Chapter 28: A Twist of Fate, the magus' Celebration

As the movie ended, with the melancholic music playing and the credits rolling, Shibamatsu couldn't help but look at the most prominent line in the credits—the work of director Shinji Matou.

"He's really amazing."

Shibamatsu said to his companions, "This movie he made is simply..."

Because the impression of the movie was too deep, and he had too many emotions, Shibamatsu couldn't find the right words to praise it.

In the end, he could only force out a sentence, "If he ever makes another film, I'll definitely go to the theater. He has changed my concept of movies. I used to think there was nothing worth attracting me to the theater other than actresses taking off their clothes."

"Me too."

One of Shibamatsu's female magus companions nodded, her eyes shining as she enthusiastically agreed, "The young master with the blue curly hair in the movie is the young master of the Matou family himself, right? He's really handsome and talented. I understand now why so many girls are fawning at him at the Clock Tower."

"Indeed. It was such a great movie..."

Shibamatsu stood up to leave the theater, but he suddenly stopped with a constipated expression on his face.

"Um... I was wondering... did any of you record the magical rituals from the movie?"

Finally remembering the task given to him by his family's elders, Shibamatsu's face was full of "trouble."

"I only recorded the beginning, and then...," another companion weakly raised her hand, answering awkwardly.

"How much did you write? Let me see... Tsk."

Shibamatsu, who had been expecting a lot, was immediately disappointed when he saw that the other person had only written less than half a page.

Not only Shibamatsu's group but also the other second-generation magus in the theater had encountered similar situations.

They had watched the movie with such excitement that they only remembered their elders' instructions after it ended, and now they all had the expressions of students who hadn't done their summer vacation homework.

"Did any of you actually write something?"

"If you have notes, could you please let me copy them? I'd be very grateful!"

"I'm from the Sōsaki family. Could someone lend me their notes? I'd appreciate it!"

...

Aoko looked at the chaotic scene in the theater and couldn't help but chuckle secretly.

"Hey, hey, Alice," she gently nudged her friend with her elbow, "what do you think these guys are here for?"

"Not my problem."

Alice pursed her lips, as if holding back a laugh. Then, she closed her notebook with a "snap."

"Such idiots," Aoko commented, "can't they just watch the movie again?"

The group of magus led by Shibamatsu, who were closer to Aoko, paused for a moment upon hearing her words. Then, they all nodded in realization.

"Since there's still plenty of time, let's watch it again."

Without waiting for his companions' agreement, Shibamatsu immediately made the decision for everyone.

"Please hold on to my things, I'll go buy tickets right away."

With that, Shibamatsu didn't even spare a glance for the cinema staff with the movie survey questionnaire. He pushed past the staff and rushed to the ticket counter.

"What's going on?"

The Bandai investigator was utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend what was happening.

As part of his job assignment, he was supposed to distribute survey questionnaires to the audience who had watched FSN that day. These data would be crucial for the company's upcoming promotional plans.

But what frustrated him was that after the movie ended, the audience lingered in the theater and showed no signs of leaving.

When he finally managed to approach an audience member who had left the theater, the person completely ignored him and headed straight to the ticket counter.

"Could it be that the movie was so terrible that they want refunds?"

However, the investigator quickly dismissed his own speculation when he saw that the audience member not only didn't ask for a refund but actually purchased several more tickets from the counter.

Soon after, not only this audience member but several others left the theater to buy tickets.

From their discussions and the information about their new tickets, it seemed that these audience members were... preparing to watch FSN again?!

"This..."

The investigator was astonished by this phenomenon.

While it was not uncommon for people to watch a movie twice, watching the same movie consecutively, and with so many people doing it together, was something the investigator had never witnessed.

"This movie is incredible!"

The investigator felt excited. He quickly took out his phone and informed his boss of what was happening in the theater.

Similar situations were occurring not only in this particular cinema but also in many others where FSN was being screened.

The audience members who decided to watch the movie again were mostly young magus.

Because they had been so engrossed during their first viewing, they had forgotten about the task assigned by their elders, which required them to record magecraft from the movie. Now they had to watch it again to fulfill their obligations.

Although these viewers were watching FSN again out of necessity, the cinema staff and the investigators from Bandai saw this as a sign that the movie was destined for success.

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"Alright, I understand. Thank you, Miss Udagawa."

Shinji hung up the phone and paced around the living room, his expression shifting from mixed emotions to calm.

The previous day, Bandai had reported the box office earnings for the first day of FSN's release. The results were far from impressive, as the film hadn't even made it into the top 20 on the daily box office chart.

Compared to the blockbuster movies he remembered from his previous life, this performance was dismal.

However, there was another piece of news that lifted Shinji's spirits. Despite the low box office numbers, the audience feedback had been overwhelmingly positive. Nearly one-third of the viewers had decided to watch the film again immediately after their first viewing.

Out of the 1543 survey questionnaires collected by Bandai, 1183 respondents rated the movie as "excellent," while 192 gave it a "good" rating. There were less than 15 "unsatisfactory" ratings.

In terms of audience feedback, FSN had received glowing reviews.

Although positive word of mouth didn't always translate into box office success, the exceptionally high praise from test screenings and the early point-of-release screenings undoubtedly gave FSN a significant advantage in terms of marketing and promotion.

Nao Udagawa had already conveyed that as long as FSN maintained its positive reputation, Bandai would allocate more resources for promotion. However, the extent of this resource increase was still uncertain due to the company's conservative strategy.

"I guess I still don't have enough control over this."

Shinji sighed and scratched his head. Not having full control over the situation was frustrating, even with his talent and abilities.

"Shinji."

"Grandfather?"

Hearing his grandfather calling him, Shinji turned to the entrance of the living room.

"Dear grandson, you've done exceptionally well. Even better than I had anticipated," Zouken said with a smile, leaning on his cane. "Your film was truly splendid. From my ordinary perspective, this movie is destined to be a milestone. When I watched it earlier, I didn't even want to leave the theater for a second."

"Grandfather..."

Shinji stared at his grandfather for a while before speaking, "But, grandfather, didn't you leave the theater for half an hour because you found the sound too loud?"

"Hehe, you must consider it as an old man's heart condition," Zouken chuckled. "You should understand that much."

Shinji looked at his grandfather's youthful appearance with a mix of emotions. "I appreciate your support, grandfather."

Without Zouken's unwavering support, Shinji wouldn't have had the opportunity to direct a movie at such a young age. He felt genuinely grateful for his grandfather's dedication.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself," Zouken advised. "You're still young. Even if this project fails, you'll have a chance to start over."

"I understand."

Shinji nodded. Indeed, his youth was his greatest advantage. Even if FSN didn't succeed, he could rely on his talent and the special effects team of magus to gradually.

Although Shinji had planned his exit strategy, he couldn't escape the anxiety he felt. Despite being a prodigy of the Clock Tower, he was still a normal person at heart.

His biggest problem was that he couldn't find a way to release his anxiety and couldn't find a place to vent his stress.

"If only I were still at the Clock Tower..."

Shinji muttered enviously to himself.

If he were still at the Clock Tower, he could easily find a beautiful magus to spend three days and three nights with, releasing all his stress, and then wait for the box office results without a care in the world.

But now, Shinji was in Fuyuki City, with elders watching over him, his sister supervising him, and people like Arturia and EMIYA keeping an eye on him.

Facing pressure from all sides and with so many eyes on him, Shinji couldn't indulge himself as he might have in England.

"Well, there's only one option left. I need to find..."

Before Shinji could finish his sentence, Zouken threw a newspaper at him.

It was an academic newspaper specifically for magus.

"Given your level of anxiety, this should help you relax."

"What?"

Shinji opened the newspaper and immediately saw the bold headline on the front page:

"Feasibility of Gem Magecraft Rituals in the Movie 'FSN.'"

"Wha...What?!"

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