Don't Call Me Master, Call Me Director

"So cool, is she the Prince Charming?"

Shinji clearly heard the exclamation from a girl in the front row.

Heh, I wonder if they'll call her 'Older Sister King of Knights' in the future.

Shinji glanced back at the row behind him.

Although the "Prince Charming" the girl mentioned was looking intently at the big screen, her hands were elegantly yet swiftly stuffing popcorn into her mouth (the second largest bucket).

Watching the Lady King of Knights eat with such focus in the noisy theater gave off a vibe of, "Human joys and sorrows have nothing to do with me, I just find them noisy."

Compared to Artoria, who was eating quietly, the male Heroic Spirits were busy mocking Lancer.

"Hahaha, your Noble Phantasm didn't even hit! This is the consequence of your low luck value and forcing yourself to use it!"

Gilgamesh slapped his thigh and burst into maniacal laughter.

"Hmph, it was okay."

Red A didn't laugh out loud, he just slightly curled the corner of his mouth.

Cú Chulainn retorted awkwardly, "The one who was defeated by Saber in one move has no right to talk about me!"

"So noisy..." Medusa next to him grumbled in a low voice, "I'm definitely not sitting next to these people next time."

However, Medusa didn't realize at the time that the loudest thing in a movie theater is never the people talking next to you, but the theater's sound system.

Especially since FSN is a movie filled with fighting and explosions.

The initial battle between Red A and Cú Chulainn on the school grounds, and Saber's debut at the Emiya Residence currently being shown, were just minor skirmishes.

The real first major scene of the movie was when Shirou's group encountered Illya and Berserker on their way back from the church.

"■■■■■----!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Berserker's roar and the continuous explosions filled the theater, and the audience was stunned by this series of wild shots like a runaway train.

Even Udagawa Nao, who had seen the movie several times, patted her chest with lingering fear.

"That was... a bit intense..."

The previous times Udagawa Nao watched FSN, she either watched it in a conference room with a projector or in a workroom with a monitor. She had never truly enjoyed the movie on the big screen, which had pushed its audiovisuals to the extreme.

"That little boy... he's so amazing."

Recalling the smiling face of a certain young Director, Udagawa Nao commented with a complex expression.

Beside Udagawa, Aoko continuously ran her hands over the armrest of her seat. The immersive performance just now made her subconsciously think she had been thrown onto the streets of Fuyuki City by Magecraft.

The battle on screen continued, and Shirou's side was at a complete disadvantage. In direct combat, Saber was no match for Berserker, and Red A's injured surprise attack didn't work well either; it couldn't even serve as a distraction.

Accompanied by the tense and exciting BGM, Aoko felt her heart being clutched by the movie's plot.

When the scene reached its climax, with Shirou being sent flying by Berserker's sword while trying to protect Saber, Aoko even felt like her heart had shattered.

"That's too brutal?"

"Hey, hey, is this person named Shirou Emiya really the protagonist? He's had nothing but trouble all night."

"This must be the price for summoning Saber."

Many exclamations and worried voices sounded around them. Most of the audience was concerned about Shirou's serious injuries, while a small portion of fans who had already been won over by Saber showed schadenfreude.

The most exaggerated reaction came from Shirou's adoptive father, Kiritsugu. Seeing his foolish son charge forward blankly, he covered his face with a "snap."

"That's exactly the kind of thing Shirou would do," Kiritsugu said helplessly. "He doesn't use his brain at all. At a time like this, even if you want to save someone, you should first think of a way to distract the opponent. Isn't he failing to save the person and getting himself into trouble instead?"

"Okay, okay. Kiritsugu, don't dwell on it anymore." Irisviel next to him smiled fondly at the screen, "It's really great that Shirou and Illya can get along well, isn't it?"

You think this is getting along well?

Glancing again at his stepson, who was bloody and bruised on the screen, Kiritsugu began to ponder what his wife's words truly meant.

Shirou's injury marked not only the end of this battle but also the end of the movie's prologue.

Following this, the movie transitioned into its second part, the Rider arc, with a relatively calmer transitional plot.

As the movie's plot truly unfolded, Shinji, who played Benji, finally made his appearance.

If she hadn't met him at the banquet, Aoko would never have been able to connect the person on screen with the greasy playboy.

The difference in his demeanor and conversation was too great.

Seeing the movie's pace slow down, Aoko turned her head slightly, "I didn't expect the young master of the Matou Family to be such a good actor, and his acting is also quite good."

"Of course, he's a child prodigy in Magecraft," Kuonji Azu said with great pride. "Don't look at him with the mindset of ordinary people."

Aoko took a big gulp of cola and let out an ungraceful little burp.

"Well, I don't deny his achievements in Magecraft, otherwise Grandpa wouldn't have approached him... Huh?"

On the screen, Shinji arrogantly challenged the protagonist Shirou Emiya to a duel, repeatedly mocking him for being inferior to himself.

Master Shinji's somewhat comical performance amused Aoko, and she gently nudged her companion, "Azu, do you think the Matou kid has some kind of scheme?"

"Shut up!"

Aozaki said disdainfully, "It's rude to disturb others while they're watching a movie."

"...Since when did you like watching movies?"

Aozaki remembered that her companion hated crowded places like movie theaters the most.

"40 minutes ago, is that not allowed?"

As Aozaki spoke, she extended a faintly glowing finger.

"Aozaki, if you keep spouting nonsense, I'll make sure you can't speak (Magecraft)."

"...I get it."

Aozaki obediently conceded and took a dejected sip of her cola.

Chapter 23: Tonight, We Are All Knights of the Round Table

Fortunately, Aozaki's dissatisfaction didn't last long. As the school battle began, earth-shattering explosions drew Aozaki's attention back to the screen like lightning.

Saber and Rider were seen darting through the narrow corridor. The explosions generated by the clash of the two Heroic Spirits erupted in brilliant flames, surging outward from within the school building.

Aozaki had an illusion that the flames on screen, along with shattered glass, seemed to be sweeping towards her outside the big screen, causing her heart to race involuntarily.

Especially the scene where Rider and Saber unleashed their Noble Phantasms at the end; the dazzling curtain of light almost filled the entire screen. The massive shockwave not only tore through the sky but also pulverized all the glass in the school building, scattering glittering fragments like a celestial dance from the heavens...

Only after the entire battle ended and the scene cut back to Artoria, panting from the immense magical exhaustion, did Aozaki finally breathe a slight sigh of relief.

But her heart was still pounding fiercely; Aozaki felt as if her blood was on the verge of boiling.

"This is amazing." Aozaki licked her lips with the tip of her tongue and said, slightly breathless, "I really want to fight these Heroic Spirits. What do you think, Aozaki?"

"Shut up."

Aozaki's words were met only with her companion's cold response.

Meanwhile, at the Fuyuki City preview screening, Medusa was mourning her own demise on screen.

"My scenes... are over just like this."

Medusa lowered her head slightly and let out a sigh.

To ensure the movie's runtime and pacing, Shinji had cut a significant amount of content from Rider's arc. Many transitional scenes were either directly removed or briefly touched upon by Master Shinji.

The two battles between Rider and Saber, originally in the plot, were merged into one by Shinji, leading to Rider's premature exit in the school battle.

After all, movies are different from games and anime series; there's no time or need to elaborate on every detail. Padding out minor subplots would only make the entire film disjointed.

Shinji's approach made the movie's pacing faster and more satisfying for the audience.

However, it wasn't very friendly to Rider, not only was her screentime reduced, but her Noble Phantasm's spotlight was also stolen by Artoria.

"Sigh, it ended just like this."

Rider, with a melancholic expression, stroked her book, a hint of unwillingness showing on her face.

"You're lucky," Little Yi Ge complained beside her, "At least you got a shot. My scenes were completely cut! And I even practiced Japanese swordsmanship for so long..."

Because the Caster group's role in the Fate Route was not only minimal but also negligible to the main plot's development.

Therefore, Shinji compressed Caster's screentime to the absolute minimum during editing, retaining only Caster Medea's scenes in the latter half of the movie to serve as a backdrop for Gilgamesh's appearance.

Yan Qing was naturally not satisfied with Shinji's decision. It was already unfortunate enough that his face couldn't be shown, but then over two-thirds of his acting was deleted!

"Now, now, Little Yi Ge, calm down~"

Hearing Yan Qing's complaints from the row behind, Shinji quickly turned around to appease him.

This versatile stand-in actor was a very important cash cow for Master Shinji in the future, so he naturally had to treat him well.

"Due to the limited movie runtime, I had to cut your scenes," Shinji explained. "It's not just you; I cut all of Red A's final battle too."

"Hey, what did you say?!"

Upon hearing this, Red A immediately became agitated.

He only made two appearances in the entire movie, and one of them was cut?!

"There's nothing I can do, the movie runtime is just that short," Shinji explained with a wry smile. "But don't worry, I'll definitely make up for your scenes in the extended DVD version."

[A typical extended version only adds some dialogue scenes, but I'm adding not only exciting fight scenes but two of them. This will definitely be the biggest selling point of the extended version! Hahaha~]

Although he was inwardly cackling like a shrewd merchant, Shinji maintained an embarrassed expression on his face.

"..."

Red A and Yan Qing exchanged glances. Shinji's words seemed to make some sense, but they both felt something was off.

"But my scenes end here, right?"

Rider snorted coldly. She didn't recall filming any additional scenes.

"Well~"

Shinji rubbed his nose helplessly.

Unlike Yan Qing and Red A, Medusa's scenes were decided to be cut before filming even began.

"Such a heartless Master," Medusa said disdainfully. "Why don't you just let Sakura be my Master instead?"

"I have no objections to that."

Shinji shrugged. The fact that Rider was a Sakura fan was like Saber being a foodie – a setting etched into the very roots of the Nasuverse.

Besides, his own sister wasn't an outsider. Even if Medusa really found Sakura to be her Master, the meat would still be cooking in their own pot.

The interactions between the cast members didn't draw the attention of the audience present. Their focus had long been captivated by the spectacular movie.

From Shinji challenging Shirou to a duel, to saving people, arguing with Shinji, falling into crisis, Saber saving the day, Servant battles... and so on. This series of thrilling and dazzling scenes had the audience at the preview screening shouting with joy. They had never seen such an exciting movie before.

Actually, the plot segment Shinji filmed wasn't anything extraordinary. It was just handled in the conventional way of traditional Hollywood special effects movies from his previous life.

But what could you do when the people in this parallel world had so little experience? Such cool fights, such tense plots – they gave the audience an unprecedented sense of pressure!

"Hoo..."

Arisu took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from her temples.

Even she, a rational audience member whose attention was more on the Magecraft spells in the movie than the action scenes, showed a hint of nervousness.

"It's suffocating... Is this really a movie?"

Arisu voiced her feelings in the most direct way possible. Before today, she had never imagined that a movie could be made like this, nor had she ever thought she would one day feel that the immersion of a movie surpassed that of books.

The audience members who shared Arisu's thoughts were not few. Gazing at the almost completely destroyed school building on the screen, which had been affected by the Servant duel, its fate was practically a representation of the entire screening – wild destruction.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Risei Kotomine panted like an ox. Feeling hot, he simply took off his jacket.

Although he didn't have any conditions like high blood pressure or heart disease, the intense booming of the sound system in the theater made the elderly Risei Kotomine a bit overwhelmed.

"This movie is a bit too stimulating for an old man like me."

After taking several deep breaths, Risei Kotomine's chest gradually calmed down.