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Chapter 605 [Extra] Presence Adjuster

Guo Fan was preparing for "The Wandering Earth 3" when he suddenly received a call from his friend Lu Yang.

After exchanging a few casual words, Lu Yang asked, "Old Guo, before you filmed the first 'The Wandering Earth,' did you receive an invitation from President Chen without really knowing what was going on?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" Guo Fan asked.

Lu Yang said, "It's nothing, I was just asking."

Guo Fan asked curiously, "You also received an invitation from President Chen?"

"We'll talk about it later," Lu Yang said, unwilling to reveal further details.

The next day, he arrived at ByteDance's headquarters campus with great excitement and was led to the chairman's office by staff.

"Hello, Mr. Chen!"

"sit down."

Chen Guiliang tossed him the adapted first season of "The Squid Game": "Watch a few episodes first."

Lu Yang read through the first five episodes of the script in one go, then looked up and asked, "Battle Royale?"

"Pretty tacky, isn't it?" Chen Guiliang laughed.

Lu Yang said, "The pace is very fast, and it should be very enjoyable to film. It contains some reflections on humanity and society, but it mainly relies on mindless enjoyment to stimulate the audience."

The "satisfaction" mentioned here refers to the feeling of exhilaration that comes from the protagonist overcoming challenges.

Battle royale films and television series have been made many times abroad before, and China even remade one. Compared to previous high-rated works, "Squid Game" is really too childish, so Chen Guiliang thinks it's a bad movie.

Whether something is good or bad depends on who it's compared to, and also on the personal preferences of the evaluator.

Objectively speaking, the first season of "The Squid Game" is above average, and its content and pacing are perfect for watching without thinking too much.

Chen Guiliang made the following changes to the script:
First, the male protagonist makes his appearance in Hong Kong.

Second, the doctor who colluded with insiders to sell Gundams was transformed into a white man.

Third, the burly man who accidentally killed a contestant and triggered a fight among them turned out to be a black guy.

Fourth, the female pickpocket is transformed into a young Chinese-American girl. Her parents are middle-class immigrants to the United States who were laid off due to massive company downsizing and were abandoned by a white foster family. She was raped by her stepfather but killed him in self-defense.

Fifth, the North Korean defector girl became Runmei's Mexican descent.

Sixth, the Korean woman transforms into a gold digger from mainland China, burdened with debt after being misled into investing in Bitcoin. She borrows money from all her friends and family, and finding it impossible to make ends meet in China, she illegally lives in Singapore on a tourist visa, working as a hostess.

Seventh, the male protagonist's neighbor in the original film is still Korean. The old man with cancer, however, is now Japanese.

Eighth, the game's masterminds become a group of mysterious figures from around the world. Each of them selects participants from their own country and transports them to a small island for a battle royale game.

Ninth, each contestant wore automatic translation headphones, and the original audio of the TV series was in their respective native dialects. Viewers watching on Netflix could freely choose a unified dubbing language.

Lu Yang said, "This script is quite explicit. If it were released in China, it probably wouldn't be able to be broadcast as a web series, right?"

Chen Guiliang nodded: "Netflix."

"Let me direct?" Lu Yang asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "Don't make it so pretentious and aesthetically pleasing. The more realistic the shots, the better. Let Pan Yueming play the male lead, a coward but with some brains, a hypocrite with a hint of righteousness. Let Zhang Zifeng play the Chinese-American girl. You can choose the other actors yourself. Remember, no traffic stars."

Lu Yang hesitated and said, "President Chen, I'm already preparing for 'Assassination of a Novelist 2'."

"Don't film that piece of junk yet," Chen Guiliang said.

Lu Yang hesitated, but still didn't dare to refuse.

He read a few episodes of the script and felt that it was a low-budget web series, and that it was too low for him, a famous director, to direct it.

Sigh, only the location shots in various countries and the daily life scenes of the main characters make this drama seem a little more upscale.

Moreover, Lu Yang's spiritual vision was not high, and he felt that some of the plots were too outrageous—Chen Guiliang added a few scenes of characters from Japan, South Korea, and the United States losing their sanity.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Approximately how long will it take to film?"

Lu Yang carefully reviewed the script and estimated, "If we don't include the pre-production time, the core filming can be completed in two or three months. We can gather all the foreign actors domestically; there's no need to hire them from abroad."

……

Winter passes and spring comes.

Chen Guiliang quietly carried out various tasks, and to outsiders, he seemed to have disappeared again.

Before the Spring Festival, Chen Guiliang's company suddenly increased its stake in SMIC, which attracted some attention from the outside world.

Chen Guiliang initially invested in SMIC when Taiwanese and foreign companies such as TSMC and NEA withdrew. At that time, the largest shareholder was Datang Telecom, the second largest shareholder was China Investment Corporation (CIC), and the third largest shareholder was Chen Guiliang's company.

Over the next few years, CITIC Technology continued to increase its stake, becoming the largest shareholder of SMIC before its IPO in 2020, while Chen Guiliang became the second largest shareholder.

With this increase in shareholding, Chen Guiliang has become the largest shareholder.

He purchased a bunch of technical blueprints from the system's online store, including EUV lithography process integration, defect control, and materials. However, he hasn't licensed them to SMIC yet, but is waiting for Guo Feng to build the Low-NA EUV lithography machine.

In January, the US added DJI to the CMC list.

In April, the "Sleeping King" signed the "Sell or Ban" bill, demanding that TikTok be sold or it would be banned.

In May, TikTok filed a lawsuit seeking to block the bill.

In June, the US added DJI to the FCC's restricted list.

Both DJI and TikTok are controlled by companies owned by Chen Guiliang.

The series of actions taken by the Americans have led some Chinese netizens to jokingly call Chen Laozu "the lifelong enemy of the Sleeping King".

In early June, Chen Guiliang posted a Weibo message: "Let the bullets fly for a while."

Back in mid-May, "The Squid Game" was released on Netflix, with 12 languages ​​available for dubbing.

Perhaps because it is a Chinese TV series, the response in the first week was not strong. It gradually gained momentum in the second week and finally showed signs of becoming a hit in the third week.

Throughout June, "The Squid Game" swept the globe, attracting over 1.5 million viewers and accumulating 16.5 billion hours of viewing time that month, making it the most-watched and longest-running series in Netflix history.

The screenwriter's name was not listed as Chen Guiliang's real name, but rather as "Mr. X".

Otherwise, if the world's richest man were to fabricate such a story, wouldn't conspiracy theories be flying everywhere?
No domestic platform streamed this series, and even pirated broadcasts and commentary videos were quickly ordered to be taken down by relevant authorities.

Shanghai Film Festival.

Despite being a web series that cannot be broadcast in China, the main creators of "Squid Game" were invited as special guests to a film festival.

They were surrounded as soon as they arrived at the scene.

The black guy who played the burly man only appeared in four episodes. He excitedly told reporters, "I'm from South Africa and have never been to the United States. I came to China to study eight years ago and often did minor roles in Chinese films and television dramas. Now I'm famous, I've landed a role in an American TV series, and I plan to work in Hollywood in the future. I love China, and I love director Lu Yang!"

Wen Yongshan, who plays the gold digger (originally Han Meinu), said, "I was quite surprised. I thought it was just an ordinary web series, but I didn't expect it to cause a sensation around the world. I will still focus on acting in Chinese-language films in the future, and I haven't considered going to Hollywood for the time being."

Zhang Zifeng laughed and said, "I survived for 6 episodes, which is quite an achievement."

After the event they were invited to ended, the foreign lead actors dispersed, and Lu Yang treated several Chinese actors to dinner.

Wen Yongshan asked curiously, "Director Lu, who is screenwriter Mr. X?"

"Yes, everyone is very curious, and netizens in China are arguing about it," Zhang Zifeng said.

Lu Yang shook his head: "Don't ask any more questions, I won't tell you even if you do."

Pan Yueming, who played the male lead, seemed to be deep in thought. He was the biggest beneficiary of the production team, and his fame suddenly soared to global recognition.

The more this is the case, the more low-key one should be. Pan Yueming has experienced the disappointment after becoming an overnight sensation.

On the plane back to Beijing, Pan Yueming whispered, "President Chen?"

"Cough cough!" Lu Yang coughed twice.

Pan Yueming said, "Awesome. I mean, President Chen is awesome at everything he does."

Lu Yang said speechlessly, "This show isn't anything special, it just became a global sensation for no reason. And... people are criticizing me, saying I shouldn't have made this kind of TV series. Sigh, I still have to make it, Netflix is ​​waiting for the second season."

“ByteDance’s stock price has recently skyrocketed, so they’re definitely going to make a second season,” Pan Yueming said.

It really did surge; the stock prices of Netflix and ByteDance both skyrocketed.

Chen Guiliang didn't submit the task until July.

"Congratulations on completing the [Gold Medal Screenwriter] task... Task settlement rating: SSS... Rewards: 500 points, title: [Gold Medal Screenwriter], +2 free attribute points, and 2 Lucky Roulette Wheels (guaranteed A+)..."

As expected, rewards are given based on the completion results, and there are differences between SSS ratings.

lottery!

[Presence Adjuster] (SS+ item, requires points to charge): Allows users to freely adjust their presence, effortlessly switching between being the center of attention and being virtually invisible. When set to the lowest level, you might truly be temporarily forgotten by the world.

As Chen Guiliang looked at this thing, he felt it was increasingly fantastical.

This prop has many uses, but for Chen Guiliang, his first thought was actually to go eat some street food. He wouldn't be recognized!

【Bond Contract】(S+ item, one-time consumable item): Based on the combined factors of the user and the target, a soul bond can be selectively achieved.

Chen Guiliang used his points to recharge the [Presence Regulator], then left the office and swaggered past his secretary.

His secretary didn't react at all.

Chen Guiliang strolled out of the headquarters campus and took the subway to the city center.

It was rush hour, so there weren't many passengers on the subway, and most of them were on their phones.

Chen Guiliang sat there quietly observing, thoroughly enjoying this sense of freedom. After exiting the subway station, he strolled along the street, occasionally buying snacks and chatting and laughing with the vendors.

So cool!
After wandering around for half a day, Chen Guiliang finally returned to his office and removed the [Presence Regulator], which was nearly half-empty.

After returning home in the evening, Chen Guiliang hesitated for a while before finally using the [Bond Contract] on Bian Guanyue.

Their bond quickly transformed into one of "unwavering love," with their affection level reaching 100 points.

This is such a blatant cheating! Chen Guiliang even felt a sense of guilt.

Moreover, Chen Guiliang searched the system shop and found that this kind of item could be bought for only 3500 points. He had earned more than 6000 points from the various random tasks he had done in the past six months.

Chen Guiliang bought two more contracts, called Tao Xue and Xu Fengyin to a dinner party, and bound them all to the title of "Eternal Lovers".

The atmosphere among the group instantly became much more harmonious.

They truly became a family.

wrong!

Chen Guiliang suddenly realized there was a problem: "Unwavering devotion until death" only meant making a woman love him to the extreme.

If you encounter a woman with an extremely possessive nature, and she imposes this bond on you without any explanation, wouldn't she become jealous and choose to kill her lover and then commit suicide? Is that what you call unwavering devotion until death?!

Fortunately, Bian Guanyue, Tao Xue, and Xu Fengyin had already accepted each other's existence.

This thing should absolutely not be used carelessly.

But you can apply other bonds, such as master and servant...

Forget it, buying points is too expensive, one ticket costs 3000 points. Why waste points to collect so many maids?
The cell phone rings.

Guo Feng said, "The engineering prototype of the Low-NA EUV lithography machine has been completed."

"So fast?" Chen Guiliang asked in surprise.

Guo Feng said, "In the past six months, I haven't had a good night's sleep. There are too many companies and laboratories involved, and we can't do it openly. We have to cover up the source of the technology with layers of embellishment."

"Thank you for your hard work!" Chen Guiliang said.

Guo Feng laughed and said, "It's worth it to work ourselves to death to make this thing. Now it all depends on SMIC. They used to use DUV lithography machines, and now if they want to use our EUV lithography machines, they will have to do a series of process integrations and technical breakthroughs."

Chen Guiliang said, "I have these things. Before, I couldn't convince SMIC's board of directors because I couldn't produce an EUV lithography machine. Now I can!"

"Holy crap, you even have all the craftsmanship?" Guo Feng was utterly shocked, and his admiration for those nameless warriors who acted as industrial spies grew even stronger.

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "What do you think the domestic and international reactions will be after mass production is achieved?"

Guo Feng said, "We need to make some preparations in advance."

(End of this chapter)