I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 405: The Hospital Ward Is Quiet at Midnight
The conversation between Touko and Shiki didn't differ much from what Shinji had filmed earlier. Aside from a brief self-introduction on both sides, they only touched lightly on the death of Shiki's second personality.
Normally, Shinji Matou's films reveal most of the setting right at the beginning, and then the story charges forward at a brisk pace.
But Garden of Sinners was clearly different.
The first act had already been strange and disjointed—starting abruptly and ending without a proper conclusion. Yet even now, in the second act, the audience still had no idea what kind of story Shinji was trying to tell.
This actually mirrored the original Garden of Sinners novel. Among Kinoko Nasu's Type-Moon works, it was one of the rare titles that existed purely as a novel without the framework of a game.
And because it wasn't restricted by game illustrations or the heavy dialogue format of game scripts, Nasu had filled Garden of Sinners with an enormous amount of internal monologue.
That made the series rather unique among his works.
In fact, there were several chapters where, if you only read the novel, you might finish the entire story and still not fully understand what had just happened.
Influenced by the original novel, the film adaptation also carried a strong sense of stream-of-consciousness. It gave people the impression that it wasn't particularly concerned with telling a straightforward story.
While making the movie, Shinji himself had inevitably been influenced by both the novel and the anime.
Of course, since this was a large-scale special-effects film meant for a broad audience, Shinji wouldn't go so far as to create something completely incomprehensible. Still, in terms of narrative style, he couldn't help but lean closer to the novel.
Instead of explaining everything at once, he fed the audience small pieces of information, letting them slowly piece the story together on their own.
After Touko and Shiki's first conversation ended, Shinji deliberately inserted a quiet nighttime scene in the hospital.
In the dark ward, Ryougi Shiki lay silently in her bed, looking as if she had already fallen asleep.
However…
"Ha… how contradictory. If even one person disappears… I won't even know which 'me' I am."
The soft, self-mocking whisper made it clear to the audience that the girl lying on the bed was still awake.
The reason Shiki couldn't sleep was simple—
She felt empty.
Even though she had inherited Ryougi Shiki's memories, the girl felt like she was no one at all.
At this moment, she was nothing but a hollow shell that possessed only the name "Ryougi Shiki."
"I… am… in… your… heart."
Suddenly, just as Shiki sank into a crisis of self-identity, she heard a voice.
A gentle breeze brushed against her clothes. It seemed the window had been opened.
With her face wrapped in bandages, Shiki slowly turned toward the direction of the voice.
A patch of white mist drifted lightly in front of the window.
"White fog?"
Even though she shouldn't have been able to see anything, Shiki still spoke the words describing what stood before her.
Gradually, the mist began to gather together, condensing into the rough shape of a human.
Yet the figure was only human in outline. It couldn't truly take on any posture—its form flowed bonelessly like a jellyfish as it floated in midair, drifting toward Shiki with unmistakable malice.
If an ordinary person encountered something like this in reality, they would be frozen with terror.
But Shiki remained calm.
As long as something possessed a form, she could kill it—even if it was already a dead spirit.
Unfortunately, the "ghost" didn't know just how terrifying Shiki was.
It drifted closer to the girl and gently reached out a hand to stroke her.
Crack… crack…
A faint sound like ice forming echoed in the air, as though the surrounding temperature had suddenly dropped.
But before Shiki could make a move, the ghost vanished.
Because dawn had arrived.
The chirping of birds. Warm sunlight. Fresh morning air.
The "ghost" that had been there just a second ago now seemed like nothing more than a dream.
Or perhaps… it really had been a dream?
"What the hell was that supposed to be?"
Shibamatsu let out a long breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
During that ghost scene just now, his heart had been hanging in suspense the entire time. Only when daylight broke did he finally relax a little.
"This isn't actually turning into a horror movie, is it?" Shibamatsu muttered uneasily, his leg bouncing restlessly. "I knew it. Shinji Matou's been drifting further and further down the thriller path… and now he's finally fallen completely, body and soul, into the embrace of pure fun."
Aoko flicked her long red hair as she complained, "Don't describe Shinji Matou's weird tastes like he's fallen to the dark side or something. It sounds so awkward!"
"But that's exactly the problem!" Shibamatsu protested. "If I'd known this movie would be this scary, I wouldn't have come to watch it!"
Alice tilted her head and shot him a disdainful look.
"And you call yourself a magus? Getting scared like this by a mere spirit?"
"That's not how it works, okay?"
"Oh? Then how does it work?" Alice replied calmly. "What kind of lab researcher would be afraid of a white mouse?"
"..."
For a moment, Shibamatsu genuinely had no way to refute that. All he could do was shrink his neck and fall silent.
'If another scene like that comes up, I'm going to slip out and pretend I need the bathroom.'
Shibamatsu made a decision that would disgrace his ancestors.
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Quite a few audience members had been startled by the ghost scene just like Shibamatsu.
Not all of them were planning a "bathroom escape," of course, but many people had definitely become more cautious, now watching the movie with heightened vigilance.
However, it seemed Shinji Matou had already anticipated this reaction.
After giving everyone a good scare, he promptly lost interest in frightening them and began telling the story properly.
Well… "telling the story" might be a bit generous.
What followed was really just a montage.
The core of the sequence showed Touko visiting Ryougi Shiki every day to conduct talk therapy. Yet the main perspective of the scenes wasn't the female lead Shiki—it was Touko herself.
Shinji arranged it this way partly so that Touko's explanations could help the audience better understand Shiki's condition.
But more importantly, it served to introduce the male lead of the film—Mikiya Kokutou.
Due to self-harm, blindness, and aphasia, Ryougi Shiki was currently under strict hospital orders that forbade any visitors.
As a result, Touko—who could enter both the ward and her own workshop—became the only bridge of communication between the two protagonists.
Through Touko's perspective, the audience gradually realized something:
Both of the movie's leads had serious psychological issues.
Shiki, the heroine, went without saying. Her self-destructive tendencies were severe, she even seemed to lack the most basic human instinct for survival.
But on the other side, Mikiya Kokutou wasn't exactly normal either.
When the character first appeared, long-time Type-Moon fans immediately thought of him as a black-haired, slightly weaker version of Emiya Shirou.
Mature. Gentle. Capable. Good at housework. And completely obedient to strong-willed women.
These personality traits weren't merely similar to Shirou's template.
They were practically identical.
After learning the basics of the character, quite a few viewers had the same thought:
No wonder they got Emiya Shirou's actor to play him.
That impression lasted… right up until Mikiya revealed another side of himself on screen.
After the hospital refused to let him visit Shiki, Mikiya seemed to change into an entirely different person. His whole demeanor darkened, becoming gloomy and withdrawn.
The feeling he gave off was like that of a loyal dog abandoned by its master.
For a moment, the audience didn't quite know how to judge him.
There was no denying that some girls would adore such a gentle, devoted boy.
But many male viewers felt he was simply too weak.
Of course, if this were fifteen years later, someone might have slapped the label "simp" onto him.
However, for Touko—the boss of the workshop—this version of Mikiya was actually quite beneficial.
In order to suppress the negative emotions of being unable to see Shiki, he threw himself entirely into his work.
As a result, the previously messy workshop became spotless and well-organized within just a few days.
"Honestly… if you keep this up, I'm going to start feeling embarrassed…"
Touko, a cigarette hanging from her lips, looked helplessly at Mikiya, who was quietly replacing a light bulb.
Perhaps Mikiya himself didn't realize it, but Touko couldn't shake the feeling that he was silently urging her to hurry up and finish Shiki's treatment—so he could finally return to the hospital room.
"People say you can't refuse someone after eating their food or taking their gifts… You're really making this difficult for me~"
Touko let out a heavy sigh.
She hated troublesome things the most.
"Hm? Touko-san, is there something you need me to do?"
Having finished replacing the bulb, Mikiya lowered his head and asked his boss.
Touko snorted softly.
"You've already done more than enough. Just endure a little longer."
She paused, then added:
"You'll be able to see her soon enough."
"Really?"
The moment Touko said that, Mikiya brightened instantly, as if a ray of sunlight had broken through the clouds.
At this point, it had already been seven days since Ryougi Shiki woke up.
For someone who had been in a long coma, seven days should have been enough to gain a rough understanding of their new life and reconnect with the important people around them.
But for Shiki herself… the things she had gained during this week could be counted on one hand.
Because she had lost too much.
So much that even the things she had lost had become vague and indistinct.
Her parents, the family butler Akitaka—although their appearances were exactly the same as they had been two years ago, to Shiki they felt like complete strangers.
The only thing she had gained was just one thing—
Eyes capable of destroying everything.
From the moment she awoke from her long sleep and opened her eyes, the first thing that caught her attention wasn't the startled nurse beside the bed.
It was the lines on her own neck.
People, walls, flower vases—even the formless air itself.
Upon everything, Shiki could see ominous and silent lines.
By observing these constantly shifting lines, Shiki could feel a compulsive concept seeping out from them—
Death.
And that was the very first thing Shiki did after regaining consciousness.
She tried to destroy those eyes with her own hands.
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"Mystic Eyes of Death Perception…? That's way too powerful!"
Both the ordinary audience and the magus audience exclaimed in shock.
But the things they were shocked about were clearly very different.
For normal viewers, the astonishing part was the idea that simply seeing something could allow you to kill it.
It couldn't be helped.
Even after 2020, the concept of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception remained incredibly appealing.
If you ignored the side effect that might burn your brain out, these eyes were easily one of the strongest—and most desirable—abilities in all of anime and fiction.
And that was just from hearing the name and premise alone.
Once Shiki started actually showing them off later, she would probably become the target of countless imitations.
However, for the magus audience, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception carried a completely different meaning.
Yes, in terms of Mystic Eye classifications, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were among the highest level—powerful and extremely rare.
But what truly drove magi mad was the deeper implication they represented:
The Root.
More than 90% of magi would sacrifice everything in pursuit of the Root—including themselves and even their descendants—just for the chance to touch it someday.
And now, right before their eyes, there appeared a sample of someone who had actually come into contact with the Root.
Even if it was just a character in a story, it was enough to make them jealous to the point of insanity.
"Are those really the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception?"
"I'm so jealous! Should I try dying once too and see what happens?"
"I heard the true nature of those eyes is actually the highest level of future sight—a blessing from the Root!"
"Seriously? If you had them, could you understand every magecraft in the world?"
…
Listening to the increasingly outrageous rumors spreading behind her, a drop of cold sweat slid down Ryougi Shiki's temple.
"What exactly do they think the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception are…? Analysis Eyes? Isn't that supposed to be Mr. Waver Velvet's job?"
The overly enthusiastic discussion among the magus audience made Shiki feel a little uneasy.
She realized she had severely underestimated just how fanatical magi could be.
She absolutely did not want to become research material lying on some magus's laboratory table.
Yes, Garden of Sinners was a fictional film.
But expecting obsessive magi to clearly distinguish between fiction and reality was… rather optimistic.
No—actually, even if they could distinguish it, some magi would stubbornly believe Shiki possessed the potential to awaken Mystic Eyes and target her anyway.
That was the kind of people magi were.
Seeing the constant changes in Shiki's expression, Shinji quietly placed one hand over hers.
"Shinji~ You'll protect me, right?"
Shiki didn't reject his hand.
Instead, she hooked one finger around his little finger and lightly scratched his palm.
For Shiki—who lacked any sense of security right now—there was nothing more reassuring than Shinji's presence.
"Shinji, I knew it. You care about me just like Mikiya does in the movie."
"Don't worry. You'll be safe."
And that wasn't just a sweet line Shinji used to comfort her.
He had genuinely arranged Heroic Spirit bodyguards for Shiki.
After all, there was already a precedent.
After Fate was screened, Fuyuki City had practically turned into a tourist hotspot for magi. That lesson was still fresh in Shinji's mind.
How could he possibly neglect Ryougi Shiki's safety?
Of course, Shiki herself didn't know that Shinji had long since made arrangements. She assumed he had just made that decision for her sake.
"Is that so… That's really wonderful."
Reassured, Shiki gently leaned her head against Shinji's shoulder.
A faintly ambiguous atmosphere quietly spread between the two of them.
'Is this… some kind of special suspension bridge effect?'
While continuing this subtle, slightly intimate moment with Shiki in the theater, the thought suddenly crossed Shinji's mind.
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On the giant screen, the story once again shifted into nighttime.
Whether it was intentional on Shinji Matou's part (which it absolutely was), every time the story moved to nighttime scenes in the hospital, the atmosphere became especially eerie and oppressive.
The strange background music alone was enough to send chills down one's spine.
For most ghost movies, once the atmosphere reached this point, it meant something was about to appear.
Garden of Sinners might not be a standard thriller, but it was definitely a ghost story.
So—
Creaaak…
The door to the hospital ward slowly opened.
Ryougi Shiki lay quietly in her bed. She was thinking about a question closely tied to her sense of self—
Why had SHIKI died in her place?
The hospital room was so silent in the darkness that she could clearly hear the sound of the door opening.
Not only that, after the door creaked open, the slow sound of approaching footsteps echoed through the room.
Was it a nurse?
No.
It was already past midnight. Unless a patient had an emergency, no one would disturb their rest at this hour.
Then the person who came was—
At that moment, a pair of human hands wrapped around Ryougi Shiki's neck.
The icy palms tightened little by little, trying to snap her cervical spine.
"Ah—"
The foul stench in the air revealed the visitor's identity.
It was a dead person.
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Tn: I updated the story once every 2 days, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 429: Another Poor Kid Who Gets Sold and Still Says Thanks[1]
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