[Ding! Host, Your fame has increased by a huge margin.]
----------------------------------
Name –> Aren Frost
Age –> 22
Appearance –> C–
Acting –> F+
Charm –> D
Fame –> E– —> D–
Athleticism –> D+
Reputation –> F– —> E–
Hidden Stat (locked)
----------------------------------
[You obtain 30 Fame Points.]
Aren's status window changed, shimmering with a different light.
----------------------------------
Name –> Aren Frost
Age –> 22
Appearance –> C [–]
Acting –> F [+]
Charm –> D
Fame –> D [–]
Athleticism –> D [+]
Reputation –> E [–]
Hidden Stat (locked)
----------------------------------
Aren studied his updated status window before commenting internally.
'30 Fame Points... Are they more or less?'
He didn't ponder much longer on that question, deciding to find that out himself.
'I had already decided where I would use all my points… Let's go all in on acting!'
His eyes shone with a bright light.
'But first, I should try to find out how many fame points are needed to upgrade the stat to the next level.'
He turned to the system and ordered. "System. Use 1 fame point on acting."
[Investing 1 Fame Point in the Acting stat.]
[Investing completed successfully.]
Even though his ears rang with the system's soft voice, his gaze was fixed on the status window to notice any change in his stat; however, it was still the same.
"Invest one more in acting." He said without looking away.
The system repeated its previous words; however, this time the stat changed.
Acting –> F [+] —> E [–]
His stat had jumped up a level.
'So it takes 2 Fame points to upgrade?'
He invested one more Fame Point to check his hypothesis; however, the stat changed again.
Acting –> E [–] —> E
'So does it mean it takes 2 Fame Points to jump to a whole new level and 1 Fame Point to advance a minor level.'
To ascertain if he was correct or not, in his thinking, he invested a single point again, and the stat upgraded.
Acting –> E —> E [+]
However, he still wasn't convinced.
He invested two points at once this time; however, contrary to his understanding, the stat didn't advance.
He repeated the process, investing two points again; however, there was no change again.
'Hmm... so the amount increases according to the level. The higher the level, the more Fame Points it needs to advance.'
He concluded before dumping all the remaining points into the acting stat at once.
Acting –> E [+] —> C
Afterwards, Aren spent the rest of the day reading articles about the entertainment industry to stay updated.
To his surprise, the news about him was dominating other news of the drama industry; however, movies were still a hotter topic.
Among them, he found an interesting article about Theon.
It was released just after Conrad Balen's interview by HBS.
'Members of Ventages, worlds apart. One debut in a cheap AxisPlay drama, the other starring as the second lead in Dragon Films' upcoming drama.'
Dragon Films was one of the top streaming platforms in the country. All the dramas produced by them were guaranteed to be high budget with huge marketing campaigns behind them.
In the article, it was mentioned that Theon had signed the upcoming drama of Dragon Films as the second lead, and the shooting for the drama was about to start.
It also mentioned Aren's debut, calling it amateurish acting and a cameo, a stark contrast to what Theon had in store for his fans.
Aren read the comments under the article:
[Finally. We will get to see Theon act. This drama will break records when it releases. Can't wait!]
[Why even mention Aren? He is already exposed by Conrad. You are just helping him cling to Ventage's name.]
[Yeah. He is unbearable. What's so great about his acting anyway?]
And under these comments, netizens had replied with a link to Dailen Shot's video.
[Go and say that to Dailen Shot! Hahaha]
[Calling his acting amateurish. Like your Theon can act better than that? Even Dailen Shot said that Aren's acting was better than veteran actors. Do you mean to say Theon is a better actor than veterans?]
Seeing the timeline of comments, Aren understood what must have happened.
Well, for the time being, he focused on only his gym training with John to improve his appearance in the second season.
After around two weeks, he received Mikhail's call.
"Hey Aren. I need to discuss the contract for the second season with you. Check the script I sent you first, and then call me back."
He seemed to be in a hurry from his voice.
Aren only got to say "alright" before Mikhail cut the call.
He checked his LinkChat, and on top was Mikhail's message.
He opened the script and began reading it.
Suddenly, his pupils shrunk as he noticed something different with him.
"What's going on?" He muttered, startled by his new ability.
He was able to understand the script much better than he ever could; scenes began playing in his head. He could segregate the scenes according to acting difficulty. Even his memorization was better than ever before.
And the next moment he remembered. His acting ability was now at C, giving him the extended perks of an actor.
He hadn't opened his status window after the day he dumped all his fame points in acting, so he had almost forgot about it.
With a new mindset and tranquility, he read the script of the second season of To Your Heart.
After finishing the script, he turned off the screen as his brows furrowed.
'There are some changes I need to have them do.'
It wasn't the story he found the fault in; it was his own character, Shin.
He had a perfect layout for his debut.
Being the CEO of the major entertainment agency, he understood better than most how an actor's debut affected their career.
If there was a role that affected the actor's career the most, then it would be their debut role.
He couldn't compromise on that.
He called Mikhail and said in a serious tone. "I need you to arrange a meeting with the writer and director of the drama. I need some changes to be done to the character. We can discuss the contract thereafter."
No reply came from the other side for a few moments, but then Mikhail's defeated sigh echoed in Aren's ear.
"I wouldn't do it for anyone else, but you can make such demands. Alright, I will talk to the director and writer, then send you the details of the meeting."