Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

A certain tavern located in the capital.

Until recently, this was just one of the many common taverns in the capital.

But thanks to a certain incident that occurred not long ago, it suddenly became a ‘holy site of revolution’.

This was due to the incident commonly known as the ‘Machine God Chronicles Broadcast Revolution’.

Originally, “Machine God Chronicles” had a cruel broadcast schedule of airing only one day a week.

But this was unavoidable.

Anyone who has seen “Machine God Chronicles” even once would know that it was an animation that had tremendous effort put into its production.

Even though they knew it was just drawings, the movements of the characters were so vivid that it made them wonder if they were real people.

The various OSTs and BGMs that played according to the situations were melodious, and the characters’ voices produced by the voice actors were enough to captivate people.

As such a perfect animation was being broadcast, it was inevitable that production would take a long time.

That’s why viewers had no choice but to silently accept the painful reality of broadcasting only once a week.

However, there was one brave man who rose up, saying this reality was unreasonable.

His name was Hikardo.

He was the great revolutionary who called for the unity of viewers from all countries in public.

While viewers who had seen episode 1 of “Machine God Chronicles” were just trembling with regret and frustration, he, unlike others, took direct action.

He ‘enlightened’ other viewers in the tavern and then started a revolution to spread his will to the world.

When Hikardo first started the revolution, people just laughed at him.

But Hikardo, not caring at all about the laughter of these ignorant and foolish people, advanced to the square in front of the imperial palace and announced his will to the public.

In the end, after dramatic negotiations with the animation team of “Machine God Chronicles”, he succeeded in pushing through his will.

The news that “Machine God Chronicles”, which was scheduled to air once a week, had increased to twice a week thanks to a young revolutionary who had failed the art school entrance exam, spread throughout the capital in an instant.

‘Welcome, I’ve been believing in you!’

‘You’re a hero, Hikardo!’

‘Thank you! Good job!’

He suddenly rose to become a hero to all viewers watching “Machine God Chronicles”.

That’s why many fans of “Machine God Chronicles” were flocking to the tavern where the revolution occurred to watch the animation today as well.

And today, on the day of broadcasting episode 17 of “Machine God Chronicles”, many fans including Hikardo were gathering at this holy site, their eyes shining.

“Finally… it’s almost 9 o’clock.”

“Really… I don’t know how much I’ve been waiting for the weekend to come. Especially during the weekdays when ‘Machine God Chronicles’ isn’t aired, I suffer from withdrawal symptoms.”

“Ah, the television has turned on. It seems it’s about to start now.”

At those words from someone, people quickly focused their attention on the television.

“I wonder what kind of Outer God Kai will defeat today?”

“The thing is, not all Outer Gods are the same, they each have unique abilities, so it doesn’t get boring.”

The Outer Gods appearing in “Machine God Chronicles” varied greatly in both appearance and special abilities.

For example, the Outer God that appeared in episode 1 had an appearance similar to a golem with powerful strength and the ability to explode objects.

In episode 5, an Outer God specialized in aerial combat with the ability to fire powerful lasers appeared.

If there’s one thing in common between them, it might be that they all have the ability to nullify humanity’s attacks.

“What kind of abilities do the Outer Gods have that allow them to neutralize humanity’s attacks? And what’s the reason that Machine Gods can penetrate that defense?”

“I think that secret will probably be a big foreshadowing that runs through the latter half of ‘Machine God Chronicles’. Because we haven’t seen how Machine Gods are made yet, right?”

“It’s also suspicious how the Commander-in-Chief and Chloe always use meaningful tones or expressions whenever they mention Machine Gods.”

People were having such conversations but not taking their eyes off the screen for even a moment.

The beginning of episode 17 of “Machine God Chronicles” proceeded in a somewhat peaceful atmosphere like previous episodes.

Rather than an Outer God invading as usual, it was a part focusing on the daily lives of the pilots and conversations between them.

Some people didn’t like the daily life parts because they preferred the thrilling battle scenes between Machine Gods and Outer Gods.

But most viewers felt a sense of healing while watching these daily life parts, as they felt that having only battle scenes would easily build up fatigue.

“Oh, it looks like a new male pilot is going to join Illuminati in this episode?”

“His name is Luke. Apparently, he was Kai’s close friend before the Outer Gods invaded.”

“No, what the hell is that bastard…! How dare a man other than Kai casually grab Saya’s hand? That bastard who should be sliced…”

“Well, well, if things have come to this, Saya is ‘out’. In this case, it seems Chloe has become the true heroine of ‘Machine God Chronicles’…”

“No, how can such a black-haired and black-hearted sneaky woman become the heroine of ‘Machine God Chronicles’?”

“What did you say…? You bastard…”

Separate from the viewers expressing their indignation, the story continued to progress.

“Unknown life form detected in front! It’s an Outer God!”

“Cockpit Pistol issued, declaring combat readiness!”

“Commander, how do you plan to handle this Outer God?”

“Luke, was it? Let’s leave it to that guy. I want to test how skilled he is.”

“Understood!”

So Luke faced off against the Outer God, leading his personal machine, Unit 7.

Until this point, the viewers watching “Machine God Chronicles” had no particular thoughts.

Because from episode 1 to 16, the human side had never lost to an Outer God even once.

So obviously, this battle would end in victory for that guy called Luke.

But.

Crack-!

“Th-This can’t be! Unit 7, Unit 7!”

“…Unit 7, complete silence. The signal from the pilot… has been cut off.”

Defeat.

The Machine God, humanity’s strongest weapon created to confront Outer Gods, was defeated by an Outer God.

And not just a simple defeat, but with its head and body separated.
But the situation didn’t end with just Unit 7’s defeat.

“Wh-What on earth is that?”

“The Outer God, the Outer God is… absorbing… Unit 7…”

“This is strange. The Outer God’s pattern is changing to that of Unit 7!”

“Th-The Outer God’s magical power is amplifying! It’s exceeding the limits of our measuring devices! Measurement impossible!”
It was the Outer God swallowing the Machine God whole and absorbing its power.
Moreover, not stopping there, the Outer God’s appearance transforms into that of the absorbed Unit 7.
And watching this scene, the Commander-in-Chief mutters in a small voice.
“…As expected, a false god created by humans couldn’t defeat a true god.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. More importantly, quickly deploy the Machine Gods. Deploy Unit 0!”
“Understood!”
At the same time, the background music changes to a low and depressing melody.

It was the opposite of the cheerful and hopeful background music of “Machine God Chronicles” up until now.

In the end, Kai hurriedly boards Unit 0 and faces off against the Outer God that absorbed Unit 7.

If the Outer God in front of him had been in its usual state, Kai might have won the battle.
But Kai couldn’t concentrate on the battle because of the fact that his friend had been absorbed into the Outer God.

Moreover, the Outer God’s power had greatly increased after absorbing Unit 7.

In the end, Kai and Unit 0, overwhelmed by the Outer God’s overwhelming power, fall to their knees.

“…Unit 0, activity limit reached. It’s not moving anymore. All magical power has been depleted.”

“Oh my, is this really, the end of everything…”

It was then.

Giiing-

Lights come on in the Machine God that had run out of magical power, and it starts moving again.

The berserk mode of Unit 0, which had saved Kai when he was in danger in the past, had begun.

“Guooooo-!”

As always, the berserk Unit 0 crushes the enemy with overwhelming power.

Even the Outer God that had absorbed Unit 7 is instantly defeated by that power.
But Kai couldn’t welcome Unit 0’s berserk mode as he usually did.

“Stop, stop, I said stop! Inside that Outer God, my friend is there! So please, stop your actions!”

But.

Crack-!

Ignoring Kai’s pleas, the Machine God grabbed the head of the Machine God that was half-absorbed into the Outer God’s body and burst it.

“…Ah.”

Watching that scene, the viewers outside the screen were stunned.

Seeing the blood seeping from the Machine God’s hand, Kai finally screams.

“Aaaaargh-!”

“…”
On the screen, Kai’s face is shown, distorted and wailing.

Meanwhile, Unit 0 gently caresses its core as if to say it would do anything to protect Kai.

Unit 0’s behavior was similar to that of a mother desperately trying to protect her baby.

Watching such a scene, viewers unconsciously swallowed.

On the surface, it looks like a demon itself with its whole body dyed in blood.

But at the same time, Unit 0 shows a nobility in trying to protect something.
Isn’t this as holy as looking at a religious painting said to depict God’s blessing?
No one could take their eyes off the screen, overwhelmed by the mise-en-scène of this duality where ugliness and holiness coexist.

And.

“Aah, aaaaargh-!”

With the image of Kai screaming inside the Machine God, the screen darkens with a static noise.

Blackout.

Until the preview for the next episode.

“…..”

“…..”

No one in the tavern dared to open their mouth hastily.

People were carefully touching the goosebumps that had risen on their bodies.

“…Is that really, animation?”
What on earth did they just see?

“Kehehehe.”

The next morning, I was sipping coffee with a sinister smile.

Killing a comrade, a mecha out of control due to berserk mode, and even glorification of murder!

I crammed all the elements that must be included in a truly messed-up mecha series into one episode.

By this point, viewers should be able to realize that something is going wrong with the plot.

And the media that had been mindlessly praising “Machine God Chronicles” should have come to their senses as well.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I could steadily build up towards the annihilation of humanity, a simple task.

With such a pleasant feeling, I opened the morning newspaper.

But.

[“Machine God Chronicles” opens a new era of art with this episode, receiving ‘high praise’ from critics…]

[Art professor from the National Academy says, if “Machine God Chronicles” weren’t an animation, this episode 17 would undoubtedly be a masterpiece that would go down in history…]

[Episode 17 of “Machine God Chronicles”, perfect storytelling itself. Concerns that rather the voice actors’ performances might be holding back the work…]

“…?”

What on earth is happening right now?