Everyone finally agreed to film multiple endings. Marcus's approach made sense—shoot all of them, then choose whichever had the most impact.
Nathan watched from the sidelines as his son directed the various endings. Despite how short each one was, filming them took hours.
By the time they wrapped, it was already 6 PM. They'd successfully shot five different endings.
But three stood out immediately.
The first was the "jumpscare" ending—Katherine hurling Mike's body at the camera, then lunging at it herself moments later. Text appears on screen: Katherine went missing.
The third was chilling in a different way, leaving everything to the audience's imagination. Mike rushing downstairs when he hears Katherine shrieking. Shouting. Chaos. Then silence. Katherine walking back upstairs with a bloodied knife in her hand. She sits rocking by the bed for hours until police arrive. When they enter, she lunges at them. An officer shoots her.
Nathan had hired actors to play the police officers, and they'd done their job well.
The fourth ending was the darkest. Katherine taking her own life on camera. It was so bleak, so depressing, that even the cast felt uncomfortable watching it. What made it stand out was the sheer cruelty of the demon—no empathy, no mercy for Katherine whatsoever.
Reviewing these endings gave everyone chills, even Nathan with all his filmmaking experience.
They all had their biases about which ending they preferred, but at the same time, they couldn't deny that all three standout endings were genuinely terrifying. Any of them could work as the film's true conclusion.
"So what do you guys think? Which one's the scariest? Which one's the best?" Marcus asked, genuinely curious.
They'd been reviewing footage for half an hour, dissecting each ending. Now he needed to hear their opinions.
"I'm gonna be honest with you, son." Nathan turned to Marcus with a serious expression. "Are you okay?"
Marcus blinked, caught off guard. "Why would you ask that?" He asked cautiously. 'Did he figure out I'm not the original Marcus?'
Nathan's expression was grim. "You can talk to me if you're dealing with some... inner problems."
"You're being weird right now, Dad." Marcus gestured at everyone. "You're making this awkward for everyone."
But to his surprise, everyone—including Katherine, Arya, and Ryan—was looking at him with genuine concern.
"What?" Marcus asked.
Nathan sighed heavily. "Kid, coming up with these endings is just... it's sick. How do you even think of this stuff? It's so dark it makes my stomach turn." He paused. "Only someone with serious issues would come up with ideas this twisted."
Oh. That's what this was about. Marcus actually laughed. "That? It's a horror movie. Of course it needs to be dark and terrifying." He added, "There's nothing wrong with my mental state, I promise."
No one said anything.
"You guys didn't say anything while we were filming it," Marcus pointed out.
"That's because we didn't fully process it until now," Amy said. "We only reviewed the footage briefly before moving on to the next take. But after really sitting with these endings and thinking about them?" She shook her head. "They're seriously messed up. Each one is complicated and deeply disturbing. It makes you wonder what kind of person comes up with this stuff."
"Yeah. I might not sleep tonight," Katherine added.
"I'm definitely praying before bed," Arya said quietly.
Marcus looked around helplessly. "Come on, guys. I'm fine. Anyone could think of these ideas if they put their mind to it."
Nathan and the others didn't look convinced.
"Alright, alright. Let's just decide which ending works best." Marcus could tell everyone was half-teasing him, even if they genuinely were unsettled by the footage.
"Fine. I'm gonna be straight with you—I want the police ending," Nathan said without hesitation.
"Yeah, I liked that one too," Mike agreed.
"But I like the jumpscare ending more. That one actually scared me," Ryan offered.
"Yeah, I'm with Ryan on that," Katherine nodded.
Marcus looked at Arya and Amy. Both seemed torn between the jumpscare and the police endings. They both agreed the fourth ending would definitely give them nightmares.
"So two votes for the police ending, two for the jumpscare, and two for the suicide ending." Marcus nodded thoughtfully. "It's a three-way tie."
"Come on, the police ending is clearly better," Nathan argued, crossing his arms. "We spent actual budget hiring those actors to play the cops."
He looked at his son. "So what do you choose, kid?"
Marcus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Honestly, if it were up to him, he'd choose the police ending. It felt the most realistic and fit the way the film was going—like found footage that someone discovered and released to theaters.
That would really sell it.
But he knew he might not get the final say. It would ultimately be the studio's choice—whatever company picked up the film could demand whichever ending they liked best.
He'd read in the Questclopedia that the original filmmaker had presented multiple endings to the studio. Even with all those options, the studio had demanded they shoot a new one—the jumpscare ending. A veteran director had convinced them it would be more terrifying, that it would make audiences jump out of their seats. The police ending was too slow, they'd said.
"Hey, you still with us?" Nathan's voice cut through his thoughts.
Marcus snapped back to reality.
"You zoned out for like thirty seconds," Katherine said.
"Oh, right." Marcus cleared his throat. "I think I like the police ending better."
Nathan and Mike looked pleased. The others looked disappointed.
"But honestly, even if we all agree on one ending, nothing's set in stone yet." Marcus chuckled at the mix of happy and disappointed faces.
"What do you mean?" Nathan frowned. "Didn't you say we'd pick the best ending and make it the main one?"
"Yeah, I did say that," Marcus nodded. "But whether that ending is really the best—or even the main one—will be decided by whatever company buys the distribution rights from me."
Nathan, Mike, and Katherine all got it immediately. Their expressions shifted with understanding.
Arya, Amy, and Ryan just looked confused.
"What does that mean?" Arya asked.
"It means I won't have full control over the ending," Marcus explained patiently. "Whoever offers to distribute the movie gets the real power. They'll decide which ending actually makes it to theaters."
Everyone fell quiet, processing that.
"Then what's the point of filming all these endings if that's the case?" Mike asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Filming all the endings isn't a waste," Nathan said, glancing at his son. "I don't know how he figured this out, but... if you'd only filmed one ending and the studio didn't like it, they'd just demand you shoot a different one anyway."
"Oh, so filming multiple endings is like giving the studio options to choose from?" Katherine's eyes lit up with understanding.
"Exactly. And right now, we've got five endings for them to pick from," Nathan confirmed. He looked at Marcus again, and beneath his calm exterior was genuine surprise. "I gotta say, I'm actually impressed you thought of this."
Marcus kept his expression neutral, but inside he was grinning. He wouldn't know any of this if not for the Questclopedia, which had even included details about the deals the original filmmaker made with the major studio.
[Major Quest: First Feature Film — COMPLETED]
[Reward: +20 Points]
Marcus smiled inwardly at the notification. With the 20 points, he was sitting at 44 total.
He couldn't wait to check the Search Engine. He'd been banking his uses—the engine generated one per week with a max of three stored, and he wanted to make each one count.
He'd already run a search: "profitable streaming platforms to create." He wanted to see if it was possible to build something like Netflix in this world.
Each result required significant points, with the top result priced at 30 points. He could afford it now.
But he wasn't in a rush. This was the last day he'd be working with his team on the movie, and he wanted to celebrate with them properly.
First, he took them all out to a restaurant. He still had three thousand dollars left after paying the team and covering expenses, so he could afford a nice meal.
They had a great time.
Though it was pretty funny when Mike got drunk and started groaning to Nathan. "Damn it! I thought your son's movie was gonna be some half-assed student project! I picked the wrong payment option! I took the high pay with no profit share!"
Nathan just patted his shoulder. "Stop beating yourself up. We don't even know if the kid's movie is gonna make a dime."
Marcus chuckled quietly at that.
Katherine, on the other hand, was in high spirits. "Haha, even if it doesn't make money, I'm happy I was part of this. But if it does blow up? I'll be thrilled!"
Amy, Arya, and Ryan laughed along with her as they ate.
Marcus joined in the fun, but quietly pulled up the Search Engine on his phone under the table. He bought the top result.
Netflicks. 30 points.
As soon as the information loaded, he eagerly checked the source code for building the streaming platform.
But the moment he saw it, his eyes went wide and his stomach dropped.
Tens of millions of lines of code.
Netflicks wasn't just a website—it was a behemoth. The platform handled video encoding, adaptive streaming technology, content delivery networks, recommendation algorithms powered by machine learning, user authentication systems, payment processing, massive databases managing millions of users and viewing histories, real-time analytics, and infrastructure designed to scale globally.
Each piece required sophisticated code.
The backend alone would involve distributed systems architecture, microservices, cloud computing infrastructure.
The frontend needed responsive design across dozens of devices. Then there was the security—encryption, DRM, protection against piracy. It all added up to an engineering nightmare that took thousands of developers years to build in his previous world.
"Ugh..." Marcus held his mouth, looking like he might actually throw up.
Everyone looked over at him.
"Hey, you alright? You look like you're about to hurl," Nathan said, half concerned, half indifferent.
"Uh, no. I'm fine." Marcus composed himself. "Just keep having fun. Don't worry about me."
Everyone looked a bit concerned but went back to their celebration. Only Arya and Katherine kept glancing at him, like they could sense something was wrong.
They had no idea what could rattle him like that.
But they'd never know. Marcus was staring at the source code for the biggest streaming platform in his previous life like an ant staring up at the galaxy.
'Damn it. I knew it'd be a ton of code—I expected that!' He groaned internally. 'But seeing it with my own eyes... this is a monster. I worked at a simple company that dealt with a few hundred thousand lines of code at most, and that wasn't even an internet company. This is insane.'
He gritted his teeth. 'There's no way I can develop this on my own. It'd take me years—maybe decades—to build this solo. And I'm not willing to waste my life on one project, even if it is the biggest streaming platform from my previous world.'
He was seriously tempted. This streaming platform generated billions annually. But right now, he was helpless. To make it happen, he'd need employees—skilled developers, software engineers, infrastructure specialists, designers.
And he'd have to be the one guiding them.
It would be full of challenges. Full of risks. But the reward was too massive to ignore.
He'd become rich enough to do whatever he wanted in life. Billions of dollars.
Yachts. Private jets. Women.
Everything would be possible.
"No matter how hard it's gonna be, I have to do it," Marcus muttered under his breath, his eyes sharpening with determination.
He'd earn capital from whatever profit his first feature film made, then use it to start the company he'd been dreaming about even in his previous life.
To become the billionaire who owned one of the most significant and influential companies in entertainment history.
Maybe not just entertainment. Maybe other industries too.
He wanted to be at the top.
His jaw tightened. In his previous life, as a failed programmer, he'd been humiliated by his own family. As the illegitimate son of a wealthy father who owned a big company, he knew what it felt like to be small. To be trampled on by relatives. By his boss.
In this life, that wouldn't happen again.