Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Shiller was taken aback by Chris's excited state. Just as he was about to check on him, Chris grabbed him.

"Have you ever heard a saying?"

"What?"

"'The more false something is, the more perfect its details should be.' Why do you think that is?"

"Why?" Shiller could tell Chris wasn't really asking him and didn't need an answer, so he pretended not to understand and asked further.

"The greatest art in the world is to take the viewer into another world," Chris said quickly. "Whether it's music, painting, novels, or movies, it's the same. The more immersed the audience is in the art, the more successful it is. And crafting details is the most efficient way to enhance the sense of immersion."

"Viewers are multi-faced, everyone's inner world is different, but their method of recognizing the world is the same. Through seeing, through hearing, through rational analysis, through emotional resonance. The more rich the things they see, and the more rigorously they interverify, the more easily their brain organs will deem it real, and the stronger the sense of immersion."

"My movie needs many convincing elements. They may not be real, but in that environment, they must be reasonable. The audience will feel it's the best solution, and think if they were there, they would do the same. That's immersion."

This reminded Shiller of the famous movie "Home Alone" shot by Chris. Many scenes in this comedy movie are actually ridiculous, and the traps the two clumsy thieves face are somewhat playful, which would be hard to achieve in reality. But when people watch this movie, they find it reasonable, feeling that if they were a little boy home alone, they would punish those clumsy thieves the same way.

This is actually because the movie's set is very realistic. At least for Americans, it's like the houses they live in every day; those traps and props are also their daily necessities. In the most popular first film, the boy's intelligence and hands-on ability are considered to match his age, not overly exaggerated, and some little cleverness even reminds people of themselves as a child.

This is the immersion Chris emphasizes. If the same story were set in a spaceship, the sense of immersion wouldn't be as strong; if the protagonist were an adult, it would seem childish and absurd, lacking the light-heartedness that brings laughter.

A good movie is destined to be meticulous in various details. It needs to be abundant and realistic, but not chaotic. Instead of mindless piling up, it values systematization and rigor.

In movies like "Home Alone" with settings in the real world, the rigor of details is certainly not a problem, aside from being careful not to disturb Newton's grave, it poses no difficulty.

However, constructing a fantasy world is a much greater challenge. The rules of everything here differ from those in the real world. How to make people understand, yet make them find it realistic, tests the director's skill greatly.

Shiller could understand why Chris was so excited. Because the person writing this book has a whole system of his own. He views the magical world this way, able to explain everything in it with this system, while also expressing it and making people understand.

Don't think most people can't understand it, but that's just because they haven't taken the time to look deeply. If they truly approached it with the dedication of academic research, they would find the content frighteningly realistic and reasonable.

Chris also shared the same curiosity with Shiller—is there such a talent in the props department?

He quickly found the person in charge of props and asked who wrote this thing. Soon, a bespectacled Big Beard came over and shook hands with the director.

Shiller thought he looked familiar, and after some thought, he realized he seemed to be a screenwriter for Disney animated films, some of which are quite famous, with a new animated movie released this year, very popular among children.

But Shiller felt something was strange, because he thought the screenwriter before him didn't seem to recognize the magical world like this. Chris discussed with him for a bit and also noticed the issue.

The other party clearly felt something was wrong too. He took the book from Chris's hands to look at it and said in shock: "This isn't my version, where did you find this?"

Everyone was shocked, they searched for the assistant director, the set manager, even the librarian was called, but after searching for a long time, no one knew where this book came from.

"It must be God, surely God," Chris said.

Mephisto was obviously somewhat displeased, saying, "Compared to God, isn't Steven more likely? Since you say he's quite researched, he must be a professional, maybe he's Steven's friend."

With that, Shiller suddenly thought: "Could it be Tony Stark?"

Stark has always tried combining science and magic, though it's unclear what concrete results he achieved, but if anyone could've written this, it would likely be him.

Yet Shiller suddenly recalled that compared to the distant Stark, the suspect within this school would be Batman. But this didn't make sense either, as Batman had no motive.

Firstly, there's no internet at school, Batman doesn't even know they're filming a movie; even if he followed some clues, it couldn't have been determined so quickly.

Secondly, even if he knew they were filming a movie, Batman isn't as flashy as Stark, he has no wish to appear before the public. Even if they wanted, copyrights are a major issue—positive shots of unlicensed characters are absolutely impossible to appear in the movie.

Let's take a step back, even if Batman wants to get involved in filmmaking, is there really a need for him to write a book? Besides making the young actors dizzy, what else would it achieve?

Though Shiller is a bit suspicious of Batman, the motivation seems too weak, so he's inclined to think it's more likely Stark or Steven found some other talent, like Doctor Destruction or Reed — both of whom could pen something like this.

"Let's go with this!" Chris slammed the table, saying, "The stuff in this book is clearly systematic and very rigorous. If we arrange the Magic Forest according to what's inside, we'll definitely be able to present the most perfect Magical World!"

The props team immediately pulled long faces — does this mean all their efforts so far have been for nothing?

Chris sought the producer's opinion. The producer wasn't too keen, as it would slow down filming and waste the budget. However, Chris was adamant, forcing the producer to consult with the investors.

The Little Wizards also wore sour expressions — if this plan really goes through, they'd have to read the entire book! That's way too advanced for elementary school kids, isn't it?!

Chris was unusually resolute. He believed all difficulties could be overcome: if the Little Wizards couldn't understand, they'd find someone who could explain it to them; if the investors weren't willing to shell out more money, he'd seek other investors; and if the producer resolutely disagreed, then they'd just change the producer.

Shiller knew Chris's goal was likely achievable because the first movie was just too much of a hit. Hollywood hadn't seen such a phenomenon level film in years, and nobody would be stupid enough to hand over the opportunity for a sequel.

Chris copied several versions of the book overnight, requiring everyone in the crew to have one: those who could finish it must finish it, and those who couldn't would just have to tough it out. They needed to tackle it with the spirit and rigor of doing a graduation project, making sure to understand the entire system.

Needless to say, those who made it into this crew are all top professionals in the industry, all eager to further excel, and none willing to lose face. If the director could understand it, so could they; if the Little Wizards could learn it, so could they. Each held a book, reading at the nearby filming base.

Shiller also took the book back to his office to read. He first admired the illustrations — exquisitely done. Each image was lively and the art style very consistent; more importantly, the plants' evolutionary and branching processes were laid out quite logically, with each transformation illustrated.

This really helped in understanding: seeing the Latin names, one could roughly imagine what the plant looked like, making reading much easier. Animals were even more categorized, from arthropods to mammals to birds. How some animals transformed from ordinary to magical creatures, and what kind of evolution they underwent after becoming magical creatures, were all clearly explained.

For kids, it might indeed be a bit obscure, but for a mature-minded adult, as long as there's interest in the topic, the more they read, the more enjoyable it would become. By the end, Shiller found it quite fascinating.

There weren't really any interesting stories within, just vast amounts of scientific information, but the connections between previous and later texts meant that knowledge acquired earlier could soon be applied, evoking a sense of the joy of learning.

Shiller could perfectly imagine the frenzy this book would stir once published — total euphoria for the detail-oriented enthusiasts. If indeed this book could serve as a blueprint to create a Magic World, then it would, as Chris said, be a landmark accomplishment.

It took Shiller an entire day to almost finish the book, which was already quite fast considering his rapid reading speed and excellent memory. For an average person, it would take at least a week, and the Little Wizards might not finish in half a year.

Shiller thought it necessary, from the perspective of a school doctor, to write a reading note to add a little mystery to the book:

"When I was studying, I was very interested in medicine and herbs, often concocting potions and researching Healing Magic. Those magical plants with similar shapes but completely different effects often troubled me. To distinguish them, I found a guide compiled by successive Grand Mages from the restricted section of the Iphome Library. Allegedly, this book reveals the secrets of biological evolution in the Magic realm, like a creator's journal lost to the World. Because it is so rich and comprehensive, to prevent it from being found by those with ulterior motives, it was placed in the restricted section..."

In the evening, Shiller extinguished the bright chandelier, lighting only a candlestick on his desk. In the dim light, he wrote with a feather pen, striving to mimic Doctor Barton's tone, annotating the knowledge from the book point by point.

Just as he was writing furiously, Strange breezed in like a gust of wind, slamming a book onto his desk with a "bang":

"Did you write this?!"

Shiller looked up, at the book identical to the one he had next to him, and stared blankly at Strange, saying, "Didn't you find someone to write it?"

The two of them locked eyes. Strange opened to a bookmarked page, pointing at the content, saying: "The idea for the branching path of this mushroom is brilliant. I'd been thinking about how to cultivate mushrooms with this functionality, and I didn't expect there'd be a way. Hurry up and find the author, I want them involved in the third phase of the cultivation project..."

Shiller had a faint suspicion about who wrote this book.

Calmly sipping some water, he said, "I didn't write it. But I fear even if you find the original author, they might not be able to participate in the cultivation project."

"Why? Who is the author?"

"Batman."

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!"