Female protagonists from various anime/manga crossovers? They'll all regret it for the rest of

Page 132

They captured many more amazing shots than expected.

Yuto watched the replay on the monitor, feeling a sense of accomplishment, but also a lingering fear.

He turned his head and saw three figures not far away.

Eriri stood with her hands on her hips, proudly showing the actors a newly completed, bloody prop arm.

Kasumigaoka Utaha was leaning against the wall, flipping through a thick philosophy book, but her peripheral vision was always fixed on Yuuto's direction.

Mai Sakurajima had changed back into her school uniform and was surrounded by a group of fans. She smiled politely, but through the gaps in the crowd, she cast a meaningful glance at Yuto and then waved gently.

Finally, his gaze fell on Kato Megumi, who was quietly tidying up the props scattered all over the floor.

You're so reliable, Kato-kun...

……

As it turns out, Yuto Itsuka is more than just a dreamer who can write stories.

When he sat in the director's chair, staring at the monitor, the focus and rigor he exuded made the atmosphere on set heavy.

"No, the emotion is wrong."

The scene being filmed depicts the main characters witnessing the "Turtle Soup" story being reenacted in reality for the first time. A female student needs to portray that fear that is deep, penetrating to the bone.

“Yuanshan, your expression is ‘frightened,’ like you’ve seen a snake or a cockroach.”

"What I want is 'fear,' the trembling and bewilderment you feel when you discover that everything you know is collapsing and your worldview is being overturned." Yuto's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to the center of the set.

"Imagine the stairs you walk up every day, and one day you find that the number of steps has changed, with one more step or one less step."

"You won't scream, you'll doubt yourself, doubt the world, that chilling feeling, can you grasp it?"

He didn't use yelling to pressure her. The female classmate nodded thoughtfully and gathered her emotions again.

"Lights! Dim the main light source by 15 degrees, and use cool tones for the side fill lights. I want that feeling of moonlight shining through dirty glass, cold and devoid of any warmth."

"Props team, tilt that overturned chair a little more so that its shadow falls right at the character's feet."

He issued instructions in a methodical and orderly manner.

Kasumigaoka Utaha stood to the side with her arms crossed, watching the figure strategizing behind the monitor, a strange light flashing in her eyes.

She had always thought that this junior's greatest weapon was his pen, but now she realized that when he picked up the weapon called "lens," it was just as terrifyingly sharp.

"Action!"

This time, the female student's performance was perfect.

The fear seeping from the depths of his pupils, mixed with confusion and disbelief, precisely conveyed everything the script wanted to convey.

"Click! Passed! Perfect!" Yuto finally smiled.

However, accidents always happen when they least expect them.

The next scene will require a key prop—a bizarre, half-human-sized doll made by Eriri herself, which serves as a clue connecting several horror stories in the drama.

Just as the actor was moving the puppet to the designated position, he tripped over an electrical wire, lost his balance, and instinctively fell forward.

"careful!"

Amid gasps of surprise, the actor, in order to protect himself, dropped the doll he was holding.

"boom!"

The doll fell onto the concrete floor with a dull thud.

Its distinctive, eerie smiling face, made of plaster and special materials, has a clear crack.

The entire warehouse fell into a deathly silence instantly.

The male student who caused the trouble turned pale and stammered an apology: "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Director Itsuka, Sawamura-senpai, I'm so sorry!"

The atmosphere on set instantly plummeted from its previous excitement to rock bottom.

Everyone knows that this prop was a one-of-a-kind creation that Eriri spent several nights working on, and now that it's damaged, today's filming schedule is completely ruined.

“My…doll…” Eriri rushed over, squatted down, and looked at the glaring crack. Her eyes instantly reddened.

This is not just a prop, but a work into which she has poured countless efforts, and it is her most important weapon in this "war".

"What a clumsy fellow." Kasumigaoka Utaha's voice was cold.

Yuto felt immense pressure; all eyes were on him, some worried, some sympathetic, and some waiting to see what would happen.

He took a deep breath to suppress his agitation.

He didn't reprimand the student who made the mistake; he just walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "It's okay. Accidents happen during filming. It's good that you're not hurt."

A simple word of comfort instantly brought immense relief to the boy who was on the verge of tears.

Then, Yuto squatted down next to Eriri and carefully examined the cracks in the doll.

"Don't touch it!" Eriri cried out, her voice trembling like a cat protecting its kittens.

"Don't worry, it's just cracked, it can be repaired." Yuto's voice was calm and steady. "Besides, perhaps... this isn't such a bad thing."

"What?" Eriri looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Look,” Yuto pointed to the crack, “Originally, this smiling face was purely eerie, but now, with this crack, doesn’t it have a bit more of a ‘broken’ feel and a ‘story’?”

"Like a once perfect mask that, after experiencing untold horrors, finally broke under the weight. This feeling is more layered than the original design."

Yuto wasn't making things up; that was indeed how he felt.

These words gradually stopped Eriri from sobbing.

Following Yuto's train of thought, she discovered that the crack, under certain lighting, did indeed give the doll a flawed and fragile beauty, adding a touch of horror compared to its previous perfection.

"But... even so, filming..."

"Who said we were going to stop?" Yuto stood up and dusted off his hands. "Everyone, take a 20-minute break. Props team, get me some model glue, putty, and paint. Be quick."

He actually planned to repair it himself.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, Yuto sat down on the spot and carefully placed the doll on his lap.

He first carefully cleaned the dust from the cracks with a small brush, then skillfully injected model glue into the gaps, and then carefully filled them with putty.

Eriri stared blankly at him, at his lowered eyelids, and at his hands that could create countless worlds on the keyboard, yet were now skillfully repairing his own work.

An inexplicable emotion quietly welled up in her heart.

Mai Sakurajima walked over without saying a word, but silently handed Yuto a bottle of water and a clean towel.

Her gaze remained fixed on his focused profile, looking at him with tenderness and appreciation.

Kasumi? 〨球侕erII? I玲爸尔之丘石羽 leaned against the wall in the distance, watching this scene.

This man always manages to reveal an unexpected side of himself.

It's not just his talent, but also his composure and sense of responsibility in the face of danger.

“Here… use the shade of acrylic paint to sweep along the edge of the crack. It will make the crack look more natural and three-dimensional,” Eriri said without realizing it, her voice still a little hoarse.

“Received, Art Director,” Yuto replied without looking up.

Eriri blushed slightly and squatted down to help him mix the paint.

A wonderful tacit understanding developed between the two, as if they had returned to the time when they were discussing novel illustrations.

Twenty minutes later, the doll was miraculously repaired.

Moreover, through the joint "re-creation" of Yuto and Eriri, the crack was treated to have a weathered effect, giving the doll an even more unsettling aura.

"Alright." Yuto handed the puppet back to the props team, stood up, and clapped his hands. "All departments, get ready. Let's continue filming!"

"Oh oh oh!"

The entire set erupted in cheers, and everyone's morale was reignited.

The way they looked at Yuto had changed from "a talented classmate" to "a director" with genuine respect.

After Yuto sat back down on the monitor, he glanced at the girls not far from him.

Mai Sakurajima gave him an encouraging smile.

He picked up the megaphone, feeling a sense of peace he had never felt before.

"Scene 32, Shot 2, Action!"

……

That unexpected incident brought the cohesion of the entire crew to an unprecedented level.

The filming process then went exceptionally smoothly.

In particular, the teamwork between Yuto Itsuka and Mai Sakurajima has reached a level that is beyond the comprehension of others.

“Mai-senpai, for the next scene, I need you to portray a feeling of being ‘spyed on’.”

"It's not that you know for sure someone is watching you, but rather it's a kind of... physiological unease, as if the air itself has weight, and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up involuntarily." Yuto tried his best to describe that abstract feeling when he was explaining the scene.

“I understand.” Mai Sakurajima simply nodded. “It’s that feeling of walking down an empty corridor, but always feeling like there are footsteps following behind you, right?”

“Yes! This is it!” Yuto’s eyes lit up.

When the camera started rolling, Mai Sakurajima simply stood quietly in front of the lens, tidying up the bookshelf.

But her movements inadvertently revealed a hint of stiffness; her shoulders tightened slightly, and her eyes would involuntarily dart towards the empty, dark corner behind her before quickly looking away, as if trying to hide her paranoia.

With just a few subtle movements, an invisible sense of oppression was palpable through the lens.

"Crack!"

Yuto watched the replay on the monitor, his heart filled with nothing but admiration.

This unspoken understanding almost gave him the illusion that they had truly experienced those things together in that simulated world that only he remembered.

During a break in filming, Yuto was studying the storyboard, working on the angle of the next shot, when a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Suddenly, a shadow carrying a faint fragrance descended.

He looked up and met Sakurajima Mai's clear eyes.

She took out a handkerchief from somewhere, and naturally reached out to gently wipe his forehead.

"Thank you for your hard work, Director." Her voice was soft, and her movements were gentle as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Yuto's heart skipped a beat for a moment.

The surrounding noise, the younger generation's playful antics, and the sounds of moving props all seemed to be silenced at this moment.

He could clearly smell the shampoo scent emanating from her hair and feel the cool touch of her fingertips through the handkerchief.

This scene, like a fuse, instantly ignited the powder kegs in two other corners of the set.

"Hmph." (The rest of the text appears to be a fragmented collection of characters and symbols, possibly from different sources. A direct translation isn't meaningful without further context.)

A cold snort came from not far away.

Eriri was holding a sketchbook, her pencil almost piercing through the paper.

Watching that excessively intimate scene, she felt as if a lump of cotton was stuck in her chest, both sore and swollen.

Is it amazing to have good acting skills? Is it amazing to be considerate of others?

She took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and channeled all her fury into creative motivation.

A few minutes later, she walked aggressively up to Yuto with her sketchbook and slammed it down on the table in front of him.

"Hey! Take a look at this!"

Yuto's thoughts were interrupted. He looked down and saw a newly designed monster image on the paper.

It was a humanoid figure formed by countless pale, twisted arms, each fingernail as sharp as obsidian, with a mouth in the very center mimicking the cry of a baby.

Its level of horror and artistic appeal has reached a new level compared to previous designs.

"I have a new idea regarding the close-up of the monster's final form at the end of the movie."

"Use this, and you'll definitely scare the audience so much they'll vomit their popcorn on the spot!" Eriri raised her chin, her golden twin tails swinging triumphantly behind her head, but her eyes were full of "Praise me, and quickly shift your attention away from that woman."

"This... is amazing, Eriri." Yuto was genuinely praising it. "This design is full of despair and aggression, even better than I originally imagined."

Eriri, flattered by the praise, looked even more smug. She glanced defiantly in Mai Sakurajima's direction, as if silently declaring: See? This is the bond between creators, one that no one can interfere with.

Before she could even feel happy for long, another figure gracefully approached.