Chapter 26: Fame Within the Industry

Youtube Link for Disillusion: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYZ5w1Cn-mE&list=RDbYZ5w1Cn-mE&start_radio=1

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Chapter 26: Fame Within the Industry

As Bedivere’s quiet recitation faded, the theme song of Fate/Stay Night, "Disillusion", began to echo through the theater.

To better match the wistful tone of the Fate route's ending, Shinji had specifically chosen the 2007 symphonic version.

And to recreate the song exactly as he remembered it, Shinji had spent no small amount of money.

Even though music wasn’t his strong suit, Shinji wasn’t tone-deaf either. With painstaking effort and recreation, he had finally brought the melody back to life—just as he remembered it in his past life.

And since there were no annoying licensing complications in this world, he boldly kept the original song title: “Disillusion”, instead of the more widely-used This illusion from his previous life.

The former fit the story far better—Arturia ultimately relinquished her ideals and chose to accept her fate with grace.

Strictly speaking, a bittersweet ending like this wasn’t in line with the rules of a big-budget commercial film.

If anything, it was the Unlimited Blade Works Good End—with its crowd-pleasing happy resolution—that aligned more closely with commercial expectations.

In fact, Shinji had shot that Good End version as an alternate ending.

But when it came time to finalize the cut, he decided the original was still better.

It expressed Arturia’s growth far more completely and painted a fuller picture of her character.

Thankfully, this world had a deep appreciation for arthouse films, and if there’s one thing arthouse films never lacked, it was tragic endings.

So despite the bittersweet conclusion, the audience didn’t complain.

Instead, they sat in quiet reflection, the final song lingering in their hearts.

“What a beautifully sorrowful melody…”

Aoko tilted her head back against her seat, murmuring wistfully. “But it really does suit that King Arthur’s frame of mind. Say, Alice… do you think that King Arthur ever made peace with herself and ascended in real life?”

“This is just a movie. You need to separate fiction from reality,” Alice replied calmly, her eyes slightly downcast in thought.

“Really…?” Aoko blinked, resting her chin on a finger. “But my sister told me the actors in this movie were all playing themselves, didn’t she?”

“Hmm~”

Alice’s eyebrows lifted just slightly.

“Hey Alice…. Don’t tell me… you’re thinking of going to Fuyuki City?”

Immediately intrigued, Aoko perked up.

If Alice really had that in mind, it’d be a great excuse for her to drop by and visit Touko as well.

Alice, with her usual blank expression, replied simply:

“…We’ll see.”

“Hey, hey, that’s not fair!”

Aoko huffed. She could sense her friend was definitely thinking something, but with that emotionless face, there was no reading her at all.

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Fuyuki City, Screening Room.

While the audience sat immersed in the lingering notes of “Disillusion,” reliving the epic journey they’d just witnessed, Shinji had already made a tactical retreat with his cast and crew the moment the credits rolled.

Before the screening began, they were just a bunch of unknowns, blending into the crowd.

But now?

At least inside this theater—they were stars. Recognizable, memorable. Exposed.

And with that came risk.

Shinji, being the pragmatic man he was, wasted no time pulling everyone out before things could get messy in the confined space of the theater.

“Hey, hey, Master!”

As soon as they stepped out of the cinema, Cu Chulainn slung an arm around Shinji’s shoulders.

Shinji gave him a sidelong look. “What now?”

Grinning cheekily, Cu said, “Look, since I worked so hard during filming… how about making me the lead in the next movie?”

He still couldn’t shake the sting from earlier—how some viewers had completely forgotten his second appearance. It was just plain unfair.

Especially considering—

How the hell did that guy, who showed up for less than forty minutes, end up way more memorable than me, who appeared right at the start?!

“You? The lead?” Shinji raised an eyebrow, giving Cu a slow once-over. “What, you want to debut in Final Destination?”

The moment he thought about this guy’s infamous E-rank Luck, that classic meme echoed through his head:

“Lancer died again!”

And if it wasn’t enough, he could always follow it up with—

“That’s just cruel!”

Cu, of course, had no clue what his Master was thinking.

Hearing the film title, his eyes lit up.

“Final Destination? Is that an action movie?”

After spending so much time summoned into the modern world, Cu Chulainn had developed a pretty solid understanding of what movies were.

So the moment Shinji dropped that title, he immediately guessed it was probably an action flick.

Shinji shrugged. “Something like that.”

“Ooh, not bad.” Cu’s interest was visibly piqued. “Hey, Master, how about letting me star in it?”

“Come back after you learn to recite your lines without a single word off.”

Shinji smacked him lightly on the head and gave a deliberately vague answer.

Since his long-term goal was to turn Heroic Spirit actors into the signature appeal of his production company, it was inevitable they’d branch out into other films eventually.

With looks like theirs—handsome men, beautiful women—it would honestly be a waste not to lend them out.

Still, not every director had the same patience as Shinji.

Before handing them over to others, he needed to ensure that—at the very least—they met the bare minimum for acting professionals.

At the back of the group, Risei looked on at the group bickering and bantering ahead with a content smile.

As he slipped into his coat, he quietly said to Tokiomi, “It’s strange, isn’t it? Those little ones who barely reached our knees… now they’ve all grown up. I really do feel my age.”

“Mm…”

Tokiomi, who had remained silent the entire night, finally spoke.

“Tell me… Has Shinji’s magical prowess really reached that level?”

“The gem magecraft he showcased in the film—those advanced techniques, even Rin hasn’t learned them yet...”

He tilted his head, gazing up at the moonlight.

“Could such a prodigious genius really exist in this world?”

“Wait— that’s what you’ve been stewing over all night?!”

Risei was shocked beyond belief.

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While Shinji’s party enjoyed a lighthearted night in Fuyuki, over in Tokyo, things were no less lively at Bandai headquarters, where Udagawa Nao and her team had just received a wave of exhilarating news.

After days of overtime work, the audience survey data from the Tokyo preview screening had finally been compiled.

“Udagawa-san, here are the compiled results from the Tokyo preview screening.”

The staff member in charge of the audience feedback report stood at attention as he presented the data.

“We handed out 345 survey forms, and recovered 302.”

He summarized quickly and clearly:

“There were 275 marked as Excellent, 15 as Good, 5 as Passable, and 7 as Poor. In addition...”

He paused briefly, glanced at Udagawa Nao, then continued.

“In the target demographic Director Matou highlighted—audiences aged 15 to 35—there were only two marked as Passable and one as Poor.”

For a moment, the entire office went silent.

And then—

“WOOHOO! This is amazing!!”

“Long live Director Matou!!”

“Her Majesty Arturia is the BEST!!”

“Fate is LIFE!!”

The office descended into joyous chaos.

Everywhere you looked, papers and empty coffee cups from their overtime efforts lay scattered across desks and floors.

It had been years since anyone at Bandai had seen audience feedback scores this high.

One overly excited guy even tore off his shirt and began twirling it around like a maniac, prompting screams and laughter from the female staff.

Compared to her now completely unhinged subordinates, Udagawa Nao remained the picture of composure.

But the warm, beaming smile on her face betrayed everything she felt inside.

These outstanding survey results, coupled with the energy she’d witnessed firsthand from the theater audience, had only deepened her confidence in this film.

“He's done something truly incredible,” she murmured.

Udagawa Nao casually picked up one of the audience feedback forms from the desk and began reading it aloud under her breath.

“The various magecraft rituals depicted in the movie felt incredibly real—so much so that I felt like I had personally experienced a real Holy Grail War. That blood-pumping sense of being on the battlefield never once let up. Sure, the whole story was a bit over-the-top, and the effects of the magecraft were clearly exaggerated, but that only made the action scenes more exhilarating. Especially those battles between Heroic Spirits—they showcased the Servants at the peak of their power.”

Reading that peculiar comment, she couldn’t help but recall the two chuuni girls who had been seated beside her during the screening that night.

“A bit exaggerated, and maybe some people can’t tell reality from fiction…”

Well, whatever the case, the important thing was that the audience liked it.

If anything, those passionate fans who couldn’t separate the movie from reality were exactly the kind of customers Bandai wanted most.

After all, who else were they going to sell the mountains of merchandise to?

“As expected… just like he predicted, the younger demographic really did respond the strongest to this film.”

Recalling the additional breakdown in the feedback summary, Udagawa Nao let out a soft, knowing smile.

“If things are going this well… then I suppose it’s time to dust off the distribution and marketing plan he left behind.”

She reached into the office drawer and pulled out a folder—one that contained the detailed promotional strategy Shinji had written up in advance.

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While both Shinji and Bandai were dreaming big about the film’s future, a different kind of shockwave was rippling across Japan’s magecraft community.

“Hey, have you heard about that movie?”

“Yeah, I heard the way they depict magecraft is insanely good!”

“Good? It’s not just that—it’s groundbreaking! I heard the director even managed to bring theoretical rituals into actual visual reality!”

“And there’s that thing called the ‘Holy Grail War’? Supposedly, it can lead to the Root!”

“The Root? Are you serious?!”

“No clue. I haven’t seen the film myself...”

Even though Bandai had only run a limited number of preview screenings—and Japan’s population of practicing magi wasn’t that high—a number of magi, beyond just the Fuyuki viewers and those two eccentric girls, had still managed to attend.

And once they saw the film, they immediately reported back to their families.

The buzz around Fate/Stay Night exploded through the magecraft world almost overnight.

One shouldn’t underestimate the information network that connected the magi of Japan.

Even if only a handful had seen the film in person, word spread like wildfire.

The reason it caught on so fast?

Because Shinji had shown things in his movie—powerful, intricate magecraft rituals… Noble Phantasms wielded by legendary heroes… and even the possibility of reaching the Root.

These were all things that the modern mage society dreamed of attaining.

“Get me everything we can on this!”

“The director’s from the Matou family, right?”

“Wasn’t the filming location in Fuyuki?”

“Find out if the Holy Grail summoning system is actually viable!”

Desperate to uncover the truth behind the film’s depiction of magecraft, magus families all across Japan sprang into action.

But with Fate/Stay Night not yet officially released to the public, and most people relying on secondhand accounts, it was difficult to get a clear picture of what was real and what was dramatized.

All they knew for sure was that there existed a movie that told the story of a magical war—and that movie revealed real magecraft secrets.

Whether myth or truth, Fate/Stay Night had already ignited a wildfire within the magecraft world.

And that fire… was only just beginning to spread.

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