socalfunplaces Page 131
Page 131
The argument in the activity room came to an abrupt halt.
Eriri's eyes widened slightly, filled with wariness and scrutiny.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, without making a sound, narrowed her eyes and gently placed the teacup back on the table, making a crisp sound.
Only Kato Megumi maintained her calm expression, though her gaze shifted imperceptibly between the newcomer and Yuto.
“Um… Sakurajima-senpai?” Yuto was the first to react, and stood up in surprise.
Since their last meeting on Saturday, the two hadn't had much interaction, and he hadn't expected her to take the initiative to contact the club.
"Just call me Mai, Itsuka-kun." Sakurajima Mai walked in with a smile. Her gaze swept around the room before finally landing on Yuto. "I heard that you're recruiting actors for the school festival film, and it seems you've encountered some difficulties?"
Her information network is really impressive...
Yuto muttered to himself.
"Ah, a little," he admitted helplessly.
Mai walked to the table, naturally picked up the final version of the script, and quickly flipped through it.
The three girls inside held their breath and stared intently at her.
"A very interesting idea. Using games to deconstruct fear, and then using fear to test human nature. Wuhe, you are very talented."
Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha, who were standing to the side, both had their expressions darken.
"If you don't mind..." Mai Sakurajima gently placed the script back on the table and said something that surprised everyone, "Could I... help out with a role?"
"What...what did you say?" Eriri couldn't believe her ears.
National idol Mai Sakurajima is going to play a "victim" with no lines in their makeshift student film?
This is even more bizarre than the horror movie itself.
“I took a look, and there are several female victim characters in it.” Mai’s tone was calm and sincere. “Although they don’t have many scenes, I think they are very important to the atmosphere of the film.”
"If people have concerns because of the role, perhaps if I were to play the role, it would dispel some of their doubts."
Her words were impeccable, expressing both her willingness to help and providing a reasonable explanation.
Yuto instantly understood what she meant.
However, he could feel two sharp gazes fixed on him from the side.
They all knew very well that once Mai Sakurajima joined, the balance of this small club would be completely disrupted.
She brings not only popularity and resources, but also an undeniable presence.
This is a war.
Mai Sakurajima calmly met Yuto's gaze.
She didn't say another word, but simply waited quietly for his decision.
She was extending an invitation to him, inviting him to accept this "help," and also inviting him... to accept her into his world.
Countless thoughts flashed through Yuto's mind in an instant.
Reject her? The film project might be shelved.
They will have to revise the script, or even abandon the idea altogether.
His and Shiha's hard work, and Eriri's efforts, will all be greatly diminished.
Accept her? He could almost foresee the bloodshed and chaos that would ensue in future club activities.
Eriri's jealousy will be completely overturned, and Utaha's sharp tongue will be unleashed in full force.
He himself will be caught in the middle, with no peace.
This is a dilemma.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
The silence in the activity room was so oppressive it was suffocating.
Finally, Yuto took a deep breath and made his decision.
He raised his head and looked directly into Mai Sakurajima's eyes.
"Then, I'll leave it to you, Sakurajima...senpai."
The moment he finished speaking, he clearly heard a faint sound of teeth clenching beside him, and another barely audible cold snort.
Mai Sakurajima smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you, Director Itsuka."
……
Volume 1: Chapter 132: The Silent War
As it turns out, the influence of a national idol is even more exaggerated than Yuto Itsuka imagined.
The news that "Sakurajima Mai will star in the Class 1-B cultural festival movie" spread like wildfire throughout every corner of Toyonosaki Academy the next day.
The students who had been avoiding the role of victim just the day before were now flocking to Itsuki Yuto.
"Itsuka-kun! Do you need any actors? I can do it! I can act in anything!"
"Director! Let me play the role of the one who gets stuffed into the closet! I'm very flexible!"
"I'd be willing to play a corpse even if it meant appearing in a movie with Mai-senpai!"
Looking at the group of classmates in front of him who were so enthusiastic that they were almost fanatical, Yuto didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Arrogant at first, then obsequious—this is the true nature of humanity.
Finally, after a chaotic "open audition," the cast of actors for the production team was finally assembled.
The real storm, however, quietly descended after filming officially began.
The filming location was an abandoned old warehouse on campus. With simple decorations, it had a rather eerie and terrifying atmosphere.
The first scene is the one where "Victim A" is discovered.
The actress who played this role was Mai Sakurajima.
According to the script, she needed to curl up in a small locker, her eyes wide open, her face filled with fear.
"Sakurajima-senpai, this cabinet is a bit small, it might be uncomfortable..." Yuto said with some concern.
"It's okay, it's an actor's job." Mai Sakurajima smiled nonchalantly, then climbed inside without hesitation.
The moment the cabinet door closed, her entire demeanor changed.
"Action!"
At Yuto's command, Yoshihiko Uego, playing the discoverer, nervously opened the cabinet door.
Inside the closet, Mai Sakurajima curled up, her eyes staring blankly ahead, her pupils reflecting endless despair and terror.
Her body still bore traces of her struggle before death, stiff and contorted, silently telling the story of the horror she had experienced.
Without a single line of dialogue, just a glance or an expression, the atmosphere on set instantly plummeted to freezing point.
"Crack!"
When Yuto called for a stop, he realized that his palms were sweating.
It was so realistic; Mai's performance almost made him believe that a real murder had occurred before his eyes.
"How was it, Director?" Mai came out of the closet, her usual gentle smile returning, as if the terrified soul from just moments before was merely an illusion.
“Absolutely…perfect.” I Qi Yi Shui Er E Er Jun < You Dou exclaimed sincerely.
There was a peculiar understanding between him and Mai.
He only needed to briefly describe the feeling he wanted, and Mai could accurately reproduce it, even better than he had imagined.
This unspoken understanding and cooperation stemmed from the "simulated world" that only he remembered, but now it had transformed into an invisible bond between the two in reality.
However, this harmonious scene appeared particularly jarring to two people not far away.
Eriri crossed her arms and looked at Mai Sakurajima, who was surrounded by people and smiling sweetly. She let out a barely audible snort.
So what if someone has good acting skills? Movies aren't just about the actors.
She turned and walked into the makeshift "makeup room," and said to the junior artists from the art department who were in charge of special effects makeup today: "Everyone, perk up! The monster is about to appear in the next scene, so give me a makeover! I want the kind of makeup that will give you nightmares just from looking at it!"
If she can't compete with Mai Sakurajima in acting, then she'll completely outshine her in her own professional field!
Soon, it was the "monster's" turn to appear.
When the monster, played by Kohei Onodera, walked out, a collective gasp filled the theater.
It was a terrifying creation that defies description.
The skin was a festering, bluish-gray color, covered with sticky pustules and barbs resembling insect arthropods.
Its face has no facial features; instead, it has a cloudy, bloodshot compound eye that is staring intently at the camera.
This was Eriri's masterpiece, the result of several sleepless nights of painstaking design.
"How was it?" Eriri walked to Yuto's side, her chin slightly raised like a proud little peacock, but her tone carried a barely perceptible tension. "The monster I designed, is it... good enough?"
"Qualified?"
Yuto looked at the monster that could almost make someone lose their sanity, and then at Eriri's face which was full of "praise me" written all over it, and said sincerely, "This is simply a genius-level design, Eriri, you will definitely become the top monster designer in the future."
Eriri blushed slightly upon receiving the affirmation, but she still retorted, "Hmph, do you even need to tell me that?"
But the subtle upturn of her lips and the almost swaying golden twin tails behind her betrayed her inner ecstasy.
She glanced provocatively at Kasumigaoka Utaha not far away, as if to say: See? This is the true strength of a partner.
Utaha Kasumigaoka ignored her gaze and slowly walked to Yuuto's side.
"The art is good, but visual stimulation alone is ultimately just a third-rate horror movie technique." She handed a newly printed sheet of paper to Yuto and said in a flat tone.
"I suddenly had a flash of inspiration and slightly changed the lines for the next scene."
Yuto took the paper and quickly scanned it.
In the original script, after the main characters discovered the monster, it was a chaotic escape filled with screams.
However, Kasumigaoka Utaha's revised version removed all the shouting and replaced it with a psychological discussion about the "roots of fear".
"...It's not hunting us down, it's imitating, imitating the deepest fears it sees."
“Look into its eyes; there is no malice in them, only emptiness. It is itself a mirror of fear.”
In just a few lines of dialogue, the story's theme is instantly elevated from a simple "monster killing" to a philosophical level of "facing one's inner fears."
“Senior…” Yuto’s eyes gleamed with amazement, “This change is amazing!”
"It's alright." Kasumigaoka Utaha tossed her long black hair and revealed a victorious smile. "I just feel that the style of our movie shouldn't be limited to scaring children."
Her gaze drifted meaningfully in Eriri's direction.
An invisible war is unfolding fiercely on this small film set.
Eriri uses increasingly realistic and terrifying special effects makeup and props to demonstrate her "artistic dominance".
Kasumigaoka Utaha defends her "soul dominance" with increasingly sophisticated and profound script revisions.
Mai Sakurajima, on the other hand, never engages in arguments. Instead, she uses her impeccable professional performance to perfectly combine the script and art direction, presenting them to the camera time and time again, as if telling everyone with her strength: what you fight over, I will ultimately present.
Yuto was caught in the middle, experiencing both pain and pleasure.
In this escalating "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," only Kato Megumi stands out like a ghost detached from the battlefield.
She neither participated in script discussions, nor interfered with art direction, nor did she try to outshine Mai Sakurajima.
She quietly did her job as a script supervisor, checking every shot, arranging props for the next scene, and silently handing out drinks and towels when everyone was arguing heatedly.
When Yuto is exhausted from being tormented by the three genius girls, she will quietly walk up to him and whisper, "Itsuka-kun, you've worked hard. Would you like something to drink?"
Her voice wasn't loud, and her expression remained calm, but her perfectly timed concern acted like a tranquilizer, instantly calming Yuto's anxious heart.
She understood his pressure and saw through the childish competition between the three girls.
She never tried to mediate; she simply protected the crumbling film set in her own way, ensuring that the little boat, tossed about by the storm of geniuses, wouldn't actually capsize.
The day's filming has come to an end.
Despite the intense and exhausting process, the results were astonishing.