Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

People in the world tend to look down on otaku who enjoy anime or games.

You don’t have to look far to see how otaku are treated in society.

For example, when there’s a collaboration event related to otaku at a fast food restaurant or coffee shop.

‘Um, e-excuse me…’

‘Huh? What is it?’

‘W-Well, that’s not… Um…’

‘Hey, I can’t hear what you’re saying when you’re mumbling! What on earth are you saying, huh?’

‘Manager, isn’t this guy here to buy that?’

‘That? Oh, you mean that?’

‘Ah, I had forgotten about that. No wonder I’ve been seeing so many people who can’t even order properly today, it was because of that!’

‘Hey, give this guy one of those otaku things!’

‘Yes, one otaku order received!’

Well, just looking at how such conversations take place without any hesitation, you can see how otaku are treated in society.

But if you ask whether it’s okay to simply ignore otaku because of that, the answer is absolutely not.

Because even if they don’t know anything else, they are unbeatable when it comes to the element called ‘purchasing power’.

Buying dozens of albums to collect lottery tickets to attend idol fan signing events is nothing, and the reason why plastic models worth millions of won sell out as soon as they’re released, or why sales jump when various stores hold otaku collaboration events despite everything, what could it be?

In other words, to express these phenomena in one sentence:

‘Otaku are profitable!’

It means that if you target otaku tastes and satisfy their needs by any means, it’s all too easy to extort money from them.

So I prepared.

A festival prepared to steal the pocket money of fans of “Machine God Chronicles”… no, to repay, even if slightly, all the fans who have loved “Machine God Chronicles” so far.

After pondering what abbreviation to use, I decided to just call it ‘G-STAR’ for easy understanding.

Well, it’s better than naming the festival Comiket, isn’t it?

As I was preparing to hold G-STAR by renting the square in front of the Imperial Palace, Serika and Kaya next to me looked at me with expressions of admiration.

“Ragna… you must have been so busy producing “Machine God Chronicles”, when did you prepare for an event like this? Looking at the scale and event content, it definitely doesn’t seem like something prepared in just a day or two?”

“Of course, it was from the beginning.”

Because I knew from the start that I couldn’t make money with just a TVA animation.

So I had been preparing for this kind of event from the beginning to collect money from viewers through animation-related events.

…Well, I never imagined I’d be holding a festival to clean up the mess the Emperor made, though.

“If there’s anything you need help with, please let me know anytime. The imperial family will help you anytime, Director.”

At Kaya’s words, I slowly shook my head and said.

“No. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to receive help from the imperial family for this event.”

“Huh? Why not?”

‘Because if I receive help from the imperial family, I’ll have to share the profits from this event. I want to hog all the profits like a pig.’

But contrary to such inner thoughts, my tongue was very diligently uttering different words.

“Well, this event is for the viewers who usually cherish and love “Machine God Chronicles”. Given the purpose of such an event, I’d like to refrain from receiving outside help as much as possible.”

“Ah, so you had such a deep meaning!”

Kaya looked at me with sparkling eyes.

And as I received Kaya’s gaze, I looked up at the sky with an inexplicable sense of guilt.

Yeah, is this how everyone grows up-

Anyway, to clean up the mess the Emperor made, and for my solid future pension guarantee.

Finally, the “Machine God Chronicles” related festival, G-STAR, was about to begin.

The day the festival was held was the day before episode 26 of “Machine God Chronicles” would air.

And very naturally, when news spread that G-STAR, a festival related to “Machine God Chronicles”, was being held, all sorts of people flocked to participate.

The square in front of the Imperial Palace, the venue for the festival, was an enormously large place that could easily accommodate tens of thousands of people.

But now it was filled with a crowd that instantly packed such a square.

“I heard you can experience various events related to “Machine God Chronicles” if you come here?”

“I’m more curious about what the voice actors of the characters look like. Rumors say the voice actress who plays Saya is so beautiful you can’t take your eyes off her…”

“More than that, I want to get the goods that can only be obtained through lottery tickets. No matter how much money it costs, I really want to get the plastic model of Unit 0!”

People who visited the festival entered the square with such expectations.

“Wow, what on earth is this?”

“Good heavens, this is amazing.”

The moment they entered the venue, they couldn’t believe their eyes.

Although it was a place wide enough to accommodate over tens of thousands of people, the appearance of the square, which had nothing except benches to sit and rest on, had completely disappeared.

Instead, what existed here was a futuristic base that made one think they had arrived in the future by time machine.

That’s right.

For this festival, Ragna had remodeled the interior of the square into the form of Illuminati’s base that appears in “Machine God Chronicles”!

‘Well, only a few props are real, most of it is just an illusion using fantasy magic.’

It was a trick that was absolutely impossible in 21st century Earth, but possible in a fantasy world where magic exists.

In fact, Ragna wanted to decorate this entire space like Illuminati’s base for real, not with illusion magic, but that was impossible due to time constraints.

So Ragna had to lick his lips in inexplicable disappointment.

But the thoughts of the people who entered here were somewhat different.

“Look here! This is the table where Linoa and Rachel usually relax and drink coffee!”

“This seems to be the relay room where operators sit and report about Machine Gods?”

“I heard there’s a warehouse where Machine Gods are usually stored over there? Let’s go quickly!”

For them, just the fact that they seemed to have actually entered the world of “Machine God Chronicles” that they usually only saw through television screens was enough to feel greatly satisfied.

There was an abundance of things to see everywhere, it was literally a dream-like place for fans of “Machine God Chronicles”.

Nevertheless, at this moment, there was one place where people’s attention was entirely focused.

That place was none other than.

“Oh, ohhh…!”

“Is that really a 1:1 size actual model of Unit 0…!”

That’s right.

At the center of the festival, a model of Unit 0 that Ragna had specially put effort into making was standing tall.

Unit 0, boasting an imposing appearance that seemed unapproachable to humans, standing over 40 meters tall.

Even that alone was enough to move the fans of “Machine God Chronicles”, but.

What Ragna had prepared wasn’t over yet.

[Guoooo-!]

“Huh, huck! It’s moving!”

“Wh-What! It wasn’t just a simple model?”

“No way… Did the Director really create a Machine God…?”

None other than Unit 0, which had been standing still at the center of the festival until now, suddenly roared and moved its arms.

When the Machine God, standing over 40 meters tall, swung its giant arms, anyone with eyes couldn’t help but see that sight.

Just as the attention of everyone participating in the festival was directed towards the model of Unit 0 at that moment.

Giiing-!

The core in Unit 0’s heart opened, and from inside, a figure wearing a pilot-exclusive suit walked out.

That person was none other than.

“I-Imperial Princess?”

“Wh-What? Are you saying that person wearing the pilot suit is the Imperial Princess?”

“Then the person who just activated and moved Unit 0 was also the Imperial Princess?”

“Good heavens. Was the Imperial Princess actually compatible with Machine Gods?”

People were all astonished seeing Kaya descending from Unit 0.

Of course, this was a kind of show planned by Ragna from beginning to end.

‘Since the Emperor messed up like that, I should clean it up like this at least.’

It was Ragna’s thoughtfulness in anticipation of the imperial family’s authority having fallen knowingly or unknowingly due to the Emperor’s trolling.

Of course, Ragna wasn’t full of loyalty to the imperial family, he was just worried about the well-being of his sponsor.

Having succeeded in focusing people’s attention on the model of Unit 0 like this, Ragna looked at the spectators and calmly opened his mouth.

“Ladies and gentlemen, did you see? This is Unit 0, the war machine secretly created to defeat and repel all enemies threatening the empire.”

Ragna said so in a very serious tone without changing his expression at all.

At Disneyland in America, they say they strictly maintain the concept of the character they play to create an atmosphere that makes visitors feel like they’ve come to a ‘dream land’.

Therefore, Ragna too planned to strictly maintain the concept to make the visitors here immerse themselves in the world of “Machine God Chronicles”.

“Originally, Machine Gods, especially Unit 0, are things that absolutely cannot be activated unless by a compatible person. However, since Her Highness the Imperial Princess, the only compatible person in the empire currently, has activated it in advance, everyone here can board the Machine God without any problem.”

“Oh, ohh!”

“That’s really exactly the same as the setting in “Machine God Chronicles”!”

Hearing people’s innocent reactions, Ragna smiled.

“Then from now on, we will have time for you to directly board the Machine God through a lottery. From now on, you will become the pilots of Machine Gods protecting the empire…”

Around the time such an event was being held in the square in front of the Imperial Palace.

The envoy of the Kingdom of Rihart, who was visiting the empire for the first time in years due to some diplomatic issue, tilted his head.

Because right in front of the Imperial Palace, in the square, stood a steel giant that seemed to be over several dozen meters tall.

“Wh-What on earth is that…?”

It was something that even he, who had been through thick and thin as an envoy of the kingdom, had never seen before.

Just as he was feeling something ominous from the inexplicable pressure he felt from that giant.

Ladies and gentlemen, did you see? This is Unit 0, the war machine secretly created to defeat and repel all enemies threatening the empire.

Hearing the voice explaining what that steel giant was made for, the envoy’s face turned pale.

“Wh-What? A war machine…?”

So that giant over several dozen meters tall was actually a secret weapon made by the empire to invade other countries…?