Press Conferences Are for Making Big News / 293. Reporter: I'm Going to Make Big News!

Using such words to threaten a Servant into working properly is like asking the boss to leave some bamboo shoots for the pandas in Sichuan, lest those endangered animals go hungry.

"Master, you know me, I would never joke about work."

Shinji only let Cú Chulainn go after hearing his repeated assurances that he would complete <Ultraseven X> properly.

After asking a few more questions about the specific progress of the film reshoots, Shinji and Ophelia left.

But Shinji didn't leave the set. Instead, he walked deeper into the studio to check on another newly approved film crew that was currently training actors.

The two did not enter the photography studio, but went directly to the nearby specially set up gym. Sure enough, Ryougi Shiki was there.

Wearing a cherry blossom-colored kimono, Shiki practices wielding a Japanese longsword under the guidance of a professional trainer.

The long sleeves of her kimono, as she danced gracefully, looked like a shower of brilliant cherry blossoms in spring.

Despite wielding weapons, she exudes a gentle, Yamato Nadeshiko-like tenderness; this must be the unique charm of Ryougi Shiki.

Chapter 292 Press conferences are for making big news.

Upon seeing Shinji walk into the gym, Ryougi Shiki immediately gave him a smile.

Shinji waved to her in response.

He didn't disturb Ryougi Shiki's practice until she finished the set of movements, at which point Shinji approached her to speak.

"Oh, Shinji, and Ophelia, you've come to see me!"

Ryougi Shiki greeted Shinji and Ryougi Shiki lively. Judging from her slightly lively appearance, the serene beauty she had shown during practice just now seemed to be an illusion.

"It hasn't been long, and Shi-jie is already playing it quite well."

Shinji and Ryougi Shiki jokingly remarked, "As expected, the results of skipping work to practice are truly different!"

"Shinji, I did complete my internship assistant work, you know!"

Ryougi Shiki pouted and complained, "With two salaries, how could I not earn them?"

"I live alone in Fuyuki City now, but I'm very poor."

This is of course not true; how could the Ryougi Family possibly have a poor second young lady?

Ryougi Shiki's monthly allowance is much higher than her salary.

The reason she didn't resign from her assistant job was because her father repeatedly instructed her to stay by Shinji Matou's side, which left her no choice but to do so.

It's clear that Mr. Ryougi is still harboring ulterior motives and wants something to happen between his daughter and Shinji.

Unfortunately, in Shinji's heart, Shiki was just a backup option, and a very low one at that.

It's not that Second Master looks down on Sister Shi, but rather that marrying Sister Shi is somewhat similar to marrying Chloe.

With so many beautiful female Heroic Spirit, if I don't have a fling with one, I'll be stuck with just one. Wouldn't that be too much for me?

Therefore, Shinji, not wanting to continue the conversation about his assistant's job, naturally shifted the topic to the movie.

"Before Filming, your knife-wielding skills must meet the film's requirements; otherwise, you'll be eliminated."

Ryougi Shiki's swordsmanship is the most important part of the action scenes in "Kara no Kyoukai" and a major selling point of the film.

In this world, Shiki is a pure, pampered young lady who has never lifted a finger. Before receiving training, she had never been exposed to martial arts or training as a killer.

As for combat skills, Shiki really has to start learning from scratch.

If Shiki truly cannot meet Shinji's requirements, he will not hesitate to replace her and summon a female Japan Heroic Spirit to Lead Actor.

Of course, that was only the very last option, and also an encouragement to Ryougi Shiki.

As long as the final training results are acceptable, Shinji will not replace Shiki.

At worst, we can have the Heroic Spirit as a stunt double for some intense fight scenes, and Shiki can just pose a few times in the closing scene.

[In the words of Deputy Station Chief Yu, this is what we call the basic principles of filming.]

Shinji thought to himself with smug satisfaction.

Ryougi Shiki was unaware of Shinji's thoughts; in her eyes, she was purely dispensable to the Kara no Kyoukai project.

"Shinji, is this the only time for the training?" Ryougi Shiki said ingratiatingly. "It's too short. Can't we extend it a bit? Is there any need to rush? The movie script isn't even finished yet!"

Unlike Cú Chulainn, Ryougi Shiki was working with Shinji for the first time and had no idea how extraordinary the boss's younger brother was.

"The movie script has already been finalized," Shinji smile, tilting his head. "Kara no Kyoukai will be a series. I've already prepared the scripts for the main stories; now it's just a matter of choosing which one to use as the first film in the series."

"Is that so...?"

This answer left Ryougi Shiki pleased and worried. She was pleased because Kara no Kyoukai no Kyoukai was not just a product of Shinji Matou's whims; he had grand ambitions for it.

My worry is that if I don't step up my game, Shinji might really kick me out of the project.

"No to that kind of thing!"

Overwhelmed by a sense of crisis, Ryougi Shiki Shinji anymore and quickly found a trainer to begin a new round of training.

"Ryougi really wants to be an actress."

Ophelia sighed as she watched Ryougi Shiki working up a sweat.

"Boss, playing with a young girl's heart is a serious crime!"

Ophelia glanced at Shinji and reminded him.

The Little Secretary who had always been by the Second Master's side knew, of course, that the Director had no intention of changing the Lead Actor from beginning to end.

"This will motivate her even more." Shinji's face showed no remorse. "Being a celebrity is incredibly stressful. If she can't handle this, then she shouldn't be in this industry."

Ophelia shook her head helplessly. "Anyway, boss, whatever you say is right."

Shinji chuckled and patted his Little Secretary on the shoulder, "So, seeing how serious Shiki-nee is, Ophelia, do you have any aspirations to become an actress? If so, I can write a script just for you!"

Ophelia rejected the idea without hesitation. "Being your secretary is hard enough, boss. Don't add to my workload."

Haha~

"Speaking of which," Ophelia asked, as if remembering something, "Boss, haven't you decided which story to film first? The Jidai Group will be asking you to submit a detailed project proposal soon."

"Well... I still have some doubts..."

Just as Shinji was pondering this, his phone suddenly rang.

A call came in from an unknown number; it was Shinji's work number.

Logically, Shinji should have hung up immediately on such a suspicious call with a greater than 70% probability of being a scam.

But he didn't do that. Instead, he answered the phone and politely asked, "Hello, who is this?"

The voice from the other end brought a relieved smile to Shinji, which made Ophelia's lips tighten.

Although she couldn't hear clearly, she could tell that the person on the other end was a woman.

"Okay, I understand. I'll wait for you in Fuyuki City."

After a brief conversation with the other end, Shinji smiled and hung up the phone.

"Is she your new lover, boss?"

Ophelia asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Shinji shook his phone and said, "No, it's your old colleague."

"An old colleague?"

Completely baffled by Shinji's explanation, Ophelia typed a large "?" above her head.

Shinji laughed heartily and slapped his secretary's Little Secretary smooth thigh, "Haha, let's go. The first story for <Kara no Kyoukai> is settled."

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

A few days later, Shinji held a press conference in the Type-Moon Company's press room.

The press conference was, of course, all talk and no action...

Pshaw, the content is a promotion for several of Type-Moon's key future projects.

The first Shinji mentioned was naturally <Ultraseven X>, which will be screened at the Venice Film Festival.

Although Tsuburaya Productions and Type-Moon are officially two different companies, the Lead Actor, Cú Chulainn, is an actor from Type-Moon, so there's absolutely no problem with him going to a press conference to promote the show.

"It can be said that this <Ultraseven X> will be a science fiction work completely different from previous Ultraman series."

Facing numerous reporters, Shinji said, "Seven is no different from the traditional Ultra Warriors, but we gave him a more realistic style, bringing down the omnipotent heroes of the previous Ultraman series from their pedestals."

The dark cyberpunk style of <Ultraseven X> will be the highlight of the entire film, while the depiction of the hero's powerlessness is the core of the film.

"In this movie, Seven is no longer a god; he can no longer solve problems and can only be a powerless bystander."

Shinji continued, "Whether it's the dramas from the Showa era or the OV from the Heisei era, Seven always viewed the relationship between Earth and aliens from a superior position. But this time, he will be a participant in the entire event."

"This process will be very painful for Seven, because the story he experiences is neither perfect nor beautiful; all he will get is naked humanity."

"To make the audience feel more involved, I designed the protagonist of the story to be an amnesiac. The audience will explore the world of the film with him, find themselves in it, and find an answer that belongs only to them."

It has to be said that the way Ultraman was dethroned in Ultraseven X was a stroke of genius.

Despite the frequent emphasis in previous Ultraman works that Ultraman is not a god, compared to weak humans, the powerful Ultraman is undoubtedly a god-like existence.

Although this god is not perfect or necessarily omnipotent, he can at least solve most of the problems in the story and even make choices for humanity.

In contrast, Ultraseven X is the first and only series where Ultraman repeatedly fails and is unable to achieve a perfect ending.

Compared to Nexus and Ultraman Leo, which are often considered dark and adult-oriented, Ultraseven X is the work that shouldn't be shown to children.

It's important to know that in the original Ultraseven X storyline, even though the real Seven appeared and defeated the enemy, that world did not achieve peace or a bright future; instead, it descended into near-endless chaos.

This kind of Bad End is not a rare problem in Ultraman history, but rather unprecedented.

From Shinji's perspective as a die-hard tokusatsu fan, <Ultraseven X> is a work that is very worth discussing. It's just a pity that Tsuburaya Productions was too disappointing in its previous life, and due to various reasons, it failed to bring out the essence of the original concept.

"Hmph, with me involved this time, I'm determined to present this story in its entirety."

Shinji knew that the dark tone of Ultraseven X would cause the film to fail commercially.

But he wasn't making this movie for box office success. If it flops, so be it. What's more important is whether it can leave a significant mark on film history.

After introducing Ultraseven X, Shinji then introduced Type-Moon's first idol group to the reporters— the Knights of the Round Table!

Ah, no, that's not right.

It's the Three Knight Classes of the Round Table!

The formation of the idol group "Knights of the Round Table" is a major event for Type-Moon Company's management affairs.

Shinji will, of course, announce this news to everyone at this grand press conference, allowing audiences worldwide to witness the charm of Gawain, Tristan, and Lancelot.

"Let's welcome the three members of our team to the stage!"

Through Shinji's introduction, the three Knights of the Round Table appeared in the public eye for the first time as idols.

Chapter 293 Reporter: I'm going to make a big scoop!

"Reconstructing Ultraman?"

In the press room of the Type-Moon building, a reporter looked at Shinji and the Type-Moon spokesperson on the screen and said to another reporter next to him, "Is he going after Ultraman? Is he planning to make the most of this IP?"

"Who knew, he said he had admired Ultraman since he was a child, and now it seems that he wasn't lying."

Another reporter speculated, "Otherwise, given this young Director's talent, he certainly wouldn't need to pay so much attention to the Ultraman series."

"Forget it, I'm more interested in his new male idol group than his dark style Ultraman. Wow, these three guys are pretty good-looking."

It must be said that the Knights of the Round Table, when they don't do anything stupid, are all incredibly good-looking and have great charisma. Their appearance immediately attracted the attention of the reporters, and the flashes of cameras never stopped.

"Does Johnny & Associates's Entertainment know that Shinji Matou is doing this?"

Looking at the three idiots giving their announcements with such serious expressions, the first reporter stroked his chin and asked...

The reporter who had just spoken to him said, "I heard that the management of this idol group is outsourced to Johnny & Associates & Associates."

"Really? Or not?"

Several reporters nearby immediately gathered around upon hearing this.

"Johnny & Associates's Entertainment actually outsources work? Did the sun rise out of bed early?"

"Has the old man at Johnny & Associates's lost his mind? He didn't even sign these three actors directly?!"