Hollywood: Head-Hunting System

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works. If you recognize it from somewhere else, surprise, it isn't mine.

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Recap of the previous chapter –

A collage of different perspectives of the future immortal writers of Mark's group are shown after they end the meeting.

All of them have made a leap in their lives and are turning over a new page. With hope in their hearts that this change will be for the better.

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~ Mark's POV ~

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Date: April 15th, same day.

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Location: In Evelyn's car.

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Time: 03:47 pm.

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Mark is driving through the L.A. traffic, smoothly making his way through the tight spaces between the vehicles. He has finally gotten the hang of driving in LA, but he is also happy that it won't be his headache to deal with in the future.

He looked to his right, glancing at the red-haired goddess sitting beside him.

"Hey Eva, what are you thinking about?" He asked her, looking at the thoughtful look on her face.

"Hmm" she hummed with a finger on plump lipstick covered lips, "I am thinking about why you are in such a hurry, it hasn't even been 7 days since you graduated, and you have nearly finished setting up your entertainment group."

"You must have also started renovating the place already, once again Mark, this begs the question of why?" Evelyn asked the one question no one had asked Mark yet.

Maybe it was because she was his closest friend and confidant. She could see the change in Mark's behavior and plans. It was like he was in a race against time.

From the moment Mark had gotten the system and knew about the accelerated decline of Marvel Comics, he had sped up his plans as well. He did so because he wanted to start the MCU with the best resources possible at the earliest date possible.

He planned on accelerating the development of VFX by buying and funding CGI generation software development companies. Not only that, but he needs to also create a studio with international reach and resources, that would be the hardest target to achieve on his list.

But he can't say all this now to Eva, he didn't think she would understand. So he just sighed and said, "you are right, I have changed and so have my plans. But my goals are the same and my ambition even greater."

"I realized, Eva, that I was second guessing myself. If I were to be directing a script written by someone else, I can't execute it well enough because it's not my vision. But here lies the silver lining, Knives Out is my own work." He explained smoothly.

"You saw the estate, just think when I can perfectly capture that piece on the silver screen. What kind of reaction will someone have watching it in the cinema hall? Will he forget to even eat the popcorn on his lap?" He said at the end and went back to driving.

Evelyn thought about Mark's answer, she knew he wasn't telling him the entire truth. But she didn't mind it, she knew about his nature to not easily share his inner thoughts. She would wait patiently till the moment he felt, she was ready to know the entire truth.

So deep she was in the mind that she didn't even realize when they reached Mr. Anderson's firm.

Mark couldn't help but feel a sense of Déjà vu. His heart was racing with excitement as he stood outside the sleek glass doors of the prestigious law firm, this time with Evelyn by his side. Their gaze fixed on the brass plate that read, "Steve Anderson, Esq. - Corporate Lawyer".

He said, "Let's go inside, Uncle Steve must be waiting for us." He took Evelyn's hand in his and entered the building.

Her heart fluttered when he took his hand in hers. She tried not to blush and followed along quietly.

Mark saw Donna at her desk and thought about letting her know that he was here for the meeting.

He said with a charming smile, while knocking lightly on her cubicle wall.

"Hi, Donna, how are you doing this fine evening?"

Donna looked up to see Mark, her eyes light up in happiness. She reaches forward for a hug and answers, "I am loaded with paperwork thanks to some idiot who forgot to file an important notice, and now I am helping him."

He chuckled and said, "It sounds like you're in a jam. I'd love to talk more, but I see you're busy, and I'm here to meet with Uncle Steve."

"Can you tell me which room it's supposed to be held in? I am kinda lost here." Mark requested.

"Oh right, you were his 5 O'clock appointment." She replied, remembering and answered.

"It's in room no. 5, go down that hallway. It's the 3rd room on the right. Steve should already be waiting for you there with all the paperwork ready." She said at the end and wished him well.

He wished her the same and went off towards the meeting room. Thanking his stars that Donna seemed busy and didn't see Evelyn with him, or else she would have teased him till he was blushing red like a tomato.

He knocked on the door and entered slowly when he heard a "come in".

"Mark, you are finally here." Steve said, looking towards his watch. He knew Mark was usually on time, so he decided to let it slide this time.

Mark bowed his head slightly and apologized sincerely.

"I am sorry for the delay Uncle Steve, I underestimated the afternoon traffic of L.A." he said, scratching the back of his head with an apologetic smile.

"You should really look into hiring a driver, you are going to be the owner of a production house and are producing and directing a multi-million dollar film. Having a driver is a must, your actions must reflect your status, Mark." Uncle Steve intoned at the end seriously.

Mark replied, "I already talked with Eva about this uncle. In the next three days, this problem should be sorted. I even decided to hire a P.A. for completing tasks which doesn't require my presence."

Uncle Steve was happy with his answer. "Good now you are thinking like the head of an organization, delegating work to your subordinates is key to being a good leader."

"I agree with you a 100% on that, Uncle." Mark said, thinking about asking the paperwork.

But Uncle Steve spoke before him, "so this is Ms. Thorne? Your agent and manager. Good, I heard how you have been dragging the entire Hollywood folks by the nose. Keeping them in the dark about Mark's real identity, very impressive." He said at the end, nodding at her.

Evelyn replied with a short bow, "It wasn't really that big of a deal, as they weren't really trying that hard to find in the first place."

"And those who found out about him are the Big Five of the industry, and they won't use any hard tactics right off the start, so we are safe for now."

"Quite an astute observation. I am glad you aren't underestimating those giants." Uncle Steve replied with a smile.

He further requested, "this godson of mine, tries to pull off crazy stunts sometimes, so please try to keep him on a tight leash."

He didn't know that the one truly crazy between the two of them was actually the prim and proper, doll-like woman sitting in front of him.

And if we are talking about leashes, Evelyn already has one in her room with Mark's name on it. She even wears it sometimes in her masturbation sessions and imagines him taking her out on a walk completely nude through the gardens of his estate.

Her train of thought is broken by Mark asking uncle Steve about the paperwork for the Studio establishment.

"Oh yeah, we got off track." Steve replied to Mark and Evelyn.

"Harry, pass them the documents and show them where to sign." Steve said, waving towards Harry.

Harry got up and gave the documents to Mark and pointed to the to-be-signed places while flipping the pages.

Mark meanwhile was speed reading the contents trying to get the gist of it to see if everything was in order.

After Harry was done, he went back to his seat and Mark slowly read the last T&Cs for his studio, happy to see it was registered in Delaware. That state had the best tax evaluation, and he knew his Uncle would help him evade taxes legally.

Not wasting a single moment he signed on the documents and after being done with putting his signature on three different copies. His entertainment group was officially established, he had trademarked his logo and the names of his studio Eidolon Entertainment, Nirvana Pictures and A-Team Productions.

'I can't wait to tak-' his thoughts stopped upon seeing the familiar popup. It happened this time with a pleasant

*ding*

[Congratulations, Mark an achievement has been unlocked.

Achievement - Establish your own Studio.

Requirements -

1. Paperwork cleared. ✔️

2. Physical Infrastructure set up. ✔️

3. Human Resources hired. ✔️

Reward - 20 HP and a Knowledge Script containing the knowledge to produce and direct the first season of any TV show.]

So that's what you meant by the achievements being a part of hollywood related industries.

[But wait Mark for there's more,

*Ding* Hidden Achievement Unlocked.

Hidden Achievement - Establish your own Entertainment group.

Requirements -

1. User must establish his own original entertainment group. ✔️

2. Paperwork cleared. ✔️

3. Physical Infrastructure set up. ✔️

4. Human Resources hired. ✔️

Reward - 20 HP and an Optimized Knowledge Script containing the entire knowledge about how to produce and direct any movie franchise of your choice. Restriction - The Franchise cannot have more than 8 movies.]

'Aw fuck, that restriction, if it weren't for that I would have definitely saved this item to use on the MCU.' Mark thought while cursing his luck.

His outward expression didn't change one bit from the system message. He lounged back on his chair as Donna came in with a bottle of champagne and took out some wine glasses from a cabinet.

'Wait, Vani, what does it mean by an optimized movie franchise?' Mark asked in his mind as he took the glass handed by Donna.

He had an award-winning smile on his face as he drank from the glass. He almost spat out his drink as he heard Vani's explanation about his reward.

'I am sorry, god, I take back all I said about my luck. I am the luckiest man alive,' he thought ecstatically, trying hard not to burst out laughing in happiness.

This is the explanation Vani gave him about the reward he had received from his Hidden Achievement.

[Reward - Optimized Knowledge Script - This is an S tier reward with the ability to bestow upon the user the knowledge about how to produce and direct a perfect movie franchise.

Any movie franchise selected by the user will be edited by the System itself to be rid of all its possible flaws and made into a perfect movie franchise of that particular genre.

A movie franchise of such perfection will only get better with every movie in the franchise with a coherent storyline and a meaningful theme and message to impart to its audience.

An Optimized movie franchise will be done taking the alternate timeline into consideration with different audience demands and market forces. It will be both critically acclaimed and a box office super hit.]

'This is OP, this is so fucking OP,' his smile was stretching ear to ear.

Not literally, obviously he didn't have his face cut up like the Joker.

"Yeah, I remembered just now, what happened with the other task I had requested of you uncle?" He asked, trying to change his train of thoughts.

"Ah, about that, I entrusted it to Harry to see how he would perform." Uncle Steve replied, looking towards Harry.

Harry felt their stares and raised his head at the group.

"Harry, what happened with the task about Mark's script which I handed to you." Steve asked while bringing out his vodka from a drawer.

"Yes, sir. I have taken care of it." Harry reported to Steve. Then looked towards Mark and answered his query.

"Mark, your request was perfectly completed, except for one small hiccup." He winced slightly at the end and took out the script he had been given.

He got up and passed it over to Mark as he asked, "what kind of hiccup are we looking at?"

"This kind." He answered as he handed him his script and pointed to the name of the movie. It was slashed horizontally, with a marker.

T̶h̶e̶ J̶o̶k̶e̶r̶.

"So I take it they didn't approve of the title for my film?" Mark asked with a strange smile.

He took out a pen from his breast pocket and thought for a while as Harry answered his question.

"No, they rejected the usage of that name as it has been trademarked, but your story is original and can't be rejected or repealed. They even tried to threaten me with a copyright claim." Harry laughed at the last comment.

"But I had done my research, thoroughly," he said with a smile. He continued after taking another sip of his wine.

"While close to it. Your story is very different from the Joker portrayed in the DC Comics. With no use of the Joker venom, different names, different colors of makeup and clothing. Your joker in no way copies the Joker from DC, so you're in the clear."

Mark let go of his breath after hearing that, "thank god, for the small mercies." Mark said as he looked up from the script in his hand.

He asked his final yet most important question. "What about the name of the character in the movie, do I have to change his code name in the movie as well?"

He hoped not because that would be a bitch to think up.

"Nope, they did try that, but trademarks don't have that level of restrictions, so you're free to use The Joker as the code name for your character." Harry replied, much to the relief of Mark.

"That's good to know." He said while dancing his pen in between his fingers.

He suddenly stopped as he remembered the title of one of his favorite comics, which he knew hadn't been released yet in this world.

He looked at the crossed out title of his movie and with a fond smile on his face, wrote his new movie title right next to it, it would be his reply to DC and Warner.

He will make them regret thinking of him like some nobody who they could bully.

T̶h̶e̶ J̶o̶k̶e̶r̶. The Killing Joke.

He will create a movie that will win over a billion dollars at the box office. That would be his reply to DC and the rest of Hollywood, who thought the superhero films were doomed after the flop that was the recent Batman and Superman films.

By the time they realize their errors, it would have already been too late. As he will have already acquired Marvel Comics in its entirety, before the shooting of "The Killing Joke" even begins.

Just thinking about it brought a smile onto his face. The satisfaction one gets from seeing their plan come together can't be described with just using words, it's simply a euphoric experience.

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{Author's Note: And that's all for today thanks for coming here and reading my work. I hope you liked it.

Sorry about this chapter being delayed by a few hours. This is the 3rd of my promised 3 chapters and with this I have fulfilled my promise of posting 3 chapters in 3 days. Yay, I feel so happy.

This is what I call a build up chapter. I planted the seed of Mark's scheme against the DC and Warner. Slowly in the future chapters, I will show how Mark will indirectly influence the DC and Warner Bros. to ruin the DC Cinematic Universe.

I am entirely motivated by interaction and praise, so leave a comment or review and I will probably write faster.

If you like my work please throw a power stone my way so my book can climb the rankings and add my book to your library/collection. I hope you all have a beautiful day.

Update schedule for this book: 1 chapter every 2 days.}