At the same time, they did not ignore the movie playing over there. Faced with this new film and television experience, these adventurers were showing unprecedented curiosity and anticipation, and they were even about to forget what they were doing.
Chapter 30: Preview (Part 2)
Chapter 30
The film "KonoSuba: God's Blessing for a Better World" began to be played as Du Lin had planned, and its effect was far beyond Du Lin's imagination. After watching the official broadcast, Du Lin was very satisfied with all the effects of the shooting, whether it was the shots or the scene portrayals.
And the audience watching this drama are the performance of these adventurers in the audience.
If we say that at the beginning of the film, they were more curious than excited, and more like studying what the magic video recorder and imaging crystal were and how they worked rather than watching a movie, then when the protagonist designated the goddess as the condition for his time travel to another world, these people suddenly became more excited than each other.
After all, normal people all like stories of adventure and strange encounters. Although people in this world are tired of chivalrous novels, it does not mean that they will not like this kind of essential pleasure.
As for when the story gradually developed to the point where the protagonist successfully traveled through time, but was unable to start the adventure directly, but instead was moving bricks at the construction site, continuous laughter broke out in this Adventurer's Guild, and these laughs also contained a lot of emotion and loneliness.
After all, most of the people present were adventurers, and who among adventurers didn't have great ambitions? Who didn't want to form a strong team to accomplish unprecedented feats and gain achievements that would be sung by bards? But unfortunately, the reality was not like that. Most adventurers in the South Territory often failed to achieve anything in their lifetime. To put it nicely, what they did was called commissions, but to put it bluntly, it was actually temporary work.
The protagonist who has been struggling on the construction site for a long time is projected as the true reality of these southern adventurers. They are helpless and not worthy of sympathy, because this is life.
As the story continues to develop, the protagonist, who can no longer endure the life on the construction site, finally makes up his mind to go on an adventure, and the adventurers now completely identify themselves with the protagonist.
However, when everyone was panting and looking forward to what kind of career the protagonist would do next and what amazing achievements he would achieve, the movie slapped them in the face again. After all, how could an ordinary person like the protagonist fight against a powerful monster? The goddess beside him was even more useless. Apart from her first-class comedy ability, she was completely useless.
Faced with such a situation, although the adventurers expressed disappointment, they were still attracted by the interesting plot and kept making various kinds of laughter.
After the main character team was initially established and the Dullahan actually appeared, the Adventurer's Guild suddenly fell into silence. Although they had heard from Durin before that the Dullahan was only acting for the filming of this movie, their focus was indeed not here -
“How come we were also included in the film?”
"So this is what you meant by the magic experiment you talked about back then?"
"Mom, I'm on camera!!"
"Ahh, why am I acting so cowardly! This is definitely a dark history!!"
... ... ..
While various voices were being transmitted in the Adventurer's Guild, Du Lin was just silently appreciating this film that he had created.
To be honest, due to the limitations of the shooting methods, this film did not meet his expectations. Various minor problems lowered the level of the entire film, but also made Du Lin determined to make a better film next time.
If we put aside these flaws and only appreciate it from the perspective of the aesthetic taste of the audience of this era, this is undoubtedly a groundbreaking film. Whether it is the brand-new magic prop, the magic video recorder, or the anti-mainstream script "KonoSuba: God's Blessing for a Better World", Du Lin can imagine the shock that this film will cause after it is spread.
However, no matter what kind of shock it will cause, he will not give up spreading it. After all, if no one takes the lead in creating it, then subsequent changes will not happen. Du Lin does not want to live and die in a world without the entertainment industry.
Therefore, even if this film will cause a huge shock in the real sense, even if many people may regard him and his film as a thorn in their eyes, there is no reason for Du Lin to give up.
As the story enters the later stage, the oppressive feeling of the Headless Knight in the film makes the audience feel astonishingly oppressive even across dimensions. There is no doubt that this is not the effect of the magic recorder, but simply because Beldia is too powerful. Even across the screen, the audience can feel the terrifying oppression he brings.
Therefore, all the audience members swallowed their saliva nervously. Although most of them had experienced the actual shooting that day, they were still in a state of nervous tension at this moment.
Then, as the unconventional story continued to develop, the tension finally turned into laughter that resounded throughout the guild.
When they saw that the protagonists not only failed to collect the 300 million bounty but instead owed 40 million for destroying the town, the laughter turned into a wave of laughter, and even many ordinary people on the streets far away from the guild came to see what had happened to this Adventurer's Guild.
"What happened next? Is this the end?"
“I also want to know how they are going to pay their debts next?”
"Forty million! It makes me feel that the debt of these two gold coins is really insignificant."
... ... .
When the audience saw the cast list pop up, they immediately fell into a state of wanting more, but it was more like they hadn't tasted enough rather than wanting more. After all, the story of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" was just a beginning according to the current broadcast schedule, or an appetizer, so it was natural for them to react like this.
Not to mention these people from another world who have no entertainment at all. Even if it is another world, when watching anime and encountering exciting new episodes, don’t they still hope that time can pass faster and wish that a week can pass as if it were an hour
Seeing this, Du Lin just walked to the front of the stage silently, took down the imaging crystal, and said, "I know what you want to ask. It is indeed as you expected. This film has not been officially completed yet. The one shown this time can be said to be a pre-production theater version. The next official version will depend on its popularity to decide whether to continue production."
“Ohhhhh!! So there is more?!”
"I'm so excited! I want to continue watching these guys having fun!!"
"When will there be a sequel? I really want to see it!"
... ..
Facing the audience's expectations, Du Lin just smiled and shook his head, then continued: "We will have news about the official version after the advance theatrical version is promoted. Now we have to hold the celebration banquet first. Although the adventurers are only participating in the group performance, they are equivalent to starring in this film, so they are naturally qualified to stay and have the celebration banquet together."
Hearing his words, everyone in the guild was excited. After all, they were discussing the fact that they were on camera before, and now Du Lin directly acknowledged their identities, which made them feel an inexplicable sense of pride.
Those adventurers who were too scared to go to the city gate when the Headless Knight attacked all showed expressions of regret, wishing they could travel back in time and slap themselves to death.
Chapter 31 Exclusive Agency
Chapter 31
The celebration banquet lasted until very late. During the banquet, a group of adventurers crowded in front of Durin and tried to get the subsequent story of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World". However, Durin certainly would not tell them. After using his identity as a great magician to disperse the group of people, he turned and left the guild hall and quietly came to the second floor of the Adventurer's Guild.
About two hours later, Du Lin, who came down from the second floor, looked at the hall which was almost empty, but unexpectedly found that the filming crew had not left and were still waiting for him in the deserted hall.
"Why haven't you left yet?"
In response to Du Lin's question, Wen Li, who was helping to clean up, said first: "We are waiting for you, Lord Edward. After all, we may not see each other for a short time after this separation. We must say goodbye properly at this time."
Just like a modern film crew, the team Du Lin assembled this time was actually just a short reunion. After all, the Edward family itself was still in debt, and how could they support a film crew when they couldn't even support themselves? In this case, when the filming was over, everyone had to say goodbye to each other and would not get together again until the next filming. There was nothing that could be done about it.
"... ..."
Seeing everyone's dejected expressions, Du Lin was stunned for a moment and then realized that he had not discussed the next development with this group of people. So at this moment, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said slowly: "So that's how it is. I forgot to tell you..."
"Forgot to say it? What do you mean?"
In response to Helena's confusion, Du Lin just showed a mysterious smile to this poor magician girl, then took out a piece of paper with dense handwriting in his left hand and said, "Yes, I forgot to tell you that the Adventurer's Guild in the South has signed a contract with me for the exclusive agency and broadcasting rights of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing to the Beautiful World" in the South. When the time comes, they will provide the venue for broadcasting the film, and the final profit of the film will be 80:20, 80 for us and 20 for them. For this reason, the guild leader gave me only one condition, that is, the broadcast of this film in the South can only be represented by the Adventurer's Guild."
Yes, this is exactly what Durin did within the previous two hours. He discussed with the president of the Southern Adventurer's Guild, who rushed to Northrick overnight, about the subsequent broadcast of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Beautiful World" in the Southern Territory. In the end, they signed a complete contract, which stipulated that the Southern Adventurer's Guild would be solely responsible for the broadcast of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Beautiful World" and would eventually take 20% of the revenue after the broadcast.
The so-called full broadcasting rights refers to the early investment in venues, publicity and promotion work, as well as a large amount of manpower and material resources. In this case, they only take 20% of the ticket fees in the end. This can be said to be a very low price. In another world, it can even be said to be unbelievable.
The reason why the Southern Territory Adventurer's Guild did this was of course, firstly, they saw the potential of this new form of expression called movie, and secondly, the president of the Southern Territory Adventurer's Guild was the first to see the changes that this film would bring to the Southern Territory!
There is a modern word called infectiousness. When a film is excellent and makes people involuntarily immersed in it, the audience will put themselves into the role of the protagonist as the story develops, and may even be obsessed with doing what the protagonist does.
Although people in this world are still unable to understand the concept of infectiousness, at least the first thought of the president of the Southern Adventurer's Guild after watching "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" directed by Durin was that he really wanted to be an adventurer!
Obviously, he is already the president of an Adventurer's Guild, but despite being in such a high position, he would rather throw this boring job aside and live a simple yet wonderful life like the protagonist in the story. The source of this incredible situation is the so-called infectiousness brought by film and television stories, which is a terrible force that is enough to change a person's world view and influence the interests of a group of people.
The reason why this story filmed by Du Lin has a terrifying appeal that it does not have in another world is naturally because this world is a real fantasy world.
Although both of them are watching "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World", the audience in another world is watching a story about traveling to another world, which naturally lacks the appeal of turning fantasy into reality. After all, even if you are in the late stage of chuunibyou and want to fire a fireball, it is simply impossible to do it. No matter how strong the appeal is, it will eventually fade away due to the dull reality. But in this world, if a chuunibyou is really talented, releasing a fireball is not a fantasy for him!
The same goes for transforming Fireball into Adventurer. For the people in this world, Adventurer is a profession that exists around them and is a simple goal that can be accomplished easily.
And most importantly, it is not like magic, which requires personal talent and hard work. There is no threshold to become an adventurer, and even the entry standards are extremely thin.
It is under such circumstances that if "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" is broadcast in the South and becomes a big hit, the result is self-evident!
The Southern Territory, which has always been short of adventurers due to the occasional appearance of undead, will undergo a radical change. Countless young people will voluntarily become adventurers after watching the work "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World"!
It was precisely because of this that the president of the Southern Adventurer's Guild would never let go of this opportunity, even if it meant risking everything. He asked for the exclusive agency and broadcasting rights of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Beautiful World" in the Southern Territory at an astonishing price that Durin absolutely could not refuse.
And after hearing Du Lin's explanation...
"Exclusive agency rights and broadcasting rights? What are these?"
Aya's words almost represented the thoughts of most people present. After all, these things were new things that came out of Du Lin's mouth. They were too unfamiliar to them, who were born and raised in another world.
In response, seeing the surprised and confused expressions on everyone's faces, and knowing that these people could not understand the astonishing significance of what he said, Du Lin finally decided to express his meaning with the simplest and most straightforward actions.
He slowly pulled out a magic pattern crystal card issued by the Empire's largest chamber of commerce and said, "Five thousand gold coins. This is the first payment from the Southern Adventurers' Guild to obtain the exclusive agency and broadcasting rights. It is also an investment in the filming of our next film. After the official broadcast, the box office revenue will be calculated separately. Do you understand what I mean? Our crew will not disband. In other words, it has just begun!"
Chapter 32 Celebration Banquet
Chapter 32
Compared to movies in another world, in addition to the box office revenue after the release, the cinema has to pay various publicity fees and taxes before the filming company can get the box office revenue. The conditions proposed by the Adventurer's Guild are very favorable, not to mention that Du Lin's investment in this movie should theoretically not cost a penny and it should be all net profit, so naturally there is no reason for him to refuse.
After listening to Du Lin's explanation that the filming of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing for a Better World" had finally paid off, the celebration party that was supposed to end continued at this moment. The group of overly excited guys couldn't find any reason to sleep at this moment, so they simply found a relatively empty tavern box after leaving the Adventurer's Guild and started a second celebration party.
"I never thought I could actually make so much money. It was totally unimaginable before, Du Lin."
During these days, Zat, who had rekindled his childhood relationship with Durin, gradually began to address him the same way as before. Durin, who didn't care at all, also accepted this relationship and said with a smile after taking a sip of sweet wine, "This is just the beginning. If I'm not mistaken, the next big thing will be the actual broadcast. Although this kind of cinema-style broadcast has not yet become popular in this world, I believe that the Southern Adventurer's Guild will not let me down this time."
Yes, after all, the purpose of the Southern Adventurer's Guild is to allow more people to become adventurers. Therefore, rather than making money, they actually hope that this film can be circulated more widely. To this end, they will naturally promote it at any cost, so that this advance theatrical version of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" can spread to every corner of the Southern Territory.
You have to know that there are more than 10,000 people in the town of Northrick alone, and there must be tens of thousands of people including the surrounding villages. Although there is no such thing as a census in this world, the final estimated population of the entire southern border is at least in the millions. With a population of this size, even if only one-tenth of it is exposed to "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Beautiful World", it will at least achieve good results in the end, at least far exceeding the small number of 5,000 gold coins.
Of course, in order to prevent these guys from getting too arrogant, Du Lin did not speak out his thoughts. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "Anyway, the official filming of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing for a Better World" will be put on the agenda sooner or later. Since the filming period will be very long, even lasting for more than half a year, I would like to ask about your next arrangements. If there is a conflict, I can change the time."
That’s right, since the upcoming shooting will include snow scenes, mobile fortresses and other problems that cannot be solved quickly, the shooting cycle this time will inevitably be dragged out for a long time. For this reason, Du Lin had to confirm the time with the leading actors first to prevent the situation of not being able to find anyone at that time.
"Aya and I are always available. In other words, I am your personal knight now, Du Lin. It is up to you to decide whether I have time or not."
In response to Zat's answer, Du Lin just nodded silently, then looked at Helena beside him, and the other party did not hesitate to say lightly: "I have to go back to the Mage Tower in the summer to handle the leave of absence procedures, otherwise they will probably count me as a missing person. And since you can make money here, Du Lin, I can go back to my family generously and tell them that I have found a good job that can make money."
"Well, I remember that your family's financial situation was not very good. So, what are you trying to do by owing such a large amount of money under such circumstances?"
"I've already said that I did it for a great cause. Mortals won't understand..."
"Yes, yes, then could you please settle your debts first before talking about great undertakings?"
After Du Lin finished complaining, he ignored Helena who wanted to explain herself and turned his gaze to the most inconspicuous girl among the leading actors, the actress who played Darkness, a girl who had not told Du Lin her name yet.
Faced with his inquiry, the other party seemed very flustered, but quickly said that she didn't have anything urgent to do next, and if she wanted to continue filming, she would come as soon as possible. From the way she looked, it was obvious that she had become fascinated by acting, which was a way to experience a second life.
In addition to this, the two undead, Wiz and Beldia, are basically clinging to Durin. Without Durin, these two wanted guys won't know where to go. Therefore, after the basic cast has been confirmed, there will probably be no unsolvable problems with the other actors.
"Okay, now that these problems have been solved, it's your turn, Lawrence. Do you remember that I wanted to shoot a commercial for you?"
"Well, I do remember, but the rental fee you gave me, Mr. Du Lin, is enough for my monster shop to continue running. If you still shoot an advertisement for me at this time..."
Seeing Lawrence's hesitation, Du Lin just smiled and said, "Don't worry, the Adventurer's Guild heard what I said and they also plan to let me put an advertisement for the Adventurer's Guild in the film. Don't worry about this little thing."
"That would be great."
In response to Lawrence's smile, Du Lin asked in confusion: "By the way, where is the orc girl who followed you just now?"
"Ah, she went back first because she was too sleepy. But it was obvious that she was very interested. Just now at the celebration party, she kept asking me to ask you about the sequel of the story, hahahaha."
Hearing Lawrence's words, Du Lin just smiled silently and said, "It would be great if most people could like this movie. After all, the subsequent plot will be more interesting."
As Du Lin finished speaking, the guys who had originally asked the director and screenwriter Du Lin for the script directly because of their status as actors jumped out one after another, and Zat, who played the protagonist, was the first to ask: "What will happen next? As the protagonist, I should get some awesome magic weapon and achieve something great, right?!"
In response to his words, Du Lin just smiled and shook his head silently.
“Puuuuu!! How could Zate become such an awesome adventurer? Aqua, as I played, always behaved like a goddess, right? She also showed her great strength against the Dullahan this time. If I hadn’t been there, how could she have defeated the powerful Dullahan?!”
Du Lin also shook his head at Aya's words and said directly: "I've already said that this is a comedy. There is basically no element of fighting monsters and leveling up in it, so don't even think about expecting the character you play to become stronger and more powerful."
And then Du Lin no longer explained anything related to the next plot. After all, this kind of plot still needs to retain a sense of mystery, and it is also to prevent these guys from spoiling the plot everywhere.
After realizing that they couldn't learn the plot from Du Lin, the group started chatting about "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" again, just like the classic discussion about combat effectiveness in another world. Aya's words just now directly triggered a quarrel among the main actors about the final battle, and the point of contention was undoubtedly who played a greater role in the final battle.
"If it weren't for Zat discovering his weakness, how could it be solved so easily?"
"Huh? Isn't it because of the great strength of Goddess Aqua that she was defeated?"
"Explosion magic is the most powerful!"
“Darkness… ..Darkness also held the enemy back for quite a while…”
Each actor stood in the perspective of the character he played, and the result was natural. Since no one could defeat the Dullahan without the other, the argument would have no result from the beginning. In this case, a Dullahan who had already been killed couldn't help but say, "If it weren't for Director Durin's forced plot killing, how could I have died in that place!"
"... ..."
Looking at these guys making so much noise, Du Lin couldn't help but deeply feel that his decision to make an animation was the right one!
Chapter 33 The Beginning of a New Era
Chapter 33
In order to truly promote "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" the Adventurer's Guild in the South has obviously invested heavily, which can be seen from the change in the atmosphere of the entire Adventurer's Guild.
As for this, although Du Lin was also looking forward to the release of the film, since all preparations for the release were handed over to the Adventurer's Guild, he would not interfere. He would just supervise the premiere in person. After all, he didn't dare to hand over the world's first movie premiere to a group of people who knew nothing about movies.
As for the general information obtained from the Adventurer's Guild, Durin couldn't help but trust some of the Guild Masters of the Southern Adventurer's Guild more, because as expected, the other party listened to the suggestions he provided to them in the past two hours yesterday and prepared for this premiere in a brand new form.
First of all, the film "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" will be premiered in Northrick, and the premiere venue is the only theater in Northrick - the Northrick Grand Theater.
The so-called theater is a place where dramas or stage plays are played, and stage plays are one of the most precious entertainment activities in the world. Although the form is simple, because the troupes that perform stage plays basically parade throughout the empire, this kind of entertainment that can only be enjoyed rarely has naturally captured the hearts of the audience, so that the audience who have the money to watch stage plays almost never miss any performance.