Urban System in America

The car rolled smoothly through the city streets, the hum of the engine steady as Kaelan steered them toward Northstar Studio. Neither Rex nor Aren spoke much.

As for why he hadn't brought Aren to Northstar before now, even though they were near?

The studio had been just down the street, an easy walk, but Rex had kept it off the table. Because at that time, the contract wasn't finalized, until every line was ironclad and beyond dispute. Until the last signature was inked on paper, everything was just smoke and mirrors. Nothing real. Nothing binding. And Rex wasn't the kind of man to gamble with "almost." He wasn't about to let even a sliver of uncertainty slip through before taking the next step.

He wasn't about to let Aren see the cards before the game was even locked. If he had rushed it then, Aren might have walked into the studio with lingering doubts, still unsure of Rex's true weight. No—Rex made sure that by the time Aren was brought here, his perception had already been reshaped.

Now Aren had seen the lawyer, the contract, the terms that secured his future. Now Rex's words carried weight. Now, when Rex walked him into Hollywood's orbit, Aren would walk in with the right image burned into his mind, an image that couldn't be shaken easily.

It wasn't just about eliminating doubt. It was about leaving a deep impression, one that would root itself into Aren's bones before he ever brushed shoulders with the machinery of Hollywood.

Because the situation was different now. Drastically different.

Aren had worked in Hollywood before, yes, but back then he was just an extra. The kind of face nobody remembered after the camera stopped rolling. Rex had studied enough, asked enough, pieced together enough to understand. Aren was a nameless face in the background. Someone who stood for hours under the blistering sun for fifty dollars and a boxed lunch.

Someone who fetched coffee, carried equipment, even scrubbed fake blood off the floor just to stay close to the set. He had done the dirty jobs, played background roles, endured the humiliations, scraped through to survive, clinging to the hope that maybe—just maybe—he'd stumble into a real opportunity.

Rex could almost see it, Aren dragging himself back each night, worn out and unnoticed, telling himself that tomorrow someone might actually look his way. But no one ever did. To Hollywood, he was invisible. Forgettable. Just another body to move around.

Now, though—things were different. Drastically different.

He wasn't walking in as a nobody this time. He wasn't another extra begging for scraps or hoping for luck. He was stepping in as a writer, as a producer, and a director, even though it is just a low budget film, But still a director is a director. Not just coming alone, but leading a project. A real project. A film with backing, a contract, and even a heavyweight studio at their side.

His lips curved faintly, though his eyes stayed sharp as they flicked back to the tinted glass.

The ride to Northstar Studio rolled on steadily, the car weaving through afternoon traffic, sunlight slipping through the tinted glass. Rex leaned slightly against the window, watching the city blur past, his mind a careful balance between strategy and idle thought.

When suddenly—

Ding!

The sound echoed in his head, crisp and mechanical, jolting him from his calm composure. A translucent interface suddenly materialized in front of his eyes, faintly glowing as if projected on the glass.

Weekly Career System Activated.

Rex's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Stunned. His heartbeat stumbled, then steadied, but his expression betrayed nothing more than the faintest narrowing of his eyes.

Finally… his thoughts hissed. You decide to crawl back now? After all this time?

He clenched his jaw, suppressing the twitch of surprise. The system's timing was always unpredictable, but this… this had taken longer than expected.

He leaned the side of his face against his hand as though lost in thought, disguising the tension that curled in his jaw. Internally, however, he was raging. He growled, Damn system, you finally remembered this? I thought you'd forgotten. You've said "soon" ages ago. Do you even know what soon means?

The response came with infuriating calm, its voice bland, almost bored, like an automated customer service message.

[It's okay. Stuff happens.]

Rex's lip twitched. He had to resist the urge to physically throw a punch at thin air.

Stuff happens? he snarled inwardly. That's your excuse? Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?

[Data stabilization was required. Delay was within acceptable parameters.]

Acceptable parameters my ass, Rex thought sharply, his hand tightening into a fist on his knee. Do you enjoy tormenting me? Just dangling this so-called career system in front of me and then going silent like some unreliable drunk landlord?

[User's complaints noted. Continuing activation sequence.]

Rex almost choked on air. He couldn't even tell if the system was being literal or mocking him on purpose. He wanted to lash out, to curse until the car's glass rattled, but Aren was sitting right there. Instead, his fingers twitched against his thigh, and he let out a soft, inaudible hiss through his teeth.

From the corner of his eye, Aren glanced at him curiously. Rex had been acting strangely just now, his eyes locked forward as though he were staring into something invisible.

"... Is something wrong?" Aren asked cautiously.

Rex blinked once, forcibly dragging himself back. He exhaled slowly, pushing down the urge to explore the system interface then and there. Timing. Not now. Not here.He straightened slightly, turning just enough to glance at the young director beside him. Aren's eyes held curiosity, a little nervous, as though he wasn't sure if he'd said something wrong.

Suppressing the irritation bubbling inside him, he closed the interface with a mental thought, the glowing text dissolving into nothingness, leaving only the reflection of his own calm face in the glass. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he masked his irritation.

"Nothing." he said lightly, though his tone carried a firmness. "I just remembered I have an important matter to attend to. So, I won't be able to accompany you to the Studio"

Aren's brows lifted in brief surprise before he nodded in understanding, not thinking much of it. It wasn't strange at all. In his mind, Rex was someone far above his own league, the kind of man whose schedule overflowed with urgent affairs. Someone like that didn't have the luxury of obsessing over a small, low-budget horror project.

In his mind, this project had been a sudden whim for Rex, the kind of passing curiosity that only the wealthy could afford. He'd heard the stories often enough: rich men bored of their toys and luxuries, dabbling in art, film, or music just for the thrill of novelty before moving on to the next distraction. Compared to that, throwing money at a scrappy little horror film felt almost normal.

This was how Aren had slotted Rex.. an absurdly handsome, absurdly composed young man who was simply indulging in a hobby.

That thought should have stung, but oddly, it didn't. If anything, it gave him a weird kind of relief. If Rex really was just indulging curiosity, then the pressure wasn't all on him to make it perfect. He just had to do his best, and whatever happened… well, Rex would shrug and move on.

But still, he couldn't ignore the contradiction. Whim or not, Rex had already shown levels of seriousness and influence that didn't fit the "bored rich man" label. Who hired a lawyer of Colin's caliber just for a contract this small? Who secured backing from a studio like Northstar for a film barely scraping a $20,000 budget?

So, Aren only gave a small, respectful nod. "Of course. I understand."

(End of Chapter)