With my loyal crew now enjoying their well-deserved raises, I head to a place I can finally call home - or at least, rent.
As an exiled prince, "home" has been a fluid concept lately. But this spacious apartment in the cheap district? It's a start. At 1,000 dollars a month, it's not exactly cheap, but it's close to the center district.
A month ago, this would have been an impossible dream. Now? It's just another bill I can confidently pay.
As I unlock the door to my new place, my mind is already racing ahead. Why stop at renting? This whole district is ripe for the picking. Land here is dirt cheap compared to other areas. With some smart investments, I could turn this into my own little empire.
I chuckle to myself as I imagine it. "Hellfire District" has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? But that's a plan for the future.
For now, I've got more pressing matters to attend to.
After a long day of negotiations and strategic planning, I treat myself to a relaxing soak in the bathtub. It's a simple pleasure, but one that feels downright luxurious after the chaos of the past few weeks.
Following a quiet dinner for one - a far cry from the royal feasts of my past, but satisfying in its own way - I notice a newspaper peeking out of my mailbox. Curiosity piqued, I snatch it up.
My eyes immediately lock onto the bold headline on the front page: "The Demonfather, secured by Lava Brothers, will screen nationwide soon".
I can't help but chuckle. The buzz around my film is real, and it's growing.
While not everyone in Ferland City has caught the fever yet, the well-to-do folks in the center district and other affluent areas near the Crimson Theatre can't stop gabbing about it. It's like wildfire, spreading from one social circle to the next.
Shaking my head in amused disbelief, I set the paper aside. It's late, and even revolutionary filmmakers need their beauty sleep.
Before I hit the hay, I can't resist checking my Entertainment Points. The system flashes the number before my eyes: 2,307 points.
It might not seem like much now, but I know it's just the beginning. Once "The Demonfather" starts screening across the country - hell, across the world, thanks to those distribution deals I've secured - these points are going to skyrocket.
As I lie in bed, my mind wanders to the possibilities my Entertainment Points offer. The Power Shop is a treasure trove of potential - magic spells, martial arts techniques, even methods to increase my magic or physical power.
It's like a video game character upgrade system, but for real life.
The power-boosting methods are tempting, but at 100,000 points for the cheapest one, they're still way out of my reach. For now, at least.
But the real gold mine? The Entertainment Shop. It's stocked with a wealth of content from my previous life - films, novels, manga, anime, comics, games, music. It's like having the collective creativity of an entire world at my fingertips.
Films, novels, and music seem like the low-hanging fruit. I've got the know-how to produce those without much additional skill. But manga, anime, and comics? That's a different beast altogether.
I could theoretically buy drawing skills from the Skill Shop, but it's frustratingly still locked. And while I could hire artists, they'd need guidelines only I could provide. It's a classic catch-22.
As I mull over my options, a plan starts to form. Start with what I know - films and music. Use those to rack up more points. Then, once I've built up a sufficient reserve, I can unlock more skills and branch out into other media.
It's a long-term strategy, but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day. And neither was a multi-media entertainment empire.
As for games? Well, that's the real prize at the end of this particular rainbow. Once "The Demonfather" becomes a box office hit, I'll unlock computer technologies. It's like leveling up in the most high-stakes game I've ever played.
But even with my knowledge from my previous life, I know computers are no joke. This world is still trudging through the second industrial revolution. We're decades, if not centuries, away from anything resembling modern computing.
Sure, I've got the knowledge, but turning that into reality? That's a whole other ballgame. I'm looking at building something with the power of an 80s or 90s computer, but without any of the infrastructure or components that made those machines possible.
I'd need to source materials that might not even exist here, figure out how to create circuit boards from scratch, and don't even get me started on programming languages. It's like trying to build a spaceship with stone tools.
But then again, this world has a few tricks up its sleeve that my old one didn't. Magic, for one. And who knows what other mysterious powers are just waiting to be discovered?
What if I could use mana crystals as a power source? Or enchant circuit boards to boost their processing power? Hell, maybe I could even use some kind of divination magic to help with coding. The possibilities are mind-boggling.
And let's not forget my ace in the hole - George. That crazy dwarf might just be the key to making this work. Between his knack for invention and my knowledge from another world, we could be an unstoppable team.
The more I think about it, the more excited I get. This isn't just about recreating Earth's technology. It's about forging something entirely new - a fusion of science and magic that could revolutionize this world in ways I can barely imagine.
I've been a mob guy all my life, serving Don Leviathan in Apple City, Empirica.
It's like being at the bottom of the bottom of the food chain.
You think demons have it rough? Try being a demon mobster.
We're lower than goblins in most folks' eyes. Sure, there are elf, dwarf, and even human mobsters - heck, the humans practically run the show - but us demon mobsters? We're the scum of the scum, as far as society's concerned.
It's almost funny, in a sick way. Don Leviathan's got a stricter moral code than most "respectable" folks.
No drugs, no hurting civilians unless it's self-defense, and if possible, don't fight back at all. We even help out the poor and discriminated, no matter their race.
Our racket? Gambling, selling old forbidden magic spells on the black market, peddling magic cores at discount prices. Hardly the stuff of nightmares. But does that matter to the general public? Not a chance.
But hey, I get used to it. It's just another day in the life of a demon mobster.
I spot a demon kid hawking newspapers and decide to do my bit for the community.
I toss him a few coins and grab a paper. As I'm walking, I unfold the Moon Daily - straight from the Moon Kingdom, no less.
The headline catches my eye: "The Demonfather". Discover more novels at novelꜰire.net
Well, well, well. A demon film about the mob? Now that's something you don't see every day. But what really gets me is the review underneath.
Dianne James - that elf critic who's harder to please than a dragon with a toothache - gave it five stars. Five! This is the same critic who can't even bring herself to give human flicks a solid four.
I have to read it twice to make sure I'm not seeing things. A demon film, not just good, but good enough to earn top marks from the toughest critic in the business?