Tokyo: Bubble, but the system is Sengoku.

Chapter 1 Warriors of the Sengoku Period

Former downtown Tokyo, 1982.

The summer heat doesn't subside even after nightfall, and the incessant chirping of cicadas is irritating.

For the teenager living in a dilapidated three-and-a-half-story apartment, the ordeal was multiplied.

The power outage plunged the entire room into darkness, with only a flickering candlelight casting its glow on the boy's thin, pale face.

He sat at the worn-out little table, staring at the thin page of script in front of him, and sighed deeply.

I just recovered from an illness, paid rent, and now I don't even have money for food.

Everyone else time-travels, but he does? Why is he so unlucky...?

Ryo Sato is a time traveler.

I woke up in the hospital and heard it was a severe case of the flu.

The original owner had just turned eighteen, dropped out of high school, and worked as an extra in Tokyo on the eve of the bubble economy; he belonged to the poor group.

A single, ordinary medical expense nearly bankrupted him.

Of course, the original owner also had his own reasons; he considered it unlucky and didn't want to play a dead person.

The company was certainly unhappy about this, so there was even less work to be done.

Tokyo in that era was indeed prosperous, but that prosperity belonged to the wealthy.

For underprivileged teenagers, even if they officially enter the bubble economy, nothing will change.

On the bright side, the bursting of the bubble won't affect him, but that's only because he already had nothing.

In Tokyo, where even the neon lights exude a coldness, being poor is the original sin.

Rather than finding it unlucky to play a dead person, the new Sato thinks that being broke is the worst thing.

The temperature of the tatami mat rose a few degrees through the thin pants, and the boy shifted his body and changed his posture.

Before he transmigrated, he was just an ordinary performing arts college student, and a member of the drama club.

She has absolutely no talent in acting; before coming here, she was even considering changing her major.

As for plagiarism? Don't even think about it.

He doesn't really have many world-renowned classics or novels that he can recite word for word without missing a single word. Who would bother memorizing world-famous classics? He's not a top student.

Those songs, I've listened to them and forgotten most of them; there's no way I can recreate them.

Besides, if the plagiarism is too recent, let alone whether you can get past your own conscience, what if you accidentally copy the original?

If he gets into a lawsuit, he'll lose even his chance to work as an extra.

If you copy something too far off the mark and it doesn't fit the aesthetics of this era, the likely outcome will be that future generations will lament that your talents were wasted.

World affairs, social problems, technological development... the popular culture of each era is fed by these things bit by bit.

While some works are undoubtedly classics no matter when they are put to the test, he admits that he doesn't currently have the discernment to distinguish them.

There is even less room for trial and error now.

In short, relying on past experience, it's impossible to turn things around at this point.

You need capital to have room to operate.

But these restrictions, one after another, bound him tightly to the bottom like a heavy anchor, making his life miserable.

Even the agency that manages him seems to be on the verge of bankruptcy.

After he arrived, he did think he might have a system or something, but after all that trouble, he still couldn't find it.

"You still need to put in your own effort."

Ryo Sato sighed again.

He currently lacks both academic qualifications and skills.

His acting talent is mediocre; he can only be considered to have a slightly relevant professional background.

With such mediocre talent, one has to sweat and endure more hardship than others to stand out.

In many cases, even if you give it your all, you may not necessarily get the corresponding reward.

After all, if you want to climb the ladder, ability alone is far from enough; you also need to be shrewd, understand human relationships, be perceptive, and deal with a lot of trouble.

With so many factors involved, even if a path is successfully found, it's unlikely to be as profitable as making a fortune before the bubble bursts.

Thinking of this, Sato Ryo clenched his fist tightly.

But! As long as you don't give up, there's still a way out.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

I can't think about cheat codes anymore; eating is the most important thing.

If I hone my acting skills slowly, maybe in another ten years or so, I can become a veteran extra.

Right now, the more important thing is to earn some money and recover from the illness.

The boy refocused his gaze on the script in front of him.

He plays the role of a minor leader of a biker gang.

His role is simple: he brings his biker gang to support the protagonist, and then gets shot dead.

It's simple and brutal, with no build-up whatsoever, and it's all about the tough-guy movie feel unique to the Showa era.

He was of the right age and had a motorcycle license, so he was selected.

The original owner didn't want to take on jobs involving dead people, as she considered it unlucky.

If it weren't for the agent's final warning, and the fact that the company itself was on the verge of bankruptcy and had no work to do, the original owner wouldn't have taken on this dead-end job.

However, I heard that the supervisor is an old-fashioned, academic, and detail-oriented person.

He's never been a biker gang member, so he'll probably get a lot of trouble tomorrow.

However, being tortured is already a good thing. Right now, his face is almost sagging from thinning. If he is disliked for not fitting the image and is replaced, he will have nowhere to cry.

He was powerless to solve the company's problems.

This is especially true for one's own problems.

But there's no use being afraid of this or that now. People always have to move forward, and the world is built on material things.

As long as you're alive, wallowing in self-pity and wallowing in melancholy won't solve any real-world problems.

Soon, amidst the chirping of cicadas in the room, only the young man remained calm and focused, engrossed in reading the script by candlelight.

......

The next morning, after only a short nap, Sato Ryo set off for the outskirts of Tokyo, which, fortunately, was only about ten kilometers from where he lived.

To save money, the production team would not film in the expensive city center.

However, after saving money, the current filming location is not bad. It is a fairly new commercial street, and further away are wooden detached houses.

The cameras and slide rails are still being installed, and more than thirty motorcycles used by biker gangs are neatly arranged in the corner.

There were also many curious onlookers around, and the whole scene looked quite lively.

Sato's arrival went unnoticed by the crew.

Unlike those main characters, key figures, and senior figures who are greeted with loud announcements and enthusiastic responses as soon as they enter, this is different.

He was just a minor character, nobody cared.

Sato didn't seem to feel any sense of loss. He simply glanced at the male protagonist, who was surrounded by a crowd not far away, before looking away.

After reporting to the person in charge and getting my makeup done, I came out to find the filming location already bustling with activity.

The male protagonist, Tanabe, who had just been the center of attention, was nowhere to be seen, and instead, the director appeared before the boy.

"A little thin."

This seasoned director, hailed as an academic, was frowning at him, his gaze as if he were scrutinizing an unqualified, substandard product.

"I'm sorry, I was sick before."

Sato Ryo lowered his head, avoiding the other person's gaze, which fell on the ground at his feet.

Silence lingered between the two. Sato Ryo was filled with anxiety, fearing that this person wouldn't even give him a chance to try and would simply return him.

Finally, in the midst of the unbearable silence, the director spoke up: "Let's give it a try."

The other person's tone suggested that they were speaking with considerable reluctance.

According to Sato Ryo, the other party probably only compromised because they felt that changing actors at the last minute would delay the already nearly finished filming schedule.

As for whether the other party will replace me if I don't perform well later, I don't know.

To the directors who are currently the backbone of the industry, he is just a small fry.

In the director's view, he was probably already lucky to get the role, and replacing him would be a simple matter of a word.

As for contracts? Their validity is often a mystery.

If it really comes down to the other party breaching the contract, he doesn't have the money to hire a lawyer, and the firm is about to go bankrupt, so they probably won't bother with him, let alone offend the supervisor for his sake.

"We cannot fail!"

Sato Ryo gave himself a death order, his eyes hardened, and he strode toward the outrageously designed motorcycle.

"Who is that?"

On the other side of the film set, a round-faced girl looked at the thin young man in the room with a bored expression and casually asked Tanabe next to her a question.

"The extra will die in a minute."

Tianbian smiled and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh, no wonder you look so tense, you seem really nervous."

After speaking, Hiroko Yakushimaru lowered her head listlessly and yawned.

Such a simple action, yet it's like it stepped right out of an anime, so sweet it's almost cloying.

Tianbian's eyes welled up even more.

"Yes, it will probably need to be replaced."

Tanabe nodded, glanced at the boy who was stiff with nervousness, then looked at the supervisor's face, which was about to explode, and chuckled.

"Um."

The girl showed no interest in what Tanabe was saying and indifferently looked away.

She was just there for a friendly cameo, and with this person constantly chattering in her ears, she just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Unlike the two men's composure, the boy who had just stepped onto the flashy motorcycle wasn't nervous and stiff as others might expect, but rather because...

[Host has successfully formed their first armed force!]

[Samurai Warriors System...Activated!]

Looking at the words that suddenly appeared in front of him, his first reaction was that it was haunted. The boy rubbed his eyes until he confirmed that the words were really floating in the air before he realized that it might be the system.

But when he saw the words "Warring States Warriors System" clearly, he was completely dumbfounded.

He traveled to the bubble era, not the Warring States period.

What's the use of this system?

The boy's face stiffened further, his mood fluctuating wildly. If this broken system didn't work, then yet another hope would be dashed.

However, his tension didn't last long, as the system quickly responded again.

You have assembled a world-class elite heavy cavalry force!

[An iron torrent! Unstoppable!]

Sato Ryo stared at the words in front of him, then looked back at the convoy behind him. There were thirty-two motorcycles in total, with two people on each motorcycle: one driving and the other carrying weapons.

Each person's outfit is incredibly flamboyant; at first glance, they are definitely typical Showa-era biker gangs.

Tell him that these are elite heavy cavalry.

However... it was quite heavy, a metal lump carrying two strong men.

Cavalry... and it does seem to be cavalry?

But! Is he just acting?

And where did the heavy cavalry come from during the Warring States period? Could this system be bugged?

But none of that mattered. He could clearly feel the director's murderous gaze, even as he was lost in thought.

If there's nothing else going on, the system should just disappear already.

Don't let it affect your filming.

As if sensing Sato Ryo's thoughts, the system in front of them made a new move.

[Unlock Achievement: Steel Torrent!]

[Reward Skill: Leadership Qualities!]