DS CH1-5 (Patreon)

DS CH1-5

Chapter 1: Master, Lancer Popped the Light Bulb

The moonlight in Fuyuki City in winter was clear and bright, quiet and peaceful.

However, what happened under the moonlight was not as poetic as this beautiful scenery.

Bang!

Bang!

"Gu——!"

Emiya Shirou crawled into the warehouse on his hands and knees. He anxiously looked around, trying to find something that could be used as a weapon.

But the man chasing him did not allow him to do so.

"Is it over?"

A flash of red light passed by.

The scarlet spear stabbed at Emiya Shirou with murderous intent.

"This——guy——!"

At the critical moment, Emiya Shirou spread out the poster in his hand, which he had rolled into a stick with a metallic luster, and used it as a shield.

Keng!

"Ah——!"

Emiya Shirou screamed.

The poster was pierced by the spear and turned back into ordinary paper.

The power of the spear's thrust did not decrease and even pierced through the spotlight in the corner.

Click.

As the illumination lamp went out, the brightness of the warehouse dimmed.

"Ah——!"

Emiya Shirou was blown away by the impact of the spear and slammed against the wall.

"Huh...Huh..."

Emiya Shirou sat on the floor, holding his heart tightly with his right hand.

Just when he was about to grab something that could be used as a weapon and raised his head——

"It's over. I was really scared just now, kid."

The man standing in front of him wore blue tights, held a red spear, and had been chasing him; the tip of the spear was aimed squarely at his heart.

"..."

Emiya Shirou knew that he had already lost.

He stared at the tip of the spear so hard that he didn't even understand what the man said.

"Then, let's end it here."

The man's hand moved.

A silver light flashed, and the target was Emiya Shirou's heart.

"Don't be ridiculous! How can I————"

At this critical moment of life and death, Emiya Shirou shouted with all his strength, "——It's meaningless to die here!"

A miracle responded to Shirou Emiya's cry, and a glowing magic circle appeared beneath him.

"Huh? Could it be?"

In the dazzling light, a blue-clad girl in armor appeared in front of Shirou Emiya.

Clang!

The girl seemed to be holding something in her hand directly deflected the thrusting spear that was meant to pierce Shirou Emiya. She rushed toward the man without hesitation.

"Is it really the seventh?!"

The man, who had held up the deflected spear, collided with the girl who was waving "something" in her hand.

Sparks burst again!

"Tsk."

After being hit by the girl who had just appeared, the man with the spear retreated a few steps and quickly exited the warehouse because he realized that fighting in the small warehouse was not advantageous for him.

The girl did not chase him but stood where she was and slowly turned around.

The silver moonlight that streamed into the warehouse illuminated the girl in knight's armor, making her appear so holy and noble.

"..."

Emiya Shirou couldn't make a sound.

The girl in front of him was too beautiful for him to speak.

"..."

The girl stared at Emiya Shirou with her gem-like pupils, devoid of emotion.

"..."

"..."

After staring at Shirou for a long time, the girl tilted her head to one side and said in a stern voice:

"Ano... Master. Lancer poked the light. Can we not shoot this shot?"

Not far away, a blue-haired boy sitting in the director's chair frowned hard after hearing this.

"Cut! This shot will definitely not pass."

The boy waved the director's stick in his hand, signaling other crew members to stop their work.

"Everyone, hurry up and set up. We'll start again later."

After saying that, Shinji stood up from the chair, walked to the center of the set, and extended his hand to pull Shirou up from the ground.

"Thanks, Shinji."

Shirou patted the debris off his body and said with a smile.

"Well, Shirou, go change your clothes quickly. It will take some time to start again."

The boy named Shinji placed his hand on his chin and said this while looking at Artoria.

"OK."

Shirou nodded.

He knew that Shinji had something to say to the knight girl, so he left quickly.

"Master, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Artoria asked Shinji directly. This stern look reminded Shinji of a serious soldier.

Shinji nodded and said, "Well, the expression is good, and the sense of the camera is also good. Remember to keep this level when you reshoot later."

"Really? Thank you for the compliment."

Artoria nodded slightly. Even though she was praised, she did not show any further emotion.

Seeing that his Servant was so serious, Shinji, who originally just wanted to give her some advice, thought of teasing her.

"Saber, come here."

"What's the matter?"

Artoria walked in front of Shinji with an expressionless face. Shinji summoned the most classic version of King Arthur. This Artoria was only 1.54 meters tall, about the height of Shinji's shoulders, and was considered a very petite girl.

However, the petite girl who bore the responsibility of the entire country was originally an important aspect of Artoria's character.

But Shinji looked further; he hoped that Saber could show more varied expressions. Even if she could not become a little angel like Saber Lily, at least she could be more girlish.

[Otherwise, it would be difficult to promote movie actors in the future.]

Shinji sighed, raised the director's stick in his hand, and, in Artoria's expectant gaze, hit her head with a "bang."

"Master, do you have a tendency to hit people at will?"

Artoria looked at Shinji in confusion, filled with bewilderment.

"Saber, I should have told you!"

Shinji placed the director's stick on Artoria's head and kept turning it.

"Before the director yells 'Cut,' unless you get hurt, you have to act according to the script!"

Artoria nodded slightly. "So... it seems to be true... Sorry, Master, I was wrong."

"..."

Shinji's mouth twitched.

Artoria's tone was too calm, making it difficult for people to feel the sincerity of her apology.

[There is no other way; you forced me to use this trick.]

Shinji took away the director's baton, gently stroked Artoria's cheek, and smiled mischievously.

"I believe our Lord King Arthur will remember every word that the Master director said and implement it seriously, right?"

Without waiting for Artoria to answer, Shinji's expression changed as he threatened in a low voice.

"If you can't do it, I will use my command spell to prohibit you from eating snacks on the set!"

Artoria couldn't help but take a step back upon hearing this.

"How can you be like this? It's too mean, Master."

Seeing that Artoria's eyes were finally no longer as cold and indifferent as before, replaced by a trace of panic, Shinji felt satisfied.

[Sure enough, capturing this kind of girl with a dignified temperament is more rewarding than ordinary girls. Especially when she sheds that cold and beautiful facade, it truly is the best.]

"So, Saber, what is your answer?"

Shinji's mouth curled into a smile.

"I... I know."

Although she was very unwilling, Artoria still succumbed to Shinji's tyranny for the sake of snacks.

"Saber, you have to work harder~ for more delicious food."

Shinji smiled and touched Artoria's head, showing the dark side he learned from his lovely sister to the fullest.

"Hmph, mean Master, you actually threatened me like this."

Artoria slapped Shinji's hand away unhappily. She walked to the rest area, directly opened a bag of snacks, and ate them in a huff.

"Sure enough, the setting of being a foodie is a deep-rooted attribute of Artoria," Shinji chuckled.

Snap.

Suddenly, Lancer Cu Chulainn's hand pressed heavily on Shinji's shoulder, and he stared at him with a teasing look, which seemed to say:

Haha, Master, you actually bullied a girl.

"You're still laughing!" Shinji, furious, kicked Cu Chulainn on the butt. "I told you to hold back when fighting Shirou, but you actually poked the light bulb! If you do this again, I'll deduct your pay!"

"Got it, Master."

Looking at Cu Chulainn's frivolous smile, Shinji didn't know whether this casual guy had actually listened.

These heroic spirits excel in fighting scenes, and their movements are also pleasing to the eye. Shinji felt more than once that his decision to summon heroic spirits to make a movie was the right one.

"It's just that many of the basic acting skills are not up to standard."

Shinji sighed helplessly.

From the beginning of filming to now, these guys had caused more than one or two incidents.

"I hope they can change in the future."

Shinji waved his hand to signal Artoria and Cu Chulainn to quickly prepare for another filming while he rechecked the set in the warehouse.

Details determine success or failure. As Shinji's first movie, and a film that is likely to be shown to the world, he must do it to perfection.

"A bunch of troublesome guys; the Heroic Spirits are really all problem children."

Shinji tapped his shoulder with the director's stick, his face full of helplessness.

"Haha, Shinji, it's really hard to be a director."

Shirou, who had changed into a set of exactly the same costume, walked over with a smile.

"Shirou, don't be so happy there. I won't let you off during filming later just because you sympathize with me."

"Haha~ So strict."

Shirou looked at his childhood friend and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I expected the hard work. If I couldn't endure this, I wouldn't have chosen to make a movie."

Looking at the busy set, Shinji tapped the director's pole in his hand repeatedly.

"Are you confident?"

"Of course! This is the beginning of a great project that will change our magicians."

Shirou glanced at Shinji and said with a little envy, "Well, Shinji, you are always so confident. Sometimes, I'm really curious where you get such confidence."

"Maybe... because I'm a genius."

Shinji smiled inscrutably and walked to the slide behind the director's camera.

"Let's do the shot again. All departments quickly get back in place!"

Shinji made routine inquiries into the loudspeaker.

"Props?"

"OK!"

"Set?"

"OK!"

"Lighting?"

"OK!"

...

"Departments, get ready..."

Shinji took a red cap from Sakura and put it on his head backward. "Fate/stay night, Scene 4, Scene 35... Action!"

Snap.

As the clapperboard sounded, the most classic scene in the Type-Moon world reappeared in front of Shinji's camera.

The bright moonlight, the holy knight girl, and the line engraved in the DNA of every Type-Moon fan.

"Servant Saber, come as summoned."

"I ask you, are you my Master?"

----

Chapter 2: Don’t Choose Item Posters Randomly

Matou Shinji is a transmigrator who calls himself a senior otaku.

Before transmigration, Shinji not only liked novels, games, animation, and other things that ACG fans generally enjoy, but he also conducted some research on derivative fields such as Hollywood movies and tokasatsu dramas.

Like most transmigrators, after Shinji died in an accident, he inexplicably traveled into the body of a 7-year-old blue-haired boy in 1994 for some unknown reason.

Transmigration was originally a good thing for otakus like Shinji, but when his cheap dad called his name, told him that he had a sister named "Sakura," and said that they were going back to their hometown in Fuyuki City, Japan, Shinji felt that the world was over.

Matou Shinji, a character in the famous anime "Fate/stay night," is the most incompetent master in the fifth Holy Grail War. In addition, in any of the three storylines of FSN, Shinji's ending is not very good. Except for the UBW route, which can be said to have a good ending, Shinji's death in the remaining two routes is more miserable than the others.

As for resisting fate... thinking about a certain old monster in the Matou family, Shinji feels that it is very difficult—very, very, very difficult.

Therefore, in the first few days after crossing over, Shinji was anxious, fearing that he would be played to death by a certain old ET bug.

But fortunately, this situation did not last long.

When Shinji truly came to the Matou family and got to know them in depth, he found that the gap between his imagination and reality was as obvious as the cup size of the quilt king and the spear idiot.

The world that Shinji crossed into is indeed the Type-Moon world, and the elements of the Type-Moon world that he is familiar with are also there, such as Magecraft, the Holy Grail War, and so on.

However, it is very different from the Type-Moon world in his impression. The mystery of this world has almost been exhausted.

For some unknown reason, the Mana of this world has declined rapidly after entering modern society, even to the point of lingering on. Take the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City as an example: the quality of the Servants summoned later became worse.

Based on the information of the Matou family, Shinji speculated that the Heroic Spirits summoned in the first Holy Grail War were already far from the Heroic Spirits he knew in FZ and FSN.

By the time of the second Holy Grail War, the quality was not good enough; the strength was completely unable to meet the standard and was only slightly stronger than ordinary people.

In this way, the originally "famous" Fuyuki City Holy Grail War was held for only two sessions and ended without a fight.

A glimpse of the whole picture shows how serious the overall decline of Mana in this world is from the experience of the Holy Grail War.

Against such a significant background, the long-cherished wish of the Type-Moon Magi—to reach the Root—is even more of a luxury.

Gradually, the Magi in this parallel world of Type-Moon changed their ideas. They no longer pursued mystery tirelessly and began to treat Magecraft as a more Magical traditional skill.

Affected by this concept, the blood inheritance of the original Type-Moon world also began to decrease. On one hand, the descendants of Magi thought that Magecraft was useless, even worse than a "Technician Training Manual," as at least the latter could provide them with a stable job.

On the other hand, Magi were unsure whether the next generation could meet their expectations and inherit their Magecraft.

However, it was more painful for these Magi to watch their Magecraft passed down from generation to generation being cut off than to be being killed themselves.

So, the master-apprentice relationship began to prevail in the Magus world, and Magecraft teaching institutions such as the Clock Tower became even more prosperous than in the original Type-Moon world, becoming the most central place in the Magus circle.

These differences and changes from the ordinary Type-Moon world are not a bad thing for Shinji.

No, it should be said that they are a great thing.

The mysterious disappearance caused the original ancestor of the Matou family, Machiri Zorgen, to not live to 500 years old.

During the Second Holy Grail War alone, the old bug died because he could not extend his life and went to the Western Paradise.

Of course, Shinji suspected that the other party simply committed suicide because there was no hope for the Holy Grail to descend.

Although Shinji's grandfather is also called Matou Zouken and looks exactly like Master Yoda in "Star Wars," this Zouken grandfather is just an ordinary Magus who loves his grandchildren.

The most intuitive change is that Shinji's status in the Matou family has shifted from "dispensable tool" in the original work to the real eldest son of the Matou family.

Additionally, although Mystery has declined, the Matou family's identity as landowners has not changed.

In the original work, the Matou family lived by renting out spiritual veins. As a result, after the decline of Mystery, these spiritual veins withered and became less valuable.

Seeing that these spiritual veins were useless, Matou Zouken, who had just become the head of the family, simply waved his hand and started engaging in real estate with these lands.

Not to mention, relying on the booming environment of Japan's post-war economy, Matou Zouken's actions truly added a lot of wealth to the Matou family.

Although during the subsequent bubble economy period, the collapse of the real estate industry caused the wealth of the Matou family to shrink greatly, even so, the wealth accumulated by Zouken could not make the Matou family the top tycoon in Japan, but they could at least be considered local tycoons.

From this perspective, the decline of Magecraft is genuinely beneficial to Shinji, a transmigrator.

With a rich grandfather who loves his grandson very much, Shinji has lived the life of a wealthy young master since he was a child.

And Shinji's performance did not disappoint Zouken Matou.

I don't know if it's because of transmigration, but Shinji, who had terrible Magical talent in the original work, has become the best magic talent in the Matou family for generations.

Especially in Magecraft such as hypnosis, suggestion, manipulation, illusion, and barrier creation, Shinji can learn these skills easily.

Although due to the environment, Shinji's Magecraft is not comparable to those geniuses in the original Type-Moon world, in this Type-Moon world, it is enough for him to hold the title of "child prodigy."

Zouken Matou even regards Shinji as the future hope of the Matou family. The only thing that makes Zouken Matou unhappy is that Shinji is not very good at the traditional Magecraft of the Matou family, such as creating familiars, absorption, and Water attribute Magecraft. Compared to his talent in other Magecraft, it is significantly lacking.

This is mainly because Shinji himself is not too focused on this aspect.

As a senior otaku in two lives, Shinji wants to pursue something he enjoys more than playing with those bugs or revitalizing Magecraft—such as making his favorite anime works into live-action movies.

This is the dream that Master Shinji had in his previous life: he hopes to see his favorite ACG works made into tokasatsu movies with Hollywood-level production.

The reason why it is called Hollywood-level, rather than just Hollywood movies, is naturally due to Hollywood's strange aesthetics and some misguided "correct" industry rules.

Now that he has become a young master in this life, Master Shinji is naturally ready to fulfill this dream by himself.

What's even better is that the development of commercial movies in this Type-Moon time and space is very slow compared to the same period when Shinji traveled to the world before.

No one knows if it's because of the will of some Mushroom or if there is really an alien planet war setting in the Type-Moon space-time, but the "Star Wars" that changed the world's movie business model does not exist in this space-time.

Since even the ancestors of commercial movies are gone, those commercial movies inspired by "Star Wars" have basically disappeared.

Although many classic movies and TV series are still there, such as the famous "The Shawshank Redemption" and Jeremy Brett's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," , many commercial blockbusters are almost completely missing.

Affected by this, the commercial exploration of movies in this world is still at the most primitive stage, relying on box office revenue and renting and selling videotapes.

There are no music CDs, no peripheral products, and no high-end gameplay such as movie-game linkages.

In this space-time, movies are an art form, and watching movies is to appreciate art.

"Enough! How can I make a good commercial movie with you stupid artists!"

Facing the distorted film industry in this world, Shinji stood up and decided to build a perfect entertainment industry empire by himself. Moreover, relying on his identity as a Magus in this life, Shinji even thought of a shocking plan: to use Magecraft to shoot various animation works.

Through the study of Magecraft, Shinji found that many forms of Magecraft can be used in the production of film and television works.

For example, he could use Magecraft to make various props; use familiars to make animal actors obedient; use Explosion Magecraft to create safer but more realistic explosion special effects; and some visual Deception Magecraft can also be used to produce post-production special effects for movies...

These Magecrafts can not only reduce the production costs of film and television works but also improve the quality of the works themselves..

It can be said that the relationship between Magic and film and television production is much closer than Shinji thought at the beginning.

You must know that even in the era of CG special effects in the future, Hollywood still needs a large number of modelers, blasters, and other stunt workers, not to mention the current film industry, which is still relatively backward in all aspects.

From this point of view, the cheap and effective Magecraft shooting method may have a big market.

In addition, Shinji believes that Magus groups will also be very interested in his plan. Because of the tradition of Magi being low-key, ordinary people know little about them, so the number of new Magi is decreasing year by year.

The inability to recruit suitable students has become a major problem for many Magecraft schools.

If Shinji can succeed, then filming movies through Magecraft will undoubtedly expand the influence of Mystery and allow major magic schools to gain students.

This is similar to how the kung fu movie craze in Shinji's previous life promoted recruitment in traditional martial arts schools.

When Shinji took this plan to Matou Zouken to ask if it was feasible, Matou Zouken was very interested in Shinji's proposal. While encouraging him to proceed boldly, he also offered strong support.

Anyway, the Matou family is not without money. Even if Shinji fails, he can still be assured of food and clothing in this life.

If he succeeds, Shinji will be a hero in the entire Magecraft world, and the Matou family can even gain a high status in the Magecraft world.

Shinji himself is also very competitive. In just a few years, he has made considerable achievements in Magecraft. With Matou Zouken's recommendation, he got the opportunity to study at the Clock Tower four years ago.

After auditing the Clock Tower for nearly two years, Shinji not only understood the overall Magecraft level of this world but also determined that his plan could be fully realized with the existing Magecraft technology.

After learning all this, Shinji left the Clock Tower and went to the University of Southern California to continue auditing the creation of film and television works, and even took time to intern on a Hollywood set.

There was no way; Shinji was just an otaku in his previous life. He had seen a lot of good works, but he still needed to supplement his professional knowledge on how to create good works.

After staying in the United States for more than a year, Shinji returned to the Clock Tower, feeling that he had learned almost all the professional skills in Magecraft and film and television production.

This time he was not going to attend classes but to find a partner.

This plan was too big, and the Matou family alone could not support it. Shinji also needed a partner with a certain influence in the Magus world.

Finally, Shinji found the Archibald family, where Director Ken was, and reached a cooperation agreement with him. The reason why Director Ken was chosen was not that Shinji was familiar with him, but simply because he and his Archibald family were the most powerful partners Shinji could find.

The forces stronger than the Archibald family looked down on Shinji and his so-called modern entertainment plan.

Those old men who could be thrown into museums like mummies only believed in tradition and thought that noble Magecraft could never please ordinary people like street clowns.

When Shinji thought of these people who didn't even use phones, insisted on using familiars to communicate, and some even insisted on blood inheritance, he felt speechless.

He had only one thing to say to these antiques;

"Go to Hogwarts and live with the Scottish round-faced fat chickens for the rest of your life!"

Fortunately, there were Magecraft families in the Clock Tower that actively embraced modernization. In addition to the Archibald family, where Director Ken was, Shinji also found several other partners.

After completing all the preliminary preparations and establishing the so-called "Type-Moon Film and Television Company," Shinji returned to his hometown, Fuyuki City, with his project and began his grand plan.

The first step of this plan is to shoot the movie "Fate/stay night."

However, despite the full preparation, the actual shooting of the movie still encountered many problems, both big and small.

For example, this now—

"Hmm?"

In the studio, Shinji picked up a poster as a prop.

In the movie script, Shirou Emiya used this poster to briefly resist Cu Chulainn, and the poster was scrapped after he opened it as a shield to block a shot.

It is the most common prop in FSN, but...

"Who chose this poster?"

Shinji asked with a dark face.

The content of the poster itself is fine; it is a gym advertising flyer.

But when a hole was poked in it by a spear, it became very inappropriate because the hole happened to be on the lower body of the muscular man on the poster.

"Someone, change this poster to a girl idol... No, change it to a ramen shop flyer."

Luckily, Shinji immediately thought that it would be even weirder to poke a hole in a beautiful girl, and then the shot of Lancer poking through the poster would most likely develop in the direction of R18.

Looking at the back of the staff member walking away, Shinji shook his head helplessly.

"Really... Filming is really a delicate job."

Shinji held his forehead and sighed.

---

Chapter 3: If You Are Sweet-Mouthed, Eat More Candy

Some things, if you don't actually do them, you won't find out how difficult they are.

Especially in movies, a combination of industry and art, every excellent film embodies the hard work of the crew members that others can hardly imagine.

Even if he has lived two lives, even if he has studied in Hollywood, and even if he uses legendary heroes as actors, in order to shoot the most perfect scene in his mind, Shinji still films these few minutes of shots over and over again.

Between each take, Shinji makes adjustments based on the problems identified in the previous shots.

Dozens of crew members were busy for half a day before they finally achieved the shooting effect that Shinji had been looking forward to.

"It's finally done."

Looking at the shooting effect content on the monitor, Shinji finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The warehouse scene does not involve many action sequences, but it is one of the most important scenes in the whole movie.

This is the first shot of the heroine's official appearance, and it is crucial for this role. In Shinji's previous life, countless fans of Type-Moon, including Shinji himself, were amazed by the beauty of the knight girl under the moonlight, and they plunged into the world of Type-Moon.

In order to captivate the audience with Artoria at first sight, Shinji can be said to have exhausted his mind and even used soft lighting for this.

This technique is often employed in filmmaking to highlight the sacredness of characters. The most common example is the elves in the "Lord of the Rings" series, who appear with special effects.

Of course, Shinji's approach differs from traditional filmmaking. He directly asked Artoria to mobilize her magic when she appeared in front of the camera, allowing her armor to actively emit silver-white holy light.

Then, by arranging and coordinating other lights on the set, a knight girl enveloped in holy light with bright eyes was created.

This is also an important reason why Shinji chose Magi and servants as actors—allowing them to add special effects to themselves during filming.

In this way, many shots that could only be processed in post-production can be directly filmed, saving money. After shooting the video material, Shinji took several close-up photos of Artoria with his camera, which would be used as promotional material for the movie later.

Artoria in the photo resembled a Valkyrie descending to earth, perfectly embodying the two seemingly incompatible words of beauty and power.

Especially her eyes, which Shinji focused on—elegant and transparent, revealing a determination that would not waver in faith, as if they could pierce into people's hearts and capture their souls.

Only such a perfect-looking girl knight can evoke the emotions of the audience and captivate everyone, right?

Although the role of the heroine has been completed, it does not mean that the subsequent work of the FSN crew will go smoothly.

To make this movie a benchmark and model for Magus films while preserving the core secrets of magic, Shinji employed a large number of Magus staff, particularly the actors, who were almost the "original team" of FSN.

This also means that the crew is filled with novices. Especially for the Heroic Spirits, they cannot adapt to the work of filming movies immediately after being summoned to modern society.

Action scenes are easy to handle, as long as the actors pay attention to fighting within the specified lens range and are careful not to damage the filming props. The rest involves ensuring that the camera records the wonderful moments of the Servants' battles.

For the FSN crew, the biggest problem remains the literary part: movement, lines, expressions... almost every shoot is accompanied by various errors.

For example, in this shot, Artoria and Cu Chulainn are fighting in the courtyard of Emiya's house.

Artoria's performance in the battle part is pretty good, but when Cu Chulainn confronts her, the expression on her face and the tone of her voice change.

To be more precise, Artoria's emotions are too exposed, revealing too strong traces of performance.

"Cut!"

Shinji called for the entire crew to halt. "It's almost done; everyone take a break and we’ll continue in an hour."

After so much hard work, even the energetic Shinji needed to take a breath.

He sat directly in the living room of Emiya's house, and Sakura quickly brought him a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, Sakura."

As he savored the masterpiece crafted by his proud sister, the tense expression on his face began to relax gradually.

"Sorry, Master..."

Artoria sat on the tatami with her head down.

She knew it was her fault that the film had to be retaken again and again, and she felt very guilty.

"It's all my fault; I didn't do well enough."

Shinji waved his hand casually. "It's okay; being serious is a good thing. You don't have to blame yourself too much."

Although Shinji was indeed a little troubled, he felt much better after seeing Artoria's guilty and conflicted expression.

[New expression get√; it feels like playing a game to unlock the heroine's CG bit by bit.]

Putting down the coffee cup, Master Shinji squinted at the cold beauty.

Artoria, who was proud in her heart, would definitely feel unwilling to drag down the crew. If she got stuck in a dead end, the subsequent filming might become even more difficult.

For such a girl, Shinji has his own way of comforting her.

"Saber, you should be more natural and stop thinking about the camera. Just act as if you really met Cu Chulainn in the Holy Grail War."

"It's mainly when I'm reciting the lines..." Artoria said intermittently. "I always find myself reciting the lines unconsciously."

Shinji looked at Artoria and could hear her efforts and persistence from the words of the young knight.

Even if it's not for the Holy Grail, this knight lady is still the most trustworthy partner in the Holy Grail War, dedicated to her duties.

"Master, I think..."

Artoria looked up at Shinji and saw him giving her an encouraging smile.

"Artoria, you've done a great job."

Shinji lifted his chin and smiled. "I think you should have more room to play like this."

"Hmm?"

Artoria frowned slightly, unsure of what her Master was suggesting.

Strictly speaking, Shinji was not Artoria's ideal Master. Even though she admired his talent in magic, Shinji's personality was too frivolous and unreliable.

This reminded Artoria of her former knight, Lancelot.

The Knight of the Lake was also a very powerful person, but his lifestyle was a bit problematic, and he was very good at pleasing girls.

[No, he is much more frivolous than Sir Lancelot.]

Artoria's emerald eyes stared at the blue-haired boy in front of her.

Master Shinji didn't realize that his Servant was secretly evaluating him. He offered a suggestion he had just thought of.

"In this way, I will hang inscription boards on both sides of the camera and write important information on them. This way, you only need to perform on the spot according to this information, without having to recite the fixed script lines."

"What?" Artoria widened her eyes, feeling a little incredulous. "Is this really possible?"

Before filming the movie, she had attended a short-term acting training course. Even though she lacked acting experience, Artoria knew the difficulty of acting without a script.

"Of course it's possible." Shinji's slightly mischievous face displayed an indescribable joy. "The original character in the script was you. For this movie, being yourself in front of the camera is the most perfect ultimate form."

"That... is true."

Artoria's previously slightly melancholic face finally had a glimmer of light.

"I just need to be myself in front of the camera! Master, you are really a genius!"

"Just call me Shinji." Shinji gave a thumbs-up. "We will have a long time to spend together in the future, so there is no need to be so restrained."

In Shinji's last life, Saber was Type-Moon's cash cow, and in this life, she will be his cash cow and trump card.

Shinji has always been friendly to such high-quality employees.

Of course, it would be even more perfect if she could show a shy expression like a girl. Shinji looked forward to the moment when she completely opened her heart to him.

"Then I will go and tell Lancer about your suggestion."

Artoria stood up impatiently.

"Thank you very much, Mas... Shinji."

"I would rather you call me director."

"Yes, director."

Although the change was very small, Artoria did smile.

Shinji, who was about to pick up the coffee again, was stunned, maintaining the posture of holding the coffee cup.

"What a terrifying charm; I almost got drunk. This arrogant knight is really worth conquering," Shinji muttered under his breath.

"Speaking of which... this should be true-to-life performance, letting the actors play themselves. If it is feasible, promote this throughout the entire crew."

Usually, the so-called true-to-life performance refers to actors playing roles that are very similar to their real selves. Such roles can give the audience the most natural feeling. Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark is the best example.

In the FSN crew, each main actor plays their own parallel world selves. Not forcing performances and allowing them to play their truest selves will be more brilliant than requiring them to do so.

"You are worthy of being my proud brother—a complete genius." Sakura praised sincerely.

Shinji proudly puffed out his chest. "Of course, you don’t even look at who your brother is."

Who knew that Sakura's face darkened instantly?

"Indeed, you are worthy of being the famous playboy of the clock tower. You seduce girls so naturally, without any sense of disobedience."

"Wait! Sakura, what are you doing?"

Shinji's eyelids twitched wildly.

It turned out that Sakura had put too many sugar cubes in Shinji's cup without realizing it, and the insoluble sugar cubes piled up in the cup in a pyramid-like shape.

"Brother's mouth is so sweet; he must like sweet things very much. Come on, eat more sugar; otherwise, your mouth won't be sweet enough when you tease Saber later."

"Silly girl, do you want to choke your brother to death?"

---

Chapter 4: Einzbern Castle in the Deep Mountains

After Shinji came up with the idea of using a prompter to help the actors deliver their lines, filming became somewhat easier over the next few days.

Unfortunately, it was only a little bit easier.

The smoothness of the actors speaking their lines could not mask the other issues within the FSN crew.

Film is a comprehensive art, and the filmmaking process involves many different aspects.

In addition to the lines, problems related to details such as positioning, lighting, sound effects, and more would ultimately affect the footage captured by the camera.

Along with the fact that this was Shinji's first movie and he lacked experience, most of the members of the FSN crew were amateurs, which significantly contributed to these problems.

Shinji had no choice. After all, the filming location was his hometown of Fuyuki City, far from Tokyo, Kyoto, and other cities with developed film and television industries.

Aside from the long-term photographers and lighting technicians willing to come to Fuyuki City, many fragmented and low-paid jobs could only be filled by locals.

Although the crew was full of rookies, the advantage was that hiring them was cheap and did not incur excessive costs.

However, the overall performance of the crew was a clear demonstration of the phrase "you get what you pay for."

Fortunately, commercial films like FSN have relatively simple requirements compared to literary dramas. Because of the presence of heroic spirits in the action scenes, Shinji only needed to consider camera movement and post-editing.

So even though the crew's operation was not very smooth, Shinji still led everyone to finish the movie bit by bit.

However, these past few days had made Shinji fully realize the truth: watching movies and learning to make them is one thing, while making them in person is another.

The gap between the two is quite significant, at least as large as the cup size difference between Artoria Saber and Artoria Lancer.

Despite the numerous difficulties, Shinji never considered giving up on this movie.

It was impossible to give up now. Shinji had invested nearly one million US dollars in this movie alone, not to mention the various extra investments he made over the years to enter the film and television industry, including money from both the Matou family and other Magecraft families he collaborated with.

If Shinji really gave up, the Magus families who had bet on him would definitely tear him to pieces.

However, even though Shinji was determined to persevere, it was inevitable that he would feel depressed by the crew's performance.

In fact, there was another person who was just as depressed as Shinji: the owner of the Emiya house, Shinji's friend Shirou Emiya.

To save on set costs, Matou Shinji decided to use "real scene" shooting, which resulted in the entire Emiya house being nearly taken over by the crew.

When Shinji and Shirou discussed it, Shirou had thought it would take about a week to finish the shooting, but the crew ended up taking several weeks to complete it.

Although the crew members did not live in the Emiya house, many shooting equipment and props were piled up in the house, leaving only a small space for activities in what was originally a spacious home.

One night, Shirou got up to go to the bathroom, but he was so startled by his own bloody corpse in the corridor that he almost didn't go at all.

Afterward, he turned on the light and discovered it was a model standing in for him during filming.

"Shinji, can't you ask them to put the props away?"

The next day, Shirou complained to Shinji.

Shinji shrugged innocently. "There's no way; that thing can't be folded up and put away without leaving marks."

"Really? If I didn't have to go to school, I'd go to the mountains to live with my dad and the others."

Because filming took up space, the cunning Emiya Kiritsugu had followed his wife Irisviel to Einzbern Castle in the mountains to spend time alone.

Shirou rubbed his temple and said, "Fortunately, Illya is staying at a classmate's house these days; otherwise, she would be scared to tears."

Recalling the silver-haired little devil in his memory, Shinji couldn't help but grin.

"No, I think she might rush up and kick me."

"That's possible..." Thinking of his sister's mischievousness, Shirou nodded in agreement.

"But you don't have to envy your father." Shinji patted Shirou on the shoulder with one hand and raised his thumb with the other. "After filming here is finished, I will go to Einzbern Castle in the mountains to wreak havoc."

"That... please be merciful."

Seeing his friend's enthusiastic expression, Shirou couldn't help but sweat at his temples.

Fortunately, although the Emiya residence was an important plot location in the movie, there weren't too many shots involving it.

After Shinji spent a few more days here, he finally finished filming and led the team into the mountains of Fuyuki City to wreak havoc at the castle of the wealthy.

"We're here; this is it."

Three vans and two small buses stopped at the gate of Einzbern Castle. The first person to jump off a bus was Shinji, who shouted loudly, "Hurry up and unload the things. Try to take a group of shots before the sun sets to see the effect!"

So King Arthur Artoria, the Gorgon Medusa, the fierce dog Cu Chulainn, and the great hero Hercules now had a new identity—loaders.

Shinji discovered another benefit of using Heroic Spirits as actors: they could serve as free labor for the crew.

Although these Heroic Spirits could not fight in the Holy Grail War, their physiques were impressive compared to ordinary people, making moving items and doing heavy work no problem at all.

"Letting the Heroic Spirits move things, Shinji-kun, you really know how to come up with new tricks."

Seeing the Heroic Spirits carrying items in and out, Irisviel, who was standing at the gate of the castle to greet them, joked with a smile.

"There's nothing I can do; I'm just being frugal~"

Shinji replied with a smile.

"Shinji, long time no see."

Emiya Kiritsugu nodded to Shinji as a greeting.

"Uncle Emiya, hello."

Shinji extended his hand to Kiritsugu and greeted him politely.

Snap.

Kiritsugu grabbed Shinji's hand. However, while shaking hands, he whispered a warning in Shinji's ear.

"Shinji, there's something you'd better pay attention to." Kiritsugu warned, "Work is work; you'd better keep your distance from Illya at all times."

"Got it."

Shinji's mouth twitched slightly, and his expression became a bit stiff.

Although Matou Shinji had no intention of attacking Illya, it felt a bit strange when Kiritsugu said this.

[Uncle Kiritsugu, you abducted your employer and eloped with her, you aren't qualified to say this. Have you forgotten how you got married?] Shinji kept muttering to himself.

Due to the decline of Mystery, the artificial human technology of the Einzbern family was not as impressive as Matou Shinji remembered, making it impossible to achieve the level of normal human activities.

In this world, Irisviel is the true eldest daughter of the Einzbern family, and she is also the heir.

It stands to reason that in this time and space, where the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City is not being held, Irisviel and Emiya Kiritsugu should have had no chance to meet.

But the story of the Emiya family made Shinji sincerely praise "Fate, how wonderful."

Eleven years ago, when Irisviel was out for an event, the Einzbern family hired Emiya Kiritsugu as a bodyguard during his time as a mercenary.

It was truly a destined marriage. Within a few days, Irisviel fell in love with this Magus mercenary and eloped with him, escaping to Japan under the pursuit of the Einzbern family.

After a heroic battle to defend their love, Emiya Kiritsugu eventually married into the Einzbern family, marrying a rich and beautiful woman and reaching the peak of his life.

By the way, as far as Shinji knows, Emiya Kiritsugu adopted the young orphan Shirou because he thought he would be single for the rest of his life, planning to raise Shirou for his old age.

As a result, less than a year after adopting Shirou, Kiritsugu eloped with Irisviel.

This made Shinji sigh at the strength of the force of inertia, which made one truly admire it.

"As expected, things like fate are really magical." Shinji muttered softly.

Fortunately, Kiritsugu had only heard about Shinji's fierce reputation in the clock tower and was worried that this guy might do something out of line.

After warning Shinji, Kiritsugu no longer paid him any mind and went to greet the other crew members with Irisviel.

But someone wasn’t going to let Shinji go.

"Humph."

Just as  was about to direct the set, he heard a sarcastic sneer behind him.

"Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. Even Uncle Emiya knows about your little escapades in the Clock Tower."

Shinji looked back and found a red-haired twin-tailed demon holding her elbow and laughing at him.

---

Chapter 5: Tohsaka - The Eternal Mechanical Idiot - Rin

She wore a red top beneath a beige winter coat. Her slender waist evoked pity, and beneath her black skirt were tight legs wrapped in black silk.

Her black hair, cascading over her shoulders, was tied into a simple yet capable double ponytail. Her beautiful face remained radiant even in the dry winter air.

Anyone would give this girl with double ponytails a score of over 90. The only deduction would be for her underdeveloped chest.

There is no doubt that she is Miss Tohsaka Rin, one of the three heroines of FSN.

"Hehe~ Shinji." Rin folded her arms and sneered at Shinji, "Even Uncle Emiya knows about your antics at the clock tower, and you’re still shameless."

Shinji who was being questioned curled his lips, and a cunning light suddenly flashed in his eyes, as if he remembered something interesting. "Hey, isn't this Rin-san, known as Fuyuki's mechanical idiot, who can make machines explode with a touch of her hand? The self-propelled machine nemesis, the forever poor lady, the typical negative example, and someone good children should never learn from~ Remember to stay away from the filming equipment later; otherwise, it will add unnecessary expenses to the crew."

"…"

The long list of adjectives made everyone around him frown, and their gazes toward Rin became strange.

Rin's face flushed. She had originally intended to tease Shinji with Kiritsugu's words, but she didn't expect to be hit directly by his response.

"It's not me who wants the machines to explode, ah ah ah!!"

A girl with twin ponytails, who had been dizzy after being hit on the head by Matou Shinjii, let out a miserable cry.

"Oh! Brother, is this the Japanese double manzai?"

Seeing the crosstalk-like performance of Shinji and Rin, the silver-haired loli beside him couldn't help but laugh.

Shirou covered his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. He was familiar with Shinji's immorality, but it was surprising that Rin, an excellent student, was being led astray by him.

"Illya, good kids shouldn’t learn these boring things."

"Huh?"

Illya bit her finger, disappointment written on her face.

"Be a good girl and go with your brother to find your parents. We haven't seen each other for several days, and they should have a lot to say to us."

Shirou coaxed his sister away from this troublesome scene.

"Ahem!"

Rin regained her composure and glared at Shinji fiercely.

"Oh, Rin, don't look at me like that. I'll be shy."

Shinji continued to smile. "Put away your hypocritical smile!" Tohsaka Rin said angrily, "I hate looking at you."

Shinji responded dramatically, "Rin, you make me so sad. After all, we are childhood sweethearts who grew up together."

"Although I have been abroad for the past few years, our friendship still exists. Look, aren't Shirou and I still on good terms?"

Rin retorted angrily, "Please don’t create unnecessary memories for yourself! Where is our friendship? All I remember is you bullying me."

"Is that so?"

"Do you want me to list them in chronological order or by severity?"

Shinji curled his lips. He was surprised that this girl actually held a grudge.

Perhaps because there was no Holy Grail War, the relationships among the three families were much closer than in other parallel worlds. Shinji, Shirou, Rin, and Sakura had grown up together since childhood.

However, their dynamic typically involved Shinji and Rin quarreling while Shirou smoothed things over, and Sakura silently observed.

"It's just a quarrel between children. Rin, do you really need to remember every little thing?" Shinji complained.

"…"

Rin's eyebrows twitched, a sign that she was getting angry.

"Okay, let the past be the past." Shinji, not wanting to be beaten, quickly changed the subject. "Let's get along well in the days to come."

Shinji's apparent kindness only heightened Rin's suspicion. She asked cautiously, "What bad things are you planning?"

"You make me too sad." Shinji waved his hand dismissively. "Look, I invited you to be the second female lead in my first movie. Isn't this proof of my sincerity?"

Rin glanced at him unhappily and said, her face slightly flushed, "Tsk, if my father hadn't asked me to come, I wouldn't have. I really don’t want to do such a troublesome thing."

[If you really don’t want to come, then don’t take the pay.]

Shinji shrugged. After all, he had dealt with Rin's arrogance since childhood. "If it’s about schoolwork, Rin, don’t worry. I’ve hired a special tutor for you students, and they’ll be here tomorrow..."

"What! Tutors?"

Illya, who had been eavesdropping, shouted in shock.

"Yes, that’s right." Shinji nodded. "Not only high school teachers but also elementary school teachers."

Previously, it was easy to shoot at Emiya's house, and Shirou and his friends could attend school during the day. As long as they requested leave for club activities under the guise of social practice, they could leave school a few hours early without affecting the filming.

However, the castle of Einzbern was deep in the mountains and forests of Fuyuki City, making it a long drive to and from the location. Consequently, they could only request leave from school.

Therefore, to prevent the students in the crew from falling behind in their studies due to filming, Shinji had to hire tutors for them.

Being part of a regular crew, he naturally had to ensure the academic progress of the minors.

But Illya obviously didn’t understand Shinji's good intentions, and her little face was filled with unhappiness.

Illya, who had thought she could play as much as she wanted without going to school while filming in the mountains, now felt like the sky was falling.

"Can we not hire a tutor?"

Illya being only 10 years old was at an age where playing was everything for her. Of course, she was an absolute devil and villain when it came to studying!

"No, Illya."

Rin smiled sweetly and gently touched the little girl's head. As long as it had nothing to do with Matou Shinjii, Rin was still very patient.

"You’re still young; you must study hard. Otherwise, you’ll end up like a certain unruly older brother whose diploma is that of a junior high school dropout."

As she spoke, Rin glanced at Shinji, making it clear who the "certain older brother" was.

Matou Shinjii didn't care. He shook his finger and boasted, "Rin, don’t forget that my current diploma is a doctorate from Oxford University~"

"Oh, Brother Shinji is so amazing!"

Illya's eyes lit up as she looked at Shinji with admiration. Rin's mouth twitched. "What’s so great about that fake degree?"

Rin knew exactly how Shinji had obtained his doctorate.

The Clock Tower awarded its graduates with a doctorate in linguistics from Oxford University to help them integrate into the world of ordinary people.

To be honest, the Magi of the Clock Tower were fully qualified to earn a doctorate in linguistics, as many magical studies utilized Greek, Old English, Ancient Indian, and other lesser-known languages.

All those who graduated from the Clock Tower were talented individuals who had achieved significant accomplishments in linguistics.

However, there are exceptions. Shinji was a typical case of someone weak in theory but strong in practice. Although he had mastered the application of Magecraft, he struggled with the theoretical aspects.

But there was nothing he could do about it. After all, his time studying abroad at the Clock Tower was limited, and he had only graduated because of his prodigious magical talent.

It was precisely because of this that Rin criticized Shinji's dubious diploma.

"Don’t worry, I speak Chinese very well anyway," Shinji scoffed.

"Haven’t you been able to speak Chinese since you were a child? What’s there to brag about?"

Rin rubbed her temples. She doesn't want to continue this pointless conversation with Shinji, as it would only frustrate her further.

"Forget it. I’ll put my luggage in my room first and then memorize the script. Since I promised my father, I should at least perform well." Rin shook her hair and walked toward the castle.

"Oh, by the way, Rin."

Hearing Shinji call her, Rin stopped and looked back at him.

"If possible, I hope you can smile more," Shinji suggested.

"What?" Rin snorted proudly. "Do you still want me to be nice to you?"

"Not a chance. There's an old saying in China: 'Extreme joy raises the cup.' Smiling often is good for your figure."

After saying that, Shinji playfully winked at Rin.

Rin was stunned for two seconds, and then a blush spread from her cheeks to her snow-white neck.

"Matou Shinji! Go to hell!"

If gems hadn’t been so expensive, Rin would have definitely used them to bombard Shinji.

Shinji entered the castle a step ahead of Rin, leaving her behind.

Once inside, Shinji didn’t go back to his room to rest. Instead, he directed the Heroic Spirits and other crew members to set up the castle scene.

Although the current layout of Einzbern Castle was close to perfect compared to what Shinji had imagined, some areas still needed modification.

For example, to match the lighting during filming, the colors of the room's wallpapers, carpets, and other furnishings needed to be changed; otherwise, the saturation of the picture would be problematic, and the characters would not stand out.

Fortunately, the owner of the castle, Irisviel, was very cooperative with the filming and fully agreed to Shinji's requests for modifications. Irisviel even said that if needed, it would be fine to demolish the entire castle.

Her enthusiasm wasn’t due to Shinji’s contract with the Einzbern family; she was simply very interested in making a movie.

Shirou privately mentioned that his stepmother was somewhat of a crowd pleaser, always easy to talk to as long as the topic interested her.

Seeing Irisviel so cooperative, Shinji, who always liked to take advantage, felt a little embarrassed. To repay her support for his movie, he slightly modified the script, added a few more scenes set in the castle, and included a cameo role for Irisviel as Illya's maid so she could enjoy the experience as well.

But to be honest, Irisviel's acting was not very good.

After all, this lady was too lively and didn’t resemble Illya's maid at all.

"Her smile makes her look more like Illya's sister," Shinji complained while looking at the monitor screen.

"Yeah, kid. What you said makes sense; Illya is the best," Kiritsugu said enthusiastically.

Shinji: "..."

Kiritsugu, you're really just spoiling her.