Overwhelming Firepower

Lucen was getting a nice flow going on at the moment. He was able to enjoy training Alexander’s group and was even considering taking in Catherine as something like a direct disciple.

’Yeah, a calm and cool beauty with blindness and terrifying sensory abilities. She’s basically an ally you can only find in the mid-game or end-game. Not to mention, she has a strange attraction to guns and explosives... Hm, I guess I could teach her separately once I have more free time.’

Lucen shook his head and stopped thinking about it, and focused on the task at hand. He went back to his room and continued writing a script that’s similar to the card anime he watched as a child, but he changed a few things to match the new game he created, as well as the world he was in.

Since he already had a base for the story, he was able to write faster than expected. It took him a few days to finish the script for the first five episodes. Now he needed to find the cast for the very first TV-like show in this fantasy world.

Lucen decided to hold auditions for the cast. With his fame and the novelty of the project, many people came. Harry Nidhouni came with him to help pick the cast since he was the only other person who had read the script and understood the characters.

The story was about a young boy from a small northern village who dreamed of becoming a Card Summoner.

He was not a knight. He was not a mage. He had no powerful bloodline, no famous family name, and no great destiny that people knew of.

All he had was an old deck left behind by his late father and a stubborn belief that even the weakest card could become useful if played at the right moment.

Of course, Lucen knew that kind of story would resonate with the people of Norvaegard.

This was a kingdom of warriors. They respected strength, but they also respected perseverance.

A story about someone born without obvious power, climbing upward through effort, courage, and strategy, would be something commoners could cheer for and nobles could not easily dismiss.

The main character would not win because he had the rarest card. He would win because he refused to give up.

His first rival would be a noble boy who possessed expensive cards and a powerful deck, but lacked the heart to understand the game.

His first true friend would be a timid girl who loved Art Cards and support strategies. His first major enemy would be a mysterious masked duelist who used forbidden Summoning Cards.

Of course, Lucen did not plan to make the story exactly like the anime from his past life.

That would not work perfectly in this world, but the core of it was still the same.

The protagonist had to win. Not because victory was easy, not because his cards were stronger, and not because fate placed the perfect answer in his hand every time.

He would win because he understood his cards better than anyone else.

Every duel needed to feel impossible. The opponent would have stronger Summon Cards, better Art Cards, rare Ambush Cards, and sometimes even unfair advantages. The audience would look at the battlefield and think there was no way the boy could escape.

Then, at the final moment, the weakest card on the field would become the key to victory. That was the kind of story Lucen wanted.

A protagonist who almost never lost, yet never made victory feel cheap. The people of Norvaegard would love that.

They did not simply want to watch someone fail and rise again. They wanted to watch someone stand before impossible odds, grit his teeth, and win anyway.

That was why the main character’s victories had to feel like battles. A card game, yes, it was, but to the audience, it had to feel like war.

’I guess it is like the anime from my previous life. Well, it’s also a mix of all the other card games at the time... Now that I think about it, I guess most of the anime about cards had a protagonist who basically nearly loses, only to have a come-from-behind victory. Well, in a way that’s the only way to make things more exciting.’

While Lucen was thinking of such things, the first person to audition came on stage. He was auditioning for the part of the protagonist.

He was a young man with a handsome face, clear eyes, and a voice that carried well. He seemed to exude confidence.

Harry Nidhouni looked at the young man’s posture and nodded slightly. ”He has a good presence.”

Lucen nodded as well. ”I guess he does look like a protagonist.”

The young man stood at the center of the stage and held the script in one hand. His posture was straight, his expression confident, and his voice was steady. At a glance, he looked perfect.

Harry looked down at the script. ”Begin from the part where the protagonist is cornered by the noble rival.”

The young man nodded. He took a deep breath, raised one hand as if holding invisible cards, and spoke with a clear voice.

”You may laugh at my deck. You may call my cards weak. But every card in my hand carries the will of those who believed in me. As long as even one card remains, this duel is not over.” His voice echoed through the theater.

It was powerful, it was dramatic, and of course, it was heroic. Some of the people watching the audition even nodded in admiration.

Harry also seemed pleased. ”That was well done.”

Lucen placed one hand against his chin and stared at the young man for a few seconds.

The actor had talent. There was no denying that. His voice carried well, his face looked good, and he knew how to control the attention of the audience.

”Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of protagonist I’m looking for.”

”Is he not good enough?”

Hearing Harry’s question, Lucen shook his head.

”No, it’s not that he’s not good enough. It’s just that his acting is not right for the role. The Main Character is not someone who knows he could win; instead, he struggles forward, and with only stubborn faith pushing him forward. He is also wrong for the rival character, since that person should not merely have confidence. His confidence should border on arrogance.”

Lucen looked at the actor on stage and sighed. ”Unfortunately, you fail. Still, if you want a job, you can be one of the extras.”

The young man looked disappointed, but he still bowed his head politely and left the stage.

Harry looked at Lucen with curiosity. ”I thought he did well.”

”He did,” Lucen replied. ”But he looked too much like a hero who already knew he was a hero. The protagonist of this story should feel like someone who is trying to convince himself not to give up.”

Harry slowly nodded. ”I see. So he must not only sound heroic. He must sound desperate enough for the audience to believe the victory matters.”

”Exactly.”

Mireya, who had tagged along and was sitting at the back, made a comment. ”Then the actor must make people want him to win.”

”Yes,” Lucen answered. ”If the audience does not care whether he wins, then even the flashiest card duel will feel empty.”

The next person stepped onto the stage. This time, it was a boy who looked slightly younger than the first actor. His clothes were plain, and his face was not as handsome, but his eyes were clear. He looked nervous as he held the script with both hands.

Harry glanced at the page in front of him. ”Begin with the same line.”

The boy swallowed and looked down at the script.

”You may laugh at my deck. You may call my cards weak. But every card in my hand carries the will of those who believed in me. As long as even one card remains, this duel is not over.”

His voice shook at the start. It did not echo through the theater like the first actor’s voice had.

But unlike the first actor, he did not sound heroic. He sounded like someone who wanted to be heroic.

Lucen watched him for a few seconds before speaking. ”Again.”

The boy stiffened. ”Sir?”

”Again. This time, do not act like you are reading a line. Imagine the person in front of you has already taken everything from you. Everyone watching thinks you have already lost. Yet you yourself believe victory is still within reach.”

The boy swallowed again and nodded. He tried once more. This time, his voice carried more feeling. His hands trembled slightly, and his eyes looked more desperate than before.

Lucen shook his head. ”You are closer than the first one, but you are still thinking too much about how you sound.”

The boy lowered his head in disappointment. After that, several more auditions followed.

One actor had excellent emotion but no presence. He sounded desperate, but instead of making people want to cheer for him, he made them worry that he would cry before the duel even began.

Another had the right stubbornness, but his voice was too flat. When he declared that the duel was not over, it sounded less like determination and more like he was reading a grocery list.

One boy shouted every line so loudly that Lucen wondered if he was trying to defeat the rival through volume alone.

’It seems looking for the right actors is going to be harder than I thought.’

Just as Lucen thought that, the next applicant stepped onto the stage.

He did not look handsome. He did not look confident. He did not even look like he wanted to be there. But the moment he held the script, Lucen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The boy was trembling, not from fear, but from excitement. Lucen slowly leaned forward.

’Oh? Now things are getting interesting.’