Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

“…A protest? Again?”

The next morning, those were the words I uttered after hearing the news that a protest had broken out in the square in front of the Imperial Palace.

Of course, it was certainly an incredibly surprising fact that a protest by the common people had occurred in a class-based society.

But for me at least, protests had now become something not very significant.

Because in this world, there was one guy who inherited the will of the ‘H clan’, which was even more terrifying than the ‘D clan’.

As long as that guy was alive and breathing, I was confident that I wouldn’t be surprised at all even if the imperial family collapsed and a Third Reich was declared one day.

So I thought it wasn’t a big deal and tried to brush it off lightly.

But.

“Um… Director. Well, that… Haa, I’m sorry. Really.”

“Pardon?”

Seeing the somewhat rare sight of Kaya mumbling and apologizing to me, I realized that the situation was somewhat different from before.

“What on earth are you apologizing for?”

“Well, you see…”

So I was able to hear from Kaya about what the current situation was like.

“…So you’re saying His Majesty watched episode 26 of “Machine God Chronicles” together with the nobles? The one that hasn’t even been broadcast on television yet?”

“Yes… I’m sorry…”

Moreover, according to Kaya, the Emperor only showed the nobles the highlight part of episode 26 and cut off the playback in the middle.

In other words, to summarize, the Emperor did countless acts of trolling and deception towards the nobles.

Hearing Kaya’s explanation, I naturally couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

After all, I didn’t give the Emperor the pre-broadcast copy of “Machine God Chronicles” so that he could teabag the nobles.

“It seems His Majesty has been itching to say something all this time. And for good reason, as he was the only person who knew how the story of “Machine God Chronicles” would unfold in the future, apart from the production team.”

“…Hmm.”

To be honest, I could understand the Emperor’s feelings a little.

Originally, human psychology is such that even though you clearly know it’s trolling, it makes you want to post something like “I got this in 10 pulls, is it good?” on the community.

But the problem was that while I could understand the Emperor’s feelings, other people couldn’t understand the Emperor’s actions.

“I don’t know where the rumor leaked from, but public opinion has been boiling over since that fact spread to the citizens. The protest also occurred pretty much because of that fact.”

Well, that’s understandable.

If a rumor had spread that members of parliament had gathered in the National Assembly to watch “Avengers: Endgame” before its official release in theaters, Marvel fans would have been at the forefront of setting fire to the National Assembly.

In any case, I couldn’t just leave this problem alone, so I let out a quiet sigh.

“Anyway, it seems we need to solve the problem before it gets bigger.”

“…Do you perhaps have a solution, Director?”

“Well, yes. I do have one.”

At first glance, it might seem very difficult to quell people’s angry public sentiment.

But at least if you were a gamer who played games in Korea, you’d know well that it’s simpler than you might think.

Because ‘3M’, called the final boss of the Korean game industry, is a company specialized in such things rather than game operation.

No wonder Korean gamers even gave their actions the self-deprecating nickname of ‘pig-dog training techniques’.

And now, I was planning to borrow just a little bit of the know-how that 3M had accumulated for over 10 years.

“First, we need to spread feed… I mean, compensation.”

“…Pardon? What did you say?”

“Generally speaking, the best solution to soothe angry public sentiment is to spread something.”

The first example of a proper apology.

Rather than writing a long, detailed apology, it’s more effective to spend that time spreading compensation.

It’s a very obvious fact by now, but.

This world is a fantasy world, and it’s in a very different environment from 21st century Earth.

For example, the fact that there’s no internet that anyone can access like in Korea.

In other words, even if I wanted to say something to people, there was virtually no means to spread it widely.

If it were on Earth, it would have been enough to just click and post a notice on the official website.

But at least I had one method that was more useful than posting a notice on the website.

That was.

“Well then, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Leave it to me? It’s just something I should do naturally.”

I just had to go to Hikardo and tell him that there was an important announcement related to “Machine God Chronicles”, and that was it.

With just that, I was able to get on the platform where I could receive all the attention and focus of the protesting people.

“Oh, could that person be…”

“Director! It’s the director of “Machine God Chronicles”!”

“What? The director of “Machine God Chronicles” came here? Really?”

“Indeed, there’s no one in this world as viewer-friendly and good at communicating as him!”

Because I had attended a debate at the gathering created by that Hikardo guy in the past, people quickly recognized my face and started cheering.

“Well, it’s good to welcome the director, but you haven’t forgotten why we gathered here today, have you?”

“Director! Please explain about the recent incident of episode 26 of “Machine God Chronicles” being leaked!”

People were cheering for me and then looked at the person who brought that up with an expression as if they were somewhat annoyed.

“Come on, do you really have to say such things in front of the director who has done nothing wrong?”

“Questions about rumors that aren’t even certain whether they’re true or not are something you can ask the director privately later by visiting him separately!”

So people surrounded the person who brought up that question and threw unnecessary rebukes.

But.

“It’s alright. You can ask such questions as much as you want. No, rather, I think it’s a very good question.”

I opened my mouth with a bitter smile on my lips.

“Recently, there was a rumor that His Majesty and the nobles gathered to preview episode 26 of “Machine God Chronicles”. Isn’t that right?”

“Well, yes…”

“To conclude, that rumor is true.”

“…Pardon?”

At that moment, the eyes of the people gathered here widened.

Well, that’s understandable.

Because I was in a position where I shouldn’t have admitted it so readily, let alone vehemently deny this rumor.

“N-No way…”

“That rumor was really true?”

People couldn’t hide their astonishment at my revelation, which was on par with Dispatch.

But this was all just one step back for two steps forward.

“However, His Majesty and the other nobles didn’t do such a thing to satisfy their own selfish desires. It was all for the viewers.”

“…You say it was for the viewers?”

Honestly, it sounded like nonsense even as I said it, but since there was no other way now, I decided to push forward shamelessly.

“That’s right. Thinking rationally, why would His Majesty and the nobles commit such an illegal act when they could watch episode 26 as much as they want if they just waited a week? There was a reason for all of it.”

“…What on earth is that reason?”

“That reason is…”

Here, I paused for a very short moment, and then pointed at the audience with a gesture reminiscent of Steve Jobs.

“It was… to hold a festival related to “Machine God Chronicles” for the viewers!”

“What?”

“A festival?”

At that moment, people opened their eyes wide at my words.

“That’s right. For the past few months, “Machine God Chronicles” has received truly excessive love from the viewers. So I was thinking about how I could return the love I received to the viewers, and decided to hold this festival.”

In fact, if it weren’t for this incident, it was a festival I had prepared to sweetly collect money from viewers after “Machine God Chronicles” finished airing.

But I decided to shamelessly push this concept without changing my expression at all.

“That’s also the reason why His Majesty and the nobles previewed episode 26. As you all might guess, there’s one major twist in episode 26, and we judged that others should know about it for the smooth preparation of the festival.”

“…!”

Thud.

At the same time, I fell to my knees in front of everyone.

“So it’s all my fault. In order to prepare a festival for you all, I ended up inflicting an indelible wound on your hearts. So this whole situation is due to my lack of virtue, my original sin. If you want to throw stones, please throw them at me, the stupid and foolish one. I beg you.”

It was truly the epitome of a ridiculous, performative show.

But there’s a reason why politicians in Korea enjoy doing such shows.

Because.

“No, no! Director! Rather, we were wrong! We’re sorry!”

“The ground is cold. Please get up! I’ll help you up!”

“Haa, indeed. We were foolish. The director is always someone who cares for the viewers, we almost made a big misunderstanding.”

“Of course. There’s no way the director, who sacrifices himself for the viewers, would do such a thing.”

After confirming that the atmosphere had completely turned in my favor, I decided to drive the decisive nail.

“By the way, this festival will include fan meetings with the voice actors who played the main characters, exhibitions of various figures and plastic models, and decisively-”

Snap.

I snapped my fingers, casting a magic to create a huge screen.

And.

[Guoooo-!]

“This is a 1:1 size model of a Machine God. Naturally, it’s Unit 0 from “Machine God Chronicles” implemented in reality as is.”

“…!”

“Among those who come to this festival, through a lottery… I’ll give you a chance to board Unit 0! Through this festival, you too will be reborn as pilots protecting humanity from Outer Gods!”

Wooaahhh-!

The next moment, people raised both hands and cheered as if they had completely erased the protest from their minds.

“Hooray! Long live “Machine God Chronicles”! Long live Director Ragna!”

“Damn, I believed from the beginning!”

“Indeed, a true hero…!”

“By the way, we’ve also prepared events related to Saya and Eileen, the heroines of “Machine God Chronicles”, so please attend a lot if those two characters are your favorites. Well then.”

As I was about to go down from the stage after delivering that closing remark, someone raised their hand and asked me a question.

“Um, excuse me…”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Perhaps… are there no events prepared related to Chloe?”

“…..”

I subtly avoided answering that person’s question by turning my gaze away.

“Wow, amazing. I’ve never seen a Chloe fan before. Hey guys, look here! The Chloe faction spoke!”

“Guys, let’s be quiet when the Chloe faction speaks. We can’t hear what our friend is saying well.”

“…..”

All fans of “Machine God Chronicles” are equal.

But the Eileen faction and Saya faction were a little more equal than the Chloe faction.