Darkstone Code

Until...

The manager of the business department at Fox Film Corporation found the girl with a script.

The girl felt uncomfortable; the person in front of her wore formal attire that she couldn’t afford even with hard work. Just the watch on his wrist was enough to make her despair.

She had put on the best and most expensive clothes she owned, yet in front of him, she still felt like a clown.

There were cups of coffee costing a dozen dollars each on the coffee table, along with a set of pastries totaling several dozen dollars.

Such simple things sometimes took her a day’s work to earn.

But here, to the gentleman opposite, it might not even count as anything.

"You can take a look at this script; it’s a story written with you as the prototype, and we intend to film it."

The script, emitting a unique book smell, lay before the girl. Her hand hesitated slightly in the air, but she eventually picked it up.

She carefully held it with both hands, reading meticulously and seriously.

This was her first time reading a script, and honestly, she encountered some difficulties while reading, especially during transitions.

Fortunately, the storyboard sketch saved her; she saw another version of herself.

The girl in the script had a more tragic childhood than her own, and during high school, she left it to escape the cold and terrifying family. Without survival skills, she could only gain the courage to live through others’ assistance.

But the girl in the script never stopped learning; she was always learning, learning fashion design.

Perhaps fashion design was the only color in her gray life!

Those vibrant colors became the hope she held firmly in her heart!

Many clients would mock her, even using her design drafts for... but she never gave up.

When no one came to help her, she silently looked at the somewhat worn-out fashion magazines brought by kind-hearted benefactors.

A desk lamp, a pen, some paints, she hummed a tune while sketching her future at her desk...

The girl’s eyes filled with tears; she realized she was truly useless because she felt lost, had no persistence, no plan for the future; she only knew how to sink further.

Eventually, the girl in the script obtained acceptance through submissions to magazines and gained recognition on the world stage of fashion!

She completed the entire process of life transformation!

She also welcomed a brand new self!

At the end, the girl felt a difficult-to-express emotion towards the script; she was reluctant to let go and constantly tried to smooth out the slightly curled page corners.

After a while, she reluctantly placed it back on the table, "What is it called?"

"’Butterfly Transformation’ (also translated as: ’That One Second of Rebirth’) or ’The Meaning of I’..." the manager spread his hands, "Perhaps you have a better suggestion?"

The girl lightly smoothed the script’s page corners once more and smoothed out the slightly turned-up corners again, "A good name, and also a wonderful script."

Then she fell silent, and after a dozen seconds, only then did she ask, "What can I do for this script, for this film?"

She didn’t think she was the key, perhaps she could only get some money as authorization.

She watched TV every day because she needed something to pass the time and to experience the joy of helping others amidst the boredom.

She watched a lot of TV, so she knew well that this might just be a way to avoid some legal responsibilities; she wouldn’t actually get much.

Maybe watching it premiere, finding herself in the shadow of that girl, would be the best gift for herself?

She had already decided, no matter how much or how little they offered her, she wouldn’t refuse.

"We plan to invite you to play the female lead in the script..."

The girl’s pupils instantly expanded, ringing ears, nausea, but soon followed by immense joy!

Joy hit her nerves like a tsunami, tears flowed for no reason without warning!

She wiped tears that never seemed to dry, bowed her head, not letting them see her distress, "Sorry, I didn’t hear clearly just now; could you repeat it?"

Humble tone, humble yearning, humble hope!

When that sentence appeared in her ears again, she had an epiphany.

Perhaps her life, the cruel dimness of the first half, was meant for this moment of bloom...

Eventually, the girl signed a filming contract with Fox Film Corporation and became their actor, receiving professional performance lessons.

People in front of the TV no longer cursed how ridiculous society was, no longer felt sorry for how painful the girl was, nor fantasized about what was behind those damn snowflakes.

They were all silently praying for this girl, thanking the Lord for hearing their prayers at this moment and saving the poor girl!

The feminist organization timely jumped in to express that they also contributed to this affair, and even in Fox Film Corporation’s new shooting plan, the Federation Women’s Freedom Rights Promotion Association was listed as an investor!

The "Federal Times" described everything that happened during this time with the word "redemption," and column news commentator expressed with emotion, "I witnessed a great rescue."

He believes this is a renaissance of the Federation’s morality, where all the Federation people were saved by a girl!

Yes, it wasn’t the Federation people, or anyone else who saved that girl, but it was that girl who saved the numb Federation people, awakening them from a certain numbness!

The "Bupen Daily" also called this another victory for human social morality, once again proving to the world that the Federation is a warm, compassionate, and sympathetic society!

Even Lynch was mentioned several times; they believe Lynch’s probing was meant to awaken the conscience of the Federation people, and he also reached out to save the girl.

He himself was a shareholder of Fox Film Corporation and a major shareholder of the television station, and the girl got a new life because of him.

Of course, if it weren’t for the sales of each issue of "Vanguard" totaling hundreds of thousands, this redemption of social morality might have come a little later.

Three issues, totaling over one and a half million copies, which directly brought Lynch millions in wealth!

He made money and saved a lost lamb, and the people felt an unprecedented satisfaction for casting their "critical vote," making everyone a winner in this affair!

The noisy public opinion and media constantly chased after the hot topics, and Lynch wasn’t someone who liked being reported about. After simply acknowledging Mr. Lynch’s critical role in this event, people no longer reported about him.

And now it was September, in other words, the summer vacation was over and school started.

Joey left home early in the morning, neat and tidy. It must be said, the full four-year student loan provided by Lynch caused no problems for them under their current circumstances.

They wouldn’t even feel any changes in their lives.

With some savings, Joey’s father ran a deli, making their life somewhat better than ordinary factory workers.

His life pressures became smaller.

This made him more and more eager for his life in university and what he could do after graduating from university.

With the help of school staff and teachers, he chose a very good major, architectural design.

To put it simply, his job was to learn how to design houses, then draw plans to have workers build according to his designs.

Joey loved building blocks when he was little; he liked stacking things together.

The higher he stacked, the more accomplished he felt, and now he chose this major as the main direction of his university journey.

It’s said that this industry has great prospects in the future—

After a real war, the world would need reconstruction everywhere, and by then he would be close to graduation, providing him more job opportunities.

Moreover, the tutor at the school secretly told him that he could totally join the Darkstone Group after graduation as it was still a nascent consortium in the Federation’s capital society.

It needed to expand itself in various fields, and in the future, it would definitely recruit suitable employees extensively from society.

Graduates from this university were relatively more likely to receive favoritism from the Darkstone Group since everyone was "one of us."

The tutor’s words filled Joey with the power to strive; once graduated, he would be able to work at a large corporation, which was the purpose of the significant loan he and his family borrowed to let him attend university, right?

A beautiful, bright future was right in front of him, and he was filled with energy all over!

In fact, people who shared Joey’s thoughts were almost everywhere on campus; everyone "privately" received these news, ensuring that once graduated, they would have a greater chance than ordinary people to get a job befitting the Middle Class identity!

This made the campus atmosphere extremely good, with everyone considering themselves the protagonist.

After familiarizing himself in the new campus for a few days, someone came looking for Joey.

"Hey, Joe..."

"Call me Joey, I said!"

Joey wasn’t interested in the nickname "Joe," because it sounded like it was referring to someone else.

The one calling him was a classmate from the same dorm, who embraced his shoulder warmly, "Whatever, do you know the Brotherhood?"

Joey was a bit stunned, "Don’t tell me you’ve joined the Brotherhood already..."

In fact, high schools also had Brotherhoods, but at the time they were called interest groups. High schoolers weren’t as free as college students, their pockets were empty, and being too young, they lacked some essential elements.

But now, it didn’t matter.

His roommate nodded emphatically, "Brotherhood of Light, you will definitely be interested!"

Joey couldn’t help but complain, "The name itself sounds like a few country bumpkins forming the Bright Knight Order..."