But before they could be happy for a few seconds, the screen changed again and new text appeared.
"Advertising is back and even better'.
At the same time, a countdown starting from '30:00' appeared in the upper right corner of the screen.
Needless to say, this time the advertisement of Kara no Kyoukai lasted a full half hour. Considering that the current time is only two or three in the afternoon, it can be said to be a complete torture.
"What is this? An advertisement? Why does this exist..."
"Pfft, it's fine to just play commercials, but why does it take half an hour? Isn't that disgusting?"
"I just happened to have something to do at home, so please hold the seat for me. I'll go back first."
"It was the first time I felt that half an hour was so long..."
"By the way, what exactly is this advertisement? I'm quite curious."
"Yeah, I also want to see what kind of advertisement it will be. After all, my friend's friend wanted to find the director of the movie to make an advertisement a long time ago, but because the movie doesn't seem to allow commercials, he has never done it. Now that this TV has been launched, I think I have to inform him as soon as possible."
“… … .”
Amid the lively discussion among the crowd, the picture on TV slowly emerged. The first thing that appeared in front of the audience was three figures in magician robes. They were Scar standing in the center, and Piccol and Dylan on both sides of him. These two freshmen had joined the TV station before, and now they were lucky enough to become the organizers of the world's first advertisement.
"Ahem, TV... Hello everyone in front of the TV. I am Skar, the master of the Alchemy Tower of the Imperial Mage Academy, and I am also one of the inventors of the television."
It seemed that because it was the first time for him to do such a thing, Scar was awkward twice just when reading the lines, but the audience did not pay attention to it. Instead, they looked at the middle-aged wizard in front of the screen in surprise, as if it was the first time they saw such a "big shot" appear in front of them in this form.
On the other side, as Scar's slightly nervous movements slowly proceeded, a sample of a TV that looked exactly like the one currently playing was taken out from the side.
Obviously, that's the subject of this first-ever TV ad: television itself.
Chapter 131: The Release of "Kara no Kyoukai" (V)
Chapter 131
At the Imperial Mage Academy, as the first chapter of "The World of Kara" ended, the students in the hall immediately started discussing with each other. It was obvious that each of them had their own opinions on this strange ending.
"I don't quite understand. What kind of ability did Ryougi Shiki use to kill this invisible and intangible ghost? The ghost's death felt different from a normal death, as if it was cut into pieces..."
"It should be some kind of special ability. Of course, we don't know whether it is something that Ryougi Shiki originally had or something that Aozaki Touko transformed into it later."
"That prosthetic limb obviously has special abilities. At least if it weren't for the prosthetic limb, Ryougi Shiki wouldn't be able to catch the ghost in the air."
"Why are you still talking about this? Don't you think the ending is sweet? I'm very curious about the relationship between Ryougi Shiki and Kuroto Mikiya. I feel like the current clues are too confusing."
"Yeah, so how long is "Kara no Kyoukai"? Is it like the last "Fate Zero" that requires a half-year interval before we can watch it..."
"That's too long. I really want to die in front of the director! And after I die, remember to burn the sequels of Fate Zero and Kara no Kyoukai for me!!"
"... ..."
Compared to the students' exchanges that were more on the surface of the plot, at the top of the Alchemy Tower, when the ending song of "Kara no Kyoukai" was playing, a group of great sages were arguing over the final narrative of the film. Judging from the contemplation and solemnity on their faces, most people probably couldn't imagine that these old wizards were just discussing the plot of a TV movie they had watched.
Dean Hohenheim spoke first. He looked at Sage Rosa at the side, then thought for a moment before speaking. Instead, he asked the magicians, "Everyone present must have seen a ghost before. Tell me, what exactly is this Wujou Wuhui like? She is obviously a human, but she has the ability to [look down]. It's not like she's a superpower. At least her ability should have been awakened after she became ill and couldn't leave the ward. As for that ghost-like thing, is it a clone?"
"There should be more than one clone. After all, even the personality has been split. It can be called two bodies. However, Wujou Kirie's second 'self' is not another human being, but a ghost."
"Is it really possible? To give a second personality a new body, and ultimately create a dual existence?"
"It is possible in theory, but it is only a theory. After all, the soul and the brain are the two most difficult concepts for humans to analyze. If someone can fully understand them, I am afraid that person is already qualified to be called a god."
"But at least Wujo Wuhui in this story succeeded, and it's obvious that she didn't create it naturally, but someone deliberately pushed her. Let's not talk about the purpose of this pusher for now. At least Wujo Wuhui's concept of creating a dual existence is very similar to the previous immortal school. Those crazy people once made a 100% successful idea of immortalization, which was to create a soul that was completely identical to themselves, and then rely on the immortalization experiment to collect data, and finally rely on their own consciousness to achieve risk-free immortal research. It can be said to be a crazy idea."
In response to Sage Rosa's words, the Great Sage at the side said in surprise: "You actually also research this kind of thing? I really don't want to do that kind of research in my life. After all, apart from understanding more about the soul, it has no extra value and will only cause trouble for myself."
In response to this, Sage Rosa simply said silently: "I just think that such research should not be wasted. After all, even if the research on the undead is unethical in some sense, the data obtained with too many sacrifices is not wrong in itself. I observe those only to better study humans themselves. As long as I don't use it in the wrong place, it will be fine."
"That's true. After all, it's the person who kills someone with a knife, not the knife. Even if there is a trial, it can only be those crazy scholars of the Undead School. But these studies can easily deceive those young mages. After all, young people are still in the process of establishing their worldviews. At this time, they can't resist the temptation of eternal life."
After hearing what the two said, the great sages around them couldn't help but join in the topic of the undead.
"The last words are quite interesting. Death is not bravery, but escape. Choosing to live and taking responsibility for your own mistakes is the only behavior that proves courage. This statement has a sense of collective consciousness, because a single individual often does not notice the impact of his or her death on the world. For most people, death is the end of the 'world', but unfortunately, your death will not affect the world, or the impact of your death still remains in the world. Saying goodbye to everything with death seems to be very courageous, but it leaves many problems for those who are still alive. In this case, are the undead the ones who are the most courageous... "
"You are quite materialistic. However, since we magicians have a much better understanding of the world than ordinary people, we tend not to make conscious or idealistic statements. According to this theory, choosing eternal life is something that requires great courage. Of course, if the person who chooses eternal life is not aware of the consequences of eternal life, then just ignore what I said. Otherwise, just imagining the endless fate of loneliness is a very terrifying thing. There would really be no chance of escape."
"That's why the undead are hated by humans. Because the final fate of the undead is often that their long eternal life leads to the loss of consciousness, and they eventually go crazy and turn into monsters of another form. At that time, they are no longer considered human."
"In that case, how do the gods in mythology maintain their consciousness? Or is it that since the gods have transcended human concepts, their consciousness will not be affected no matter how much they experience the ravages of time?"
"In other words, if the undead can possess some organs that surpass humans and are close to gods, then they can be close to gods... In other words, the reason why the seventh-level path does not exist is the limitation of the human body itself?"
As the great sages continued to communicate, a terrifying idea gradually appeared in the mind of each great sage.
Chapter 132: The Release of "Kara no Kyoukai" (Part 6)
Chapter 132
But precisely because they knew how terrifying it was, everyone immediately skipped over this topic, just like the sudden stop when discussing "Fate Zero" before, after all, the great sages present had all experienced the frenzy that had shaken the entire academy in the past. Even if they hadn't experienced it personally, they had at least heard about it, so they knew deeply how distorted this idea would be on the current social order. Even if human magicians were isolated from the seventh level from now on, it was better than forcibly seeking the seventh level and causing the destruction of the race itself.
When their topic fell into silence, the ending song on the TV in the distance ended. A great sage, who thought that the film viewing was about to end, was about to stand up, but Scar hurriedly spoke up to stop him, and everyone present immediately focused their attention on him.
In this regard, feeling the tremendous pressure brought by the attention of a group of great sages, Scar hurriedly said: "TV... TV is different from movies. It's not gone after it's over... Anyway, just wait a little longer..."
Hearing his words, not to mention Sage Rosa who had expected it, the other great sages, including Dean Hohenheim, all showed surprised expressions. As expected, as the easter egg of the first chapter of "The Garden of Sinners" ended, the picture suddenly changed, and the words "Playing "The Garden of Sinners" Chapter 2 - Murder Investigation (Part 1) later, the advertisement is back, more exciting" were clearly displayed on it.
At the same time, Scar, knowing that he was about to go on stage, nervously straightened his clothes and walked towards a stage with a live broadcast camera under the guidance of the student in charge of conducting in the distance.
At this moment, all the magicians, including the students who were in the school hall at that moment, showed surprised expressions and seemed quite confused by the word "advertisement". Even some freshmen from the southern border showed subtle expressions. At the same time, everyone's attention was immediately attracted by the words "Chapter 2 of "The World of Kara" - Murder Investigation (Part 1)".
"Fuck, there's still more? Two episodes in a row?"
"Two episodes in a row? So cool! I declare that Senior Du Lin is the magician I admire most!"
"Look how happy you are. Just two episodes like this. If there's a third episode later, you'll probably kneel down and call me daddy."
"Hey, if there really is a third episode, I'll be the first one to call you daddy!!"
"I've made a note of it. Don't deny it when the time comes."
"... ..."
In short, the excitement of the students can almost be said to be a portrayal of the entire Northrick and the Imperial Mage Academy. A group of viewers who have just finished watching the wonderful first chapter of "The Garden of Sinners" are like a group of hungry lambs at this moment. When they hear that there is a second episode, it is like seeing a whole lake of milk. They excitedly run around to tell each other that it feels great, just like New Year's Day.
However, when they found out that the commercial was half an hour long, a group of people suddenly became discouraged and said that the director was not a human being. However, they did not know that Du Lin would be even more inhuman in the future.
However, there are still a large number of students who seem very interested in this super long advertisement. It is true. After all, for these bored people, it doesn’t matter whether it is an advertisement or a feature film, as long as they can watch it and kill time.
In this case, when Scar appeared and began to introduce the so-called TV, a group of magicians were suddenly shocked. After all, they did not expect that this thing was actually made by the discipline of magic alchemy, and from the looks of it, it seemed that it was intended to be promoted as a commodity.
As expected, on the TV screen, although Scar's performance was not good at the beginning, he still reacted after being prompted by the two students beside him, and quietly took out an advertisement script written by Du Lin himself, and read it: "I have just introduced our new product of the Mage Alchemy Department - TV. So, I think what the audience is most looking forward to now is when it will be on the market. For this, don't worry for the time being. Since our technical research has not been fully implemented, our Mage Alchemy Department has only produced a total of 100 TVs, of which 50 have been displayed in the Imperial Mage College and the Tavern in Northrick for the audience to use. It can be said that you are the first batch of users in the entire empire to experience TV."
"As for the remaining fifty, what will happen? Good news, good news. For the remaining fifty TV samples, our Magic Alchemy Academy will sell them by auction. The auction will be held in front of the square next to the headquarters of the Northrick Cinema. Anyone who is interested in movies can participate in this auction. Even those who are not interested can participate. At that time, we will draw a lucky audience member on the spot and give him a TV at random. At the same time, we will also recruit advertisers here. All interested advertisers can go and sign an agreement with Viscount Barnil, the manager of the Northrick Cinema, to allow the broadcast of advertisements. Of course, the advertisements themselves need to be conceived by you, and the final selling price will be calculated according to the length of time."
"Well, that's all I have to say."
As Scar finished speaking, he looked at the time. It was exactly fifteen minutes, which could be said to be a perfect length. As for the remaining time, it could be left for the promotional advertisement of the Magic Alchemy Academy that Du Lin mentioned before and the trailer for "Fate Zero". That's right, at the moment when no advertisers have been attracted, there are only so many advertisements that can be put on, but when those sharp-eyed businessmen join in in the future, this period of time called advertising will really make tens of thousands of dollars in seconds. In some ways, this can fill the gap in ticket revenue.
After all, it's about making a living. Television may seem unprofitable, but when the market has not yet been developed and the cake has not yet been divided up, the money earned in the end is far from what movies can compare to. After all, no matter how good a movie is, it only makes money from the ticket prices of ordinary people, while television can make money from big businessmen who are already rich and powerful. The nature of the two can be said to be completely different. Of course, even if Du Lin does not develop the television market, he can still make a living by relying solely on movies, perhaps even more than TV. But as he said before, what he wants to change is this era. It is not enough to just bring the movies in his memory to this world. What he really wants to change is the world's most fundamental form of entertainment itself!
Chapter 133: The Release of "Kara no Kyoukai" (Part 7)
Chapter 133
Edward Tavern.
"Oh my god, it's finally over... This is too much, why did they have to put on a half-hour commercial..."
In response to Helena's complaint, Du Lin simply replied silently: "Because this is a scheduled time, at least advertisers should be able to see a sign that there is such a practice. Otherwise, there will be no advertisements at the beginning, and no one will be willing to participate later."
"Well, that's the truth."
As the scene on TV reappeared, the discussion of Helena and the audience around her became quieter, and it was obvious that they were all looking forward to the next plot.
"By the way, will the next story continue from the one about overlooking the scenery? Sir Edward, will there be new enemies later?"
After hearing what Wen Li said, and seeing that everyone was very interested in this question, Du Lin just said silently: "Well, actually the world axis of the second chapter is earlier than the first chapter, so the story of the second chapter is actually about how Kuroto Mikiya met Ryougi Shiki."
"Huh?"
Obviously, they didn't expect this kind of flashback plot. As the group of people showed surprised expressions, as expected, on the screen, as the picture of the obviously artificial snowfall in the sky gradually emerged, the young boy walked up the long ramp.
... ... .
Imperial School of Mages.
"Ohh! Is it finally starting? I just came back from the bathroom!"
"You're really lucky to be in the bathroom, but the trailer for the second part of "Fate Zero" was just played. It's really cool. I'm looking forward to it more and more."
"Yeah, although "Kara no Kyoukai" is also very good, I still want to watch the exciting "Fate Zero" more. The heroic spirits and magicians fighting for the Holy Grail is the romance of us magicians!"
"I dare say that the thing I regret most now is not choosing to study magic alchemy, ahhh!!!"
"Stop arguing, the movie is about to start!!"
"... ..."
Soon, as the picture gradually appeared on the TV screen, the magicians in the hall showed excitement, but then, seeing the content on the screen, they all showed confusion.
"??? What's going on? How come Ryougi Shiki and Kuroto Mikiya don't recognize each other anymore?"
"I'm not sure. I always feel that the Ryougi Shiki at the beginning is a little strange. I can't really put my finger on it. It feels completely different from the Ryougi Shiki that came before."
"Well, you'll find out if you keep watching. I think this should be a flashback. After all, the director didn't say it must be in chronological order."
“… … .”
... ... .
On TV, "Kara no Kyoukai" continues to be broadcast.
"You're still dressed neatly as always, Shiki."
When Kuroto Kiryu came in front of Ryougi Shiki, he tried to get close to her without any hesitation. Ryougi Shiki replied helplessly, "It's enough for now, but it will be hard to bear in a while."
"Do you dress like this in winter?"
"Of course, but it's okay, I'll put on my coat."
"So there are jackets that can be worn over kimonos."
"Of course."
"Well, a leather jacket, for example?"
... ... ..
"I heard there was a murder not long ago in the west shopping street."
"There's actually a murderer. It's really not peaceful."
"Yes, and the content is also very scary. I heard that the deceased's hands and feet were cut off with a knife and then thrown on the roadside, so the scene turned into a sea of blood, and the criminal has not been caught yet."
"Only two hands and two feet? Will people die like that?"
"That would cause excessive blood loss, and eventually stop vital activities. However, in this case, it is likely that death occurred due to excessive shock first... Ah, sorry, this matter has nothing to do with Shiki, right?"
"It's okay. What happened around here can't be said to be unrelated. But, Kurogiri-san... this kind of thing isn't something you should talk about during dinner time, right?"
... ... ..
It can be said that the first half of the second chapter of "Kara no Kyoukai" is always shrouded in a fog. Although it looks like a simple campus romance drama on the surface, the words such as "dead" and "crime" that keep flashing by are obviously far from what it seems.
For this reason, while the audience began to discuss the issue one after another, most of them also lost the ability to debate independently and were completely led by the film. As for the appearance of Ryougi Shiki's male personality, the feeling of confusion almost doubled. No one knew how the story would develop next. And this was while the bird's-eye view clearly gave you clues to the future. The Murder Investigation (before) being played now was just a flashback.
Of course, even the magicians of the Imperial Mage Academy seemed confused about this chapter. Although they realized that it was indeed good to read, they didn't know what was good about it. They could only focus on the murderer who caused multiple incidents.
"I think it should be another personality of Ryougi Shiki. After all, there are many clues to show that Ryougi Shiki does have some kind of irrepressible destructive impulse."
"That's not necessarily the case. After all, many clues seem to be given to you, but in fact they are misleading you. Isn't that the case with the overlooking scenery just now? You thought it was a female ghost, but in fact, in the end you were told that it was just a flashback, and the criminal was actually a living person..."
"Well, I feel that many parts of the story of "Kara no Kyoukai" are suspected of deliberate guidance, so I also think that the mortal this time is someone else. The most important thing is that the heroine has a dark history of killing innocent people, which is too much."
"Not necessarily. If it was Ori who killed someone instead of Shiki, wouldn't it be like writing off the whole thing if Ori was killed afterwards? Besides, the personality of Ryougi Shiki in the Overlooking Scenery is obviously Shiki's."
"I somehow feel that it makes sense, but as I said, many things can be guided, and there may be a reversal later..."
As the discussion became more intense, the picture on TV also reached the middle stage.
... ... .
"Have I ever told you that I hate humans?"