I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 277 - 277 276. Goal five billion_1

Chapter 277: 276. Goal, five billion!_1 Chapter 277: 276. Goal, five billion!_1 The slanting sun of the afternoon shone through the half-closed curtains onto the bed, where one could see dust particles floating in the air and, coming from afar, the sound of someone’s child practicing the piano. The technique was unrefined and stilted, but at least the notes were struck accurately, suggesting that given time, delightful melodies could surely be played.

Downstairs, the buzz of the community information exchange hub could also be heard—that is, the sound of the old men and women listening to the radio, basking in the sun, and chatting.

The quiet and peaceful world made Lu Ban feel somewhat surreal.

It was as though he had suddenly returned from the battle-scarred frontlines to his tranquil hometown.

Yet at least the Night Country still existed a century after the point in time he had traveled from.

With his mind at ease, Lu Ban suddenly became curious.

If he could travel from the present world to the Night Country of the past, how could he be sure that the Night Country of the present was actually “the present”?

What if the Night Country of the present was also “the past”, and the Night Country of the future had already been destroyed…

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

The existence of this foreign domain was like Schrödinger’s cat for Lu Ban—he couldn’t confirm its destruction without opening the box.

But now Lu Ban was more certain that Du Danping might still exist at some point in time within a foreign domain, and he might have the chance to meet him in the future.

Additionally, the tasks in the Silent Lands were not just some whimsical arrangements by great beings—or at least not entirely whimsical. Perhaps they were also using the Chosen by Gods to attempt to accomplish something through their actions in foreign domains.

However, if they were capable of manipulating time and tossing people into timeliness at will, why would they need to rely on the power of mortals?

Could it be that these divine beings themselves were also under some sort of seal?

Lu Ban became curious.

He went to his computer and turned on the mainframe.

The nearly full hard drive contained the game records for War in the Pocket.

Lu Ban opened the folder and first glanced at the directory to make sure there were no titles like “Above the Moon,” then he felt relieved to check the rest.

“A ninety percent exploration rate. Does the missing part refer to the masters of the other two Demonic Tides?”

Lu Ban pondered.

The objective of this task was simply to survive until the end of the Demonic Tide. If one was lucky, hiding somewhere to get through it was entirely possible. After all, according to Shia’s history, this Demonic Tide didn’t deal a devastating blow to humanity; being a deserter or being born in a town on an easier difficulty level could get you through.

But such an exploration rate would be mediocre at best. To achieve a higher exploration rate, one would have to face the Demonic Tide head-on, and to reach a perfect one hundred percent, the source of the Demonic Tide would have to be resolved.

“Does that mean a strategic cleansing might actually be feasible?”

Lu Ban looked over at the radio beside him.

The effects of this “Small-Scale Catastrophe Generator” were surprisingly good, and once activated, it was almost perpetual.

Intense sunshine, thunderstorms, tornadoes—powerful natural disasters of all kinds were possible.

Why did it only cost a little over eighty thousand Silence Points?

Lu Ban was baffled.

If the Silent Department Store had a review system, he would definitely leave positive feedback.

After changing into fresh clothes and checking his nearly healed wound, Lu Ban began to sort through the video material.

Perhaps because the Demonic Tide involved large-scale scenes, there were many settings, including the resistance at nearby fortresses; the only pity might be that it was not horrific enough.

Or rather, only someone who had experienced it like Lu Ban could feel the despair that came with the Demonic Tide. Of course, through the captured footage, the audience should also be able to feel something similar, but overall, Lu Ban thought this part of the story was more suitable for a spirited special effects blockbuster rather than a horror film.

The dark worldview, the desperate surge of Demonic Beasts like a flood, the oppressive Demonic Beasts that blotted out the sky, and the knights wielding long swords fighting to their last breath—all these elements, when taken out, made one’s blood boil.

Lu Ban also saw footage of himself being rescued by Jonah and others on horseback after he had dealt with the Frost. With some minor tweaks, turning it into a plot where a group of knight reinforcements arrive in a desperate situation and defeat the Demonic Beasts would certainly be the climax of a blockbuster.

“Could this perhaps break the previous box office record?”

The audience for commercial blockbusters is entirely different from that for horror and thriller films. If the ceiling for horror and thriller films is around three or four billion, then these commercial films could easily reach beyond five billion, and that’s just domestic box office.

If released internationally, it might even harvest repeatedly and rake in an immense profit.

Of course, for Lu Ban, making money was secondary; it was spreading knowledge of the Foreign Domain through film that was truly important.

“Additionally, I need to improve the previous actors’ handbook, so that everyone can invest themselves in the creation!”

The more Lu Ban thought about it, the more he realized the importance of broadening everyone’s horizons.

If those Winter Wolfs, plagues, and shadows were to appear directly in front of the people of this world, their sanity would probably be immediately tormented, leading to abnormal conditions, but the Forest Rangers of the Night Country wouldn’t need to worry about these things at all, presumably due to the results of certain training.

His attention returned to the System, and Lu Ban opened the [Career Development Task].

[Career Development Task]

[“Strike while the iron is hot, tell the world that your limits go beyond, and give them a groundbreaking viewing experience that is most shocking”]

[Task requirement: Release a movie universe work and earn five billion in revenue]

[Movie universe work released: 0/1]

[Revenue earned: 0/5000000000]

[“Making money, it’s not a disgrace”]

“Five billion…”

When Lu Ban saw this number, he felt more of a sense of course than surprise.

The current domestic box office champion is at fifty-six billion in revenue, but that’s just box office numbers.

After dividing the box office between theaters and distribution, the final profit for the production company is about 40 percent. In other words, out of a fifty billion box office, only about twenty billion ends up in hand—then after taxes, there’s even less.

For Lu Ban to earn five billion in profit, the box office would need to be at least a hundred billion.

His previous movies “Cry” and “The Madman’s Mouth,” although they already set records for domestic thriller films, didn’t come close to a hundred billion combined.

Now, to reach that income with just one movie seems a bit unrealistic just relying on box office sales.

Lu Ban checked and found that the current global box office champion in this world was $2.7 billion US, which converted to about over one hundred and fifty billion in box office receipts, a figure that indeed could meet the condition of five billion in profit.

But stepping down to the fifth place, barely at twenty billion USD, is already barely making the bottom line of his five billion revenue requirement.

The films further down with box office receipts in the tens of billions USD already don’t meet the criteria of the task.

“Hm? Is this telling me to make one of the top five highest-grossing films in cinematic history?”

Lu Ban came to the realization after the fact.