Teito Television, Special Grand Conference Room.

Normally a solemn space where the station’s executives work out business strategy, I was being hauled in.

“Get in.”

Kujō Hibiki opened the heavy soundproof door and pushed my back.

Inside, dozens of staff were already seated.

With sharp eyes and an air like hungry beasts were Hibiki’s film production unit, the members of Team Noir.

And then, in a seat near the head of the long table, one person radiating an outrageously glamorous aura for this setting.

“Ah! Papa~♡”

Himemiya Alice, dressed in frilly casual clothes, waved with a beaming smile.

“...Why are you here?”

When I asked with a sigh mixed in, Alice tilted her head.

“Because Hibiki-san called me. She said, ‘You’re the only one who can be the lead actress in the new film.’”

“Lead actress?”

When I turned to Hibiki, she raked a hand through her messy hair and sat me down in the seat at the head of the table, right next to Alice.

“Of course. This time the theme is ‘father and daughter.’ In Japan right now, who else could play the hottest parent-child pair besides you two?”

After tossing that out, Hibiki stood before the whiteboard.

The moment she picked up a black marker, the staff who had been murmuring fell silent.

It was the signal that master director Kujō Hibiki’s ‘oracle’ was about to begin.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.

The word Hibiki powerfully scrawled onto the whiteboard was a single term.

‘FATHER’

“...Father, is it?”

One staff member asked timidly.

“Yes. This time the theme is the concept lost in this world, ‘fatherhood.’”

Hibiki swept her blazing eyes across everyone.

“Look at society now. Men are pet animals. Protected by women, kept by women, consumed and that’s all they are... to hell with that.”

The conference room stirred at the extreme statement.

But Hibiki didn’t stop.

“What I want to shoot isn’t some spineless pet... it’s a real ‘male’ who’d become an asura (demon) if it meant protecting his family.”

Hibiki pointed at me.

“The lead is Akutsu Jō. What he plays is the strongest father in the world.”

Then she pointed at Alice.

“The heroine is Himemiya Alice. The beloved daughter he’ll protect at the cost of his life… I’ll explain the synopsis.”

Hibiki spread both hands and began speaking as if a screen were right in front of her.

“The stage is a secluded rural town deep in the mountains... the protagonist ‘John’ lived quietly with his daughter ‘Mary,’ just the two of them. John is a clumsy man. He doesn’t speak of the past, avoids society, and for his daughter alone he chops firewood, cooks meals and spends peaceful days... to Mary, he was the best papa, gentle and a little strict.”

Alice was wriggling happily, going “Nfufu...”

Was she remembering the omurice I made, or sinking into fantasies.

“But!”

Hibiki slammed the desk.

“That peace is suddenly shattered... a mysterious armed organization raids the village.”

“A-armed organization?”

“Yes. Their target is Mary. She holds a secret that can shake the nation, and the organization kidnaps her... John resists, but they have the numbers. His beloved daughter is put on a helicopter right in front of him and taken away.”

Heat rose into Hibiki’s voice.

“What’s left behind is a burning home and a wounded John... everyone thinks it. Poor man. All he can do is call the police and swallow his tears.”

Hibiki grinned.

It was the smile of a predator that had found its prey.

“But the enemy didn’t know... the ‘true identity’ of the man they angered.”

Hibiki scrawled new words onto the whiteboard.

‘Former Special Forces’

“...Huh?”

The staff let out dumbfounded noises.

“He was once called the nation’s strongest human weapon... a specialist in killing.”

Hibiki’s one-woman show continued.

“John opens a hidden door to the basement in the burned ruins... inside are relics of a past he sealed away. An assault rifle, a shotgun, a combat knife, an anti-tank rocket launcher!”

I frowned.

In this world setting, a man being that heavily armed was unheard of.

“He puts on a vest, paints his face and hoists the weapons... the eyes he has aren’t those of a loving father. They’re the eyes of a demon of vengeance, exterminating the injustice that stole his daughter!”

Hibiki shouted.

“He storms the enemy’s fortress island alone! Hundreds of fully armed soldiers? Doesn’t matter! He alone is an ‘army’!”

The staff swallowed hard. Their common sense, the idea that ‘men are protected,’ crumbled with an audible crash.

“He slips through a rain of bullets! Slices throats with a single knife! Makes improvised traps! Blows up buildings! ...And corners the enemy boss!”

Hibiki walked right up to me, leaning in close.

“And then he says, ‘Give me back my daughter’... just for that, he makes hell manifest.”

Silence. No one spoke.

Too absurd. Too violent. And yet...

“...A-amazing...”

One female staff member whispered in a trembling voice.

“I’ve never seen a man like that...”

“A papa who would fight to the death for me? That’s wonderful...”

“I’m getting wet... this will make all of America cry and piss themselves...”

The air in the conference room shifted into frenzy.

What the women of this world had been craving in their subconscious.

It wasn’t a ‘cute pet,’ but an overwhelmingly strong protector.

Hibiki’s concept struck that nerve directly.

“...Hoooh.”

Alice beside me let out a feverish breath.

“Kidnapped... tied up... surrounded by scary ladies... but Papa will come save me, right?”

Alice hugged my arm tight.

“Covered in blood, full of wounds... you’ll turn the whole world into your enemy and fight for me, right? The best...♡”

Her eyes were melting. She was completely overlaying her own desires onto it.

This one’s fully ready to be kidnapped.

“...Hey, Hibiki.”

I cut in with a low voice.

“Flashy is fine, but I’m just a cook. There’s no way I can do that kind of action.”

“You can.”

Hibiki answered instantly.

“The movement you showed in Requiem of Iron and Blood... that’s not something you learn. There’s a sleeping ‘beast’ inside you.”

Hibiki stared straight into my eyes.

She doesn’t know my previous life.

But her creator’s intuition is sniffing out my essence.

“I want to see it. Akutsu Jō unchained, rampaging... this is fiction, but it’s also your documentary.”

“.........”

I sighed. I can’t beat this woman.

“And Alice-chan.”

Hibiki turned to Alice.

“You prepare yourself too. This time you’re not just a ‘daughter who’s protected’... you’ll watch your father’s back and find your own ‘reason to fight,’ that’s the growth I’m going to depict.”

“Yes!”

Alice answered immediately.

“I’ll do it! I’ll be the best daughter! So...”

Alice looked up at me with watery eyes and pleaded.

“Please, absolutely come save me, okay? Papa♡”

...No escape, huh.

I looked up at the ceiling.

After the cooking show, now a war-movie-like hard action film.

My weekends don’t look like they’re coming back for a while.

“...Fine.”

I said, bracing myself.

“If I’m doing it, I won’t half-ass it... I’ll be the one teaching weapon handling.”

“Huh?”

“Model guns are too light, they don’t feel real... I’ll have Saotome prepare heavy props. From stance to reload procedure, we’ll chase realism thoroughly.”

Memories from my previous life such as my knowledge as a yakuza-movie maniac and the common sense of the men’s world stirred within me.

If I’m doing this, I’ll overturn this world’s flimsy concept of action movies at the root.

“Fufu... that’s what I wanted.”

Hibiki wore a mad smile.

“Crank-in (grind time) is next week... welcome to hellish filming, Demon King.”

And so, production was decided for the legendary action film that would later plunge women all over the world into a frenzy.

With Alice still clinging to me, I thought of the harsh days to come and let out a long, long sigh.

Well, better than being bored.

“...For now, let’s get lunch.”

With that one line, the heavy air in the conference room finally loosened.

But it was only the calm before the storm.