

However, how to take the first step was something that troubled Lu Ban.

He started self-searching again for inspiration.

“…’Cry’ is a film well worth watching in a cinema. You can hardly appreciate the shock and fear that the big screen brings in your own small screen, especially the suffocating atmosphere created when sitting in a darkened theater with hundreds of strangers. Most importantly, for your safety, I suggest you watch it where there are more people, in case you get too scared to climb out from under your covers…”

“…’Cry”s pre-sales box office has already broken through twenty million. As a film that won a gold award at the Yannan University Student Film Festival, this movie is highly anticipated. Some believe it’s the unique atmosphere of the Yannan University Student Film Festival that has made the film a hit among the student community. Once it enters the public eye, the film might face setbacks. For this reason, our newspaper’s journalist connected with…”

“…As a director who focuses on thrillers and horror films, Lu Ban’s abilities are unquestionable. However, he also has shortcomings, such as the shallowness of his films’ content, an overemphasis on thrills while neglecting humanistic sentiments, and the unhealthy direction of values. Although I have not yet seen ‘Cry’, I believe that an excellent director must combine content and emotion, unify thought and form, and create films that are enlightening and valuable to people…”

Comments about him and his movies were as numerous as ox hair, and with the upcoming nationwide release, discussions became increasingly fierce.

Lu Ban casually scanned these comments, whether they praised or criticized him, when suddenly he saw one.

[Summary of monsters appearing in Lu Ban’s films]

Clicking in, he saw various screenshots from Lu Ban’s videos.

“…Dolls, living under the bed, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, seemingly capable of instant movement, attitude towards humans unclear…”

“…Pianist, haunting the abandoned Jiangcheng Grand Theater, body burned, playing frenzied music, able to control mannequin puppets to do his bidding…”

“…Flying fish, appearing in the grass of ruins, similar in appearance to common fish, huge in size, capable of flying through the air…”

“…Ratman, appearing in the grass of ruins, humanoid, head like a rat, possessing a certain intellect, and in some symbiotic relationship with the flying fish…”

The post graphically showcased all the monsters that had appeared up until “The Hundred Poets” in Lu Ban’s films, accompanied by the poster’s speculation and descriptions.

Looking back at these monsters, Lu Ban thought some of them were quite cute.

“Hmm, now that it’s mentioned, I could actually base it on Silent Lands and build a film universe that incorporates these foreign domains?”

Lu Ban realized belatedly.

With that in mind, he immediately began to sort through incidents he had encountered before, editing the details, and combined with information inferred from some product descriptions in the Silent Department Store, he quickly laid out the world background and monster information for the Abandoned Capital portion.

“A lot of IP derivations and film universes are created just for the sake of establishing a worldview. They start off with a big framework, just like how a superhero team movie suddenly introduces many unfamiliar heroes. To do a good job with a film universe, each work needs to be meticulously crafted. Through each work, the sense of audience immersion can be enhanced to achieve an immersive experience.”

Lu Ban summarized to himself.

He directly messaged Li Zijian, Song Yunyan’s secretary, who introduced him to a team that outsourced web page production. Lu Ban then gave this team the information he had organized, asking them to help create an official website for him. Once the website was ready, Lu Ban planned to upload some monster and foreign domain information to build an encyclopedia.

Later, Lu Ban registered new accounts on Weibo and video websites, naming them [Silent Plan].

He prepared to establish a film universe based on Silent Lands to complete his career advancement task.

After all these preparations, Lu Ban turned his attention to a folder on his computer named [The Nameless City].

Since he was planning all this, he definitely couldn’t just draw a big pie without any substance; he needed to produce something real.

Lu Ban was planning to make [The Nameless City] into a short film, to promote his project.