Chapter 120: Heavy Rain of Banknotes |
"Without the love of the audience, what gives you the right to treat this anime as your meal ticket?"
"You do not love this world at all. You merely use a formulaic approach to dissect the stories the audience has grown accustomed to. You slice the early arcs they loved into countless fragments, thinking that arbitrarily stitching them back together guarantees a baseline of success. But even someone like me, stepping into Beika Town for the very first time, can feel an overwhelming sense of incongruity."
"Those who truly love creation, who genuinely love anime, only care about one thing: is this story interesting enough? Do I have a burning desire to express it?"
"That is a passion someone like you will never understand. Far too many people who have absolutely nothing to do with creation have meddled with this world."
"In a world centered entirely around deduction, even the basic timeline has collapsed into a tangled mess. If you hadn't told me otherwise, I would have thought this was a gag anime."
"When the person who originally wrote this story put pen to paper purely for the sake of expression, they absolutely never imagined Beika Town would become what it is today!"
"Do you really think you are doing justice to the audience who loves this story and this world?!"
"They are willing to spend their money not because what you produce is so brilliant, but because they can never forget the pure excitement and anticipation they felt the very first time they experienced this world!"
Bai Mu poured out all the thoughts he had kept bottled up in a single breath. Beika Town was absolutely the most riddled-with-holes place he had ever visited, plagued by far too many logical flaws and overly contrived rules.
It was entirely formulaic and utterly devoid of novelty. Just to drag out this so-called 'daily life,' the world had deteriorated into an absolute mess.
After hearing those words, the Producer bowed his head deeply.
It seemed that, as a human being, he still retained a tiny shred of conscience.
"Did... did I really do something wrong?"
Just as the Producer appeared to be repenting, something fluttered down from the sky.
Bai Mu paused for a moment, picking up the flimsy object that had landed on his shoulder.
What caught his eye was the large, imposing face of Yukichi Fukuzawa.
It was a ten-thousand-yen banknote.
A 'heavy blizzard' descended from the heavens, but instead of snowflakes, it was a downpour of countless bills.
Rustling paper money rained down in a torrential deluge. The banknotes rapidly filled the gaping hole in the roof, submerging both the Producer and Bai Mu in a sea of cash.
The Producer's seemingly remorseful expression instantly vanished. Dropping to his knees, he began frantically sweeping the fallen money into his arms with both hands like a madman.
His repentance morphed into sheer greed. The body that originally belonged to Gin began to bloat and swell as he continuously hoarded the money, as if this obese form was his true appearance all along.
Ultimately, the figure that materialized before Bai Mu was a balding, portly middle-aged man.
Clutching a massive pile of cash, he climbed back to his feet and declared in a nonchalant tone, "What does the audience's love have to do with me? All of that is fake! The only thing that is real in this world is money!"
"Come on, join me! Help me put this world back on track. As long as we mold the world into a shape the audience finds familiar, everything will keep running! You'll have countless riches—more money than you could ever spend in a lifetime!"
[Side Quest 'What is Truly Real' has been triggered.]
[Quest Objective: Agree to the Producer's request and bring the world back on track.]
[Quest Reward: 10,000 Points.]
"Come on, I won't try to eliminate you anymore. As long as you join us, we're family," the Producer said, his face gleaming with grease. "To be honest, the reception for your character hasn't been half bad. A decent portion of the audience actually likes you quite a bit."
"You have the potential to become a supporting character on the level of Hattori Heiji! Once the world is back on track, we can all make a fortune!"
"Is that so? As long as I join you, I can make a fortune?" Bai Mu stared at the newly triggered Side Quest.
A whopping ten thousand Points. He had been in Paradise for quite a while now, yet all the Points he had earned combined didn't even add up to ten thousand.
"Exactly! Just join us and play along with the rules set from above, and I promise you will be filthy rich," the Producer declared, gazing up at the sky.
The gray sky was completely obscured by a gigantic Yukichi Fukuzawa banknote. The entirety of Beika Town was trapped beneath its overbearing shadow.
That was the true hidden force controlling Beika Town. At the end of the day, the Producer was nothing more than a puppet manipulated by that very entity.
"Making a fortune, huh..." Bai Mu grabbed a handful of banknotes. In his eyes, they were no longer just mere bills; every single one of them displayed a prompt indicating it could be exchanged for Points in Paradise. A single banknote was worth 100 Points.
Bending down, he ran his fingers over the thick stacks of cash in his hands. The texture was rough, yet it somehow provided a strange, intoxicating sense of security.
After a few seconds of silence, Bai Mu slammed his fist directly into the Producer's chin, delivering a devastating Lushan Rising Dragon Strike.
"However, I refuse."
"One of my absolute favorite things to do is to say 'NO' to self-righteous pricks like you."
The Producer's teeth were shattered by the impact. Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth as he was sent crashing heavily to the ground.
Simultaneously, the moment he threw that punch, Bai Mu reverted to his true form.
[Since you have rejected the temptation of 'Capital', the roleplay restrictions of the Script have been lifted.]
"Don't go thinking I'm that gullible," Bai Mu said coldly. "There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The ultimate fate of joining you is to be reduced to a puppet manipulated by Capital, doomed to wander Beika Town for all eternity. Within this chaotic timeline, the Script would never reach a true conclusion."
"Since you have already been brainwashed by Capital, allow me to beat some sense into you!"
"Damn it! Gin, get out here!"
The Producer frantically scrambled backward as the scattered banknotes converged, reshaping themselves into the unmistakable figure of Gin.
"Kill him!"
However, Gin did not follow the command. Gin merely glanced back, shooting the Producer an indifferent sideways look. He pulled out a lighter, lit a cigarette, took a drag, and casually leaned against the wall.
"Why... Why is this happening?!"
"Have you still not realized?" Bai Mu equipped his title, donned the Dance of Elvis, and stood directly in front of the Producer. "Then I'll just have to pummel you until you wake up!"
Clenching his fist, Bai Mu drove a brutal punch right into the Producer's left cheek, sending his entire body flying through the air.
"W-Why..."
"Because there are people who actually want to change this world!" Bai Mu retorted. "I should have figured it out earlier. An anime isn't something created by just one person. If you truly wanted to stop us, there was a much easier alternative: bringing the other Forensic Doctors of Beika Town back to work. But from beginning to end, we never encountered a single obstacle inside the Police Headquarters. In fact, everything went surprisingly smoothly. We slept right there in the morgue, and not a single soul ever came to disturb us."
"Adding a few background characters was definitely within your authority. But you failed to do so, because someone else revised your proposal, didn't they?"
""
"There are always people who refuse to be seduced by Capital. They simply want to see this world become a better place."
"Go back, and take a good hard look at yourself."
Bai Mu's heavy, sandbag-sized fist smashed violently into the Producer's massive face.