Ch.421[Episode 421] Heroes of Legend

“So, you want to use me as the protagonist for this trailer?”

“That’s right.”

Sir Dominic gazed steadily at the director before him.

The director maintained his composure, unfazed by Sir Dominic’s stare.

“But I’ve never played that mode before.”

“You can try it this time. That will solve all our problems.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“This trailer is for a newly revamped mode. Which means, it doesn’t matter if a new character appears.”

“Hmm.”

“In that case, this becomes both a trailer and a PV. Sir Dominic newly joins the revamped Heroes of Legend! This will truly give people the impression of a ‘completely transformed AOS mode.'”

“I see.”

Sir Dominic nodded at the director’s words.

The director’s explanation was quite plausible.

However, Sir Dominic didn’t lose sight of the main point of this conversation.

“So, what reason do I have to accept this proposal?”

“Well…”

The director hesitated for a moment, as if finding it difficult to answer.

But soon he explained why Sir Dominic should accept the proposal.

“The benefit I can offer to Sir Dominic is fame. Sir Dominic is already increasing his recognition not just in Gacha Land but in several cities.”

After saying this, the director swallowed hard as if his mouth had gone dry, then continued.

“Currently, the most popular mode in Gacha Land is the AOS mode. This is a fact. The popularity of our Heroes of Legend is proof of that.”

The director then pulled out several documents from somewhere.

They were densely filled with statistics about what percentage of people played which modes.

“As you can see, AOS currently accounts for nearly 45% of all modes. Which means—”

The director looked straight into Sir Dominic’s eyes and said:

“With this one mode, you could potentially gain as much additional recognition as all the recognition you’ve built up until now.”

“!”

Sir Dominic’s eyes widened in surprise at the director’s words.

Though it had become somewhat nominal, Sir Dominic’s goal was to reach the top position in Gacha Land.

And for that, fame and honor were necessary.

To Sir Dominic, this proposition was extremely appealing.

Of course, this was also the director’s trap.

The director deliberately limited the statistics to just the modes to entice Sir Dominic.

In terms of the proportion of Gacha Land itself, the AOS mode only accounted for about 5-7% of Gacha Land.

Still, it was certainly a significant number.

At this point, Sir Dominic was slightly leaning toward participating in Heroes of Legend.

The director, realizing that appeals to honor were effective, continued his persuasion along those lines.

“Our Heroes of Legend may be slightly stagnant right now, but it’s still a AAA-tier title. What does that mean? It’s a win-win. For us, it’s an opportunity to introduce our mode to non-AOS mode users who follow you, and for you, it’s a chance to expand your recognition among AOS mode users.”

“Hmm.”

“And that’s not all. What happens when your fame increases? What happens when your recognition naturally rises? The merchandise related to you will increase. Then a virtuous cycle of increasing recognition continues. So—”

“I’ll do it.”

“!”

Sir Dominic made up his mind right there.

From the beginning, Sir Dominic needed to appear in a GOTY-level multimedia production to reach 5 stars.

And Heroes of Legend mode was suitable for this.

Sir Dominic couldn’t resist any longer when everything aligned so perfectly, and accepted the proposal.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! This will really bring our trailer to life!”

“No need to thank me. I accepted because it benefits us both. By the way, when and how do you plan to shoot the video?”

Sir Dominic asked about the schedule and plan, recalling memories of shooting the trailer for Enchant.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. We’ve already filmed everything.”

“?”

Sir Dominic gave the director a puzzled look.

They had just finalized the contract, yet the video was already filmed?

Surely they weren’t planning to show the contract signing scene?

Seeing Sir Dominic’s confusion, the director burst into laughter and explained:

“Ah, we happened to capture footage when Sir Dominic fell from the sky earlier. We’re planning to use that as a base.”

“Ah.”

Sir Dominic nodded at the director’s explanation.

“Then, there’s nothing for me to do?”

“That’s one way to put it. Actually, there is one thing.”

“What is it?”

The director asked Sir Dominic for just one favor.

“Please visit our Heroes of Legend development team and do some motion capture for us.”

“Ah.”

Sir Dominic was reminded of his time with the indie game Enchant, his first appearance.

Back then, Sir Dominic had struggled doing all sorts of actions for motion capture.

But since Heroes of Legend was a AAA development team, Sir Dominic reassured himself that the motion capture would probably be more comfortable.

“And if you have time, it would be great if you could play in an actual match.”

“A match.”

“Yes. Let’s see… this time would be ideal.”

The director pointed to a date on the calendar next to him.

“Why that time?”

“There’s a tournament then.”

“Tournament?”

“Yes. A tournament.”

Sir Dominic frowned momentarily at the mention of a tournament.

He was reminded of his most recent experience in a racing tournament.

It was quite a mess. With that thought, Sir Dominic asked the director:

“Is it absolutely necessary?”

“Of course not. It’s fine if you don’t. It would just be nice if you did.”

“Hmm.”

Sir Dominic stroked his chin thoughtfully at the director’s words.

He might have overreacted a bit due to his previous tournament experience, but it wasn’t something he needed to adamantly refuse.

“I’ll think about it.”

“That’s good enough.”

In the end, Sir Dominic could only say he would consider it.

“Anyway, now that everything is settled, I should be going. Actually, I went through some mentally challenging experiences today.”

“Challenging experiences? Considering your capabilities, I can’t even imagine what happened. Did you meet some outer cosmic entity?”

“Well, Stars are all just trying to make a living… What troubles could such beings have?”

Sir Dominic said this while thinking of the Stars he had met so far.

I’m Not Little, Lady Alice, the Giant of the Red Rose…

In fact, Sir Dominic thought that Alice’s mother might be even more frightening than the Stars.

A frost giant thousands of kilometers tall.

“I’ll rest today and start the motion capture tomorrow.”

“I’ll let them know.”

With those words, Sir Dominic left the forest and headed home.

“…Great.”

The remaining director clenched his fist and let out a small cheer.

Then, after muttering some dialect in joy, he shouted to all the staff and actors:

“Alright! That’s a wrap for today! Good job everyone!”

“…?”

“We’re having a company dinner tonight, so stay if you want to join, and go home if you’re tired! Don’t worry about me giving you a hard time if you leave!”

The director’s hearty laughter echoed throughout the set.

It was an action born from the joy of securing a contract with Sir Dominic, something said to be possible only if you saved a country in your previous life. However, the other staff and actors could only tilt their heads in confusion, not understanding why the director was acting this way.

…

Sir Dominic woke up early the next day and headed to the Heroes of Legend team’s location.

Sir Dominic had been so tired yesterday that he forgot to ask for directions, but fortunately, somehow knowing this, the director drove to Sir Dominic’s house early in the morning to pick him up.

“You live in quite a nice place.”

The director admired Sir Dominic’s house.

Indeed, such properties were hard to come by these days, even with money.

“I don’t know how well you maintain it, but it seems full of love for your home.”

“I don’t pay any attention to it at all.”

“You’re so modest.”

The director took Sir Dominic’s words as humility, but Sir Dominic was telling the truth.

Since first buying this house, Sir Dominic had never properly tended to the garden.

In other words, Sir Dominic’s yard was exactly as it was when he first bought it.

Yet the director couldn’t stop praising it, which shows just how magnificent Sir Dominic’s house must be.

“Ah. We’re here. This is the place.”

The director informed Sir Dominic, who was sitting in the back seat, that they had arrived.

“…? This is…”

Sir Dominic tilted his head as he got out of the car.

It was a familiar place.

“Isn’t this the Black Company headquarters?”

Indeed, it was the Black Group headquarters.