(A/N):
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Meanwhile, another industry was quietly witnessing something unprecedented.
The agreement that Krishna had signed months ago with AetherNest Toy Consortium had finally entered its most important phase.
Merchandise.
At first, the company had been cautiously optimistic.
After all, movie merchandise had always sold well.
Children loved action figures.
Collectors loved limited editions.
That was nothing new.
But what happened after the launch of Super Mario completely exceeded every prediction their marketing division had made.
Inside AetherNest's central headquarters, enormous holographic charts floated throughout the executive conference room.
Sales numbers updated every few seconds.
Warehouse inventories.
Regional demand.
Factory production capacities.
Retail requests.
Everything was climbing.
Not steadily.
Explosively.
Former Chairman Caelum Aetheris stood with both hands behind his back, quietly studying the reports.
Beside him, the current Chairman and CEO, Orion Aetheris, looked equally astonished.
For nearly five minutes...
Neither of them spoke.
Finally Orion broke the silence.
"...Father."
Caelum didn't take his eyes off the holograms.
"Hm?"
"I think our prediction models are broken."
That made Caelum chuckle.
"No."
"They're simply not prepared for this."
Another report floated before them.
Best Selling Merchandise
Everyone naturally expected the first position to belong to Mario.
Or perhaps Luigi.
Instead—
The room stared at the rankings.
No. 1
🍄 Mushroom Plush
No. 2
🐢 Koopa Turtle Doll
No. 3
⭐ Star Cushion
No. 4
🟢 Green Warp Pipe Decorative Model
No. 5
Mario Figure
The entire marketing department looked confused.
One executive blinked several times.
"...People are buying..."
"...mushrooms?"
Another executive nodded weakly.
"Apparently..."
"...lots of mushrooms."
Caelum slowly adjusted the report.
The sales graph expanded.
The numbers became even more ridiculous.
The smiling Mushroom plush alone had outsold several famous hero action figures produced over the past five years.
Orion laughed in disbelief.
"I understand Mario."
"I understand Luigi."
"But..."
He picked up a plush Mushroom from the sample table.
"...this little fellow?"
The plush had a permanently cheerful smile stitched across its face.
Caelum smiled.
"Don't underestimate mascots."
Another sales report appeared.
This time showing wearable merchandise.
Mario-themed overalls.
Luigi-themed outfits.
Red caps.
Green caps.
White gloves.
Boots.
Even fake plumber tool belts.
The demand was extraordinary.
One regional manager reported through a holographic call,
"We've had customers lining up before sunrise."
"They're not buying the costumes for festivals."
"They're wearing them casually."
Another manager from a different sector added,
"Schools have started organizing Mario and Luigi themed friendship days."
A third manager couldn't hide his amusement.
"We've seen entire families."
"Father dressed as Mario."
"Mother dressed as Peach."
"The older brother insisted on Luigi."
"The younger child refused to wear anything except a Mushroom costume."
The conference room erupted into laughter.
UniNet reflected the same phenomenon.
People proudly uploaded pictures wearing the iconic red and green overalls.
Not because they were attending conventions.
Not because it was required.
They simply liked the aesthetic.
💬 [@GalaxyViewer88: Bought the Luigi outfit. Didn't expect it to be this comfortable.]
💬 [@ChaosEnjoyer999: My girlfriend stole my Mario cap. I now apparently belong to Team Luigi.]
💬 [@RainbowDrifter: The plumber fit actually goes hard.]
💬 [@SoftGalaxy: I don't even need a reason. I just wanted the overalls.]
Cosplay communities embraced it.
Fashion creators began combining Mario-inspired clothing with modern styles.
Children proudly carried Mushroom plushies to school.
Some cafés even decorated their interiors using Warp Pipe flower pots licensed through AetherNest.
Inside the toy factories, production lines worked day and night.
Machines stitched thousands of Mushroom plushies every hour.
Koopa Turtle figures rolled off assembly lines one after another.
Question Blocks became storage boxes.
Star-shaped night lamps sold out within days.
One factory supervisor looked at the production report in complete disbelief.
"I've worked here for eighty years."
"I've never seen side characters outsell the main hero."
The marketing director smiled.
"They aren't side characters."
"They're part of the world."
"And people want to bring that world home."
Caelum quietly watched another graph rise.
This one tracked merchandise revenue.
He remembered the first meeting with Krishna.
A young student.
Barely fifty years old by galactic standards.
Calmly insisting on one condition.
No adult merchandise.
No products that would humiliate his characters.
At the time, several executives had worried that such restrictions would reduce profits.
Now...
Caelum couldn't help but smile.
"They trusted the characters."
He looked toward Orion.
"And because of that..."
He picked up the smiling Mushroom plush once again.
"The audience trusted them too."
Orion nodded slowly.
For the first time in decades, AetherNest hadn't simply sold toys.
They had sold memories.
Little pieces of a world that millions of people had fallen in love with.
And judging by the ever-rising production requests, the Mushroom Kingdom wasn't leaving children's bedrooms, collectors' shelves, or family living rooms anytime soon.
Meanwhile, inside one of the private VR music studios of Star Entertainment, the atmosphere was completely different from the animation and game development departments.
There were no explosions.
No colorful worlds.
No holographic monsters.
Only music.
Floating musical staffs stretched across the room as countless notes drifted through the air like tiny stars.
Different instruments were arranged in virtual circles around the studio, allowing any sound to be recreated instantly.
Sitting opposite Krishna was Kael Virex, the musician who had worked alongside him ever since Star Entertainment's earliest days.
By now, the two had developed a rhythm of their own.
Kael no longer questioned whether Krishna's ideas would work.
He only wondered how they would somehow become another phenomenon.
Kael looked down at the holographic sheet floating before him.
Several pages of musical notes.
Rhythmic patterns.
Instrument suggestions.
Vocal transitions.
Krishna had already prepared almost everything.
Yet...
Something was missing.
The perfect sound.
Kael tapped one section of the score.
"This sequence..."
"It wants to explode."
Krishna nodded.
"But not immediately."
"It has to build tension first."
Kael smiled.
"I thought you'd say that."
With a wave of his hand, a virtual electric guitar appeared beside him.
He played a rough progression.
The melody echoed through the studio.
Krishna listened quietly.
After several seconds...
He slowly shook his head.
"Too heroic."
Kael immediately erased it.
"No problem."
"Next."
A second version followed.
This one leaned more heavily into percussion.
The rhythm was stronger.
Sharper.
Krishna closed his eyes while listening.
For nearly half a minute, the room remained silent except for the music.
When it ended...
He smiled faintly.
"The rhythm is closer."
"But the emotion isn't there yet."
Kael leaned back in his chair.
Most composers would have become frustrated after hearing that.
Instead—
He looked excited.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
Over the next several hours, they experimented relentlessly.
One version emphasized the bass.
Another focused on the guitar.
Another introduced layered percussion.
Some were energetic.
Others were aggressive.
A few sounded almost perfect...
Until Krishna heard one tiny section that didn't feel right.
Kael laughed while stretching his shoulders.
"You know..."
"I've worked with many directors."
"They usually tell me..."
'Make it louder.'
'Make it faster.'
'Make it more emotional.'
He pointed at Krishna.
"You..."
"...keep telling me what the music should feel like."
Krishna smiled.
"Because that's what people remember."
Kael looked back at the floating notes.
Honestly...
That was one of the reasons he loved working with Krishna.
Every project challenged him.
Every song forced him to discover sounds he had never explored before.
"This rhythm..."
Kael murmured while studying another section.
"It feels like someone refusing to back down."
Krishna nodded.
"Exactly."
"It shouldn't sound angry."
"It should sound determined."
Kael immediately began rearranging the instruments.
A stronger drum pattern.
A tighter bass line.
The guitar entered differently.
The melody gradually transformed.
For the first time that afternoon...
Krishna's eyes lit up.
"There."
Kael stopped playing.
"...That one?"
Krishna nodded his head.
"Save it."
Kael quickly marked the version before grinning.
"I have absolutely no idea what kind of music video you're planning."
He looked at the evolving composition.
"But whatever it is..."
"...it's going to have a ridiculous amount of energy."
Krishna chuckled.
"It needs that."
Hours passed without either of them noticing.
Outside, the sun had already begun to set over Astraea Prime.
Inside the studio, however, the two continued refining every transition.
Every beat.
Every instrumental layer.
Sometimes they spent twenty minutes discussing just a few seconds of music.
Other times inspiration struck instantly, and an entire section came together in a single attempt.
Finally, Kael leaned back and exhaled.
"I'll admit something."
Krishna looked up.
"When you first handed me these notes..."
"I couldn't understand what you were trying to create."
He laughed softly.
"It felt unlike anything we've worked on before."
He looked toward the holographic score that had gradually evolved over the day.
"But now..."
"I can finally hear it taking shape."
He smiled with genuine excitement.
"I don't know how the audience will react..."
"...but as a musician..."
"I can't wait to finish this."
Krishna looked at the unfinished composition floating between them.
There was still polishing left to do.
The arrangement needed refinement.
The recording sessions would come later.
But for the first time since receiving the idea, he felt they had found the musical direction he had been searching for.
Now, all that remained was transforming that foundation into a performance worthy of becoming Star Entertainment's next unforgettable music video.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
Check my new Fan fic: Karuppan: King of Openings
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