episode_0162

“Welcome, Xenia.”

“I wonder if I have caused trouble for no reason… .”

“As a fellow academy member, I can always provide you with this level of convenience.”

“… Is that so.”

As the day arrived for the Imperial Academy’s second semester graduation ceremony, the atmosphere within the academy was festive.

The academy was usually bustling with people coming to see the sights and people selling things, even though they were not allowed to enter.

Among them, the place that attracted the most attention was none other than the manga club’s animation exhibition.

“How many people bragged about seeing the Sylvania Music Band last time.”

“That makes sense. Wasn’t it the first animation, no matter what anyone says?”

People were gathered in the auditorium where the cartoon club’s exhibition was being held, each sharing their stories.

The attention of those gathered in the auditorium was focused solely on watching the cartoon club’s work that was being screened this time.

It was because the they presented at the last semester’s closing ceremony was now called a fantastic work.

‘I’m sorry, but there are no plans to re-release it.’

Since the work was exhibited by the academy’s students to showcase their achievements and not for commercial use, it was not shown anywhere after the graduation ceremony, which was a cause for concern for many.

‘I can’t believe I have to discuss animation with someone who hasn’t seen Sylvania Music Band.’

Many in the Empire thought that the first animated film was made by Somerset Workshop, but in fact, the first to be screened was .

People who like comics and animation would take great pride in just having seen .

That’s why, in order to see the new work of the manga club that was to be screened at the Imperial Academy’s second semester graduation ceremony, people flocked like clouds, and the screening tickets had to be distributed through a lottery.

‘Are we just colleagues?’

In Xenia’s case, she was disappointed that she couldn’t get a ticket, but Rupert found out and gave her a special seat, so she was able to see it.

It broke Xenia’s heart to hear that it was for her colleagues who worked at the academy together.

“We would like to thank everyone who came to see our cartoon club’s new work. We will now begin screening the new work, Heart of Steel.”

But without even having time to let go of those feelings of disappointment, Adrian, who was now the head of the cartoon club, stood in front of the audience and announced the start of the screening.

“Is that the prince of Sylvania?”

“You entered the academy on purpose to promote friendly relations with the Empire.”

As Adrian’s greetings ended, the auditorium went dark.

People were excited to see what kind of new work this would be.

I read the simple synopsis of the piece that was handed out when I came in, but I couldn’t figure out the content at all.

***

『“I wanted to be happy… and make someone happy.”

-Where on earth did it go wrong?

The sound of music coming from somewhere.

Chris woke up as the song of the Empire’s famous orchestra pierced his ears.

“What’s going on? There’s no way he’d grow up enough to play music for me in the morning… .”

Atik was not intelligent enough to play music that suited his owner’s taste at a set wake-up time.

“Are you awake, Master?”

“Atik, did you wake me up?”

“Hmm… ?”

At Chris’s words, Artic tilted his head as if he didn’t understand the question and began to ponder.

“Well, it can’t be you.”

Atik had the intelligence of a five-year-old human.

If Attic had woken him up, it would have been with his whining voice and touch, not with music.

“Hello, Master Chris.”

“Who are you?”

“I am the creation of the former Master.”

“What?”

A robot in the form of an adult woman appears in front of Chris, who was struggling like that.

“I am the final evolved form of a cyborg, model name Genesis.”

Only then did Chris realize her true identity.

An evolved form of the artificial human he created.

That is Genesis.』

The new animation started showing, and there was some noise here and there in the beginning.

But soon, as the piece progressed and the story began to unfold, everyone was absorbed in the piece without saying a word and not even breathing.

The story of Chris, who created the machine humans, and then suddenly disappeared from the world and lived in seclusion, and then Genesis, an evolved form of the machine humans, came to visit him, was a great shock to the viewers.

-I came to find out why you created us and why you disappeared.

The character of Genesis, who is trying to figure out the reason for his existence and why he was abandoned by his creator, explores the character of Chris as if representing the questions of the viewers.

Then, the reason Chris created the machine humans is revealed.

It was revealed why he only kept the old robot human, Artic, by his side.

“Sniff.”

The sound of wiping away tears could be heard here and there among the audience.

-Now I know why we wanted to keep moving forward even after you were gone. Then you wouldn’t be alone anymore.

And finally, when the lines and scenes that signaled the end of the play appeared on the screen, the audience all stood up and began to applaud.

“The best!!!”

“I always thought animation was for kids… .”

“Chris was so pitiful and pathetic! How could something like that happen… .”

The people’s reaction was even greater than that of the that was presented at the end of the first semester ceremony.

The audience at that time was mainly amazed by the fact that animation was being showcased for the first time.

Currently, through the various fairy tale series currently being shown at the Somerset Theater or through the OVA format of , people who are familiar with animation are impressed with the story and characters.

“Good story, Adrian.”

“Your character shined too, Edric.”

The two held hands as they nervously waited for a response while their animation was screened at the back of the auditorium.

Although the two usually bicker, they know how much each other is serious about their work, so they are congratulating each other on their current reactions.

Adrian enjoyed seeing people get absorbed in the stories he created and cheering them on.

Edric enjoyed seeing his characters come to life on screen.

‘It’s okay even if it’s fake.’

Edric remembered the negative stories that had been circulating in the Empire recently about people like him.

When people see people who are crazy about female characters in comics, it is common for people around them to criticize them, saying that it is fiction anyway, so why are they so obsessed with it?

‘Adrian, I want to draw a story where the fake becomes real.’

The work that was created from that starting point was .

‘Because good things don’t need a reason.’

No matter what anyone said, I enjoyed watching comics and was happy that I liked the characters in them.

That would be enough, Edric thought.

***

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see this work, Rupert.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Rupert was busy praising the club members who created to Xenia, who came to express her gratitude after finishing the viewing.

Rupert is talking excitedly about how he was able to create this work even though he barely interfered with it and only helped a little here and there.

But Xenia’s head was filled with thoughts that had just occurred to her while looking at the artwork.

-I thought I would be happy if I became a genius.

Chris’ monologue about creating machine humans with the highest intelligence among humans and technology that transcends the times left a deep impression on Xenia.

I thought I had overcome the inferiority complex that had plagued me since I was young, now that I had become Yustav’s disciple.

Recently, she met Iolin and Amelia and felt her deep-rooted inferiority complex slowly rising.

‘You were born with it all…’

There were times when she felt angry at the thought that they, who had been born into a happy environment and had grown up receiving much love, were trying to take away the one thing that Xenia so desperately wanted.

however,

‘I had to make it.’

Xenia just realized.

That the fairy tale prince she loved so much no longer exists in this world.

The only one who can save the girl who was blowing on her cold hands while doing laundry on a cold winter day is not the prince, but the girl herself.

The main character of , Chris, thought that he was stupid and that no one loved him, but

Jenny realized later that she was the one who had not loved him the most, and regretted it.

It didn’t matter whether she was a poor orphan girl or Yustav’s disciple.

“Rupert.”

“Yes, Jenny.”

“I like you. From the first time I met you, no, from the time I read the book you made.”

“Ms. Xenia… What are you talking about all of a sudden… .”

Rupert actually felt that Xenia liked him.

At first, Xenia thought Rupert was just a huge fan of his works, but recently, when they met, she felt like she liked him as a romantic interest.

However, Rupert didn’t know how to react to this because the image of Xenia, who had seemed like the girl he had first met, remained in his mind.

“Of course, I don’t mean to say that you should accept my feelings unconditionally. But until now, I thought that I was qualified only if I helped Rupert, but today I realized that I was wrong.”

Xenia looked straight into Rupert’s eyes, who was taken aback by her confession.

‘It used to be difficult to even make eye contact.’

It was because she had no affection for herself and was worried that it would be a nuisance for her to like Rupert.

But when it came to liking someone, status or needs didn’t matter.

“I just wanted to convey my feelings before it was too late.”

Xenia slowly approached Rupert, looking into his eyes.

Rupert takes a step back without realizing it.

But Xenia, who had come closer, whispered in Rupert’s ear.

“And there’s one thing you’re mistaken about… I’m older than Rupert.”

After finishing speaking, Xenia passed Rupert and he fell to the ground in a daze.