Ch.346Watch me from now on, with the suit I’ve created… how I carry on Stark’s will.

The fighting spirit.

A duel with the strong.

These things didn’t just exist in novels, comics, or movies.

The desire to face strong opponents culminated in the fighting world, specifically the UFC.

The atmosphere there was now so heated it was as if a nuclear bomb had dropped.

No one could cool down the excessively overheated atmosphere that was running wild.

“He’s doing a 1vs5? Is he crazy?”

“And if the five win… they don’t even get the belt, it just creates a vacancy in Kim Donghu’s champion position.”

“It’s a typical method of making himself the protagonist and everyone else just supporting characters.”

A match format that deserved to be called monopolizing the spotlight.

A structure where only one person shines.

Five fighters each competing for one round before being replaced.

A brutally simplistic method that disadvantaged certain fighters.

For fighters who needed to turn it into an endurance battle, being given the same five minutes per round meant they couldn’t properly demonstrate their skills.

“But is it true that Kim Donghu has stamina issues?”

“What?”

“His stamina… I don’t understand why everyone says you can win against Kim Donghu if you drag him into an endurance battle.”

Of course, this was only the opinion of a few fighters.

Top-tier fighters inferred that Kim Donghu’s stamina must be at an absurd level.

“While working on three movie series… planning something like this…”

“Looking at Kim Donghu’s fighting intelligence, well, he must be confident to do this.”

The fighters began seriously analyzing Kim Donghu.

If you asked why they were calmly analyzing what seemed like an absurd, attention-seeking match format, they would say:

‘Because I’m planning to do it.’

‘Not doing it would be stupid.’

‘It’s Kim Donghu, Kim Donghu! Not just anyone else, but Kim Donghu!’

There were no fools here who would miss an opportunity to pull in enormous fight money.

If they truly enjoyed fighting 100% purely, they wouldn’t have joined the UFC.

If they only enjoyed the process itself, they would just walk around picking fights with random people on the street.

But they joined the UFC for wealth and honor.

In that sense, what was Kim Donghu to heavyweight fighters?

He was an undefeated golden goblin.

‘Of course, no one has ever injured that goblin… everyone got TKO’d and carried away.’

It was like gold dust rubbed off on your clothes just by brushing past him.

One round of five minutes, then the fighter gets replaced, repeated five times?

Obviously, everyone knew this made no sense.

It was preposterous.

Something never attempted in the UFC or any fighting organization.

But Kim Donghu made all of it possible.

He was an existence that forced the boundaries of what was permissible to become flexible.

That was who Kim Donghu was.

“What did Dana say? Will he accept it?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s already excited about recruiting fighters, which is partly why we gathered early.”

The five UFC heavyweight fighters discussing and analyzing Kim Donghu.

They were ranked 2nd through 6th in the UFC heavyweight division.

All of them had the skills to contend for the championship at any time.

Their popularity was also somewhat guaranteed.

They could definitely pull in PPV revenue whenever they fought.

Of course.

Compared to the PPV revenue of the current strongest human on earth,

the golden goblin of the fighting world, their numbers were insignificant.

“Since we’re fighting together, we should change the fight conditions.”

“Instead of going by rank, we should match according to our fighting styles?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The revenue will be distributed equally anyway, and if we win, we’ll get separate victory contribution bonuses.”

One might think fighting last would be most advantageous, but Kim Donghu had devised a very clever bonus system.

How much pressure was put on Kim Donghu during the match.

Scores would be assigned based on this, with bonus pay distributed accordingly.

Simply put, the harder and better you fought, the more money you’d pull in.

And if you won? Even better.

Therefore, it made sense not to simply fight in ascending rank order,

but to arrange the order according to each fighter’s style.

They consolidated their opinions and sent them directly to UFC president Dana,

who immediately accepted them.

The match date was set without needing much time to prepare.

Six months from now.

++++++

“Donghu, is six months really enough? You’ll still be filming then!”

“I can just clear my schedule a bit for that time.”

“No matter how you look at it, isn’t this schedule too murderous?”

“But I need to clearly show why I don’t fight regularly.”

The person at the top had a constant obligation to prove themselves.

People always harbored doubts about those who reigned on the throne for long periods.

That’s why he had to show them.

Why a living legend was a living legend.

How he maintained this position for so long.

Of course, this wouldn’t end the cycle of doubt.

As time passed, age would become another reason for suspicion.

And when that time came, he would once again step into the arena of proof.

‘Still, I have no choice but to repeat this.’

That’s why he climbed to the top.

To continuously imprint “me” in everyone’s minds.

Reigning always required such effort.

“Ah, that… New Bullet will take about six months until the set construction is complete.”

“Set? Didn’t you usually just secure locations? Like, with the CG studio?”

“But it’s better to have something to some extent, right? Hollywood style… though they said they’re planning to rent that place too.”

It seems they’re showing signs of making this into a series, believing this work will definitely succeed.

Seokho hyung whispered close to me, as if afraid others might hear.

“…Hyung, I don’t think this needs to be so secretive?”

“Well, it feels awkward talking about this at the Arkbone filming location.”

“Ah, I guess that’s true.”

But we’re the only two in this container right now.

Seokho hyung blinked at my response.

Actually, I knew from the beginning.

That he didn’t approach me secretly to talk about this.

There was something else he really wanted to discuss.

“Ma-marriage… when are you going to do it?”

“What?”

“The wedding… you’ll do it right away when the polygamy bill passes, right?”

“…I suppose so? That bill is quite unstable, isn’t it? Public opinion and all… it might be repealed quickly.”

“Yeah, that’s right… so, um….”

“Why are you hesitating? Don’t tell me you’re planning on polygamy too?”

“Ah, no, what are you saying… it’s not that, ahem… I’m thinking about getting married soon too, so I wanted to avoid overlapping timing.”

“What!?”

Wait, Seokho hyung is getting married too?

‘Come to think of it, didn’t Kangsik say he was preparing for marriage recently?’

What’s with this sudden…

It’s not like there’s a marriage boom or anything.

“Wait, did you even have a girlfriend? Huh?”

“Of course I did, kid. We haven’t been dating long, but, well, haha.”

Listening to Seokho hyung’s casual laughter,

I completely forgot what we talked about afterward.

It feels strange that everyone is getting married one by one.

It really makes you feel like we’re all aging and time is passing, you know?

‘Wow… this shocking announcement has me disoriented.’

He originally planned to get married during my break after filming was complete.

But since it seemed I wouldn’t be taking a break, he decided to just go ahead with it.

Seokho hyung told me this and quickly left.

‘…This makes it hard to focus on filming.’

Fortunately, I had one method to sharply increase my concentration at times like this.

Namely.

<Arkbone – Final Version, S+>

The final script for <Arkbone> that had just arrived today,

after undergoing numerous revisions.

‘Immersion.’

The world changed.

Whoosh!

I departed into the script to properly mark the beginning of <Arkbone>.

++++++

After Stark’s death.

His daughter Morgan Stark immediately decided to follow in her father’s footsteps.

However, she didn’t participate directly in combat.

This was a choice made with understanding of her father’s heart,

and a result of her mother’s opposition, having already lost someone precious.

Recently, this Morgan Stark discovered a very interesting person.

“…You’re the first person I’ve met who so openly demands the Arc Reactor blueprints from me.”

“I need them, only then can I set everything right.”

Recently.

The Arc Reactor blueprints were leaked.

I don’t know who stole them, but.

Fortunately, they weren’t stolen completely, as the leaked blueprints were highly unstable.

But even so, there’s a saying that even rotten fish is still fish.

People managed to create suits with just that level of knowledge.

And those suits were naturally being used for illegal activities.

To fix this, the real blueprints were needed.

With that power, everything needed to be set right.

“Don’t you think you might betray me after receiving them? Why should I trust you?”

“Right, that’s actually why I came.”

“What?”

“Watch from now on, with the suit I’ve made… how I carry on Stark’s will.”