Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Chapter 275 Fine-tuning
The popularity rankings released by the official website of "Idol Birth Festival" are updated every hour.

As the chief director, Manjiro Akimoto can directly see the real-time data updated every second in the background.

According to the current trend, if there is no significant change in the growth of popularity votes, at least six or seven people on this list will be confirmed as the eliminated half of the trainees in three hours.

"We applied for a batch of additional 'internal tickets' from the company, but these tickets are not enough to fully guarantee these people's places."

"So, at the critical moment, we need the program team..."

"On the vote count, make some minor adjustments."

Tapping his fingers rapidly on the table, one of the representatives spoke in a dignified manner, enunciating each word.

"Fine-tuning... that means making tickets, right?"

Akimoto Manjiro smiled ambiguously, lowered his head and stroked the stubble on his chin with his hand.

"You should all know the market situation this year. Not to mention, our program has hired people from the notary office to monitor the online vote count throughout the process."

For him, ticket manipulation was a piece of cake, but that was at least ten years ago...

In recent years, scandals of vote manipulation have frequently broken out in idol group elections and variety show auditions, leading to a collapse of credibility, stricter industry supervision, and the introduction of a number of policies and regulations.

You know, even selling scalper tickets for a concert will result in a criminal penalty of one year in prison and a 5 million yen fine...

Once the counterfeit banknotes are discovered, the consequences are life imprisonment and bankruptcy.

"The company has already made arrangements with the notary public. As long as the number of votes adjusted is within a certain range, they won't care..."

"This is what the presidents of the three companies all agree on. After all, the performance of the guys who debuted in recent years has declined drastically, and the companies really need some fresh blood to maintain their fan base."

Another representative sitting nearby also began to advise in a low voice.

"In that case... I understand..."

"These people will stay until the second performance is over."

Akimoto Manjiro folded the list, put it inside his coat, and said with certainty.

"But, among the nine debut spots you mentioned, I have one spot, which cannot be guaranteed."

"That's Xia Fan."

"That kind of vote difference is not something that can be handled by 'fine-tuning'."

After taking a sip of the cold tea, he pointed his phone towards the three people opposite him and spoke in a deep voice.

"..."

"Xia Fan..."

Looking at the real-time vote count on the mobile phone screen, the three representatives who had been calm and composed fell silent.

The name that ranked first on the list was "Xia Fan".

In just two days, his popularity had soared from four million at the end of the first performance to an incredible six million...

The combined popularity of second-placed Hirano Yuta and third-placed Takahashi Yu is not as high as his.

The key factors for this level of vote growth are Xia Fan’s personal charm, stage performance and stunning high notes.

However, J Company and S Company jointly created negative rumors such as "lip-syncing" and "changing audio tracks", which eventually led to the incident of their own trainees tinkering with the audio, which also contributed to the incident.

"Excuse me for being blunt, but this burning kid is indeed born to be an idol. If he wants to compete head-on on stage, the group of seed trainees you sent out have no chance of winning..."

"In order to help you, the program team has recently attracted a lot of negative public opinion, and it took a lot of effort to downplay it..."

Akimoto Manjiro naturally knew why the three people on the opposite side were embarrassed, and he did not hesitate to take advantage of the situation to pursue the victory.

From his sharp eyes who have been in the idol industry for many years, Xia Fan's enchanting appearance and temperament, as well as his soul-touching high notes, are all super S-level idol talents.

If an ordinary trainee possesses even one of these qualities, he or she will have the opportunity to become a top star. Xia Fan, who possesses both qualities, is destined to achieve great success in the future.

Because the "deep sea fisherman" failed to identify Xia Fan, but instead exposed the local trainees' collective audio editing, the program team has also been subjected to a lot of online violence in the past two days. It was not easy to buy a batch of marketing accounts, and under the banner of "the program team has taken great pains to bring glory to the district", they were able to get away with it.

"Xia Fan... The Combustion Department has always won by quantity, so it's not surprising to occasionally run into a few talented seedlings."

"But in the past few years, no one has been able to take away the traffic from our talent shows. There has never been one before, and there won't be one in the future."

The three representatives looked at each other and laughed sinisterly.

"Everyone has weaknesses, and Xia Fan is no exception. If we can't handle it on stage, we can handle it off stage..."

"Let the Burning Type be proud for a while in the first round of performances, and then we'll get rid of him in the second and third rounds."

"The stronger the 'Demon King' is, the more the 'Hero' will shine when he is defeated."

……

Miura City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The three-story buildings are adjacent to the bay, and you can see the calm sea three meters away from the window.

This small house built by the sea is very common in Miura, a "peninsula city" surrounded by the sea on three sides.

In a room on the top floor of one of the small buildings, "Ji Zi", a slender girl in a white dress, was sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed.

"Lord Amabie bless you..."

Several men and women were kneeling devoutly beneath her, circling around her like maggots.

"Sorry...tsk tsk tsk...Master Jizi..."

"Shh...I was recording a show last week...I couldn't come to worship..."

"I am extremely terrified..."

At this moment, Shibata Makoto was also crawling under her skirt, talking eloquently with his lips moving and his tongue moving.

"It doesn't matter. During this period... humph... Amaterasu's pseudo-government has been targeting us, so the pilgrimage has been changed to an irregular schedule..."

Ji Zi held his chin with one hand and swiped his phone with a blush on his face.

"Speaking of which, the talent show you participated in will enter the elimination stage tomorrow, right?"

"Your current ranking seems to be about to be eliminated."

She turned her phone screen toward Shibata Makoto.

"I...I know..."

Makoto Shibata was stunned for a moment because he didn't expect that the mysterious "boss" would also pay attention to the program he participated in.

Even though he won with Takahashi Yu's team and received more than 500,000 votes, his popularity was only barely maintained at around 53rd or 54th place...

That is, just below the elimination line.

"Don't worry, Master Jizi. With the divine power of Master Amabie protecting me, no one can stand in my way..."

"I, Shibata Makoto, will definitely not be eliminated."

Shibata Makoto rubbed his lips and promised firmly.

Pieces of black scales were falling off Jizi's thighs and buttocks, and he caught them carefully.

"It's been very tense lately, so you should be more restrained when using your divine power."

"We have fallen to this point, all because of the person who reported us to the government. If I could find him..."

As if thinking of someone he hated very much, Jizi narrowed his eyes and stared ferociously, his fingers unconsciously sliding on the official website of the "Idol Birth Festival" program...

(End of this chapter)