Chapter 34

Aura and Fiona had just filmed a cinematic masterpiece.

He planned to send the footage to FI in the hopes that they would turn it into a proper short film.

Most of the game's films were created by players and edited by FI, with a soundtrack custom made for the film as a bonus.

Aura had created dozens if not hundreds of films in his last life, and he knew damn well that FI had high standards for the things they worked on.

But Aura was pretty confident that they would agree with him on this film's greatness.

It was the perfect promotional material for the game, with combat and dungeon crawling, puzzles and treasure.

One of the characters was flying around on wings, and one of the game's selling points is that players can do anything NPCs can do.

So they could fly, free from the holds of the earth.

They could traverse ancient ruins and find amazing treasures.

What wasn't to love?

Aura thought that the simplicity with which he had carried out his actions would make it seem like any player could do the same, which was what he wanted.

Anybody who can get a film done by FI can enjoy the benefits that come with it, like a hefty paycheck and a trickle of money coming in from the company.

The more people who watch the film, the more money the creator makes, thus cinematography is a big deal for players.

Not so much for NPCs though as they don't make any money off of sending in their recordings.

The forums were crazy about things like this, ways to make shitloads of money while doing normal activities.

Many players even manage to get deals with various companies to make serial shows, making the in-game film industry the single biggest moneymaker of the Ascendance era.

Striking a deal with FI will earn you less, but earn you points with the company, allowing you greater latitude in future negotiations, regardless of subject.

Striking a deal with an outside company however, nets significantly more profit, however only in the short term.

Thus, many find it difficult to choose between the two approaches.

Though, in Aura's opinion FI is obviously the better choice.

Their work is always of the highest quality, and their influence is unmatched, so working with them is always the best option.

Money isn't the only thing that can buy a house.

If you manage to rack up an excellent reputation at FI, they might pull some strings to get you a life of luxury.

Wheras if you work with an outside company, they don't have the money or influence to support you in any which way.

Unfortunately, humans are short-sighted, and miss out on some of the best opportunitied in their lives.

Aura wasn't all that normal though.

Since he couldn't get a job at FI, he would make money by selling them loads of shit.

FI releases a power ranking list every year.

But this list doesn't just measure combat power, it also measures money and influence.

In his previous life, Aura had ranked 523rd at his peak.

This is an extraordinary ranking given that Ascendance has billions of players, but still falls short of the top 500, which are called the peak players.

Aura was not particularly wealthy, nor was he very strong in combat, but the nature of his actions, his knowledge and his abilities, led him to become very, very influential.

Adventurers get all sorts of requests, and high ranking ones get more dangerous requests.

This is basic knowledge.

But due to the fact that most high ranking adventurers are either meatheads or eccentric casters, governments are often troubled as to who to call for oddball requests.

Aura was the one who took on these strange requests, things that the more powerful rankers would scoff at.

But Aura loved what he did, as interesting requests were always welcome to him.

Nobles and governments protected him from the legal penalties of his actions, simply because they needed him.

Thus, his influence alone granted him the position of 523rd most powerful player in Ascendance.

And Aura wasn't looking to become the most powerful player, though he knew it would happen eventually if he kept playing forever.

The nature of classless would one day make him the strongest player in terms of combat power.