From A Producer To A Global Superstar-Chapter 259: Two month

By the time Dayo returned home that night, the city outside his window was already quiet.

He dropped his keys on the counter, loosened his jacket, and sat down without turning on the lights. The day had been long. Not exhausting, but heavy in the way responsibility always was. The set had gone smoothly. The crew was adjusting. The actors were finding rhythm. Everything, on the surface, was moving the way it should.

Yet his mind wasn’t on the set anymore.

He reached for his phone.

As expected, the news cycle had already shifted its attention toward him.

Articles. Short opinion pieces. Online discussions. Comment sections filled with speculation.

He scrolled slowly the news.

"First-time director attempts ambitious zombie project."

"Rookie filmmaker uses undebuted actors for high-risk production."

"Train of Busan remake raises eyebrows."

"First-time director using a First-time actors what would be the quality of the movie ?."

"Director Dayo said to own an agency and used only the actors in his agency who unfortunately are rookies can movies be shot like this ?."

"According to insiders Train of Busan is expected to cost over 15 Billion KRW and he made use of newbies?."

Some of the headlines were neutral. Others weren’t.

He clicked one article at random and skimmed through it. The writer didn’t attack him directly, but the doubts were clear between the lines. Questions about experience. Questions about judgment. Questions about whether talent could truly come from nowhere.

The comments below were harsher.

"Using rookies in a film like this is reckless."

"He’s brave, I’ll give him that, but brave doesn’t mean competent."

"Feels like someone with money trying to play director."

"Yeah it feels that way after all he is rich and doesn’t have extensive knowledge of making movies."

"I dont know but i feel the movie would actual do well."

"Huh are you not seeing the news or what ?."

"LOL I am but if there’s one thing i have learnt by follownh Dayo that would be never to underestimate him. He had proven without doubt he is very telent in any field he dabble into."

"Hehe you can’t use any field snd compare to directing a movie there’s no such thing as luck in movie making there’s only experience and he has non."

"Alright time would tell if Dayo is right or wrong but I belive he would come out triumph."

Dayo let out a small breath and leaned back.

This wasn’t new.

He had seen this pattern before. When he had stepped into athletics, they said he lacked pedigree. When he moved into production of music from DJ in his past life, they said he was overreaching. When he shifted again, they said he was wasting his time.

Every stage of his life had started the same way.

Doubt first. Noise second. Results last.

He didn’t feel anger. He didn’t feel the need to respond. If anything, there was a strange comfort in seeing it again. It reminded him that he was walking forward instead of standing still.

And thus pushed him to strive harder to clear their doubt beyond resealable doubt.

He locked his phone and stood up.

Later that evening, his phone rang again.

Min-Jae.

Dayo answered without hesitation.

"Are you still awake?" Min-Jae asked.

"Barely," Dayo replied. "What’s up?"

"You should come over. Yeobo made too much food again."

Dayo chuckled. "That’s not a real problem."

"Then come solve it."

Dayo hesitated for a second before agreeing. "Alright. Give me thirty minutes."

When he arrived, the atmosphere was relaxed. No talk of filming schedules or casting stress. Min-Jae leaned back comfortably, while Yeobo moved between the kitchen and living room with casual familiarity. They talked about small things. Food. Random stories. A few jokes about how tired everyone was.

It wasn’t long, but it helped.

Min-Jae kept him informed about what that the agencies laying low and doing nothing to this Dayo scoffed and said. "Even if they wanted to do something what could they do."

They discussed about other matters laughed and drank a bit.

When Dayo finally left and returned home, he slept almost immediately.

****

*TWO MONTHS LATER*

The next two months passed faster than expected.

Filming continued steadily.

Scenes were completed one after another. The crew adapted to the pace. The actors settled into their roles. There were no major disruptions, no disasters. Just the usual challenges that came with a physically demanding production.

Minor injuries happened.

A scraped arm here. A twisted ankle there. One actor hit their head against a metal pole during a rushed scene and had to sit out for the rest of the day. Nothing serious, but enough to remind everyone that this wasn’t an easy project.

By the time the schedule reached its midpoint, more than half of the film had already been shot.

And then something unexpected happened.

Silence.

The media stopped talking.

There were no new articles. No trending discussions. No ongoing debates. The earlier skepticism had cooled into indifference.

Dayo noticed.

Silence was dangerous for his movie.

A project like this couldn’t survive on doubt alone, but it couldn’t survive on being forgotten either. For a first-time director, momentum mattered. Attention mattered.

That was when he decided to act after weeks of thinking.

Late one night, after reviewing footage with a small internal team, Dayo selected a short clip.

It wasn’t an action scene.

There were no zombies. No chaos. No blood.

It was a quiet moment inside the train.

A father sitting beside his daughter. The train rocking gently beneath them. The noise of distant movement outside the carriage. A brief exchange between them. Simple dialogue. Natural pacing. Subtle emotion.

This was the scene where the daughter looked teriffed and the father was trying to calm her down.

The scene was simple yet touching and it showed just enough to make people question and wonder what’s next? what’s happening?.

He approved the cut himself.

No watermark. No official statement. No announcement.

The clip went out quietly.

"A leak."

Atleast that’s what he wanted the audience to think.

By the time Dayo set his phone down, the footage had already started spreading.

And time would tell if it worked or not.