Hell's Actor-Chapter 89: Heresy

Xinema Co., Ltd. was a Japanese multinational video game company. It developed and published video games, outsourcing only marketing.

Their history in the industry went back forty years. They were there when video games were first made, and they were there when PC games first became mainstream.

They had begun their journey with platformers, but soon got into the RPG scene.

Xinema was quick to create its own blend of Souls-like, CRPG, and traditional RPG.

The company became popular for that style and soon became one of the biggest names in the video game industry.

In the Xinema headquarters, a young employee was currently reading company emails. He was early to work this morning and wanted to get started on some important business.

One of the emails caught his eye, and he rushed to the office of his superior.

"Boss!" he yelled.

He liked calling his superior Boss. It gave the poor man a bad image in public, but he allowed it nonetheless.

"What is it? Are you drunk again?"

"I hope I am!" He rushed to his side. "You need to see this."

He pushed his boss aside and logged into his work computer.

"How do you know my passwords?"

"That’s not important now."

"I mean, it kind of is."

"Look here."

The employee showed him an email that the company had received the night before.

"Read it."

It was a neat bit of correspondence written in English. The contents were simple, if not a little pretentious.

The sender was writing on behalf of their client, and this person wanted to feature in the next video game being developed by Xinema.

If it were just any request, they would have declined it politely while making fun of the loser in the company break room.

"This client is—" The boss’s eyes shook. "Is this right? Is it really him?"

"What should we do, Boss?" The man showed him his arm. "I’ve got shivers. Is this real?"

A few internet searches showed that the email was indeed legit.

"Contact them," the boss muttered. "We can not miss this."

He picked up the suit lying on his chair.

"I’ll go talk to the president. If this works out, we’ll get promotions just for not being idiots."

The name of the sender’s client was Averie Quinn Auclair.

Even though it had been more than a week since the end of Binsfeld’s Seven Princes of Hell, the show and the characters had become part of the Japanese pop culture.

If Seoul loved BSPH, then Tokyo practically dreamed of living it.

In the streets of Akihabara, where cosplay was part of the streets, men and women dressed like the seven princes had become a common sight.

Online and offline, posters and official merchandise were always out of stock. The supply and the demand were disproportionate. The sellers had hiked up market prices for figurines. Just being able to buy one without losing one’s security funds was crazy.

And even though Averie did not know about it, Asmodeus Binsfeld’s merchandise was tough to find. He didn’t even know such things existed. He couldn’t have guessed that some woman living alone in her apartment had his likeness stored in a jar.

Japan loved their crazies, and they loved Asmodeus Binsfeld.

The money from all the merchandise sales was three to four times that of the streaming and airing revenue.

There hadn’t been a single piece of media other than anime that had seen such reception in Japan.

The boss understood what it meant for the actor of Asmodeus Binsfeld to make an appearance in an anticipated game.

It meant money and attention.

***

A week later, Averie boarded the plane taking off for Tokyo.

The fanfare in Korea was finally starting to calm down. People were beginning to lose interest in the havoc caused by Averie and Loret Entertainment.

The craze around BSPH had also significantly diminished. It had lasted longer than other great dramas of history.

That was how it was for films and dramas. Their popularity was never meant to last. There was always something new to chase.

And Averie liked that. It was a bit romantic to imagine that there was a ladder to climb and actors to dethrone.

Fewer people were coming to him to ask for selfies, and that was marvelous. He needed scripts and roles, not popularity.

On the plane, he spent most of his time scribbling in a diary. It attracted Hyerin’s curiosity.

"What are you writing?" She tried to peek over his hand, but he guarded the view. "I hope it’s nothing bad."

"What do you mean ’bad’?"

She glanced around. "Incriminating..."

"Why would I do that?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"Then, what are you doing? Planning some crime? Writing poetry about beating someone?"

’Wow, there’s no trust at all.’

"It’s..." He found it hard to utter. "It’s a script."

Hyerin stared at him in disbelief.

"You write scripts? Since when?"

"This is the first time."

’As Averie Quinn Auclair, that is.’

"Are you good?"

She tried to peek again, futilely.

"Don’t make a big deal out of it."

"What’s it about?"

Averie was reluctant.

"What do you care?"

"Tell me!" she said, shaking his arm. "Tell me, tell me!"

After her seventeenth try, he relented.

"It’s about an artist’s obsession with madness."

***

When Averie landed in Japan, the atmosphere was completely different than the last time. It wasn’t the Koreans asking for pictures. It was the Japanese surrounding him.

He could hear people calling for Asmodeus. A large crowd had gathered at the airport entrance to see him.

If he had been paying any attention for the last few weeks to Hyerin, his fellow actors, and the news, he would have expected this. After all, Binsfeld’s Seven Princes of Hell was widely popular in the Island country.

The BSPH team had prepared bodyguards and cars for them, and he was escorted to the hotel where he would be staying for at least a month.

"They are still there," Hyerin said, looking down from the window of their suite. "You should wave at them."

A large crowd had gathered to capture pictures of him, but the actor refused to show his face.

"I feel like a boy band member."

"There would have been more people if you were one."

"Ouch. That hurts."

"Does it?"

"Of course not. I am way cooler than boy bands."

"That’s what you think," she murmured.

"Find yourself a new client then."

She laughed shamelessly.

"Why would you say that, my dear friend? Of course, you are the coolest and the best."

"Alright, let’s get ready." He got up from his bed. "I am excited for this project. Everything I have seen is exceptional, and their testers have said mostly good things."

In the evening, he had a meeting with employees from Xinema.

There were five of them. Two were junior members of the staff, and the rest were senior developers.

"We were so thrilled when you contacted us," Hideo Nakamura, the lead designer of Xinema’s upcoming project, began. "Having Asmodeus Binsfeld make an appearance in our game is an exciting proposal. I couldn’t have expected that while watching the show with my wife. She is a big fan." freewebnoveℓ.com

’I know.’ Averie smiled. ’You said that like fifteen times. I even gave you an autograph.’

"We haven’t decided on anything yet." Hyerin took the initiative. "We would like to know more about the project before we make any kind of commitment."

"Of course, of course."

Hideo provided a great deal of information about the game’s art direction, development progress, and scheduled launch date.

"We showcased it at a festival last year. It’s called Heresy of the Fallen World."

The game took place in a dark fantasy world, where the influence of the old order had lost all its power.

"The player character has a flexible backstory. The character creation lets the player choose their background, race, facial features, and tendencies."

The game employed a silent protagonist, which meant they only talked when the player had a chance to choose between a few lines of dialogue. Naturally, it was not one bit attractive to Averie.

"The setting is a mix of dystopian and high fantasy worlds. The main story is about 50 hours long. Taking into consideration additional content like side quests, it should be at least 160 hours long."

The side quests weren’t just fetch quests. There were quests related to companions and important NPCs.

The characters were neatly written, and the story was interesting enough for an RPG. The world-building was what truly impressed Averie.

’It’s vast.’

It had multiple factions whose story did not come to a halt just because the player character moved on to another location. Their influence could be felt in other places through trade restrictions, political unrest, and economic tensions.

’In such an expansive world, would anyone even notice my character?’

Averie smiled.

It was different from movies and dramas, yet it was so fun.

He was getting all the juicy secrets just like that. Even though he had never been a part of the video game industry, this felt special.

He wanted to treat the game with the same respect.

"I hope you will forgive our insolence, but we already have three characters in mind for you if you choose to take part in our project."

"Do I get to choose?" Averie asked, amused.

"Of course!" one of them chimed in.

They were so deep into development that these three characters were the only ones left without faces and voices.

"The first is a late-game party member that can be recruited after a long questline."

He handed Averie a printed paper with a character design on it.

It was Peytr Wood, the Afflicted Fencer.

"The second is the King of Riever Kingdom, one of the most influential figures in the game."

Trellise of Riever, the Sick Progeny.

Hyerin shook Averie’s hand, telling him to choose this one. She wanted to see him play a noble king. She seemed to have missed the ’sick’ part.

"And finally," — he handed the last paper to Averie — "a superboss essential to defeat to get access to one of the two most powerful classes in the game."

Allaryx, the Dread of the Living.

It was a knight clad in black metal armor with a glaive in hand.

"He is likely the most difficult boss in the game."

Averie didn’t even need to ponder it.

"Allaryx, it is."

He was already in love.

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