Chapter 49: Could Something Have Gone Wrong?
「The next day.」
Sophie Wexler had just opened her eyes when she was bombarded with a series of messages from the Entertainment District staff.
[Miss Wexler, didn’t you say you went to the military district? How are you still able to livestream?]
After learning Sophie Wexler was going to the military district, they had assumed she wouldn’t be livestreaming for a while, so they hadn’t even assigned her a moderator.
Who knew she could even livestream from a military district!
Thankfully, nothing had gone wrong yesterday.
Not only had there been no incidents, but the results were surprisingly good!
[Miss Wexler, your stream yesterday was a huge success! Your popularity just kept climbing!]
It had elevated the Entertainment District’s standing across the entire StarNet. At the same time, a ton of new singing channels had popped up. For a moment, the whole district was flourishing.
[Especially that person who gave you the huge donation in your stream. They single-handedly pushed you into the top ten on the district-wide leaderboard, giving you even more exposure.]
[Miss Wexler, do you know who that person is? Do you know them?]
Sophie Wexler read through the string of messages. The first few were all about her stream from yesterday.
But that last one...
She had no idea who it was either.
Sophie Wexler replied, [I should be streaming again in the future, just not as frequently. I’ll let you know before I go live.]
It was hard to say if the admin was just online by chance or had been staring at her chat window.
The second after Sophie Wexler sent her message, a reply came in. [Entertainment District Admin: Understood, Miss Wexler!]
This was fantastic news!
[Sophie Wexler: I don’t know the person who made the donation either.]
Not only did she not know them, but her last message to them still hadn’t received a reply.
[Entertainment District Admin: Oh, okay.]
They even added an emoji, giving off a rather disappointed vibe.
Sophie Wexler was speechless.
’What are you so disappointed about? That person probably won’t even watch any more streams.’
’Anyway, from our few brief exchanges, I never got the impression that he even likes listening to music.’
The matter was quickly dropped. The admin had contacted her about something else.
[Here’s the thing, Miss Wexler. A record company has taken an interest in your songs. They want to buy out the copyright for a high price, and my supervisor asked me to see what you think.]
Her channel was popular now, so naturally, more people had seen it. Although others couldn’t perform mass soothing by singing live like Sophie Wexler,
soothing wasn’t the only reason. A large portion of her audience simply liked Sophie Wexler’s songs.
This allowed some record companies to see a business opportunity.
So, they were inquiring if she would sell them the copyright, allowing their company to produce, release, and add the songs to the StarNet’s music library.
’A copyright buyout?’
[What’s the price?] Sophie Wexler replied.
[Entertainment District Admin: Five million Star Coins per song.]
’Five million to buy out one of my songs?’
Never mind anything else, the gifts she had received in her livestream alone were worth far more than that. That wasn’t even counting all the subsequent profits a single song could generate. They really had some nerve making that offer.
[Sophie Wexler: A copyright buyout is impossible.]
Her reply was decisive. Once the copyright was bought out, the song would essentially no longer be hers. She would never allow that to happen.
[Sophie Wexler: If we’re talking about a partnership, I’ll only accept a revenue-sharing deal. They can contact me to discuss the details.]
[Admin: Understood, Miss Wexler. I’ll pass that along.]
Soon after, the other party’s contact ID was sent over.
After they added each other as contacts, the other person sent Sophie Wexler an enthusiastic message: [Hello, ma’am. I’m contacting you to discuss a collaboration.]
Sophie Wexler: [I assume the platform staff has already told you my terms.]
The reply came quickly: [Yes, ma’am, we’re aware. We’ve drafted an agreement. Would you like to take a look at it first?]
Seeing this, Sophie Wexler replied: [You can send it over.]
The other party quickly sent over an agreement. It covered song ownership, fees, production, and distribution, followed by a long list of Imperial Galactic laws.
The first parts were fine, but the sections that followed...
She didn’t understand the Empire’s Galactic laws.
’Wait. I don’t understand them, but someone else does!’ Realizing something, she immediately grabbed her Light Brain and headed out the door.
Standing in front of the room next to hers, Sophie Wexler raised her hand and knocked. "Cillian, are you in there?"
After a long moment, there was no sound from inside.
Puzzled, Sophie Wexler knocked again. "Cillian?"
’Is he not here? That can’t be right. Where would he go this early in the morning?’
’Could he still be sleeping?’
With that thought, Sophie Wexler took two steps forward and pressed her ear to the door, trying to hear if there was any movement inside.
But just as she leaned in, the door was suddenly flung open from the inside.
Caught off balance, Sophie Wexler stumbled and fell forward into the room.
Cillian Forrest lowered his gaze to the person who had crashed into him, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.
Sophie Wexler quickly regained her balance after finding something to brace herself against, only to realize her hands were pressed against the man’s chest.
He had probably just been in the shower and had come out in a hurry. His clothes weren’t properly arranged, and with Sophie Wexler’s tug, they looked even looser.
Sophie Wexler glanced down, and her mind went blank. She immediately reached out to help straighten his clothes. "I’m so sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose."
Cillian Forrest watched her hands fumbling with his clothes, his eyes darkening. The next second, he grabbed her flailing hands. "That’s enough. I’ll do it myself."
"Come in."
At that, Sophie Wexler immediately pulled her hands back and followed him inside.
The moment she entered the room, Sophie Wexler felt something was different. She could clearly sense an overflow of spiritual power. ’So the reason Cillian didn’t open the door just now... was it because his Spiritual Sea was unstable again?’
"Your Spiritual Sea?!" Sophie Wexler exclaimed. "I’ll help you soothe it!"
"No need," Cillian Forrest refused, pulling his clothes together. "I’m fine."
The chaotic energy in his Spiritual Sea had just flared up in his sleep, causing the overflow. He had brought it under control the instant he woke up.
Compared to usual, this was a minor fluctuation. He was already used to it.
Besides, she had just performed a mass soothing yesterday.
Sophie Wexler was about to say more, but Cillian Forrest cut her off. "What did you come to see me for?"
That reminded Sophie Wexler of her reason for coming. She handed him her Light Brain. "A record company wants to partner with me to develop the copyright for my songs. I’ve looked at the contract, but it involves a lot of the Empire’s Galactic laws that I don’t understand. I came to ask you to take a look for me."
Cillian Forrest took it, his eyes falling on the numerous and complex clauses at the end. As he read, his expression grew colder.
He sneered. "They’re quite good at exploiting loopholes."
The terms stipulated by the Galactic laws listed there would practically tie Sophie Wexler’s hands. If she signed it, the song would still be hers in name only; in reality, the other party would hold all the rights to its handling.
Cillian Forrest didn’t even finish reading. He simply closed the file and gave his verdict: "Don’t sign it."
"Since your songs are popular now, you won’t be short on offers from other record companies."
Sophie Wexler thought about it and agreed. She replied to the person, clearly stating her refusal.
She also sent a quick message to the platform admin. As she was backing out of the chat, she accidentally tapped on the profile of the person who had given her the huge donation yesterday.
Seeing Cillian Forrest’s gaze land on it, she assumed he was curious and showed it to him. "This is the person who gave me that huge donation during yesterday’s stream."
"I don’t know who it is, and they don’t reply to messages," Sophie Wexler summarized. "Probably just some young master from a noble family, throwing Star Coins around."
The certain someone who didn’t reply to messages: "..."