Hollywood: Lights, Ink, Entertainment! Chapter 124: He Was Born For This

....

"Don't you think I am starting a little too late?" Nanami asked, the question slipping out quietly as he sat down, towel still around his neck, hair damp from a quick wash.

Regal didn't even flinch. "Of course you are."

Nanami blinked. The honesty was blunt, but not cruel. Just... matter-of-fact.

He was in his mid-thirties now. Not old, not yet, but in an industry that prized young prodigies and polished veterans, it was a strange middle ground. Too late to be called a beginner, too early to be wise.

Still, he nodded, resolute. "Okay. I will give it everything. Let start practicing now."

Regal shook his head, handing him a warm bottle of water. "No. Don't push your voice. At least not until we finish this first job of yours."

Nanami frowned. "What do you an? As you said I am already late... So shouldn't I be training non-stop this week? I thought the point was to get better - to be ready."

Regal leaned back in his chair, letting out a short breath. "Nanami, you are not going to beco a voice artist in a week. The job now is to understand it. Shape it. Lightly. We will figure that out in the booth. For now, just focus on morizing the lines. Let your instincts do the rest."

"But that doesn't make any sense." Nanami said, frustrated. "If you trust with this, I have to put in the work. I have to earn it."

"You are already starting late." Regal said with a shrug. "So being a little more late won't matter. Just take it slow. What's the worry? You rush now, you will burn out before you even begin."

Those words... Sohow, they made sense in a way they shouldn't have.

He couldn't argue back. Not with that kind of calm certainty.

"In fact." Regal added. "I think if you do practice nonstop without rest, it will only backfire. First of all, your voice could get damaged. And second, if you don't improve, which might happen, you only end up disappointed in yourself. You will start doubting everything, thinking things like, 'I'm putting in so much effort... why am I not getting better?'"

Nanami's shoulders loosened slightly.

"Instead, I would say... treat it like a part-ti thing. Practice only when you have real free ti. That's when actual results show up - when a person takes the little spare monts in their life, puts aside comfort, and chooses to practice in the ti he would otherwise rest... That's when real improvent happens."

Silence hung between them.

Then Nanami gave a small nod. It still didn't make complete sense to him. But maybe that was okay. Maybe so things only made sense after you did them.

For now, he just had to trust.

"Wow... Regal, are you always this good at making people do your bidding?" Samantha, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke.

"Can you please not put it that way?" Regal replied, exasperated.

"You really do have a natural talent for convincing people." Gwendolyn added, smirking.

"See, now that is much more pleasant to hear." Regal said, with a satisfied nod.

But it seed Samantha wasn't finished.

"So this is how you recruit everyone, huh? I get it now..." She said, nodding to herself as if she had uncovered so big secret.

That's when there was a knock at the door.

Regal called out, already guessing who it might be. "Co in..."

But instead of the door opening, there was another knock.

This ti, Gwendolyn gave the call. "Yes?"

...And the door cracked open.

Standing there was Rock - towering, as usual - his broad arms loaded with drinks and sothing to eat.

One look at his face, and Regal could already guess what had just happened.

It was sothing like, 'How could I enter the room of a lady without her permission'

The corner of Regal's mouth twitched, but he chose not to comnt.

....

A few hours later, the group arrived at the dubbing studio, a quiet, professional space with soundproof walls and soft lighting. Regal stood by the engineer's desk, reviewing the script, while Nanami sat nearby, absorbing the new environnt.

Then ca the entrance - asured footsteps, a polite nod to the sound tech - and in walked the legend himself.

Peter Cullen.

The voice of titans. The man who could make silence feel like a countdown.

"Mr. Cullen." Regal stepped forward, offering a respectful nod. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

Peter gave a warm smile and shook his hand.

"Of course. I won't miss it." He glanced at Nanami, who imdiately sat up straighter. "Looks like we have got sothing new going on today?"

Regal exhaled. "Yeah, about that... small adjustnt. Originally you were set to voice everything, but we are shifting a few key lines to soone new - Nanami."

Peter Cullen turned, offering a handshake. "Ah, hello there. I don't believe I have seen you around before - new to the field?"

It wasn't ant to intimidate. Just an observation. After decades in the industry, Peter knew nearly every major voice in the business.

Nanami didn't ring any bells. But sothing about him gave Peter pause - he didn't look particularly young.

Mid-thirties, maybe older. Not quite the usual green recruit.

Nanami blinked, unsure how to respond. The handshake threw him - should he bow? Speak? Shake his hand? His body tensed as he glanced at Regal, caught between cultural instincts and confusion.

Regal chuckled. "He doesn't speak English, Mr. Cullen."

Peter raised an eyebrow, briefly confused. "He doesn't...?"

For a mont, he looked unsure - why would soone who couldn't speak the language be brought into a dubbing session?

A brief silence. Then he just nodded, deciding to see where this was going.

They moved closer to the recording booth. Regal handed Peter a sheet of dialogue - just half a page.

Nothing for a veteran like him; he scanned it once, then twice, and it was already locked in.

Nanami stood nearby, scanning the screen nervously, mouthing sothing to himself. There was effort. Focus. Maybe too much of it.

Then he leaned closer to Regal and whispered in Japanese. "Is... is he famous?"

Regal smirked. "Yep. Let's say if he ever narrated your life, you would sound ten tis cooler."

Nanami nodded solemnly.

Peter glanced at Regal, then tilted his head toward Nanami.

After a few more minutes Regal shrugged. "You are up first. Go on - you have been practicing, right?"

Nanami flinched.

He thought Peter would go first.

But before he could react, Regal gave him a gentle shove toward the booth, and the door clicked shut behind him.

A headset dropped over his ears.

He had no choice now.

His fingers trembled as he adjusted the mic. He took a breath.

In front of him, the screen ca alive.

The scene began.

Sung Jin-Woo stood tall in the middle of the battlefield, alone.

Blood-soaked ruins behind him. A still wind. His back is straight. His shadow deep and stretching wide beneath his feet, like sothing alive.

Nanami's eyes locked on the protagonist's.

Regal had briefed him on the story. He knew the weight of this mont.

This was the first ti Jin-Woo used his true power.

There was uncertainty there - yes.

A flicker of it.

But beneath that, sothing stronger.

Confidence. A magnetic, quiet authority that pulled gravity toward him.

Not arrogance - just inevitability.

A man who had just realized what he truly was.

Nanami tried to internalize that. The duality. The restraint. The dormant storm.

He swallowed. This was the second line. Just one word.

He couldn't afford to miss.

His gaze stayed on Jin-Woo's lips.

Then - he matched the timing.

His mouth opened.

"Arise."

It wasn't loud.

But it carried the weight.

Like an incantation spoken by a king in exile - returned. Low, resonant, and absolute.

Behind Jin-Woo, the swirling black mist tightened, spun, and began to coalesce. One by one, bodies rose from it - not human, not quite. Shadows. Soldiers. Eyes glowing pale violet. The dead, reanimated in devotion.

A knight in cracked armor lifted its massive sword, kneeling before its master. Another - a beast like shadow with serrated claws - lowered its head as if in reverence. Then another. And another.

An army.

All erging from his shadow like loyal ghosts answering a forgotten king.

"If you guys are hunters.... Then beco ready to be hunted."

....

Outside the booth, Regal leaned forward, muttering under his breath. "Damn..."

Peter didn't speak.

His expression changed - subtly, but unmistakably. His brow lifted. Just slightly. A slow, knowing breath escaped him.

That voice.

The depth.

The restraint.

It was the kind of voice that didn't need to prove itself.

It just was.

He glanced sideways at Regal, and in that silent mont, he understood exactly why this man had been brought here - language barrier or not.

Nanami wasn't just capable.

He was ant for this.

A voice like that - that - wasn't sothing you trained.

It was sothing you were born with. Sothing that found you.

A calling.

"He was born for this."

And Peter Cullen, the voice of titans, just nodded once to himself.

Respect earned. Instantly.

.

....

[To be continued...]

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