Investment Cashback, Billionaire God [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 15 Short Drama Trailer

Chapter 15 Short Drama Trailer

To conceal himself, Yu You specifically wore a black stealth suit. He was remarkably adept at such sneaky activities, activating the recording function on his portable terminal while holding his breath as he crept along the shrubbery.

The film crew’s voices grew increasingly loud when suddenly someone threw a prop sword toward his location.

“Is there a rat moving in those bushes? I thought I heard something.”

“Impossible. This is a professional filming star how could there be rats? Did you break that sword? Go get a new one from the props basket.”

“Sigh, the swords issued by the crew are so flimsy, like they’re made of paper.”

“What do you expect? We’re not getting high-quality props. Just make do.”

Yu You’s heart leaped to his throat. He pressed himself flat against the ground, not daring to move until the two voices faded slightly before cautiously parting the bushes before him

Given how advanced technology had become, he could hardly believe such a crude filming set still existed.

The main building behind the extras resembled a dilapidated temple, seemingly abandoned for centuries like some relic from the previous era. He suspected beams from the structure could be sold as cultural artifacts.

The withered pillars beneath stood crookedly, uncovered yellow soil still dusting the ground, and even the floor tiles had shattered into fragments.

Was this really the set of that StarNet-hyped short drama with millions in investment?

Yu You nearly burst out laughing.

Had he not stealthily made his way here without alerting anyone, he would never have captured such priceless footage.

…Fang Zhuo stood before the vertical night-vision telescope, his elevated perspective perfectly capturing two comically wriggling long legs extending backward from the bushes.

He remarked expressionlessly to Jiang Yu, “He’s quite clever found the right place on his own. Saved us the trouble of sending a guide.”

The two stood atop Star 45’s highest observation deck, having departed the actual filming set the moment the concealed spaceship approached.

They watched the spacecraft dock at the connection port, observed the short, thin man in black studying a map, then witnessed him resolutely scurrying toward the pre-constructed fake set.

Jiang Yu now felt profound admiration for his boss’s foresight.

When Director Fang had meticulously instructed him yesterday to arrange the fake set on Star 45 with the crew, Jiang Yu’s mind had been filled with skepticism.

He couldn’t comprehend why they needed to expend such effort building a separate venue and distributing fake scripts for local personnel to perform round-the-clock rehearsals. Only when the intruder appeared tonight did he finally grasp Director Fang’s intention.

“Director Fang, how did you predict someone would come to spy on our crew?”

“Simple.” Fang Zhuo kept watching the man’s movements, glancing at Jiang Yu before mercilessly shattering his starry-eyed admiration: “Put myself in their shoes I’d send someone to gather intelligence too.”

Jiang Yu: “…” He could almost hear bubbles popping.

The most sophisticated corporate wars often employ the simplest methods. Sneaky photography barely counted as a tactic.
Fang Zhuo remembered how their company had been sabotaged by competitors during bidding deliberately created traffic jams, elevator power cuts, and locked fire escape doors. In comparison, Ruan Zihan’s creativity was clearly lacking.

Coldly gazing down at the dark figure crouching in the bushes, Fang Zhuo had no qualms about teaching Ruan Zihan a lesson on what truly seamless creativity looked like.

He activated the strobe mode on the watchtower. From this angle, the faint signal was just visible to the cast earnestly performing in the fake production. The female lead, catching the cue, immediately sprang into action.

“Director Zhang Kaigang, how was my performance?”

Hearing the veiled female lead address the director by name, Yu You widened his eyes in surprise and swiftly shifted his camera toward the monitor

A young, unfamiliar bald man emerged from behind the monitor, responding naturally to the actress and applauding her.

So this “Zhang Kaigang” was nothing more than a namesake impostor director. Such a cheap publicity stunt did they really fear no backlash?

Yu You let out a soft, derisive laugh, gaining a clearer understanding of just how slapdash this production team was.

The bald man stepped forward to adjust the actress’s pure green costume, scolding loudly:

“Tong Qinglu, how many times have I told you to avoid revealing flaws? Your collar isn’t even aligned how are we supposed to add the patterns in post-production? Our crew has already boasted about this; the final edit must match the promotional stills exactly.”

“And this sword you must keep it facing the camera at all times, understand?”

He turned the prop sword around. It was as thin as cardboard, seemingly liable to bend in a light breeze. Only the front was painted with ancient script resembling the stills; the slightest turn to the side would expose the trick.

The so-called intangible cultural heritage velvet flower on her head was merely a green paper cutout, its effect entirely reliant on post-production.

As for the prop swords the extras had tossed near the bushes earlier, they were shoddily made thin as cicada wings, mere black sticks, taking cost-cutting to the extreme.

Yu You had seen financially struggling crews before, but never one this destitute.

…While other productions relied on synergy between actors and directors, this short drama depended entirely on the post-production team’s burnout.

Since both props and costumes were special effects, and the set bore little resemblance to the promotional images, the scenic backgrounds were undoubtedly heavily doctored as well.

Yu You thought he was prepared, but the sight of the massive LED screen still caught him off guard.

The clapper loader adeptly switched the screen to a backdrop of a reverse-flowing waterfall and mountain scenery. The veiled female lead, wearing a bamboo hat, stood before the LED panel as a wind machine blew her hair back.

After that shot, the clapper loader switched the screen to a scene of crimson maple leaves rushing past.

The actress, seated on a stool, swayed back and forth while brandishing a whip to mimic horseback riding a maneuver that saved the crew dozens of yuan on electric rocking chairs.

Yu You was utterly stunned by the spectacle. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined a drama could be filmed this way.

Green screens were already cost-effective, but this crew had pushed creativity further by using a cheap LED panel to avoid expensive large-scale post-production edits.

Forget millions he’d believe it if they claimed the entire production cost less than a hundred thousand.
Probably all that meager budget was spent bribing the post-production team. If this is enough to invest in filming, then anyone could be a big boss.

The crew didn’t wrap up shooting until after 1 a.m. Once everyone had dispersed, Yu You sneaked onto the set and meticulously recorded every prop in the baskets fans made of cardboard and headpieces and earrings fashioned from plastic sheets.

The recording reached the casino on the Primary Star just as Ruan Zihan and Chi Yingying found themselves at the same poker table.

He exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke and sneered, “Has our dashing Brother Fang already run out of money? He didn’t last long, did he? I thought he’d be smarter, but he’s just like all the other idiots before him blew through all his cash in less than two weeks.”

Chi Yingying, her expression sour as she handled her cards, paused briefly at the memory of the previous incident:

“Maybe all the funds were used to bribe music critics. There’s nothing left to actually make the drama.”

The half-hour-long recording looped on the table’s display, drawing laughter even from their fellow players.

“Why don’t we wait until after the short drama airs to release the video? Judging by the quality, it probably won’t make much of a splash anyway.”

Ruan Zihan was tempted by her suggestion.

But the coarse texture of the playing cards snapped him back to reality. Recalling the icy glare of the man in the secretly recorded video from the banquet hall, Ruan Zihan felt an inexplicable unease.

Having been outmaneuvered by Fang Zhuo multiple times, he knew just how cunning this opponent was and didn’t dare let his guard down.

What if Fang Zhuo had actually poured the entire budget into special effects and managed to polish this shoddy footage into something presentable? That could buy him more time.

“No. Tell the studio to edit and release the footage tomorrow. I won’t rest easy as long as he’s still breathing.”

By noon the next day, a five-minute edited clip was uploaded to StarNet by a paparazzo. Instantly, hundreds of accounts across five or six platforms shared it, and the media matrix propelled the video to the top of every platform’s trending list.

[+1 to this year’s entertainment industry jokes. Brother Fang, you really know how to provide laughs I’m at my desk crying tears of laughter.]

[LMAO, should I reenact the tone of those hypebeasts? “Embroidered masterpieces from the museum,” “velvet flowers worth over 100k,” “swords handcrafted by million-subscriber creators.” Say one more word of praise and I’ll shut you up it’s all just cardboard!]

[You’re wrong it’s not just cardboard, there’s plastic too, hahaha!]

[So creative! I lost it when they brought out that LED screen. If you can’t afford to replace the green screen with proper CGI for hundreds of scenes, maybe you shouldn’t be making dramas. Brother Fang is really cashing in on cheap industrial electronics, huh?]

[…Stop ruining actresses’ careers, okay? Our girl Tong just started gaining recognition, and now she’s thrown into this trash drama. Please break your contract with Giant Entertainment ASAP…]

[…I feel like a clown for falling for those promotional stills.]

[Does anyone else think Tong looks a bit heavier here? Even with the veil, the female lead’s eyes don’t look like Tong’s. Is this really the set of Giant Entertainment’s short drama, or just a fan recreation?]

[Can’t you read? It says Star 45 right under the Light Brain recording. Blind?]
If this isn’t Great-Grandmother’s filming set then what could it be? Oh my, so Giant Entertainment built a parallel set for something else on Star 45? You Giant Entertainment stans really have wild imaginations. Your idol got chubby because the company fed him hormones, huh? Better go fight for your rights^^]

[Just go home, Brother Fang, go home. The entertainment industry really isn’t for you. The audience’s eyes are sharp – you can’t make good dramas when all you know is marketing]

[Fang Zhuo get out of Star Entertainment!! Marketing dogs shouldn’t come muddy the waters here]

[Wait don’t leave yet. If you make a low-budget comedy satirizing Star Entertainment, it might actually find an audience. I’ve been looping this video all day – it’s so creatively addictive.

Brother Fang please switch genres, there’s literally no competition in comedy]

[Can I just say the funniest part is definitely fake Zhang Kaigang? The video’s peak is when the bald guy appears. Teacher Zhang should gather evidence to sue for defamation – malicious name copying is truly disgusting]

The public opinion storm fermented for four full days, with trending topics maintaining top positions across all platforms. Opening any forum would reveal endless parody posts about Giant Entertainment Short Drama.

If negative engagement still counts as engagement, then this drama was undoubtedly the most discussed web series in recent years – generating massive buzz even before its release.

Nearly all comment sections were overwhelmingly filled with collective mockery. Casual viewers were waiting to see when the short drama would finally air, determined to see how terrible it would be even while knowing it would be garbage.

While battles between titans are thrilling, the competition at the bottom of the barrel produces a more hilariously pathetic spectacle.

During this period, no one came snooping around Star 45 anymore. The crew paid no attention to the online controversy, with all staff focused on efficiently shooting the drama.

When multiple trending topics had remained on StarNet through the fifth afternoon, Giant Entertainment’s official account finally released a roughly edited 20-second preview

Author’s Note:

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Next chapter will be VIP~~ Thank you for your support [flowers][flowers]

[kisses][kisses] Also recommending my upcoming novel “Playing a Popular Supporting Role with a Saintly Aura”

Just wanted to get beaten up to charge the ultimate move progress bar, but unexpectedly became everyone’s white moonlight!

Male protagonist enlightenment flow~

[kisses][kisses] And “The Game Descended, But I Became an NPC”

When a Cthulhu game descends upon the world, an ordinary tour guide unexpectedly becomes the game’s NPC~