The envious actor

"And scene. CONGRATULATIONS everyone! We did it!" the director shouted.

"Bout time we finished with this shit!" Dumbee's actor, Niles Thorndyke growled as he stormed off.

Niles Thorndyke was a failed Australian actor. He had longed to have his own nature show, but it never took off. He then adopted the Drop Bear Dumbee moniker as an attempt to garner more attention. It didn't work. Though, he did attract the attention of a certain Japanese author. Said author's editor had contacted him and offered to make a 10 episode drama guest starring him as one of the leads. Niles leapt at the chance, only to find that he was asked to act like a complete idiot.

"I better get fame and fortune for all this shit!" Niles glared as he ran into the producer.

The producer sighed and wiped his brow, before meeting with the director.

"Damn you Shiragiku, this better become profitable," the producer thought.

In addition to producing this drama, the producer was also the CEO of a large publishing company. Everyone simply refereed to him as the editor though, considering he'd constantly glance over everyone's manuscripts before they were published. As for the drama, he had ordered one of his star authors to write the script for this television drama. The author in question, elected to give the editor a poorly written script right before the filming was set to begin. Having already invested large sums of money to get a popular actor to star in the series, the editor had no choice, but to go with the lousy script. To make matters worse, said actor was forced to dress in a kangaroo suit for nearly the entire show.

"Ugh, viewership will plummet after the first episode. No ones gonna wanna see hot actor, Mamoru Daigoro in a kangaroo suit," the editor groaned.

"I think he was plenty hot in that suit," the writer of the show smirked as he adjusted his glasses.

"Yes, so hot, that he constantly had to drink water every time we completed a scene, Shiragiku!"

"Hey, at least the ladies will get to hear his sexy voice as he screams like an idiot," Shiragiku, the writer sneered.

"If he wasn't under contract he would have quit instantly. If this ruins his reputation, our company will also take a hit, and you can bet I'll put all the blame on you."

"Do it then. Advertise this as a Shiruka sensei work and see what happens."

"Alright tough guy. When the editing's complete, we'll shadowdrop this trash under your name."

                                                                                  ...

At the start of the fall season, many television viewers were shocked to see the 1st episode of Yowie Hunt appear on their televisions. The editor elected not to bother himself with the show, and only vowed to see its reception upon its completion. Unbeknownst to the editor, Shiragiku publicly promoted the show on the internet and in his author comments.

                                                                                ...

Once the final episode aired, the editor called Shiragiku into his office.

"This was a disaster. Despite all my efforts not to promote this show, it has somehow been trending for the past few months in the public space. Naturally, everyone is mocking the stupidity of the show," the editor groaned.

"It's so bad, it's good. That's what I was going for. I'm sure in a few years, people will flock to view this show," Shiragiku smirked.

"Like hell they will. Ugh, worst of all, I can't dump all the blame on you thanks to that demon dragon you signed a deal with."

"Oh, he spook you?"

"YES he spooked me! Ugh, I bet this was all his plan to make me suffer," the editor depressingly groaned as he sunk down into his chair.

"Well, perhaps you should have noticed my talent. Oh yes, just thought I'd rub it in that Gathering of Ghosts is doing amazing on the sales charts."

One day later...

The editor's eyes widened as he went on the internet.

"The hell!? SHIRAGIKU!" he shouted.

"Um boss, Shiruka sensei left the company yesterday," an aide nervously stated.

"DAMMIT! That shit! How could he just up and run after what he did!? Dammit, why didn't I listen to him!?" the editor tearfully ranted.

                                                                                      ...

In Australia, Niles smiled as he went on the internet.

""Yowie Hunt is a masterpiece" they say. Well no shit. It's all thanks to me. I carried that shit," Niles gloated.

As he scrolled through more comments though, his mood soured.

"The writer's amazing? BULLSHIT! That script was shit. I made it work. Eh, who cares what some nobodies think, let's see the professionals praise my work," Niles enviously growled as he went to look up some critic reviews. He stared intently at the first one he saw.

The review read, " Yowie Hunt is stupid. But that's the point. If this were written by anyone else, I would have discarded it as some college shitpost that somehow got greenlit for a television drama. However, it's by the infamous Shiruka sensei. Most well known for his works, Six chances at Love and Grouping of ghosts, Shiruka is also known for writing single page works like Four very bloody sentences and One letter. His publicity stunt that saw the debut of both Four very bloody sentences and Grouping of ghosts was a stroke of genius. He also revealed on his internet blog that he had completed the script for Yowie Hunt after being given a week's deadline. This certainly invokes comparisons to a certain infamous video game. Given the context, this work is a masterpiece. The writing is terrible, but it's intentionally terrible. I can see why popular actor, Mamoru Daigoro agreed to be apart of something this bad. This still gets an overall 1/10, but I must recommend this if you are a fan of Shiruka's works."

Niles angrily glared as he scrolled through the other reviews. When he finished reading all of them, he threw his computer monitor in an envious rage.

"THE HELL'S WRONG WITH THEM!? I CARRIED THIS! WHY ARE THEY PRAISING THE WRITER AND THAT PRETTY BOY IN THE KANGAROO SUIT!? WHERE'S MY PRAISE!? I WAS THE FACE OF THIS PROJECT!" Niles raged.

"Indeed, you were by far the sole reason this was even made. How dare the masses of fools fail to see," a voice hissed.

"Who!?"

"Want to make a pact with me? If you do, your talents will be recognized and you shall stand amongst the greatest."

"Yeah, give me the glory I deserve!"

Niles' eyes began to glow green with envy as he signed the pact.

"Now, time for the world to know of my greatness," Niles evilly smirked.