The animation studio was about to move past its initial stage. Morishita Aoi aside, both Kamiyā Yuu and Uehara Etsuki were busy conceptualizing 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise', with Kamiyā Yuu bearing the greatest pressure. Time didn't allow him to take things easy. Every night, he extended the time he spent in his consciousness space to three times what it used to be, which meant that after breakfast each morning, he had to go back to sleep for a while just to recover his energy.
What Kamiyā Yuu had been thinking about the most during this period was the positioning of action combat.
To what extent must an action film reach before it can be called exciting?
Some people favor the flashing blades and shadows of wuxia. Others enjoy the disparity of power often seen in animation. Still others are fond of Hollywood's live-action combat. Each type of work has its own unique charm and method of expression. Only a god could perfectly balance them all. What Kamiyā Yuu envisioned was to build upon the combat system of 'RWBY', learning from its strengths while compensating for its weaknesses. The exaggerated flair of wuxia, where even a falling leaf can wound; the oppressive sense brought by power gaps in animation; and the grounded intensity of Hollywood films—all of these could be expressed together.
Plot, music, special effects, cinematography, characters, and action choreography—each of these factors determined how thrilling a fight scene would be. Among them, Kamiyā Yuu had no choice but to sacrifice one of the most important yet often overlooked elements: the plot. The limited runtime of a promotional animation meant he couldn't cram in too much content, or it would only feel disjointed and poorly paced.
For example, one of the most "hype-inducing" anime scenes Kamiyā Yuu had ever experienced was from 'One Punch Man', when Saitama fought the final boss, Boros (?). That single line from Boros—"I will be the one to defeat you!"—sent a tingling sensation through his entire body. The surge of adrenaline made it feel like his blood was about to boil.
Why did Kamiyā Yuu feel so hyped? Because of the earlier plot, he already understood the protagonist Saitama's "invincible" setting. He anticipated the clash between the protagonist and the strongest boss introduced so far. In fact, both the original work and the production team were very clever—they didn't overly develop the protagonist, instead placing the focus on Boros, using him to highlight Saitama's overwhelming strength.
These preconditions built anticipation in the audience, allowing them to empathize, eager to see the enemy's performance while also craving the satisfaction of the protagonist crushing them.
Kamiyā Yuu couldn't achieve that.
So he chose a different path. If he had to give up the plot—the central axis—then he would massively strengthen everything else! Make it so overwhelmingly powerful that it drowned out any hollowness beneath the surface—so strong that strength itself became the defining feature!
······
After finishing the script and settling in to work, Kamiyā Yuu stretched lazily at his computer desk. After shutting down the computer, he slipped into the warm covers and wrapped his arms around Kamiyā Sora's soft, slender waist. He gently kissed her forehead, burying his face in her sweet silver hair as he whispered, "Good night, Sora."
Still asleep, Kamiyā Sora instinctively nuzzled against him.
Click. The room light was turned off. Kamiyā Yuu had barely closed his eyes for a minute when an instinct from deep within his mind guided him into another dimension—the world that belonged to him alone: his consciousness space.
This time, Kamiyā Yuu did not summon Ruby Rose. Right now, what he needed in the consciousness space was absolute focus, free from any distraction.
"Let's begin."
Kamiyā Yuu's eyes snapped open. Within the boundless white space, thousands of projection screens unfolded at once—some showing animation, others films, TV dramas, or independent productions. Every single one had been labeled as an action work in his previous world. Tonight's task was to watch all one thousand of these works containing action combat elements and extract inspiration to construct his own action framework.
Tens of thousands of sounds, constantly shifting visuals, noise-level music layered together, differences in quality due to varying eras—his thoughts spread out, overseeing everything from a macro perspective. He filtered through it all, extracting useful knowledge piece by piece and recording it into his memory. After all, in this space, he was an omnipotent god.
As he conceptualized, his body began to move instinctively, integrating what he absorbed into his physical intuition, then using that intuition to simulate possible developments.
How should an average person deal with a skilled fighter?
How would a protagonist equipped with the 'RWBY' system counter someone with overwhelmingly superior physical abilities?
Should special effects be added to enhance the impact of certain strikes?
What kind of effects would be produced by someone capable of throwing punches with the force of tons?
The endless flood of information nearly drowned Kamiyā Yuu's mind. Within this vast filtering net, he was the only opening through which the essence could pass.
After a long, long time, when the final work was finished, the consciousness world returned to silence.
"Let's give it a try. This should be fun."
Kamiyā Yuu raised his right hand, forming a standard Wing Chun stance as he smiled at the empty air. There, a lean middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit appeared, stepping through the void. Anyone from his previous world would immediately recognize him—wasn't this the grandmaster of Chinese martial arts, Ip Man? Indeed, he was a figure created by Kamiyā Yuu's consciousness, extracted and synthesized from the film 'Ip Man', theoretically possessing strength no less than what was shown in the movie.
As this martial arts grandmaster appeared, other figures—and even… monsters—gradually materialized throughout the consciousness space.
Spider-Man
Captain America
Hulk
Li Xunhuan (portrayed by Jiao Jun'en)
Shi Zhixuan, the Evil King
Feng Qingyang
Son Goku from *'Dragon Ball'*
Luffy
Saitama
The Chosen Undead
Marie Rose
Mai Shiranui
Kamiyā Yuu loosened his body and smiled at the "Grandmaster Ip Man" before him. In the consciousness space, his combat power could be infinitely elevated or reduced to that of an ordinary person. What he wanted was to experience things through his body, to review the combat knowledge he had just absorbed.
Of course, this kind of mental training would also feed back into reality—but 99.9% of it was useless. After all, in reality, he was just an ordinary human. He couldn't exert power beyond normal human limits. Blindly applying such knowledge would be no different from a child watching 'Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf' and accidentally burning their sibling.
In fact, even normal children wouldn't do something that absurd.
For example, if he trained in combat techniques for a week in the consciousness space and then conditioned his body for a few months to retain those movements, he might easily handle three or four street thugs in reality. But if he encountered a dozen burly men rushing him at once, he'd basically be done for.
And if he blindly tried to replicate Son Goku's fighting style from 'Dragon Ball', he might end up with a completely unbalanced body, unable to handle the strain.
Without the monstrous recovery ability of Shizuo Heiwajima from 'Durarara!!', what awaited him would only be death.
"Come on," Kamiyā Yuu called out.
The two stepped forward simultaneously, their hands transforming into fluttering butterflies as they clashed fiercely—slow yet fast, fast yet slow.
Intercept, entangle, push, hook, deflect, guide—whether attacking or defending, not a single move leaked an opening.