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Ch. 4: Haunted House

 

Guided by Will, I visited each of the sets within the large studio.

 

His guided tour is…a lot more normal than I thought it would be…

 

No matter which set we went to, the staff were all uniformly busy.

 

This is amazing…I wonder exactly how many movies they're making at the same time?

 

I lost myself in the unfamiliar equipment and the fact that they were filming scenes right then and there.

 

Will: "By the way, everyone here is a retainer or servant, or a regular royal like me. Everyone in this country is involved in film production."

 

OO: "…so that's how it is. As expected of the Land of Film."

 

The scale of what he'd told me took my breath away.

 

Will: "There's also a lot of the citizens who work in something to do with film."

 

OO: "I see…"

 

As we walked, we made our way to an inner passage.

 

This place is a little scary too…

 

The corridor had eerie mannequins and strangely painted masks hanging on the wall.

 

Among them were a few that were unmistakable zombie and monster masks…

 

My shoulders shook.

 

At that time…-

 

Zombie: "Dir-ec-tor------"

 

OO: "------------!!"

 

Suddenly, a rotting, blood-stained corpse appeared before me, and I gave a silent scream.

 

Will: "…!"

 

OO: "Eh?"

 

Will moved to shoulder his way in front of me, as if protecting me from the monster.

 

I was caught up in what he did and momentarily forgot my fear.

 

Will: "This is the finished mask I ordered then?"

 

Crewmember: "Yes, please take a look at it!"

 

The mask was pulled away, and from within came the face of a young man.

 

One of the crewmembers?

 

I held back the tears that had formed in my eyes, and watched as Will quickly gave the staff member more instructions.

 

The man replied cheerfully, then turned his back to us and ran off.

 

That scared me…

 

Will looked at me as I let out a sigh of relief, then laughed cheerfully.

 

Will: "Kk…haha! That guy's pretty good huh!! That was even better than the expression you made before in my room…filled with even more terror!! … I'm a little jealous. Wait a sec, let me just make a quick note."

 

I thought he looked amused, but then he furrowed his brow in displeasure as he took out his notes…

 

Will: "It's too bad I didn't bring my camera…"

 

OO: "…your world revolves around the frightened expression people make, isn't it."

 

Will: "Yes! Seems like you understand that world now too."

 

Will excitedly asked a question of me.

 

Will: "You're the kind of person who doesn't like haunted houses and stuff like that right?"

 

OO: "Yeah…I'm fine if it's something like a ride, but walking through one…"

 

Will: "Ahaha! And to think we're walking through one now! If you're scared…wanna hold hands?"

 

OO: "…"

 

He moved close to my ear as he asked in a whisper.

 

[CHOICE]

  • I'm fine (SUN)

  • Hesitate (MOON)


 

 

Will: "That's a shame…! And here I was thinking luck was on my side."

 

OO: "…?"

 

Will: "Nothing. Come on, let's go to the next place."

 

For a second, Will had looked crestfallen, then he guided me further into the film studio.

OO: "U-um…"

 

Just a moment ago, I had thought my heart would stop, and maybe because of that, now my mouth wouldn't work properly.

 

Will: "…is that a no?"

OO: "…I-I'm fine."

My voice shook as I answered, and he frowned ever so slightly.

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