Chapter 260

"Could there be a calculation error? Is this really the amount?!"

"Yes, I charged the market price, that's correct."

However, it's uncertain which standard market price will be used.

There's a huge difference between a newcomer with no previous work and a well-known voice actor.

While he wouldn't be paid the same standards as top-tier voice actors, he couldn't bring himself to exploit them by paying the lowest possible price for those struggling at the bottom of society.

"Kazusa!"

"Okay, I got it."

Touma Kazusa's expression and voice remained completely unchanged.

Unlike the other party, she didn't join for money at all. Even a top-tier contract wouldn't surprise her.

"Forget about Kazusa, Yukina, do you want to earn a little more?"

He cast the bait.

"What does that mean? Does it mean we're going to start making the later parts?"

"It won't be that fast. We'll have to wait for this one to be released first. If all goes well... it should be finished by the end of the month."

He considered the project schedule and gave a rough estimate of the timeline.

"Releasing it during the Golden Week holiday couldn't be more perfect."

While it's a bit of an exaggeration to finish it in just over a month, considering the length of the preface and the ample funding and talent available, it's actually quite normal.

"Oh, I see... It'll be finished by the end of the month... I can't wait!"

Kogisora Yukina gazed softly at the scene after the product's release.

This is also her first work that made her money, making it very memorable.

"I definitely want to buy a copy to keep as a collector's item once it's released!"

"No need, I'll send them to you when they're ready. Just tell me how many you want."

"May I?"

"After all, they are staff members, so they should receive these basic benefits."

"Great! That will save us a little money!"

He picked up the water glass next to him, took a sip, and licked his lips with the water. "However, since this is the opening piece, I will be very strict about the quality, so some of the parts you've already recorded will need to be re-recorded. Please be aware."

"Tsk."

"That way! Even if you find it troublesome, it's not okay!"

He gave a sharp look to the woman who was most likely to be lazy and perfunctory, someone who couldn't even tie her hair properly.

"Ha ha..."

Kogisora Yukina chuckled dryly, then looked up to meet his gaze. "That's alright, but Talent-kun, what was that extra thing you mentioned earlier?"

"Ah, right, we've gone a bit off-topic."

Sakurakoji Talent cleared his throat and explained to her, "You probably noticed during the recording that there was a spot where we couldn't record, right?"

"You mean... Yukiho's singing?"

She speculated.

"Yes, that's it!"

He clapped and congratulated him on answering correctly, "Without the protagonist's singing, this story simply couldn't be completed, which means..."

"That means?"

"You'll also need to find some time to go with me to a professional recording studio to record a few of Yukiho's songs in different settings."

His expression softened as he mentioned something he had talked about before.

"Do you remember me saying that it might be your chance to debut as a singer? This is an opportunity!"

"Eh, eh eh eh eh...?!"

Kogisora Yukina leaned back in alarm and almost fell, but luckily he caught her in time.

"A singer? Debuting?!"

She could no longer maintain her usual smile; her expression betrayed her panic.

This kind of thing, which, even if everything went smoothly, would have happened at least several years later, suddenly hit her head, making her dizzy.

"What's so strange about it? Game music is still music. Since it's been released online, it's like making your online debut."

He shrugged and stated this as a matter of course.

"If you'd like, I can also burn CDs for you to sell, but that will require a certain amount of popularity and time to build up."

"Anyway, Yukina, you like to sing, isn't this perfect?"

"The extra performance fee will be calculated separately for you; consider it an extension of your part-time job. Keep up the good work!"

"But... but I'm not ready yet..."

Kogisora Yukina looked worried.

This feeling is like being a high school freshman one second and then being notified the next that you've been accepted into a prestigious university and no longer need to work hard... It's exhilarating, but without the necessary preparation, it always leaves you feeling unsettled and unable to settle down.

That's life; you can never predict what will happen next.

He spoke words that sounded like words of experience, and in fact, they were indeed words of experience.

"Take a break these next couple of days, prepare yourself mentally, and you can also share it with your aunt and uncle."

"However, you can't refuse, there really isn't much time left."

Considering the other work ahead, ten days is still a tight schedule. To release it during the Golden Week holiday, everything needs to be done very quickly.

"I see..."

Overwhelmed by this sudden surprise/fright, Kogisora Yukina pinched her delicate fingertips, lowered her head, and remained silent.

The lively and agile little Elf from a moment ago has now turned into an ostrich.

"Kazusa, if you want to..."

"No, forget it, I'm not interested right now."

"Oh, really?"

"However, I'm still quite curious about how the story will develop. Has the script for the later parts been written yet?"

"The rest is quite long and has a lot of words, so it will probably take some time. It might be done together with the final character illustration, but if you want to hear the general plot..."

"Idiot! What's the fun in a book if you don't read it yourself? Are you trying to spoil it for me?!"

"Tsk! You're really difficult to deal with!"

Chapter 307 Healing Mechanism and Night Knocking on the Idol's Door.

After get off work.

Sakurakoji Talent returned to his apartment, and thinking about what was to come, he felt a sense of gloom.

It seems Anwa Subaru were invited to stay in their room by Yōkadō Sakuri, and they're supposed to visit each other's filming location tomorrow—are their relationships progressing that fast?

Or perhaps it was because she was afraid of being alone with him on the entire floor, so... never mind, I'm too lazy to guess.

That leaves only one last question: Should he go find Hoshino Ai?

Thinking back to his guess that morning, he felt a pang of sorrow. There was no other choice now...

That's right, in the morning when Kitagawa Marin closed her eyes, he secretly stole her first kiss and framed it on his deluxe edition doll.

Whether the outcome was exactly as he expected, or a slap in the face... in any case, as he predicted, the progress of the treatment changed very little.

Three months ago, he would have been very happy.

But having gotten used to the current five percent, he had no interest in caring about such a small increase of a few ten-thousandths.

He originally thought that kissing would trigger the mechanism, but the reality of his intimate contact with Kawaragi Momoka a couple of days ago shattered his fantasy.

He even added a few more times, still not believing it, but there was still not much change.

Then, a sad guess came to mind.

To understand the triggering conditions of this mechanism, we first need to summarize the commonalities among the girls who brought about changes in him.

What similarities do Hoshino Ai, Ouka Mai, Shiina Mahiru share?

Family circumstances vary drastically and cannot be used as a standard of measurement;

Their personalities are completely different: one pretends to be cheerful, one is confident to the point of arrogance, and one is kind and gentle.

In terms of ability, both Ouka Mai and Shiina Mahiru are very capable, but Hoshino Ai... well, she's not really good at anything yet.

Aside from being all good-looking, they don't seem to have anything else in common?

No, wait a minute. Since the progress of the treatment is determined by the depth of the relationship with him, then this similarity should be related to him.

"..."

After changing her mindset, it only took 0.01 seconds for Sakurakoji Talent to understand the key to the matter.

If viewed from another perspective, the three women are: an orphan lacking love, a semi-yandere who confesses her feelings to him and forcibly kisses him the day after they meet, and a semi-orphan whose parents are alive but whose absence is almost unbearable...

"..."

The answer is obvious, isn't it?

In the hearts of these three people, what percentage of their lives does he truly hold?

"..."

In terms of feelings, was Kawaragi Momoka deemed "not qualified" because her love for him wasn't deep enough?

After figuring this out, he stood there in silence for a long time. In order to test and prove this point, he even asked Kitagawa Marin he was meeting for the first time, to be his test subject.

As a result, his intelligence was certainly not wasted.

What does this mean? It means that to increase the progress by that much in the future, the person he kisses needs to have feelings for him that reach the level of those three people?

Are you kidding me!

This is way too heavy!

After kissing them, or being kissed by them, would he still have the option to let go willingly? How many lives would he have to do that?

Even if they are kind and gentle and wouldn't retaliate against him, could he bear to kick them aside after deceiving their feelings?

If he were to do that, he might not be close to God, but he would certainly be far from humanity.

Judging from the current progress, if he really uses this method, he'll need to find at least 14 more people like that... Find 14 more people like Ouka Mai? Just thinking about it makes me want to die.

If we don't use this method—we've met dozens of people before, and we've only completed a dozen or so checkpoints.

Even so, this was the result of his incredibly hard work in walking a tightrope to maintain his balance and try his best to avoid any accidental clashes.

Putting aside the question of whether he could find so many suitable roles if he chose the other path, who knows what kind of feelings these dozens of people actually have for him...

Furthermore, if the ultimate goal of this mechanism is to force him into developing non-friendly relationships with them, then no matter what he does, the outcome will be the same—because he has no ability to resist or refuse.

He slid weakly against the wall and sat on the ground, hugging his knees and shrinking into the corner, not even wanting to get out of the elevator.

No matter which option you choose, it feels like you're going to die anyway, just in different ways...

He just wanted to live, what did he do wrong?

Why, why! Why did his life have to be so miserable...?

Knock knock knock!

Splat~

The door opened, and what came into view was a charming and lovely young idol with delicate, smooth skin, like Phoebe, her cheeks flushed, and her expression embarrassed and guilty.

He went inside, closed the door, changed into indoor shoes, and then asked Sakurakoji Talent Hoshino Ai, whose hair was still slightly damp, "You've finished showering?"

"Um..."