Chapter 1123 - 持ち帰った成果
Now then.
One thing led to another, and it was the following day.
Starting with organizing various things after the event and the Niarize with my partner for the first time in what felt like several days. In addition to that, a briefing with my exclusive Mako (Magic Craft) artisan who was facing the natural difficulties regarding that item... if I was busy handling various errands, a whole day would pass in a second, no joke.
Consciously, it was an infinite combo of being welcomed and welcoming. After waking up in the morning, I left the lodgings without even having time for breakfast. As for what the next task was────
"────..............................No, this is amazing."
In terms of the timing of my first step inside, it was a genuine mansion that deserved to be called a 'stately home,' with which I had a longer history than my current home, the Yotsuya Lodgings. In the private room of my best friend, Miss Kaede Shijo.
Having finished the more than four-hour playback of the 'viewing session'—otherwise known as material provision and content sharing—which had begun early in the morning, my precious male friend, Toshiki Toyama, muttered his impression once more.
Aside from Toshiki, who muttered as he looked away from the screen that had gone silent at the end of the playback time, I looked around at the faces of all my friends...
"............For now, I'm relieved it seems to have taken the form of solid entertainment."
It's a bit much for me, the person involved, to say it myself, but it must have been more than the fatigue of watching a single movie. After all, this was a collection of selected highlights.
During the recent event, Ri-na and I had somehow managed to finish selecting the parts to show and recording the reproductions... but to be blunt, the composition was a mess.
I'm not a movie director; I'm a complete amateur who has never even sketched out a story in my head.
The video filming itself was done using our own and our family's cheating abilities to the fullest, and by relying heavily on the incomprehensible technological power of Arcadia itself, perfect quality was guaranteed. However, there was no way I could make the choice of cutting even more important scenes out of the already important ones.
Therefore, it was intense and non-stop.
Whether it was static or dynamic, it was an infinite chain of highlights that anyone could sense they shouldn't take their eyes off of. To put it bluntly, it was ex-t-r-e-m-e-l-y tiring to watch.
Since they had binge-watched such a thing for over four hours in parallel with their nutritional intake (breakfast)...
"""................................................"""
Well, yeah. Setting aside Toshiki, who is a rare exception who loves movies and often does marathons of masterpieces all day when he's free.
It was only natural that the three women, including Kaede, were stretched out as if they were more than full. It was my fault, but I offered a silent prayer while feigning ignorance.
Well, there's no doubt they enjoyed it. I'm relieved about that────
"How did you end up filming this?"
"Ah—, well. First, we used Ri-na's magic to make the room a complete darkroom... or rather, fixed it in a complete 'darkness' where furniture wouldn't be illuminated by the light of the projected video or anything."
"That makes no sense right off the bat... oh, that's it. Like, the field of vision itself...?"
"Right, we messed with our own perception using hallucinatory star magic. Since it's a complete game-breaker that can even deceive the system, the 'recording' went smoothly, just like this."
"Hoh............In other words, if you siblings team up, it's bad news."
"Stop with the siblings (that) thing with a straight face────well, it was something like that. After that, it's exactly as you saw; I transferred my 'memories' while imagining a screen, just like this one now."
"Haa—...... It's seriously crazy how even the sound can be perfectly reproduced..."
"Not just the sound; it felt like the atmosphere of the scene was completely reproduced during the recording. The smell of the air, or rather, the pressure and everything else that was being thrown at us by everyone."
"...What kind of illusion is that?"
"...It's that kind of illusion."
I shared the explanation of the recording environment in response to Toshiki's question.
We were doing something that completely kicked logic aside, and it was definitely exhausting work, as I felt the need for adjustments and did retakes over and over and over and over... but...
"At worst, it was helpful in terms of fatigue accumulation that there was no problem even if we were lying down."
"Ah, well, you just have to fix the spatial angle at the editing stage (here), after all..."
And so, that was that. Regarding the latter half, when we had grown completely accustomed to memory reproduction recording, both Ri-na and I knew how to relax, so it proceeded smoothly without strain or tension.
Nia was frequently snoozing. Her sleeping face was infinitely cute, so I'll declare her innocent (it's fine).
"The recording equipment is non-existent, and the functionality is all provided by Arcadia at a stupidly high level... Since you can decide things like image quality after you've filmed, it seriously makes no sense. It's the best."
"Exactly. ...It's understandable that Arcadia's archivers are overflowing and existing individual streaming businesses are declining. It guarantees the highest quality for anyone, after all."
Just as Toshiki worshipped, the recording and streaming systems for Arcadia provided by Yotsuya are 'the best' to a repulsive degree. Not a metaphor; the incomprehensible recording media, its operability, and the freedom of editing—all of it was 'the best' performance with quality that made existing technology a thing of the past.
To be honest, the 'best environment where you can freely visualize the things of the Otherworld (Arcadia) that contain endless content' alone is more than enough for certain circles to get their three million yen initial cost back.
Normally, even if you tried to get a set of equipment necessary for streaming services and other content preparation with 'decent' specs, it would cost several hundred thousand. If you look further up, it's a world with no end.
Normally, they should be able to collect a massive amount of money just from the streaming service bundle... but the management and development, 'Yotsuya,' shows no sign of collecting funds beyond the initial purchase cost.
Now, is that the intention of the representative, Tetsugo-shi... or is it due to the whim of that certain someone whom Ashe and I have been informed of—or rather, had hinted to us────
"........................Nozomi-kun."
"Oh. Are you okay?"
As the two of us men were leisurely amazed, having long passed the point of being able to do anything but feel grateful rather than retort, the voice of the first girl to recover rolled out.
Then, Miki Kajisawa, while stroking the head of her best friend (Kaede) who was leaning on her and dizzy.
"For now, I want to cut at least an hour."
She bluntly presented her intention for what came next.
She was perfectly calm, unlike the otaku she had been just a moment ago, whose eyes had been sparkling and who had been absorbed in the rush of incomprehensible and reckless information that she had long been waiting for. In that case, I returned a smile, feeling she was as reliable as ever...
"Agreed. Though I'm inadequate, let me supervise as well."
"Please. You're necessary for judging which parts shouldn't be cut."
"Of course. ...Well, it's also an option to ask the collaboration partner who is the reason the necessary parts exist."
"............Stop joking. Everyone would die."
A familiar conversation development, in a different direction from Toshiki.
The person who is undoubtedly the practical leader of our team and the core in both a technical and sensory sense is Miki-san, today as always.
────And with that.
"Now then............Shoko-san? If you turn the angle this way any more, there's a fine."
"Hiee...! W-wait, wh-what are you talking about...!?"
"It's impossible to think I won't notice. We're in the same room with a giant screen."
While putting a stop to Shoko Ashihara, who had secretly recovered and was messing with the editing equipment directly connected to the screen that had been showing the footage. She was messing with the angle within the 'spatial recording'—a technology impossible to occupy outside of Arcadia—likely trying to peek at us during the reproduction video recording.
"Kaede? Kaede-san, are you okay? Hellooo."
"I-I'm okay... I'm okay...!"
I called out to the leading extreme otaku—my best friend and manager—who showed signs of recovery, perhaps because her best friend's pampering had worked... and thus, here we go.
"Then, let's get started right away────the goal is to finish today or tomorrow. I'm counting on you all."
I gave the signal for the start of Death March Part 2, which I would also be joining.
I don't remember if I wrote it or not (likely didn't), but it seems that [Arcadia] has no additional charges such as monthly usage fees, communication fees, electricity bills, or periodic maintenance fees every five years, except for the initial purchase cost of three million yen.
If I wrote that there are, that's an information control management error by the incompetent (me), so please report it. It's common knowledge in the Arcadia world that hasn't changed from the beginning until now.
I wonder what's going on there.
It doesn't matter, but here's a glimpse of a foreshadowing that will become important in the far future g—