Chapter 100: First Day of Screening
Two days might not seem like a long time for an average person. After all, when broken down, two days equate to 48 hours, or 2,880 minutes. However, in a world where time seems almost irrelevant, such as in this world, it's difficult for people to grasp the concept of time.
Yet, for the audience eagerly anticipating the release of "Fate Zero," these two days felt like an unbearable nightmare. Seeing their highly anticipated movie nearing its premiere, but still having over 2,000 minutes to wait, left them feeling as if they could barely endure it. Some even wished they could just strangle themselves and jump ahead to the timeline two days later.
Of course, strangling oneself wouldn't actually allow for time travel. Aside from patiently waiting, there was no way to speed up the passage of time. Consequently, during these days, one could often find groups of idle young people loitering in the plaza, repeatedly watching the trailer for the movie, reciting lines they practically knew by heart. Others, occupied with work, didn't even have the chance to watch the trailer and could only daydream about when the movie would premiere. Strangely enough, when they worried about getting scolded by their bosses for slacking off, they discovered that even their bosses were too preoccupied with anticipating the movie to notice their employees' lack of productivity.
In such circumstances, days passed slowly, blending into each other...
Finally, the ticket sales for the new movie "Fate Zero" officially began!!
...
"Don't push!! Stop pushing!! Damn it, I said don't push, everyone will get their turn, can't you hear me?!!"
"Who cares about you!! I promised my girlfriend that I'd get tickets for 'Fate Zero' no matter what!!"
"Get out of my way!!"
Chaos erupted at the entrance of the Norsrick Cinema. Due to the rapidly expanding audience for movies, the scale of this new movie premiere far exceeded that of the previous one, "Goblin Slayer." Especially after the discontinuation of premieres in Durin, scalpers began to emerge unnoticed. Of course, most scalpers nowadays simply acted as intermediaries for wealthy merchants, purchasing tickets on their behalf. However, once they realized the opportunity for profit in reselling tickets, Durin might have to crack down on scalpers.
In short, scenes of chaos like this were unfolding in practically every movie theater across the empire, including the newly opened ones in the North. Given the large audience turnout for "Goblin Slayer," the premiere of "Fate Zero" was bound to be equally crowded, if not more so.
Indeed, amidst the chaos, Durin maintains control. Durin has long directed Banil to expand the cinema industry based on each town's population ratio. Cities like Norsrick, boasting tens of thousands of inhabitants, now host five or more chain cinemas. Despite being in their infancy, they're under pressure to catch up. Fortunately, Durin's invention of a new method of unified broadcasting alleviates the strain. Without it, the supply of imaging crystals might not suffice, necessitating a trip to the Dwarven Kingdom for more raw crystals.
In contrast to the cinema chaos, certain places remain serene, notably the Imperial Mage Academy housed in the Tower of Mages.
Today marks the enrollment day for new students at the Imperial Mage Academy. Filled with aspirations of becoming mages, most newcomers visit this establishment symbolizing the empire's mage elite for the first time.
For them, the first day should involve making friends and familiarizing themselves with the campus. However, they're greeted by a massive screen at the academy's entrance, endlessly looping the "Fate Zero" trailer. Adjacent to the poster, it announces the premiere of "Fate Zero" tonight at the academy's main square. All mages who receive their student ID today can attend and receive a lovely gift.
This promotional strategy, despite being loss-making, garners significant popularity. On the first day of school, discussions predominantly revolve around this movie.
Some newcomers from other regions are puzzled, but those from the Southern Region are ecstatic. Initially fearing they'd miss the "Fate Zero" premiere due to enrollment, they're delighted to discover they can attend without ticket struggles. Their enthusiasm spreads, piquing the interest of most newcomers from movie-unfamiliar areas. With few common topics among new students, this high-interest subject becomes a unifying focus, ensuring no one misses out.
After all, since there are few common topics among new students, and now there's one with high interest that everyone is interested in, naturally no one would give it up.
In any case, the news of "Fate Zero" about to premiere quickly spread throughout the Mage Tower, and almost every attending mage, after watching the few-minute trailer, made a firm decision to go to the main square to watch the movie that night.
Under this almost self-propelling public fervor, the movie is destined to capture the attention of all new students!
...
"Movie time! Let's go watch the movie!"
With Aya's excited words, early in the morning, the Edward Tavern chose to close its doors, and all the customers intuitively left the tavern, leaving the space to the crew from the production studio.
Although the premiere system had been canceled, as members of the production team, whether it was the people from the Edward Studio, the Snowflake Theater troupe, or the actors from the military, they all received complimentary VIP center seats without question. It's worth noting that these tickets, if auctioned off in the market, could fetch thousands of gold coins.
Seeing everyone's excitement, Durin confirmed that Scar had already set up the stage in the main square of the Imperial Mage Academy and led the group away from the closed tavern once he received the news. They headed to the headquarters of the Norsrick Cinema.
The Norsrick Cinema at the moment is completely different from before. As the birthplace of cinema, it now resembles a large shopping mall, and everywhere you look, you see official "Fate Zero" posters without needing to pay much attention.
In this situation, the most noticeable aspect is the crowded crowd outside. Without a doubt, these people are all waiting for the movie to premiere. Some have been waiting at the cinema doors since early morning, while others bought tickets in advance and are arriving after finishing their work. However, regardless of the circumstances, everyone is eagerly anticipating tonight's movie.
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