"Hahahaha! Mark! What the hell are you wearing?!"
"S-sorry, Director Alex… I-I couldn't hold it in… hahahaha!"
The moment Mark stepped onto the set was brief, but devastating. His face was heavy with blush, his lips painted a bold red, and his broad frame was squeezed into a pink dress that had clearly never been meant for someone built like him. The silence lasted less than a second before the entire crew collapsed into laughter.
And there was a cruel detail that made it all even worse.
By Alex's direct order, the entire cast was in the middle of an intense muscle-building phase. No one expected to reach professional bodybuilder levels in just a few months, but firm arms, pronounced chests, and defined abs had already become the minimum standard.
The contrast was lethal.
A tall, broad-shouldered man with clearly defined muscles, trying-and failing-to look discreet in a tight feminine dress.
The set completely lost control.
Bruce Walts, embodying the sacred code of male friendship, didn't hesitate for even a second before pulling out his phone and starting to record. To him, this wasn't cruelty-it was historical documentation.
"Stop! Stop filming!" Mark shouted, his face red all the way to his hairline as he raised his hands in surrender. "Delete that! For the love of God!"
He was absolutely certain of one thing: once the series aired, this scene would become the greatest trauma of his entire career.
Alex stepped in before the situation spiraled any further.
"Alright, that's enough. Everyone to your positions. Let's shoot."
Mark let out a breath of relief… until he noticed the fatal detail that made his blood run cold.
The corner of Alex's mouth was dangerously lifted.
"You're laughing!" Mark snapped. "You haven't stopped laughing for even a second!"
Alex didn't answer.
Because it was true.
As Battle Tendency continued progressing steadily, scenes wrapping up neatly within schedule, Alex received a call from Reed. On the other end of the line, the tone was straightforward and satisfied: Netfi's promotional machine was already in full motion.
After all, this wasn't just the platform's first acquisition from that country.
It was the title chosen to officially open an entire market.
Subtitled trailers began appearing in multiple languages, digital billboards lit up major cities with key visuals from the series, and short, carefully chosen clips flooded social media-almost all of them ending the same way, with Sosuke Aizen's calm, controlled, and deeply unsettling gaze.
Alex listened without much reaction. He replied only where necessary and ended the call without any visible emotion.
Marketing worked like that.
Calculated noise.
Meanwhile, back home, the atmosphere was shifting in its own way. This might have been the largest wave Alex had caused since entering the industry-ironically, not because of a legendary role or an unforgettable scene, but because of something far simpler and more universal.
Numbers.
The general public might not understand scripts, directing, or cinematic language, but figures spoke louder than anything else. They always had.
Alex's name began circulating alongside an estimated investment of 44 billion. The number was repeated, distorted, exaggerated, and reinterpreted in every possible way. Comparisons surfaced everywhere-legendary productions, classic series, historic budgets.
Alex couldn't help imagining, with genuine dread, the inevitable flood of memes.
One Alex = 44 billion.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
About half a month later, the Battle Tendency set had moved to Venice, where filming of the mid-arc officially began. That was when Geórgia noticed something felt off.
Dressed as Suzi Q and ready for her first scene, she stepped out of the dressing room and immediately sensed the change. Lingering glances. Half-hidden whispers. People looking at Alex as if he'd undergone some invisible transformation overnight.
"Something feels strange…" she murmured.
Her assistant hurried over, cheeks flushed with excitement.
"Geórgia! Director Alex is even more famous now!"
"Wasn't he already?" Geórgia replied quietly, confused.
"He… he made six billion!"
The information was wrong on several levels. It wasn't direct profit, and it wasn't even in that currency. Still, the impact was enough to leave Geórgia speechless.
For someone who had only just begun her career, with barely two roles to her name, the word "billions" sounded like something from another universe.
From the other side of the set, Yasmim watched with a discreet, satisfied smile. She knew. More than that-she had witnessed everything firsthand. That sense of superiority might have had no practical value… but it was strangely gratifying.
Alex's voice cut through the atmosphere before it could spread any further.
"Everyone to your stations. JOJO has to premiere during the holiday season. Anyone who delays the schedule will answer to me."
The entire set moved at once.
After all, this wasn't just a demanding director speaking.
This was someone who had just pulled hundreds of millions out of foreign investors' hands.
Two days later, Bleach was officially released on Netfi under a premium subscription model, marking its global debut. Unlike domestic viewers, who were used to weekly episodes, international audiences were hit head-on.
More than twenty episodes released all at once.
A brutal binge.
And unlike traditional martial arts dramas or fantasy genres that required deep cultural familiarity, Bleach presented almost no barriers. The very first episode quickly laid out the rules of its world, introducing Shinigami, Hollows, and souls with clarity and a relentless pace.
Within hours, foreign forums erupted.
"I'll just watch one episode."
"Okay… two."
"It's three in the morning and I can't stop."
When Byakuya Kuchiki demonstrated his overwhelming power-defeating Ichigo Kurosaki in mere seconds and taking Rukia away-thousands of viewers felt their hearts race in unison.
"Oh my God!"
In luxurious mansions across elite neighborhoods, famous actresses-many with beauty and presence rivaling any international icon-covered their mouths as they watched Sosuke Aizen's body hanging lifelessly against a wall.
Elegant living rooms filled with muffled screams. Glasses were knocked over. Remote controls slipped from trembling hands as disbelief spread like electricity.
Among those reactions was a renowned Hollywood star named Megan, who reflexively turned off the television… only to turn it back on seconds later, unable to accept what she had just seen.
And that-
That was only the first wave.
The world was just beginning to step into Bleach.
The true impact had yet to come.