In the dim room, a faint light from the magic crystal on the ceiling provided a steady, if weak, source of illumination. In the center of the room, two figures sat facing each other.
"Mr. Zatt, welcome to the afterlife."
A woman with blue hair, dressed in a slightly revealing outfit, spoke with a slow smile. "A short while ago, you unfortunately passed away. It was a brief life, but you are well and truly dead."
Confronted by the beautiful girl's bizarre words, Zatt, slowly realizing where he was, looked up in surprise and mumbled, "I see. In that case, I only have one question… The girl I pushed out of the way…"
Seeing his concern, the blue-haired goddess smiled and replied, "Oh, she's alive."
"Thank goodness…" Zatt let out a sigh of relief that came from the bottom of his heart. A saintly smile spread across his face. "My death was not in vain."
"??"
The blue-haired goddess seemed confused. "What do you mean? In reality, even if you hadn't pushed her, that girl wouldn't have been hurt at all."
"??!!"
Noticing Zatt's shock, the goddess just flipped through a manual with a sigh. "That donkey cart was going to stop in front of the girl anyway."
"A donkey cart??"
"Yes, a donkey cart."
"Then what happened? Was I run over by the donkey cart?
"No, no, you weren't crushed to death. You were scared to death," the goddess clarified. "You thought you were about to be crushed by the donkey cart, and it seems the shock caused a sudden heart attack. So, you died of fright."
"Scared… scared to death?!"
Seeing Zatt fall right out of his chair in shock, the blue-haired goddess lost all of her earlier composure, erupting with a burst of obnoxious laughter. "Pfft! Puhahahaha!!! HAHAHAHA! I've been doing this job for a long time, but this is the first time I've ever seen such a hilarious death! Pfft—kuhuhuhuhu!!"
"You thought you were going to be crushed, so you wet yourself on the spot!" she continued, her voice dripping with mockery. "After you lost consciousness, passersby carried you to a nearby church, where your soul ascended to the heavens amidst the laughter of the priests and nuns!"
Hearing the cruel words pouring from the girl's mouth, the nearly broken Zatt clamped his hands over his ears and shouted, "Stop it!!! I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it!!"
However, a wicked grin plastered on her face, the goddess leaned in close with sadistic glee to taunt him further. "And right now, your family has already arrived at the church. Upon learning your cause of death, every single one of them, including your own family, couldn't help but burst out laughing!"
"AAAAAAAAHHH!!! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!!!"
…
"Cut!" Durin's voice rang out. "Aya, your performance was excellent, you completely melted into your character. But Zatt, your expression is still too tense, and some of your movements are too stiff. You two practice it again, and we'll reshoot it in a bit!"
At Durin's command, the two actors, who had been practically at each other's throats, finally stopped. They seemed to have gotten so deep into their roles that even after leaving the set, they remained in character.
The blue-haired girl, in particular, was on cloud nine. After being constantly bossed around and managed by Zatt, she never imagined she would have a day where she could turn the tables. She strutted about with her eyebrows raised, carrying herself as if she had truly become a goddess.
"Lord Durin, why did you write the goddess as such a character?!" Zatt complained. "In the future, when I go to church to pray, I'm afraid this girl's smug face will pop into my head. How will I ever be able to find peace?!"
"Whose face is smug?!" Aya shot back.
Seeing them about to start bickering again, Durin just shook his head with a smile and looked down at the magic-video recorder. The first take had been fantastic. Even though he was a novice who had never studied cinematography, this magical device's absurd ability to capture shots from impossible angles and focal lengths made him feel like he had filmed some truly amazing scenes.
Yes, this magic-video recorder was nothing like a camera from his old world, which was fixed once placed. On the contrary, this device could capture footage from almost any angle within a certain range. It wasn't just advanced technology; the magic of this world simply didn't follow the rules of physics.
With the camera work solved, the other problems fell into place. They used an empty room in the castle for the set, the lighting was adjusted with magic crystals, and costumes were no issue for the meticulous Winry. After hearing Durin's request, she had simply taken some existing clothes from the castle and, with a few clever alterations, made them work perfectly.
With all those issues resolved, the only remaining problem was the actors. After the first take, Durin could clearly see that while Aya had easily slipped into character—mostly because she was just being herself—Zatt was struggling to portray a young shut-in so contrary to his own personality. The main reason for the multiple retakes was his failure to capture the true essence of the original protagonist's put-upon spirit.
However, with continuous practice, Zatt was clearly awakening his dormant acting talent. Durin could see his skills improving with each take. The actor problem, it seemed, was no longer a problem.
"Script, camera, actors, costumes, props, and set are all taken care of. It looks like the first segment will be finished soon," Durin mused aloud.
At his words, Winry, Zatt, and Aya, who were watching the recorded footage on a magic imaging device, all showed expressions of pure astonishment. The actors were especially shocked. They couldn't believe that everything they had just done had been captured by this machine. And according to Durin, this recording would later be shown in a crowded place for all to see!
At the thought of this ultimate public humiliation, Zatt, ever loyal to the House of Edward, could bear it. But Aya, who had been scammed into this whole affair, immediately looked furious. However, when she heard Durin mention the pay—'five gold coins a month, with a share of the profits after the film is released'—her fury instantly transformed into fervor.
This girl was now completely in the zone for acting, to the point where she unconsciously adopted Aqua's persona even when speaking normally.
"Alright, Winry, please go and start making dinner," Durin directed. "You two, don't forget to keep rehearsing. I've already had the script printed out, and I'll give it to you shortly. Let's try to get it in one take tomorrow. After that, we need to decide on the locations and cast for the subsequent scenes."