Sky of Destiny – Continuation of the Dream (4)

Before reincarnation, when Ragna was working as a freelance animator in Korea.

He doesn’t know how much he resented the fact that he was a freelancer not belonging anywhere.

The reason was simple.

Because other people in the same industry looked down on him so much.

At first glance, being an unaffiliated freelancer might seem like a free spirit unbound by anything.

In fact, that meant the same as saying he was an easy target with no one to back him up.

So Ragna, as a freelancer who only took on subcontracts of subcontracts, was used to being pushed around here and there as if it were his daily life, but.

There was just one thing he felt good about not being affiliated with a company or such, and that was-

“Now then, cheers to all the staff who worked hard producing ‘Sky of Destiny’ until now!”

“Cheers!”

“To our voice actors who played the leading roles! Thank you all for your hard work!”

“Director! Director, have a drink too! Isn’t the main character of this occasion none other than you, Director?”

“…..”

Namely, it was good that he didn’t have to participate in forced company dinners like this.

Originally, companies are gathering places for insiders with the extremely wicked ideology that they must forcibly gather all members and enjoy company dinners whenever work ends or weekends come.

So it was a place that absolutely didn’t suit Ragna, who was born with an inherently loner-like personality.

But it’s impossible not to have a company dinner after finishing a full-length animation.

So in the end, Ragna was brought here by the staff including Kaya and Serika and forced to attend this company dinner.

By the way, usually at these occasions it’s customary for the juniors to perform to liven up the mood for the higher-ups, but.

Fortunately, it seems there was no need for anyone to forcibly liven up the mood at today’s company dinner.

“…I’m counting on you. As you well know, I’m truly an unreliable person. So please, watch over me by my side.”

“…You.”

“It’s okay, Sein. From now on, I’ll do my best too.”

In the middle of the bar, on the installed television, the final scene of episode 38 of “Sky of Destiny” was playing.

Some call it the farewell scene between the Archer, who could be said to be the true protagonist of “Sky of Destiny”, and his master Sein.

He was now somewhat free from the desire to kill himself.

Because at the end of his duel with Yuri, he realized that the ideal he once held was by no means wrong.

So now the Archer could accept his farewell to Sein with a smiling face, and.

Naturally, this ending scene that Ragna put his utmost effort into making impressed not only general viewers but even the production staff.

So the ending of “Sky of Destiny” came to an end, and.

As the ending credits started rolling, the staff began to mutter with admiration in their voices.

“Wow! Director, you’re really amazing! There are as many as seven heroes appearing in ‘Sky of Destiny’, and you gave each of them a brilliant ending!”

“That may sound easy, but doesn’t it mean you had to prepare seven different stories? It’s something ordinary people can’t even imagine doing.”

“…Ahem.”

Hearing such words from the staff, Ragna somehow let out a fake cough, but.

Even so, Ragna didn’t feel guilty now, nor did he regret making the anime through plagiarism.

You know, in Korean web novels with possession themes, the protagonist acquires all the opportunities that the original protagonist should have gotten, and then makes conscience-less statements like ‘Why is the protagonist so much weaker than in the original…?’

It’s the same as that.

Anyway, there’s no one to criticize him for plagiarizing in a fantasy world, so he decided to just brazenly go ahead now.

“But you know, why did the Director end episode 36 with the scene of the Hero King being defeated by Yuri, and then put the scene of the Hero King disappearing coolly in episode 37?”

“Yeah. Because of that, people were incredibly fired up for the past week. Even so, wasn’t the Hero King’s end too unsightly?”

“If I were the Director, I would have put both the Hero King’s defeat and disappearance scenes all in episode 36 to minimize complaints, but what was the Director’s intention?”

“Surely it wasn’t with the purpose of angering viewers or controlling their emotions…. Hmm, it’s too difficult for ordinary people like us to grasp the intentions of geniuses like the Director.”

“…..”

Of course, Ragna had done that kind of development with the purpose of angering viewers and controlling their emotions.

But even Ragna couldn’t end the last words of the Hero King, who was no less than the founder of the Empire, with the line “You bastard!” as he might be forcibly retired from life.

That’s why he only put in a direction that could maintain some coolness for the Hero King’s final moment of disappearance.

As Ragna was trying hard to hold back a sigh that was about to burst out while taking a sip of beer.

“By the way, Director. Is it alright if I ask you one question?”

“…Hm? What is it?”

At that moment, a staff member posed a question to Ragna.

“I’m asking just in case, but do you have any plans to produce a sequel to ‘Sky of Destiny’?”

“…A sequel to ‘Sky of Destiny’?”

“Yes. Both internally and externally to the work, aren’t there still a ton of unresolved stories and loose ends? So there are a lot of people who want something like a sequel or spin-off of ‘Sky of Destiny’.”

That’s something Ragna knows very well too.

Because last time, Duke Grünewald asked Ragna if he had any thoughts of making an animation about the story related to the ritual from 10 years ago that Yuri’s father participated in, and.

Deneb went even further and suggested making an anime about the Full Moon Ritual happening in a world that’s not Earth, for example, in another world.

‘Am I crazy?’

Of course, Ragna had no intention of accepting such requests.

Because the original work that “Sky of Destiny” is based on, befitting a super huge famous IP, had an enormous number of derivative works or spin-offs.

When could he ever make all those numerous works into animations one by one?

Even without that, it was already decided that he would produce a hot-blooded mecha work next.

But he couldn’t just blatantly ignore the viewers’ demands either.

So Ragna had no choice but to take special measures.

That was none other than-

Bzzt-

“…Hm?”

“What on earth is this?”

Suddenly, there was a burst of noise on the screen, and following the ending credits that had been playing until now, a new scene began to play.

And seeing that scene, the staff who had produced the anime with Ragna made expressions of surprise.

No, what is this?

We didn’t make this scene, nor did we insert it at the end of the ending credits?

“…Could it be something like a post-credits scene?”

“Or like with ‘Machine God Chronicles’, did you make different endings for each heroine in ‘Sky of Destiny’ too?”

As the staff were making some conjectures while watching the screen playing after the ending credits, at that very moment.

The first character to appear on the screen was someone the staff had never even imagined.

“…Karin?”

“Karin is… Yuri’s junior, right? An ordinary person who appeared briefly in the early parts and then didn’t show up afterwards, with no connection to the Full Moon Ritual.”

“But why is Karin appearing in the video after the ending credits…?”

That’s when it happened.

“I see, so this ritual ended in failure after all.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. It was an incomplete ritual from the start. On top of that, with a bunch of nobodies as the leading actors, failure was the natural result.”

It was an old man’s voice.

A voice that was unpleasant just to hear, and somehow gave you goosebumps.

“Although this ritual ended in failure, there is one thing I regret.”

“If… this is just a hypothetical… If Karin, this child, had awakened as the true ‘vessel’.”

“…Then, the outcome of this ritual might have been different.”

As the old man’s voice echoed from somewhere, Karin takes a step forward.

Splash.

Despite stepping onto the water’s surface with a human body, Karin doesn’t sink into the water but rather walks on the water surface as if it’s nothing.

That meant she was not an ordinary person, but a being with special powers.

In other words, she was a ‘magician’.

Ripple.

At the same time, with each step Karin takes, the water surface she’s stepping on begins to be contaminated by something pitch black.

And.

“■■■■-!”

The heroes who participated in this Full Moon Ritual begin to be engulfed by something pitch black.

As if sinking into a swamp, the seven heroes are absorbed into the black mud, and with that-

“…Then at that time, I will obtain the heavenly vessel.”

[“Sky of Destiny” Side Story – Soul of the Sky.]

[Currently crowdfunding for production.]

[Target amount – 50 million gold.]

[We ask for your generous support, viewers.]

“…What? Crowdfunding?”

“So… does that mean they’ll receive investment from many people?”

“But why is that appearing here?”

That’s right.

This was the trick Ragna came up with to legally avoid producing a sequel to “Sky of Destiny”!

With this, even if people like Duke Grünewald or Deneb make a fuss about why he’s not making a sequel, he’ll have enough excuses, right?

If he answers ‘We can’t produce the anime because crowdfunding hasn’t been completed yet’, what can you do about it?

To prevent the unfortunate event of the target amount being quickly raised, Ragna set the support amount at a whopping 50 million gold.

Considering that the price of a mansion in the middle of the capital is 10,000 gold, it was truly an astronomical amount that made no sense.

Probably for the time being, demands to produce a sequel to “Sky of Destiny” will have no choice but to be silenced.

‘Perfect.’

So with this, it should be fine not to make anime for a while, right?

…Hmm.

Right? Probably?

---

Meanwhile, at that time.

At the Grünewald ducal residence.

“…Oh, crowdfunding, is it.”

Duke Grünewald and Deneb were staring at the crowdfunding advertisement being shown on the screen.

So… to summarize the content of that advertisement.

If they have just 50 million gold, does it mean Ragna will make the sequel to “Sky of Destiny” that they so wanted to see?

For just a mere 50 million gold?

Hmm.

Isn’t that completely…

Sweet as honey…?