Hawkins Town Library... Richard and a group of people Steve had gathered were flipping through and searching the library's newspapers and periodicals from over the years. With so much dense text, it would have been difficult for just Richard and Steve to finish, so Nancy, Barbara, and Jonathan, who were on break, were dragged in as forced labor.
"You're certainly energetic. You just recovered from a major injury; can't you take a good rest during this rare break?" Nancy teased Richard. Although she was complaining, she had come as soon as she heard Richard needed help.
Richard chuckled and said, "To me, this is relaxing."
"Oh, relaxing? You mean trying to make a movie without even having 50,000 dollars?" Nancy was even more baffled, shaking her head. "Listen, Chade, although I don't know much about movies, I know that the investment cost for a movie currently on the market—not including promotion—is at least five hundred thousand dollars at the absolute minimum. The general market is over a million. The gap between you and them is ten or even a hundred times over."
"Small budgets have small-budget ways of playing. Open up your horizons, dear." Richard had a benevolent smile on his face, like an elder comforting an ignorant girl.
Nancy was completely helpless and threw up her hands in surrender. "Alright, since your mind is made up." Then, she gave Steve a look, as if silently asking, 'Why aren't you trying to persuade him?' Steve just gave a silent, dry laugh. He was actually just gambling on a result; in his heart, he was on Richard's side, but he couldn't easily explain that to Nancy.
Jonathan was searching alone in a corner. Perhaps one person works more efficiently; after being silent for a long while, he turned around and said, "I've looked through everything on my end. There's no special information."
Richard also finished searching his assigned area shortly after, let out a deep breath, and said, "I didn't find anything on my side either."
The other friends then reported no results. Facing everyone's gaze, Richard pursed his lips and clicked his tongue. "It's impossible for a small town to be this clean for decades. It's unbelievable."
In water that is too clear, there are no fish. Based on his twenty-plus years of life experience, Richard might believe an individual could be upright for their whole life, but he would never believe that a collective group of humans in a certain area could live in peace for decades without a single serious incident occurring.
Could it have been manually deleted?
Why?
What exactly are they hiding?
"Have you guys looked for newspapers or magazines that don't look like news, but are full of sci-fi or fantasy elements?" Richard asked the group.
Barbara weakly raised her hand and laughed dryly. "I haven't."
"Me neither," Nancy followed, raising her hand.
Richard smiled slightly, looking very much like a smiling demon capitalist to the working masses. "Then continue looking for the information we ignored."
Ten minutes later... Everyone crowded around Richard as he put a microfilm containing news from decades ago into the reader and began playing it back segment by segment.
The newspaper was from the 'Weekly Observer.' This was a folk publication that specialized in reporting 'news' full of sci-fi and weird elements. Because these 'news' stories were too bizarre, fantastical, and sometimes even illogical, they had always been regarded as fake news by the public.
However, if one could find some news full of dark and bloody elements about the town from such a newspaper, it wouldn't be surprising.
Nancy seemed to be very interested in the news media industry; the information about this publication had all come from her.
"Anyway, we've experienced even more bizarre things. If some of the news reported by this newspaper isn't fake, we shouldn't find it strange." Richard smiled, then began reading the newspaper content with everyone.
First was a piece of news about a 'Yeti' from a certain date. Everyone fell silent just by looking at the headline.
Bigfoot Yeti Devours 35 Farm Poultry!
Nancy let out a breath. As someone with an immense pursuit of the truth, her interest vanished instantly upon seeing such a boring and fake headline. "This news is just great..."
"Too lame and too fake," Jonathan agreed.
Richard rubbed his brow and said calmly, "Actually, whether the content is fake or the subject matter is lame doesn't matter. The main thing is that this newspaper office actually doesn't know how to write headlines. It's no wonder they never became popular."
Immediately after, under the shocked eyes of the crowd, he came up with one shocking news headline after another.
"If it were me, I'd write it like this: 'Shocking! Thirty-six Lives Perish Overnight in This Place!' or 'The Bloody Truth After a Snowy Night: A River of Blood at the Farmer's Home'..." Richard said calmly. "As long as you don't explicitly mention that the dead creatures were poultry, and instead amplify keywords that catch people's eyes and incite their hearts, this kind of fake news will be a success."
Nancy stared at Richard in a daze, then asked as if possessed, "Chade, have you ever considered becoming a journalist with me in the future? Or opening a newspaper office or something?"
"That wouldn't be my turn." Richard glanced to his left and right. Steve looked a bit jealous upon hearing Nancy's words, while Jonathan looked a bit guilty and awkward.
Steve noticed Richard's teasing gaze, coughed a few times, understood the hint, and secretly took Nancy's hand. He said with a smile, "If you want, once I've earned enough money, I'll open a newspaper office for you. I'll be your boss, and you can be my news director."
Nancy pursed her lips and shrugged. "That won't be necessary. I'd prefer to achieve those things through my own efforts."
"If you need photos, maybe I can help." Jonathan scratched his face, his eyes drifting away without meeting Nancy's. The hand he had resting on the table was covered in sweat. "After all, when it comes to photography, I'm practically a professional."
Hearing this, Nancy seemed to sense a different kind of emotion from Jonathan. A strange light flashed in her eyes, and she couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile. "That's a good suggestion."
"Photography?" Steve nodded. He put his hands on his hips and said to Jonathan, "Speaking of which, if we're going to film this movie, Chade said he wants you to be the director."
"Me!? Director!?" Jonathan froze for a few seconds, then his eyes widened, and he pointed at himself forcefully, shouting.
Sensing the gazes from others in the library, Jonathan realized his loss of composure and hurriedly flashed apologetic looks at the other people reading quietly.
Richard said with a smile, "Make use of your strengths; just think of it as practice. I already have an idea for the general script, and I'll tell you then. As for the visual language and how to shoot it, that'll be up to you."
Jonathan, who had just thumped his chest saying he would help, was now a bit hesitant and smiled bitterly in his heart. His words just now were actually meant for Nancy, but since he didn't add a subject, it sounded like he was speaking to everyone.
However, if it was Richard's request, he wouldn't refuse. It was just that he felt a bit caught off guard and helpless about suddenly becoming a 'director.'