Chapter 141: Production Begins
"Jake? You got a minute?"
Jake received a call as soon as he returned to the real world.
He checked his phone and saw it was from Sarah's younger brother—the young film student who hadn't graduated yet.
"Danny," Jake answered, casually sitting on the sofa. "What's up?"
"Having trouble with recruitment, or something else?"
After several dimensional jumps, about two weeks had passed. While the Fury Road crew practiced operating robots, Jake wanted to return to the real world to check on the movie's progress. Filmmaking was just a side interest—he wasn't in a rush, but he couldn't leave it completely unattended.
"No problems at all," the voice on the other end sounded slightly nervous. "I've been trying to call you these past few days but couldn't get through, I..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but Jake understood what he meant. He'd made a promise, but nobody was answering the phone. As an ordinary college student, Danny was afraid of being scammed.
If someone was playing a prank on him, without a contract, two weeks of effort would amount to nothing, and even calling the police wouldn't help. Verbal agreements were notoriously unreliable.
Danny might have wanted to get Jake to sign a contract, but the problem was he couldn't reach him by phone.
"Don't worry, I'm not backing out of the investment."
Entering the Real Steel world to purchase robots had directly consumed nearly thirty percent of his gold reserves, leaving him with limited liquid cash.
Continuing like this would eventually deplete his resources, but Jake wasn't worried at all.
Money—he had plenty available in other worlds, and if he ran low, he'd just acquire more. After all, plenty of places had wealth nobody was using.
Reassured, Danny breathed a sigh of relief before saying, "I wasn't really worried you'd back out..."
"Oh? Then why the call?"
"Well, I've almost finished the screenplay," he explained. "Should we meet up? I can show you the script?"
"Sure," Jake agreed. "Let's meet at the Riverside Grill. You can bring your classmates too—I'll buy everyone lunch."
"Thanks, Jake!" This meeting was probably about more than just the script—likely the contract too—but Jake had no intention of reneging. Sign the contract if he wants.
After hanging up, Jake took a shower.
The hygiene situation on the Fury Road base was still too primitive. Even after washing up there, he still felt gritty. Only a thorough rinse with a proper high-pressure showerhead could truly make him feel clean.
As he put on a black button-down shirt and opened the door to leave, he unexpectedly encountered Sarah.
The attractive woman seemed to have heard from someone that Jake had returned and came over to greet him. However, her eagerness to say hello was probably impulsive—when she actually reached his door, she seemed to lack the courage to knock. Or perhaps she had knocked but didn't know what to say, so she just stood there awkwardly.
"You're back."
"Yeah."
It was just past noon, and soft sunlight filtered through the large trees beside the house, casting dappled leaf shadows on the ground.
Jake looked at the slightly shy woman before him. Her casual clothing possessed an understated elegance.
He found himself momentarily speechless.
A gentle breeze rustled Sarah's hair. She instinctively reached up to tuck it behind her ear, then looked up at Jake with a slightly self-conscious expression.
The moment felt unexpectedly charged.
It was as if Sarah had become someone waiting for Jake's return after many days away, and the longing on her face blossomed into a genuine smile.
But it was just an illusion—a fleeting impression created by the pleasant scenery and intimate atmosphere. Jake knew perfectly well that the woman before him was involved with someone else, someone powerful.
In the real world, such powerful men might no longer intimidate him. There were heights he hadn't reached yet, but he would eventually surpass them all.
He had no doubt that he would one day transcend all conventional limitations and stand at the pinnacle of human achievement.
Helping Sarah was possible—her situation wasn't ideal by any measure.
If Sarah strongly resisted her current circumstances, he might even help her, whether through legal means or otherwise—it wouldn't matter much to him.
However, given Sarah's accommodating nature and lack of visible resistance, such intervention would likely be unwelcome.
Sarah revealed through subtle details that she wasn't particularly opposed to her current life arrangement.
Although he had a good impression of Sarah, this impression was mostly superficial—not because he was genuinely attracted to her on a deeper level.
If he really wanted her, he would have made a move long ago.
He could also sense Sarah's vague interest in him.
But that was just surface-level attraction—he didn't have the habit of pursuing complicated situations.
"Danny needs to see me about something. I'll be back later," he finally broke the silence. The leaves trembled, the shadows on the ground shifted, and the quiet moment was shattered by his words.
The atmosphere instantly changed, and both were pulled out of their brief connection.
"Okay," Sarah nodded. "Please take care of Danny. He's really excited about this project."
"Don't worry."
Sarah departed after only a few exchanged words.
Perhaps Sarah had a slight attraction to Jake, but the two were destined to remain in separate worlds.
"Judging from your elevated heart rate and hormone levels just now, you experienced attraction to that woman," Red Queen's voice broke through Jake's thoughts as he watched Sarah leave.
"That's not attraction—just a fleeting aesthetic appreciation."
"Is there a difference?"
"A fundamental one."
If Jake had acted just then—a romantic gesture like embracing her, or even a heartfelt confession—he might have won her over. But he didn't choose that path.
Countless interesting people awaited him across infinite movie worlds. Why complicate things here?
Not to mention she had a child, and they'd only felt that momentary connection due to the setting—a feeling that vanished completely when the atmosphere broke, unlikely to return.
Simply put, she didn't meet his criteria.
He only considered her a neighbor...
Soon he arrived at the Riverside Grill and met Danny, who'd come to discuss business.
The guy was honest enough—not one to take advantage. This time, he came alone, without bringing anyone else.
It seemed he only wanted to discuss work.
The Riverside Grill was a mid-range restaurant in the city, not affordable for everyone, and for college students without jobs or income, it was naturally a splurge.
A meal here would easily run several hundred dollars.
What was notable was that Danny didn't try to freeload by bringing extra people.
"Jake!" Upon seeing Jake arrive, Danny immediately stood and ushered him into the private dining room.
There were no dishes on the table yet, indicating they wanted to have a proper business discussion first.
Jake didn't stand on ceremony. After brief pleasantries, they quickly got down to business.
He picked up the screenplay and began reading through it.
Half an hour later, under Danny's expectant gaze, Jake finally stopped reading and placed the script on the table. "It's solid. The script is in good shape. How's the casting for the film coming along?"
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