Chapter 26: Gaining Fame in the Circle

Accompanied by Beethoven's murmurs, the theme song of FSN, "Disillusion," began to play in the theater.

To better capture the bittersweet feeling of Fate/Stay Night's ending, Shinji deliberately chose the symphonic version from 2007.

To recreate the music from his memories, Shinji had spent quite a bit of money.

Fortunately, Shinji Matou, although not musically inclined, was not tone-deaf either. With his diligent efforts, he managed to recreate the song perfectly as he remembered it.

Moreover, due to the absence of various copyright disputes, he directly used the title "Disillusion" for this song, rather than the more common "This illusion" he used in his previous life. The former was more in line with the movie's plot, where Arturia ultimately gave up her illusions and accepted her fate.

Actually, this slightly bittersweet ending didn't conform to the rules of big-budget commercial films. In commercial film terms, a grand, feel-good ending like the Good End of the UBW route would have been more appropriate.

Shinji had also shot material for that Good End as an alternative ending for the movie. However, during the final editing, he felt that the original ending better reflected Arturia's character growth and made her character more complete. So, he chose the original ending.

Fortunately, in this world, art films were dominant, and tragic endings were something art films didn't lack.

So, the audience didn't feel dissatisfied with the slightly melancholic ending of FSN; they just felt like they wanted more.

"This music is somewhat melancholic..." Aoko leaned back in her seat and sighed, "But it really suits the mood of that King Arthur. Alice, do you think the real King Arthur has found peace in the afterlife?"

"This is just a movie; you need to separate it from reality," Alice replied with a nod and a lowered brow.

"Is that so..." Aoko tilted her head, looking puzzled, "But my sister told me that the actors in this movie are all playing as themselves."

"Hmm..."

Alice raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"Are you thinking about going to Fuyuki City?" Aoko suddenly became interested. If Alice really had such an idea, she could also take the opportunity to see Touko.

Alice replied with a blank expression, "We'll see."

"Hey, hey, aren't you being too mysterious?" Aoko felt that her friend had something on her mind, but he couldn't guess what it was. Alice's poker face was impenetrable.

Fuyuki City's screening venue.

While the audience was immersed in the epic storyline of the FSN movie, listening to the melodious song "Disillusion," Shinji had already evacuated with the crew as soon as the main feature ended.

Before the movie started, the audience didn't recognize them, so it was manageable. But now that the movie had ended, at least in this theater, they had become famous.

To prevent any accidents in the narrow theater, Shinji decisively left early with his team.

"Hey, Master."

As soon as they stepped out of the cinema, Cu Chulainn embraced Shinji's neck.

Shinji gave him a look. "What's up?"

Cu Chulainn grinned and said, "Master, since I worked so hard during filming, can I be the protagonist in the next movie?"

Recalling how he had been forgotten by the audience during his second appearance in the movie, Cu Chulainn felt quite aggrieved.

Especially...

'Why can this guy, who only appeared in the final scenes for less than 40 minutes, be remembered, while I, who appeared from the beginning, can't?'

"You as the protagonist?" Shinji eyed Cu Chulainn and asked, "Are you planning to shoot 'Final Destination'?"

For Shinji, his immediate reaction to Cu Chulainn's luck was the classic "Lancer dies again!"

And if there was more to it, it would be, "How unfair!"

Cu Chulainn had no idea what his Master was thinking, but upon hearing the title of the movie he mentioned, he became interested.

"What movie is that? A horror film?"

After spending this much time summoned into the modern world, Cu Chulainn had a basic understanding of movies. When he heard Shinji mention the title, he immediately guessed it was a horror film.

Shinji shrugged. "Close enough."

'For you, it's undoubtedly a horror film.'

"That sounds good." Cu Chulainn's eyes lit up. "Hey, Master, can I have a role in it?"

"Let's start by having you memorize the lines word for word."

Shinji patted the big dog's head and gave this ambiguous answer.

Since there was a desire to use the Heroic Spirits as a selling point for his film company, it was only a matter of time before these Heroic Spirits were cast in other movies. With each of them being handsome and beautiful, it would be a waste not to utilize such excellent resources.

However, other directors might not have the same patience as Shinji Matou. Before entrusting them to others, Shinji felt that they should at least meet the minimum standards of acting ability.

In the end, as Risei looked at Shinji and the others goofing off in front of him, he couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. While putting on his own coat, he said to Tokiomi, "These kids who weren't even knee-high are all grown up now. I really feel like I've aged."

"Hmm..."

Tokiomi, who had been silent all night, finally spoke up.

"I mean, Shinji's magecraft skills are already so high? The portrayal of Jewel Magecraft in the movie is an advanced technique that not even Rin has learned yet..."

With that, Tokiomi raised his head to look at the moonlight in the sky.

"Is there really such a prodigious genius in this world?"

"Hey, you've been silent all night, and this is what you've been thinking about?!" Risei nearly choked.

In Fuyuki City, Shinji and his group were relaxed and happy, while in Tokyo, employees led by Nao Udagawa of Bandai Company were equally jubilant.

After working overtime tirelessly, the results of the audience survey at the Tokyo screening venue were finally available.

"Udagawa-san, here are the statistics from the Tokyo screening."

The staff member in charge of the survey report handed it to Nao.

"We distributed 345 audience questionnaires and received 302 back," the staff member summarized concisely. "There were 275 excellent ratings, 15 good ratings, 5 satisfactory ratings, and 7 poor ratings. In addition..."

The staff member paused slightly and glanced at Nao before continuing, "As mentioned by Director Matou, among the special attention group of viewers (aged 15-35), there were only two satisfactory ratings and one poor rating."

The office fell silent for a few seconds before the staff members erupted into cheers.

"Ha-ha! That's amazing!"

"Long live Director Matou!"

"Arturia-sama is truly the best!"

"Fate is the best!"

...

The office quickly became chaotic, with employees throwing objects in celebration.

One excited individual even took off his shirt and started swinging it around, causing female employees to scream.

Compared to her enthusiastic subordinates who were already dancing in jubilation, Nao was much more reserved. However, the joyful smile on her face betrayed her inner thoughts.

The outstanding feedback data from the survey questionnaires and the enthusiasm of the audience she felt in the theater further boosted her confidence in the film.

"You did really well."

Nao casually picked up an audience survey questionnaire from the desk and quietly read the comments written on it.

{The portrayal of various magecraft techniques in the movie is very realistic, as if I personally participated in a real Holy Grail War. Although the whole story seems a bit exaggerated, the effects of the magecraft are enhanced, making the action scenes more exciting, especially the battles between the Heroic Spirits, showcasing their peak abilities.}

Some of the strange comments on the questionnaire reminded her of the two chuunibyou girls who had sat beside her tonight.

"Despite being somewhat exaggerated and the difficulty distinguishing between reality and fiction..."

In any case, the fact that the audience enjoyed the movie was a good thing.

More than that, the passionate fans who were so enthusiastic about the film that they couldn't distinguish between it and reality were the exact audience that Bandai Company needed. Who else would they sell their merchandise to?

"As expected, just as he predicted, the younger audience has a higher acceptance of this film."

Recalling the additional content in the survey report, Nao smiled knowingly.

"Since the results are as he expected, it's time to put the distribution plan he left behind into action."

With that, Nao retrieved a promotional distribution proposal that Shinji had prepared long before from her office drawer.

While Shinji and Bandai were both enjoying the future of the film, a huge shock rocked the Japanese magical community.

"Hey, have you heard about that movie?"

"I have, I heard that the portrayal of magecraft is amazing!"

"More than just amazing, I heard that many Magecraft techniques that were originally just concepts were actually realized by that director!"

"And there's that ritual called the Holy Grail War; it's said to be able to allow the winner to reach the Root!"

"The Root!!! Is that true?"

"I don't know; I haven't seen the movie."

...

Although Bandai didn't have many trial screenings, the proportion of magus in Japan was not very high. However, apart from the viewing group from Fuyuki City and the two girls, Alice and Aoko, there were still quite a few magus who attended the trial screenings.

These people immediately reported their findings to their respective families after watching the movie.

The topic of Fate/Stay Night immediately spread like wildfire in the magical community.

The information network among magus should not be underestimated. Although only a few had seen the movie, news quickly spread throughout the community.

The reason for the rapid spread of this topic was because many things Shinji had shown in the movie, such as powerful magecraft, the Noble Phantasms of the heroes, and the possibility of reaching the Root, were all things that the current magical community dreamed of.

"Hey, investigate it quickly!"

"Is the one who made the movie from the Matou family?"

"Was the movie filmed in Fuyuki City?"

"Hurry up and find out about the feasibility of the Holy Grail summoning ritual!"

To figure out the facts related to magecraft in the movie, many magus families started to take action.

However, Fate/Stay Night had not yet been widely released, and it was difficult to describe the specifics based solely on the oral accounts of those who had seen the movie.

Therefore, most magus only knew that there was a movie about magecraft that revealed many secrets of magecraft, but they didn't have specific details.

Nevertheless, Fate/Stay Night had already made a name for itself in the magical community.

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