Chapter 107 - Chapter 107: Kneel Before Me!
The assault on Floor 7 has stalled, and while money keeps piling up, there is nowhere to spend it.
One day, the idea struck: let's make a movie starring Iroha as the protagonist. It sounded fun, so the plan began.
Fortunately, the person editing the footage uploaded to video sites, Quadrifoglio-san, is connected to the film industry.
Using her connections, we decided to gather a staff.
I dove into the dungeon with the relevant personnel to collect video footage for the movie.
Among them, we had Sana try out the Turn Undead magic she had learned, and the power was terrifying.
What caught my attention was that the high-level undead, a Lich, defeated by her magic, spoke the word "Saint."
Does Sana, who can use Turn Undead, belong to the Saint class?
There is no "Class" item on her status screen, so I don't quite understand.
Searching online, it seems there are no Magi who can use Turn Undead.
Most likely, there are simply no adventurers who have reached that level yet.
If adventurers reach that level, will other "Saints" appear as well?
Having finished collecting the video footage, we returned to the surface.
―― The day after leaving the dungeon.
We invited Quadrifoglio-san to the hotel to hand over the materials.
The footage shot by Kaorulko and I alone was quite a large volume.
It is impossible to send via the internet.
I checked the video, and as expected, images shot with a single-lens reflex camera are beautiful.
Plus, the image sensor is large, so low-light performance is on a completely different level.
Even if it is somewhat dark, the details are captured clearly.
Noise reduction must be applied, but the details are not crushed.
As expected, expensive cameras are different.
Once all data was collected, I put it into an HDD for now and took a backup.
Backup is basic.
Stepping out into the hallway, I met Mio-chan.
She seemed to have been playing alone in the hallway.
She had a terminal, so maybe she was just looking at the internet.
Well, she probably couldn't invite friends to the hotel.
Well, we do invite people, though.
"Mio-chan, hello."
"Daisuke, where are you going?"
"To the lobby downstairs."
"Mio is going too!"
"It's work, though~"
"Uu~"
It seems she was bored.
"Can you be quiet?"
"Yes!"
Helplessly, I brought her along.
If it were real work, it would be bad, but Quadrifoglio-san would understand.
"Mio-chan, you got a smartphone?"
"Yes!"
Well, we have the money.
Nowadays, without a smartphone, you really can't do anything.
"Don't peek at strange sites, hahaha."
"Big Sister told the shopkeeper to set up protection, but I took it off immediately."
"Eh?"
As expected―― children adapt to these things faster.
In the blink of an eye, they absorb various things and put them into practice.
"Hmm, be careful not to access dangerous sites or fall for scams. Oh, do you know what a scam is?"
"It's fine! A scam is a bad person who tells lies, right?"
"That's right. Be careful."
"Yes."
From the conversation, it seems a network has been created just for the children to exchange information.
"If you say you live next to Cherry Princess, won't they get jealous?"
"I didn't say that."
This is a bit surprising.
Children usually brag about such things, though...
"I'm keeping it a secret."
"Yes, kids who want to meet Cherry Princess or want photos gather there."
"Ahhh~ Mio-chan understands~ Smart~"
I pat her head.
"Yes, I did say Big Sister formed a party in the dungeon."
"Heh~―― Your Big Sister is amazing, rivaling Cherry Princess, you know?"
"I heard it from Kirara-chan."
"Is Kirara doing well? Not slacking off?"
"She's working hard!"
"Mio-chan, please keep an eye on Kirara~"
"Yes!"
While talking like this, we arrived at the lobby.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
I thought it was just Quadrifoglio-san, but the director was also sitting on the sofa.
"No, we just arrived." "Hello~"
The two stood up and bowed.
"I'm just handing this over, but let's have some tea. I'd like to talk."
"Understood."
They seem to be paying attention to Mio.
"I apologize. She is a child acquaintance of mine who followed me along."
"Oh, I see."
"Hahaha―― Well, at my age, it wouldn't be strange to have a child of this age around."
"I was surprised. I thought Niwa-san was someone without much sense of daily life..."
It seems that's how the director saw me.
Quadrifoglio-san probably thought the same.
"Eh? Is that so? If I go back to the countryside, I'm just a normal old man doing farm work... hahaha."
There's no point in continuing the conversation here.
We moved to a cafe, and I ordered a parfait as usual.
Mio also ordered a parfait, but the women ordered coffee and cake.
Well, it's my expense account.
"Delicious~!"
Mio is overjoyed eating ice cream.
"We match."
"Yes!"
"You know, my videos sometimes feature girls with big breasts... the one without glasses..."
"Oh, yes."
Quadrifoglio-san edits the videos, so she must have seen them.
"That girl's younger sister."
"That's right! Now that you mention it, she might look similar..."
When I first met Mio, she was thin and looked like she would collapse, but now she is health itself.
Once she got a bit plump, she started looking like Sana.
Maybe her chest will grow soon.
"For now, we shot various things inside the dungeon. Please use whatever is useful."
"The dungeon is dangerous, thank you."
The director bowed his head.
"There might even be a scene using magic for the first time in the world."
"Really?!"
"Well, I think it's possible to create it with CG and compositing..."
"No, the concept is a movie featuring adventurers―― so I want to make something that adventurers themselves can accept."
"My initial goal was also to make a project starring the adventurer Oga-san. I think many fans of her, and the Princess―― no, Cherry Princess, will watch it."
"That's right, so there is immense pressure to create something that meets those expectations."
"Well, the director will be fine."
Scenes outside the dungeon seem to be shot in a studio.
It's likely the blue screen shooting seen in movie making-of videos.
Can those two really act?
If amateurish acting is called realism, then it is realism.
After handing over the data and chatting, the director and others left.
------◇◇◇------
―― Half a year passed since then, and filming continued.
Filming of Iroha and Eito on the surface was also conducted, and I even went to watch with the Princess.
Kaorulko and Sana appeared, as did Kagari, Iroha's younger sister who came to watch her sister's appearance.
Stepping into the film studio, the first thing that comes into view is a spacious shooting stage.
The ceiling is high, with a two-story void of over 5 meters, and a massive lighting rig hangs like a spiderweb.
The lights emit heat and hum faintly, and the air carries the scent of metal equipment and a trace of oil.
In one corner of the stage, a vivid, uniform blue spreads out.
A giant blue screen was stretched tight without a single wrinkle.
In front of it, Iroha and Eito, looking unfamiliar, were acting stiffly.
Iroha's equipment is the same as what she uses in the dungeon.
Eito seems to be using a slightly modified version of the Breast-Curtain Dress equipment he got recently.
Well, since this isn't a dungeon, even if functionality drops, it shouldn't be a problem.
More importantly, since there are action scenes, being able to move easily is more important.
In front of the screen, a camera is set on a precise rail to move smoothly from one end of the set to the other.
Multiple cameras are arranged, and an arm camera suspended on a crane slowly moves through the air, aiming for overhead shots.
Staff members move busily around, issuing instructions via headsets.
The lighting crew finely adjusts the color temperature of the light to match the scene, ensuring no unnecessary shadows fall on the blue screen.
The VFX (Visual Effects) staff seem to be placing green markers while checking the real-time composite footage on a laptop.
"Real movies require so many staff..."
I handed over a budget of 1 billion yen, but could it not be enough?
"Amazing~"
Sana, who is watching with me, looks up at the high ceiling.
In front of the screen, actual shooting objects are lined up.
An antique table covered in dust, rock replicas mimicking a landscape.
A fan is humming, but it seems to be used to create wind to make the actors' hair and clothes flutter.
Rigs for suspending wires for action scenes are also installed, but will Iroha fly in the air?
In the center, designated marks for the actors to stand were placed unobtrusively on the floor.
Iroha and Eito imagine the fictional world spreading beyond the blue screen, reacting to things that do not exist before their eyes.
Acting against non-existent things is surely difficult.
At the edge of the set, a monitoring area for the director is set up, and Quadrifoglio-san is seriously checking the footage.
The director holds a script in one hand, carefully checking the acting and camera work, preparing to shout "Cut!"
Despite being a young director, one can sense that he is managing the staff well.
"Hehehe..."
The Princess is laughing while watching Iroha.
Talking and acting towards nothing is quite difficult.
Actors are amazing―― I realize this anew.
"Hey! Cherry Princess! You try it too!"
Iroha swings her sword in protest.
"Hahaha!"
"Sister! Do your best!"
Kagari cheers for her sister who is struggling with the unfamiliar task.
"Ooh! Damn Cherry Princess..."
Muttering to herself, Iroha returns to her position.
"That looks troublesome, doesn't it?"
Sana watches Iroha struggling.
"Shall Sana try it too?"
"Eh?! Impossible."
"If you appeared, you'd become popular..."
"No way, no way, no way, I'm a snail."
While talking with Sana, the director turned towards us.
"Oh, right! Since Cherry Princess is here, can we do a costume fitting and shoot some scenes?"
Seeing the laughing Princess, this was an order from the director.
"Eh? Eh?! I haven't prepared anything at all?!"
"It's fine. We have stylists and makeup artists."
"Wait, wait a minute."
"Come on. Cherry Princess, just humor us a bit."
Just then, Iroha retaliated.
"Hehehe..."
"At first, the Princess even said she wanted to be the main character, so filming should be fine, right?"
"Darling! W-well, that is true..."
"Yes, yes, come over here."
The Princess was pulled away by the stylist.
"Empress-san too!"
"Eh?! Me too?!"
Caught off guard, Kaorulko froze.
"Yes, Empress-san's costume is ready."
"Is it the costume of the Demon General Commander as originally set?"
I am also very curious if it matches the setting.
"Of course!"
I received a strong reply from the director.
This looks promising.
"Kaorulko, I want to see your costume too."
"Phew... I suppose I have no choice."
―― Though she says that, unlike the Princess, she is enthusiastic.
After all, Kaorulko is on that side.
She isn't cosplaying, but the equipment from that dungeon is like cosplay anyway.
She must be interested in what kind of costume she is wearing.
Of course, I am interested too.
―― They brought out folding chairs, and I sat down to wait for a while.
I took out a canned coffee from the Item Box.
"Oh! That looks good~ Give me one too."
"Here."
When I gave Eito a canned coffee, the AD brought him a chair as well.
"Darling, give me one too."
I gave coffee to Iroha as well.
"Darling-san! Give me one too!"
"And Kagari too?"
I gave coffee to her and Sana.
"Haa~"
Eito sat on the chair, took a sip of canned coffee, and sighed.
"What's with the sigh? You're co-starring with a woman you admire, isn't it the best?"
"Well, that is true, but I am an amateur."
"Well, that's natural, but there's no reason not to utilize that beauty."
"I didn't intend to do that..."
"You can only say that for now. You'll become a tired old man soon enough."
"Hmm?"
When I was young, I never thought about such things even a little, but as I age, I am stunned by the magnitude of what I have lost.
My skin sags and wrinkles form, legs don't lift as high as I think, and I stumble.
I want to sigh.
Since becoming an adventurer and leveling up, such things have disappeared now.
But if the level drops and I return to being a normal old man, I might be stunned by the difference again.
I need to do some mental training so I don't get depressed when that day comes...
"I was cute enough when I was a kid, you know? Now I'm just an average old man walking around."
"I can't even imagine Darling when he was small?"
"Everyone has a childhood, and everyone becomes an old man and an old lady equally."
"Hahaha!"
Iroha is laughing, but this is the law of nature.
"The blonde boy over there will also become an old man if he gets fat in the middle and goes bald."
"I'm fine."
Where does that confidence come from?
Even though you'll become a tired old man soon.
While having a silly conversation with Eito, the staff started murmuring.
Turning towards them, I saw something black and spiky.
Looking closer, it was the Princess and Kaorulko wearing flashy black costumes.
The Princess wears her usual bikini armor with a black spiky design, draped in a long black cloak.
Her makeup emphasizes her eyes with red lines drawn, giving her a face that screams "villain."
As expected.
Kaorulko's outfit is a black dress design with a large opening in the center of her chest, emphasizing two large things.
She holds a large, black, ominous staff in her hand.
Black armor is attached to her shoulders, increasing the sense of oppression.
This is also villain makeup.
"Ooh! That looks incredibly cool!"
"Darling! R-really?"
Rarely, the Princess is blushing.
"Kaorulko suits it too."
"Thank you."
She is wearing glasses with a different design than usual.
It seems her nearsightedness was cured when she became an adventurer and leveled up, so her glasses are now just for show.
Exchanging them for others would be fine.
"Even the Demon General Commander wears glasses."
"Well, that is..."
The director's eyes lit up.
"I thought the Empress-san couldn't be without glasses―― right?"
"That's right! The director understands!"
"Hehehe"
It seems this director and I get along well.
The Princess is stiff and shy in the unfamiliar costume, but Kaorulko is confident.
―― Or rather, has she already fully become the character?
"Your Excellency, Demon General Commander! Please say a few words."
Hearing my words, Kaorulko slammed the staff she was holding onto the floor.
"I am before the Emperor! Kneel! You lowly creatures!!"
At her sudden voice, the staff in the studio froze.
Overwhelmed by the Demon General Commander's pressure, everyone bowed their heads.
"Hehehe... All of you! Raise your heads!"
When everyone raised their heads―― behind the General Commander, the Demon King stood with arms crossed in a cool pose.
The Princess, who was stiff until now, has her original charisma come to the surface.
If this were the real world, the Princess would truly be a princess.
"Hey! What's that! Don't scare me like that!"
Iroha shouted loudly at the two's acting.
Hearing this, the staff seemed to be released from the trance.
"Wow, amazing! Kaorulko looked like a real Demon General Commander."
"Yes! This is amazing."
The director seems to think so too.
"Hehehe..."
Kaorulko seems to be getting into the mood.
She has fully become the character.
She probably likes this kind of thing originally.
Just as she was getting into the mood, filming of the Princess and Kaorulko began.
------◇◇◇------
―― About half a year later, filming continued in the gaps between dungeon attacks.
We still haven't grasped the foothold for clearing Floor 7.
Initially, we planned to widen the entrance 100m above the ground using Kagari's pickaxe, but reaching a height of 100m in the first place is not easy.
If we had manpower like the previous top guild joint attack, we could build scaffolding, but gathering that many people makes coordination between guilds difficult.
Kaorulko, who was doing that, is now busy with movie filming.
For now, it is decided that clearing Floor 7 is impossible until the movie is finished.
―― At first, I was happy just watching the filming, but after seeing it many times, I got bored.
I spent more time staying behind in the room.
Sometimes I dived into the dungeon alone, recalling the initial free feeling.
"I never thought it would turn out like this."
Drinking the coffee I brewed myself, I reflect on what I have done.
There were really too many sudden changes, and my life since coming to Tokyo has been too thick.
Thick, or rather, it feels concentrated.
Could this be a trial given by God?
In the past, if I said such things, I would have been treated as a weirdo――.
Now, there is a dungeon before my eyes, a existence beyond human wisdom.
Only God, or a being close to God, could create something that even bends the laws of physics.
If such a being exists, it wouldn't be strange for them to give trials.
In the first place, the dungeon itself might be a trial given to humanity.
―― As I was thinking such things, I was called from the front desk.
It seems someone came to visit me, but it was a person I had never heard of.
Apparently, they claim to be related to the film industry...
Anyway, I decided to meet them.
Sitting on the sofa in the lobby was a man of about 60 years old.
Since he came to meet someone, I expected a suit, but he was dressed quite casually.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I am Niwa."
"Nice to meet you. I am this."
He handed me a business card.
It says something like "Chairman of the Movie Something," but I have no interest at all.
I sit down anyway.
"What does this chairman want with me?"
"Regarding the movie currently being filmed with you as a sponsor."
"Oh, that is an independent movie made by adventurers gathering together. It is not something that big shots in the film industry need to worry about."
"B-b-but, if it were directed by a proper director instead of such a rookie, it would surely be a huge hit..."
"No, no, didn't I just say? It's an independent movie, and it will only be released on my video channel. I'm not thinking about huge hits or profits."
It seems the man is confused because I am not biting at all.
There is no way I would deliberately go off the rails when things are going well.
The man talks about advertising agencies and additional sponsors, but I have no interest at all.
I never intended to do that from the start.
To put it bluntly―― they are saying they want to get a piece of the profit pie.
"B-but..."
"Besides, the ability of the female director I entrusted is certain, isn't it? Perhaps the problem lies with you who cannot utilize such talent?"
"W-what?!"
"Do you know my video channel?"
"I don't know such a thing!"
"Coming to a client without even researching that, isn't that rude?"
"Ugh..."
"My channel has over 500 million views from all over the world, and I believe simply releasing it there is sufficient―― so please, take your leave."
I stood up from my seat.
"You'll regret this?!"
The man managed to squeeze out a sentence as if spitting it out, looking up at me with a frustrated expression.
"Hah? Don't tell me―― you think violence works against high-level adventurers?"
8○3 and thugs cannot enter the Special District.
They get beaten up the moment they enter.
Instead, there are adventurers like Dancing Darkness who are no good.
I approached the man's face.
We are humans who have passed through the line of death.
There is no reason to be scared of such an old man.
"Ugh..."
Sweat beads on the forehead of the man who averted his eyes.
"Or shall we go to the dungeon now?"
"T-t-thank you for your time!"
The man stood up and ran away like a fleeing rabbit.
"Oh~ His running feet are on par with a Goblin~"
There are high-level adventurers at the filming site too, so I think they can't lay a hand on us.
―― Thinking that, pressure began to be applied to the director, Quadrifoglio-san, and the staff.
What a pain.
Isn't there any good way to handle this...?