Chapter 174

Guardian Angel, LL-Studio's upcoming film, will be their third production. Due to the unprecedented success of their previous two films, it was only natural for their next production to be in the spotlight. More importantly, this film would be used to determine whether their success thus far was purely luck, or that the glory they had achieved was due to their abilities.

Hence, the public's focus was on the storyline of the movie which they had painstakingly prepared, as well as the production process and the cast members. Firstly, Guardian Angel was about guardians protecting their respective continents. The meaning of 'guardian angel' in the movie had a more expansive definition than its original meaning - it referred to beings who were extremely significant. Nobody knew their origins, but it was supposedly implied that they were the representatives of 'God', working under his orders.

In other words, the ones who were chosen to be the guardians of their respective continent had to protect it until they died. Even though they were tasked with 'protecting' their continents, depending on the nature of each guardian, the methods used differed from one another.

Some guardians actively participated in human affairs and meddled with history, while others simply watched from the sidelines.The guardians adopted different stances depending on the level of protection they had set, and whether they saw humans as objects that needed their protection, or entities that were self-sustaining. Although they had become guardians, it was a phenomenon that occurred because there was no one regulating and governing the guardians.

When the guardians sensed that the end of their lives was closing in on them, they would have to look for their successor to take over their duties. The guardians' thoughts and will were not reflected in this process - the next guardian would simply show up. The former guardian didn't have the power to select their successor.

A word that easily captured the essence of this process was 'identify'. The guardians' job was to identify who their successors were, and train them. That was how they had become guardians themselves as well. If a guardian's successor became a full-fledged guardian, and felt that they had fulfilled their duty, the previous guardian would then meet their demise. It was the moment where they were born as humans and died as guardians. It was a system only guardians knew - humans had no knowledge of it.

One day, an unforeseen phenomenon occurred in the world of guardians. The guardian of North America suddenly died before his successor had been named. To be precise, he was murdered. In a world where humans were oblivious of the existence of guardians, it meant that there was a possibility that other beings with special abilities existed as well.

However, in a one-one setting, only a guardian could defeat another guardian. In other words, the guardian of North America was killed by more than one individual. This incident was a wake-up call for the other guardians. Nonetheless, their first task was to select and train the next North American guardian to fill the vacant spot left behind by the former guardian.

Guardians were the chosen ones - it was as though it was their destiny to be guardians. Thus, it was not difficult to identify a successor. The issue however, was that they had to hand down the duties and train the new clueless guardian within a short period, while not forgetting that the new guardian was once a human being, who still believed he was a human being.

Normally, guardians and their successors naturally developed a sense of kinship, and formed a teacher-student bond. However, this time the circumstances didn't allow for that kind of relationship to foster. The other guardians were in a hurry to teach the new guardian in the absence of emotional connections, so they met with difficulties right from the beginning.

Furthermore, it didn't help that the new North American guardian was a daredevil. He was a young man beyond the control of the refined and cultured guardians who had lived for hundreds of years. The guardian of South America was the first guardian to oversee him because of their close proximity; he gave up in less than a month. Thus the main character, Robert, traveled across Europe and Africa before paying the guardian of Asia, Jin, a visit. And that was the premise of Guardian Angel.

This movie consisted of a mixture of various cultures based on the nationality of each guardian and the different continents. They had to add an element of fantasy in order to make it more mystical and interesting. This depended on the competence of the producer and screenwriter, Hugh Miller and Rayford. If they continued doing what they had been doing thus far, they would definitely be able to show the viewers a whole new world. Hence, the burden of anticipation ended up falling upon the cast members.

A world-famous star, Dustin Evan, took on the role of Robert - the guardian of North America. With his blonde hair and brown eyes, the 28 year old young star was a very charming actor. The combination of his bulky physique and beautiful looks that sparkled surprisingly created a polished image, and he was very good at expressing his emotions through his facial expressions.

Additionally, the other cast members might be rookies on the international stage, but they were all big stars who were already famous in their own countries. It was like breathing a breath of fresh air to see them being cast in the same movie. The anticipation of seeing how these actors would wow the viewers with their acting was part of the fun of waiting for the movie to be released.

However, like the calm weather in the eye of the storm, despite the excessive attention from the public and media, Guardian Angel's filming site was cut off from the rest of the world.

Today was the first day of shooting for Woo-Jin where he would act as the guardian of Asia, Jin. He would be meeting Robert for the first time in his first scene. At the director's cue, the look in the actors' eyes changed. Hugh and Rayford had put a lot of effort into casting the actors, and they had extraordinary acting skills.

***

As soon as Robert opened the gate and arrived at his destination, the guardian of Africa, Dwayne, turned around to look at him and said cautiously.

{You truly have to be careful this time around. This guardian has lived the longest among all of us, and we highly respect him. If you act recklessly and treat him like how you treated us, it won't end well for you.}

{Regardless of what you say, he's just an old geezer.}

The tone of Robert's voice was extremely lighthearted; however, he couldn't help but have a stiff expression. While Robert was going about his typical day one day, a man suddenly showed up and told him that he was now the guardian of North America, and led him into a strange world.

Robert was puzzled, but initially it wasn't all that bad. From the moment he became a guardian, he would live for hundreds of years without aging, and that seemed like a dream come true. Additionally, Robert now possessed more power than he ever imagined. Nobody would hate that.

In Robert's eyes, the guardians who had lived for hundreds of years were monsters. Their immense abilities and knowledge, as well as their inflexible way of thinking, and outrageous obstinacy drove Robert insane. They were just a bunch of old geezers he couldn't communicate with. They weren't just old - they were monsters that became stronger as the years passed, so it made him feel even more troubled. That was also the reason why Robert walked on eggshells after seeing Dwayne frown and glare at him after hearing the inappropriate term 'old geezer'. Robert mumbled to himself.

{Okay. fine. I'll be polite! That's why I studied hard to learn Korean!}

Since several other guardians had warned Robert that Jin from Asia was different and told him to be careful and be respectful, Robert had even studied hard to learn Korean in order to impress Jin. That was because the other guardians reacted positively when he spoke in their languages.

{What's so hard about that?}

Robert had a lot of complaints, but all the guardians he had met so far were outstanding, so he put up with them while showing a defiant attitude. The guardians took turns dealing with him while shaking their heads, but that was the same for Robert. They were merely occupied with teaching Robert - they didn't try to understand why he was confused. They sat by and looked on, leaving him to his own devices, and treated him like an adult.

This wouldn't have happened if the former guardian of North America was still around to guide and give him time to properly learn the ropes. It couldn't have felt good seeing these guardians looking pitifully at him. Robert was here today as a result of his defiant acts towards the guardians, which might have been because he was unable to handle the humiliation.

However, Robert's eyes darkened now that he was about to meet the difficult guardian of Asia, whom the other guardians revered. The person he would be meeting this time around was none other than the leader of the group of arrogant guardians.

{What's wrong?}

Dwayne suddenly stopped walking; Robert looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.

{From this point onwards, you'll have to go alone.}

Robert blinked. He couldn't understand the blunt response.

{Jin wants to meet you alone. Just the two of you.}

Dwayne conveyed the details of the telepathic conversation he had with Jin to Robert, and nudged him from the back as he took a step back. Dwayne was full of smiles, and there was no hesitation in his actions. It was as though he was happy to be freed from Robert.

{You're doing it again! You're talking among yourselves!}

Guardians could communicate telepathically with one another regardless of space and distance. However, Robert had yet to unlock that ability. The guardians said it was because he hadn't opened up his mind yet, but Robert couldn't understand what they meant by that, so it made him feel left out.

{You should at least tell me where to go, no?!}

Robert was currently standing in front of a strange house; there was a stone wall behind him and he was facing the house while standing in a place which he presumed to be a garden. It looked like one of the traditional houses in this country, which he had looked up before coming here, but it was a small and modern two-story house.

{These people don't know how to be considerate anyway! Everyone just does whatever they want...ugh!}

Robert grumbled to himself; he was startled when the front door suddenly opened on both sides. He looked around, and studied the surroundings before carefully walking through the door. There was another door at the end of the short hallway. However, there was no need to worry about where to go, since the door opened on its own without giving him any time to think.

Just as he was about to confidently walk through the door, a transparent barrier blocked his way, as though it was rejecting him.

{You opened the door for me, so why are you blocking my way?}

Robert banged his fist against the transparent barrier, and tried to push against it with his body in an attempt to get inside. However, the invisible obstacle was still there. He couldn't get in, even though he could see what was on the other side of the barrier. Despite being described as crude and careless, Robert had the greatest physical strength out of all the guardians, but even his sheer strength couldn't shatter this transparent barrier. Truthfully, physical strength was not the solution.

Just then, Robert saw a pair of slippers floating before his eyes. As soon as he laid eyes on them, the slippers slowly descended and landed gently on the floor. Robert took off his shoes and put on the slippers before placing his right foot through the barrier carefully.

After he successfully placed his foot through the barrier without any difficulty, Robert managed to enter the barrier, and stepped into the living room like it was nothing. Even though the structure of the house was very unfamiliar, Robert had already gotten used to this place after taking a quick look around. He had learnt to quickly adapt to the unfamiliar cultures of the other guardians when he visited their homes. Robert clamped his mouth shut and nodded. A look of great resolve could be seen on his face.

{Where do I go now?}

Before he could finish speaking, the sliding door on one side of the spacious living room slid open. Robert entered without hesitation, and was greeted by a young man standing by the window. As soon as Robert saw the young man, he subconsciously pressed his hand against his chest because it felt very heavy.

The young man looked just like a scholar because of how his neat hair that was combed to the back, without a single strand of stray hair out of place, as well as his pair of expensive-looking silver-rimmed glasses. Dressed in a tie and a gray vest, he looked like an aristocrat.

{Is he an aristocrat as well?}

The guardian of Europe, Angelica, came from a German aristocratic family. She was born and raised as a noblewoman. Thus, she was very inflexible and fussy. She couldn't even put up with Robert for a full week - she threw in the towel after five days. She hated how messy and uncouth he was, as well as his loud voice, so she shipped Robert off to Africa immediately.

Thinking about his experience with her gave him a throbbing headache, so Robert shuddered whenever he met an aristocrat.

Am I going to be kicked out again after a few days?

However, the problem was that this time he had nowhere to go. Robert still had a lot to learn. If he got kicked out again, it would be the end of the road for him. Just imagining it was frustrating. This time around, Robert had to do whatever it took to impress him.

Robert approached the young man with an innocent smile on his face. The young man was evidently the guardian of Asia; he only looked like he was in his early twenties. He looked so young and beautiful - his beauty was so unreal that he looked just like a painting. Perhaps it was because of his clothes, but it seemed as though a gray shadow was hovering around him for some reason. Like...

{Just like a black and white photo. Ah, that's not it! Hmm!}

Even though Robert didn't know how long he would be staying here, it wasn't good to be hated. As much as Robert had a lot to learn, he still wanted to get along with Jin, even if it was just a little. Thus, Robert tried his best to make an effort and acted out of character.

"Hullo. Mi name is Robert Palmer."

After introducing himself in Korean with a heavy accent like how he had practiced before, Robert smiled brightly and looked at the guardian of Asia. He seemed very proud of himself. It was his first time introducing himself in the other party's native language, so he wanted his efforts to be recognized.

{You have bad pronunciation, just speak in English.}

However, all he got in response was not a compliment but cold ridicule.

{You can call me Jin.}

Robert felt even more ashamed and depressed when he heard how accurate and perfect Jin's English was - he sounded just like a news anchor.

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