The Propagator of Culture

"You actually made the ending a tragedy."

The Bone Duke sat indignantly at the long table in the hall, watching Joshua who was busy editing.

The Bone Duke should have been angry that those despicable humans had entered his territory, but after watching the complete sample of Beauty and the Demon, two tiny Soul Fires overflowed from his already eyeless skull sockets as tears, and then he felt a little sentimental for a while.

However, the Bone Duke wasn't sad for long before he remembered that the screenwriter of this movie was right next to him! So the Bone Duke quickly ran over to send Joshua a "knife blade" on the spot.

"Duke, if you are not satisfied, you can personally write the script into a perfect ending."

Joshua held a charcoal pen and was outlining the shape of a sphere, answering the Bone Duke without lifting his head.

"Your Highness, you mean I can change the ending?"

The Bone Duke's not-so-friendly tone suggested that as long as Joshua allowed it, he really intended to forcibly change the ending.

"What I mean is that you can write a story you want based on the template of this story. Anyone can do this."

This method of creation that Joshua mentioned is called adaptation on Earth, and a niche term for it is fanfiction.

The Beauty and the Beast movies seen in later generations are basically adaptations of the original work. Whether it's the Disney version or the French version, they are all called movie adaptations, not the original work. The same goes for Joshua.

Joshua did not object to people in this world adapting the work Beauty and the Beast, and even encouraged them to adapt it.

Because with numerous adaptations, this story will spread widely...

And Joshua had only one requirement for these adaptors: add the original author at the end of the work: Jean-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Madame Beaumont is the original author of Beauty and the Beast, a French female writer.

This is also Joshua's requirement for himself. Joshua never intended to claim these works as his own in another world. After all, Joshua came to this world to spread the culture of Earth, not to plagiarize the culture of Earth in this world.

As a qualified cultural disseminator, this is the most basic requirement.

"I haven't reached that level of self-humiliation."

The Bone Duke thought for a moment and gave up on this idea. He really didn't have much creative talent.

"Then, Duke, may I ask... could you tell me your full name?"

Joshua stopped the brush in his hand. Since signing the contract with the Bone Duke, Joshua only knew the Bone Duke's name, but not his surname.

"Your Highness, what's the point of asking this?"

"Because I want to tell the audience who provided the music for this movie."

Joshua completely blackened a sufficiently long piece of paper, and the final cast list was written on the paper with white paint. The first name was, of course, Madame Beaumont, the original author of Beauty and the Beast. The second was I Nuo, who played Belle, and Zennas, who played the Prince. Joshua also listed the names of the Ghosts who played the moving furniture, as well as the names of the villagers who made guest appearances and Ciri Lloyd.

"The surname is irrelevant, Your Highness. You only need to remember my name, and I will be satisfied."

The Bone Duke seemed particularly resistant to his surname, but since it was the Bone Duke's own request, Joshua finally only wrote the Bone Duke's name, Shu Luoni Ka, for the music.

The rest were all Joshua's names: director, planner, script, prop provider, scene, camera, editing, and so on, a whole string of Joshua Anoroth.

Having spent so much effort making this movie, Joshua was certainly not modest about promoting himself.

After Joshua finished the end credits, the rest was the opening credits.

The opening credits are nothing more than displaying the logo of a certain production studio. Joshua pondered for a while and finally drew a symbol of the Earth on white paper. Below the Earth, he wrote 'Produced by Earth Production Studio' in both Chinese and English.

Although it looked a bit silly, this constantly rotating blue planet would be Joshua's usual logo from now on. After all, these movies, novels, and games all came from Earth.

The rotating effect was created by Joshua using the simplest method of flipping through a flipbook. Joshua hadn't yet figured out how to import images into the program he had written.

"Finished."

After completing the opening and closing credits, Joshua recorded them into Source Crystal Stones, announcing the successful production of the final product of Beauty and the Demon.

"Duke, this is a souvenir for you."

Joshua took out an empty Source Crystal Stone, made a copy, and handed it to the Bone Duke.

A total of over a hundred Source Crystal Stones were used for this film shoot. After learning the white magic taught by Ciri, Joshua could reuse these Source Crystal Stones, so not much was actually consumed.

"Is Your Highness going to the human world to screen this movie next?"

The Bone Duke took the Source Crystal Stone that Joshua handed him. He had already heard of Joshua's ambition. Joshua wouldn't just stop at having one or two hundred people watch this movie; Joshua's ambition was the whole world!

"Of course, the first stop is the Magic City, Nolan," Joshua said.

However, Joshua hadn't decided on the screening location yet. He would ask Ciri about it when the time came; Ciri was more familiar with the human world than Joshua.

At this moment, a ghost suddenly floated to Joshua's side. He was the Bone Duke's butler and played the role of the teacup in the movie.

The butler placed a badge on the table next to Joshua and then disappeared.

Joshua picked up the badge. The carving on it was exquisite, like a bouquet of flowers. The badge also contained a magic that was difficult to describe in words.

As for the surface of the badge, it looked quite old, with many signs of wear and tear.

"This is..."

"Something from a long time ago, it's no longer useful to me. Your Highness can take this badge and seek help from humans with the surname Dalk. If I'm not mistaken, this clan should be in the theater business now," the Bone Duke said.

"I understand."

This badge from the Bone Duke undoubtedly opened a new door for Joshua, but Joshua didn't ask further. The Bone Duke's aversion to his own surname must stem from a past he didn't want to mention.

"Then I will take my leave for now, Duke. The next time I visit, it will definitely be to invite you to perform at a certain theater. Also, here are the music scores I've organized."

Joshua tidied up the things on the table and pushed a thick stack of music scores to the Bone Duke. It contained some works by great music masters from Earth.

"Perform... I don't expect such an almost impossible thing to happen, but Your Highness... if you make another movie, you must give it to me beforehand."

The Bone Duke carefully put away the music scores Joshua gave him as if he had found a treasure, and then said to Joshua.

Did he get addicted to watching movies? This form of entertainment is indeed too novel for the residents of this world.

"Of course."

After agreeing to this request, Joshua carried his suitcase all the way to the gate of the Duke's castle.

Ciri had been waiting outside the castle for a long time.

"Going back to the human world soon, excited?"

Joshua walked down the stairs and came to Ciri's side, asking.

"Back to the human world? Wait... never mind that, hurry up and play another game of billiards with me!"

Ciri sent a challenge request to Joshua. Since the movie was finished, Ciri had been playing billiards with Joshua, and of course, the final result was a tragic record of being defeated by Joshua's ten consecutive wins.

This completely ignited Ciri's competitive spirit.

"Can we play after we get in the carriage?"

"Okay."

Joshua originally thought this mini-game didn't have high gameplay value. For Joshua, it wasn't even enough to pass the time. After all, Joshua was already somewhat aesthetically fatigued from playing various AAA masterpieces on Earth.

But the essence of video games is to bring joy to players, and table tennis brought Ciri great joy, no matter how simple the game was.

Ciri immediately ran onto the carriage driven by Zennas, then patted the seat next to her, signaling Joshua to quickly sit down.

"..."

Joshua could already foresee what Ciri would become when the Internet era truly arrived.

And Joshua felt that this era was not far off. After all, Joshua had already kicked open the door to this era in a very crude way.