Tokyo Soft Rice King.

"In the future, I'll brew tea for you, and today there's also strawberry daifuku!"

Just then, Akiko Takanashi brought in some snacks, which meant that the negotiations outside had ended.

Wei Li immediately turned her head to look at the door, and looked at her mother to ask for the result.

After Akiko Takanashi put down the tray, while Akira Kuroba and Shion thanked her and went to get teacups, she gently shook her head at her daughter and told her that the plan had failed and she had not been able to win over Kurenai Tashiro.

I was a little disappointed, but the plan hadn't completely failed. Although I couldn't convince Sister Hong, at least I managed to pique Sister Ziyin's interest in singing, right?

Xiao Hong followed them into the room, appearing very reserved and restless.

She could remain relatively calm in front of Akiko because she was a fan of Akiko Takanashi, but she started acting out of character when she was around Akiko's daughter.

"Hmm? I feel like... Sister Hong, hasn't your demeanor changed a bit?"

It was strange that Tashiro Kurenai had gone from being a friendly older sister to a timid one. The other two immediately understood the situation, as explained by Kuroba Akira.

"Is it Xiao Hong who's out?"

"Little Red?"

"Yes, actually... (explaining)"

After Kuroba Akira finished explaining Tashiro Hongka's situation, Takanashi Mirai's eyes sparkled, and she excitedly and curiously moved closer to Hong, spinning around and observing her, and called out.

"Wow, that's so cool! So dual personality disorder really exists!"

Xiao Hong took a half step back, covering her chest with her hands, clearly not used to the future view, and quickly got down to business.

"Yes, yes... Uh, I came to tell you... Ms. Akiko just agreed to help recommend Shion and take us to the voice acting agency..."

Akiko Kotori nodded in agreement.

"Well, why don't you stay at our house for lunch first? I'll drive you to the office to meet with Director Fuyumi in the afternoon. She usually doesn't get up until the afternoon to come to the office."

It seems that Aunt Akiko has compromised. Kuroba Akira thinks that it might be because Koko helped persuade her, but it's hard to imagine the socially awkward Koko 'persuading others'. It would be a nightmare challenge for her.

But judging from the results, she really did it... That's amazing, Xiao Hong has grown up too!

In the end, Kuroba Akira did nothing, and things proceeded as planned.

If Saotome Fuyumi could truly discern the specific directions of talent specialization, she might also be able to identify the most suitable development path for Shion—a capability that Kuroba Akira's cheat-like abilities lack.

If it's confirmed that she'll be a singer, not a voice actress, and Shion is willing to take this path, then Akira Kuroba is willing to accept that outcome.

At first, Akira thought it was a pity to let Shion be a voice actress, but now he doesn't want her to make any changes... Akira Kuroba realizes that his feelings towards Shion have completely changed.

My love for Ziyin completely goes beyond my appreciation of the talents she possesses.

His own desires made Kuroba Akira reluctant to let Shion ascend to the altar... feeling that she would drift further and further away from him.

But the brightest star will eventually rise into the night sky, emitting the most dazzling light, making everyone look up in awe...

Perhaps this is the destiny of the stars.

Chapter 255 He is the backbone of women's lives

After having lunch at Takanashi's house, in the afternoon, Takanashi Akiko and the other four people went to the location of the voice actor agency she had joined.

Since there were only five people in total, there was no need to split into two cars. So Akiko drove, Daiko (who switched back to her original car because they were going to a new and unfamiliar place) sat in the passenger seat, and the remaining three juniors sat in the back.

Surprisingly, she seemed quite happy to be sandwiched between Kuroba Akira and Shion, holding hands on either side like an excited child going on a trip.

Even though this matter had nothing to do with her, she still went out with Ziyin, which was unusual for her, because Ziyin's future would affect her future plans, so she needed to know the progress of the matter as soon as possible.

Saotome Fuyumi's office is located in a rather old-looking three-story office building in Minato Ward. The fact that she has a standalone office in Tokyo suggests that she is a medium-sized, long-established firm.

Upon arriving at the destination, I saw a sign on the building that read the name of the voice actor agency, 'Shiki'.

After getting off the car, Akiko Takanashi led everyone into the office, where someone was already waiting for them near the reception desk.

"Good morning, Ms. Akiko! And all of you who are new here!"

A bright-eyed young woman with short, low ponytail, holding a notebook in one hand and raising the other, waved to the crowd at the door.

She looks about the same age as Sister Hong, but she appears more lively, giving off the vibe of a 'recent college graduate who hasn't yet experienced the harsh realities of society,' which is why she can display such a cheerful smile.

But upon closer inspection, you can see her dark circles that even makeup can't cover, and that her seemingly lively smile is actually forced; her eyes are almost lifeless.

Holy crap, this feeling of being exploited by a ruthless company is all too familiar to Kuroba Akira. Isn't this just like himself back then?

Xiao Hong seemed to look like this before she resigned.

It's because you've been living a life of constant sleep deprivation, completely disrupting your biological clock and causing endocrine imbalances. All of this is reflected on your face, making you look like you're on the verge of death.

Even in such a state, she still managed to act sunny and cheerful. It really brought tears to my eyes...

This young lady's acting skills must be quite proficient, at least level 2.

"Hello, I am Yuki Arisugawa, the assistant, secretary, accountant and producer of Director Fuyumi."

Kuroba Akira couldn't help but complain.

"What a long title..."

Arisugawa Yuki scratched the back of her head, chuckled, and began to explain in a pathetic manner.

"Haha... I'm not bragging, it's just that we're short-staffed, so I have to take on a lot of the work..."

As she spoke, she let out a long sigh, feeling as if her soul had floated away, and rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"Ha... So when will Director Fuyumi finally understand that what our company needs right now isn't artists for the public, but support staff for the internal operations..."

Wow, Ms. Arisugawa's resentment has materialized into a black mist.

It seems that Ms. Arisugawa harbors a deep resentment towards her department head.

According to Aunt Akiko's description, Kuroba Akira already regarded Saotome Fuyumi as a god-like mentor.

It seems that this may not be the case?

Or is it that she doesn't 'not want to hire' support staff, but rather 'can't find' reliable support staff?

It seems that this reveals the 'shortcomings' of the cheat system that Saotome Fuyumi possesses.

After introducing each other, Arisugawa Yuki said.

"Director Fuyumi hasn't arrived yet, so let me show you around the office first."

Yuki Arisugawa led everyone up to the second floor, where the core voice actor department was located. This department was responsible for recruiting voice actors, coordinating projects, managing contracts, and arranging work.

Although it was the weekend, there were still quite a few people in the agency. After all, TV stations don't stop broadcasting on weekends, and film crews don't get weekends off. It's become the norm in the industry that there are no 'fixed rest days'.

Akira Kuroba was also quite curious about the structure of the voice actor agency, mainly because he wanted to see if the newcomers here were really 'talented newcomers', so he asked Yuki Arisugawa.

"Ms. Arisugawa, isn't the training department on this floor?"

"Ah, although this is a voice actor agency, we don't have an affiliated voice actor training school."

"What?! There aren't any voice actor training schools?"

This surprised Akira Kuroba. He had assumed that a voice acting agency of this size must have its own training department, since constantly discovering new talent was essential to inject fresh blood into the agency and the industry.

"Well... it used to exist, but Director Fuyumi said it was 'too wasteful of money' and less efficient than 'finding it myself,' so it was shut down..."

"That's too... uh, that's bold."

Kuroba Akira originally wanted to say that this was too crazy, but since this was their territory, it was not appropriate to directly belittle their leader. Instead, it was Arisugawa Yuki who bluntly complained.

"Director Fuyumi is completely insane. What farmer would demolish a chicken coop that lays eggs? When Director Fuyumi did this, everyone thought the agency was going to go bankrupt."

Indeed, if an ordinary person did that, the firm would probably be in dire straits.

However, things are different with cheats.

This shows that Fuyumi Saotome has 'absolute confidence' in discovering talented voice actors on her own.

"But this decision did help the agency save a lot of costs at the time, and Director Fuyumi really recruited several future top voice actors, revitalizing the entire agency."

"What an amazing person..."

"To be honest, she is indeed very capable... but in the end, Director Fuyumi is just a crazy gambler, and she doesn't always win. Every time she loses, she leaves us severely weakened. It's just that overall she wins more often."

When Arisugawa Yuki mentioned her director, she was both full of admiration and complaints, which gave her a somewhat contradictory feeling, but more than anything, she felt a sense of 'helplessness'.

"What I admire most about the director is that she seems to enjoy it immensely... I really don't know how that person's nerves work."

If you win the bet, you can make a fortune; if you lose, you lose all the money and time you've invested.

Most people definitely couldn't withstand this kind of pressure.

But Akira Kuroba could understand what Fuyumi Saotome was doing, because he was doing the same thing himself.

Moreover, he discovered that Saotome Fuyumi seemed to share a similar idea with him, namely, 'not putting all your eggs in one basket'.

Because he saw other 'sub-mining' departments.

"Excuse me, may I ask..."

Kuroba Akira stopped and asked a question, while Arisugawa Yuki turned around and asked a question in return.

"Yes? Is there a problem?"

"Isn't this a voice actor agency? But I think I see some other entertainment departments here..."

"Ah, the main body is a voice actor agency, that's true. In fact, before Director Fuyumi took over, it mainly focused on voice actor affairs. But as I just said, Director Fuyumi is happy to discover new talents, and she's 'not limited to any field'. So now we also have directors, screenwriters, producers, actors, photographers, etc... Actually, it's not quite appropriate to call us a voice actor agency anymore. We're more like a comprehensive entertainment agency."

Hearing this, Takanashi Mirai, who was following behind, perked up and raised her hand to ask.

"Are there singers there too?!"

"Well... as for pure singers, not yet. If we want to release records and albums, we still need to cooperate with other record companies."

"I see..."

Future looked at Ziyin, and Ziyin happened to be looking at Future as well. She knew that Future was asking on her behalf, so she returned a grateful smile.

Akiko Takanashi also witnessed this scene, and a bittersweet smile appeared on her face.

How could she not know the situation of her own firm?

If there were a future in being a singer at Shiki Productions, she would have agreed to recommend Shion from the start.

　"Actually, right now only voice actors are really famous. The other departments are still in the 'pilot' stage, and many are operating at a loss..."

In other words, apart from the voice acting business, everything else is half-baked and a complete waste of money.

This is true.