With the reveal of Aiden's identity as 'The Dreamer', his book was suddenly doing great. He had finally achieved the top rank that he coveted all this time.
And it made him happy.
After all, it was the result of his efforts and people have rarely complained about the web novel. It gave him motivation to make the final arc the best in the whole book.
He got to work right away.
At the same time, 'Soulless', the previous number one ranked author was fuming. He couldn't believe what had happened just in one night.
He didn't want to believe it.
He tried his best to turn the whole situation around. After all, he can't lose to a celebrity but in the age of numbers, follower count was something not a lot of people could go against.
'Soulless' tried his best. Even increasing the ads on the novel but the good word of mouth had spread and it was almost impossible to battle against it.
In the end, he had to agree to his defeat. Even if every fibre of his being didn't wanted to accept it.
Aiden's followers were busy trying to make it spread to more people and it was true that the novel was very addictive. It was made in such a way.
So, when someone tried it, they recommended it to their friends and family.
Although it was true that with such a large number of people, it was very normal for there to be different opinions. Some people didn't like it at all and bashed the novel after reading a few chapters while others who were a fan of <Behind the scenes> felt disappointed.
Aiden wasn't able to do anything with these reviews. With time, more and more bad reviews came out and he could just keep writing while focusing on the positivity.
In just a few days, he was almost down to the last three-four chapters. Although he had prepared a few side chapters, there was no time to write them down with the shooting of <Hex> starting.
Just a day before that, he got a call when he was writing down the last chapter of <Archer's Ascension>. The epilogue after the great war and how the main character's life had been changed after it.
It was then that he got a call from Marshall White, the owner of Vikings publishing.
"Aiden, are you free? I wanted to talk with you about something?"
Hearing his soft but firm voice, Aiden recognised that he was calling for business and he had a hunch as to what it was about. To be honest, Marshall was good with him but he rarely called when there was no business to discuss.
"Yeah, I'm free. What's up? How are you doing?"
He asked, getting up from his chair and moving towards the balcony. Cold Wind brushed past his face as he looked at the clouds in the sky.
Marshall's voice came right after that.
"Pretty bad if I'm being honest. Our last two books didn't really work as well as expected. They are good books but niche. So, the company is trying to move towards something mainstream. Though, the graphic novel department is doing extremely well. It's almost like they got a new life after <Morpheus>.
Aiden was a bit worried hearing that but going by Marshall's tone of voice, it didn't look like he was worried.
'Probably not the first time a few books underperformed. At least, he sounds happy about the graphic novel department.'
Aiden thought and got straight to the topic.
"You probably called to talk about <Archer's Ascension>, right?"
"Yeah, I knew you would get it. You got calls from others?"
"Yeah, nine calls. Actually, Wade got fifteen himself. It looks like a few publishing companies thought it would be easier to persuade my agent."
"They can't be more wrong."
Marshall laughed. He had an uncanny ability to guess the person's personality just by talking with him a bit. He was very perceptive, knowing that Wade won't do anything that Aiden doesn't want to do.
"Anyway, I don't want the publishing rights to <Archer's Ascension>. I understand you want it to be free so anyone could have access to it. That's a good thing as an author as you want as many people as possible to read it."
"Then, why did you call?"
"I was hoping you don't share the same feeling towards a comic adaption for <Archer's Ascension>."
Aiden blinked his eyes hearing that.
A comic adaptation? He hadn't really thought much about it as before Marshall, no one had proposed something like that.
But it was a pretty interesting idea. He had a hard time describing places in the web novel, so a comic adaptation might just be able to do that.
"I honestly never thought too much about it."
"Then, think."
"Well, it does seem like an interesting idea."
Hearing that, Marshall's eyes shined and he quickly found the opportunity he was looking for. He started explaining more on his offer as how this could work in favour of his book and a comic adaption was the way forward.
After all, if out of 100, 10 percent read novels, 30 percent are likely to read comics as it was more visually appealing.
"As you know, we have now got a very capable department with us and <Archer's Ascension> seem like a great addition to it. As you have already completed most of the story, we would have it very easy. You won't even have to be there to work on the comic and could just approve the chapters as they finish…"
Marshall explained a few things. His plan of the comic book adaptation and how he wanted to target more digital sales with it as <Archer's Ascension> just seemed like the kind of novel that one would read while hiding from his boss.
Not something one would buy in a comic book store but something one would want to read at any time digitally. Aiden agreed with the notion and found that Marshall indeed had a full vision for the comic adaptation.
'Should I go for it? Or not?'
That was the question in his head after Marshall finished his explanation. There was no talk about money as those types of things are generally better to be talked about in person but his vision was something that impressed Aiden.
That's why he was quick to make his decision.
"Okay, Marshall. That sounds good to my ears. It's better to talk in person though but I believe in you going by our past work together."
"I'm happy you said that. I won't disappoint you. If you want, we can hold the meeting on a Sunday or anytime you want. I will make way in my schedule."
Marshall said with a smile and going by his words, he could see that he was giving a lot of priority to this.
Maybe, he really liked the novel or just felt like he could make it a great comic. After all, with Vikings publishing, Aiden at least didn't have to worry about them not doing good.
"Okay, let's talk further about it later."
"Sure."
The phone call ended after that and Aiden let out a deep breath.
He had started <Archer's Ascension> as a passion project. But now, it was offered to become a comic and had gotten more than ten million views.
He had done the majority of that without even revealing his identity. So, Aiden was proud of himself.
At the same time, he felt like writing was a great hobby for him and even after <Archer's Ascension>, he wanted to write another.
Maybe not right away. Maybe not another web novel. But he wanted to write something. This time, something different and something that could push him.
Even if it takes time.
***
<Hex> was one of the most expensive projects from Titan studios with an investment of 200 million in it. By comparison, their most expensive project in the last seven years was 80 million dollars, so it was more than double of that.
With that, there was a sense of pressure and how it would do.
Many felt like it was going to be a waste of investment with egos of Olio and Titan studios clashing violently and in the end, the movie would suffer.
There was actually a very good possibility of that. Even with Alberto seemingly trying not to interfere with Olio.
The pressure was also on the crew and the cast.
It could either become the best fantasy movie of the year or it could become something that everyone would want to get off their resume.
So, with heavy feelings in their heart and excitement, they entered the sets on the first day.
Olio was avoiding green screens as much as possible and had made entire sets in a large field for the shooting. It was almost like an outdoor studio.
A lot of the movie was also going to be shot on green screen but that was more because of the fantasy aspect. Even then, the use of green screens was going to be minimal.
With Olio's distinct style, no one knew how it would turn out but they were hoping it to be good.
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