Tokyo: Oreimo

This is why the agency only gave her a B visa.

After being unemployed at home for so long, my savings are almost gone.

Let's try one last time. If that still doesn't work, and we have nowhere else to go... then we'll have to go into the sea.

Thinking this, Kujou Sumika silently waited in line outside the recording studio.

.....

"No, it doesn't feel right at all."

Takashiro Ryouno frowned and eliminated another newcomer.

Ryosuke, standing to the side, was also tapping his pen on the table from time to time, looking somewhat helpless.

"To be honest, the new recruits at this firm are better than I expected, and that's why my expectations have been inexplicably raised."

"What? Are you saying that you were originally planning to just brush things off with the voice actors?"

Ling Nai glanced over with considerable displeasure.

"When the budget is insufficient, you have to settle for second best, don't you?"

Ryosuke shrugged.

He genuinely didn't have high expectations for the voice actors. After all, at such a cheap price of 1,000 yen per line, what more could he ask for? He'd be grateful if they could convey the emotions in the lines.

Who would still care about voice quality?

However, after actually conducting the interviews, I discovered that these newcomers were far more professional than I had imagined.

I've incurred another favor.

It's obvious that Shizuka Hayakawa played a role in this.

How many are still outside?

"There are still five people in line."

In one morning, after interviewing more than forty people, Ryosuke and Ayano only reached a consensus three times.

The roles of Rin Tohsaka and Sakura Matou, the main characters of the script, have been decided, and at Ayano's strong request, the voice actress for Illya has also been selected.

They say the newcomer's voice is so perfect that they want to hear him call them "brother" or something in the game.

That's incredibly wasteful. Although Illya has fewer lines compared to the three main heroines, Ryosuke still needs to spend at least several hundred thousand yen more for this reason.

The only thing that hasn't been decided yet is the female lead, Artoria.

The voice acting for this character is not particularly difficult, but it does require a high level of vocal skill.

Leaving aside Ryosuke, even Ryosuke himself hasn't met anyone he's satisfied with.

"Please let the next person enter."

Following Ryosuke's speech, the next new voice actor waiting in the studio entered.

He was a middle-aged man with a full beard, wearing a dark suit.

Wait... male?

If Ryosuke remembers correctly, he should have specifically requested the agency today that they only interview female voice actresses.

"that....."

"Mr. Ito, what brings you here?"

The receptionist in charge of arranging the voice actor interviews suddenly bowed respectfully.

This made Ryosuke realize that the other person was not a newcomer who came for the interview.

Is he the manager of the firm?

"Come and say hello to the guests."

Shinpei Ito casually chatted with the people around him before walking into the recording studio and sitting down next to the Takashiro siblings.

"Let me introduce myself, Mr. Takashiro. I am Shinpei Ito, Shizuka Hoshimi's manager."

"Eh? Hello, I'm Ryosuke Takagi."

He was somewhat surprised. If she was the idol's manager, there was no need for her to come all the way to see him.

"It's surprising that Mr. Takashiro is so young. But then again, a songwriter who can write a song like 'No, Thank you' can't be too mature."

"You flatter me. I said that Ms. Hoshimi can name this song whatever she wants. If you are worried about copyright, Mr. Ito doesn't need to come to me specifically."

When the other person mentioned that song, Ryosuke realized what it meant.

I suspect the other party might have concerns about copyright and wants to negotiate with me specifically.

"It's a misunderstanding. I just came to confirm."

Shinpei Ito smiled.

It really was his song; I knew it couldn't be such a coincidence.

As a mature professional, there are some things that Shizuka Hayakawa is unwilling to say, but he can usually figure them out by himself.

Judging from the appearance of the young man in front of him, he was not averse to having his secret exposed.

"I heard from the agency manager that Mr. Takashiro is hiring voice actors to dub a new visual novel, is that right? Why not consider our agency's top voice actor?"

For SP companies that focus on the ACG culture, Shinpei Ito, as an agent, never rejects this type of game. After all, the industry is doing well now, and many new clients come from this area.

"With a limited budget, perhaps we can afford such good voice actors for our next project."

Is that so?

"Yes, if we had the money, we might even equip the game with full voice acting."

"That's such a pity."

Upon hearing this, Shinpei Ito also showed a regretful expression.

"By the way, Mr. Takashiro, if you're so short of money, have you ever thought about commissioning a song?"

"Want to sing a song?"

"That's right. Our company lacks musicians to collaborate with. If someone can produce a song of 'No, Thank you', we'd be willing to pay a high price to acquire it."

So that's what you came for?

Even if Ryosuke is slow on the uptake, he should have realized it by now.

"I don't have that plan at the moment, sorry."

He refused the invitation without hesitation.

Just because one song is pleasing to the eye doesn't mean other songs will be. Ryosuke doesn't know much about the Japanese entertainment industry and only knows a limited number of songs that he can hum, mostly ACG-related songs.

Unlike his current career, he has no idea how the market will view his songs.

There's no need to waste energy on this kind of thing.

"Is that so? I apologize for disturbing you."

To Ryosuke's surprise, Shinpei Ito did not show any disappointment on his face.

"Then I'll take my leave now."

He didn't say anything more, just greeted Ryosuke, and then excused himself and left.

"What's wrong with this guy? He's acting completely out of the blue."

Takashiro Ryouno muttered softly to herself.

"They came here and wasted our time, asking all sorts of questions."

"Well, we owe a lot to their help with the casting this time, so it's only natural that we've established a relationship."

Ryosuke smiled. He probably guessed that the casting process went so smoothly today because Shinpei Ito had put in a good word for him.

Unlike top-tier companies, brokers hold a relatively high status in smaller companies.

The other party must have learned about him through Hayakawa Shizuka.

"By the way, you can write songs?"

Takashiro Ryou looked over suspiciously.

"It was just a tune I casually hummed on a daily basis. My friend liked it, so I gave it to her. I didn't expect this kind of response. Looking at it this way, I might be a musical genius?"

"What? Such an arrogant statement is really annoying. It's just good luck."

Takashiro Ryouno didn't press further, but instead turned and called for the next voice actor.

Ryosuke breathed a sigh of relief.

I almost forgot that my younger sister was right next to me. If my sister, with whom I spend every day, knew about my music, it would be hard to explain.

He has never shown this talent to his family, and even the background music in the game he claimed was done with the help of friends.

.....

Shinpei Ito left the recording studio somewhat unwillingly.

"As expected, it's not that easy."

Even musicians who have already partnered with a company aren't easy to deal with, let alone these unconventional ones.

After standing there for a while and thinking it over, he walked to the front desk.

"Teacher Ito."

The receptionist immediately stood up to greet them.

"I'll go tell the customers later that hiring a voice actor will get them a 20% discount, which will be deducted from their commission."

"If the client is interested, call Group B to invite them to come and cast the roles, regardless of gender."

"Huh? But shouldn't the agency issue a notification for this kind of thing?"

“It’s okay, I’ll talk to the firm and ask them to lower the price per unit.”

"Ok."

Seeing the receptionist jogging towards the recording studio, Shinpei Ito stroked his chin.