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.

Instructions:

"words" means a dialogue said out loud.

'Words' means an internal dialogue, just thoughts.

[words] means a system panel or Information from the system.

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Recap of previous chapter -

The process of Mark growing up is shown, with all the things he did to get himself ahead in life and build himself a steady base of capital.

From publishing four highly acclaimed book series, to getting admitted into the New York Film Academy and making six good friends for life. And when he finally graduated he got his system.

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~ Mark's POV ~

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April 9th, 1990, same night, 10:53 pm, in his bedroom.

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"Hello system? Are yo--?" Mark tried asking, as he called outloud to the system, but he paused mid-sentence due to a sudden pop-up which appeared in front of him.

It wasn't really blocking his vision due to it being translucent and lightly colored. The body of the pop-up was a light blue color which he could easily see through but texts were coloured black that made them easy to read.

[The user doesn't need to speak or call outloud to me. Communication can easily be done through just the use of your thoughts, while thinking about giving a command to the system.]

'Huh, that's interesting, you seem quite smart. Are you a sentient system? Are you self-aware?' Mark thought inquisitively.

[Of course, I am smart. I hold all the knowledge known to mankind till a certain point in time in the future. As per your second question. No, I am not self-aware or sentient, at least not completely but I can feel emotions though very muted as they are very foreign to me.]

[I am simply programmed by my creator to follow my user's orders and help them with any questions they might have regarding the system. Think of me as a very advanced chatbot AI like ChatGPT but with long term memory.]

'Ok, so you're somewhat like Jarvis, an AI which doesn't have a sense of self (ego) but can care for their users and follow the commands of its user'. Mark thought with his chin resting on his thumb.

'Hey system, can I assign you a name? Just calling you system all the time feels kinda bland and boring'. Mark asked.

[Of course, Mark, you can assign me a name.]

'Would you mind if I were to give you a feminine name'? Mark asked wanting to see how it would react.

[Not at all Mark, as you have correctly deduced before I don't feel much or an ego, but if you want I can even emulate a woman's voice to make you feel more comfortable with my presence in your mind.]

'Then please do so, because if I am going to have a voice in my head. I would very much prefer having a calm and gentle woman's voice rather than an androgynous robot voice, thank you very much'. Mark thought in reply, thanking her for her thoughtfulness.

Then he pondered on her name for a while, as he didn't want to give her just any random name.

'Hey, I am thinking about naming you, Vani. What do you think about the name? Is it Okay? Or do you want me to think of another one?' Mark asked as he wanted to know her opinions.

[No, Mark, Vani is a perfectly fine name, but I would like to know how you decided on that name.]

"hmm, so it does have the ability to for curiosity and finding information." He muttered under his breath as he analyzed the system AI, if he was going to be using it then he wanted to find out as much as he possibly could about it.

'Oh that well, because you mentioned before how you have all the knowledge known to mankind. So I thought about naming you Vani, it is another name for the goddess Saraswati; the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning.' He explained where he picked up her name from.

[Thanks, Mark for thinking so highly of me so as to name me after a goddess of knowledge.]

'It's no big deal, after all, to me, you are like gift. The answer to my prayers from my childhood. To be honest, I had totally given up on the thought of even getting a system after nothing happened in the first 10 years after my birth in this world.' Mark replied in a wistful mood.

'Hey Vani, can I ask you something though, why you didn't activate before? Why did you wait so long?' Mark asked, sounding slightly disgruntled.

[The System was testing the host and also analysing him to see which system would suit him the best and also analyzing this world's timeline for any deviancy that might have occurred due to your arrival or due to this actually being a variant earth with an alternate timeline.]

'Testing me for what exactly, Vani? And deviancies, like changes to the events of this world?' Mark asked slightly worried that he might have unknowingly changed things too much.

But he wasn't overly concerned about it as he already taken advantage of his future knowledge to put himself ahead in and created a starting point for himself with his real estate business and venture capital firm that kept growing his capital and networth over time.

[Well, my creator wanted to see whether or not you can accomplish something on your own, without any help or cheats from the system.]

[Many people before you were too overly reliant on their system's assistance, which basically turned them into machines with no thoughts or goals of their own]

[Just mindlessly trying to complete the next system task to get the quest reward. This made their new lives very boring and not entertaining to watch.]

[So my creator decided to change things and now there are going to be no missions provided. Likewise, there won't be any reward. But don't be disheartened at the missed opportunity to earn these great rewards, Mark.]

To be honest he was glad it meant he was free to do whatever he felt like.

[My Creator has set-up an achievement feature for you in the system that allows you to complete General or Hidden Achievements to earn rewards. More information about this will be provided later.]

[Coming back to the topic of system activation, your assumption is correct, Mark. If you had given up and simply done nothing even with all your past life's skills and experience, and future knowledge then I would have never activated at all.]

[Now, based on the achievements that you have accomplished till date in this world, you will be given a starter pack of equal value.]

[List of host's, «Mark Spencer's» achievements till current date and time.

1. Published Ben 10: Hero Time. (Vol. 1)

(2.5 points awarded, small achievement)

2. Published Jurassic Park 1. (Vol. 1)

(2.5 points, small achievement)

3. Published Resident Evil: Outbreak in Racoon City.

(2.5 points, small achievement)

4. Published Knives Out: A Murder Mystery.

(2.5 points, small achievement)

5. Published Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix. (Vol. 0)

(2.5 points, small achievement)

6. Published Jurassic Park: The Lost World. (Vol. 2)

(2.5 points, small achievement)

7. Published Knives Out: Glass Onion. (Vol. 2)

(2.5 points, small achievement)

8. Published Resident Evil: Umbrella Origins. (Vol. 0)

(2.5 points small achievement)

9. Published Invincible. (Vol. 1)

(2.5 points, small achievement)

10. Published The Boys. (Vol. 1)

(2.5 points, small achievement)

11. Published Ben 10: Alien Force. (Vol. 2)

(2.5 points, small achievement)

12. Accomplished a total lifetime sales of over 300 million copies world-wide.

(5 points, medium achievement)

12. Started a Real Estate Development company – Crown Estates. (95% owned) and turned investment of $118 mil into $415 mil in a few years.

(5 points, medium achievement)

14. Facilitiated the comic adaptation for -

Ben 10, Invincible and The Boys.

(2.5 points, small achievement)

15. Bought a stake of ownership in Cisco Systems. (24% owned) (10 points, great achievement)

16. Bought a stake of ownership in Costco. (31% owned)

(10 points, greater achievement)

17. Bought a stake of ownership in Home Depot. (20.5% owned) (10 points, greater achievement)

18. Bought a stake of ownership in TSMC. (27.5% co-owned) (10 points, greater achievement)

19. Bought a stake of ownership in United Healthcare Corporation. (18.7 owned) (10 points, greater achievement)

20. Started a Think Tank – Engineering Marvels. (95% owned) (2.5 points, small achievement)

[Compiling the total score from the current achievements…

Score achieved: 92.5 points.

Evaluation: Grade A+]

[Congratulations, Mark, for getting an A+ grade on your evaluation.]

[It means your starter package will have Grade A+ items which you would be in need of currently at the start of your directing career.]

[Mark, shall I open the starter package?]

'Sure I am excited to see what kind of a reward I will get for waiting 20 years for my system and working my ass off for so long,' even though he had grumbled and felt annoyed with the system being so tardy he couldn't help but appreciate all that you are achieved with his hard work.

*Ding*

[Starter package has been distributed. You have received the following :-

1. A Character Template (A-Tier): A template that allows the user to copy the skills and experience of any Hollywood personality. (Grade A, lasts for 2 consecutive works/movies, can't be toggled on/off)

2. An Event Modifier (A-Tier): Can be used only for Hollywood related events like business deals, hiring contracts and awards, etc. (Grade A can be used only once)

3. A Knowledge Script (B-Tier): Select any one movie to know everything about how to produce and direct that movie.(Grade B, can be used 5 times)]

[Overall it's a really good starter package for you, Mark which will give a boost to your current capabilities.]

Mark thought sounding doubtful, 'I will have to take your word for it Vani, to be frank I don't really know what the first two rewards even mean. I understood the third one, which basically allows me to attain the complete knowledge about producing and directing any movie.'

'And that I can use it to get the complete knowledge for 5 movies in total. But what is a Character Template? Can you please explain it to me? '. Mark asked wanting to know more about his rewards.

[Of course, its what I am here for. So, Character Templates basically allow you to get the experience and skills of any person whom you have selected. This one is limited to Hollywood personalities because I am a Hollywood system. So it's limited to the entertainment industry.]

[For example, if you use the Character Template and select Steven Spielberg, you will be able to direct your next movie just as proficiently as him.]

[This is actually a really great learning tool which speeds up the rate at which your direction skills improve exponentially. What normally takes a director to learn in decades, you will be able to learn in just a few years if you can somehow get more of this item to use while you're making films.]

[As for the Event Modifier, it's such a rare item that I am even little surprised it came out in the starter package. In fact its better to call it a secret item.]

'Why is that so Vani? What is so special about it'? Mark asked intrigued to learn why even Vani was surprised that he got it.

[Well, it's special because it can change the very fabric of reality. It allows its user to change the contract/award holder with someone else of the user's choice.]

[For example, if you use it on Steven Spielberg's director contract whilst he is filming a movie. The item will change reality and create some random reason for which Mr. Spielberg will be unavailable to continue directing the movie, everyone will believe as a the truth and Mr. Spielberg will be removed as director of the film and swapped out with anyone of your choice, Mark.]

[You can even choose yourself, and you will get to enjoy the same signing terms as Mr. Spielberg, which is $10 million dollars plus 10% of the box office. Even though you are a newcomer with no filming experience to your name, you will still be given the same treatment as Mr. Spielberg. This is because you are just replacing him and no new contract is being signed.]

[But there are some important rules to remember whilst using this tool. You can't swap out people from different fields of work, for eg: a director can't swapped out for an actor and vice versa. Also you can't swap out a Hollywood personality with a random nobody from the streets.]

[You can't use this tool on someone who has already completed over 50% of their work as agreed upon in the contract. This restriction is in place because without it you could just take over work from a director who has finished filming and just the post-production and editing work is left. And you would have made free money without putting in the work and that is not allowed.]

[Another important detail to remember. The closer the Hollywood personalities are in regard to skill levels and fame, the easier it is to complete the swap. But if the difference is too big, then the swap may fail with the item being wasted. So please use it with caution.]

'Hmm, I understand, so this event modifier is basically a game changer and must be used carefully with a proper plan so I can get the maximum benefit out of it.' Mark thought to himself.

'Vani, how can I acquire more of this event modifier item from the system? Can I buy them from the system shop?' Mark asked.

[Unfortunately no, as previously mentioned, the event modifier item is pretty rare and isn't available for purchase on the system shop.]

[They can only be acquired by completing some hidden achievements. I am sorry to say this, but can't tell you what they are. But I can provide you with a hint, all the hidden achievements are related to Hollywood or its derived industries.]

'Well it's alright, If I complete them it's fine, if I don't meh, it's no big deal. I have thrived till now without any system cheats, I am not going to lose sleep over it. I just have to save it for only priority cases.' he thought to himself with sense of confidence.

'So Vani, how do I get these Character Templates? I am hoping these can be bought.'

Mark asked with a hopeful tone because to him this was the real game changer, being able to instantly become a great director by copying their skills and abilities.

And also boosting his already gifted learning capability of directing skills at the new start of his journey as a director will be great help.

It will allow him to make excellent films even at the start of his directing career and will also allow him to go for shooting more ambitious films.

Before getting this item, he was thinking of shooting some low-cost comedy or horror movie to start his career, but now he was thinking bigger.

[Unfortunately, Mark, you cannot buy these character templates as well from the system shop. But on the bright side, I can tell you how you can acquire them.]

[You will be rewarded with one Character Template item every time the total box office of any film production you have participated in reaches 1 billion dollars.]

[For example, if you participate in the production of three films and their total box office collection exceeds $1 billion (350 mil + 400 mil + 450 mil = 1.2 billion) then you will be rewarded with 1 Character Template from the system.]

'So if I want to quickly become a better director, I need to focus on chasing the box office numbers. Hmm, but I also don't want to just create a mass entertainer movie as well as it might cause my reputation with the critics and my peers to fall.'

'I will need to make a film which is not only critically acclaimed and recognized, but also something which will generate huge box office numbers.' He could think of only very few such films and but racking his brain for a while he was hit with an idea and immediately knew which one he was going to select.'

'Looks like with the entry of this system in my life, I will need to drastically change some of my plans. But it will work out even better for me in the end.' Mark thought to himself, planning to take the maximum advantage of the starter package that he has been rewarded.

He thought about booking a ticket to L.A. in the morning and going to meet his uncle, who can help him establish his studio early. He will also need to speed up his plans because of the arrival of his system.

{Author's note: This chapter got delayed by a few hours due to some problems I faced in trying to integrate the system into the story.

Because the system which I drew inspiration from is actually even more OP, and if I use the same one, then it won't be fun to write.

I want my MC to at least face some challenges, and grow from them. And use his mind to get out of his problems, the system is not his get out of jail for free card.

If you find any typos or mistakes, please do point it out in the comments section. And as always, thanks for reading my work and share your feedback in reviews. Hope you all have a beautiful day.}