I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

The ‘Kinema,’ which could be considered the magnum opus of the Silver Veil Circus, was a large-scale illusion show that mobilized dozens of magicians.

The expansive stage was densely covered with three-dimensional illusions.

A fake castle rose, and behind it, fake mountains emerged, and a fake river flowed.

In the midst of the battlefield where fake cannons spewed fire, a fake knight charged towards fake demons.

Thousands of intricate miniatures moved simultaneously, each playing its role, creating a spectacular scene.

Blood and flesh were omitted to consider the audience, but the clashes in the explosions and dust were undoubtedly thrilling.

Some characters on the battlefield were occasionally magnified to advance the narrative.

A handsome young knight seemed to be the protagonist of the story.

He bravely led the knighthood from the forefront.

“The real army isn’t like that! Why is the commander at the front…”

“Please be quiet while watching!”

A retired officer complained, but he quickly fell silent under his wife’s stern gaze.

Audiences who hadn’t expected large-scale war scenes from the beginning couldn’t close their mouths in awe of the overwhelming spectacle.

After the initial war scenes, scenes of the coronation ceremony, the castle’s ball, and romantic scenes with the queen followed.

“Oh, Queen, bless my journey.”

“Alright. Come here. I will bestow upon you the best blessing I can offer.”

Unlike most plays of this era, Kinema included explicit love scenes rarely seen in performances.

In plays, love was usually expressed through shadows cast on a screen and the moans heard through them.

However, Kinema’s love scenes were more explicit compared to other performances.

The naked body of the male protagonist and the silhouette of the female protagonist were blatantly revealed.

Although it was less suggestive than Earth’s pornography, it was scandalous enough for the audience in this place.

Some modest individuals averted their eyes from the stage, but most enjoyed the spectacle.

There were even those who, in embarrassment, grabbed the person next to them and exclaimed.

Among the Wonderstein group, Yurakne was the most prominent.

“Oh my, what should I do? What should I do?”

She grabbed Wonderstein’s arm and twisted her body, playfully hitting his shoulders.

Even if Yurakne were to hit him with a club, he wouldn’t be hurt seriously, given his issue reliance rating of 4.0 armor.

but instead she mercilessly twisted his arm, almost making him shed tears but cant because of the Smiling Man.

“Miss Yurakne, please be quiet…”

“Kyah, Ela! Maya! Cover your eyes!”

Upon hearing her words, even Wonderstein thought it wasn’t quite right for the children to see, but he nodded his head after hearing Ela say, “Its not even a real person, so what.”

Kinema’s illusion lacked subtlety as it focused on scale and dynamic scenes, lagging behind in delicacy.

Especially in parts where the faces of characters were enlarged, it was quite noticeable.

It felt like watching the CG of a game from the early to mid-2010s.

“So, the young knight set out on a quest to the west, holding the queen’s promise in his heart.”

All dialogues, soliloquies, and even commentary were handled by a single person.

The deputy leader of the Silver Veil referred to as Byeonsa was doing all the narration.

The small and plump witch imitated various voices to match the dynamic changes in the illusion, vividly conveying the content of the video.

Behind the stage, magicians were gathered around several memory disks were implementing the illusion according to the changes.

No matter how skilled Arno of the Silver Veil Circus was, he couldn’t create dynamic illusions covering an entire stage alone for hours.

Each memory disk was operated by wizards responsible for backgrounds, props, characters, and effects, taking turns in their roles.

The Kinema of the silver screen resembled Earth’s early movies but had some advantages, notably 3D technology.

“Whoa!”

“Wow!”

“Look at that!”

Some people pointed and screamed, standing on the second-floor balcony behind the stage.

There, a winged black dragon, the size of a calf, stood on its hind legs, peering down at the stage from the darkness.

It revealed itself, having crouched within the deep mountain range.

The vertically slit pupils of the reptilian eyes followed the protagonists approaching it.

The massive black dragon spread its wings and soared towards the audience.

Screams and rough exhales echoed from various directions.

The dragon passed over the heads of the people.

There was no physical force in the illusion.

However, the flames enveloping the dragon’s body were real, and the hot aura licked over the heads of the people.

Among the astonished spectators, none screamed louder than Yurakne.

“Kyaaah!”

She screamed louder than the dragon’s roar.

She clung tightly to Wonderstein, shouting and shaking.

“D-Director! It’s a dragon!”

“Y-Yura, calm down. It’s an illusion,….”

“Kyaaah! Dont come over here!”

She shouted louder than the dragon’s cry.

She shook Wonderstein’s shoulders and back violently, drawing attention to them.

Ella covered her face with her hands and bowed her head beside them.

Maya, who usually cared little about others’ gazes, felt a sense of embarrassment.

Even Sven, who enjoyed such attention, felt the urge to detach his head and hide it beneath his seat.

What a disgrace.

Ella muttered to herself.

Behind the stage, Arno, the Memory Master, smiled.

As the fantasy shows advanced, a trend emerged, demanding more tranquillity from the audience.

He didn’t like that. He had been active in the circus since its early days.

He missed the times when people cheered with astonishment at the mysterious and screamed in fear at the frightening.

His gaze moved from Yurakne, passed Maya, and stopped at Wonderstein.

That woman is affiliated with him too.

He looked at Maya.

A child who retained both the appearance of someone he had loved and the image of his nemesis.

Receiving a letter from the child’s father, he thought he had to take care of her…

Of all places, she had to end up there.

“Director?”

One of the members interrupted his contemplation from backstage.

Having to adjust the clashes between different illusions, he momentarily had another thought, while the protagonist party continued walking through the forest.

“Sorry.”

He quickly averted his gaze from Maya and promptly corrected the error.

Seems like it’s a forest enchanted with illusions.

Snap out of it!

If the leader loses focus, everyone dies!

Fortunately, the mistake just now was skilfully covered up by the deputy on the spot.

He completely cleared Wonderstein’s group from his mind and did his best to implement the performance.

Kinema also ended like an escape king’s magic, with praise from the audience.

“It’s not bad. It’s the first time I’ve seen an illusion implemented in such detail on this scale.”

Ella seemed satisfied as she smiled.

Next to her, Yurakne clenched her fist and grinned.

“But the reconnaissance doesn’t make much sense. We came to see what strategy the other team would use, right? But both sides just unfolded conventional performances.”

Sven, standing nearby, spoke with a mocking tone.

“Haha, instead of exploring the strengths, we just exposed ourself! We let everyone know that we have a scaredy-cat who can produce an incredible high-pitched sound.”

“Ugh.”

Blushing, Yurakne bowed her head deeply.

The reaction from her in Kinema, seen by the audience, had been seized by the deputy leader who was in charge of the curtain, and it added a big laugh to the curtain call.

Next to her, Wonderstein, with a teasing smile, said:

“Hehe, I agree with Sven’s words. We even risked losing power. My arm almost broke.”

“Director!”

Yurakne shouted in surprise.

After giving her a smile, he turned to look at all the members.

“But there were results in exploring the power.”

Wonderstein pointed to the direction of the Silver Veil’s stall.

There, the audience was lining up to buy desserts sold from behind the curtain.

However, the number of people waiting was significantly larger than at Pandora’s food stall.

“It’s quite substantial. Are they all very hungry?”

“Then isn’t it better to buy food at Pandora’s stall? Why are they all lining up for desserts like that?”

Wonderstein, smiling, pointed to the menu depicted on the stall sign.

There, a lemon cheesecake and sweet honey soda were drawn.

“Don’t you all feel attracted to those desserts over there?”

“Lemon cheesecake? I’ve never heard of such food. Is sweet honey soda tasty?”

“I’ve never seen it before. But for some reason, it feels very familiar.”

“What is it? Quite appealing….”

Looking at the reactions of the members, Wonderstein grinned and pointed to the stall sign.

There were more people waiting in line than at Pandora’s food stall.

“It’s okay. I’ve recorded it well in the sketchbook.”

During the visit to Kinema, Wonderstein suddenly asked her to record the performance through the sketchbook.

Maya’s sketchbook had the power to automatically draw the subject she saw. If it was a moving object, it divided it into multiple frames like a high-speed camera.

“But due to the sketchbook’s limited lifespan, I could only capture about a minute.”

“That should be enough.”

Wonderstein took Maya’s sketchbook and handed it over, one page at a time.

The thickness was thin, probably because it was a magic tool, but it could store over a thousand drawings at once.

Examining the drawings in detail, he handed the sketchbook to the team.

“Some scenes from the fight against the elite crows in that forest?”

“Yeah, the drawing is really well done.”

Without thinking, they flipped through the pages, but their hands stopped when they reached the middle.

There was a drawing inserted in between, similar to what they had seen before.

[Lemon Cheek Cake Tastes Good!]

White letters on a black background.

Everyone tilted their heads at the sudden advertisement phrase.

“What is this?”

“Lemon cheese cake?”

“Was there such a scene?”

“I’ve never seen it. But for some reason, it feels very familiar.”

Looking at the members’ reactions, Wonderstein turned to Maya.

“Maya, did you see something else in the middle?”

“Not at all. I never took my eyes off the performance.”

Wonderstein continued to recommend looking through the sketchbook.

The next scenes continued with the performance they had seen, but after flipping about ten or twenty pages, a similar drawing was inserted again.

[Let’s drink honey soda!]

The members continued to flip through the pages.

Advertisement phrases and vividly implemented illusion drawings promoting the goods and items sold at Silver Veil circus stall were intermittently inserted.

Maya, covering the sketchbook, stared at it silently.

“What is this?”

Wonderstein, with a gentle smile, spoke to her.

“It’s a kind of suggestion. Illusion teams were placed in between the illusions, inserting these advertisement phrases and drawings. Very briefly. At a speed that is difficult for people to analyse and recognize ‘what is this.’ But people can definitely read at the speed of perception. It’s the speed between ‘sensation’ and ‘recognition.’ People tend to be drawn to familiar things, right? Our heads must have seen this drawing and phrase thousands of times subconsciously throughout the two-hour performance. Thanks to that, it was engraved in our minds. The positive promotion and image of the items sold at Silver Veil Stall”