Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 241

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Infinite Talent Reset Life Episode 241

-Thank you. Thanks to you, I gained the strength to become earnest.

Late evening, after everyone had left.

Johann stands at the entrance of the quiet exhibition hall, gazing at the snow scene he created.

“Fortunately, it went well as intended.”

Johann nods at Emily’s words.

Before opening his solo exhibition, Johann had examined materials from various photographers’ solo exhibitions.

And soon he realized there was no need to look at various materials. Every exhibition had a similar format.

Other photographers’ solo exhibitions were decorated simply, with other props excluded as much as possible so that visitors could focus entirely on the photographs.

This also included the intention of not asserting the artist’s intent too clearly, allowing visitors to assign meaning to the works themselves and interpret them freely.

“That wouldn’t have been enough to convey what we experienced, what they experienced.”

The heart of Starburst who guided John Meyer and the others to Starburst’s altar.

The feelings of John Meyer and the others as they followed up.

And their own hearts as they followed behind them.

Johann had made this installation hoping that visitors would feel those emotions more vividly in this solo exhibition.

“They seemed to want that too.”

Johann strokes the glass covering the first destination.

Like a spirit photograph, the afterimages of John Meyer and the others faintly revealed behind Larry and the others.

There were several more photos where John Meyer and the others were captured, too many to dismiss as optical illusions created by overlapping complex coincidences like sunlight reflected on snow fields and snowflakes scattered by wind.

That was precisely why Johann wanted to hold this solo exhibition, why he tried to make this exhibition even a little more magnificent.

Thus he began conceiving what concept to use for the exhibition and how to decorate it, and came to recall the phrases he had written below the photographs.

The lives of John Meyer and the others who explored in search of something new despite the risks.

The story of Starburst who steadily built up a civilization from a blank page where nothing existed.

He expressed it by capturing someone’s life.

“That became the strength for someone to stand up.”

He learned that his life was no different from others, and that he could no longer collapse on his own.

“…I think I know what kind of feelings he must have had.”

Emily gives a bitter smile. She too has had similar experiences.

The modeling industry where, like the arts and sports fields, only an extremely select few can receive the spotlight.

She had seen many people struggling not only against competitors but also against their former selves to survive there.

And Emily herself was included among them.

Though she became a model for brands classified as luxury, she not only failed to leap further onto the world stage, but rather saw the number of companies seeking her gradually decrease.

“What more should I do? How should I proceed from here…”

She had to suffer from pain without answers.

Then, watching Johann by her side, she came to realize.

Seeing Johann feel joy rather than fear at new challenges, enjoying the process more than the byproducts of results, she came to reflect on herself.

Why did I want to become a model in the first place?

Had she forgotten that reason and was just trying to climb high without purpose, buried in competition?

The moment she became aware of this, Emily was no longer in pain. She could enjoy modeling work again.

Though the method was different, she too was one of those who received Johann’s help.

Johann smiles at Emily’s grateful gaze.

“The fact that my actions give strength to someone is really…”

Though he had experienced this several times already, his heart was shaken like this every time.

This is such an amazing experience.

“So you want to do more exhibitions like this?”

Exhibitions of photography, paintings, sculptures, installation art, and such.

“Well?”

He wasn’t sure about that.

However, he hoped that somehow his actions would continue to give strength to more people in the future.

“But I don’t want to do it too dutifully. If I did that, I might unknowingly deceive myself.”

He might speak forced words while deceiving even himself, and act insincerely.

Such things could never give strength to anyone.

“Did I mention? This is why I like you.”

Despite having countless talents that reach the sky, you never become arrogant.

Always continuing to think and think again.

“Oh, is it kiss time?”

“You’re not supposed to say that, dummy.”

It was the moment when the two, grinning, cupped each other’s faces and leaned in with their lips.

-Your eyes burning like LA’s sky.

When Emily’s singing voice, which he had given to Lady Gaga but liked so much he recorded separately as a ringtone, rang out, Johann frowned and picked up his phone.

“Who would call at this important moment without any sense… Huh? It’s Larry?”

“That’s unusual?”

Larry, who had pretty good timing until now.

“If he’s calling again even though we talked earlier, something must have happened?”

“Maybe…”

Johann shrugs and answers the phone.

“Yeah, Larry. What’s…”

-Penguin just contacted me. They said you weren’t answering.

He was referring to Penguin Random House, the publisher with whom he had signed a publishing contract for the novel Casanova.

“Ah!”

The battery had died in the middle due to the flood of congratulatory messages about his solo exhibition. They probably tried to contact him then.

“What did Penguin say? Reprinting?”

Casanova had already finished all publication work, so most communication between publisher and author was for cases requiring additional settlement, such as reprinting.

However, Larry’s following words were completely unexpected.

-Netflix contacted them. Baz Luhrmann, who directed Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, will direct, so they want to dramatize Casanova.

Thud!

“…What?”

Johann blinked with his mind going blank.

It was such a tremendous shock.

* * *

Vroom! Honk honk!

New York, where the roads are always noisy.

It’s especially noisier because of the slushily melted snow.

Listening to such noise, a handsome white man in his 50s wrapped in a coat and scarf walks briskly toward somewhere.

Ding!

“One latte, please.”

“Yes, one latte!”

“Whew.”

Inside the regular cafe filled with the smell of coffee and people.

After winking at the server who recognizes him, he looks around the cafe and his eyes light up.

A middle-aged man drinking coffee while looking at his laptop, someone you could see anywhere. He’s showing his back, but he’s an unforgettable person.

He crouched down and stepped forward, and the servers whose eyes had widened giggled at the situation about to unfold.

Creak! Creak!

The wooden floor screaming under his feet.

Holding his breath and approaching step by step, he suddenly raised both arms like a beast and pushed the middle-aged man.

Whoa!

“Ahhh!”

“Hahahaha!”

The middle-aged man nearly fainting and the cafe bursting into laughter.

He also burst into laughter and wrapped his arm around the middle-aged man’s shoulder, Matthew Payton, who was clutching his chest.

“How have you been?”

“I thought my heart was going to stop, Senior Baz!”

Baz Luhrmann, the Australian director who directed Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, and is currently directing a drama called The Get Down on Netflix.

“You can’t just casually greet a Hollywood rising star like that. Especially a guest who came all the way to New York to see me.”

“Please fix that mischievous streak of yours. You’ll really get in big trouble someday. And I haven’t even won a single award, so what rising star…”

“That’s because those Academy folks have rotten eye sockets.”

He’s so successful that if he picked up a megaphone right now, countless actors would rush to him without even reading the script. The reason he accepted a director position at Netflix, an OTT platform, and specifically a drama director position, is exactly that.

The Academy Awards, the Oscars, which at some point started only considering artistic merit. Watching them properly infected with artistic pretension made his stomach turn.

“The fact that Fire Always Stalks Us didn’t even get nominated for Military Officer is proof that their eyes are rotten.”

Fire Always Stalks Us, Matthew Payton’s masterpiece that was considered the best disaster film of that year. Even if Best Picture or Best Director was too much to ask, they should have at least given it Best Supporting Actress.

“To see Johann Jefferson and Mackenzie Foy’s eye acting and not give them awards. Fucking idiots.”

“Hahaha. Your personality is still the same.”

Matthew Payton, who was part of the directing team long ago when Baz Luhrmann directed Romeo + Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

The image of Matthew Payton back then, grabbing onto Baz Luhrmann’s pant legs and pestering him to teach him just one more thing, flashes through both their minds.

“Some Asian person said that when people change their personality, they die soon after.”

“Yes, please live long.”

“Hehe. But how is old man Panning doing?”

Chris Panning, current CEO of Wolf Pictures and savior of C-grade films.

“He’s so healthy it’s almost a problem…”

According to his associates, he recently got a girlfriend.

“Whew. I did hear rumors about him sweeping up writers and directors with massive funding from unknown sources…”

He’s completely living it up.

Matthew Payton’s eyes light up at this.

“It’s not funding from unknown sources, but funding from Rocky Management, Instory, and Quick Food.”

“…Oh. The old man really hooked some big investors.”

Baz Luhrmann twists his lips. He understood why Matthew Payton had come.

“But what brings you here? It’s not just because you want to drag me in too, right? What’s got you stuck?”

Flinch!

“…As expected, I can’t fool Senior.”

How many years has it been since Fire Always Stalks Us?

But not a single line of dialogue is coming to mind.

So he decided to leave LA for a change of pace, and happened to think of Baz Luhrmann, which brought him to New York.

Chris Panning had his own ambitions, but there was also Baz Luhrmann, who suddenly started making dramas instead of films, and specifically a drama where all the main characters are black.

“You used to only make films centered on white people, didn’t you?”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

It’s just that the race that suited the subjects he was drawn to happened to be white; he doesn’t particularly hold white supremacist views.

“This time, the race that suited the subject I was drawn to just happened to be black?”

The Get Down, a musical drama set in the Bronx, New York.

“It’s also advantageous for getting investment.”

“That figures.”

“Oh, are you, a director no less, ignoring production costs?”

“Never mind. I know Senior isn’t someone who moves for money.”

Baz Luhrmann already has massive assets from the success of Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, and The Great Gatsby. There’s no way he’d move just for investment money.

‘This subject must have strongly attracted him, and there was too much story to tell for a film.’

That’s probably why he made it as a drama.

“Hehe. You know me too well.”

‘He hasn’t seen it.’

He hasn’t seen The Get Down that he directed this time.

Smiling bitterly to himself, he changes the subject.

“But for someone making such complaints, you were watching pretty intently?”

Just as Matthew Payton knows Baz Luhrmann well, Baz Luhrmann also knows Matthew Payton well. When Matthew Payton is mentally cornered, he’s never this neat and composed.

“…Hehe. I guess you could say one subject came to mind on the way here. Ah, there it is.”

Matthew Payton points to the TV hanging in the cafe.

“Tanzania’s… miracle?”

It’s a documentary.

Suddenly, one person flashes through his mind.

“Johann Jefferson? …Again?”

“This inspiration confirmed it. Johann is my persona.”

“…Well, his acting is at an insane level.”

Very well-refined raw acting.

Johann achieved something that’s hard to coexist. Like Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet.

“Then what’s that?”

“Ah, this is a novel serialization site my son told me about, and there are many interesting subjects. So I was reading while waiting for Senior… Hmm.”

“What?”

“Would you like to take a look at the novel I’m reading right now? I think it would match your code quite well.”

It’s a subject that doesn’t match his own code, but it would suit Baz Luhrmann perfectly.

Matthew Payton clicked on chapter 1 of the novel he was reading and showed it to him.

My name is Giacomo Girolamo.

I am the vulgar coward who was called Casanova.

“…Ooh.”

Two lines that instantly penetrate his mind and heart.

Baz Luhrmann, instantly absorbed, pulled the laptop over and placed it in front of himself, and Matthew Payton, moving his lips as if he expected this, stood up to order Baz Luhrmann’s coffee.

After quite some time passed…

Thud!

Baz Luhrmann closes the laptop without even finishing reading and picks up his phone.

“It’s me, Luhrmann. I think it’s time to keep the promise you made when you pitched The Get Down script with Sony.”

The promise to take responsibility for half the production cost no matter what the subject or how much money it takes, as long as he directs The Get Down.

“You’ll probably have to drain several bank accounts.”

Mise-en-scène was exploding in his head.

“Ah, first bring the original creator before me within a week.”

One week, he’ll finish the remaining filming within that time.

His eyes began to burn fiercely.

* * *

Clap clap clap clap clap!

The staff members of the General Planning Office who were keeping the company running until this late hour applaud until their palms burst.

Johann succeeded again this time.

Moreover, Director Baz Luhrmann and Netflix even contacted them about filming a drama.

They say good things always come together, and indeed the celebrations overlapped.

“How are the reactions?”

“It would just hurt my mouth to describe them. Would you like to see?”

The journey toward Starburst’s altar. Discussing life along that path.

A new style of photo exhibition!

Johann’s challenge succeeded again this time!

“Everywhere you look, it’s all favorable reviews!”

“It probably isn’t entirely like that, right?”

“…Conspiracy theories have been generated in communities, but they’re at a level we can ignore.”

From having a ghostwriter to suspicions of connections with the American tourism board.

“We’re quietly watching and plan to sue immediately if they cross the line, so you don’t need to worry.”

“I’ll trust you again this time. What about Larry and Manager Andrew?”

“They’re in the conference room.”

Johann nods and heads to the conference room.

Knock knock!

As he opens the door and enters, Larry and Andrew Pearson stand up and applaud.

Clap clap clap!

“Hehe. How do you feel?”

“…I’ve always thought that someday I’d like to make my own movie.”

The thought he had while watching Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.

He never expected that opportunity to come this quickly.

And with Casanova of all things, no less. With none other than director Baz Luhrmann directing.

‘How would Casanova have reacted if he heard this news?’

He probably would have jumped around and gone crazy with excitement. That’s the kind of person he was.

“Oh?”

Larry and Andrew Pearson, who were surprised by the unexpected statement, soon nod their heads.

“Then you can experience it in advance as a screenplay writer.”

Whether he has talent for directing or not.

Whether it’s a challenge worth taking on.

“I don’t know about that.”

Director Baz Luhrmann wants to adapt it into film simply because he likes the Casanova novel, without knowing that Johann is the original creator.

He could entrust the screenplay adaptation to someone else.

Director Baz Luhrmann himself, already an excellent playwright, could write the screenplay directly.

‘I’d rather not have that happen.’

Since it’s his own work, he wants to handle the screenplay adaptation himself.

But what doesn’t make sense here is Netflix’s appeal.

“…We were also puzzled by that part.”

Usually when purchasing rights to an original novel for adaptation, it’s normal not to discuss who will direct until later.

In business, you have to do whatever it takes to buy even a dollar cheaper. It would have been right to naturally hide such important information.

Because the original creator might demand a higher price upon hearing the director’s name.

“It seems like a mistake by the employee in charge…”

But the fact that they didn’t correct it might mean they’re that eager for Johann’s Casanova.

“Or…”

Larry and Andrew’s expressions harden.

“They might have found out that you’re the original creator.”

It’s possible.

‘Hmm. Should I look into this?’

What’s really going on.

What Netflix is aiming for.

Johann pretends to be lost in thought, closes his eyes, and accesses the library.

And…

‘What’s this?’

First, the mention of director Baz Luhrmann was indeed an employee’s mistake.

But there’s another problem.

‘At Netflix…!’

The Get Down, which he had considered watching last year because of all the promotion, but didn’t watch due to terrible reviews.

But there was good reason for that.

Tap tap!

Johann, who was actually lost in thought, raises his head.

“Larry, Andrew. How about we just produce this Casanova ourselves?”

With Warner involved too.

No matter how he thinks about it, Netflix won’t work.

“With director Baz Luhrmann handling the directing.”

Larry’s eyes widened at the absurd suggestion.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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