Averie paced around the room.
’Their son has abruptly chosen a new career path and is enjoying great success, yet they don’t even call? What kind of parents are they?’
"Is something wrong?" Hyerin asked, looking up from her book.
The diabolical actor released the breath he was holding in. "I will inform you if I want to meet them."
"I can come with you if you are nervous."
Hyerin played with her hair. "Have you still not made up after that big fight?"
’Girl, I can’t recall what I ate last night; you think I will know what the previous Averie did and did not do?’
"I don’t know," Averie replied, sullenly turning his back to her.
He quietly took out his phone.
In his contacts, two numbers stood out.
Logs showed that these numbers hadn’t been called in the past two years.
He looked at the messages shared between him and the two.
’The last message was from Averie two years ago.’
It was a very simple message.
Before that, their chats were no different than those of any other parents and child.
’Something happened between the previous Averie and his parents after this message, which caused them to stop talking.’
"Whatever," the actor solemnly muttered. "No need to contact them."
Days in London were far more peaceful compared to Seoul and Tokyo.
While Averie busied himself in filming Long Live the Quinn, another one of his projects was busy with marketing.
After a long wait, the game Heresy of the Fallen World released a short trailer.
It was the first time Allaryx, a character neither shown nor mentioned in the previous trailers, was introduced to the gaming community.
"Cut," called Director Harrison.
"Let’s take a short break," the first AD announced.
Breathing heavily, Averie slumped in the chair prepared for him, wiping his sweat.
It was Min-Ha who, while the man was busy looking through the material in his hand, approached with her phone.
"It’s out," she told him.
Averie looked down at his crotch. "No, it’s in."
"Not that. Although I wouldn’t mind—I mean, the trailer’s out."
Hyerin also jogged towards the two. "I was contacted by Xinema. They just released a trailer, and you are in it."
Min-Ha held her phone in front of Averie and played the video.
It had been less than an hour since it was uploaded, but the views were already in the hundreds of thousands.
The video began with a medieval war. Swords clashed against shields as fiery arrows rained down from the sky.
Red-draped cavalry charged, breaking the lines and causing chaos in the enemy ranks.
Named NPCs, dressed immaculately, broke through and met in the middle of the battlefield.
The screen flashed, and it was all gone.
Soldiers were nowhere to be seen, and the war had disappeared. The old world had fallen.
A quick sequence of scenes showed the world, the characters, and the story.
An old King Trellise, half of his face covered in cloth to hide the grotesque state of his blind eyes.
"There is one evil, I must ask you to find and rid us of." He came down from his throne. "His power betrays human understanding. No one else has proven capable."
He placed a trembling hand on the shoulder of a good-looking man.
"He must not be left untouched."
The scene transitioned.
A song that could only be described as ’Boss Theme’ was playing as a figure clad in black armour, sabatons, and a helmet walked through the crumbling streets colored in blood.
Flames spread from roofs to spires, but dauntlessly, the man walked, dragging his glaive behind him.
Flying over the palace and spewing flames was a dragon with red scales.
Allaryx stared into the slit pupils of the creature before lowering his stance. As he launched his weapon towards the flying menace, the flames covered the skies.
The trailer came to an end.
"Oooh." Hyerin clapped her hands. "I don’t understand video games, but it looks good, doesn’t it?"
"Uh-huh," Min-Ha nodded. "It’s eye-catching."
Hyerin turned to Averie. "The game will drop soon enough. Do you have any plans?"
He spared her a disinterested glance. "Like?"
"I don’t know. You could stream it."
"I don’t even have a PC." He scoffed. "You think my laptop is going to run, capture, and stream this game? As the British say, ’You’ve lost the plot, mate.’"
"What does it even mean?"
"I don’t know. I just like to say it."
"Anyway." She handed him the glass of orange juice she was carrying. "We could buy you some new equipment if you want to."
"For the game? I’m not rich, Rin."
"We have money, don’t we?" she said with an impish smile.
But the good actor wagged a finger in her face.
"I have money." He pointed a finger at himself and jabbed his chest. "Me. My money. Mine."
"I am telling you that you can spend money, and you are reprimanding me?"
"Have you seen how much a good gaming PC goes for?"
Admittedly, she hadn’t.
Only after doing a little research did she agree with Averie’s argument.
"You can easily afford it, but no need to spend money so needlessly."
She shamelessly laughed.
"By the way," Averie continued, "are people still bickering about my award?"
"The internet is like a gutter. There is always something that stinks. Some detractors still think you shouldn’t have won."
"Even a child would let a grudge go after a month, but these idiots still have a problem? What’s their argument?"
She pulled up a screenshot saved on her phone.
"Someone who can’t even survive until the last episode," she read, "should not be winning the award reserved for the best main actor. The other six had more claim as main actors."
While shaking his head, a tired laugh escaped his lips. "Only when I am involved do the idiots rear their heads."
"Don’t pay attention to them."
He peeked at her phone.
’Online bullying will continue until behavior improves. Delete all of your social media accounts, whoever you are. I am coming for you.’
With a new resolve, Averie stood up.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
Director Groux was on the other side.
"When?" asked the diabolical actor after a minute. "And where?"