episode_0087

Jiiing-.

All the employees of Somerset Workshop were gathered together to watch the sight of gears meshing and light leaking out of a square box.

Soon, when an image of a puppy running around was projected on a screen installed on the wall, exclamations came out of people’s mouths.

“This was an animation!”

The eyes of the craftsmen who had been working hard to develop technology related to the projector under Rupert’s instructions sparkled.

The craftsmen had heard explanations many times, but they had only vague ideas about it and had no idea what kind of machine it was.

Since it’s similar to a video playback stone, I thought, why bother making something like this? I could just use a video playback stone.

I realized that it was all a big mistake.

“This is completely different from the pictures or videos! This is a completely different thing.”

“How can the picture move so naturally? It looks like a living creature.”

“Now I understand why the master needed this machine so much.”

The craftsmen were immediately able to see the greatest advantage animation had over regular video.

Right now the picture of the puppy is moving, but what if it was a dragon?

While photographs and videos are limited by time and space, animation is not constrained by these limitations and can show exactly what the author imagined.

For example, the fairy tales and comic books that Rupert drew were fictitious and did not actually exist, so it was very difficult to turn them into videos.

How do you make the moving wooden puppets that appear in , and how do you recreate the fictional alchemy and chimeras that appear in ?

But they were able to do this because the projectors they created were meant to reproduce pictures.

Fit!

But the surprise was short-lived, as the projector that was playing the picture made a sound and flashed a spark for a moment, then smoke rose and it stopped working.

“No!”

After two months of research and collaboration with others, I finally created the first prototype, and when I saw that it had finally come to an end, I let out a scream.

“Is the film the problem?”

“The surface of the film is not uniform, so it doesn’t seem to roll smoothly inside the machine.”

In the midst of the screaming, only Rupert and Krun calmly opened the machine and checked the inside.

The two of them were very calm as they discussed this and that while looking at the surface of the blackened film, which was a possible reaction since they did not think that a perfect product would be created from the beginning.

Rupert and Kroon thought that since the projector they were making was a new item that had never existed in this world, it was inevitable that there would be trial and error.

If they had worked on their own without the help of the Magic Tower and the Alchemy Guild, it might have taken them years to achieve this level of achievement.

“Can you make something that can be screened for at least 10 minutes in about a month?”

“10 minutes… It’s a short but long time.”

Rupert had in mind the Imperial Academy’s closing ceremony as the venue for the first demonstration of this projector.

Since it was an academy where talents from all over the empire gathered, I thought that if we were to first showcase animation there, it would definitely have an outstanding promotional effect.

But Krun said it would be a more difficult task than expected.

The first prototype just played for less than 30 seconds before it broke.

There were a lot of areas that needed to be addressed to increase uptime by more than 20 times.

“Oh, well, I have to adjust that too since I have to make a new style of book from now on.”

Krun grumbles that there is no end to the work.

But Rupert wasn’t worried, because unlike his words, he was the one who jumped at the chance to create something new.

Even now, Krun was urging the craftsmen, who were crying and holding onto broken machines, to move back to the workshop.

‘They say that in order to make a magazine-style book, you have to change the entire machine.’

As the books changed from fairy tales to comics and then from comics to comic magazines, the equipment and supplies needed changed, which caused difficulties.

It wasn’t a useless investment because he was still producing children’s books and comic books, but as the money he earned increased, so did the money he spent, so the current investment was a pretty big expense for Rupert.

If this animation business fails, the situation could easily be shaken.

‘Still, if I can watch the animation in another world, that alone is worth it.’

Rather than expecting a profit from the beginning, it was Rupert’s first extravagant venture after he had some financial leeway.

Rupert remembered his childhood days when he would turn on the TV to the cartoon channel and watch it all day during school holidays.

The numerous animations he watched back then were some of the greatest memories that still remain in Rupert’s mind, so he wanted to pass them on to the children of the other world.

‘Now I have to focus on the Academy and the magazine.’

Since improving projectors and films was not his area of expertise, Rupert decided to concentrate on what he could do.

***

The painters of this world had a job that was perfect for starving to death.

If you had connections with the nobility, you could make a living by painting their portraits or landscapes, but for those who didn’t, fighting over jobs was common.

In the past, the church would often paint murals or religious paintings, so things were relatively good, but after a few incompetent people messed things up and their reputation fell, there really wasn’t any work.

Things have started to change a little recently.

“I need your drawing!”

Since Rupert’s children’s books and comic books became a huge hit in the empire, the number of people looking for an artist has increased significantly.

In particular, the events that occurred when the Yuren upper house took charge of the distribution of books had a great shock to all the upper houses of the empire.

‘It wasn’t just the sales of books that were important!’

‘Isn’t the customer who came to buy the book also buying other items?’

‘That’s not all! I’m also buying all the daily necessities from the top of Yuren to fill the amount needed to become a VIP in the goods shop!’

In fact, the money that Yuren made from selling books was not much.

Excluding labor costs, the profits were not that great, but the reason the book business was widely spread was because the additional profits were great.

Even nobles who were not trading partners bought goods to obtain new copies of books, and commoners also used the Yuren merchants to buy books.

As a result, the Yuren upper class had risen to become the best in the empire, and no one could deny that at its center was a book created by Rupert.

It was an incredible leap forward considering that just a few months ago, the Empire’s top tier was lumped together as the Seven Grand Squads, unable to choose just one.

-We need to sell our own products too!

If you just watch it quietly and envy it, you don’t have the qualities of a merchant.

Naturally, they were busy inviting talented painters by paying extra money, and the painters were able to enjoy unexpected prosperity.

However, things did not go as planned at first, and many companies suffered or even went bankrupt.

‘Why on earth aren’t our books selling!!!’

The top companies spent a lot of money recruiting storytellers and artists, but suffered huge losses because their products did not sell at all.

Unfortunately, the reason for this was that the quality of the children’s books and comics that Rupert produced was extremely high.

‘What? This is just a typical story.’

‘Besides, isn’t this just an original article?’

‘Wow, Rupert’s paintings are so vibrant.’

As other books from the top came out, sales of Rupert’s works actually increased, which made the top publishers furious.

but,

“Still, is this worth watching?”

“Um… I don’t have much to watch since The Iron-Blooded Alchemist is finished, so should I take a look?”

“I think it’s good that there are articles.”

Without giving up on the initial failure, he continued to release works and gradually improved the quality, and now, one by one, other works are gaining popularity.

Of course, the biggest reason was that Rupert’s work, The Iron-Blooded Alchemist, had ended, and people who couldn’t stand the feeling of emptiness looked for other works.

Moreover, no matter how popular Rupert’s works were, there were those who welcomed the publication of works that suited their tastes, as he could not write in every genre.

The artists who were on the verge of disappearing from the empire were rekindled through fairy tales and comics.

***

“Can’t we improve this a little bit?”

The books Rupert created were not only causing a sensation in the field of silk illustration.

His works, especially The Alchemist and the Iron-Blooded Man, were a hit with alchemists and engineers alike.

“I can’t believe you’ve created a truly new type of golem.”

Among them, there was a lot of interest in the new golem suit that Krun created and was first worn by the crown prince.

Engineers would love to see a steel golem arm that moves freely like a real human arm.

So, as the number of people visiting the Somerset workshop every day and asking to see it just once increased, we ended up displaying prototypes in the goods shop.

In fact, the new golem beast was extremely difficult to produce, and the materials used were extremely expensive, making it difficult to popularize.

So, Kroon decided that it would not be commercializable until this was improved, but engineers thought differently.

-Is it really necessary to move perfectly?

Of course, it would be best if it could move freely like an original arm, but I thought that even if it was a little lacking, it would be of great help even if it could do simple movements.

Durability was the same.

If it was worn by ordinary people, such as knights or mercenaries, it might be okay, but if it was to be worn by people like them, it would be okay if it was moderately sturdy, so they sought a way to copy the shape but lower the quality.

As a result, minor versions of the new Golem’s number began to be released in various shapes.

‘Let’s just leave it, it’s a good thing.’

Rupert was usually very sensitive to his own gain, but in this case, he thought that if the new golem was widely distributed, there would be many people who would benefit from it, so he encouraged it by disclosing the production method.

It wasn’t originally made to make money, and the new Golem Beast that Krun created was a work that was difficult to popularize, so Rupert was satisfied with the current situation.