Spirit Camera

"So you're saying he's the Calamity of Wuwang, the ancient Red Dragon, Drogo?"

On the third floor of Drogo's Toy Store, Aisha brought Yuno before Drogo, who was sprawled on the sofa reading comics.

"That's right, it's him. He looks so small now because he used an item that changes his size."

"Oh, enough already. I'm under a lot of pressure right now. Stop joking around." Yuno sounded impatient.

"I'm not joking! Drogo, hurry up and prove that you're Drogo!" Aisha waved her hands anxiously, the huge fluffy paws of her costume flailing about.

At that, Drogo rolled over and stared blankly at Aisha with an utterly innocent expression.

"Ha ha." Yuno gave a stiff, dry laugh. "What a funny joke. I have things to do."

No!

Aisha was dumbfounded. Was Drogo really trying this hard just to undermine her?

"He has an idea for recording scenes that's better than record magic."

Roar!

Drogo got too excited to hold it in, and a powerful pressure blanketed the entire room.

Yuno failed his perception saving throw and fell into panic.

His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor. He scrambled backward, but after only a few steps, his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

"Uh, I didn't mean to," Drogo said awkwardly, scratching his head. "It's a toy store. There ought to be some surprises, right?"

Fortunately, his smaller size meant his roar was not very loud, and the room's soundproofing was decent. Otherwise, people downstairs would have dropped like flies.

The girl and dragon moved Yuno onto the sofa.

Smack, smack—

Roar? (Should I hit him harder?)

"Then you do it."

Roar! (What if I kill him by accident?!)

"Forget it, I'll do it."

Smack!

"That's for stealing my toys when we were kids!"

Smack!

"That's for smearing glow-in-the-dark potion all over my clothes!"

Roar. (Who is this guy? Why does he have such a grudge against you?)

Smack!

"My dear brother... Whew, that tired me out a little."

Roar? (Huh?)

At last, Yuno slowly regained consciousness, only to find both sides of his face burning with pain.

When he opened his eyes, he vaguely saw two dragon heads—one fluffy, and one that seemed to be a real dragon's head!

"Ah!" Yuno screamed and rolled off the sofa, but he still remembered to shout, "Aisha, run! I'll hold it off!"

Her brother still cared about her. Feeling a little guilty, Aisha pointed to the side and said, "He's the one who hit your face."

In the end, Yuno was pinned to the sofa until he calmed down.

"So you really are the manager of Drogo's Toy Store."

Aisha nodded.

"And the real boss behind Drogo's Toy Store is truly the Red Dragon Drogo."

Aisha nodded again.

"So you work for Drogo, and now you want to introduce my project to him."

Aisha nodded vigorously.

Yuno rubbed his face, feeling as though his worldview had suffered a severe blow.

"Tell us about your project," Aisha said.

"You were the one asking, or..." Yuno did not dare look in Drogo's direction.

"He was the one asking. Just say it. He can understand."

So Yuno explained his entire theory, all his various speculations, and everything he currently lacked.

Aisha fell asleep three times in the middle of it.

Yuno was exceptionally skilled at using obscure words while nesting clause within clause, turning something that could be explained with a few words into long, convoluted sentences like this one.

He was promising material for padding out academic papers.

Still, Drogo roughly understood. He wanted to make a camera.

Since this world's technology was still in the steam age, it did not use photoelectric conversion. Instead, it used Magic Crystals for light-magic conversion. In essence, both methods converted light signals into another processable signal.

They had even gone straight to a color camera.

"So what's the main problem right now?"

"The whole device can't operate continuously. Existing magical power supply devices are affected by Magic Crystal vibrations. We need to find a way for the supply end to regulate itself actively."

"Then why not just have a mage provide the power directly?"

Drogo imagined it: every cameraman in the future would have a mage following behind while holding a cable. Another job created. He really was a master at boosting employment.

"That won't work. The magic power within living bodies naturally fluctuates, which interferes with Magic Crystals."

"Wait, you said living bodies, right?"

"Yes. Only living creatures can actively regulate magic power. Nonliving..." Yuno did not finish. He suddenly realized that he was speaking to an evil dragon.

Once he thought of that, his mind opened up. There was even a trace of excitement in his voice. "In theory, conscious undead can do it too."

"Come on. First, let's get the prototype and tools, then I'll show you a Dragon Island specialty."

Half an hour later, the two humans and one dragon appeared in the mixed-race district.

Yuno was clearly nervous. He had never entered a place like this in his life, and he had heard it was full of danger.

An Orc came to receive them.

"Lok'Tar Ogar!"

Drogo nodded slightly. This was exactly why he kept Orcs—for that one shout.

Led by the Orc, pedestrians in the mixed-race district fled as though avoiding a plague. Some shut their windows, some barred their doors, and even passing dogs tucked their tails and cowered in corners.

They arrived at a large residential area with a streak of red painted on every door. This was the headquarters of Drogo's subordinates in Twin Towers City.

Inside the central building, the Goblin Xin 104 was still dressed in its neat formal suit, leading a row of undead as it waited.

"Master, everything is ready."

"Very good." Drogo turned to Aisha. "Let him pick one."

Yuno's work efficiency was far higher than his speaking efficiency. He quickly mounted the entire set of equipment onto an undead.

"We can test it now."

What should they film? After thinking for a moment, Drogo said to Xin 104, "Teleport Toto over. Tell her to bring a handy Yo-yo."

A flash of light passed, and the Half-Elf Toto appeared with Butterfly Dance in hand, the next-generation Yo-yo that had yet to go on sale.

Seeing this setup, Toto began to panic as well.

What's going on? Did they find out that I eat three servings every time I have the staff meal? They can't be that stingy, can they?

What's that strange device on the undead? Is this some weird ritual where they'll execute a Half-Elf with cannon fire for fun?

"For the test, we'll shoot a Yo-yo tutorial." Drogo spoke up. Since they had to film something, they might as well film something valuable.

"What about my work at the store..." Toto asked timidly.

"Put it on hold for now. Cooperate fully with Yuno—that human over there. Try to film a complete set of Yo-yo tutorials. I'll pay you three times your store salary."

From what Drogo knew of Toto, her greed rivaled that of a dragon, and her work performance was directly proportional to her income.

After several attempts, the undead became familiar with operating the camera, though having the power supply end shoved into a spirit body looked somewhat like an evil cult ritual.

On June 9, 852 of the Third Era, the first film in history was completed. It ran for 3 minutes and 20 seconds and showed the Half-Elf Toto demonstrating how to make a Yo-yo sleep and return.

Before long, a contract was placed before Yuno.

"Quit your job and work for me. Your only task for now is to optimize the camera. It needs to be more portable, adaptable to more types of working environments, and able to run longer. If you need any assistants, tell Xin 104. He'll find them for you."

Yuno agreed without a second thought. Perhaps that research institute job was even more terrifying than working for an evil dragon.

The camera had been born decades earlier than Drogo expected, putting him in an excellent mood.

Traditional theaters, were they ready to accept the challenge?