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293KiB, 1000x1000, MatsunoIncSplash2.jpg

Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency #2

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:15:48 No.5625863 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By:

You are Nagata Miho, former HR employee turned idol manager alongside two other newly appointed managers.

Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency located in Tokyo, Japan is where you work.
You manage three idols: Kaiba Aoi, Chigusa Iki, and Enatsu Mari.

Below you’ll find a link to the wiki with all the mechanics, character sheets, and more.
legendkeeper.com/app/clerg3w370sti08866hb09fcg

I typically update these after each bi-weekly decision point.

If you’d like to catch up, I recommend reading the story in the wiki.

Alternatively, here's the archive:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=matsuno

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:21:55 No.5625865 Report

Quoted By: >>5625871

Previous thread:
>>5587603

Cont:
>>5625384
-------------

Nagata sends a quick message to Matsui to try and get Kaiba an audition for a part in Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works.
Ufotable Animation is a well-known company with quite a bit of renown, so there’s likely to be a ton of competition.
Then again, Kaiba has been practicing her acting for months now so she should be able to keep up with the other applicants.

It’s only 9 AM at the moment and there’s several hours left before the first new idol comes in for an interview.
Nagata’s second and third idol. The privilege to manage up to three idols was acquired after her successful performance review.
The other two managers, Yukimori Kyoden and Matsuno Kojiro, weren’t that lucky.

Nagata can’t help but wonder what those two have been up to these past few weeks.
She’s been so busy with everything that she barely had any time to keep track of those who should’ve been her competition.

Well, there’s one easy way to find out, but that requires a trip to HR.
It requires meeting up with Kitabayashi Yui. The two of them have barely spoken since the karaoke night.

Nagata sighs, “Well,” she proclaims to the empty office, “I’ll have to face her at some point.”
She begins the short journey to the HR office.

Once there Nagata idles in front of the door, she’s strangely nervous.
Even though she usually doesn’t, she decides to knock.

Perhaps Mori Kotone is in today, rather tha…
“Come on in,” replies the voice of Kitabayashi Yui.

Nagata cracks open the door a bit and pokes her head inside, “Good morning,” she says.

Kitabayashi blinks, “Good morning,” she says, returning her attention to the computer, “Nagata-san.”

Nagata sheepishly walks into the room, “How…” she begins, “Have you been?”

“I’ve been well,” replies Kitabayashi, “Thank you for asking. Can I help you with something?”

Nagata winces. There’s obviously some kind of wall between the both of them.
She rubs the back of her own neck, “Well,” she says, “I was hoping you could let me have another peek at the other managers. To see what they’ve been up to?”

Kitabayashi replies with a flat stare, “Nagata-san,” she says, “I can’t allow non-HR personnel to view restricted company records.”

“Of course,” replies Nagata, feigning a chuckle, “I was just… you know… like last time?”

Kitabayashi offers Nagata little more than a glance, “I do hope you won’t press the matter and force me to put this violation on record?”

Nagata freezes up, “No, ah, that won’t be necessary,” she says, “…I’ll be going now…”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:25:58 No.5625871 Report

Quoted By: >>5625873

>>5625865

She turns towards the door and makes it halfway there before Kitabayashi bursts out laughing.

“Mihooo!” she cries, between laughs, “I can’t believe you fell for that!”

Face flush, Nagata stomps in place, eyes downcast, “You almost made me cry!” she says, “I was going to walk out that door thinking I lost a friend!”

Kitabayashi recovers from her laughing fit and wags a finger, “Tch, tch, tch,” she says, clicking her tongue, “Like I’d ever treat you like that for real.”

Nagata sniffles, “I wouldn’t have blamed you,” she says, “After what happened…”

Kitabayashi rolls her eyes, gets up, and walks over, placing her hands on Nagata’s shoulders, “Should I be mad because you’re straight?”
She waves a dismissive hand, “Was I disappointed?" she says, "Yes, but I’m not mad or anything!”

Kitabayashi bellows out an exaggerated sigh, “Paaaah, we would’ve been so cute together,” she cries, head tilted towards the ceiling, “You could be making me miso soup every day.”

Relief washing over her, Nagata smiles. This is the Kitabayashi that she knows.
Nagata raises a playful eyebrow, “I see, so that was your endgame,” she says, “Using me as your soup servant.”

“Not gonna lie, that was a pretty big part of it,” replies Kitabayashi, nodding sagely.
She pats Nagata on the shoulders before letting go, “Let’s spy on people, yeah?”

Never before has Nagata been so happy to engage in borderline criminal activity, “mMmm,” she says, nodding eagerly.
The both of them move towards the computer where Kitabayashi sits down.

“Let’s see…” begins Kitabayashi, clicking away at the computer, “I heard that Matsuno-kun acquired himself a fancy idol…”

“Eh?” replies Nagata, “I didn’t know he had auditions done?”

“He didn’t,” says Kitabayashi, “His dad pulled some strings and swiped away a fancy idol from some other agency. Veeeerrrry expensive. The company had to buy out her contract.”

Suppose that’s one of the perks of being related to the owner of the company.

“Can I see her file?” asks Nagata.

“Yep, yep,” says Kitabayashi.
One flurry of keystrokes later, the new idol’s file appears on the screen.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO WataseYoko.jpg, 79KiB, 667x1000

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:27:54 No.5625873 Report

Quoted By: >>5625877 >>5625880

>>5625871

Watase Yoko (Age 22, Rank B)

Looks: 66 (77)
Vocals: 75 (88)
Dance: 53 (58)
Acting: 35 (43)
Personality: 39 (61)

Trait: Job-hopper
Quick to leave the agency if a better offer appears.
Requires constant boosts in salary to retain.

Fame: 5 (Celebrity (B))
This idol is recognized in public at times.

Costs $21,000 per month

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:29:51 No.5625877 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625873
She hot.
Hot to handle, too. Poor nepo-baby's in over his head with that one, I'd wager

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO YukimoreBudget2.png, 81KiB, 1018x810

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:32:16 No.5625880 Report

Quoted By: >>5625884

>>5625873

“Uwwwaaa,” says Kitabayashi with a open mouth, “She looks intense.”
She stares at the screen for a long moment, “I bet her nipples are pierced.”

“Yui-chan!” says Nagata with a gasp.

“What? Oh, it seems like she’s pretty famous,” says Kitabayashi, “But since she’s twenty-two she’s probably been at it for a while.”
”Seems like she started at Matsuno Inc. only a few days ago,” adds Kitabayashi.

Nagata nods along. This is the oldest idol she’s seen on file.
”What age idols typically retire?” she asks.

Kitabayashi shrugs, “Usually in their late twenties,” she says, “If no scandals or stuff force them out …haha.”

Nagata leans in towards Kitabayashi and strokes her head briefly, “There, there,” she says, then stops.

“Ah,” says Kitabayashi as the hand is lifted away, “I’m still very sad! More!”

Nagata leans away, her face sporting a undisguised look of disgust.

Kitabayashi pouts, “…how about the other managers…”
Her typing speed is noticeably less energetic.
”Here’s Yukimori Kyoden's budget,” she says.
>pic related

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO MatsunoKojiroBudget2.png, 56KiB, 1005x606

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:36:31 No.5625884 Report

Quoted By: >>5625891 >>5625895 >>5625896 >>5625900 >>5625909 >>5625941 >>5625994 >>5626032 >>5626039 >>5626101 >>5626381 >>5626451

>>5625880

Nothing seems out of the ordinary.
Then again Nagata hasn’t heard from Ichihara Riko in a while and she’s not sure how to feel about it.
Did Yukimori finally gain a measure of control over her or is she still plotting?

“….and here’s the golden boy himself, Matsuno Kojiro,” says Kitabayashi.
With a final, hard tap of the 'Enter' key, Matsuno's budget appears on screen.
>pic related

Nagata glances over the list of income and expenses.
“Hmm,” she says, “Can you go back to Yukimori’s budget for a moment?”

“Aye, aye,” replies Kitabayashi and does so.

Nagata’s eyes narrow, “Both managers took a job at the same studio at the same time.”

Kitabayashi stretches her arms above her head for a moment, making a small noise, “Maybe it was a group thing. Isn’t that strange for a job to feature multiple idols.”

“I suppose you’re right,” says Nagata, then faces Kitabayashi, “Thanks again, Yui.”

Kitabayashi smiles, “You’re welcome,” she says, “Anything else?”

Decision
>1 - Nope, that’s all.
>2 - Confide what you saw in Kaiba’s chatlogs to Kitabayashi
>3 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:42:23 No.5625891 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625884
No further updates today.
I'm hoping to do the new idol introductions tomorrow and close off week 15/16

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:47:02 No.5625895 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625884
>2 - Confide what you saw in Kaiba’s chatlogs to Kitabayashi
Yui-chan is our friend. We need one of those.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:47:19 No.5625896 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625884
>2 - Confide what you saw in Kaiba’s chatlogs to Kitabayashi
Advice is desperately needed.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 03 Apr 2023 21:48:55 No.5625900 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625884
no fucking way. those snakes are 2x1'ing us and abusing nepotism

>1 - Nope, that’s all.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Mon 03 Apr 2023 22:01:20 No.5625909 Report

Quoted By: >>5625912

>>5625884
>2 - Confide what you saw in Kaiba’s chatlogs to Kitabayashi
I’m somewhat willing to be talked out of this now that the decision is here.

On one hand, we can request help even without spilling details but I assume Yui has her own life and won’t make it a priority unless she understands it’s not just our nerves taking over. She’s also likely to avoid discussing sexuality (which Kaiba is being gaslit over) unless we give her a reason. On the other hand, she could spill the beans to someone. On the other other hand, if we didn’t have the self-control to avoid peeking at her texts, should we have the self-control to keep our concerns bottled up?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 03 Apr 2023 22:06:54 No.5625912 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625909
The answer is easy, we don't need Yui anymore.
Kaiba seems to be very happy with the possibility of becoming a senpai so that should get her head away from ErikoDesu55. Telling Yui about our little trolling would just backfire at us at some point, so it's best to play safe

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 03 Apr 2023 22:35:59 No.5625941 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625884
>2 - Confide
She IS from HR after all

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:2gRzh4kL Mon 03 Apr 2023 23:21:33 No.5625994 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625884
>1 - Nope, that’s all.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tzu6+/vn Tue 04 Apr 2023 00:26:59 No.5626032 Report

Quoted By: >>5626039

>>5625884
>>2 - Confide what you saw in Kaiba’s chatlogs to Kitabayashi

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tzu6+/vn Tue 04 Apr 2023 00:34:22 No.5626039 Report

Quoted By: >>5626043

>>5625884
>>5626032
Actually I change my mind and put my vote in the right format the right format
>1 - Nope, that’s all.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tzu6+/vn Tue 04 Apr 2023 00:36:25 No.5626043 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626039
goddammit

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 04 Apr 2023 00:37:24 No.5626044 Report

Quoted By: >>5626087 >>5626140

>"Hey, Kaiba, HR told me they know from Tech that you are having too many echanges with some accounts. While replying to your fans is not that big of a deal it would be better if you do so with moderation"

Would something like this make Kaiba stop talking wtih the toxic woman or making an alternative account to keep in touch?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oGuCyOxX Tue 04 Apr 2023 01:07:24 No.5626087 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626044
She would instantly make an alt.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Tue 04 Apr 2023 01:31:31 No.5626101 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625884
>1 - Nope, that’s all.
No, this is a bad idea

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 04 Apr 2023 02:20:13 No.5626140 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626044
>'Hey Kaiba! Yakuza murdered ErikoDesu55 last night and dumped her lifeless body in a river. I ordered them to do that and I will do it again if someone tries to get in the way of my... no, our success. Anyways I hope you get along with your kouhais!'

Kaiba's face when?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:1TM6SofM Tue 04 Apr 2023 08:39:48 No.5626381 Report

Quoted By:

>>5625884
>2 - Confide what you saw in Kaiba’s chatlogs to Kitabayashi

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 10:26:04 No.5626451 Report

Quoted By: >>5626777

>>5625884

Winner
>2 - Confide what you saw in Kaiba’s chatlogs to Kitabayashi

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 17:12:07 No.5626777 Report

Quoted By: >>5626779

>>5626451

There’s of course the matter of Kaiba’s chat logs.
Whether or not it’s a good idea to share that Nagata has been violating her idol’s privacy is a different matter entirely.

Nagata presses the tips of her fingers together, her lips a thin line, "Well…”

Recognizing the first signs of a juicy secret, Kitabayashi’s eyes nearly sparkle, “…Yes…?”

Nagata looks away, it feels like confessing a crime, “It’s about Kaiba-san…”

Kitabayashi gets up, “Miho, stop teasing and just tell me!” she cries, “My heart can’t take this!”

“I think a fan is trying to be lewd with Kaiba-chan!” shouts Nagata, far louder than she intentioned.
That’s perhaps a bit of an oversimplification, but that seems to be ErikoDesu55’s goal.

Kitabayashi stares for a long moment, “Yes,” she says eventually, “That’s, like, half the fanbase. Probably. No, no. More like most of the fanbase.”

“This fan has been chatting with Kaiba-san a lot and I’m not sure what to do!” says Nagata.

After taking a moment to chuckle knowingly, Kitabayashi shakes her head, “Just have her block him. Really, Miho. I know you’re a big softie, but really?”

“But I think Kaiba-san might be really into it, she’s been responding from her official account each time,” says Nagata, “And it’s a girl!”

Kitabayashi eyes widen, “No way!” she cries.

“Yes!” shouts Nagata, “I think it might’ve been a fan she met at the handshaking event! They’ve been chatting a lot ever since!”

Office chair creaking as Kitabayashi sags wide-eyed into her chair, she quiets for just a moment.
“I never figured her the type,” she says, then side-eyes Nagata, “Then again my … sense for that has been kinda off lately.”

Kitabayashi exhales noisily, “I can’t believe a timid girl like Kitabayashi would come forward and share this sort of stuff with you. The two of you must be close.”

Nagata scratches her cheek, then chuckles quietly, “Eh-heh-he, actually…”

Her face a mask of disappointment, Kitabayashi speaks, “Miho… no…”

The jig is up. Confronted with the moral crime, Nagata blushes fiercely.
”I didn’t mean to!” she cries, “At first! It was just …there on the screen.”
”After I clicked it,” she says quietly, pressing her index fingers together.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Admonished.png, 534KiB, 512x768

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 17:14:26 No.5626779 Report

Quoted By: >>5626782

>>5626777

“I can’t believe you’d spy on your own idol like that,” says Kitabayashi, shaking her head.

Nagata turns away, “Aaargh, I’m sorry!” she says.

“Now, I, well, I would spy in a heartbeat,” continues Kitabayashi, then points an accusing finger at Nagata, “But I expected better from you!”

“I knooww,” says Nagata, swaying from side-to-side under the torment of guilt, “I’m sorry!”

“How does it feel?” says Kitabayashi, “Knowing you’re as bad as me?”

Nagata’s only response is a whimper.

“On your knees,” shouts Kitabayashi, “Repent!”

The weight of sin and shame too much to bear, Nagata buckles at the knees and uses her hands to hide her face.
It must’ve been years since she was reprimanded like this.

“What has this world come to,” says Kitabayashi as she continues to admonish Nagata, “That I have to talk sense into YOU instead of the other way around.”

Kitabayashi taps a foot impatiently. “Did you really think you could do something like that and keep it a secret?” she continues, “You can’t even call in sick without feeling guilty! …And that’s when you’re actually sick!”

“I’m sorry…” mumbles Nagata.

“Say it like you mean it!” cries Kitabayashi.

Eyes closed, Nagata tilts her head upwards, “I’M SORRY!” she shouts, then returns her gaze to the office floor.

Kitabayashi sighs, “That’ll have to do,” she says, walking over to her desk, “You’re lucky you confessed this to me. Knowing you you’d try so hard to help Kaiba-chan you’d accidentally reveal that you know more than you should.”

There’s a click and a brief flash. (pic related)
Nagata’s jaw drops as she looks up to see Kitabayashi with her phone in hand.

“Don’t look at me like that,” says Kitabayashi, motioning for Nagata to get up, “You’re not getting off that easy. Consider it payment for making me keep a secret and helping you with this.”

“Help?” asks Nagata, hastily getting up and adjusting her clothing, “How?”

Kitabayashi winces, “Let’s just say I have some experience with potential scandals.”
”You said she used her official account, yeah?” she asks.

Nagata nods, “KaibaAoiOfficial”

“We’re on the clock then,” says Kitabayashi, “Social media wasn’t as big back when I was an idol, but even then marketing used my official accounts to promote events and stuff. It’s only a matter of time before somebody logs into her account and clicks on the wrong thing and sees her chat history.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 17:19:26 No.5626782 Report

Quoted By: >>5626784 >>5626807

>>5626779

Kitabayashi walks over to her computer, retrieves Kaiba’s account credentials from the company records, and locks the screen.
“First I need to see the complete chat to see how bad things really are,” she says, “We’ll use your computer to check the chat.”

Nagata fidgets, “But I thought you said looking at her private chat was bad…”

“You’ve already seen it,” says Kitabayashi, “So at the very least we should try and make something good happen because of it. Kaiba-chan’s career could be in danger.”

Kitabayashi ushers Nagata out of the room and they both exit into the hallway and set off towards Nagata’s office.

They walk with quiet determination until Nagata breaks the silence.
“…I’m gonna be seeing that picture you took a lot, aren’t I?” asks Nagata.

“Yes,” replies Kitabayashi, “Yes, you are.”

------------

Once in Nagata’s office, Kitabayashi logs into Kaiba’s account and slowly reads through the chat logs.
Kitabayashi presses her back into the chair and makes a sharp whistling noise.

“What a creep,” says Kitabayashi, wrinkling her nose, “There’s good and bad news.”
”The good news, if you wanna call it that, is that Kaiba-san is probably not a lesbian,” she says.

“How can you tell?” replies Nagata.

“She’s just very lonely, I think,” replies Kitabayashi, “I’ve seen it happen all the time. First in the all-girls school I went to and then later during my time as an idol. It happens in prisons a lot, too.”
”People get isolated away from people they would ordinarily be into and instead turn to whatever is available,” she adds, “Throw in the fact that this girl is swinging Kaiba-chan from highs to lows and I’m not surprised Kaiba-chan is so eager to please her. This EmikoDesu’s approval makes the happy chemicals flow and Kaiba’s not used to those. It probably feels special to her.”

Nagata blinks, “You seem to know a lot about this.”

Kitabayashi sighs, then frowns, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“So, eh,” tries Nagata, “When you say … during your time as an idol…?”

Kitabayashi nods, “Idols get put on a pedestal, out of reach of fans, and the only people on the pedestal with you are the other idols. Throw in the fact that they usually spend a lot of time together, are forbidden from outside relationships, and you can probably imagine where a lonely girl will turn.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 17:21:36 No.5626784 Report

Quoted By: >>5626786

>>5626782

“Kaiba-san has some new idols joining her soon,” says Nagata, “Perhaps that’ll help with the loneliness, but I do hope nothing has, er, awakened inside Kaiba-san because of this. I shouldn’t be worried for the new idols, right?”

Kitabayashi flashes a smug smile, “Even if it did, I wouldn't worry. She’s not the type to chase after anyone.”

Talking about her idol like this is honestly making Nagata uncomfortable.
”So the good news is that Kaiba-san’s just painfully lonely,” she says, “What’s the bad news?”

“It seems like they’re about to meet,” says Kitabayashi, “That’ll be the end of Kaiba-san.”
”Even the best-case scenario is horrible for her career,” she says, “What if they like each other and kiss? You think Kaiba-chan will be able to walk away from that if you demand they stop meeting?”

“K-kiss?” replies Nagata, blushing like a maiden, “They barely know each other!”

Kitabayashi raises an eyebrow, “You read the same chat I did, yes?” she says, “This EmikoDesu clearly has some kind of plan. Constantly pushing Kaiba-chan, putting ideas in her head and trying to make her think they were her own, being nice and then cold?”

The consequences are nerve-wracking. Kaiba-san doesn’t deserve any of this.
“Yui-chan, what do I do?” asks Nagata, hands shaking.

Kitabayashi taps the desk with a finger to emphasize each word, “They. Cannot. Meet.”
She watches Nagata panic in silence, not mentioning the fact that the worst-case scenario would probably end Kaiba Aoi’s career in an instant.

Arms folded tightly, Nagata paces the room, “It’s in the weekend,” she says, “If there was a special thing going on like the handshaking event then I might be able to keep her from the meeting, but there isn’t one.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 17:24:36 No.5626786 Report

Quoted By: >>5626790

>>5626784

“Then make one up,” says Kitabayashi, shrugging, “You have two new idols coming in, right? Host a 'Welcome event' party somewhere far away from this Sarutahiko Café.”

Nagata pouts, “Wouldn’t Kaiba-san simply go to the meeting afterwards?”

Kitabayashi throws up her hands, “Then plan an event that takes the entire day!” she cries, “Take all the idols, put them in a bus, then move them somewhere else. You can even take the new idol, Watase Yoko, and Ichihara Riko and say it’s a company event. All the idols get to meet each other. Huray.”

Nagata frowns, “That’d be very short notice though… and expensive…”

Kitabayashi clicks her tongue, “Tch, just call it a surprise,” she says, her face stern, “You gonna come up with some ideas yourself or just keep breaking down mine?”
She seems to be taking this all very seriously. Her usual playful attitude is nowhere to be seen.

“Ah,” says Nagata, taken aback by the sudden harsh tone, “I’m sorry…”
”It’s just…” she continues, trembling, “Yui… I’m so scared for Kaiba-san!”

Swivelling her desk chair to face Nagata, Kitabayashi's face is the picture of pity as she opens her arms wide as Nagata hurries forward to accept the hug.
”This is all part of the life of an idol,” says Kitabayashi, as she embraces Nagata tightly, “I know it’s all new to you, but this was my life for several years, y’know?”

“I don’t like it,” replies Nagata, her voice strained, “Why couldn’t this EmikoDesu just be nice?”

“That’d be even worse,” says Kitabayashi, “It would be your job to destroy that happiness. Idols can’t have relationships, remember? Being a manager can be hard, too.”

“I tried to tell Kaiba-san to be careful around people like EmikoDesu in a roundabout way after I saw the chat,” says Nagata, “I didn’t want to say that I peeked at her private chat.”

“Well,” says Kitabayashi, “I still think you should confess what you did, but I can understand that you don’t want to damage her trust. I mean, you already did, but she just doesn’t know it.”

“Yui-chan,” says Nagata, sniffling, “Not helping.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 17:31:13 No.5626790 Report

Quoted By: >>5626805 >>5626807 >>5626834 >>5626835 >>5626839 >>5626878 >>5626921 >>5627018 >>5627034 >>5627386

>>5626786

“Suppose you can tell her that somebody that has access to her business-issued account noticed the chat and made an anonymous call to HR. Which would mean it would get to me and I, with you being Kaiba-chan’s manager, would’ve told it to you,” she says.

It feels a bit like running away, but pinning the blame on a faceless employee from marketing might be an option.

“Or…” says Kitabayashi with a sly grin, “If you do the whole idol ‘welcome party’ and make Kaiba-chan miss the first meet-up, we can keep an eye on the chat and see if there’s gonna be a next one.”

Nagata tilts her head slightly, “And then…?”

Kitabayashi reaches for a notebook on the desk and holds it front of her face, her eyes barely peeking over, “Spy on them,” she says, “Or get somebody to spy on them.”

For the first time since what feels like forever, Nagata laughs, “Yui,” she says, laughing, “Spying on a date? That’s something high school girls do! I’ve never heard of adults spying on people.”

Kitabayashi raises her eyebrows, the lower part of her face still hidden by the notebook, “Exactly,” she says, “That’s because we’re a lot better at it than high schoolgirls.”
She puts the notebook away, ”They shouldn’t meet, but if we can’t prevent it, then we should at least be ready help if needed,” she adds.

That decision will have to wait until EmikoDesu55 suggest a future meet-up date.

Replacement Event on Saturday
>1 - Find a small restaurant within Tokyo to introduce your idols to each other. (-$200, very short event)
>2 - Rent a bus and take your idols on a weekend trip to Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$2,000, long event)
>3 - Rent a bus and take your idols on a day trip to an Amusement Park (-$1,000, very short event)
>4 - Rent a bus and take your idols on a day trip to a nearby beach (-$1,000, short event)
>5 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a weekend trip to an Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$5,000, long event)
>6 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a day trip to an Amusement Park (-$2,000, very short event)
>7 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a day trip to a nearby beach (-$2,000, short event)

Meta Vote on Writing
>1 - Keep using Third Person Perspective
>2 - Return to Second Person Perspective

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 63b863f527e0c3809b97f8bf82103047 (...).gif, 509KiB, 479x497

Anonymous ID:oGuCyOxX Tue 04 Apr 2023 17:47:27 No.5626805 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626790
>>2 - Rent a bus and take your idols on a weekend trip to Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$2,000, long event)
>2 - Return to Second Person Perspective
HAVE FUN KAIBA, WE'RE CLIMBING 3776 METERS

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:1TM6SofM Tue 04 Apr 2023 17:48:36 No.5626807 Report

Quoted By: >>5626960

>>5626782
I thought Yui only realized she's into women last year? Maybe she's remembering something another idol did.

>>5626790
>3 - Rent a bus and take your idols on a day trip to an Amusement Park (-$1,000, very short event)

Meta Vote on Writing
With the amount of characterization you've started to give Nagato, I think the 3rd person is better. 2nd person requires letting the players have the most input into her character. Imo.
>1 - Keep using Third Person Perspective

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:2gRzh4kL Tue 04 Apr 2023 18:09:40 No.5626834 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626790
>4 - Rent a bus and take your idols on a day trip to a nearby beach (-$1,000, short event)
>2 - Return to Second Person Perspective

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Tue 04 Apr 2023 18:09:46 No.5626835 Report

Quoted By: >>5626860

>>5626790
>2 - Rent a bus and take your idols on a weekend trip to Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$2,000, long event)
>2 - Return to Second Person Perspective

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 04 Apr 2023 18:13:48 No.5626839 Report

Quoted By: >>5626860

>>5626790
Huh. She didn't say anything we already didn't knew but I guess that having someone to spy on Kaiba was something good (albeit... unethical? imoral?) to come out of this guilt show.
Anyways
>5 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a weekend trip to an Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$5,000, long event)
Rare will be the opportunity that we'll get to speak and observe the other manager's idols. We should grab this chance while we can and extract whatever information we can get our hands on.

>2 - Return to Second Person Perspective

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Tue 04 Apr 2023 18:21:27 No.5626860 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626839
Anon’s reasoning convinced me, changing my vote, >>5626835, to
>5 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a weekend trip to an Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$5,000, long event)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Tue 04 Apr 2023 18:35:02 No.5626878 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626790
>5 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a weekend trip to an Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$5,000, long event)
Might make the idols a bit less inclined to attack us. Or make the other managers paranoid on what we’re accomplishing by inviting their idols and paying for the trip.

>2 - Return to Second Person Perspective

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:eNriiAqw Tue 04 Apr 2023 18:57:31 No.5626921 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626790
>7 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a day trip to a nearby beach (-$2,000, short event)
>2 - Return to Second Person Perspective

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Tue 04 Apr 2023 19:18:40 No.5626955 Report

Quoted By:

>“I don’t like it,” replies Nagata, her voice strained, “Why couldn’t this EmikoDesu just be nice?”
>“That’d be even worse,” says Kitabayashi, “It would be your job to destroy that happiness. Idols can’t have relationships, remember? Being a manager can be hard, too.”

How long till we encounter a case like this? I would call this foreshadowing, but considering the position of idols, it's a downright inevitability. So maybe Kitabayashi can be another source of advice when telling us how harsh or soft we must be when we face a situation like this.

On a side note, what was Kitabayashi's idol rank, A? S? Certainly was good enough that the company back in the day put its hopes and dreams on her shoulders till it broke the camel's back.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 19:21:08 No.5626960 Report

Quoted By: >>5626973 >>5626995 >>5627179

>>5626807
>I thought Yui only realized she's into women last year? Maybe she's remembering something another idol did.
It's mentioned by Yui in Week-9/10 that she first "awakened" to women, because she was battered with a purse by a angry housewife (Yukimori's wife).

Spoiler: Is using consistency "errors" to hint at a character lying / telling half-truths something I shouldn't do? Should I be instead be telling the full truth all the time?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:1TM6SofM Tue 04 Apr 2023 19:28:19 No.5626973 Report

Quoted By: >>5626986

>>5626960
>Spoiler
It's a hard question. On one hand, finding these inconsistencies is fun. On the other hand, it only works if we're can be sure it's intended and not just a mistake. I'd say try it and see how it goes.
I'll take this as a confirmation that the purse beating story was Yui joking around.

As an aside, Yui is a bro (sis) and we'll definitely have to set her up with someone who'll make her happy.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 19:40:38 No.5626986 Report

Quoted By: >>5626990 >>5626993 >>5627044

>>5626973
>I'll take this as a confirmation that the purse beating story was Yui joking around.
Not so much joking around as it did happen, but (since it was sorta already spoiled) not what made Yui walk down that path
I enjoy placing hints and stuff in the story. Most never got found. There's even info hidden in the wiki since I like alternate reality games (ARGs).
You might've noticed that the story is placed in the past. This is so I can make real-life references that foreshadow or hint stuff yet to happen.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:1TM6SofM Tue 04 Apr 2023 19:42:16 No.5626990 Report

Quoted By: >>5626993

>>5626986
You're going to make KyoAni burn, you mfer?!

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO BonesOwnerMasahikoMinami.jpg, 359KiB, 701x1000

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 19:45:21 No.5626993 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626986

Example
>>5590329

>>5626990
That'd be cruel.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 04 Apr 2023 19:48:45 No.5626995 Report

Quoted By: >>5627002 >>5627011

>>5626960
>Spoiler
If we take the 3rd person omniscient then, imo, the narrator should always be telling the full truth (i.e anything that isn't a character speech should not contain lies).

Otherwise, having not only the characters but also the narrator as a unreliable source of info would be a PITA.

On a 2nd person narrative though, since it's normally what *Nagato* feels and interprets then you could simply wave inconsistencies as Nagato misremembering things or not paying too much attention on the big picture.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:1TM6SofM Tue 04 Apr 2023 19:54:38 No.5627002 Report

Quoted By: >>5627011

>>5626995
I'm gonna disagree. Even in 2nd person narrative, I think Nagato's perception should be accurate. It's the only thing the players have to go on, and messing with it is best left to psychological thrillers rather than managing simulators.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 19:58:07 No.5627011 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626995
>If we take the 3rd person omniscient then, imo, the narrator should always be telling the full truth (i.e anything that isn't a character speech should not contain lies).
I think this is a good take. I've only had a character lie or obfuscate things in character speech thus far.

>>5627002
Back when we did 2nd person narrative (and we seem to be returning to that) I only went as far as Nagata being unclear about somebody's motivations or intentions.
I plan to stick to that.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 20:05:45 No.5627018 Report

Quoted By: >>5628109

>>5626790

I'll close the vote and keep writing before we get too off-topic.

Winner
>5 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a weekend trip to an Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$5,000, long event)
>2 - Return to Second Person Perspective

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RDxpLkDr Tue 04 Apr 2023 20:14:54 No.5627034 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626790
>5 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a weekend trip to an Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$5,000, long event)
>1 - Keep using Third Person Perspective

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Tue 04 Apr 2023 20:20:16 No.5627044 Report

Quoted By: >>5627252

>>5626986
>I enjoy placing hints and stuff in the story. Most never got found. There's even info hidden in the wiki since I like alternate reality games (ARGs).
Oh man, I have to reread the first thread and come up with crazy conclusions. Though, if there are cultural references to animation companies and such, I am totally going to miss them.

Out of curiosity, QM, will you ever adopt a name and trip?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Tue 04 Apr 2023 22:08:51 No.5627179 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626960
>Spoiler
I’m fine with it. In a case like Yui and purse lady, I can assume a story like that is either true, a joke, or an exaggeration. I figured an exaggeration, a real story that happened and she found pretty hot afterward that she now plays it up for fun.

I probably won’t get many references. Mentally I peg this in the land of “anime” and I always assume there’s a touch of the fantastical even in “ordinary” plots and places. I’m too accepting of weirdness as a result.

Like others said, we should always know what Nagato is thinking. We are Nagato after all! Everything else is up in the air.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 04 Apr 2023 22:47:17 No.5627252 Report

Quoted By: >>5627386

No more updates today. This one is taking a while.
I'll post it tomorrow.

>>5627044
>Out of curiosity, QM, will you ever adopt a name and trip?
Feel no real need to. I like the anonymity.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:SoXdvpAZ Wed 05 Apr 2023 01:02:12 No.5627386 Report

Quoted By:

>>5626790
>5 - Rent a bus and take ALL the idols on a weekend trip to an Mt. Fuji + Onsen (-$5,000, long event)

>2 - Return to Second Person Perspective
Though only if this won't temper your own enjoyment. It's no big deal -- it's just what I'm used to around these parts.

>>5627252
It does make it easier to scan for updates in archive.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 05 Apr 2023 19:44:30 No.5628109 Report

Quoted By: >>5628114

>>5627018
No update today. Sorry.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:MeCQtVXo Wed 05 Apr 2023 19:48:50 No.5628114 Report

Quoted By:

>>5628109
No worries. Thanks for the update!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 18:55:44 No.5629164 Report

Quoted By: >>5629169 >>5629207

Working on the update, but I can't find a good place to offer a question or prompt, so I just sorta keep going.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Thu 06 Apr 2023 18:57:25 No.5629169 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629164
That'll happen, sometimes! It's okay to have a long one.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 06 Apr 2023 19:34:29 No.5629207 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629164
I like those, they make the upcoming decision-making way more thoughtful since we end up having a lot to digest and consider
Keep up the good work, QM

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO img.png, 9KiB, 555x115

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:21:35 No.5629385 Report

Quoted By: >>5629389 >>5629391 >>5629392

This might take a while.

If you're that one anon that stayed up last time, don't wait up.
The post will be waiting for you in the morning.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:24:30 No.5629389 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629385
...Well then.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:25:15 No.5629391 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629385
>40159 characters
My God.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:25:27 No.5629392 Report

Quoted By: >>5629398

>>5629385

As voted on, we’ll be returning to the second person (you) perspective.
I apologize for the whiplash I caused by switching the writing style so often.
Now sit back as I slowly inflate the word count of this set of weeks even further and become painfully aware that the actual management parts of the quest are turning into a distant memory.

Pinching your chin between your fingers, you think it over for a moment.
Allowing all the idols to meet up as suggested might actually be a good idea.
It’ll allow both you and Kaiba-san to get to know the new idols in a casual environment and might even speed them through that initial awkwardness that comes with meeting new co-workers.

You look at Kitabayashi for a long moment, then smile, “You’re right, I’m sorry, Yui-chan,” you say, “These are all good ideas, well maybe not the spying…but the welcome party, at least.”

Kitabayashi places her hands in her side, “Obviously,” she says, confidence radiating from her.
She leans forward, her mouth hidden behind a hand, “Impressed?” she says, smugly, “Fallen deeply in love with me? Ready to elope?”

“Not so much, no,” you reply, “Sorry.”

Kitabayashi snaps her fingers, “Dang,” she says, “Someday.”

You sigh, then shake your head dryly, leaving the comment for what it is.
“Where do you think we should go?” you ask, “Mountains? Beach? Somewhere in the city, maybe?”

Kitabayashi shrugs, “Bit cold for the beach this time of year,” she says, “And taking a group of idols into the busiest city in the world is probably asking for trouble.”

“Mountains it is then,” you reply, “Can’t go wrong with Mt. Fuji, I suppose. Find a place with a hot spring, maybe. Just relax. You think I should ask the other managers and idols, too?”

“Miho,” says Kitabayashi with a small laugh, “You know they’re your competition, right?”She sighs, “That’s so like you, but I suppose you could. You’re all part of the same generation of idols.”

Although you understand the perks of healthy competition, you’d rather wish everybody got along.
There’s no need for bullying, backstabbing, or sabotaging each other, right?
Perhaps meeting eachother face to face will make the other idols less likely to undermine yours.

A deep, deep sigh floods out from Kitabayashi, “Aaaah…” she says dreamily, “Going with Miho-chan to a hot spring… wish I was still an idol.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:28:26 No.5629398 Report

Quoted By: >>5629403

>>5629392

You wrap your hands around your body, turning away slightly, “Geh,” you say, frowning, “I might go to HR if you keep at it like that…”

“What a coincidence,” says Kitabayashi.
She smirks, then walks over and pats an empty chair, “Nagata-san,” she says, “Please tell me everything you think this sexy, green-haired woman wants to do to you. Leave out no details.”

You roll your eyes, knowing Kitabayashi would happily continue this back and forth for another hour, you return to the earlier discussion.
“Putting that aside…” you say, with a motion of your hands.

“Putting it aside,” repeats Kitabayashi, mimicking your motion.

“Jeesh, Yui-chan,” you shout, “This is serious, y’know? I want my idols to like each other.”

“Okay, okay,” says Kitabayashi, putting up a warding gesture.

“You think, it’ll be hard to get a place at this time of year on such short notice?” you ask.

“Well, it’s not the busy season and if you simply sell out a little then it should be fine,” replies Kitabayashi.

“Sell out?” you ask.

“Just promise that you’ll ask your idols to mention the resort you end up staying at in an interview if it ever comes up,” says Kitabayashi, with a shrug of the shoulders, “Bit of marketing.”

That doesn’t sound too bad. You might even do the owners of the resort a big favour.
There’s a lot of small hot springs and hotels that dot the surroundings of the mountain and they’re all competing for the same set of tourists.
The best course of action is probably to ask your assistant, Matsui-san, to make a few calls while you ask the other managers and their idols if they feel like attending.

“Thanks, Yui-chan,” you say, “I guess I should get to work!”
You turn and make for the exit, ready to head to your own office.

“You’re gonna tell Kaiba-chan you know about her conversation, right?” asks Kitabayashi from behind.

You look over your shoulder like a deer caught in the headlights, “Y-yeah,” you say, “Eventually. Once all this trouble with EmikoDesu is over with. Yeah. I need to sorta know what she’s up to if I want to have a handle on this whole thing. As her manager, y’know? If she knows she might stick to phone calls or use a different account…”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:31:22 No.5629403 Report

Quoted By: >>5629406

>>5629398

“Having her private chats in private,” says Kitabayashi in a mocking tone, “How dare she.”
She graces you with a forgiving smile, “I’ll look away for now because this Emiko is such a creep and Kaiba-chan doesn’t know any better, but you better tell her eventually!”

“I know,” you reply sheepishly, “I will.”

“You better,” says Kitabayashi stern, holding up her phone, “Or a certain embarrassing picture is going to do it for you.”
”The Miho I know would’ve never spied like that,” she adds, her face softening, “I won’t let this job change you for the worse. What kind of friend would I be if I did?”

Knowing there’s nothing you can say to excuse what you’ve done, you simply nod and leave.
Talking to Kitabayashi did lessen your feeling of guilt somewhat, but she’s right and what you did was wrong.
You know you’re acting in the best interests of your idol, but does the goal justify the means?
Kitabayashi doesn’t seem to think so and now she’s put a timer on you to come clean.
As the saying goes: If you do something for the right reasons, you’ll eventually do it for the wrong ones.

Still, you feel like you needed that conversation. To talk about the things that have been happening.
All the uncertainty, the dubious future of your idol, the unknown intentions of this fan.
It felt like something had an iron grip on your guts.
Like a weight in your stomach that was getting heavier the more you thought about this whole development.

Talking about these problems doesn’t fix them, but they do seem a bit more manageable now.
As you walk back to your office, you feel all the stress you ware scarcely aware off begin to dissipate, and you walk a little taller.

-------

Once there you get to work.
Matsui Tomo will call to various hotels on Mt. Fuji and try and get you a reservation for eight people, three managers and five idols.
If somebody opts-out, you can always call in and make the change.

You type out a quick email to Yukimori Kyoden and Matsuno Kojiro asking if they’d like to join and to extend this invitation to their respective idols.
Some minutes later, you receive a reply from the both of them.

Matsuno Kojiro mentions that his idol, Watase Yoko, is very eager and can’t wait to join.
Kojiro himself only plans to join himself if Yukimori also joins as he would otherwise be the only man and he says he’s too young to sit in an empty room by himself and drink.

Yukimori tells you in a very polite, office-appropriate way that this invitation is annoyingly short notice.
However, he says he will talk it over with his wife this evening as he ordinarily spends the weekend with his family.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO IchiharaRiko.png, 555KiB, 512x669

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:35:19 No.5629406 Report

Quoted By: >>5629409 >>5629476

>>5629403

You glance at the clock. Is it already this late?
Suppose you can ask your new idols about their attendance in person soon enough.
Rolling your shoulder, you become aware of your fatigue.
Walking on eggshells as you try to help Kaiba without tipping her off and getting guilt-tripped by Kitabayashi is tiring.
Hopefully a coffee and something sweet out of a vending machine will help your energy levels.
You set on off toward the break room.

-------

It seems like you weren’t the only person we could use a pick-me-up.
You haven’t met in person, but a young girl with two long twin-drills is currently trying to bully the coffee machine into giving her the beverage she wants.
Though, bullying might be too strong a word for it, she’s practically pleading with the machine.

“Stop adding cream,” the girls shouts, “Please!”
The machine finishes what seems to be the wrong order and the girl grumbles.
She only notices you when she turns to pour the coffee down the drain.

Ichihara Riko is a girl that unceremoniously ended a different idol’s career.
It was chalked up to mistakes and youthful ignorance, but the fact she later skulked around Kaiba’s chatrooms tells a different story.
Naturally, you expected somebody haughty or full of themselves.

The girl in front of you is nothing like that at all, instead she’s struggling to retain eye-contact with you.
”Ah,” she says, “N-nagata-san, right?”

“Yes,” you reply, folding your arms, “If I’m not mistaken, you’re Ichihara Riko, right?”

There are no pleasantries here, you both know what she did.

She nods, then bows a little, “Nice to meet you,” she says, “I apologize for my past behaviour, I’ve been working on myself since and I’m hoping we can leave the past in the past.”

An apology won’t bring back Maki Sumi’s career, but you suppose it’s a start.
You’re not one to hold a grudge, but you can’t get yourself to simply forgive the girl – even if she seems to regret her actions.

Perhaps she’s only sorry because you caught her on her second account and tipped off her manager.
Stil, whatever the reason, she seems far more timid than anticipated.

“Just try and do better from here on out, “you say, then sigh and relax, “I look forward to working with you.”
You glance at the small stack of empty paper cups on the counter next to her, “Coffee machine giving you trouble?”

Ichihara Riko nods, “I’m trying to get an espresso with a bunch of sugar and no milk,” she says, “But the machine is being difficult…”
It’s not a big deal, but you can actually see the girl tremble.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:38:18 No.5629409 Report

Quoted By: >>5629424 >>5629836

>>5629406

You should tell her to sort it out herself. Or maybe tell her to get Maki Sumi to help her.
That’s what she deserves, right? Somebody’s lifelong dream was destroyed because of her.
But you can’t bring yourself to do it. You WANT to be petty, but you’re just not.
Maybe Kitabayashi was right – you are too soft.

“Let me help you,” you say instead, “The machine can be a pain sometimes.”

Ichihara smiles, but it’s one of relief more than happiness.

The coffee machine is an older model that should’ve been replaced years ago.
Sometimes it gets stuck on the previous drink setup and you need to perform a series of commands to reset it.
It’s one of those things that should’ve been fixed, but the work-around has become so ingrained in the long-time workers that it only trips up newer employees.

Ichihara Riko might’ve been an idol here at Matsuno Inc. for a few months, but she’s only sixteen and probably spends most of her time at school or on jobs.
Still, it’s somewhat odd that you’re only running into her for the first time now.

You explain how to reset the machine and watch her form that tell-tale frown that basically screams ‘Why hasn’t this been fixed yet?'.
But she’ll remember the workaround, will become so used to it that she forgets the initial problem, and eventually pass it on the next fresh employee.
It is the cycle.

“…And there you go,” you say, pressing the final button and watching the espresso drip into the cup.

Ichihara Riko sighs in relief, “I was worried for a while,” she says, “Watase-sama will be happy.”

The new girl? Well, you did learn today the both of them having been working together.

You press some buttons and get some coffee of your own, no sugar with a touch of milk.
“Watasa-san? That’s the new girl, right?” you ask, stirring your coffee, “Are you working together?”
Once again caught in a situation where you know but have to pretend that you don’t.
At least this is safe information now. Something you have a valid reason for knowing.
~Ah, keeping track of the all the lies and the sneaking is so tiresome.

“In a way,” replies Ichihara, then opens her mouth to say something, but instead falls silent.
"I s-should go,” she says, picking up the espresso, “Before the coffee gets cold.”

You take a sip of your coffee and nod, “Alright,” you say, “Do your best.”

Ichihara Riko seems to leave in a hurry.

Ah, you forget to invite her to the welcome party.
Oh, well. Her manager will tell her.
You finish your coffee and then get an energy bar from the break room vending machine before walking back to your office.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Stare2.jpg, 284KiB, 1000x1378

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:52:03 No.5629424 Report

Quoted By: >>5629428 >>5629476

>>5629409

Unwrapping the energy bar as you go, you take a glance at the clock in the hallway.
There’s still a fair bit of time left until your first interview. Enough time to prepare.
Putting the snack into your mouth to free your hands to open a door – you stop dead.

A girl is sitting in the waiting room close to your office.
Her posture is perfect with no clear emotions on her face.

Your eyebrow twitches as the both of you lock eyes while the energy bar is still in your mouth.
There’s almost an hour left until the interview! Why is she here already?

Slow and carefully, like a prey eyed by a predator, you close the door.
You swallow down the bite you’ve taken and toss the rest of the energy bar in the bin.
After wiping your hands on your skirt, you open the door with a smile.

“My~” you say, “Chigusa Iki-san? You’re here early.”

She picks up a small purse, gets up with practiced grace, and bows at the waist, “Nagata-san, I presume?” she says, “It is as you said, I am Chigusa Iki. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“I apologize for my early arrival,” she continues, “It seems I caught you at a bad time. I don’t mind waiting here until the scheduled time. I did not want to risk arriving late.”

You wave her concerns aside, “No need, no need, we can do the interview now,” you say, bowing as well, “I am Nagata Miho, I work as an idol manager here at the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency and will be conducting your interview.”

Chigusa Iki bows again, “Thank you for accommodating me,” she says.

You walk on towards the door of your office and hold it open for Chigusa, “Welcome to the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency,” you say as Chigusa walks through the door.

Chigusa Iki bobs her head as she walks through the door, “Thank you for having me.”
She takes in the chair opposing yours at the desk.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:53:03 No.5629428 Report

Quoted By: >>5629431 >>5629576

>>5629424

“Thank you for this opportunity,” she says, “I understand from Matsui-san that I’ve already been accepted as a prospective idol and this interview is to get to know each other and help you put together a plan for my idol journey, yes?”

“Eh, yes,” you say, “That’s correct.”
The overly formal speech by a sixteen-year-old is throwing you off a bit.
Perhaps it’s just nerves. Surely, nobody can be like this all the time.

“That is a relief,” answers Chigusa Iki, “I appreciate the clarification.”
Her face is still as impassive as ever.

You tap away at the keyboard for a short moment to print the list of questions you had prepared the prior day.
“Can I get you anything?” you ask as you prepare to head out retrieve the sheet at the printer.

“A cup of tea would be nice,” replies Chigusa, “Thank you.”

You return a short while later with the tea and the print-out.

“Thank you,” says Chigusa Iki as you put down the cup.

If there’s an informal record for saying “Thanks” then Chigusa might just hit it during this interview.

“Let’s get right into it,” you say, pouring over the list of questions.
“Out of all career options, why idol?” you ask with a questioning hand, “Surely there are more dependable career options?”

“Growing up idols have always granted me much joy,” replies Chigusa, her face not showing any of that joy as she speaks about it.
“I’ve aspired to be like them for as long as I remember. I’ve taken dance lessons, seen vocal coaches, practiced the violin, and meticulously followed a healthy diet combined with exercises targeting muscles most necessary for a career as an idol.”

“I’d like to provide future generations with the same enjoyment I had, to be there for them even if nobody else is,” she adds, “Being an idol is less a career to me than a calling. This is the only thing I want.”

“~Eh?” you say, somewhat charmed by the straightforward response, “I suppose your parents were taking you to dance classes all the way through elementary school?”

“My grandparents,” corrects Chigusa, “But yes, they have and I am very grateful to them. Everything I am now I owe to them.”

“I see,” you say with a small smile, “Be sure to tell them that!”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:54:04 No.5629431 Report

Quoted By: >>5629432 >>5629836

>>5629428

Chigusa nods, “I do. Daily. However, my grandparents are very sensitive to praise and have to spend at least several minutes recovering from a compliment. So, I try to spare them somewhat.
“My grandfather in particular will pretend to get mad whilst blushing fiercely."

Was that a joke or just a statement?
She managed to say it without a hint of emotion on her face.
Probably just a statement then?

“Good, good,” you say, spying at the next question."
”What kind of people would you say you like or dislike?” you ask.

Chigusa’s eyes roll up while her head stays in place, like she’s trying to stare at her own eyebrows.
”I like,” she says, after thinking it over for a moment, “Hard-working, responsible people that keep their word and I dislike people that are not like that and don’t keep their word.”

Well.That’s a given. Moving on.

“Okay,” you say, “So, I noticed on your audition file that something went wrong during your audition, can you expand on that?”

For the first time, the mask break.
A wince that lasts barely a second. Almost a twitch.
However, she quickly recovers, though exhales heavily before answering.

“My intention was to play my violin and sing during the audition,” she says, “But it appeared that all the time I spent practicing wore down a string and it snapped during the audition.”
She swallows, “I had to take a moment to recover myself and settle for just doing vocals.”

It was probably a bit more severe than “taking a moment” considering the talent scouts put “Defeatist” down as her observed personality trait.

“Well, setbacks and accidents happen,” you try to say as casually as you can, your finger browsing the print-out for the next question, “All we can do is make the best of it.”

“I understand your point, but I disagree,” says Chigusa, “The accident during the audition was a failing on my part.I take responsibility. I failed to consider the wear extensive use would inflict on my instrument.”
She suddenly stands at bows at the waist, “I have my inexperience to blame. I apologize. I should've been able to provide a greater performance.”

You put forward a set of warding hands, “It’s okay,” you say, throwing in a chuckle, “Let’s move on.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:55:05 No.5629432 Report

Quoted By: >>5629435

>>5629431
Chigusa nods and sits back down, “I apologize for acting out.”

You clear your throat before speaking, “What do you expect from Matsuno Inc. during your time here?”

“I hope for your cooperation in making me the best idol I can be and to be brutal and honest with any criticism you may have,” says Chigusa.

Maybe not too brutal and honest you think to yourself.

You nod, “We will aid you to the best of our ability every step of the way!”

“Thank you,” replies Chigusa, bowing slightly.

“Any hobbies?” you say.

“I enjoy playing the violin, dancing, and signing,” replies Chigusa.

“No, I meant like things outside of practice,” you say.

Chigusa cocks her head slightly, confused, “I only do those things and study.”
This is the most emotion she has shown thus far.

“But, like, friends and stuff?” you ask somewhat carefully.

“I am part of a study group,” says Chigusa, “We do homework together and practice for exams.”
She takes her phone out of purse and shows you a chat log of this study group like it is supposed to serve as evidence that she has friends.
It’s a long list of the chat group leader stating a time and place to study and the others saying variations of Yes.

You give her a quick smile and browse the question list.
There’s stuff on here like if she’s willing to put work before pleasure, but it’s become clear that those are the same thing to this girl.
There’s only one real question left to ask her.

“Sadly, an idol’s career doesn’t last forever,” you say, “Have you given any thought or planned towards what you’ll be doing once this part of your life is over? Many idols successfully combine their career with college.”

Chigusa is quiet for a long moment.
”I haven’t thought about it,” she says, “This is all I want.”

“But if you HAD to pick something?” you say.

“I don’t want to think about it,” says Chigusa, “Having a back-up plan feels like planning for failure.”

“Humour me?” you say, almost pleading.

There’s a pause again.
”I suppose I would try to make myself useful,” says Chigusa, “A position where people depend on me. Teacher maybe?”

“I see,” you say, “Thank you.”

The both of you spend a good half hour talking.
Most of it explaining how Matsuno Inc. operates.
How jobs work, where she’ll be expected to go for practice, and who the other idols are that you manage.
Plenty those sorts of things before you arriving at the end of your interview.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 22:56:06 No.5629435 Report

Quoted By: >>5629453 >>5629581

>>5629432

“One final question,” you say.
”You are aware that romantic relationships are forbidden as an idol?” you say, “It’s all smoke and mirrors, but you have to seem accessible. Allow the fans to dream.”

“I understand,” says Chigusa, stoically, “I have no interest in relationships, they cut into practice time.”

“…I s-see,” you say, then try to laugh it off, “Well, that makes my job easier!”
You extend a hand over the desk towards Chigusa, “Thank you for time and, once again, welcome to the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency. Matsui-san will provide you with a business email and get you settled.”

“Thank you,” replies Chigusa as she shakes your hand, “I look forward to working with you.”

“As do I,” you say, then remember something important, “There will be a welcome party this weekend. Lasting from Saturday into Sunday."
"We’ll take a bus from Matsuno HQ to a hotspring in the mountains so you can spend some time and get to know your co-workers and fellow idols.” you add.

Chigusa nods, “Is it mandatory?”

Not the response you were hoping for, but then again it was short notice.
”No,” you say, “Just a friendly get together.”

“I suppose it would be wise to attend,” says Chigusa, “Early-stage networking is vital to one’s career.”
She reaches into her purse and pulls out a paper agenda and pen, before flipping through the pages.
”I’ll adjust,” she says, using a pen to scratch out some stuff and scribble it down elsewhere, “I’ll be there.”

Chigusa gets up, walks to the door, bows, then exits.

You sigh and glance at the clock. More than an hour till the next one.
“At least I have plenty of time to get ready for the that one…” you say to the empty room.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO EnatsuMariLate2.jpg, 394KiB, 1000x1500

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:09:18 No.5629453 Report

Quoted By: >>5629455 >>5629476 >>5629836

>>5629435

The time of the next meeting arrives…and goes.
Five extra minutes pass before you hear the footfalls of somebody dashing down the hallway.
The door swings open wildly and reveals a dishevelled looking girl with sweat pouring down the sides of her face.

“I AM HERE!” cries the girl, “DID I MAKE IT?”

You glance at the clock. She’s late.
This probably wouldn’t fly with some of the other managers.
Good thing for her that you’re not those managers.

Judging by her state she clearly made an effort to try and arrive on time, that’s enough.
”Close enough,” you say with a smile.

The girl squeezes her eyes tight and pumps both hands into the air, “YATAA!”
Then collapses to her knees immediately after, panting in exhaustion.

“Ena-tsu. Maa…ha…ri,” she manages between gasps, “Inter…view.”

You send a quick message to Matsui-san to ask her to bring some water.
Afterwards, you get up and walk towards Enatsu Mari, “Are you okay?” you ask, “What happened?”

Still kneeling on the ground with her legs bent outward, she lets out a self-deprecating chuckle.
”I was like watching some videos at home and then I was late,” she says, lightly tapping herself on the side of head with a fist, “Eh-he?”

“Only watched a few, but time went sooooooo fast” she says, nodding knowingly.
Clearly, it’s the fault of the videos for being too entertaining.

Now that she seems to have caught her breath, she continues.
”So I run out of the house, I got on my bike, right?” she says, “Pedal. Pedal. Pedal. To the bus station!”
She seems to be pausing for dramatic effect, “But then I missed the bus!”
”I go by bus, to train, to here,” she says, she seems to talk faster as the story goes on, “But no bus, so instead I pedal, pedal, pedal to the train station.”

It’s honestly exhausting just hearing about it.

“But THEN,” continues Enatsu Mari, “Panic! I left my train card and money at home!”
She clutches her head like she’s reliving the moment, “If I go back I’ll be late for real!”
”Instead,” she says, smirking like mankind’s smartest scientists couldn’t have come up with the idea, “I decide I can just get on my bike again and ride here!”

You lean back a little and glance over your shoulder at her audition form.
Rough guess places Enatsu Mari’s house over twenty miles from here, at the outskirts of the city.
How hard did she pedal? What time did she leave from home?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:10:31 No.5629455 Report

Quoted By: >>5629457

>>5629453

Matsui Tomo enters and hands the girl a glass of water which she empties in three large gulps.
”Pwoah!” she says after finishing the drink, then explains after seeing Matsui’s raised eyebrow, “You gotta make the noise to let people know it tasted good! Thank you!”

“No problem at all,” replies Matsui.

You gesture towards Matsui Tomo, “This is Matsui-san, she’s the person who spoke to you on the phone and will be working closely with you.”

“Waaaah,” says Enatsu Mari, then quickly bows, like three bows in rapid succession, “I was very happy when you called, Matsui-san! Everybody at home was very happy for me. We even celebrated! With cake and everything!”

“My, how nice of them,” says Matsui, reaching for the cup, “I’ll go and get you some more water and then get out of your way, okay?”

“Okay!” says Enatsu Mari, bowing at the departing figure of Matsui, “Thank you, Matsui-san!”

You wave a hand towards the chair in front of you desk, “Please, take a seat, Enatsu-san.”

Enatsu makes a small sound of acknowledgement and drops herself into the seat, “Woah,” she says, “These are crazy comfortable. The office looks nice, too!”

You sit down in your own chair, “Thank you, Enatsu-san,” you say, “My name is Nagata Miho. I will be your manager here at the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency.”

“Ah, nice to meetcha!” she says, finishing the sentence with a smile that could force sunshine into a rainy day, “I never had a manager before!”

Her cheerful attitude is somewhat contagious and you find yourself smiling, “Well, that’s a relief. Won’t have to worry about somebody from your past making me look bad by comparison.”

“Eeeeh~” says Enatsu Mari, somewhat disappointed, “Don’t say that Nagata-chan! I’m sure you’ll do great!”

“-chan? Huh? Why, I’m feeling younger by the minute,” you say somewhat teasingly.

“I’m not allowed to?” asks Enatsu Mari, she says as she cocks her head slightly.
You wicked person. Extinguishing her bright attitude like that makes you feel like a criminal.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” you say defensively.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:11:59 No.5629457 Report

Quoted By: >>5629458 >>5629584 >>5649445

>>5629455

Enatsu blasts you with a wide-eyed smile, “You can just call me by my first name if you like,” she says.
“Mari or Mari-chan.It means truth and reason, but depending on the kanji it can also mean clever, village, and….” she adds.
She pauses to place her hands together in the shape of a heart, “Love!”

A sense of relief that washes over you. For once it doesn’t have to be a struggle.
It feels like all you have to do is place this girl in front of an audience and she’ll become an idol all by herself.

However, there’s still a list of questions to get through, so you pull yourself together.
You utter a small cough to clear your throat and reach for the printed sheet, “I see,” you say, “Well, Mari-chan. Are you ready for some questions.”

“Yes!” she says, then begins to frown and look serious as if this is something she’ll be graded on.

“Why did you want to become an idol?” you ask.

“It seems fun, no?” she says, like the answer is a given, “They get to do LOADS of different stuff and go all these places and have fans and get to sing and get to dance and star in funny commercials. Like the one with the panda that sells gummies!”

“And if you couldn’t be an idol? What would you do then?” you ask.

Enatsu Mari frowns and folds her arms as she thinks it over, “Probably work with animals. Or on the beach. Or work on the beach with animals. Like a sea zookeeper. My brother says I should keep trying hard at the track and field club, so probably that as well.”

“That’s a lot of things,” you reply.

“It’s no fun to do only one thing!” shouts Enatsu Mari, “I wanna do loads of things. That’s why idol is such a fun thing to do. You get to model, do cool poses, sing, dance, concerts…”
She’s counting off things on her fingers as the list goes on.

“I see, I see,” you say, “It does seem very fun, doesn’t it?”

“It does!” replies Enatsu Mari, fists raised up in front of her chest in excitement.

You glance at your sheet for the next question.
There’s one on hobbies.”So, what else do you do for fun?” you ask.

“I like to ride my bike, practice with the track and field club, play with my little brother and sisters, visit friends, go to the playground with them, walk our big dog, Hancho…”

“Hancho?” you ask, interrupting her, “As in group or squad leader?”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:13:01 No.5629458 Report

Quoted By: >>5629461

>>5629457

Enatsu Mari nods eagerly, “Uhm!” she says, then moves her hands in a wide arc above her head, “He’s a biiiig dog. When we were younger me and my siblings were only allowed to go somewhere if Hancho came with! We had to follow him. He’s the leader! Hancho!”

Taking a brief moment to entertain the mental image of a big dog leading a line of happy children, you smile.

“What kind of dog is he?” you ask.

“A Great Pyrenees with a big fluffy, white coat!” says Enatsu Mari.

“He sounds like a great dog,” you say, “Any other hobbies?”

Enatsu Mari shrugs, “Just fun things?” she says, “I watch funny videos on the internet sometimes. I play games on my phone, but you can’t play those very long because you have to have hearts to play and those run out super quick and if you wanna play more then you have to pay and I dont have much money so I go outside instead and play with sticks with my younger brothers and sisters. I have to do chores sometimes, too, but those aren’t very fun.”

You nod, “Sometimes things aren’t very fun, but need to be done anyway.”

Enatsu Matsui sighs, “Yeah, like homework and stuff. If I don’t do it then my brother gets angry with me, so I do it. And chores aren’t very fun, but I get to play after and it makes that seem more fun, so it’s fine – I guess.”

“You mentioned your brothers and sisters a lot, but what about your parents, what do they do?” you ask.

“My dad’s a fisherman!” she says, pride radiating from her, “But that means he’s away from home a lot. My mom does cleaning at people’s houses. They both work hard so I feel like I have to work hard, too! They usually get home late, so we take turns cooking dinner.”

“But they’re good parents, right?” you ask.

“The best!” she practically shouts, once again a picture of joy.

You make a mental note to ease Kaiba-san into meeting this girl.
Kaiba-san’s social battery would drain within a minute and she’d probably develop an inferiority complex on the spot.

“Two more questions,” you say, “What kind of people do you like?”

“Fun people?” she says, “People that wanna go to places and have fun. I don’t like being inside. Like when it rains I mostly play games on my phone or watch videos.”

“What kind of fun things do you do with your friends?” you ask.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:16:01 No.5629461 Report

Quoted By: >>5629467

>>5629458

She takes a moment to adjust her seat, actually opting to put her legs in the lotus position on the chair.
“Well, we used to go and catch bugs and go into the forest,” she says, then her excitement dims somewhat, “Ah, but these days they want to shop for expensive clothes and eat cake in cafés and those are expensive, so I can’t go…”

Having a big, loving family does come with its own set of challenges.
Expensive ones. Everyone needs clothes, food, school supplies, the list goes on.
Shinzo Abe rip salutes this family for single-handedly propping up the birth rate.

“Ehehe,” you laugh nervously, not sure how to respond, “You’ll get paid a salary soon, Mari-chan. So if you keep up the good work you’ll be able to join them as much as you want.”

“Uwaaa,” shouts Enatsu Mari, “That’s right. I get to make my own money.”

“Yes, yes,” you say, somewhat relieved she cheered up again, “Now the last question.”

“An idol belongs to her fans,” you say, “So, you can’t get in any romantic relationships. It’ll be dangerous for your career if you do.”

Enatsu Mari’s face goes beet-red in the span of seconds.
She presses index fingers together carefully, “T-that’s okay,” she says, “I don’t have anyone I like right now anyway.”

That’ll have to do for now.
You lean over the desk with an extended hand, “Very well,” you say, “Welcome to the Matsuno Inc.Idol Agency! I look forward to working with you!”

Enatsu Mari takes the hand and shakes it eagerly, “I’ll work hard!”

“Actually,” you say, “There’s a surprise. This weekend we plan to go on a company trip with all the idols and their managers. We go to a hotspring near Mt. Fuji. The bus leaves from Matsuno HQ and the trip will take the entire weekend. A short holiday.”

Enatsu Mari explodes out of her seat, “Waaaaaaah,” she shouts, “Being an idol is great!”

“I’ll take it you’ll come?” you ask in confirmation.

“For sure, for sure!” says Enatsu Mari.

Afterwards, you direct Enatsu Mari to Matsui-san so she can get settled in.

Once she leaves you sag in your seat.
”Ah~, I wonder if I ever had that much energy,” you say, exhausted, “I regret tossing out that energy bar…”

It’s been a long day and you’re grateful you get to go home at the end of it.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:17:46 No.5629467 Report

Quoted By: >>5629468 >>5629474 >>5629476 >>5629491 >>5629598 >>5629632 >>5629641 >>5629751 >>5629836 >>5629971 >>5630283

>>5629461
April 17, 2015 (Friday)

There’s only one day left until the company trip.
You receive confirmation from Yukimori Kyoden that he’ll attend after discussing the matter with his wife.
Which means that Matsuno Kojiro will also be in attendance.
Matsui-san has managed to acquire both a bus and eight reservation in a nearby hotel with adjoining hot spring.

Decision
There’s nothing much left to do until the company trip.
So, this is a free space where you can suggest whatever you want that Nagata Miho might want to do on this final day before the trip.
She can investigate stuff, talk to people, whatever you want.

>Write-in
>Skip to company trip

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:19:07 No.5629468 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629467
No further updates today.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:23:15 No.5629474 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629467
I don't know what to suggest, but I think this could be an opportunity to either delve into our manager's background stuff like family, or the company's history; they got to have some skeletons in the closet, which can be learned from.

Gloomy girl, genki girl, and groomed girl.
Kaiba will either crumble before these two or find some backbone. These gals are basically opposites of her in some respects.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:25:22 No.5629476 Report

Quoted By: >>5629496

>>5629406
>Riko's pic
okay anons, I can fix her... if evil why cute?
>>5629424
>>5629453
One hell of a trio, huh. A Kantian girl, laser focused on her goal letting zero emotions take over her, the energy of about 300 suns inside of one highschool girl and Kaiba, the "call of the void" personified. This group sure is bound to succeed, no doubt about it.

>>5629467
>Skip to company trip
Not much that can be done, unless we want to spy on Kaiba's chat again but I *guess* that doesn't matter rn since the trip is confirmed

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:32:16 No.5629491 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629467
>Sit with Kaiba and go over a bit about the others and what you think they (or she) needs help with. Chigusa will take failure harder than she takes fan interactions, and… Kaiba will need to put up with the inexhaustible ray of sunshine that is Mari.
>Work with Marketing and Kaiba on initial drafts of how to market the other two idols and fit them into an idol group. Mari playing opposite of Kaiba is a no-brainer. Chigusa… will be harder.
Given how exposed she’s been to marketing, I envision that’s a good cuture career for her after she has enough of being an idol. May as well see if any of it has stuck, and encourage it if it has.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:34:03 No.5629496 Report

Quoted By: >>5629500 >>5629545 >>5629589 >>5629836

>>5629476
>unless we want to spy on Kaiba's chat again
The wiki contains a chat log that I update each passing quest day, but acting on the information will mean you spied again

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Thu 06 Apr 2023 23:37:07 No.5629500 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629496
>The new chat log
Red flags everywhere with that gal.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 00:05:40 No.5629545 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629496
>new chat log
Holy shit. I'm glad that Kaiba isn't having any of that bullshit anymore.
Alright, the yakuza plan might not be a joke decision anymore.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 07 Apr 2023 00:44:28 No.5629576 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629428
>I’ve taken dance lessons...
From her stats I can tell that singing is what she likes the most!! And she has tried her hardest on it and that she is frustrated about it. We have to point her to the right direction, which is dancing. Of course, she can definitely complement the two, but she needs a little nudge in order to feel more fulfilled.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 07 Apr 2023 00:49:08 No.5629581 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629435
I wanna transfer Chigusa over to Yukimori already

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1654340269911516.png, 52KiB, 285x380

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 07 Apr 2023 00:53:17 No.5629584 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629457
>She pauses to place her hands together in the shape of a heart, “Love!”
>pic related

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 01:07:48 No.5629589 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629496
>chat log
Wait. QM, I have a question: Kaiba sent a screenshot of the email that contained the invitation to the idol trip. Does the email have any information on where we will be staying? Emiko might try something stupid, like... showing up there.

Yeah I know that I might be paranoid but this might be a security hazard not only to Kaiba but for everyone else - if Emiko leaks this shit tons of fans might try to storm the hotel trying to see their idols.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 07 Apr 2023 01:12:47 No.5629598 Report

Quoted By: >>5629836

>>5629467
>>Write-in
>Go shopping for something cute to wear during the trip. Maybe invite your Assitant or Kaiba. Or meet up with a surprise male character.
We gotta de-stress before the onsen, even though it's supposed to be relaxing... It won't be relaxing amirite... what's best for relaxing besides wasting money!? Nothing!!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 07 Apr 2023 01:16:08 No.5629600 Report

Quoted By:

>Chat log
Holy shit Emiko has company's e-mail now... now THAT will be bothersome

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Fri 07 Apr 2023 01:27:34 No.5629613 Report

Quoted By:

Y’all are apparently the Yui to my Nagato. I’m not going to look at the chat logs unless Kaiba shares them.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Fri 07 Apr 2023 02:12:57 No.5629632 Report

Quoted By: >>5629641 >>5629672

>>5629467
>Spy on chat logs
>Go shopping for something cute to wear during the trip.
>>Invite Kaiba. Discuss the other idols and prepare her for what they're like, as wella s how she's doing

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Fri 07 Apr 2023 02:23:15 No.5629641 Report

Quoted By: >>5629672

>>5629632
>>5629467
Having read the chatlogs, it's now time, I think, to say "hey, I was alerted to some activity on your official account... Can we talk about this 'EmikoDesu'?
>Talk with Kaiba about her manipulative 'fan'

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Fri 07 Apr 2023 03:14:26 No.5629672 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629632
>>5629641
If we’re going to talk the chat logs, ask Yui to read them for us and summarize them instead of peeping ourself. It’s not actually better, but Nagato should feel less guilty over it.

Besides, not knowing the details makes it easier for us to speak like we didn’t read the logs directly. We asked for details at first, got them, then got too squeamish and had HR summarize the latest logs.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 07 Apr 2023 03:43:56 No.5629689 Report

Quoted By: >>5629700 >>5629751 >>5629753 >>5629756 >>5629836 >>5629843 >>5629859 >>5629971

You guys don't understand what makes Kaiba tick. There are many emotions she doesn't understand and is barely experiencing them now, but there is a simple trick that will make everything fall back in place.
>Kaiba, I got a message from tech and they told me they detected suspicious activity in your account. It's company policy to avoid looking at chatlogs unless they have to, but they must see what files are being sent and recieved. They saw that you messaged a picture to EmikoDesu55 that contained company information

BOOM we are not saying we snooped on her mails, we are saying we DON'T snoop into conversations AND we are saying that she made a mistake that may endarger the jobs of both of us. She will feel guilty and it will be justified, since it was a wrong she should've avoided. She knows that sending sensitive stuff is wrong but she doesn't think that messaging is wrong. This way she will associate talking to fans with trouble, so she will avoid it. In fact, the best scenario and the one that is likely to happen is that she will block EmikoDesu55 by her own volition.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 04:00:37 No.5629700 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629689
>Greentext
I actually like this idea because... It makes sense and unironically might happen since Kaiba DID share sensitive company information that could even be a breach of contract. I'm changing my vote to your write-in.
Supporting.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zsyHxDGC Fri 07 Apr 2023 05:22:47 No.5629751 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629467
Supporting
>>5629689

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Fri 07 Apr 2023 05:24:35 No.5629753 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629689
+1, shift blame onto the imaginary HR technician.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Fri 07 Apr 2023 05:40:23 No.5629756 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629689
>+1
This will escalate if we don't do something soon.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 08:22:33 No.5629836 Report

Quoted By: >>5629864

>>5629409
Yeesh. Watase seems to have made Riko her slave. We will need to protect our idols.

>>5629431
That's almost too much kuudere! Did we hire an alien interface?

>>5629453
Are those weird tan lines significant or just an AI artifact?

>>5629496
>The new chat log
It's nice to see Kaiba isn't completely caught into Emiko's web. But holy fuck, that fucking fucker.
We need to be careful she or her ally Keyszzz don't show up at the resort. Note to self: ask Matsui to find some akuza for us

>>5629467
Supporting >>5629598

>>5629689
It's not the first time Kaiba has sent images to Emiko (she sent photos). This will imply the IT read the chat before. Also is spreads the web of lies wider and increases the chances something goes wrong. I'm not sure this is a good idea.
The best thing, I think, would be to tell her that we logged into her account for some legit reason, like some announcement.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 08:31:03 No.5629843 Report

Quoted By: >>5629993

>>5629689
And why it's not a good idea: sending photos to fans should be against the company policy, so if the IT reacts to images they should've told us long ago. If Kaiba catches up on that, she'll know we lied to her.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ihd6pZ6B Fri 07 Apr 2023 08:58:28 No.5629859 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629689
+1 support

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 09:13:30 No.5629864 Report

Quoted By: >>5629866 >>5629882 >>5629905 >>5629913 >>5629943 >>5629994 >>5630045

>>5629836
>Are those weird tan lines significant or just an AI artifact?
They are supposed to be "light reflections", but even after spending ten minutes in GIMP I couldn't manage to find a nice way to blur them well enough to make them seem like normal art's rendering.
Forgive me, it was past midnight at the time and I was weak.

>Or meet up with a surprise male character.
This actually brings to mind a question I had of my own.

Should Matsuno Inc. exclusively represent female idols?
This doesn't mean male characters / idols won't be part of the story.

Those male characters / idols would simple originate from outside sources like other talent agencies and be met during jobs and the like.
Or ...any other random place, I guess. They're just guys, not some kind of exotic creature.

Going by what Kitabayashi Yui has said, Matsuno Inc. (that female idols have nobody to romantically turn to but each other) has only managed female idols thus far, but perhaps there'll be / has been a policy change.

Meta Decision
>1 - Matsuno Inc. should only represent female idols
>2 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols, but Nagata Miho only manages female idols (Male idols are a new audition)
>3 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols and male idols should show up in Nagata's audition results. (Male idols are a new audition)
>4 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols, but Nagata Miho only manages female idols (Male idols have been represented for a number of years)
>5 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols and male idols should show up in Nagata's audition results. (Male idols have been represented for a number of years)

With both option 2 and 3 male idols will begin appearing in the office.
They're simply represented by other managers not mentioned in the story thus far.
I should probably also share a map of the full layout of the building.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 09:15:12 No.5629866 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629864
>(Male idols are a new audition)
audition > addition

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:FA38lgyJ Fri 07 Apr 2023 09:41:02 No.5629882 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629864
>3 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols and male idols should show up in Nagata's audition results. (Male idols are a new audition)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Fri 07 Apr 2023 10:39:22 No.5629905 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629864
>3
New market baybeee!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:2gRzh4kL Fri 07 Apr 2023 10:52:41 No.5629913 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629864
>3 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols and male idols should show up in Nagata's audition results. (Male idols are a new audition)
I am for more drama

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 11:34:15 No.5629943 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629864
Hmmm
I'm all in for male idols, but I don't know if having the perms to manage male idols would make sense business wise. Like... If I were a CEO, I'd give the job of new market penetration to an experienced manager and not a newly promoted one.

Well, I'll be voting

>2 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols, but Nagata Miho only manages female idols (Male idols are a new audition

But I'm curious to see this new addition to the quest/company

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 12:20:30 No.5629971 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629467
This vote is closed
Since I wanna write the new part.
I'll include stuff with a bunch of support like >>5629689
and other stuff I saw suggested that I simply like

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 07 Apr 2023 13:08:15 No.5629993 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629843
>Ah, yeah I knew about the selfie but I let it slide because I am such a good manager :3c
However, I want my lie to say that the problem is the content of the pictures, not that idols are forbiddent to chat with fans nor send images.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 07 Apr 2023 13:09:31 No.5629994 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629864
>5 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols and male idols should show up in Nagata's audition results. (Male idols have been represented for a number of years)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 14:30:14 No.5630025 Report

Quoted By: >>5630283

Winner
>3 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols and male idols should show up in Nagata's audition results. (Male idols are a new audition)

It'll be a while before this is pops up in the quest though since I've just introduced a bunch of new characters.
I'm thinking after the next performance review. Something along those lines.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Hate.jpg, 23KiB, 480x360

Anonymous ID:Z1fjUdK0 Fri 07 Apr 2023 14:50:22 No.5630032 Report

Quoted By: >>5630035 >>5630038 >>5640126

You fuckers really voted for Miho to be hetero. I haven't felt such anger for a long time.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 15:01:40 No.5630035 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630032
Into the bodybag you go.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO images.jpg, 13KiB, 244x207

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 15:06:00 No.5630038 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630032
You were too slow, yurianon. One thread too late.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Fri 07 Apr 2023 15:29:17 No.5630045 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629864
>2 - Matsuno Inc. should represent both male and female idols, but Nagata Miho only manages female idols (Male idols are a new audition)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 20:33:24 No.5630283 Report

Quoted By: >>5630285

>>5630025
>>5629467

You stare at the clock: 9:40 AM
The mere idea that you could be soaking in a hot spring at this time tomorrow is enough to bring a smile to your face.

There’s not a lot to do at the moment.

Both Chigusa Iki and Enatsu Mari are starting next week so there’s little you can do for them.
You’ve already talked things over with Matsui-san earlier today that it’s probably for the best to have the both of them start with inhouse training.
Enatsu Mari will be working on her vocals and Chigusa Iki is getting a make-over.

You haven’t really decided on an image for the both of them or discussed such things with marketing, but you’ll get to that later.
You look at the clock again: 9:41 AM.
Geh! Why is it going so slow! Why isn’t it tomorrow yet?

Kaiba should be at her marketing meeting now.
After yesterday’s talk with Kaiba-san you can only hope she followed your advice.

You glance left and right in your private office. Nobody is here, obviously. You’re thinking of spying again…
Even your own body knows it’s a bad thing to do!
Your shoulders went up when you checked if anybody was looking!
You sneaky devil! But you have to know…right?

Just a final peek to see if Kaiba-chan followed your advice!
You won’t make it a habit! You swear!

Slowly, your mouse cursor hovers towards “Kaiba’s Chatlogs” on your desktop…
The door opens and you jolt up like a teen caught watching a dirty video.

“I got you some coffee,” says the smiling face of Matsui-san, both hands carrying a cup, “…Everything okay?”

“Yes, yes,” you say, “Of course, A-hahaha. You just scared me, that’s all.”

Matsui-san raises an eyebrow, “Well, I’d normally knock, but…” she says, nodding down at both of her filled hands.
She places a cup on your desk.

“It’s fine, fine,” you say, “Thank you, Matsui-san.”

Matsui walks back to the door but idles in the door opening where the look of concern she had slowly shifts into a wry smile.
”Alright then,” she says. The door closes.

You sigh.

Kaiba-san was right. Matsui-san is, in a weird way, like a cat.
But if Matsui-san is a cat, then what does that make you?
A struggling bird doing their best to escape while the cat watches you squirm?
You shake your head. Begone thoughts. The guilt is messing with your head.

Matsui-san is your assistant! Stop seeing enemies everywhere!

“Just this one last time,” you say, double-clicking on the Kaiba’s chat logs.
There’s a bunch of new messages. You swallow and lean in towards the monitor a bit.
Although a good try, making yourself seem small and inconspicuous like that does nothing other than making you seem even more shady.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 20:34:30 No.5630285 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630283

== April 15, 2015 (Wednesday)

[11:08] @EmikoDesuu55: Heyyy, Kaiba-chan
[11:08] @EmikoDesuu55: I just got off the phone with my part-time job and I should be good to meet up this Saturday at Sarutahiko Café. 
[11:10] @EmikoDesuu55: knowing you you’re probably nervous and stuff, but I just wanna help you make a better show okay? the show might fall apart at this rate, all my friends say so. Like I said those marketing people are just hiding the truth from you, they don’t want you to know how bad things are. Sharing our suggestions with them won’t help, but don’t worry -- we’ll fix it together~~ (ㅅ´ ˘ `) wear something nice (no sweaters)
[12:10] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Emiko-chan, good news! The stream is actually not doing bad at all. 
[12:11] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I saw the graphs myself and everything, it’s actually going really good
[12:12] @KaibaAoiOfficial: So we won’t have to meet up to discuss plans anymore, everything is ok!
[12:55] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Emiko-chan? Hello?
[16:44] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Was a good stream today, yeah :D?
[17:08] @KaibaAoiOfficial: talk to you tomorrow maybe? 

[…0 messages not shown.]

== April 16, 2015 (Thursday)

[12:17] @EmikoDesuu55: (ノдヽ) what did I tell you about the marketing people…
[12:18] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Hello, Emiko-chan <3 
[12:18] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Manager-san showed me. I can see the stats myself now
[12:17] @EmikoDesuu55: <3
[12:17] @EmikoDesuu55: oh, that’s good to hear, are you okay to meet up Saturday?
[12:18] @KaibaAoiOfficial: actually… I don’t think meeting up is a good idea (ーー;)
[12:18] @EmikoDesuu55: ???????
[12:19] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Turns out the live vlog is doing fine… and, well…
[12:19] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Manager-san reminded me of something scary that happened…
[12:19] @KaibaAoiOfficial: with a fan, I mean…
[12:20] @EmikoDesuu55: I see… you think I’m like that?
[12:20] @EmikoDesuu55: Kaiba-chan, I used a day off and everything…
[12:20] @EmikoDesuu55: we’ve been talking for so long, even on the phone and everything…
[12:20] @EmikoDesuu55: and you still think of me as some random scary fan? (T▽T)
[12:19] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I know you’re different, but still… I’m sorry…
[12:20] @EmikoDesuu55: How cruel…
[12:21] @KaibaAoiOfficial: …some other time maybe? After we talk some more?
[12:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Emiko-chan, please.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 20:37:50 No.5630289 Report

Quoted By: >>5630292

[12:58] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I’m sorry, okay?
[13:25] @KaibaAoiOfficial: …why do you always do this, Emiko-chan, I feel so bad…
[13:29] @KaibaAoiOfficial: you’re not a bad person, right…?
[13:32] @KaibaAoiOfficial: It’s just that I had a talk with manager-san today
[13:35] @KaibaAoiOfficial: that I had to be careful and stuff with online people 
[13:35] @KaibaAoiOfficial: how they could make me feel like I’m always putting in the effort…
[13:36] @EmikoDesuu55: YOU’RE PUTTING IN THE EFFORT? WHAT ABOUT ME?
[13:36] @EmikoDesuu55: I CANCELLED ALL MY STUFF, TOOK A DAY OFF, AND EVERYTHING
[13:36] @EmikoDesuu55: AND NOW YOU’RE SAYING YOU DON’T WANT TO ANYMORE?
[13:36] @EmikoDesuu55: THIS WAS YOUR IDEA
[13:36] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Eh? You suggested it!
[13:37] @EmikoDesuu55: YOU WANTED IT TOO AND NOW SUDDENLY YOU DONT?
[13:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I said I was sorry!
[13:37] @EmikoDesuu55: YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU, RIGHT?
[13:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH?
[13:37] @EmikoDesuu55: WHY ELSE WOULD I GOT THIS FAR FOR YOU?
[13:38] @EmikoDesuu55: BUT I FEEL LIKE I’M WASTING MY TIME!
[13:38] @EmikoDesuu55: YOU’RE JUST PLAYING AROUND WITH ME, AREN’T YOU? (つ﹏⊂)
[13:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: It’s not like that at all! I really like talking to you!
[13:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: You’re my best friend! I love spending time with you!
[13:38] @EmikoDesuu55: You better show on Saturday or I’m never talking to you again
[13:39] @KaibaAoiOfficial: EMIKO PLEASE DON’T
[13:40] @KaibaAoiOfficial: PLEASE (This line x5. 4chan flags it as spam)
[13:40] @KaibaAoiOfficial: PLEASE
[13:40] @KaibaAoiOfficial: PLEASE
[13:40] @KaibaAoiOfficial: PLEASE
[13:45] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Emiko-chan……..
[14:22] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I’ll think about it, okay?
[14:50] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Maybe I can ask manager-san if she thinks its okay…?
[14:50] @EmikoDesuu55: She won’t allow it… don’t bother asking…
[14:50] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I just need some time to think, okay?
[14:50] @EmikoDesuu55: See you Saturday 
[14:50] @KaibaAoiOfficial: …
[14:55] @KaibaAoiOfficial: …I’ll try

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 20:40:14 No.5630292 Report

Quoted By: >>5630294 >>5630428

>>5630289

[16:50] @KaibaAoiOfficial: WAIT, I REALLY CAN’T
[16:50] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I swear I got an email from my manager that there’s a company trip!
[16:51] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Emiko, please believe me! I swear! It’s a job thing, I can’t go!
[16:59] @EmikoDesuu55: …Show me
[17:01] @KaibaAoiOfficial: (screenshot of invitation.jpg)
[17:15] @EmikoDesuu55: Tsk. This is just a way for you to weasel out of it >_>
[17:01] @KaibaAoiOfficial: It isn’t. I swear. Next time I’ll be there!
[17:15] @EmikoDesuu55: If there will even be a next time…
[17:15] @EmikoDesuu55: I’ll think about it…
[17:16] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Thank you, thank you, thank you! 
[17:17] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I’ll let you know how the trip went!
[17:15] @EmikoDesuu55: Don’t bother
[17:44] @KaibaAoiOfficial: :(

[…0 messages not shown.]

---------

You wince. Kaiba-chan is probably a wreck.
A rollercoaster of emotions, even for you – and it doesn’t even involve you!
This EmikoDesu55 must be pretending. She’s not actually in love with Kaiba-san… right?

How does a confession like that affect Kaiba-san? Happy, you suppose. Perhaps confusion.
Or the fact that it was immediately tied to an ultimatum.
That’s cruel – even for EmikoDesu55.

Nevertheless, it seems like Kaiba-san stuck to your advice for now.

This EmikoDesu55 is a danger and the sooner you get her away from Kaiba, the better.
With two new idols coming in, Kaiba-san will hopefully forget about this girl in no time at all.

Put somewhat at ease, you let your shoulders sag, take a sip of warm coffee, close your eyes, and almost choke on your drink.
Hold on. What was that in there? Did this girl accidentally share company information???

You don’t have to be a former HR rep to know how serious this is!
But you are! That makes it worse! Nobody can know!
Should you delete the messages? No, that wouldn’t help. Also, Kaiba-san would notice.
The information is already out there. It would just be erasing evidence…

What to do!? Should you involve Yui-chan again?
No. That’s not an option either. You’d have to admit you’ve been spying again!
She’d be disappointed, but you can deal with being a disappointment if it means saving your idol.
Though that’s only if Kitabayashi Yui would be willing to help you – and you doubt that.
That’s not true, she would absolutely help.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 20:42:16 No.5630294 Report

Quoted By: >>5630310

>>5630292

But the cost would be terrible and she’d only do it to help Kaiba-san, not you.
You don’t want to end up sitting on the office floor and getting reprimanded again.
This is also your second offence and Kitabayashi might not even leave at just a harsh talking to.
Simply imaging the kind of things Kitabayashi would do sends shivers down your spine.

No choice. You have to talk to Kaiba-san and tell her how serious this is.
Maybe you can do what Kitabayashi suggested and say somebody else noticed it.
No, that’d be too embarrassing for her! She’d self-destruct!

If Kaiba-san knew a person has been spying on this chat and all the lovey-dovey stuff she said she would hide under the covers of her bed for a week!

Not a person, but a robot then?
Automated network monitoring?

Yes, that’s a thing and you actually make use of it here! Good, that’ll work.
Honestly, the new platform that Kaiba-san uses for chat and streaming might not actually be monitored at the moment, the monitoring only checks a handful of websites and email attachments as far as you know.

But Kaiba-san doesn’t know that! This’ll work! Haha!
Hold strong my web of lies! Only a little while longer. Work hard!

You find your hands tapping your desk. Calm down.
Clock!? 9:45 AM. AAAAAAAA.
Like two hours until the end of Kaiba’s meeting!

At least tomorrow’s hot spring will feel heavenly if you manage to survive today.

Not knowing what to do with yourself and having very little actual work to do you opt to watch cat videos.
Most are cute and funny, but there’s one where a black cat watches a small bird struggle before swatting it out of the sky as it tries to take flight.

You don’t like this one. You click a button to dislike the video.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO panic.png, 384KiB, 512x768

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 20:48:43 No.5630310 Report

Quoted By: >>5630327 >>5630368 >>5630428 >>5630429 >>5630456 >>5630724

>>5630294

Slowly, but surely nearly two hours crawl by. 11:35 AM.
Surely, that meeting is done now.

You try to walk to Kaiba-san’s video room as casually as you can manage and at least two people ask with concern if you hurt your back recently.

Once arrived at Kaiba's ofifce, you knock, but open the door so quickly you might as well not have bothered.

There’s a sharp yelp as Kaiba-san almost bounces in her seat before shakily turning her head towards you.
”M-m-manager-san,” she says, blushing fiercely, “H-hello?”

Uwaaaa. She looks like you caught her committing a crime.
Hold on a moment. That’s probably how you looked earlier today!

“Everything, okay?” you say, “I didn’t mean to scare you…”

Kaiba-san shakes her head aggressively, “It’s okay,” she says with a thin-lipped smile that seems plastered there, “Aaalll good~”

“Good,” you repeat, walking a few steps towards her, “I came by t---”

The sharp noise of a message notification rings through the small office.
Kaiba-san’s eyes widen as if the sound is an alarm that’s echoes through the entire building.

You glance towards the monitor.

A small menu in the taskbar blinks a helpful orange.
Chat - EmikoDesu55.

Decision
>1 - Ask about this EmikoDesu55 with a smile on your face. Is it a fan? How great that she’s interacting with her fans like that.
Perhaps you can read the chat? Just genuine interest from her manager. Perhaps you don’t need to use the “network monitoring” plan…

>2 - Something is clearly going on, but it can wait. Go with the “Network Monitor” plan.
>3 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Fri 07 Apr 2023 20:55:14 No.5630327 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630310
>3 - Write-in
"Come with me, please. I'd like to take you shopping for some clothes for our trip this weekend."
If she comes with us, get her comfy, make it clear how proud we are and how happy we are, then then...
"I noticed a lot of activity on your official account, recently, with one user. I want to talk about EmikoDesu55."
Pretend we JUST noticed, don't let on HOW we were made aware except in vague and authoritative managerial "it is the agency's job to know" terms.
If Kaiba tries to dodge shopping, skip right to phase 2. Remember: sympathetic, empathetic, but still STERN. this is a job, for both of us.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Fri 07 Apr 2023 21:23:17 No.5630368 Report

Quoted By: >>5630768

>>5630310
>>2 - Something is clearly going on, but it can wait. Go with the “Network Monitor” plan.
Cut the string before it explodes.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 21:56:57 No.5630428 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630292
Even if Emiko somehow does really love Kaiba, she's a really toxic person.

>>5630310
>3
>Ask about this EmikoDesu55 with a smile on your face.
>Regardless of what Kaiba answers, ask her whether she remembers the rules - no fraternizing, no disclosing company information...
>Kaiba will react at this moment.
>Pretend to notice her reaction and ask to see the chat. Disclosing company information is serious business. Be firm and stern if needed.
>After seeing the chat, forgive and console the probably devastated Kaiba. Search for a solution together.
>After that, we'll be able to discuss Emiko without disclosing our spying.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Fri 07 Apr 2023 21:57:20 No.5630429 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630310
I don’t think we can hold together long, and the robot thing could be checked on. I’d rather lean on a lesser faceless peon.

>3 - Write-in
>”So… I have some questions, and it’s related to that.”
>”I got a message from IT about your work account being used during unusual times. The flag was that images were being transferred.”
>”They, uh took a peek at the latest image. And saw it was for the meeting we’re on all going on. Which… okay, that’s a MAJOR security problem.”
>”So they let me know so I could look into it. And since this was a surprise I… kinda looked at the messages it was included with to get context. And then a couple random ones in the hope the anxiety would go away. It did not.”
>”Kaiba I’m kinda freaking out here how long have you been talking to her why didn’t you say anything when she was hurting you what’s going oooooon?!” (Allow your nerves to take over so you whine/meltdown appropriately) (Hug her as you go into meltdown mode)

Beat her to the meltdown and do a partial confession of viewing the logs. She’s not allowed to fall apart if we do it first!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 07 Apr 2023 22:13:21 No.5630456 Report

Quoted By: >>5630611

>>5630310
>3 - Write-in. We. Are. Shopping. Now.
At midnight.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 07 Apr 2023 23:45:30 No.5630543 Report

Quoted By:

For those keeping track of the chatlog in the wiki:
>Clock!? 9:45 AM. AAAAAAAA.
9:45 AM was the last time Nagata saw the logs

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 08 Apr 2023 00:52:13 No.5630611 Report

Quoted By: >>5630724 >>5630768 >>5630884

KAIBA IS NOW LEAKING COMPANY INFORMATION SUCH AS REVEALING THE NEW IDOLS

Holy shit >>5630456 changing my vote to
>Write in: Look, we have to talk.
We have to delete those messages. I am hoping Bitchiko is not smart enough to keep a separate log to use as incriminating info.
Good job on creating trouble QM, you create situations where the implications are rather huge

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 03:39:03 No.5630724 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630310
>3 - Write-In
"Kaiba-san, you have been disclosing confidential information to unauthorized personnel. This is a grave violation of the company's standards and of your contract, which can result in immediate termination. We need to talk, now."
>>5630611
Supporting this in an event of a tie, since this option is similar to my own

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Sat 08 Apr 2023 05:20:08 No.5630768 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630368
Changing vote to this guy, >>5630611
Kaiba fucked up big time.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:2gRzh4kL Sat 08 Apr 2023 08:20:49 No.5630884 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630611
Supporting

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 08:23:42 No.5630887 Report

Quoted By: >>5630943

Winner
>3 - Write-in
I'll try and do my best to combine the suggestions above.
However, I'll probably skip the shopping for now since its been 27 (real life) days since the last actual job (Sakura Perfumes).
Also 16 days since the last time Kaiba improved any actual skill.

And we still have to do to the weekend trip event.

I'm trying to find an event / mechanics balance as it is kinda gone right now.

We can always do the shopping after.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 10:09:34 No.5630943 Report

Quoted By: >>5630946

>>5630887
The Fate/Stay Night job will be done after the trip I assume? We still haven't rolled for that one

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 10:11:35 No.5630946 Report

Quoted By:

>>5630943
Yes, we also still need to roll for Enatsu and Chigusa's skill rolls .

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 14:23:18 No.5631125 Report

Quoted By: >>5631127

You sigh, “Kaiba, look,” you begin, then opt to retrieve the chair standing at the other side of the room to sit down.
“An idol company is, at all times, in a love/hate relationship with the media,” you say, adjusting your jacket as you sit.

Kaiba-san cocks her head slightly, not sure where you’re going with this, but seemingly relieved you’re not mentioning the chat.

“Matsuno Inc. can’t exist as a business without companies that are willing to hire idols to star in their shows, commercials, game shows, and such,” you continue, “Those companies hire idols because the fans like those idols and want to keep an eye on them, thereby allowing themselves to be exposed to the products the idols endorse.”

You’re stringing words together as you go, trying to find a way to a way to tell Kaiba-san how badly she messed up without performing the equivalent of a mental suplex on her fragile mind.

“The fans love keeping track of their idols, supporting them, seeing what they’re up to,” you say.

“I’m aware,” replies Kaiba, somewhat confused, “The entire live vlog is just that, no?”

You pull your lips into a thin line. ”Well, yes,” you reply, then go quiet as you try to think of what to say next.
Kaiba-san is blissfully unaware that what she’s been doing are grounds for direct termination.
Most of the idols in this generation are new and don’t have many fans yet, but then again it doesn’t take many fans.

Actually, one of the new idols, Watase Yoko, is quite famous.
Knowledge of her location might cause a few fans to show up.

Or just one.

One fan with a car with too much time on their hands and the knowledge that SOMEWHERE around Mt. Fuji there’s a rented bus carrying his favourite idol to a hot spring that he can take a picture of.
Luckily the email didn’t contain information on the exact location or what you’d be doing.
Point is that if Kaiba keeps leaking this kind of information then she would endanger the other idols and there’s zero-tolerance on that.

It’s a good thing people don’t know yet that Matsuno Inc. signed a bunch of new idols.

You clap your hands together softly, then continue, “You took a different path than most and, honestly, the media hasn’t quite adjusted,” you say, “Usually the only way for a fan to learn about an idol is through interviews and gossip websites run by paparazzi, but your fans see you every day and can even talk to you!”

“Nagata-san,” replies Kaiba, looking uncomfortable, “I don’t understand where you’re going with this…What’s going on?”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 14:26:26 No.5631127 Report

Quoted By: >>5631128

>>5631125

Where are you going with this?
Your own mental state is hanging on by a thread. Everything could end.
However, a good manager is the barrier between their employees and outside concerns.
So that the idols can focus on the job.

You clasp your hands together to stop them from shaking.

There’s all these what-ifs raging through your mind.
What if EmikoDesu55 sells all this information to the highest bidder?
What if she’s actually paparazzi herself and this whole thing has been nothing but a way to milk gossip from the agency?
What if she tries to show-up in person at the resort?

Is Kaiba-san’s career going to end just because she wanted a friend?
The chat logs should be purged after this chat, even if it is illegal to remove evidence of something that could harm the company.

As long as EmikoDesu55 doesn’t do anything with the information – it’ll be fine.
Kitabayashi will probably be willing to help you cover any fallout. Maybe.
You can think of some ways to tempt her, at least. If need be. She likes you, right?
She'll help. Yeah, she'll help. Everything will be fine.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO TalkingWithKaiba.jpg, 244KiB, 800x754

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 14:27:27 No.5631128 Report

Quoted By: >>5631129

>>5631127

All these concerns, they weigh on you.
Your face goes slack, eyes slowly growing vacant.
Yesterday’s words of Kitabayashi’s bounce around in your empty mind: You’re a big softie
It’s cold in this room, you’re not sure how Kaiba manages it.

How would Yukimori Kyoden handle this?
He seems like the kind of person that would simply do what was needed.

The thick skin required to be a manager is something you’ll have to develop with time.
You take a breath and try to focus your thoughts, locking eyes with Kaiba.

Kaiba’s face is a picture of concern, with her hands defensively hovering before her.
It seems like she has caught on and knows why you’re he--

“Are you okay, Nagata-san?” says Kaiba instead, “Y-you kinda looked like you were about to cry.”

“Eh?” you reply, “I’m fine. I was just …thinking.”
Allowing your worries to stew while watching cat videos for two hours probably wasn’t the greatest idea.
Everyone procrastinates sometimes, right? Besides, Kaiba-san was in a meeting.

What were you doing?
The trip is tomorrow and you’re talking to Kaiba-san at the moment.
Oh, right. You have to lie to Kaiba-san to breach the subject of the chat.

“I was,” you begin, then try again, “…The people from IT, they monitor network traffic for safety reasons and to avoid leaking stuff to the press, they told me you send images to somebody. Images about the trip.”

“Eeeeeh,” shouts Kaiba, blushing, “…People know? Did other people, like, read everything?”

What’s one more lie? This bothers Kaiba-san. You can shoulder it.
"I don’t think so,” you say, “But they forwarded an image to me which had information on the trip on it. Like that it's a trip for idols and managers and that we’re leaving by bus from the office.”
"Can you explain why?” you ask, “You’re sharing company information, it’s dangerous.”

Kaiba-san looks embarrassed, she’s squirming in her seat, “I was just chatting with a f-friend, I didn’t mean to create trouble,” she says, “I had to cancel plans with her and she wanted to know what I was doing instead…”
”Emiko-chan wouldn’t do anything bad with it,” she adds.

Finally. Emiko-chan by name. Check that off the list, that’s safe information now.
You now have cause to discuss it. Though you still don’t have reason to suspect this Eriko of anything bad.

“I’m sure this Eriko-chan is a good girl,” you say, the biggest lie you’ve said today, “But if she tells a friend, who then gossips it to somebody else, and so on, then it might get to somebody bad eventually.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 14:29:27 No.5631129 Report

Quoted By: >>5631137 >>5631143 >>5631153 >>5631191 >>5631224 >>5631238 >>5631350

>>5631128

It feels foul to keep digging up this memory, but Kaiba-san scares easily -- it'll work.
"What if somebody like the man from the handshaking event found out,” you say, “And followed the bus that leaves from Matsuno HQ in his car? That much was in the email.”

Kaiba pales, it seems like things are finally registering with her.

You point at the monitor standing on the desk beside the both of you, “This Emiko-chan you mentioned is EmikoDesu55? The person you shared the image with?”

Kaiba nods severely, “Y-yes,” she says, her mind elsewhere.
She needed to be made aware of the possible consequences of her actions.

You already know what’s in there, but if you get a look with her next to you then you’ll at least no longer have to lie about not knowing and begin discussing the contents of the chat with her without five layers of pretence.

“Can I have a look?” you ask, then quickly invent a reason, “I need to know how much you shared, we might have to hire additionally security.”

Kaiba is hiding her face and curling into a small ball on her chair, “But, I…” says a small voice, “…It’s a sort of private chat...I.. ah…”

This could be a moment where you remind Kaiba about how she shouldn’t have any sort of relationships.
And if she says that she knows then you can counter with the fact that this should be a harmless fan interaction then.
It would be very easy to manipulate her into willingly giving up her privacy.

Sure, that’s just an illusion since you already know, but that illusion is all she has left.
Just break down that final wall and you can start solving problems.

In fact, why be subtle about it?

You can just threaten her livelihood by saying she could lose her job over this.
Remind her that your own job is at stake, too, since you’re her manager and ultimately responsible.
Add guilt to the pile. That’ll surely cause her to cave and consent!

If you want to make it as a manager, you’ll have to be stern sometimes.
Kitabayashi said she didn’t want this job to change you, but it’s unavoidable, isn’t it?
One final push and you’ll make it through the web of lies – victorious.

Decision
>1 - If she stuck to the rules she accepted to then she has nothing to hide!
>2 - You could both end up fired! Is that what she wants?
>3 - Actually, IT showed the chat already since she uses the official account which is on public record.
>4 - Confess. You spied on the chat and even added access to your own computer afterwards.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 14:41:15 No.5631136 Report

Quoted By:

Current stress level can always be found in the wiki under character's sheet. (Only idols / Nagata are tracked)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:2gRzh4kL Sat 08 Apr 2023 14:41:23 No.5631137 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631129
>2 - You could both end up fired! Is that what she wants?
>3 - Actually, IT showed the chat already since she uses the official account which is on public record.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 14:44:55 No.5631143 Report

Quoted By: >>5631192

>>5631129
Hmm, rereading it kinda reads like I (the QM) am trying to push or discredit certain options while my intention was this to seem like Nagata's thought pattern.
I'll reflect on the effects of the stress mechanic a bit.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 14:48:45 No.5631145 Report

Quoted By:

>1 - If she stuck to the rules she accepted to then she has nothing to hide!
>2 - You could both end up fired! Is that what she wants?

Voting for either one of those. Kaiba, despite her social inabilities, is an adult already. There are some mistakes that have terminal consequences and the sooner the learns/remembers that, the sooner she can open her eyes for how detrimental Emiko has has being to her.

Thousands of (dollars? yens?) haven been poured on Kaiba and IIRC we still haven't even broke even on her investment - the true, cold reality is that so far she hasn't much going for her besides the vlog - it might be harsh to say this but she is disposable, just like we are... In a Japanese company, especially an idol one, a mistake like breaking NDA wouldn't fly even if it was done by a valuable employee and/or asset and we are neither.

This ordeal might have killed us inside, and it might kill Kaiba too but its the only path forward.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 14:58:09 No.5631153 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631129
This is too intense!
Options 1 and 2 are both manipulative and in fact very similar to what Emiko does.
Options 3 and 4 will irrevocably break Kaiba's trust and our relationship with her. Forever. And for someone like her it'll be doubly, if not triply devastating. This option should never, ever be taken, even if it seems like a morally correct one and despite whatever Yui wants from us. We must take this secret to our grave.

Ultimately, I'll vote for
>2 - You could both end up fired! Is that what she wants?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Sat 08 Apr 2023 15:35:55 No.5631191 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631129
>You could both end up fired! Is that what she wants?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 15:36:16 No.5631192 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631143
Hmmm, nah - I think you're doing fine. I can see why these posts were written as they are: these are thoughts are the result of a extremely stressed Nagata trying to be many things at once while the world crumbles down around her. It's pitiful, but this is what reality truly is - things won't always turn out for the better and the only certainty that we have is that it can always get worse. I commend you for giving us these moments in the quest, managing idols must be one hell of a tough job and so far you are presenting that very well.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Sat 08 Apr 2023 16:09:13 No.5631224 Report

Quoted By: >>5631379 >>5631472

>>5631129
Y’know, people kept voting to look at the chats directly when Nagato is clearly taking this hard. Glad to see that’s now reflected in her astronomical stress levels making it difficult for us to get her to approach this rationally.

Should have had Yui screen it, anons. We’re not playing a character know for taking stress well.

So, onto the vote. Nagato is clearly not in her right mind and she’s on the verge of crying. I see this as fine! You’re allowed to be a human in front of employees, especially ones that respect you. You don’t want to make a boss you like cry. It’s an indicator you have well and truly fucked up.

So I’ll say
> 5 - Just start crying.

We can ask again to please see the logs for our own personal sanity afterward. We don’t want anyone to end up like Maki.

If it fails, we can mention the public record and that someone will see it when they go to scrub it. Better us than someone else.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sat 08 Apr 2023 16:25:16 No.5631238 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631129
>2 - You could both end up fired! Is that what she wants?
This is an OFFICIAL channel. We need to know what's being shared on it, especially after a data breach.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 16:40:20 No.5631253 Report

Quoted By: >>5631643

Winner
>2 - You could both end up fired! Is that what she wants?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:eNriiAqw Sat 08 Apr 2023 17:59:55 No.5631350 Report

Quoted By: >>5631472

>>5631129
>5 - Just start crying.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 18:22:36 No.5631379 Report

Quoted By: >>5631448

>>5631224
Man, I can see where you are coming from but I think that if we started crying in front of Kaiba she'd just kill herself right there just from the implied guilt alone

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:eNriiAqw Sat 08 Apr 2023 19:21:20 No.5631448 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631379
Sounds like a plan

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sat 08 Apr 2023 19:40:08 No.5631472 Report

Quoted By: >>5631571

>>5631224
>>5631350
We have a responsibility, as her manager, to be strong and to offer her steadiness, support, and guidance.

We can cry in private, later, with our not-romantic-sorry pansexual life-partner, over drinks.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Sat 08 Apr 2023 20:46:45 No.5631571 Report

Quoted By: >>5631585

>>5631472
Maybe what Nagata needs to find is a man.....

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 20:51:17 No.5631585 Report

Quoted By: >>5631587 >>5631594

>>5631571
Add the stress of dating to the stress of idol management, and she keels over. So unless Kaiba gets her shit together, we die alone and unloved.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sat 08 Apr 2023 20:52:36 No.5631587 Report

Quoted By: >>5631589

>>5631585
>unloved
Yui loves us. We just can't reciprocate the way she'd like.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 20:56:15 No.5631589 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631587
Right, add the stress of matchmaking for Yui to everything

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 20:58:06 No.5631594 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631585
>we die alone and unloved
nah dw, that bartender from the karaoke will be Nagato's husbando.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO sadkaiba.jpg, 399KiB, 667x1000

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:25:18 No.5631643 Report

Quoted By: >>5631647 >>5631666

>>5631253

In the end, Kaiba being embarrassed for a bit is preferable to her losing her trust in you.
Besides, you’ve already seen it, right?
As long as you keep your reaction tame, you’ll be able to limit the emotional damage you inflict on Kaiba.

“Kaiba-san,” you say as gently as possible, “I’m not sure if you heard, but before I worked as your manager, I actually worked at human resources here at Matsuno Inc.”

Kaiba peeks between her fingers, glancing at you, “Is that how you know HR-san? The green-haired girl?”

“Yes, I used to work with Kitabayashi Yui-san,” you say, nodding, “But that’s not why I mentioned it.”
You make your best effort at a no-nonsense expression, “Because I worked at HR, I know that sharing the location of your fellow idols like you did could put them in harm’s way. Endangering a fellow idol like this are grounds for immediate termination. You could lose your job as an idol over this.”

“Even I, being responsible for you, could lose my job over this,” you add for emphasis.

Whatever embarrassment she still felt is immediately replaced with pure dread.
”N-no,” she says, eyes widening and tearing up, “That…c-cant, please, I didn’t mean to…”

Face stern, you nod, “It’s true,” you say, “The best I can do for you now is damage control, that’s why I need to see the chat. I need to know what else you said.”

Kaiba’s tears are flowing freely now and sitting in her chair is nothing but a scared, little girl.
She makes eye contact with you for a brief moment, nods, props her knees up, hides her face in her arms, and sobs quietly.
Whether she cries because her job is at risk or because she thinks she’ll almost assuredly be forced to cut ties with EmikoDesu you don’t know.

Having her consent to read the private chat you’ve already read in secret, you spend a few minutes slowly re-reading the chatlog to make it seem like you’re reading it all for the first time.
It’s a long, grim tale in chat message format about somebody making a lonely girl feel special only to then constantly threaten to take that feeling away if they put up a fight to any suggestions.

Having read it this morning, most of it is known to you and you try to gasp and frown where appropriate.
Scrolling through this all completely stone-faced would probably seem suspicious.
However, much to your surprise you eventually hit upon a block of chat messages you haven’t seen before.
The timestamps puts them between 10:15 AM and 11:39 AM, with the last message being responsible for the noise that tipped you off on the chat at the start of this confrontation.

These all happened a short time after you read the chat and began watching cat videos.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:28:49 No.5631647 Report

Quoted By: >>5631648

>>5631643

== April 16, 2015 (Friday)

[10:15] @EmikoDesuu55: I’ve thought about it…
[10:15] @EmikoDesuu55: I’ve been too hard on you… I’m sorry (pained-face emote)
[10:15] @EmikoDesuu55: I was just mad you didn't wanna hang out with me! T_T
[10:16] @EmikoDesuu55: Forgive me <3 ?
[10:24] @KaibaAoiOfficial: <3 
[10:25] @KaibaAoiOfficial: of course
[10:25] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I thought you hated me for real!
[10:33] @EmikoDesuu55: Never!
[10:33] @EmikoDesuu55: Don’t you usually have a meeting now?
[10:33] @KaibaAoiOfficial: It ended early and we have the trip tomorrow so no big plans.
[10:33] @EmikoDesuu55: Have fun on the trip! 
[10:34] @EmikoDesuu55: You gotta make sure you make memories with the other idol
[10:34] @EmikoDesuu55: Take many pictures and share them with me!
[10:35] @EmikoDesuu55: I know you said on the phone she was shady, but maybe if you’re friends with her she wont try that stuff on you
[10:35] @EmikoDesuu55: and if she does pull something you just tell me (smug emote)
[10:36] @EmikoDesuu55: I’ll ruin her life lol 
[10:39] @KaibaAoiOfficial: please dont :P 
[10:39] @KaibaAoiOfficial: But thanks Emiko-chan <3 
[10:36] @EmikoDesuu55: Do you know what place you’re going yet?
[10:39] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I asked Matsui-san, but she can’t say for safety reasons
[10:39] @KaibaAoiOfficial: All I know is that it’s a place near mt fuji with a hotspring
[10:40] @EmikoDesuu55: DEFINITELY take pictures
[10:40] @KaibaAoiOfficial: You want me to get fired? lol
[10:40] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Not gonna take pictures of the others in the hotspring
[10:41] @EmikoDesuu55: Who said anything about the others? (cute wink emote)
[10:41] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Pff, pervert :P 
[10:41] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I’m kinda nervous since there’ll be a lot of people
[10:42] @EmikoDesuu55: wasn’t it just the idols and the managers like the mail said?
[10:44] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Yes, but new idols are joining that I haven’t met yet
[10:44] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I don’t think they were tagged in the mail 
[10:44] @EmikoDesuu55: O_o
[10:45] @EmikoDesuu55: I thought you only had 1 other idol in your gen atm?
[10:45] @KaibaAoiOfficial: three more have joined that I haven’t met
[10:45] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I don’t think they’ve been announced on insta yet
[10:45] @KaibaAoiOfficial: That’s probably why you don’t know about them
[10:46] @EmikoDesuu55: Eh…unannounced idols…?

Had to remove all emotes because 4chan

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:29:49 No.5631648 Report

Quoted By: >>5631650

>>5631647

[10:46] @EmikoDesuu55: I see, I see … well, make sure to get pictures with them, too!
[10:47] @EmikoDesuu55: I wanna know everything that happened!
[10:47] @EmikoDesuu55: Post everything here!
[10:47] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I will after the weekend, I only really use this account during work
[10:48] @EmikoDesuu55: …then use it outside of work?
[10:48] @KaibaAoiOfficial: It’s a work account
[10:49] @EmikoDesuu55: So? Just get the app on your phone
[10:49] @KaibaAoiOfficial: can’t we just text or call?
[10:52] @EmikoDesuu55: T_T
[10:52] @EmikoDesuu55: Not all of us are fancy idols rolling in cash! D: 
[10:52] @EmikoDesuu55: My bundle is basically gone two days into the month
[10:52] @EmikoDesuu55: Gotta use wi-fi
[10:52 @EmikoDesuu55: To reach my wi-fu 
[10:54] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Dork :P
[10:54] @KaibaAoiOfficial: <3
[10:54] @EmikoDesuu55: <3
[10:55] @EmikoDesuu55: I wanna help in any way I can, so if you have the app I can 
[10:55] @EmikoDesuu55: If something happens you can ask me for help!
[10:55] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Okay, okay I’ll get the app
[10:58] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Installed
[10:58] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I’m glad you’re not mad anymore, Emiko-chan
[10:58] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I missed just chatting like this…
[10:59] @EmikoDesuu55: Dork :P
[10:59] @EmikoDesuu55: <3
[10:59] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Eheheh <3
[11:02] @EmikoDesuu55: Have you bought the clothes I linked you?
[11:03] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Yeah and I’ve been wearing them
[11:03] @KaibaAoiOfficial: But I dunno, it feels weird
[11:03] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I’m not used to frilly and girly stuff like this
[11:04] @EmikoDesuu55: you’ll get used to it
[11:04] @KaibaAoiOfficial: manager-san said I should just keep being me :P 
[11:04] @KaibaAoiOfficial: that I don’t need to dress different or try being a normal idol 
[11:05] @EmikoDesuu55: >_> manager-san, manager-san
[11:05] @EmikoDesuu55: but the clothes are cute, right? I think you look cute in them
[11:07] @KaibaAoiOfficial: (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)
[11:07] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I don’t mind wearing them 
[11:08] @EmikoDesuu55: <3
[11:08] @EmikoDesuu55: I hope you wear them to our date as well
[11:08] @KaibaAoiOfficial: >///<
[11:09] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I thought it was just a normal meetup!
[11:11] @EmikoDesuu55: Kaiba-san… I basically confessed earlier, right?
[11:11] @EmikoDesuu55: So it’s not like I can pretend anymore…

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:30:50 No.5631650 Report

Quoted By: >>5631655

>>5631648

[11:12] @KaibaAoiOfficial: …like a relationship date…? as in girlfriend?
[11:12] @KaibaAoiOfficial: …I dunno if I’m ready for that, Eriko-chan
[11:12] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I’m not even sure I like girls yet…
[11:13] @EmikoDesuu55: Let me help you find out ( ಠ‿<)
[11:15] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Relationships are also illegal for idols, you know that right?
[11:15] @EmikoDesuu55: We can be sneaky~~
[11:15] @EmikoDesuu55: Come on! Makes your heart go crazy fast, no?
[11:19] @KaibaAoiOfficial: >_> <_< >_> they’ll catch us
[11:19] @EmikoDesuu55: Uwwwaaa, but that means you want to, right???
[11:20] @KaibaAoiOfficial: …I’m very happy you’re saying these things.
[11:20] @KaibaAoiOfficial: really am.
[11:20] @KaibaAoiOfficial: feels like a dream that somebody would want to go out with me.
[11:20] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I didn't think I would ever feel happy like this.
[11:20] @KaibaAoiOfficial: ……
[11:20] @KaibaAoiOfficial: But I shouldn’t, very dangerous for my career >_> 
[11:20] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Manager-san has said so over and over
[11:20] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I kinda want to try, to see what it's like, but….sorry
[11:22] @EmikoDesuu55: Pffff, manager-san, manager-san
[11:22] @EmikoDesuu55: I bet she’s single and lonely
[11:24] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I’m not sure, I think she is single at least…yeah
[11:24] @EmikoDesuu55: You wanna end up like that?
[11:24] @EmikoDesuu55: Telling others they should be single and lonely like you?
[11:26] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I think she just works too much for dating
[11:26] @EmikoDesuu55: So she wants you to be married to the job just like she is
[11:26] @EmikoDesuu55: We can just go on a single date and if you dont like it then we can stop
[11:26] @EmikoDesuu55: Besides, we’re both girls, right? They’ll think you’re meeting a friend
[11:29] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I guess so… yeah
[11:29] @KaibaAoiOfficial: We can meet just once
[11:29] @KaibaAoiOfficial: But dont do anything weird!
[11:31] @EmikoDesuu55: Like hug you or kiss you or…?
[11:31] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Eriko-chan! I mean it!
[11:32] @EmikoDesuu55: We can just have a coffee somewhere, okay?
[11:32] @KaibaAoiOfficial: That sounds fine 
[11:32] @EmikoDesuu55: And if it goes well we can go to the bathroom and… ಠ ‿
[11:33] @KaibaAoiOfficial: !!!!!! 
[11:33] @KaibaAoiOfficial: STOP THAT. I’M AT WORK

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:32:34 No.5631655 Report

Quoted By: >>5631658

>>5631650

[11:33] @KaibaAoiOfficial: STOP THAT. I’M AT WORK
[11:33] @KaibaAoiOfficial: What if somebody looked at my screen!
[11:34] @EmikoDesuu55: like you should be chatting at work in the first place :P 
[11:34] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I am simply interacting with a loyal fan ^^
[11:35] @EmikoDesuu55: Ooooooo, I see, I see
[11:35] @EmikoDesuu55: I hope you don’t treat all your fans the same way!
[11:36] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Only you <3
[11:36] @EmikoDesuu55: <3
[11:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: alwdjkawdlajwkd
[11:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: manage ra here gotta gog
[11:39] @EmikoDesuu55: I’ll be quiet!

------

Your stern facade breaks away as you read through these final messages and you can’t help but glance over your shoulder at Kaiba – who had been peeking to observe your reaction, but quickly hides her face between her arms again.

This is a lot.

Most importantly, it seems like Kaiba-san accidentally shared the existence of the new idols with this girl.
Not only is the proper announcement of a new idol vital to jumpstart their career, it’s also a major marketing event for the agency to show that the business is healthy and able to acquire and support new talent.

If ErikoDesu55 truly has malicious intentions and sold off the info for a quick buck, then you she’d do more than just spoil the new idols out of a proper start.
You could then also expect paparazzi to show up in front of Matsuno HQ tomorrow to catch a glance of these new idols.

You might even have to cancel the trip entirely; it could be too risky.
However, people will want to know why you suddenly cancelled and you’d better have a good excuse.
You certainly can’t tell the truth – that’d be the end of Kaiba’s career.
There’s also no doubt you’ll lose face within the company, but that’s the least of your concerns.

The whole intention behind the trip was to covertly waylay Kaiba’s meet-up, but since you’ve now visibly read Kaiba’s chat messages you can try to bar her exposure to EmikoDesu55 in a different way.
Hell, you could even respond to EmikoDesu55 yourself here and now.

Furthermore, EmikoDesu55 seems to try and press Kaiba-san into taking pictures.
There’s nothing wrong with taking pictures of fun, company events, but they shouldn’t be shared with outsiders who can then publish them in something like a gossip article called: “A Steamy Encounter - A Hidden Peek Into Matsuno Inc’s Hot Spring Getaway.”

It seems like this EmikoDesu55 has even been trash talking you as well. The nerve.
“I have friends, y’know,” you say without taking your eyes from the screen, “I’m not lonely.”
You’re really not. You do fun stuff sometimes. Honest. You own a cat. (Which is planned to stay with Yui during the trip)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:34:14 No.5631658 Report

Quoted By: >>5631661

>>5631655

The shameless grooming continues unabated, EmikoDesu55 seems determined to twist Kaiba-san into somebody conforming to her liking like some sort of dress-up doll.
Oddly, This is the only bit that’s hard to place.

If Emiko’s true intention is to acquire internal info from Matsuno Inc, then why would she risk alienating Kaiba with complaints or suggestions about her appearance?

The entire conversation carries flirty undertones and even a outright confession.
Though you wouldn’t be surprised if it’s completely fake and simply used to emotionally shake-up Kaiba with something a girl like her probably considered monumental.
What is surprising is that Kaiba-san was ready to participate in this farce even if it meant risking her career.

Is she really in love? They haven’t even met!
She might be in love with the idea of love.
Eager to experience something she has never had before.
You might need to move-up an appointment, this girl needs therapy.

There’s also a chance, however unlikely it may seem, that Kaiba-san is actually romantically interested in girls.
Good for her if she is, but idols shouldn’t be dating to begin with, so it should be inconsequential.

That hornet’s nest will have to wait for another time.
You have to try and save Kaiba’s career first.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:35:40 No.5631661 Report

Quoted By: >>5631673 >>5631676 >>5631682 >>5631700 >>5631701 >>5631719 >>5631747 >>5631996 >>5632288 >>5632369 >>5632371 >>5632413 >>5632537 >>5632935

>>5631658

The Trip
>1 - Cancel it. It’s too risky. If EmikoDesu55 leaks data, there’ll be press everywhere.
>2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.

The Leak
>1 - Mention the possibility of a leak to marketing. Maybe they can do a rush job for a proper announcement for the new idols.
>2 - Keep quiet about a potential leak and hope for the best.

Talking with EmikoDesu55 yourself
>1 - Contact EmikoDesu55 using the chat and ask for her intentions and perhaps bargain with her.
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.

Kaiba’s Contact with EmikoDesu55
>1 - Outright ban it. Shaken up like she is, she might actually stick to it.
>2 - Allow it, but warn her to never meet up and to no longer engage with fans like she did prior
>3 - Ask her to minimize contact to string Emiko along so she doesn’t get mad and do something stupid
>4 - Allow her to do whatever she feels is right. If she wants to risk her career for love, so be it.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO SadKaibaNowWithHalfTheEyebrows.jpg, 514KiB, 800x1200

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:40:25 No.5631666 Report

Quoted By: >>5631669

>>5631643
>double eyebrows
goddammit, fixed

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:44:41 No.5631669 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631666
No further updates today.
Not certain if I'll do an update tomorrow, got easter stuff

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:47:11 No.5631673 Report

Quoted By: >>5632110

>>5631661
>1 - Cancel it. It’s too risky. If EmikoDesu55 leaks data, there’ll be press everywhere.
>1 - Mention the possibility of a leak to marketing. Maybe they can do a rush job for a proper announcement for the new idols.
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.
>1 - Outright ban it. Shaken up like she is, she might actually stick to it.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:49:43 No.5631676 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631661
This is just too intense! I expected Idolmaster, not Oshi no Ko.

>2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.
I believe Emiko is after Kaiba herself, not the company secrets. The weird grooming might be to shape Kaiba according to her fetishes. I don't think she'll leak the info immediately, though she might do it later out of spite.

>2 - Keep quiet about a potential leak and hope for the best.
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.
>5 - Explain to Kaiba that Emiko is stringing her up, with examples right from the chat. Make it clear we're not angry nor judging her. Ban further contact.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:57:01 No.5631681 Report

Quoted By: >>5631683 >>5631684 >>5631747

Ah, the price of delaying.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:2gRzh4kL Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:57:36 No.5631682 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631661
>2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.
>1 - Mention the possibility of a leak to marketing. Maybe they can do a rush job for a proper announcement for the new idols.
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.
>5 - Explain to Kaiba that Emiko is stringing her up, with examples right from the chat. Make it clear we're not angry nor judging her. Ban further contact.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:2gRzh4kL Sat 08 Apr 2023 21:58:37 No.5631683 Report

Quoted By: >>5631694 >>5631711

>>5631681
I maintain that we should've bullied the fuck out of Kaiba when we first discovered the chats.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 22:00:40 No.5631684 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631681
Emiko works fucking fast.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Sat 08 Apr 2023 22:10:19 No.5631694 Report

Quoted By: >>5631711

>>5631683
Agreed, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Also, our character might freaking keel over from the stress. It’s gotten high.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 22:16:00 No.5631700 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631661
I think we can mitigate the risk a bit by not picking up people at the studio. Meet up in a different place, or have the bus pick them up at their homes. Justify with convenience.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Sat 08 Apr 2023 22:16:35 No.5631701 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631661
The trip
>2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.
>Arrange another bus and make another email signaling a change in plans for the amusement park due to sudden idol schedule changes. Have Kaiba pass it along. Yui should have some friends that are willing to hop on a bus on Saturday, right?
Best I can do to mitigate it.

The leak
>1 - Mention the possibility of a leak to marketing. Maybe they can do a rush job for a proper announcement for the new idols.
>Tell Kaiba she’ll need to help more as their senpai. They won’t get the initial boost they deserve due to the rush job, so they’ll be leaning harder on her fame.

Emiko and Nagato
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.
Nothing to gain for it now.

Emiko and Kaiba
>Tell Kaiba you’re instituting a blanket ban on contact during the trip. Afterwards, she can explain to Emiko that we found out and are banning any further contact unless we meet later.
>”Yui and I have never treated each other like that. I’m more inclined to strangle her for talking to you like this, but I will give her one chance to prove me wrong. Later.”

Final suggestion
>Order a sleepover at your place. It’s bad given the awkwardness, but Kaiba’s parents aren’t supporting her, Emiko is toxic, she has no other friends, her fellow idols don’t know her yet, and she’s gloomy by nature. She’ll be a wreck by tomorrow if she can’t talk to anyone, and that leaves you. Push through and open up about your own past if needed.
At this point, she could be a damn suicide risk. With all the other shit QM has thrown out here, I can’t say it wouldn’t fit the quest.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Sat 08 Apr 2023 22:27:17 No.5631711 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631683
>>5631694
Yukimori tried shutting down Rika. He failed and we had to get involved. The person who discovered Kaiba was breaking our rules may not have been us, and may not have been as friendly as we were.

At least this time we can wave at how she’s impacted the other idols now and go “there is no excuse”.

The best way would probably have been to have Yui pull us both in for a royal reaming earlier. It would have kept our credibility with Kaiba and Yui could have gone her own past to convince Kaiba to drop this relationship.

Too many anons don’t seem willing to use her though, and we’ve paid for it with stress.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:95diUJC/ Sat 08 Apr 2023 22:39:48 No.5631719 Report

Quoted By: >>5632098

>>5631661
>2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.
>1a - Mention the possibility of a leak to marketing. Suggest that they take advantage of it to drum up nyatwry around tge new idols: "Who are Matsuno Inc's new mystery girls??"
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.
>2 - Allow it, but warn her to never meet up and to no longer engage with fans like she did prior

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 08 Apr 2023 23:23:04 No.5631747 Report

Quoted By: >>5632110

>>5631661
Now, I'll try to convince some of you guys of changing your votes. You see...

Options A: Our stress is pretty high. Even though the mood for relaxation is gone, the trip might be valuable for lowering even the tiniest bit of stress of Nagata. ...and, you know. This might be a good farewell party for Kaiba and us! We can pretty much get fired soon lmao

Options B: We absolutely cannot tell anyone from the company that there has been a leak, since that's basically dropping the ball and giving up on both Kaiba and Nagata. after all the bullshit that this fucking -100 IQ gloomy girl has put us through, I'm keeping her. Even if we have to brute force her stay.

Options C: No point in contacting Emiko. We aren't with a good hand of cards to bluff or bargain with her.

Options D: Let's think about it for a second: now that Emiko has ammo, the moment that Kaiba cuts her ties with her its the moment she presses the switch - exploding this entire bomb in our faces. Our best option right now is extracting every bit of information of Emiko. Let's play her game, make Kaiba minimize contact and pull the strings closer and closer until we can break this snake's neck.

Therefore, I'm hoping we can vote on:

>2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.
>2 - Keep quiet about a potential leak and hope for the best.
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.
>3 - Ask her to minimize contact to string Emiko along so she doesn’t get mad and do something stupid

>>5631681

Oh well. I was one of the anons that voted for us admitting that we read the chat log and ask Kaiba to break all contact with Emiko back then. I saw 10 seconds in the future us being checkmated, and I tried to convince you guys: I knew that all hell would break loose if we didn't dealt with that ASAP. And I know what you are going to say: that Kaiba could've just kept contact with her from her private account but not only that would be unlikely but if she did do that, the leaks would have less credibility since they wouldn't come from a freaking official idol acc. Hell, she might've not even leaked anything since she wouldn't have received the trip invitation on her personal account but on her company email, which I assume she doesn't have access too on her personal devices.

Once more I'm asking that you guys trust me - I know that I might sound like a schizoid but trust me - Kaiba's professional life (and ours!) is on the line.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 09 Apr 2023 03:24:43 No.5631996 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631661
frick...
>Hope for the best
Frick.... frickety frick. I hope Nagata doesn't get fired but transfered back to HR
>Keep quiet. There hasn't been any leaks lmao
>Don't respond to Bitchiko
>Ban further contact, but DELAY that for now. Take a taxi and accompany Kaiba home, then tell her to avoid talking to emiko until we "get this sorted out" which is delaying even more...
I want to scheme even more... how about we send emiko a message saying
>"Damn, it looks like IT will do some maintenance to the company's intranet while we are going to the trip"
So we can have some excuse for the radio silence... plus we say
>"It seems we will have lunch at the office to break the ice and travel later to get to the Onsen at night"
BUT THE BUS DEPARTS AT 10 AM

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:y8BBiaFL Sun 09 Apr 2023 05:14:35 No.5632098 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631719
>>5631719
*drum up mystery around
Sorry, mobile.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Sun 09 Apr 2023 05:29:23 No.5632110 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631747
>I might sound like a schizoid but trust me
You get my vote! Switching >>5631673 to this.
If this fails, well, then we really got to really start practicing an iron fist in a velvet glove.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Sun 09 Apr 2023 12:12:58 No.5632288 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631661
>2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.
>2 - Keep quiet about a potential leak and hope for the best.
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.
>3 - Ask her to minimize contact to string Emiko along so she doesn’t get mad and do something stupid

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 09 Apr 2023 15:07:32 No.5632369 Report

Quoted By:

>>5631661

Winners

The Trip
>1 - Cancel it. It’s too risky. If EmikoDesu55 leaks data, there’ll be press everywhere.

The Leak
>2 - Keep quiet about a potential leak and hope for the best.

Talking with EmikoDesu55 yourself
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.

Kaiba’s Contact with EmikoDesu55
>1 - Outright ban it. Shaken up like she is, she might actually stick to it
>Explain to Kaiba that Emiko is stringing her up, with examples right from the chat. Make it clear we're not angry nor judging her

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 09 Apr 2023 15:08:56 No.5632371 Report

Quoted By: >>5633590

>>5631661

Winners

The Trip
2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.

The Leak
>2 - Keep quiet about a potential leak and hope for the best.

Talking with EmikoDesu55 yourself
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.

Kaiba’s Contact with EmikoDesu55
>1 - Outright ban it. Shaken up like she is, she might actually stick to it
>Explain to Kaiba that Emiko is stringing her up, with examples right from the chat. Make it clear we're not angry nor judging her

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 09 Apr 2023 15:14:43 No.5632374 Report

Quoted By: >>5632388

frikety frick

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Sun 09 Apr 2023 15:19:31 No.5632379 Report

Quoted By: >>5632388 >>5632407

The stringing the manipulator didn't go forward and the marketers weren't warned. We’ve startled the grass and I fear the snake’s response.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Seeyoudie.gif, 984KiB, 500x213

Anonymous ID:y8BBiaFL Sun 09 Apr 2023 15:32:37 No.5632388 Report

Quoted By:

>>5632374
>>5632379
>Emiko when she strikes

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 09 Apr 2023 15:55:35 No.5632407 Report

Quoted By:

>>5632379
And between the iron gates of fate, we have sown the seeds of time. Soon, we shall sing our (and Kaiba's) eulogy - a poem or song that praises those who have recently died:

Confusion will be my epitaph
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it, we call sit back and laugh
But I fear, tomorrow, I'll be crying
Yes, I fear, tomorrow, I'll be crying...

It was fun while it lasted, gloomy girl.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:eNriiAqw Sun 09 Apr 2023 15:59:17 No.5632413 Report

Quoted By: >>5632981

>>5631661
>2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.
>1 - Mention the possibility of a leak to marketing. Maybe they can do a rush job for a proper announcement for the new idols.
>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.
>3 - Ask her to minimize contact to string Emiko along so she doesn’t get mad and do something stupid

If it isn't too late

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Sun 09 Apr 2023 17:54:02 No.5632537 Report

Quoted By: >>5632981

>>5631661
>2 - Hope for the best. You can’t cancel, there would be too many questions.

>2 - Keep quiet about a potential leak and hope for the best.

>2 - Don’t respond to EmikoDesu55.

>3 - Ask her to minimize contact to string Emiko along so she doesn’t get mad and do something stupid

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:GKL5WKl9 Mon 10 Apr 2023 00:59:12 No.5632935 Report

Quoted By: >>5632938 >>5632981

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:GKL5WKl9 Mon 10 Apr 2023 01:00:14 No.5632938 Report

Quoted By: >>5632943

>>5632935
I don't need another good new quest to die in a fucking week.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:y8BBiaFL Mon 10 Apr 2023 01:07:09 No.5632943 Report

Quoted By: >>5632947

>>5632938
Don't panic, anon.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:GKL5WKl9 Mon 10 Apr 2023 01:09:52 No.5632947 Report

Quoted By: >>5632961

>>5632943
Too late. I'm traumatized.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:atAzd46j Mon 10 Apr 2023 01:33:47 No.5632961 Report

Quoted By:

>>5632947
Good headspace for understanding Kaiba at least!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 10 Apr 2023 01:50:41 No.5632981 Report

Quoted By: >>5632988 >>5632996 >>5633149

>>5632413
>>5632537
>>5632935

Man, unfortunately the votes closed earlier but its good to see that some anons had a change of mind or had a line of thought similar to mine.

I have no hopes of Kaiba surviving this last round of votes, we literally decided the worst possible combo - which was doing nothing + aggroing Emiko with the ban. I think that might really be the end...

One anon mentioned Kaiba being on the verge of suicide - I don't know about that, she doesn't seem to be one of those people but I'll admit that that wasn't a possibility I've thought of when I tried to change y'all votes... We'll see.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:2gRzh4kL Mon 10 Apr 2023 02:07:25 No.5632988 Report

Quoted By:

>>5632981
Stop, you'll drive the anon to suicide instead

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:lshZk2i3 Mon 10 Apr 2023 02:17:46 No.5632996 Report

Quoted By: >>5633311

>>5632981
Nagato lacks hatred, Kaiba ending herself will make us stronger

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 10 Apr 2023 07:52:24 No.5633149 Report

Quoted By: >>5633311

>>5632981
To put it simply, I don't believe Kaiba is capable of successfully stringing anyone up.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 10 Apr 2023 15:32:16 No.5633311 Report

Quoted By:

>>5632996
Nagata is too soft, she wouldn't be able to handle an idol offing herself on her watch - I think she'd quit her job or have a breakdown

>>5633149
She isn't. That's why she would rely on us to string Emiko - and we would rely on Yui, because Nagata doesn't have the... how should I put it? Malice? Cynism? to set someone up to a trap - Yui, however, would be our trapper.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 10 Apr 2023 19:53:13 No.5633458 Report

Quoted By: >>5633525

I just noticed I called EmikoDesu55 Eriko at some points.
Might've been my editor auto-correcting the name and I didn't catch it on the proofread.
I fixed it in the wiki.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 10 Apr 2023 22:03:25 No.5633525 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633458
I honestly thought it was on purpose - maybe an obscure reference to the idol world or somehow an allusion to Riko.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:04:24 No.5633590 Report

Quoted By: >>5633592

>>5632371

Whatever it is that is going on between Kaiba and EmikoDesu55.
Whether it’s faked, real, mutual, or one-sided – It has to stop, that much you know.
Kaiba has put her own job and yours at risk by leaking company secrets.

You take a deep breath in order to force some calm into your voice.

“Kaiba-san,” you say, in your warmest voice, “This girl is leading you on, manipulating you, lying to you, forcing her ideal image on you, and trying to squeeze any private company info she can from you. Whatever her intentions, they’re nothing good.”

You rapid fire some examples, “Asking you to take pictures at a hot spring? Discrediting the word of anyone other than herself? Constantly tearing you down, but still trying to get you to meet up?”

Kaiba-san sniffles, “…I’m sorry I shared the image and stuff, I’ll be more careful, but Emiko-chan isn’t that bad… She said on the phone that she suffers from mood swings… it’s not her fault.”

And Kaiba-san buys that? Isn’t that downright gullible?
Why is she so blind to this Emiko’s faults? They’re plain to see!
Even if this Emiko-chan actually does have mood swings, that doesn’t mean Kaiba-san should accept a role as an emotional punching bag.

“Give me your phone,” you say.

“Eh?” replies Kaiba-san, seeming shocked.

“You keep saying you talk on the phone,” you say, “I need to know Emiko-chan’s number in case we need to call her and make her sign a non-disclosure agreement.”
“I’m not angry or anything about what you did,” you add, “But the company can’t simply trust an outsider with confidential information.”

Kaiba-san seems somewhat relieved, nods, and hands you her phone.
You pull out your own and make a show off typing over the number into your phone.

It seems like a perfectly valid option and one Kaiba-san, who really seems to want to believe in Emiko-chan, is ready to believe.

You have absolutely no intention of contacting this Emiko girl.
If she has bad intentions, then calling her would be akin to a fish biting down on a hook!
The only reason for this whole show was to glance at Kaiba-san’s recent calls.

They call almost every night. Sometimes for over an hour.
The calls seem to be made through some kind of internet phone-app, but show up in the phone’s default “recent calls” anyway.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:05:25 No.5633592 Report

Quoted By: >>5633593

>>5633590

Could this be Emiko’s real number or it just some kind of throwaway?
Regardless, you have a number you can try to reach her on if need be, that’ll suffice.
Most importantly, if Emiko leaks any data then you’ll pass this number off to the police and drag her right down to hell with you.

Fingers crossed that it’s a real number!
This Emiko girl has brought you so much heartache and stress.
She should suffer a little, right? Like you have?
That’s not cruel, it’s justice! Justice!

You also noticed an app with the same name as the platform that Kaiba-san uses for streaming and chat.
Might be worth installing it on your phone just to see if Kaiba-san sticks to her promise over the weekend.

You hand back Kaiba’s phone, “Thank you,” you say, with a smile, “I’ll make sure to meet with legal affairs so we can get something drafted.”

“Thank you,” says Kaiba-san, “Nagata-san. Thank you so much…”

Ah, ignorance really is bliss.
The only thing those lawyers will be doing is drafting a restraining order once this weekend is over and any info Emiko has is no longer a threat.
Or suing her if the girl decides to make use of the info.

You flash Kaiba a quick smile, “It’s my job,” you say, feigning happiness, “But Kaiba-san, I’m sure you understand that until this is handled – no contact with Emiko-chan, okay? It’ll turn into a legal matter so all contact has to be done through Matsuno Inc’s lawyers until the matter is handled.”

Kaiba-san seems genuinely disappointed, but nods, “I get it,” she says, “Emiko-chan will wonder where I’ve gone, but I hope she’ll understand after I explain it to her.
After the lawyers are done.”

“Thank you, Kaiba-san,” you say, “Total ban until then, you understand? Nothing at all! The password to the account will be changed. Don’t take any pictures or anything either or they might think you’re complicit and leaking information on purpose. This’ll be over soon.”

Kaiba wipes away the remnants of her tears with the back of her hands, “Uhm!” she replies, making a small sound of agreement.

“Alright then,” you say, walking to the door, “I’ll be off to get this all handled then.”

“Yes,” replies Kaiba-san, “Thank you again, Nagata-san.”

You linger at the door and wave a dismissive hand, “That’s what managers are for!”

Click. The door shuts behind you as you walk into the hallway.
That toxic relationship has to die, but a hard ban with no sensible reason might’ve caused Kaiba-san to warn EmikoDesu55 or contact her using other methods.

Kaiba-san needed that flicker of hope.
The idea that whatever is going on is only temporary.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:06:27 No.5633593 Report

Quoted By: >>5633595 >>5633624

>>5633592

You begin the short journey towards your own office as you think over the situation at hand.

Once the weekend passes and Emiko’s ammunition turns into duds, you’ll go in for the kill.
Would the Nagata Miho from a few months back have schemed like this?
Probably not, but it’s necessary, right? It’s justified!

You’re confident you’ve somehow plugged the information leak, but the sharpened axe that is the already shared info still dangles above your neck.
The life or death of your career decided by some college girl and her ‘Enter’ key.

The info Kaiba leaked can potentially put hostile eyes on the participants of the trip.
However, cancelling the trip would raise a lot of questions that you don’t have an answer for and revealing the truth would mean the end of Kaiba’s career.

If the trip happens and EmikoDesu55 leaks the information of the trip then you’d be putting the safety of several idols at risk while also opening them up to various potential scandals.
It’d be very easy for a tenacious, ill-willed fan to climb the walls surrounding the hotspring or to simply fly a drone over and take a few creepshots of your idols trying to enjoy a bath.

A nude picture published of an idol before they are even formally announced?
They haven’t even started and yet their chances at a normal career would go up in flames.

Yet, sacrifice Kaiba’s career in an order to save your own?

No, you won’t. You can’t.
She has done some seriously stupid things that would’ve caused many other managers to cut their losses and forcibly retire their idol.

A young girl’s desire to feel loved for the first time in her life cannot mean the end of her dream.
You won’t accept it.

You’re lying, scheming, and hiding more secrets than ever before.
But Kaiba-san, your idol, is now at ease.
She thinks the problems are being solved, while things are actually worse than they’ve ever been.

Your shoulders feel tight and your pace is unsteady.

The gist of it is: The trip needs to happen.
That stupid girl better be grateful if you all survive this!
The things you do for that girl, the lengths you go to.
Any other manager would probably call you insane!
But you’re not, hehe. Everything is alright!

You’re doing it! Handling things like a true manager!

If anyone learns of what Kaiba did, her career is over.
If anyone learns you allowed the trip to happen whilst knowing about the leak, yours is over.
If anyone acts on the leaked info, Chigusa’s and Enatsu’s chances at a normal career are over.

It’s over. It’s over. It’s over.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:07:28 No.5633595 Report

Quoted By: >>5633596

>>5633593

Just hope for the best.
You’ll push through this with the power of positivity!
Raise your fist and cheer for a brighter tomorrow! Oooooooo!

As far as the leak itself is concerned, you’re confident that acting on it any way would just arouse suspicion.
This might mean sacrificing the idol announcement of your two new idols, but that’s just something you’ll have to risk.

Just hope for the best.
Things might be uncertain, but just because everything seems to be falling apart doesn’t mean it will.
Murphy’s law states that ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong’, but who’s he?
Just some negative-minded guy from the United States, right?
Besides, he’s dead now so that shows how well that negativity worked out for him, hehe!

You’ll shoulder all these things and more for Kaiba-san!
That’s what it means to be a manager, right?
To protect your employees against anything and anyone!

You open the door to your office and get inside.

“Ah? Mihooo~, hello,” says a voice.

“Eh?” you say, “Yui-chan?”

“Come to visit? Fufu~ can’t keep me off your mind?” says Kitabayashi Yui, then reaches into a bag, “Ah, look!”
She holds up what seems to be some kind of cat harness and leash, “When you drop off Azuki tomorrow, I’ll take her outs-- Are you okay? You look very pale…”

You glance at your surroundings, you’re in the HR office. The place you worked for years.
“Ah,” you say, then laugh quietly, “I’m fine, I was just thinking and I walked here on habit, it seems.”
Some kind of droplet hits your white blouse, staining it black.

Kitabayashi Yui casts the cat harness aside and quickly gets up, rushing towards you.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO nagatamiho.png, 521KiB, 512x768

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:09:41 No.5633596 Report

Quoted By: >>5633598 >>5633604

>>5633595
A few more drops hit your shirt.
You wipe at your face, your mascara is running. Tears.
”Eh?” you say, trying your best to save your shirt.
You lean on a nearby desk for support as your legs feel weak.

Kitabayashi closes the distance and, holding you by the shoulders, eases you down to the floor.
Her eyes are wide and her voice is strained, like she’s about to cry herself, “What’s going on?” she says, “Please, Miho! You can talk to me!”

You stare at her with an expression akin to shellshock.
Kitabayashi Yui works for HR.
Coming from HR yourself, you know that HR’s first and foremost interest is the business.
Sharing with her anything that you just learned would make her obligated to defend the interests of the business.
However, knowing Yui-chan she would keep it quiet anyway and by doing so risk her job.
You can’t do that to her.

All you can do is wait.
And hope for the best.

“I’m fine,” you say, “I’m fine.”

Kitabayashi shakes your shoulders, “You’re not,” she screams with tears of her own, “Miho, please!”

As you try to take a breath to explain, you find that the air isn’t coming in.
No matter how fast you inhale, there’s nothing there.
You clutch at Kitabayashi’s shirt, hand shaking, as you race through sixty breaths in a minute with nothing to show for it.
Are you dying? Is this what dying is like?
You can’t die, the trip is tomorrow!
What if something goes wrong?

Kitabayashi places her hands on one of your own, “Miho, slowly breathe in through your nose!” she shouts, “It might feel like your throat is blocked off! It’s probably something like a panic attack, it’ll pass! Breathe slowly!”

Eyes wide and gasping, you do as Kitabayashi says and after a few minutes, that feel like hours, your breathing return to normal.
You thank her for the help, but refuse to give any explanation. You can’t.
In the all the years you’ve known her, you don’t think you’ve ever seen Kitabayashi that angry.

After visiting the ladies room to freshen up, you return to your office and quickly change the password to Kaiba-san’s chat and streaming account and install the accompanying app on your phone and login.
There’s a series of heavy knocks at the door, like somebody pelted it with rocks.
You open it and find a large man from security waiting outside with Matsui-san standing beside him, eyeing you in concern.

Apparently your work day is over and you’re send home to rest.
You plead with Matsui-san for a moment and ask her to keep what happened quiet from Kaiba-san, there’s no need to alarm her.

The large man then herds you away from your office.
Thankfully, you can convince him that you’ll walk to the exit by yourself to avoid making a scene and causing rumours.

Darn it, Yui-chan.
You still had work to do.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:10:43 No.5633598 Report

Quoted By: >>5633600 >>5633602 >>5634123

>>5633596

== April 17, 2015 (Saturday)

The day of the trip has arrived and you currently find yourself in front of Kitabayashi’s apartment, handing over a cat carrier and a small bag.
”There’s some wet and dry food in there,” you say, “Just make sure to feed Azuki the wet food in the evening or she gets grumpy and will complain – loudly,”

Only somebody like Kitabayashi would open their door in a tank top, underwear, and fuzzy slippers.
She looks into the bag and yawns, “Okay,” she says, then kneels and pokes the car carrier with a finger, “I’ll spoil you lots~”

Azuki, an American Shorthair, purrs in approval.

Kitabayashi rises again, her brow furrows, “Miho, are you really okay?” she says, “I’ve seen a lot of panic and anxiety attacks during my days as an idol, but yours was one of the scarier ones…I was about to call the hospital, y’know? …Try to relax a little.”

Perhaps you do need to find a way to mitigate your stress a little.
After the weekend.

You smile, “Sorry to have worried you,” you say, “But I’m going to a hotspring, there’s probably no better place for me to relax.”

Kitabayashi pouts, “Still wish I could’ve come with,” she says, “Do you want to come in for coffee at least? It’s like 6 AM.”

You shake head, “No thanks,” you say, “I have to go or else I’ll be late.”

Waving goodbye, you hurry back to your car.

Late for being insanely early that is.
Your plan is to park your trusty Renault Twingo near the entrance of Matsuno Inc, where the bus is going to show, and watch the traffic like a hawk.

It’s now cold and early, 6:30 AM. You’re in position.
The streets of Tokyo at this time feel barren compared to the usual traffic.
During your time in HR, you used to go to work with the bullet train, but now you need a car to ferry your idols to and from jobs.

In your passenger seats sits a thermos with oolong tea, you unscrew the cap and have some.
You honestly haven’t really thought about what you’ll do if some paparazzo does show.
But if they show, at least you’ll know. You won’t be caught unaware.

After you were send home, you tried calling Matsui-san to suggest that everybody should be picked up from home as a sort of courtesy service, but she said that the bus was rented on short notice for only a few hours and the distance between those joining the trip would’ve made the request impossible.
Furthermore, she said that if you refused to rest and called again then she’d come over to your apartment and chain you to the bed, then hung up.

Matsui-san can be scary sometimes.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:11:44 No.5633600 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633598

An hour passes as you keep a watchful eye, but there isn’t anybody suspicious.
You pull out your phone and check your email messages, nothing much.
A fancy new icon decorates the home screen, it’s that chat app you installed that Kaiba-san and EmikoDesu55 used.

Despite being by yourself in your car, you glance left and right, then open the app.
You barely feel any guilt for doing this anymore.
There’s a fair few new messages, but it’s a one-sided affair.
It seems like Kaiba-san is cutting contact with EmikoDesu55 for now as promised.

[11:39] @EmikoDesuu55: I’ll be quiet!
[11:51] @EmikoDesuu55: …
[11:55] @EmikoDesuu55: kaiba-chan?
[11:56] @EmikoDesuu55: did manager-san drag you into a meeting or something :P ?
[12:12] @EmikoDesuu55: let me know when you get out
[13:44] @EmikoDesuu55: Hhelloooooo….?
[16:25] @EmikoDesuu55: I watched your stream! 
[16:26] @EmikoDesuu55: you seemed a bit down tho, but I suppose that’s on-brand, haha!
[16:48] @EmikoDesuu55: kaiba-chan… I know you’re there, I saw the stream…
[17:03] @EmikoDesuu55: why aren’t you responding?
[17:15] @EmikoDesuu55: I’ll call you tonight
[22:31] @EmikoDesuu55: …rejected call ＼(｀0´)/
[22:32] @EmikoDesuu55: …I will have my pillow talk, kaiba-chan~
[22:40] @EmikoDesuu55: DID YOU BLOCK MY NUMBER???
[22:40] @EmikoDesuu55: KAIBA-CHAN WHY??? 

You adjust your posture and you can feel your grip tightening on the phone.
This’ll be where EmikoDesu55 reveals her true nature and intentions.
Her window of opportunity is closing and she must know it.

Suddenly, the little icon next to EmikoDesu55’s name flashes green – she’s online.
You gasp and quickly close the app.

Hands pressed together, you utter a little prayer, and it seems like god isn’t dead.
No notifications bombard your phone. EmikoDesu55 must’ve missed that you, on Kaiba's account, were online.

Still, although objectively wrong on every level, you could impersonate Kaiba-san if you wanted to.
Alternatively, you could speak to her as Kaiba’s manager and explain the situation.
Or you could simply say nothing at all and only use the app to observe EmikoDesu55’s reaction.

Decision
>1 - Pretend to be Kaiba-san and speak to EmikoDesu55 in the chat and try to calm her down
>2 - Give a formal reply stating that Kaiba-san’s social media presence is currently undergoing internal review and she is barred from chatting until then.
>3 - Only use the chat to peek on EmikoDesu55’s reactions
>4 - Don’t use the app at all anymore. She might catch you online.
>5 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:13:01 No.5633602 Report

Quoted By: >>5633625 >>5633639 >>5633644 >>5633658 >>5633690 >>5633692 >>5633809 >>5633819 >>5633850 >>5633886 >>5633909 >>5634024 >>5634434

>>5633598

An hour passes as you keep a watchful eye, but there isn’t anybody suspicious.
You pull out your phone and check your email messages, nothing much.
A fancy new icon decorates the home screen, it’s that chat app you installed that Kaiba-san and EmikoDesu55 used.

Despite being by yourself in your car, you glance left and right, then open the app.
You barely feel any guilt for doing this anymore.
There’s a fair few new messages, but it’s a one-sided affair.
It seems like Kaiba-san is cutting contact with EmikoDesu55 for now as promised.

[11:39] @EmikoDesuu55: I’ll be quiet!
[11:51] @EmikoDesuu55: …
[11:55] @EmikoDesuu55: kaiba-chan?
[11:56] @EmikoDesuu55: did manager-san drag you into a meeting or something :P ?
[12:12] @EmikoDesuu55: let me know when you get out
[13:44] @EmikoDesuu55: Hhelloooooo….?
[16:25] @EmikoDesuu55: I watched your stream! 
[16:26] @EmikoDesuu55: you seemed a bit down tho, but I suppose that’s on-brand, haha!
[16:48] @EmikoDesuu55: kaiba-chan… I know you’re there, I saw the stream…
[17:03] @EmikoDesuu55: why aren’t you responding?
[17:15] @EmikoDesuu55: I’ll call you tonight
[22:31] @EmikoDesuu55: …rejected call ＼(｀0´)/
[22:32] @EmikoDesuu55: …I will have my pillow talk, kaiba-chan~
[22:40] @EmikoDesuu55: DID YOU BLOCK MY NUMBER???
[22:40] @EmikoDesuu55: KAIBA-CHAN WHY??? 

You adjust your posture and you can feel your grip tightening on the phone.
This’ll be where EmikoDesu55 reveals her true nature and intentions.
Her window of opportunity is closing and she must know it.

Suddenly, the little icon next to EmikoDesu55’s name flashes green – she’s online.
You gasp and quickly close the app.

Hands pressed together, you utter a little prayer, and it seems like god isn’t dead.
No notifications bombard your phone. EmikoDesu55 must’ve missed that you, on Kaiba's account, were online.

Still, although objectively wrong on every level, you could impersonate Kaiba-san if you wanted to.
Alternatively, you could speak to her as Kaiba’s manager and explain the situation.
Or you could simply say nothing at all and only use the app to observe EmikoDesu55’s reaction.

Decision
>1 - Pretend to be Kaiba-san and speak to EmikoDesu55 in the chat and try to calm her down
>2 - Give a formal reply stating that Kaiba-san’s social media presence is currently undergoing internal review and she is barred from chatting until then.
>3 - Only use the chat to peek on EmikoDesu55’s reactions
>4 - Don’t use the app at all anymore. She might catch you online.
>5 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:14:19 No.5633604 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633596
>uploaded the unedited version
of course

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 12314512asd23.png, 227KiB, 680x680

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:46:24 No.5633624 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633593
>It’s over. It’s over. It’s over.
I know how serious the situation is but I couldn't help myself and burst into laughter lmao

Don't worry Miho-chan! At the absolute worst, you WILL drag Emiko to hell! We fall together!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ScvgnKbN Tue 11 Apr 2023 00:51:38 No.5633625 Report

Quoted By: >>5633639 >>5633644 >>5633668 >>5634712 >>5634722

>>5633602
>5 - Write-in
Look up the app in more detail online and try to see if there's any way to turn on an invisible setting.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Tue 11 Apr 2023 01:13:35 No.5633639 Report

Quoted By: >>5633644 >>5633690

>>5633625
Support.

>>5633602
>Watch reaction if invisible mode is an option
>Otherwise, give a formal reply stating that Kaiba-san’s social media presence is currently undergoing internal review and she is barred from chatting until then.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1680028240026607.jpg, 144KiB, 500x500

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 11 Apr 2023 01:37:56 No.5633644 Report

Quoted By: >>5633658 >>5633660 >>5633690 >>5633809 >>5633850 >>5633913

>>5633602
>>5633625
>>5633639

Oh c'mon, guys. You all lack guts, slyness, artifice! When playing against the Devil, you gotta one-up his cheats.

Besides, do note (by taking a look at the wiki) that being passive at this situation has only lead to Stress increases. By voting on just observing, you are essentially delaying again - thus, repeating what got us into this mess to begin with.

A trick and a lie.

>1 - Pretend to be Kaiba-san and speak to EmikoDesu55 in the chat and try to calm her down

While pretending to be Kaiba, tell her that the IT guys had a meeting with manager-san about something to do with leaking information. Manager-san decided to cancel the trip and decided to place every idol on digital surveillance - tell Emiko that even then, you two wouldn't be able to meet since Manager-san invited you and the other idols to have a private talk on [insert random location here but somewhere on Tokyo] - you'll discuss a lot of stuff so it will take a while. Maybe, after the meeting, you two can meet!

And then, we send Yui there. The goal here is make her leak false information, or at the very least, don't go to Matsuno's HQ. If her plan was to stalk Kaiba all the way to Fuji or meet with her, she should go along and go to the false location - there, Yui can gather intel on wether she would meet Kaiba alone, in a group, or send stalker fans to harass Kaiba: Yui should not confront Emiko alone, her goal is to spy. Observe.

Afterwards, Emiko will ask why we weren't there: we can just wave some small excuse, even fake another e-mail or fake a Google Calendar appointment whatever. She will bite. That is "the Lie".

Next step is going to be right after the trip - we will bait her with false, but believable, insider info - upcoming jobs, leaked auditions, info about the other idols. Things like that. Then, we'll search the web for articles that match this false information (maybe we can even access 4/2chan and check the archives, why not?) - this will give us the confirmation of wether she's leaking stuff for someone else or just keeping it for herself.

That is "the Trick".

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:lshZk2i3 Tue 11 Apr 2023 02:03:30 No.5633658 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633602
>>5633644
This so much
>1 - Pretend to be Kaiba-san and speak to EmikoDesu55 in the chat and try to calm her down

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ScvgnKbN Tue 11 Apr 2023 02:07:40 No.5633660 Report

Quoted By: >>5633669

>>5633644
There's a massive difference between mechanical outcomes and narrative outcomes. This is just categorically insane. Stalling in this manner is already a hell of a gamble on Miho's part, digging in like this is just making matters worse. Frankly, I'd rather use more aggressive legal measures now, but Miho simply isn't that type of person as shown so far. Setting some gaslighting plot just adds unnecessary drama for little to no gain whatsoever, aside from simply proving that Emiko is bad news, something Miho already knows. That being said, doing some deep looking about on various sites to see if someone has posted Kaiba's stuff is something I certainly support.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Tue 11 Apr 2023 02:26:35 No.5633668 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633625
+1
Kaiba, why you got to make us cry?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 11 Apr 2023 02:27:07 No.5633669 Report

Quoted By: >>5633850

>>5633660
>digging in like this is just making matters worse

You're right and wrong - what you're missing is that every option is essentially a bad one, not that we chose can effectively deal with the problem in one fell swipe so the threat will be lingering for the days to come. We technically can't go for legal measures right now since that would basically end Kaiba's career in an instant. I fail to see what anyone hopes to accomplish by essentially doing what we were doing already but on our phone instead of the company's computers: waiting and hoping for the best, waiting and hoping for the best.

Seriously: if we really wanted to do something with the information, we would've confessed the moment we first spied Kaiba's chat and forbid her from speaking to Emiko right there. Most of you guys seem to be gathering information for the sake of gathering information - hell, even now with the bread and butter on our hands, we did nothing: no extra security, not informing the marketing team, no trip cancellation. And *now*, after literal shit hits the fan and Emiko turns into ticking time-bomb, Kaiba gets the ban. Hurray?

Acting, moving forward. This will bring us results, however little they might be - stalling and playing the hide 'n hide game (because we don't seem to be seeking anything) hasn't been proving to be a succesful approach. This bomb will explode: just looking at the timer decreasing isn't gonna change anything.

Now, about the gaslight plan: it will, most likely, fail at some point. But if it does succeed, not only we will have some extra breathing room but the snake will be on our hands - ready to be crushed. And if we fall on a middle-ground between failure and success then hey, Emiko might just lose interest on "Kaiba" and move on. She'll leave unscathed but won't be a threat anymore.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Tue 11 Apr 2023 02:53:58 No.5633690 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633644
Just a point of order: won't think lead to an elaborate, escalating shadow-war with a manipulative girl dominating our life, probably distracting from our ability to work on the careers on our other idols?

>>5633639
>>5633602
I'll add:
>Check the fansites and chans for leaked info
to the to-do list, though, QM.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:2gRzh4kL Tue 11 Apr 2023 02:57:30 No.5633692 Report

Quoted By: >>5633816

>>5633602
>2 - Give a formal reply stating that Kaiba-san’s social media presence is currently undergoing internal review and she is barred from chatting until then.
Dangle some hope for her. Tell her that Kaiba is undergoing normal review and that if you find nothing wrong in her chats she will be allowed to chat back very soon™

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Y1Ibusr9 Tue 11 Apr 2023 06:31:27 No.5633809 Report

Quoted By: >>5633850

>>5633602
We have time to kill, so let’s do this first

>Check the fansites and chans for leaked info
>Look up the app in more detail online and try to see if there's any way to turn on an invisible setting
>Get some cash out from an ATM in case we need to bribe someone to fuck off

After all of these, we can re-asses our next steps.

However, I do see merit in this anon’s approach >>5633644

Not voting for it - but it would work to calm the bomb down (for now)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Tue 11 Apr 2023 06:40:30 No.5633816 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633692
I'm concerned this will lead to Emiko dialing back her more overtly manipulative and abusive behaviours to the extent that Kaiba ceases to recognize them at all and no longer has any reason to believe us.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:+p/pPP5W Tue 11 Apr 2023 06:43:53 No.5633819 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633602
>4 - Don’t use the app at all anymore. She might catch you online
There's nothing else to it. Let's not fuck it all up by riling her up, or give her the hint that she got caught. Even a cornered rat will bite.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 11 Apr 2023 08:16:24 No.5633850 Report

Quoted By: >>5633898 >>5633913

>>5633644
>>5633669
You're talking big, telling us how we're just stalling, but your plan is stalling as well. It achieves nothing even if it succeeds. All it does is gather information - the very thing you accuse us of.

>>5633602
>2 - Give a formal reply stating that Kaiba-san’s social media presence is currently undergoing internal review and she is barred from chatting until then.
Also supporting >>5633809.

I must say I feel like this storyline is bloating out and consuming the rest of the quest, and I don't like it.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:FIHBxZPB Tue 11 Apr 2023 10:18:20 No.5633886 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633602
>1 - Pretend to be Kaiba-san and speak to EmikoDesu55 in the chat and try to calm her down

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 11:01:51 No.5633898 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633850
>I must say I feel like this storyline is bloating out and consuming the rest of the quest

It absolutely is.

In hindsight I think I should’ve ran this side-story over several weeks (if people voted as they have) so that there’s space in-between for the other characters, doing jobs, and training idols.

I already have some minor changes in mind to avoid this sort of bloat in the future such as:
>Reducing the in-story time between votes to 1 week rather than 2.
>Summarizing events more often

I enjoy sprinkling in story to add some spice to the quest, but right now it just feels like I dumped a bucket of salt on it.
Week 15/16 (this side-story + new character introductions) is almost as large as all the 14 weeks before it combined.

I plan to do better once this side-story has concluded, regardless of when and how it may end.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ylg7xql6 Tue 11 Apr 2023 11:21:27 No.5633909 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633602
>1 - Pretend to be Kaiba-san and speak to EmikoDesu55 in the chat and try to calm her down
>Check the fansites and chans for leaked info
>Look up the app in more detail online and try to see if there's any way to turn on an invisible setting
>Get some cash out from an ATM in case we need to bribe someone to fuck off

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 11 Apr 2023 11:39:02 No.5633913 Report

Quoted By: >>5634287 >>5634295

>>5633850
>It achieves nothing even if it succeeds. All it does is gather information - the very thing you accuse us of.

Gathering information is a consequence of the plan. The goal is discredit "Kaiba" or Emiko as reliable source of leaked information by stringing Emiko in: if Emiko notices that "Kaiba" is telling lies she might doubt herself on previous acquired information and drop the "project" altogether. Or, if she's working for someone or selling the leaks to someone then Emiko gets discredited for being a liar with false info. Yes, I know I didn't explain it further on >>5633644 but that's because all of this is rather implicit: I didn't felt the need to explain since I thought you guys would just deduce from the implications.

If you fail to see the big picture and how much we would gain if the plan succeeds then I have nothing else to say to you. I'd like to try disarming a bomb and putting this behind us forever, I'm against any form of "let's wait and see" - this is leading us to nowhere and it's a sickening, passive and cowardly behavior that's threatening our characters health. We gotta take matters on our own hands

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 11 Apr 2023 15:45:02 No.5634024 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633602
No updates today.
Should be able to post again tomorrow.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 11 Apr 2023 18:12:36 No.5634123 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633598
Props for naming the cat Beans.
Cat beans are justice.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:3byGqxiy Tue 11 Apr 2023 20:29:16 No.5634287 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633913
>sickening, passive, and cowardly
Chill. It's a collaborative story-game about playing a middle-manager for young celebrities in 2000s Japan. Nobody's life or honor is on the line IRL, and IC it makes oerfect sense that we might be passive and conflict-avoidant; we're a young, soft-hearted Japanese lady just teying her best.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 11 Apr 2023 20:36:03 No.5634295 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633913
You seem to not take into account Kaiba's reaction to our pretending to be her to deceive someone she thinks is "not that bad" and is her only friend.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Wed 12 Apr 2023 00:25:00 No.5634434 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633602
>2 - Give a formal reply stating that Kaiba-san’s social media presence is currently undergoing internal review and she is barred from chatting until then.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Mq6vvU/B Wed 12 Apr 2023 09:19:17 No.5634712 Report

Quoted By:

>>5633625
+1 because this is the most competent choice so far. first two definitely would aggravate emiko or kaiba, three and four would make miho very uneasy. that other plan isnt even worth mentioning

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 10:20:50 No.5634722 Report

Quoted By: >>5634785

>1 - Pretend to be Kaiba-san and... (x4)
>2 - Give a formal reply stating th... (x3)
>3 - Only use the chat to peek on... (x0)
>4 - Don’t use the app at all anym.. (x1)
>5 - Look up the app in more deil... (x5)
I'm assuming that the people that voted for >>5633625 plan to peek if "offline" mode is an option.
Honestly, it wasn't at first which is sorta why 3/4 are seperate options, but since this is the largest vote, I'll add it.
That's sorta the whole idea behind allowing write-ins, I suppose.

Winner
>5 - Look up the app in more detail... (x5)
>Watch reaction if invisible mode is an option
>Check the fansites and chans for leaked info

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 13:19:06 No.5634785 Report

Quoted By: >>5634786

>>5634722

That was a close call, you’re not even sure what you would’ve said if EmikoDesuu55 caught you online and tried to engage you in a conversation.
Besides, if Kaiba-san gained access to the account in some way or spoke to EmikoDesuu55 through other means and found out you’ve essentially borrowed her identity to chat with her Emiko-chan so you can ruin their relationship – she’d never forgive you.

Still, it would give you some peace of mind if there was a safe way to observe how EmikoDesuu55 is responding to this all.

Tapping away on your phone, you browse the internet to see if the app has a way to be “invisible”.
To be able to chat or read messages without your account appearing as “Online” to others.
Turns out there is, tucked away deep in the settings you find a toggle to enable a “beta” feature that allows you to appear as “Offline”.

Across the road, a van stops. There’s something written on the side of the van, but it’s too away far to read.
The driver’s seat door opens and a man steps out carrying a small device in his hands.
He turns around and glances at Matsuno HQ, back at the device, then smiles and moves to open the sliding door on the side of the van.

They’re here. The delivery person.
Sugar packets ran out a few days ago and it’s comforting knowing you’ll get to add sugar to your tea again.

No paparazzi in sight yet, though.

Your phone buzzes and you glance at the notifications: EmikoDesuu55.
After waiting a few minutes, you quickly open the app and glance at her status: Offline.

Good.

You open the settings, enable offline mode, and pin your own status to offline.
Now you can keep an eye on EmikoDesuu55’s messages without worry.

== April 17, 2015 (Saturday)

[07:55] @EmikoDesuu55: i guess something must’ve happened…
[07:55] @EmikoDesuu55: call me when you can, k? (⋟﹏⋞)
[07:56] @EmikoDesuu55: have fun on the trip~

==

EmikoDesuu55 pops back online and you can only hope the beta feature works as intended.
A new message appears.

==

[07:59] @EmikoDesuu55: i miss you <3

==

But is then deleted by EmikoDesuu55 seconds later.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 13:20:37 No.5634786 Report

Quoted By: >>5634787

>>5634785

You sigh, you barely know this girl and yet interacting with her is so exhausting.
Her approaches and intentions are all over the place.
At the beginning she appeared nice, then she became manipulative, and now she’s trying to be nice again?
What do you really know about her other than that she’s a struggling college student that can barely seem to pay her phone bill?

One of the first messages you remember from her was when she made an off-hand comment right after Kaiba-san’s first stream.
Kaiba-san cried back then, tears of joy, overwhelmed by all her viewers coming to see her.
You tried calming her down, soothing her to the best of your abilities.

Later she appeared during the handshaking event and whispered something to Kaiba that left her a blushing mess.
She also passed Kaiba-san a note which turned out to contain some contact details.

Afterwards there was a brief back and forth between EmikoDesuu55 and some other individual, keyszz, or something along those lines.
They spoke about starting up some project, but that’s all.

What has EmikoDesuu55 been up to when she isn’t talking to Kaiba-san?

You take our your phone again and your chest grows tight as your mind races through possibilities.
Has she been publishing everything under a hidden blog? Sold the info on?
What do you have to look for? What search term?

You type “Kaiba Aoi scandal” into Google to see what comes up.
There’s dozens of results, but none are actually scandals.

Just clickbait articles like “DOES KAIBA AOI ABUSE CATS?” and then the articles links a short clip of Kaiba’s stream where she mentions that she prefers dogs over cats.
The article then goes on to say that since she prefers dog, she probably hates cats, and you know who else hates cats: people that abuse them.
Ergo, Kaiba Aoi is a cat abusing lunatic.
Over in the comments, a woman, that you guess is in her late fifties from her profile picture, mentions she’ll share this article on Facebook in order to warn her grandson.

There’s also a video channel filled with short clips of Kaiba Aoi talking animatedly about something that happened at work and she makes a movement that causes her breasts to bounce.
The video zooms-in and adds some kind of sound-effect.
You make a mental reminder to tell Matsui-san to send a cease-and-desist warning to this channel.

Beside these “scandals” you stumble upon the website of her fanclub: The Gloomlings.
Their forum is an equal split between threads praising Kaiba, discussing the vlogs, guessing what she’ll do next, and starting witch-hunts to dox people that spoke poorly of Kaiba-san.
One member mentions that they cut together a bunch of audio from the vlogs into something they call a “ASMR sleep track” and that they make use of it every night.
Other members are screaming at this person to share the track, but he refuses.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 13:22:11 No.5634787 Report

Quoted By: >>5634789 >>5634795 >>5634802

>>5634786

Not much luck here then.
Perhaps EmikoDesuu55 hasn’t leaked anything yet?
You can’t be too sure though, spending a few minutes on Google isn’t quite enough to settle the matter.

How about the search term “EmikoDesuu55” then?
There are a few results.

Most of which are accounts on various websites that seem abandoned.
Among the top results is EmikoDesuu55’s account on the website that Kaiba publishes her vlogs on.
It seems like she’s most active here, but there’s also a Twitter account.

You open the link to her Twitter and scroll through her tweets.
It mostly seems to be retweets of various promos in order to have a chance at getting free stuff.

At one point, you spot a series of tweets with a name you recognize: Keyszz1.
It’s actually quite recent, the conversation happened only yesterday.

@Keyszz1: @EmikoDesuu55 answer your phone or your DMs
@Keyszz1: @EmikoDesuu55 i swear to fucking god, we’ll kick you from the group
@EmikoDesuu55: i’m busy
@Keyszz1: you said you had notes for the exam
@EmikoDesuu55: i’m not sure yet, need more time
@Keyszz1: the others in the group are waiting you dyke, we need notes
@EmikoDesuu55: fuck you, calling me a dyke
@Keyszz1: you’ve been talking to the professor, right?
@EmikoDesuu55: i barely talk to her, like once a week maybe
@Keyszz1: hand over the fucking notes, so we can move. i need to pay rent
@Keyszz1: you wanna fail the exam and waste weeks of effort?
@Keyszz1: just hand over what you got and we’ll make it work
@Keyszz1: anything will do, anything that hits the professor’s rep
@Keyszz1: college will step in and bail her out 
@EmikoDesuu55: just let me work you dick, you’re too autistic for this part anyway
@Keyszz1: …are you trying to fuck the professor again?
@Keyszz1: is that why this is taking so god damn long?
@EmikoDesuu55: fuck off you pin-dicked virgin 
@EmikoDesuu55: its different this time
@Keyszz1: you stupid cunt
@Keyszz1: THIS IS THE SECOND TIME
@Keyszz1: JUST SHARE THE NOTES
@EmikoDesuu55: no, i wanna meet with the professor first
@EmikoDesuu55: i think i can get us all higher grades if we wait 
@EmikoDesuu55: i might have better notes soon, from other professors too 
@EmikoDesuu55: then we can target those instead of this professor 
@EmikoDesuu55: project will get a passing grade, trust me
@EmikoDesuu55: professor is busy this weekend and might not have signal
@EmikoDesuu55: ill let you know if i hear anything
@Keyszz1: get fucked
@EmikoDesuu55: im trying

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 13:24:21 No.5634789 Report

Quoted By: >>5634790 >>5634792 >>5634795 >>5634802 >>5634819 >>5634821 >>5634837

>>5634787

Ah, so she really was in college.

There’s a sudden knock on your car window, making you yelp and fumble your phone – it falls.
Body tight with panic, you glance at the window: It’s Chigusa-san.

After you lower the window, she leans in and speaks, “Good morning, manager-san,” she says.

You try to calm yourself down, “M-morning, Chigusa-san,” you say, then glance at a small digital clock on your car dashboard, “You’re… an hour early?”

Chigusa nods, “I had hoped to set example by being the first person here,” she says, “I will do better next time.”
You can only hope she doesn’t do the same thing with stuff like birthday parties.
She probably does. Awkward for everybody involved.

You pick up your phone and pocket it, “Do you want to wait in the car with me?” you ask, “It’s still chilly at this hour.”

Chigusa bows, “Thank you, that would be appreciated.”

You enjoy some small talk with Chigusa while you wait for the bus to arrive.
Well, enjoy might be too strong a word for it. It’s fairly one-sided.

Over the next hour, the other managers and idols begin to arrive.
This the first time you’ve seen Watase Yoko in person, but she doesn’t seem to be as intimidating as her picture suggested.

You leave your car in the office parking lot and join up with the others.

“Manager-san,” shouts Enatsu Mari, “Hello, hello!”

Kaiba Aoi shuffles up towards you, bowing slightly, “Ah,” she says, “Good morning, manager-san.”

You manage the briefest of introductions before the bus shows up – 9 AM.
Formal introductions will have to wait until you arrive at the destination.

The bus driver informs you that you’ll be going to a hot spring on the outskirts of Mt. Fuji and while not that far, it’s a two-hour drive because of traffic and lacklustre roads.

Those two hours on the bus might be a good time to socialize.

Decision
>1 - Sit by yourself and just wait out the ride (skip)
>2 - Sit and chat with Enatsu Mari
>3 - Sit and chat with Chigusa Iki
>4 - Sit and chat with Ichihara Riko
>5 - Sit and chat with Kaiba Aoi
>6 - Sit and chat with Watase Yoko
>7 - Sit and chat with Yukimori Kyoden
>8 - Sit and chat with Matsuno Kojiro

You can write-in questions if you like.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Untitled.jpg, 240KiB, 727x1000

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 13:25:22 No.5634790 Report

Quoted By:

>>5634789
Forgot image

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Wed 12 Apr 2023 13:31:08 No.5634792 Report

Quoted By:

>>5634789
>8 - Sit and chat with Matsuno Kojiro
Ha

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Wed 12 Apr 2023 13:35:11 No.5634795 Report

Quoted By:

>>5634787
Man, their OPSEC is shit.
Are you trying to make Emiko a
complex character? Who really falls in love with her targets? Sorry, it doesn't change what she does. I'll hate her anyway.

>>5634789
>8 - Sit and chat with Matsuno Kojiro
>While observing Watase Yoko
I wonder how she behaves towards Ichihara

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:T+/UCWsL Wed 12 Apr 2023 13:55:28 No.5634802 Report

Quoted By:

>>5634787
So it’s clear that this is code:

notes = blackmail material
professor = idols / Kaiba
higher grades = more money
exam = publishing deadline?
college = idol agency

It’s weird that they’d post this all on Twitter desu.

Where do we know Keyszz1 from?

And it seems like our girl might actually be getting feelings for Kaiba

>>5634789
>8 - Sit and chat with Matsuno Kojiro

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ylg7xql6 Wed 12 Apr 2023 14:20:39 No.5634819 Report

Quoted By:

>>5634789
>8 - Sit and chat with Matsuno Kojiro

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 14:22:19 No.5634821 Report

Quoted By: >>5635089

>>5634789
Winner
>8 - Sit and chat with Matsuno Kojiro

Short vote since it's just a minor thing, seems pretty one-sided, and I want to try and get another update out today

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 14:26:05 No.5634823 Report

Quoted By: >>5634837 >>5634874 >>5634893 >>5634990

Regarding the hot spring, how much can I get away with on a blue board?
I wasn't planning on full nude, but I did plan on at least some images of the idols in the hot spring.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 14:53:53 No.5634830 Report

Quoted By:

>this post is too old to remove
Can't backpedal on removing tension
It is what it is

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:J8/LooWm Wed 12 Apr 2023 15:05:18 No.5634837 Report

Quoted By:

>>5634789
>8 - Sit and chat with Matsuno Kojiro
>While observing Watase Yoko

>>5634823
Link images hosted elsewhere, with a disclaimer, to play it safest.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ylg7xql6 Wed 12 Apr 2023 16:32:53 No.5634874 Report

Quoted By:

>>5634823
Nah, it's totally fine. Just spoiler it. Elf Maiden Quest had a bukkake scene and the jannies did not touch it lol.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Wed 12 Apr 2023 16:56:13 No.5634893 Report

Quoted By: >>5634990

>>5634823
It's alright. You can get away with anything these days. Just don't forget images for Nagata too!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 12 Apr 2023 19:21:48 No.5634990 Report

Quoted By:

>>5634823
>>5634893
>You can get away with anything these days

/vt/ is a blueboard and the jannies there have been pretty restrictive with suggestive pictures (I've been seeing a lot of unspoiled thread pics getting deleted and none of them were nudity per se), so I wouldn't count on that.

Whoever, the horni threads do exist on that same board so I don't know what the hell goes on the jannies head there.

Anonymous

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Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 21:29:08 No.5635089 Report

Quoted By: >>5635090

>>5634821

You decide to sit beside Matsuno Kojiro in front of the bus for the duration of bus ride to the hot spring.
The last time you’ve spoken was during the Ichihara Riko fallout. A good, long while ago.

“Good morning, Matsuno-san,” you say, “Mind if I sit here?”

Matsuno seems occupied with his phone, “Feel free, Nagata-san,” he replies.

Enatsu Mari and Chigusa Iki sit close to each other in the back while Kaiba sits by herself near the front and listens to music, her head resting against the window.
Watase Yoko and Ichihara Riko sit side-by-side as well, but any attempt at friendly conversation is shut down by Watase.
Ichihara’s face is short so her face is hidden behind the back of the seat in front of them, Watase Yoko is clearly visible.

Yukimore Kyoden sits by himself, he brought a laptop and is working through his mailbox.

You sit quietly until Matsuno Kojiro puts away his phone.
Sitting next to him like this, you can’t help but notice he’s actually quite tall.
He has forgone the usual three-piece suit for a more business casual look.

After a while Matsuno puts away his phone, then looks at you and smiles, “I haven’t gotten a chance to properly thank you for organising this trip,” he says, then raises his voice, “And of course to congratulate you on signing some wonderful new talent.”

A few seats behind you, Chigusa bobs her head and Enatsu replies with some embarrassed laughter.

You lower your head slightly, “It was really no problem at all,” you say, “I’m only hoping that all the new girls can become quick friends.”

The implication here being that you want to avoid bullying.

Matsuno smiles, “What a wonderful thought,” he says, “I’m hoping for much the same.”He then stretches for a moment and uses a hand to message his neck, “I’ll admit I’m happy you decided on a hot spring for this trip, these last few weeks have left me hella stressed.”

Hella?

Matsuno notices the look on your face. ”Relax a little, we can be a couple of stiff suits back at the office,” he says with a chuckle, “I think it would be beneficial if us managers get on friendly terms as well, no?”

“That would be nice,” you say.
To be able to go to a hotspring and not mind your behaviour and manner of speaking too much would be a dream.

To finally, for once, let your guard down?
To do away with all the office politics?
That’d be amazing, but you know some things he doesn't.
Unexpected guests may arrive at any moment.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 21:30:27 No.5635090 Report

Quoted By: >>5635092

>>5635089

You hear Ichihara Riko’s voice a few seats away, trying to speak quietly, “Watasa-sama,” she says, then whispers something too quiet to hear.
They are several seats behind you, after all.

”Haaaah?” replies Watase Yoko, not minding her volume at all, “You wanna try me? Huh?”
Her voice is a lower pitch than you’d ordinarily expect for an idol.
It’s tone honestly reminds you of the delinquent girls back in high school and there’s a touch of a Kansai accent.

Matsuno Kijro flashes you an apologetic smile, then shrugs, “I hope they warm up a bit to each other in the days to come. They’ve been working together a bunch but haven’t really bonded.”

You remember seeing records for a job at Wit Studio for both Watase and Ichihara.

“I was happy to see that you decided to continue being a manager after what happened to Maki Sumi,” you say, “Have you enjoyed working with Watase-san so far?”

“For sure,” he says, speaking in a tone the others probably won’t overhear, “She’s been great. Very professional in a lot of ways, but if she doesn’t like you then, well, then she REALLY doesn’t like you. She won’t hide it either.”
He then folds his arms, a confident smile on his face, “She’s a pro, that’s all I can say. It’s great working with somebody who has plenty of experience. It was a massive relief that my dad and uncle and we managed to get her to sign with Matsuno Inc.”

“How about your two new talents?” he asks in an effort to keep the conversation going.

You scratch your cheek with a finger and quietly laugh, “…it’s too early to say, we’ve only really had an interview, but I think they’re both very promising and I look forward to working with them.”

The both of you chat for the remainder of the trip.
Exchanging bits of personal info and general interests.

Turns out Matsuno Kojiro lives in an apartment over in the Akasaka district, one of the most prestigious and expensive places in all of Tokyo.
He’s lucky enough to only have to pay for utilities since an acquaintance of his owns the building.
Matsuno graduated from the University of Tokyo where he majored in Business & Management.

He has an interest in western astrology, his sign being Leo, and was happy to find out that yours is Gemini.
You don’t personally hold much stock in astrology, but your sign seemed to have made a favourable impression.

After a long and eventually bumpy ride (Kaiba-san, who had fallen asleep, was woken up when a pothole caused her to hit her head against the window) you arrive at your destination.

Anonymous

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Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 21:31:45 No.5635092 Report

Quoted By: >>5635094

>>5635090

Matsudaira Resort is a large, family-owned hotel with its own private, gender-separated hot spring.
It’s run by an elderly man who appear very thankful for your patronage.
The place ordinarily only has a handful of staff, but he called in the help of his grandchildren to ensure everything is to your liking.
There are massages, the hot spring itself, a sauna, a bar for drinks, a breakfast buffet, and more!

The owner, Matsudaira Yoshikata, announces with pride that this hot spring has been in his family for generations and has existed for hundreds of years.
He looks like an ordinary elderly gentleman but radiates youthful energy and has dyed his hair.

While Matsudaira Yoshikata speaks of the extended history of this place, Yukimori Kyoden grunts in dissatisfaction.
Apparently, there’s no mobile phone reception here, but fingers crossed there’ll be at least Wi-Fi inside.

The old man noisily clears his throat to get everyone's attention, “My granddaughter will show you to your rooms,” he says.

Anonymous

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Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 21:33:22 No.5635094 Report

Quoted By: >>5635100 >>5635490

>>5635092

The granddaughter bows at the waist, “My name is Matsudaira Haru,” she says brightly, “I will be taking care of you during your stay.”
She’s wearing traditional Japanese clothing much like the grandfather himself.
The clothing pairs with the hotel itself and the rest of the resort, it honestly feels like you’ve gone back in time.

Her gaze sweeps over the guests standing before her as she waves a hand to her side, “If you would please foll-- EH?” she says, eyes lingering on Watase Yoko, “If y-y-y-you’ll please follow me.”

“Meanwhile, I will help you get checked in,” says the old man, looking towards Yukimori, “If Sir would please follow me?”

Yukimori does look the oldest out of you all and he’s a man, so you should’ve probably expected this.
You hold up a quick hand, “I’m sorry, but I made the reservations and have all the papers…” you say.

The old man slowly looks towards, his face carrying a hint of disbelief.
He then turns his attention back to Yukimori who confirms your statement with a nod.

“Ah, my apologies,” says the man as he shuffles towards you, laughing, “My wife used to care of all the paperwork as well, haha.”

“Eh?” you say, blushing slightly as you glance towards Yukimori, “No, no. I’m not hi--”

“If madam would please follow me,” interrupts the old man, shuffling towards the building.

You sigh and follow the owner inside and check your group into the resort and receive directions where to join the others as it seems like the man’s granddaughter hasn’t gotten back.
Shouldering your backpack, you follow the directions you were given.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO smaller.jpg, 343KiB, 1000x1500

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 21:37:40 No.5635100 Report

Quoted By: >>5635105

>>5635094
>dont look at spoilered image until mentioned

As you near your rooms, you suddenly hear a slam followed by a yelp.
Peeking around the corner you see Watase Yoko leaning over the resort’s employee, Matsudaira Haru, who has back pressed against the wall.
Kabedon? Do people actually do that in real life?
You pull your head back around the corner and listen in.

“Uwa-wa-wa-wa-wa,” mutters the employee, red-faced.

“Seems like ya' know who I am,” says Watase Yoko, “Well, I’m stayin' here with some people and I’m hopin' things don’t get difficult, heh? No pictures or sharin' details with yer' friends, hear?”

“…Y-yes,” mutters the girl.

Watase Yoko slams the wall again, “Hah?!”

The action earns herself a high-pitched yelp from the girl, “Yes, Watase-sama!”

“There’s a good girl~” says Watase Yoko.

You can’t believe what you’re hearing. How can an idol just threaten somebody like that?
It would’ve been a problem if the girl began sharing things on “Line” (Chat app) or something, but still.

That poor girl must be terrified. You peek around the corner again.

Hold up. That girl doesn’t look scared at all. Not one bit!
Oi, oi, oi, oi. There’s something wrong with today’s youth.
She looked so dignified earlier! The kids aren’t alright!
>pic related

The girl receives a head pat for her troubles, and she looks she’s ready to melt into a puddle.
You suppose an idol like Watase Yoko must have a questionable fanbase.

Watase Yoko huffs, then points a thumb over her shoulder, “Get out of here,” she says.

“Y-yes!” screams the girl, walks a few steps, turns around to bow, and hurries down the corridor.
Luckily, she went the other direction otherwise things could’ve gotten awkward for the both of you.

Then Watase Yoko walks away and you wait for the sound of her footsteps to fade before following.

Once arrived in your room, you get settled in and put away your clothes.
You stretch and scout the room for a sign with the wifi password and eventually find it.
Once signed in you check the app and don’t see any new messages from EmikoDesu55 for now.

It’s time to relax. If you can.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO onsen, mt fuji, wooden wall, lig (...).png, 530KiB, 512x768

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 21:40:01 No.5635105 Report

Quoted By: >>5635106 >>5635131 >>5635135 >>5635166 >>5635195 >>5635294 >>5635314 >>5635323 >>5635339 >>5635485 >>5635490 >>5635511 >>5635514

>>5635100

Information

Nagata’s current stress is 150. (Very high)
This can always be viewed in the wiki.

You will spend two days at the resort and return home Sunday afternoon.

Time for activities
Saturday: Morning, early afternoon, late afternoon, evening, night
Sunday: Morning, early afternoon

After each selection, the people performing an activity may change up.
For example, Kaiba is having breakfast now, but could be enjoying a massage in the early afternoon.
Some activities may not be available until later in the day.

Decision (Morning)
>1 - Eat a healthy breakfast with some others (Yukimori, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba, -10 stress)
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Chigusa Iki, -30 stress)
>3 - Play some games in the lobby (Watase Yoko, Matsuno Kojiro, -10 stress)
>4 - Clean yourself and stay in the sauna for a bit (-20 stress)
>5 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Ichihara Riko, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 12 Apr 2023 21:41:16 No.5635106 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
No further updates today

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:T+/UCWsL Wed 12 Apr 2023 22:03:07 No.5635131 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>5 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Ichihara Riko, -30 stress)

If anything bad is going to happen it will be later, so let’s relax while we can & just grab lunch after

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:OW78XV8J Wed 12 Apr 2023 22:09:35 No.5635135 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Chigusa Iki, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Wed 12 Apr 2023 22:37:54 No.5635166 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>4 - Clean yourself and stay in the sauna for a bit (-20 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 12 Apr 2023 23:07:30 No.5635195 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>5 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Ichihara Riko, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:iaxObYGD Thu 13 Apr 2023 01:49:27 No.5635294 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>5 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Ichihara Riko, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Thu 13 Apr 2023 02:26:03 No.5635314 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>1 - Eat a healthy breakfast with some others (Yukimori, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba, -10 stress)
two of our idols, socializing over breakfast? Smart play is to see how they get along, and how Kaiba's doing.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ScvgnKbN Thu 13 Apr 2023 02:56:05 No.5635323 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>1 - Eat a healthy breakfast with some others (Yukimori, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba, -10 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Thu 13 Apr 2023 03:16:37 No.5635339 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Chigusa Iki, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Thu 13 Apr 2023 07:34:55 No.5635485 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>5 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Ichihara Riko, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 13 Apr 2023 07:43:43 No.5635490 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635105
>6 - Log into Kaiba's account and delete the email screenshot message.
It has just struck me that if Emiko wants to get hush money from the company, then that screenshot is piss-poor blackmail material. It can only be used to threaten Kaiba to get her fired. So there's every chance Emiko doesn't have it saved.
>1 - Eat a healthy breakfast with some others (Yukimori, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba, -10 stress)

>>5635094
Watase has a peculiar fanbase. I suppose Ichihara also belongs to it, and what I thought to be bullying was actually the fallout of an attempt to get closer.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 08:19:42 No.5635511 Report

Quoted By: >>5635514

>>5635105
>1 - Eat a healthy breakfast with some others ... (x3)
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Chigusa Iki,... (x2)
>4 - Clean yourself and stay in the sauna for a... (x1)
>5 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot..... (x3)

Need tie-breaker vote

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Thu 13 Apr 2023 08:34:12 No.5635514 Report

Quoted By: >>5635518

>>5635105
>>5635511
>5 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot.....

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 08:40:37 No.5635518 Report

Quoted By: >>5635639

>>5635514
Appreciated

Winner
>5 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Ichihara Riko, -30 stress)

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1f4829c6-ccb3-429d-bd40-c54f877f (...).png, 754KiB, 512x768

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 15:13:33 No.5635639 Report

Quoted By: >>5635641

>>5635518

Everything else is just appetizers, the main course of this resort is the hot spring.
You know, the others know it, the owner know it, everybody knows it.
It’s time to visit the hot spring and allow it to carry your worries away.

The hot spring part of the resort consists of several area among which a reception with an entrance to the male and female lockers rooms, the locker rooms to stash your clothing and items, a washing/rinsing area, and then the hot spring itself.

As Nagata arrives at the reception area, a young woman just enters the room after ducking underneath a coloured cloth with the kanji for “Women” on it.

“Ah, welcome,” she says as she puts her hands together and then bows, “I am Matsudaira Asa.“
She’s wearing traditional Japanese clothing much like the rest of the staff, but hers are green.
”I just put fresh towels in the locker rooms,” she says with a friendly smile, “Please, don’t forget to wash your body before entering the hot spring.”

Etiquette dictates that you thoroughly wash your body before entering the hot spring and do everything you can to avoid sullying the water.

“Of course,” you say, bowing slightly, then blush in embarrassment, “Are there… eh...”
You haven’t been to a public bath in many years and the idea to put everything on display for people you work with, even if they are women, is an unnerving thought.

“Modesty towels can be found near the exit facing the hot spring, but please avoid taking these into the water with you,” she says, guessing the question from your expression.

“Ah, thank you,” you reply.

“In the event of an emergency, there’s a button on the wall near the entrance, it’ll ring an alarm here and at the receptionist’s desk,” she says with a conclusive tone, “Enjoy your stay.”

You bob your head in thanks and move into the locker room.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO undressing-reducedsize.jpg, 817KiB, 978x1500

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 15:16:42 No.5635641 Report

Quoted By: >>5635644 >>5635694 >>5639695

>>5635639

Once all your clothing is securely locked away, you move into the bathing area to wash up.
You showered back home before heading towards Kitabayashi, but since you had to wrestle Azuki into the cat carrier there’s probably cat hairs on you somewhere.

After taking some time to rinse your body and wash any hairspray out of your hair, you’re ready for the bath.
You take a small towel and make sure your delicates are covered before heading towards the hot spring.

You swallow and open up the sliding door.
There was a time when you would brazenly walk into the bathing area in public baths, but those years are long gone.
You can’t help but feel self-conscious knowing there’s somebody else in there.

After taking a few careful steps, you notice a girl in the bath – Ichihara Riko.
She isn’t paying you any mind; she’s just lounging and staring into empty space – her mind occupied by other thoughts.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO inhotspring.jpg, 867KiB, 1200x1066

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 15:21:20 No.5635644 Report

Quoted By: >>5635646

>>5635641

You faintly recall that allowing your hair to soak in the hot spring is considered bad etiquette, but Ichihara doesn’t seem to care.
She hasn’t even bothered to take out her hairties.

Quietly tip-toeing your way to the bath, you wrap your small towel around your head.
Hopefully it will contain your hair and perhaps serve as a subtle hint to Ichihara.
You slide into the hot spring and the warm water immediately soothes your body.
Despite your best efforts, a moan escapes you, “Aaaah~”

You really needed this.

Ichihara turns her head in your direction, her expression unchanged, “Oh, Nagata-san,” she says, “Hello.”

“Hello, Ichihara-san,” you say, sliding deeper into the pool and allowing the hot water to raise up to your neck.
”Mind if I join you,” you say, mere courtesy.

“Sure,” she says, “I’m getting out soon. I just hoped to get in before the rush.”

You cock your head, “Wouldn’t it be more fun with the others?” you say, “Get to know the other girls?”

Ichihara sighs, “I’m not here to be friends with them,” she says, “They’re rivals, at best.”
Perhaps it’s the hot spring doing its work, but it seems like Ichihara is tired of putting up appearances.

“What about Watase Yoko-san, hmm?” you ask, “Isn’t it a lot of fun to go on jobs with her?”
You suffer through a brief moment of realization that, with age, you’ve become just like the older ladies that used to lecture you during high school.
In a way it’s incredible that Kitabayashi has manged to cling to her youthful personality.

Ichihara gets up and sighs, done with being interrogated, “She’s a pain, such a pain,” she says, water streams off her body as she gets out of the hot spring, “I’m getting out.”

Seems like you scared her off.

On the bright side, it seems like the entire hot spring now belongs to you!
You glance left. You glance right. Nobody.
Taking a deep breath and removing your head towel, you dunk your head underwater, then pop up again, “Pwoah!” you say, taking a breath.

“Dear customer,” says a serious voice from a distance away, “Please refrain from submerging yourself completely.”

“Yes!” you shout, a shiver running over your spine.

That’s not fair! Ichihara had her hair in the water the entire time!
Why is it always YOU that gets caught!?

You spend the next hour enjoying the hot spring while making sure to take frequent breaks to allow your body to cooldown.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 15:24:19 No.5635646 Report

Quoted By: >>5635659 >>5635670 >>5635679 >>5635685 >>5635696 >>5635712 >>5635843 >>5635845

>>5635644

Information

Nagata’s current stress is 120. (High)
This can always be viewed in the wiki.

You will spend two days at the resort and return home Sunday afternoon.

Time for activities
Saturday: Early afternoon, late afternoon, evening, night
Sunday: Morning, early afternoon

After each selection, the people performing an activity change up.
For example, Kaiba is having breakfast now, but could be enjoying a massage in the early afternoon.
Some activities may not be available until later in the day.

Hot spring, sauna, and massages are separated by gender.

Decision (Early Afternoon)
>1 - Eat lunch with some others (Ichihara Riko, Chigusa Iki, -10 stress)
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Watase Yoko, -30 stress)
>3 - Play some games in the lobby (Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, -10 stress)
>4 - Clean yourself and stay in the sauna for a bit (Matsuno Kojiro, -20 stress)
>5 - Spend more time in the hotspring (-30 stress)
>6 - Relaxing in their room (Yokimori Kyoden)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zqX0K5xH Thu 13 Apr 2023 16:00:12 No.5635659 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635646
>5 - Spend more time in the hotspring (-30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 13 Apr 2023 16:28:21 No.5635670 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635646
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Watase Yoko, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:w3F0diX8 Thu 13 Apr 2023 17:20:45 No.5635679 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635646
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Watase Yoko, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:OW78XV8J Thu 13 Apr 2023 17:24:10 No.5635685 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635646
>4 - Clean yourself and stay in the sauna for a bit (Matsuno Kojiro, -20 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 13 Apr 2023 17:47:28 No.5635694 Report

Quoted By: >>5635712 >>5635756

>>5635641
My god... sexo
That's why I voted against cancelling the trip

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 13 Apr 2023 17:51:40 No.5635696 Report

Quoted By: >>5635709

>>5635646
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Watase Yoko, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 18:13:10 No.5635709 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635696
Winner
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Watase Yoko, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Thu 13 Apr 2023 18:18:11 No.5635712 Report

Quoted By: >>5635713

>>5635694
We are indeed hot.

>>5635646
>3 - Play some games in the lobby (Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, -10 stress)
Would have been my vite. It's locked, but ut also seems my "observe how our idols get along" strat is unpopular anyway.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:w3F0diX8 Thu 13 Apr 2023 18:20:45 No.5635713 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635712
I find your desire valid, it is just that we are sitting over 100+ stress and we have already suffered a mental break.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:OW78XV8J Thu 13 Apr 2023 19:43:15 No.5635756 Report

Quoted By: >>5635802

>>5635694
We were going to have a meltdown if we don't go through with the trip.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 13 Apr 2023 21:03:45 No.5635802 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635756
Next timeslot we should check up on Kaiba. Her stress also was high.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 22:51:20 No.5635843 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635646

After spending so long in the hot spring that your legs feel like jelly, it’s time to get out.
You return towards the washroom, rinse off the water, and move to the lockers to get dressed.

It’s like you’re a new woman. Completely loosened up.
There’s only one thing that could possibly make this better: a massage.
This trip should’ve served as a welcome party for the new idols, but it’s fine to indulge a little, right?

On your way to the massage parlour, you pass by the lobby where Enatsu Mari and Kaiba Aoi are playing some sort of board game.

Enatsu Mari spies you from a distance, “Manager-san!” she shouts, waving excitedly, “You wanna play?”

Both of them are wearing a grey sweater and Enatsu’s sweater is just way too large for her.
It isn’t that warm of a day to begin with, add a generous amount of altitude to that and it’s downright chilly.
Your best guess is that Enatsu, coming from a big family where they likely borrow clothes all the time, simply asked Kaiba if she could borrow a sweater and Kaiba did not have the mental fortitude to refuse.

They’ve known each other for like two hours.
It probably isn’t so much that they bonded in that time, but more so that Enatsu decided they were friends now and there was nothing Kaiba could do.

You approach them and smile, throwing in a little wave of your own, “Hello, Mari-chan, Kaiba-san,” you say.

“Eh,” says Kaiba, panic clear on her face as she glances at Enatsu, “First name? Already?”

“Yes,” you say, “Mari-chan said it was okay during the interview, right?”

“That’s right!” shouts Enatsu Mari, “It means truth, reason, clever, or LOVE!“

Kaiba fidgets for a moment, but then looks at you with determination in her eyes, then points with a finger at herself, “M-me too then!”

It’s a small effort on your part, so why not.
”Sure, Aoi-chan.” you say with a warm smile.

Kaiba recoils as if physically shoved backwards, she stares at the ground for a long moment, her hair covering her face, “…ehHeHueheuheuheHuUeeueUEeee…”

Enatsu Mari looks on with concern, “Aoi-chan, is something wrong?”

Kaiba echoes forth a laughter so twisted that dozens of miles away a pair of mental health workers reach for a straitjacket without knowing why.
They just feel like it is desperately needed somewhere.

You place a comforting hand on Enatsu’s shoulder, “That sound means that Aoi-chan is happy.”

Enatsu looks at you in disbelief, then at Kaiba, then back at you with pity in her eyes, “Uwaa….”

“Mari-chan, Aoi-chan,” you say, “Aren’t you gonna make use of the hot spring?”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 22:52:44 No.5635845 Report

Quoted By: >>5635848

>>5635646

After spending so long in the hot spring that your legs feel like jelly, it’s time to get out.
You return towards the washroom, rinse off the water, and move to the lockers to get dressed.

It’s like you’re a new woman. Completely loosened up.
There’s only one thing that could possibly make this better: a massage.
This trip should’ve served as a welcome party for the new idols, but it’s fine to indulge a little, right?

On your way to the massage parlour, you pass by the lobby where Enatsu Mari and Kaiba Aoi are playing some sort of board game.

Enatsu Mari spies you from a distance, “Manager-san!” she shouts, waving excitedly, “You wanna play?”

Both of them are wearing a grey sweater and Enatsu’s sweater is just way too large for her.
It isn’t that warm of a day to begin with, add a generous amount of altitude to that and it’s downright chilly.
Your best guess is that Enatsu, coming from a big family where they likely borrow clothes all the time, simply asked Kaiba if she could borrow a sweater and Kaiba did not have the mental fortitude to refuse.

They’ve known each other for like two hours.
It probably isn’t so much that they bonded in that time, but more so that Enatsu decided they were friends now and there was nothing Kaiba could do.

You approach them and smile, throwing in a little wave of your own, “Hello, Mari-chan, Kaiba-san,” you say.

“Eh,” says Kaiba, panic clear on her face as she glances at Enatsu, “First name? Already?”

“Yes,” you say, “Mari-chan said it was okay during the interview, right?”

“That’s right!” shouts Enatsu Mari, “It means truth, reason, clever, or LOVE!“

Kaiba fidgets for a moment, but then looks at you with determination in her eyes, then points with a finger at herself, “M-me too then!”

It’s a small effort on your part, so why not.
”Sure, Aoi-chan.” you say with a warm smile.

Kaiba recoils as if physically shoved backwards, she stares at the ground for a long moment, her hair covering her face, “…ehHeHueheuheuheHuUeeueUEeee…”

Enatsu Mari looks on with concern, “Aoi-chan, is something wrong?”

Kaiba echoes forth a laughter so twisted that dozens of miles away a pair of mental health workers reach for a straitjacket without knowing why.
They just feel like it is desperately needed somewhere.

You place a comforting hand on Enatsu’s shoulder, “That sound means that Aoi-chan is happy.”

Enatsu looks at you in disbelief, then at Kaiba, then back at you with pity in her eyes, “Uwaa….”

“Mari-chan, Aoi-chan,” you say, “Aren’t you gonna make use of the hot spring?”

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO cb782bd9-2eb6-4c0e-a631-3d283b64 (...).jpg, 102KiB, 1000x1500

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 22:56:56 No.5635848 Report

Quoted By: >>5635852 >>5635855 >>5635888 >>5635968 >>5636122

>>5635845

After a moment of wheezing, Kaiba recovers, “I wanted to, but…”

Enatsu Mari suddenly stands and wags a disapproving finger, “We just ate!” she says, “My mom says you can’t go swimming after you eat. So, we have to wait at least an hour!”

“And that’s why…” says Kaiba, “We’ll be going after this game, I think…”

You nod, “Alright then,” you say, “I’m off to the massage parlour for now, enjoy your game!”

The both of them wave Nagata goodbye as she heads off.

----------

Much like the hot spring, the massage parlour has a separate section for men and women.
You open the curtain, look inside, and immediately close it again. Of all people…

“Come on, don’t be shy,” says a velvety, yet assertive voice coming from within.

“I didn’t know you had to be n-naked for this,” you say, “I didn’t see anything.”
That’s a lie. Everything was on display. Everything.

“Don’t be weird about it,” says the voice coming from the other side of the curtain, “It’s nothing you wouldn’t have seen if we had bumped into each other in the hot spring.”

Well, that’s true, you suppose.
But the location matters, right?
Maybe it was just a moment of panic.

“Fine, I’ll cover up,” says the voice, going quiet for a moment, “There. Happy?”

You carefully open the curtain and once again see Watase Yoko sitting there.
This should’ve been embarrassing for her, too, but she’s just sitting there – smirking.

Seems like she managed to find a towel, but it’s way too small.
It’s more like a modesty cloth from the hot spring than a proper towel.

“Calmed down a bit?” asks Watase Yoko, then gingerly lifts a corner of the towel, “…or do you want …more?”

“I’m fine! Thank you!” you shout.

A sly smile forms on Watase’s lips, “You’re Nagata-san, right? The one that organized the trip?” she says, “I don’t think we’ve had proper introductions.”
Watase rises to give you a western greeting, a handshake.

This unfortunately means the small cloth she was using to cover up immediately falls down.

Be strong, Nagata Miho. There’s a chance she’ll try to walk all over you if you flinch here!
Watase probably doesn’t even care that you’re a manager. She’ll do it!

You grab hold of her hand and try your best to retain eye-contact, but you feel a blush coming on.
It’s not because she’s naked or anything, there’s just this weird vibe in the room.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:02:06 No.5635852 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635848

“I’m Nagata Miho,” you say, trying to keep the tremble from your voice, “Manager at Matsuno Inc. I look forward to working with you.”

Stare her in the eyes, Miho! You can do it! Fighting!

“Watase Yoko,” says Watase, “Likewise.”

Just a few moments more! Until she lets go of your hand!
Watase shifts her weight to the other foot and the light coming from outside reflects on something on her chest.

…

Ah.
Kitabayashi was right.
They’re pierced.

Slow and robotically, you look back up.

Never before have you seen a person look so incredibly smug.

“My~ Nagata-san,” she says, “Where are you looking?”

“There was a... You’re the one walking around naked,” you say, but still look away, “Besides, like you said, we don’t have to be weird about it…”

Then Watase laughs, “I’m just messin' with ya!” she says, giving you a playful hit on the shoulder.

Ouch.

You hardly noticed it was gone, but her Kansai accent is back in full force.
Furthermore, when speaking in her Kansai accent, she rolls her R’s like yakuza might.

“I hope you’ll forgive me,” says Watase, “I just wanted to mess with ya' a bit. Honest!”
Still naked, she grabs a hand of yours in both of hers, “I wanted to thank you for taking me on this trip,” she says, then sighs, “Starting a new job is totally exhausting.”

“Besides,” she continues, “It’s important we become fast friends.”

“Oh?” you say, slightly suspicious, “Why’s that?”

She places a hand on your shoulder and gives you a thumbs-up, “We’re the only women old enough to drink!”

Hah?

“It’s basically required, ya?” she says, waving her hands, “Drinking in yukata after you visit the hot spring? No? We hav’to!”
She folds her arms and nods knowingly, “That’s what being men is all about.”

Men?

Watase gently slaps your shoulder a few times, “I felt this earlier, darn girl, your shoulders are so tight,” she says, “A massage is a good start, but a drink to loosen up would do you good!”

Drinking isn’t exactly the healthiest way to cope with stress, but she’s right that sharing drinks in a yukata, which is a bathrobe to begin with, is the prime hot spring experience.
Besides, as long as you don’t go overboard, it might be a good moment to learn more about what happened between Ichihara and Watase.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:04:03 No.5635855 Report

Quoted By: >>5635859

>>5635848

“I’m Nagata Miho,” you say, trying to keep the tremble from your voice, “Manager at Matsuno Inc. I look forward to working with you.”

Stare her in the eyes, Miho! You can do it! Fighting!

“Watase Yoko,” says Watase, “Likewise.”

Just a few moments more! Until she lets go of your hand!
Watase shifts her weight to the other foot and the light coming from outside reflects on something on her chest.

…

Ah.
Kitabayashi was right.
They’re pierced.

Slow and robotically, you look back up.

Never before have you seen a person look so incredibly smug.

“My~ Nagata-san,” she says, “Where are you looking?”

“There was a... You’re the one walking around naked,” you say, but still look away, “Besides, like you said, we don’t have to be weird about it…”

Then Watase laughs, “I’m just messin' with ya!” she says, giving you a playful hit on the shoulder.

Ouch.

You hardly noticed it was gone, but her Kansai accent is back in full force.
Furthermore, when speaking in her Kansai accent, she rolls her R’s like yakuza might.

“I hope you’ll forgive me,” says Watase, “I just wanted to mess with ya' a bit. Honest!”
Still naked, she grabs a hand of yours in both of hers, “I wanted to thank you for taking me on this trip,” she says, then sighs, “Starting a new job is totally exhausting.”

“Besides,” she continues, “It’s important we become fast friends.”

“Oh?” you say, slightly suspicious, “Why’s that?”

She places a hand on your shoulder and gives you a thumbs-up, “We’re the only women old enough to drink!”

Hah?

“It’s basically required, ya?” she says, waving her hands, “Drinking in yukata after you visit the hot spring? No? We hav’to!”
She folds her arms and nods knowingly, “That’s what being men is all about.”

Men?

Watase gently slaps your shoulder a few times, “I felt this earlier, darn girl, your shoulders are so tight,” she says, “A massage is a good start, but a drink to loosen up would do you good!”

Drinking isn’t exactly the healthiest way to cope with stress, but she’s right that sharing drinks in a yukata, which is a bathrobe to begin with, is the prime hot spring experience.
Besides, as long as you don’t go overboard, it might be a good moment to learn more about what happened between Ichihara and Watase.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:06:55 No.5635859 Report

Quoted By: >>5635861

>>5635855

A resort employee walks in through a door at the other end of the room.
It’s the same girl that helped you back at the hot spring: Matsudaira Asa
With limited employees they’re probably forced to wear many hats here.

“Thank you for waiting,” she says, with a slight bow, “We’re ready for the next client.”

Watase turns and waves, “That’ll be me,” she says, then turns back to you and hits you with the double finger guns, “So, drinks tonight?”

“I’ll think about it,” you say.

Watase shrugs, “I’ll be at the bar this evening, feel free to join me.”

“Dear customer,” says Matsudaira Asa, “The masseuse is waiting.”

“Yes, yes,” says Watase, then quickly turns to follow the employee.
In one quick movement, she swipes the small towel from the floor.

She might have some decency after all.
Unfortunately she simply holds it in her hand as she brazenly walks towards the other room.

Unlike Watase, you decide to keep your clothes on until it’s time for your massage.
A wide-set woman with large hands standing beside a massage table awaits you in the next room.

It’s a tad embarrassing to undress in front of somebody else, but you manage and quickly lie down.
The massage that follows is divine, but you receive a scolding by the masseuse while she works on your body.
She complains that you should be taking better care of your body, but you barely notice her words – completely whisked away in a feeling of bliss.

Half an hour later you sit up on the massage table and your body feels so good you nearly feel dizzy.

The wide-set women folders her arms and smiles at a job well-done.
According to her it’s always satisfying to work on somebody that’s very vocal as you can immediately tell that your work is being appreciated.

Uwaa…

------

You get dressed, gather your things, and walk way with a spring in your step.
Quickly checking your phone for new messages, you see that EmikoDesu55 still hasn’t replied in the app.

Maybe everything will be alright after all.

There’s only one new email on your work account.
You decide to handle that quickly so you can get back to relaxing.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:09:24 No.5635861 Report

Quoted By: >>5635862 >>5635968

>>5635859

Hello Nagata-san,

how did i get your email? who knows~
my darling Kaiba-chan can be such a klutz sometimes!
but honestly, that innocence is partly why i like her so much
!and if you havent noticed, she likes me too!

WE BELONG TOGETHER

It seems like you don’t want Kaiba-chan to be happy.
That makes me very sad, y’know?
I truly want whats best for her…

But here you are, trying to stop us from being in love…
jealous much? its pretty sad, y’know?
just because you’re gonna die alone doesn’t matter everybody else has to…

it doesnt take a genius to figure out what happened when kaiba-chan WHO WOULD NEVER, EVER IGNORE ME suddenly disappears after saying her manager walked in…

i assume you did something
that’s so bad, very bad, nagata-san

but no worries, you can fix it all!!!

simply give Kaiba-chan access to the account again and accept that im here to stay!
kaiba-chan is mine and I’m hers <3
make sure to tell her that we’re allowed to be lovey-dovey and that she has your blessing!
so please let us be together and then kindly FUCK OFF <3

you are probably overcome with emotion and feel really, really, really bad now
but in case you need further motivation, im happy to provide some!!!!

i made sure a good friend of mine is present on the trip you’re on!
and they’ll be taking MANY MANY MANY pictures of your cutie idols at their lewdest if kaiba-chan isn’t able to wish me goodnight!

i bet they have really cute sleeping faces, too!

you have until this evening before I contact my dear friend~
i really like my pillow talk, you see!

Obviously, if I find out you shared this email with Kaiba-chan in any way then I’ll be very mad~
If I can’t have her then nobody can

xoxoxo,

Kaiba’s girlfriend

PS: dont bother trying to trace this email, ive done this all before

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:10:43 No.5635862 Report

Quoted By: >>5635866

>>5635861

You just wanted to relax. For once. Why.

There can’t be any mole or something here, right?
You kept an eye out before you left and during the ride here!
It’s a bluff, haha. It has to be!

But what if it isn’t?
Doesn’t that mean that it comes down between choosing between Kaiba and Kaiba’s career?
Do you really have to hand your idol over to this deranged lesbian?

What if… you simply tell Kaiba-san?
That would surely destroy her faith in EmikoDesu55 once and for all.
Perhaps you can ask her afterwards to pretend everything is okay, you did send her on a ton of acting classes…

It won’t just be chat though. They seem to talk on the phone every day.
She’ll have to be convincing in every way.
If she can stall for a bit more time then the trip won’t be in danger of getting flooded by press.

Alternatively, you could show it to Kaiba-san and just let everything blow up.
How much ammunition does EmikoDesu55 really have?

A scandal doesn’t have to be the end.
Like Kitabayashi mentioned back during drinking, it all comes down to how you handle the aftermath.

Where’s Watase Yoko?
You’ll take that drink now…

>Nagata Miho gained +20 stress from this ultimatum

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO games.png, 1MiB, 1280x832

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:13:56 No.5635866 Report

Quoted By: >>5635868 >>5635876 >>5635888 >>5635906 >>5635917 >>5636011 >>5636086 >>5636122 >>5636177 >>5636245

>>5635862

Information

Nagata’s current stress is 110. (High)
This can always be viewed in the wiki.

You will spend two days at the resort and return home Sunday afternoon.

Time for activities
Saturday: Late afternoon, evening, night
Sunday: Morning, early afternoon

After each selection, the people performing an activity change up.
For example, Kaiba is having breakfast now, but could be enjoying a massage in the early afternoon.
Some activities may not be available until later in the day.

Hot spring, sauna, and massages are separated by gender.

Decision (Late Afternoon)
>1 - Receive a relaxing massage (Yukimori Kyoden, -30 stress)
>2 - Clean yourself and stay in the sauna for a bit (-20 stress)
>3 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Chigusa Iki, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, Watase Yoko. -30 stress)
>4 - Set yourself up at the bar (Matsuno Kojiro, Stress reduction based on drinking)

Email
>1 - Ignore the email. It must be a bluff! No negotiating with terrorists!
>2 - Hand the password to Kaiba and tell her she’s free to date EmikoDesu55. You’re done.
>3 - Show Kaiba the email. Emiko is a lunatic. Then give her the password and ask her to pretend everything is okay (Acting roll, 1d100+58, DC100)
>4 - Show Kaiba the email and get ready for damage control. A scandal doesn’t have to be the end.
>5 - Before doing anything else, try and find this supposed mole. (Write-in)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:18:38 No.5635867 Report

Quoted By:

No further updates today.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:w3F0diX8 Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:19:56 No.5635868 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635866
>4 - Set yourself up at the bar (Matsuno Kojiro, Stress reduction based on drinking)
>4 - Show Kaiba the email and get ready for damage control. A scandal doesn’t have to be the end.

Wonder if any of the idols or coworkers would know how to sniff out a mole. The only who I think might have experience would be Watase. Huh, would Ichihara be bitter enough and her view of other idols as rivals to doom their reputations?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:26:03 No.5635876 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635866
Forgot to list write-ins, but those are an option as well.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Thu 13 Apr 2023 23:41:08 No.5635888 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635848
>that pic
Should have gone lesbian.

>>5635866
>3 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Chigusa Iki, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, Watase Yoko. -30 stress)
And afterwards...
>6 - Show Kaiba the email. Emiko is a lunatic. THEN, discuss with Kaiba what she wants to do, and feels comfortable doing.
We can prep for damage control OR string Emiko along. It's her call. She can even date her... But it will likely mean her career, and we can't protect her from scandal OR heartache if she does that.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 14 Apr 2023 00:01:16 No.5635903 Report

Quoted By:

ICHIHARA RIKO IS THE MOLE

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 14 Apr 2023 00:04:46 No.5635906 Report

Quoted By: >>5635907

>>5635866
>2 - Hand the password to Kaiba and tell her she’s free to date EmikoDesu55. You’re done.
idgaf anymore

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:w3F0diX8 Fri 14 Apr 2023 00:07:15 No.5635907 Report

Quoted By: >>5635908

>>5635906
>idgaf
This arc fatigue is also starting to hit me.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 14 Apr 2023 00:09:27 No.5635908 Report

Quoted By: >>5635910

>>5635907
my only fatigue is with you guys desu, we knew this would happen and yet...
oh well, I legitimately don't care - I like the quest and I'm interested to see what jobs the two new idols will get so I won't be quitting

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Fri 14 Apr 2023 00:15:11 No.5635910 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635908
Agreed. I enjoy this plotline quite a bit, and it's unreaosnable to expe tthat it wouldn't still be playing a role in this teip when we went ahead with the trip KNOWING it would.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 14 Apr 2023 00:23:08 No.5635917 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635866
>3 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Chigusa Iki, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, Watase Yoko. -30 stress)
"S-so nice to see you girls together, haha... Watase get your hands off Kaiba go bother Chigusa!!"
>Everything is okay Miho, everything is okay
>>3 - Show Kaiba the email. Emiko is a lunatic. Then give her the password and ask her to pretend everything is okay (Acting roll, 1d100+58, DC100)
This part will be shitty... I wonder if Kaiba should write something like "this is so weird, my manager gave me my account back and almost begged me to write back" yadda yadda... also the odds are pretty good, with that good of an acting, we gotta beat a 42 with a 1d100. That's 58% of a chance!! Holy shit that's low

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 14 Apr 2023 02:13:56 No.5635968 Report

Quoted By: >>5636022 >>5636046 >>5636122

>>5635848
Sex incarnate. We should've gone lesbian indeed.

>>5635861

I won't be changing my vote and I don't care about whatever bad decision any of you might make about this situation, but I'd like to point out one thing:

EmikoDesu55 sent the email, presumably, anonimously. However, she is the only one that knows about the trip. She's the only one that has been having contact with Kaiba and the only one that gave her something on the handshake event (i.e her face is known). In other words, if you wanted, say... get rid of her you'd only need to present Kaiba's chat log to Matsuno's Inc lawyers, forward the email immediately and show the Keyssz1 tweets and she would be gone, forever. By sending the email directly to us, she outed herself and is in position for a check.

Yes, I know what you're gonna say: that out cost Kaiba's career and indeed it would. And that's why I know you guys won't do it, none of you have the balls to sacrifice a chess piece to deliver a checkmate.

That's my last input on the matter. Do what you will with this information.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:OW78XV8J Fri 14 Apr 2023 03:39:46 No.5636011 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635866
>3 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Chigusa Iki, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, Watase Yoko. -30 stress)

>2 - Hand the password to Kaiba and tell her she’s free to date EmikoDesu55. You’re done.
I want to see if she will beg us to forgive her and try to fix her mistakes or leave

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Fri 14 Apr 2023 03:59:11 No.5636022 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635968
>none of you have the balls to sacrifice a chess piece to deliver a checkmate
We picked the sweet and empathetic manager, the soft-spoken and gloomy idol, and made a bunch of choices where we focus on emotional support and friendships. It's not a matter of "ballsiness". Most of the player-base just isn't here to play Ruthless Cuththroat Salaryman Simulator.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 14 Apr 2023 04:48:05 No.5636046 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635968
Even though your arguments are sound, we lose Kaiba either way. We would only save face....

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:lshZk2i3 Fri 14 Apr 2023 05:48:48 No.5636077 Report

Quoted By:

Like I've said, Kaiba is a ticking bomb, we've already been checkmated long ago. We should be focusing on how to damage control the whole situation so we can at least save ourselves and the other idols when shit finally hits the fan.
To be honest, I don't know if just letting her go like that is going to help us in the eventual shitstorm, but whatever I guess

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Fri 14 Apr 2023 05:59:57 No.5636086 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635866
>3 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Chigusa Iki, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, Watase Yoko. -30 stress)
>3 - Show Kaiba the email. Emiko is a lunatic. Then give her the password and ask her to pretend everything is okay (Acting roll, 1d100+58, DC100)

BO3? It's not a job...

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 14 Apr 2023 08:09:37 No.5636122 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635848
She's sexy, but the anons who regret not going lesbian fail to consider that they can lust after Watase without making Nagata also do it.

>>5635866
>3 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Chigusa Iki, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, Watase Yoko. -30 stress)
I wanted to check on Kaiba anyway, and the rest of our idols are there too, this is perfect.

>>5635968
The whole point of checkmating Emiko is to save Kaiba's career, she is not a threat to anything else. Kaiba is the king, not a pawn in this analogy.

>>5635866
>6 Write-in. Use Emiko's dead accounts we've seen to try and track down her personal details. If we know her real name and maybe even address, we could threaten her back.

If this doesn't work
>4 - Show Kaiba the email and get ready for damage control. A scandal doesn’t have to be the end.
We'll also enlist Kaiba into finding the mole. We probably can also enlist Chigusa and Enatsu.
>5 - Before doing anything else, try and find this supposed mole. (Write-in)
We know Kaiba didn't say which resort she's going to, so Emiko couldn't have planted someone in place. This means either it's a bluff, or someone tailed us, or the mole is from the agency.
If someone has tailed us, they'd have to break into the resort to do anything. From the agency there's only 2 candidates, Yoko and Riko, and of those two Riko is the more likely, because she sees the others as rivals and because we know she's been to Kaiba's streams. Still, it's most likely a bluff.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:S+WGH13H Fri 14 Apr 2023 11:42:20 No.5636177 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635866
>3 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Chigusa Iki, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, Watase Yoko. -30 stress)

>3 - Show Kaiba the email. Emiko is a lunatic. Then give her the password and ask her to pretend everything is okay (Acting roll, 1d100+58, DC100)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 14 Apr 2023 13:50:15 No.5636233 Report

Quoted By: >>5637925

Winner
>3 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Chigusa Iki, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, Watase Yoko. -30 stress)
>3 - Show Kaiba the email. Emiko is a lunatic. Then give her the password and ask her to pretend everything is okay (Acting roll, 1d100+58, DC100)

Roll will be done in a bit.
I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to post the update today, but I'm gonna start on it at least

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:3/fxItAf Fri 14 Apr 2023 14:30:02 No.5636245 Report

Quoted By:

>>5635866
>3 - Rinse off your body and head for the hot spring (Chigusa Iki, Enatsu Mari, Kaiba Aoi, Watase Yoko. -30 stress)

>4 - Show Kaiba the email and get ready for damage control. A scandal doesn’t have to be the end.

I know it’s too late, but this is how I would’ve voted.

I don’t think she has anyone here…unless it’s one of the staff. But she only knew where we were going like a day beforehand…

High probability that it’s a big bluff

We know her ‘friends’ have pushed her to get blackmail material and this is her Hail Mary attempt

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 14 Apr 2023 20:46:15 No.5636528 Report

Quoted By: >>5636557

Just watched the first episode of Oshi no Ko that was released today since it was mentioned here.
It's kinda fucked up.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 14 Apr 2023 21:18:12 No.5636557 Report

Quoted By: >>5636559

>>5636528
Please don't give the QM any more ideas.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Fri 14 Apr 2023 21:19:25 No.5636559 Report

Quoted By: >>5636574

>>5636557
Anon, you're replying to the QM.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 14 Apr 2023 21:33:57 No.5636574 Report

Quoted By:

>>5636559
...oh God

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 14 Apr 2023 21:40:30 No.5636583 Report

Quoted By: >>5636709 >>5636779

Without giving spoiler. it's impressive how they pull forth heartache through injustice like that.
I'm reading the manga at the moment, but I hope I don't end up unconsciously borrowing from the material.
Kinda like how you might mimic/copy a writer's writing style / voice if you read a lot of their work.

Then again, I haven't actually read any idol manga or seen any idol anime.
So this might help in the end. First-hand reference is probably better, but we'll see.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:MvJnq/Gj Fri 14 Apr 2023 23:57:44 No.5636709 Report

Quoted By: >>5636738

>>5636583
>>I hope I don't end up unconsciously borrowing from the material.
you will

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 15 Apr 2023 00:29:41 No.5636738 Report

Quoted By: >>5636748 >>5636756 >>5636757 >>5636776 >>5636800

>>5636709
Yep. Up at 2 AM and reading this was a massive mistake.
Overlap between character traits of some of this quests's characters and the ones in the manga are making me self-conscious like a motherfucker.
I'd like to say that my years as a D&D DM have zero'd out my self-respect and made me willing to steal anything, but I guess not.

Anything I had planned that vaguely resembles what happens in the manga now feels like a cheap rip-off now.
Trying to be "unique" when creating/writing is a absolute fools errand, but I'd be lying if I said this didn't damage my motivation.

Feels like I'm over here trying to pass of my rat meat as steak while the guy next door is selling actual steak.
Now consciously I know that comparing myself to a skilled writer like that is absolutely retarded.

You don't have kids out there tossing out their baseball gloves because Mike Trout exists.
But god damn does it make me feel like I'm trash that's just wasting everybody's time while something better exists.

It's a great manga though, totally worth reading for anyone on the fence about it.

I'll try to do better

ReptoidQMonaphone

ReptoidQMonaphone ID:cvoRkOEv Sat 15 Apr 2023 00:55:15 No.5636748 Report

Quoted By:

>>5636738
Just throw soem twists and deviations in there. Idol series have a certain formula, though, just like shonen battle manga crib the big calssic ones like Dragon Ball and Naruto, magical girl series rip off Sailor Moon, extended journey series like Inuyasha or EARLY Dragon Ball steal from Journey to the West. In the West, grand dynastic dramas ripoff Arthurian Legends by way of Tolkien or Game of Thrones, sitcoms steal many ideas from Honeymooners or Seinfield, capeshit all owes a huge debt to Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four, and THOSE series are riffs on old pulp novels and comics.

It's okay to share things in common with great works. Just put your own stamp on it. Even just being a quest with audience input inherently makes it a LITTLE different -- enough to offer a distinct flavour of experience.

We wouldn't be here if we didn't enjoy it. You have one of the most popular quests on the board.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:lKAtRedv Sat 15 Apr 2023 01:06:41 No.5636756 Report

Quoted By:

>>5636738
>I'll try to do better
Have only watched the first ep of the anime (and yes it was great) - but your work on this quest has been excellent as well

The steady build of an emotionally manipulative relationship was well written and thoroughly believable

The exploration of what intense stress does to someone and their self-reflection of ‘how far will I go’ were excellent too

Just keep doing your thing mate

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 15 Apr 2023 01:06:57 No.5636757 Report

Quoted By:

>>5636738
There is no such thing as a completely original work, every human being borrows ideas from something - the universal law about matter (nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed) also applies to intellectual work.

As long as you aren't straight up copying manga panels to put on your quest (even some quotes here and there are fine, some mangafag might do that pointing wojak face and get some dopamine out of it) then you're good to go.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sat 15 Apr 2023 01:31:31 No.5636776 Report

Quoted By:

>>5636738
QM we enjoy your work no matter what. Keep it up.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 15 Apr 2023 01:40:29 No.5636779 Report

Quoted By:

>>5636583
I also would like to point out that I've liked this whole ordeal with Kaiba (although I think that it could be better distributed throughout the weeks with some normal events in-between): I think that Emiko was a nice wake-up call for what this quest can do for those too naive or unaware of deranged fans. My only issue was with the voters (this could've been solved weeeeeks ago and they know it, this one drama only dragged on and on bc people opted to stall and delay permanent solutions) but as someone from somewhere once said, if everyone thought and acted like me then the world would be one hell of a boring place and I'm sorry if I offended anyone - this was probably my intention but that doesn't make it a good intention nor a good thing to do to potential allies in the upcoming quest decisions

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Sat 15 Apr 2023 02:23:07 No.5636800 Report

Quoted By:

>>5636738
Seeking true originality is impossible. There is nothing new under the sun. What you should seek is enjoyment in creating and playing this with people who deeply appreciate your work.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 15 Apr 2023 19:15:47 No.5637241 Report

Quoted By: >>5637246 >>5637641 >>5648192

I regret to inform you that I'm censoring some of the hot spring pics.
I don't wanna risk the threat getting deleted on the next update.

Uncensored pics will be in the wiki story.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:S+WGH13H Sat 15 Apr 2023 19:18:43 No.5637246 Report

Quoted By:

>>5637241
> I regret to inform you that I'm censoring some of the hot spring pics
NOOOOOOOO-
>Uncensored pics will be in the wiki story.
-YESSSSSSS

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 15 Apr 2023 22:54:41 No.5637425 Report

Quoted By:

Will post update tomorrow.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:MvJnq/Gj Sun 16 Apr 2023 03:11:39 No.5637641 Report

Quoted By:

>>5637241
No- YES YES YES

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1675089344337202.png, 23KiB, 765x373

Anonymous ID:MvJnq/Gj Sun 16 Apr 2023 03:14:26 No.5637646 Report

Quoted By: >>5637827

I have a question about your page. When I click idols and characters, I see nothing and I am forced to do technomagic to get to their respective pages. What's up with that

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1654697270236743.png, 28KiB, 303x559

Anonymous ID:MvJnq/Gj Sun 16 Apr 2023 03:31:13 No.5637656 Report

Quoted By:

Ah, alright this works

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 08:54:53 No.5637827 Report

Quoted By:

>>5637646
Made some minor changes to the wiki so that each grouping contains a subpage index.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 13:49:50 No.5637925 Report

Quoted By: >>5637926

>>5636233

Lost in thought, you wander back towards the lobby.
Perhaps it’s time to share the real EmikoDesu55 with Kaiba.
If nothing else, it might cause whatever is going on between them to stop.

When you make it to the lobby, you find it empty.
At the far end of the room a sliding door stands open, revealing a section of the adjoining bar area.
Matsuno Kojiro sits at the bar, gently swirling the hard liquor within his glass.
Unlike many of the other rooms, the bar room isn’t filled with tatami mats, but is instead covered in lacquered oak flooring that’s probably older than any of the people that walk it.
Though you’ve switched to indoors slippers when entering the build, the groan of the floorboards announces your arrival.

Moving his gaze into the direction of the sound, Matsuno Kojiro raises his glass when he spots you.
“They’ve all gone to the hot spring,” he says.

After a quick word of thanks, you turn to leave.
Matsuno voices some complaints about you not joining him for a drink, but you’re not listening.

You need to be with your idols.
The hot spring is where they are at their most vulnerable.
It’s hard to say whether or not there’s any truth to EmikoDesu55’s words.
She didn’t know about the destination of the trip so she couldn’t have sent anyone in advance.
Then again, it’s not completely impossible for her to have found out in some way or another.

You noticed during check-in that the elderly owner prefers pen and paper over digital systems.
Taking a quick detour to pass by the reception, you take a peek at the books used for check-in.
Seems like nobody else checked in after your group did.

You hastily make your way towards the hot spring, stuff all your clothing in a locker, quickly rinse off your body and hurry inside.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO ChigusaIki_Hotspring_1.jpg, 160KiB, 1000x1500

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 13:51:04 No.5637926 Report

Quoted By: >>5637927

>>5637925

Every single idol aside from Ichihara Riko is currently enjoying the hot spring.

Chigusa Iki is sitting in a remote corner of the hot spring, eyes closed and trying to enjoy its warmth.
Knowing her she’s probably busy trying to force her skin to absorb as much of the water’s beneficent minerals as she can.
She briefly pops her eyes open to see who entered, but then closes them again.

Kaiba has her eyes fixed on the water.
She probably doesn’t know where to look.
There’s no denying that’s she’s more … out of shape than the other idols though.
She was a shut-in before, but she has a sedentary lifestyle even now.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO WataseYoko_Hotspring_2.jpg, 185KiB, 1333x2000

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 13:53:17 No.5637927 Report

Quoted By: >>5637929

>>5637926

Perhaps unexpectedly, Watase Yoko is basically asleep in the pool.
You don’t really know her that well, but considering her image and behaviour thus far you can probably assume where her interests lie.
If she’s relaxing like this despite all these temptations around her, then she wasn’t kidding about being stressed.

Asleep like this she almost seems like somebody you could get along.
When she isn’t sporting her usual angry glare and smug smile, that is.

Enatsu Mari is pouting as she’s being guarded by Matsudaira Haru, the employee that greeted you upon your arrival here and escorted everyone to their rooms.

“It’s a pool, isn’t it?!” shouts Enatsu Mari, arms folded, “Makes no sense!”

“You’re disturbing the other guests!” barks Matsudaira Haru, “All those things you did are a nuisance to the others!”
The girl seems unreasonably angry.

“Hello, Kaiba-san,” you say, slipping into the pool, “Ah, sorry. Old habits. Aoi-chan.”

Upon mention of her name, Kaiba looks up, gets an eyeful of your body, and quickly looks back at the water, “M-manager-san,” says Kaiba, “Hello…”

“Say you know what happened with Mari-chan and the employee girl?” you ask as try to find a rock to sit on.

“Ah, well,” says Kaiba, “Mari-chan basically dove headfirst into the pool, splashing water everywhere, and was being rowdy. It took the girl a long while to get Mari-chan to sit quietly.”

Still doesn’t explain why she’s so angry though.
Remembering what you saw earlier in the hallway, your best guess is that the girl must’ve missed Watase Yoko entering the pool and now the murky waters of the hot spring are hiding everything.
It’s a disturbing thought, honestly, that there are wolves among the sheep.

You sigh and return your attention to Kaiba, only to catch her stealing glances at your chest.
Comparing breasts isn’t out of ordinary, but her hastily looking away implies that wasn’t the reason.
Hopefully this weird relationship with EmikoDesu55 hasn’t done any lasting damage to Kaiba.
It would be bad if any of all that attempted grooming actually stuck.

“Say Aoi…” you say.

Kaiba jolts in place, ripples spreading outwards from her in the water, “Y-yes?”

“Emiko-chan, contacted me,” you say, “By sending an email to my work account.”

“Eh?” says Kaiba, embarrassment forgotten, “What did she say?”

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO KaibaHotSpring4.jpg, 689KiB, 800x1200

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 13:57:46 No.5637929 Report

Quoted By: >>5637932

>>5637927

You take a deep breath, “A lot of things, I’ll show you the full email later,” you say, “But the gist is that she’s trying to threaten end blackmail the company.
She says she wants to full permission to date you.”

Kaiba tries to suppress it, but a shaky smile wins out, “I know that’s bad,” she says, hiding the lower part of her face with her hands, “But that makes me … kinda happy? That’d she would go so far for me?”

Does she not realise how serious this is?
“She isn’t doing it for you,” you say, face stern, “But for herself. She said that if I don’t give you access to the chat account before this evening then she’ll get somebody to take nude photos of all the idols in the hot spring.”

“Eh?” shouts Kaiba, standing and covering herself using her hands, “Shouldn’t we get out and cover up?”

“Kaiba-san, sit down”, you say, looking around to gauge the reaction of the others, “She said she would take pictures if you weren’t able to wish her goodnight and do 'pillow talk'.”

Kaiba blushes and then tries to hide it by dipping under the water.

“Ah! Why can Aoi-chan go underwater!” shouts the distant voice of Enatsu Mari.

“Because I’m forced to keep watching you!” shouts the employee, “Now sit still or you’ll be asked to leave!”

You can’t have her making a scene.
If the others find out what’s going on and share it with HQ then it’ll be trouble.
Knowingly putting everybody’s career at risk? One way trip to the poor house.

Furthermore, there’s no reason somebody like EmikoDesu55 would stick to her word.
You might as well assume that if that mole is actually real then those images have already been taken.
She also mentioned that she would try to have the mole take pictures of the sleeping idols.
Even if you were to stay up all night, there’s no way you could keep an eye on every room at once.

You left the hardest-hitting bit for last.

“She also said that if I shared all this with you then she’ll try to destroy your career…” you say.

Kaiba’s eyes go wide, “Emiko-chan would never do that,” she says, “She’s been trying to help me al this time…it doesn’t make sense…”

“Aoi-chan,” you say, “Can you please just trust me? Haven’t you noticed how she’s always trying to get you to do things for her? Like taking pictures of the new idols?”

Kaiba doesn’t respond, seemingly refusing to believe it.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 14:00:13 No.5637932 Report

Quoted By: >>5637935

>>5637929

It didn’t make sense at first glance, but after thinking over the weird exchange between EmikoDesu55 and this other person it quickly became obvious.
They weren’t talking about college, but about their “blackmail” projects.

“It seems like she’s part of some kind of group that try to blackmail idols for profit,” you say, “She probably only wanted to meet up to get more evidence against you. Enough to force a big scandal. Afterwards they send it to the idol or their manager and ask for a big bribe to keep it all quiet.”

Considering that EmikoDesu55 said that she has done this before, but they haven’t been caught probably means the pay-out amount isn’t overly large.
An amount that would be small enough that “making the problem go away” would be preferable to getting the police involved and risking an idol’s reputation.
A group of people that feeds on the idol industry like mosquitos.

“But,” begins Kaiba, “Then why did she want to talk to me again?”

Because she likes Kaiba.Somehow this recluse, gloomy girl has managed to charm this manipulative witch.
There’s no doubt in your mind that it’s largely because Kaiba-san is so eager to please.
Willing to go above and beyond for Emiko-chan.

Obviously, you’re not about to tell Kaiba that.

“Probably to gather more and more evidence against you,” you say, “Don’t you understand Aoi-chan. Unless you cut her off this will never end. Every call, message, and image would add to her leverage.”

She would be nothing more than a death row inmate sharpening the executioner’s axe. Digging her own grave.
The moment Kaiba acts out or EmikoDesu55 tires of her – game over.

“You’d be a prisoner in that relationship,” you say.

There’s a long moment of quiet as Kaiba thinks over your words.

You sigh, “I’m sorry your first…relationship had to be such a twisted one,” you say, “It’s not fair.”Even if it should’ve never been a thing to begin with, you sympathize with what it is likely Kaiba’s first love turning out this way.

“It’s okay,” says Kaiba, a sad smile on her face, “I should’ve known…”

A part of you wishes she’d be more angry. Shouting in rage.
But that’s just the kind of girl Kaiba Aoi is.
When hit by misfortune, she’ll readily accept it as a given.
Like she didn’t deserve any happiness to begin with.

Kaiba sighs and gently moves her hand through the warm water, ripples coasting outwards.
”So,” she says, “What now?”

“You talk to Emiko-chan,” you say.

“Eh?” replies Kaiba, confusion plain to see.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 14:04:03 No.5637935 Report

Quoted By: >>5637942

>>5637932

“If you don’t respond then Emiko-chan will send a message to this accomplice of hers – if that accomplice is actually real,” you say, “And then the others will be at risk as well.”
”However,” you add, “Emiko-chan CANNOT figure out that you know. You need to act like you’re completely unaware until we leave the resort tomorrow afternoon. Or else she’ll share everything you’ve told her.”

If the mole is real, then EmikoDesu55 knows where you are and she could easily tip some fans or press about your location.
Whatever ends up happening, this’ll all be over once the weekend ends.

“Thats…” says Kaiba, sliding further down into the pool, “No pressure at all… a-ha…”
Kaiba’s eyes roll up into her skull, slides down, and she disappears under the water’s surface.

”Kaiba-san?” you say, then shout, “Help, I need some help!”
Perhaps you should’ve had this conversation in the locker room.

You place your hands under Kaiba’s arms and hoist her above the water’s surface, but that’s as far as you go.
Without the water to aid you, Kaiba is far too heavy for somebody like you.

The employee immediately dashes for the emergency button that was mentioned to you when you first approached the hot spring.
An alarm will ring at the reception and the entrance of the hot spring.

Free of her guard, Enatsu Mari rapidly closes in with a front crawl, “What happened?” she shouts.

You readjust your grip on Kaiba, “I think she, uh, stayed in too long,” you say, “She suddenly passed out, I don’t know!”

Water dripping from her body as she exits the pool, Watase Yoko races over towards you before leaning over the rocky edge of the pool.
She grips Kaiba around her arms and bodily hoists her from the water with a grunt of effort.

Staff arrive and check Kaiba’s health.
Even Chigusa Iki looked scared for a moment, but it seems like Kaiba is fine.
Together you move Kaiba towards the locker room where you wait until she wakes up.

A few minutes pass before Kaiba wakes and relieved staff and idols make some minor comments before slowly dispersing to give Kaiba some room.
Nobody really feels like going back into the hot spring now and instead decide to get ready for dinner.

Both you and Kaiba are wrapped in a towel.

“Are you okay?” you ask once the others have left, “What happened?”

Kaiba uses her elbows to prop herself up a bit, “I’m not sure,” she says, frowning, “Just… light-headed…. How did I?”

“Watase Yoko-san and some of the staff carried you here,” you say.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Kaiba_Lockeroom_2.png, 519KiB, 768x512

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 14:10:17 No.5637942 Report

Quoted By: >>5637943

>>5637935

Kaiba rolls over and hides her face behind her hands, “Nooo…”The idea of a bunch of mostly strangers moving your naked body would embarrass anyone.

A few minutes later Kaiba-san has largely recovered.
She gets dressed and gathers her things from her locker.
Seeing as the both of you are the only people here, you resume the discussion you had back in the pool.

Kaiba-san obviously didn’t take the sudden pressure very well, but you simply don’t have time.
It’s already late in the afternoon, with a group dinner coming up shortly.
By the time that ends and Kaiba has the time and space to chat with Emiko-chan without risking anyone glancing at her screen it’ll be evening.

As Kaiba finishes getting dressed, she’s struggling with her hair a bit.
After exiting the pool, her hair, which she still seems to curl daily, is giving her all kinds of trouble.

“I noticed you still curl your hair,” you say to ease the tension somewhat.

“I…” she says, stopping herself from trying to untangle her hair, then continues, “…just like it this way.”

“As long as you do it because you want to,” you reply, “Not because you feel like you have to.”

Kaiba nods and resumes untangling her hair.
You wait until she’s done before you speak again.

“Aoi-chan,” you say, “Take out your phone. I’ll share the password for the app with you.”

Kaiba nods severely, but does as instructed.
A few button presses later, she’s logged in.

“What do I even say, manager-san?” she says as her fingers tremble above her phone.

“Just say something like how I suddenly came up in a panic and gave you permission to talk with Emiko-chan again,” you say.

“But you didn’t seem scared at all?” asks Kaiba.

But you are. You’re just trying very hard not to show it.
How can you not be? However, There's no reason for that fear to spread.

“I know, but if I understand EmikDesu55’s personality correctly then she’ll really like hearing that and will be more likely to believe it,” you say, “It’ll make her feel like she won.”
”Other than that, just act normal, we just need to stall as much time as possible,” you say.

Kaiba swallows, takes a deep breath, and prepares to act out one of the most important roles she’s played so far.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 14:11:26 No.5637943 Report

Quoted By: >>5637945 >>5637954

>>5637942

Need one ACTING roll; 1d100+58
DC being 100.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sun 16 Apr 2023 14:20:59 No.5637945 Report

Quoted By: >>5637947 >>5637953 >>5637956 >>5638106

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>5637943
I'm afraid to roll poorly, but somebody has to roll in the end.
The worst thing is even if the roll succeeds, the problem doesn't go away. Fucking Emiko.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Sun 16 Apr 2023 14:24:16 No.5637947 Report

Quoted By:

>>5637945
At least we have the hot springs images.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 14:41:21 No.5637953 Report

Quoted By:

>>5637945
>30+58 = 88
Thanks for rolling.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 16 Apr 2023 14:46:02 No.5637954 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 52 + 58 (1d100 + 58)

>>5637943

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Yzq2iVvA Sun 16 Apr 2023 14:48:15 No.5637956 Report

Quoted By: >>5637967

>>5637945
Fuuuuuck

Man, high DC was high.

Anyway a clever write in could nab us a +12?

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Kaiba_Hotspring_2.jpg, 239KiB, 1333x2000

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 15:10:36 No.5637967 Report

Quoted By:

>>5637956
No, but here's an alternative pic of Kaiba that I didn't post because one of the hands was kinda weird.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 18:37:21 No.5638106 Report

Quoted By: >>5638108 >>5639043

>>5637945

== April 17, 2015 (Saturday)

[07:55] @EmikoDesuu55: i guess something must’ve happened…
[07:55] @EmikoDesuu55: call me when you can, k? (⋟﹏⋞)
[07:56] @EmikoDesuu55: have fun on the trip~
--- UNREAD ---
[16:35] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Emiko-chan, hello, hello! 
[16:37] @EmikoDesuu55: kaiba-chan <3 what happened?
[16:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: (⋆ˆ 3 ˆ)

--

Looking over Kaiba’s shoulder while she types this is incredibly awkward.
So, you decide to give Kaiba some space and follow the conversation on your own phone.
Luckily, it seems like the platform allows you to sign into and be active on multiple devices at once.

[16:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Manager-san saw the chat… 
[16:38] @EmikoDesuu55: uwaaa… 
[16:38] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Yeah… She told me to stop talking to you or I’d be fired…
[16:39] @EmikoDesuu55: isn’t it bad that you’re talking to me now then? 
[16:39] @EmikoDesuu55: risking your job to talk to me?? <3 (´౪`)
[16:40] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I mean, I would, but manager-san approached me in the hotspring and told it was totally okay me for to talk to you and even meet up…
[16:40] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Not sure what made her change her mind, she seemed super scared
[16:41] @EmikoDesuu55: (¬‿¬)

“She wants to brag,” you say to Kaiba, “Ask her about it.”
Kaiba nods.

[16:40] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Emiko-chan… you did something didn’t you? 
[16:41] @EmikoDesuu55: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ maaayybeee… 
[16:42] @EmikoDesuu55: doesn’t matter tho, we can be together now, right? 
[16:42] @EmikoDesuu55: like we can meet and date and stuff? 
[16:42] @EmikoDesuu55: and stuff … ;P ah, i wanna do lots of stuff…

Red-faced, Kaiba slowly looks up from her phone and at you.
To Kaiba this must feel like sexting under the disapproving gaze of your parents.
Only it’s worse because it’s your boss from work.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 18:38:33 No.5638108 Report

Quoted By: >>5638109

>>5638106

[16:43] @EmikoDesuu55: oh! and you promised to send me hot spring pics :D
[16:43] @KaibaAoiOfficial: I dunno… 
[16:43] @EmikoDesuu55: why not? you said it was fine the other day? 
[16:43] @EmikoDesuu55: can we call? it feels so much better to do it when you listen in~~

You’re embarrassed on Kaiba’s behalf. Jeesh, what has this girl been getting up to…
Knees shaking, face bright red, and unable to meet your gaze, Kaiba runs out of the locker room.

“Kaiba-san,” you shout, “Wai…”
You were about to give chase only to realize that you’re still wearing nothing but a towel.
Thoughts so preoccupied by this whole development, you forgot to get dressed when Kaiba did.

In the distance, you hear a door slam shut.
The sound came from the woman’s toilets.

You try to get dressed as fast as you can while keeping an eye on the chat.

[16:45] @KaibaAoiOfficial: NOOOOOOOOOOO
[16:46] @KaibaAoiOfficial: PLEASE STOP TALKING
[16:46] @KaibaAoiOfficial: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
[16:47] @EmikoDesuu55: ???
[16:47] @EmikoDesuu55: what’s wrong? what makes today different? 
[16:47] @EmikoDesuu55: …
[16:48] @EmikoDesuu55: oh, I see… she’s watching, isn’t she? 
[16:48] @EmikoDesuu55: hello, manager-san~
[16:48] @EmikoDesuu55: yes, kaiba-san has been taking good care of me~
[16:48] @EmikoDesuu55: I see you’ve been naughty as well…
[16:48] @EmikoDesuu55 has gone offline.

Hiding your face in your hands, you sigh loudly in frustration.
Kaiba tried the best she could, but something like that was certain to cause her to break character.
It was a good effort, but ultimately it seems like EmikoDesu55 picked up on it.
That question about “listening in” what probably a probing question.
She knew Kaiba’s act would collapse. That’s totally what it was, right?
Man, that EmikoDesu55 sure is clever sometimes, haha! A trick!

Well, if it was real, then… eh…

Your phone pings.
A new email.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 18:39:34 No.5638109 Report

Quoted By: >>5638111

>>5638108

ah, manager-san…

why did you have to go and do that? (>﹏<)
now my Kaiba-chan will never trust me again!!!
but it's not her fault… ah my poor kaiba-chan… now i have no more use for her… sigh…

i suppose i have no choice but to tell my good friend to start taking lewd pictures…

if you’re wondering who this photographer is… it’s you!
aren’t I clever, yes? yes? you know exactly where the idols are!
they’re with you after all!

i feel like we’ve gotten really close after the last few messages, so you’ll do this for me, right? right?
the three of us share a kind of special connection, no? i remember seeing you at the end of kaiba’s first vlog, i mean, i wouldn’t mind… the three of us?
pwoaaah… that’ll have to wait though…

you see my friends are totes impatient with me and i have to give them something, yeah?
they need some stuff to work with… (~￣3￣)~

so you get to decide what idol you’re gonna betray!
and you’ll get to live on knowing you crippled a poor girl’s career!

i want a cute nude picture, maybe like shy-ish? or a picture of them sleeping!
if would be great if… you know how when you’re sleeping in a tanktop and your boob kinda slips out?

something like that would be great!!!
BONUS POINTS IF ITS ONE OF THE NEW IDOLS

if you don’t send me anything then I’ll simply ignore my project buddies and drop all my chat, phone recordings, and images I have of Kaiba online!!

xoxoxo

kaiba’s ex-gf

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 18:41:25 No.5638111 Report

Quoted By: >>5638113

>>5638109

So there never was a mole...

Sacrifice a different idol’s career to save Kaiba?

Harsh as it may sound, Kaiba-san brought this on herself.
She should’ve just blocked EmikoDesu55 back then, but then again, she couldn’t have known things would turn out like this.

Ichihara Riko did some inexcusable things that ended another idol’s career.
It seems only fair that that same fate is cast upon her, right?
She did seem very sorry about her behaviour when you encountered her in the break room and it seems like she’s trying to be a better person.

Chigusa Iki hasn’t done anything wrong, but she hasn’t started her career either.
If you think about it from the perspective of a sociopath, then her idol career falling apart before it begins isn’t much different than if you had never recruited her to begin with.

Enatsu Mari is incredibly athletic, that’s plain for everyone to see.
Perhaps it’s a blessing to cut her idol career short and send her on a new path – that of a pro athlete?

Watase Yoko is already fairly old for an idol.
She had plenty of good years, right? Some of the other idols haven’t even gotten started.
That doesn’t seem fair, does it? She did invite you to share drinks later today.
If you manage to get her drunk enough and help her back to her room, then it’d be incredibly easy to snap a quick picture, wouldn’t it?
Besides, her personality seems pretty... maybe it'd be a good thing to get rid of her?

And then there’s one final option.

What if none of the idols had to get involved, what if you offer up yourself instead?
You might not be an idol, but the business might still be willing to pay a bribe to keep things quiet.
There’s no doubt this’ll greatly impact you career, but it’s the only way you can think of that spares all the idols.

If the business refuses though then whatever leverage ErikoDesu55 demands of you will probably end up online and work will get incredibly awkward – that is if they don’t outright fire you.
What would you even do then? Try and become a manager elsewhere? Start your own agency?
Might be difficult with that kind of reputation chasing you, but you could try...

EmikoDesu55 is right about one thing though, even if you take what you did to your grave, you doubt you’ll ever forgive yourself.
The cut-throat world of idols may have many people that’d be willing to throw somebody else under the bus, but you’re not one of them.

Ah, your stomach hurts…

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 18:42:29 No.5638113 Report

Quoted By: >>5638131 >>5638165 >>5638166 >>5638200 >>5638214 >>5638284 >>5638286 >>5638288 >>5638290 >>5638483 >>5638530 >>5638696 >>5639016

>>5638111

EmikoDesuu55’s offer

>1 - Refuse. Just focus on damage control for Kaiba.
>2 - Try to sneakily take pictures of Ichihara Riko. She deserves it for what she did to Maki Sumi.
>3 - Chigusa Iki is always so focused, she might not notice you sneaking a picture…
>4 - With how athletic she is Enatsu Mari might have a better future as an athlete…
>5 - Watase Yoko said she wanted to go drinking with you… maybe if she gets drunk enough and you follow her into her room…
>6 - Send a mail back asking if Emiko will settle for a staged picture of you instead…

If you choose to vote for trying to get a picture then there’ll be an option later on to decide to sneak a pic, negotiate a picture, or other write-ins.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 16 Apr 2023 18:56:35 No.5638131 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638113
No further updates today.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 16 Apr 2023 19:24:37 No.5638165 Report

Quoted By: >>5638172 >>5638286

Man oh man! Friendship, empathy and stalling sure worked wonders! And so the march of our Requiem starts and I can't help but laugh and be proud of being absolutely, completely and undeniably right. Now, all that remains is the result of our inexorable defeat! Good job, anons! Well played.

>>5638113
Either
>2 - Try to sneakily take pictures of Ichihara Riko. She deserves it for what she did to Maki Sumi.
or, if write-ins are possible:
>7- Try to sneakily take pictures of Ichihara Riko, but don't send them to Emiko - leak them yourself. Afterwards, focus on damage control for Kaiba.

Let Hell burn. We dance along the pyre.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 16 Apr 2023 19:24:56 No.5638166 Report

Quoted By: >>5638180 >>5638201 >>5638291 >>5638421

>>5638113
>1 - Refuse. Just focus on damage control for Kaiba
It's Kaiba's failure and mistakes that lead to this. No one else should pay for her sins.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 16 Apr 2023 19:31:02 No.5638172 Report

Quoted By: >>5638180

>>5638165
Our career will take a hit but we can dump most of the damage on Kaiba. She deserves it.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 16 Apr 2023 19:38:54 No.5638180 Report

Quoted By: >>5638449

>>5638166
>>5638172
>It's Kaiba's failure and mistakes that lead to this
That's one hell of a warped way of thinking - not even I thought about all of this like that.
Our utter incompetence and Kaiba's autismo led to this. In case you forgot, we knew about the threat that Emiko could pose weeks ago in real life time and days ago in game time. We were already checkmated by then, but bad decision piled after bad decision led to this moment - which only got worsened since we now face a permanent risk to our career thanks to being complacent about the leaked trip. Good fucking luck trying to apply as a idol manager on another company with that stain on your curriculum, and good luck earning the trust of new idols if we decide to open a new agency - not even taking into account all the stress we might gain dealing with damage control or with losing a job.

But oh well. Enough pouring salt on open wounds - I'm curious and excited to see in what circle of hell we will end up in after this.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sun 16 Apr 2023 19:55:50 No.5638200 Report

Quoted By: >>5638288

>>5638113
>7 - If reason cannot be applied, unreasonable means must be taken.
>Write back to Emiko (from a burner account) and try to guilt trip her into rescinding her plan. Describe how happy Kaiba was to have a friend, how she believed in Emiko till the very end, and how much pain will she inflict on Kaiba.
This can't be worse than simply refusing to take the pictures.
By the way,
>1 - Don't take any pictures.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:S+WGH13H Sun 16 Apr 2023 19:57:27 No.5638201 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638166
+1
Perfectly summed it up.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 16 Apr 2023 20:22:40 No.5638214 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638113
>1 - Refuse. Just focus on damage control for Kaiba.
The whole point of our masterful plan Let's wait for things to fix themselves!! was to bide our time untill the company announces the new idols and then it was to choose between keeping this under wraps or explaining to the company what happened and hope they don't fire Kaiba, with the intent of bringing out the big guns against the mosquitoes.
After all our mistakes, prolonging this situation with a picture? This shit is the plot of my rape blackmail doujinshi.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 16 Apr 2023 20:25:31 No.5638215 Report

Quoted By:

When should've we stepped in? As soon as we learnt about Kaiba chatitng with fans or a little later... I think all this happened because we pitied Kaiba and feared she would die or something when we forced her to stop replying to this fan... You know, it's 100% our fault, the player, because we KNEW how atenttion starved this girl was

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Sun 16 Apr 2023 21:40:49 No.5638284 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638113
>1 - Refuse. Just focus on damage control for Kaiba.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sun 16 Apr 2023 21:42:40 No.5638286 Report

Quoted By: >>5638288 >>5638478 >>5639016

>>5638165
You're such a drama queen

>>5638113
>6 - Send a mail back asking if Emiko will settle for a staged picture of you instead

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sun 16 Apr 2023 21:43:41 No.5638288 Report

Quoted By: >>5639016

>>5638200
Add on the guilt-trip, too. make it clear how much we care for Kaiba, and how heartbroken Kaiba is thanks to Emiko. Can't hurt.

>>5638286
>>5638113

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Sun 16 Apr 2023 21:48:33 No.5638290 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638113
>2 - Try to sneakily take pictures of Ichihara Riko. She deserves it for what she did to Maki Sumi.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:bByYFMbX Sun 16 Apr 2023 21:49:15 No.5638291 Report

Quoted By: >>5638427

>>5638166
+1

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:rTjIYBle Mon 17 Apr 2023 00:47:28 No.5638421 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638166
+1

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:bByYFMbX Mon 17 Apr 2023 00:55:14 No.5638427 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638291
Also, Blackmailing is a crime, we should think about getting the police involved

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:rTjIYBle Mon 17 Apr 2023 01:46:50 No.5638449 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638180
We could have done better ofc.

But she was still knowingly going against company policies.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 02:32:57 No.5638478 Report

Quoted By: >>5638482 >>5638650 >>5639286

>>5638286
>spoiler
I don't like drama but I'll use every opportunity to shove into everyone's faces the fact that I am/was right. It was frustrating writing lines and lines of arguments just to see some anons with negative foresight, rationale and emotional intelligence spouting the worst idea ever known to mankind on how to deal with a groomer blackmailer. Felt like I was trying to teach monkeys how to do PEMDAS
Into the coffin you go, friendship anon - fate wasn't kind to you and yours.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 17 Apr 2023 02:38:00 No.5638482 Report

Quoted By: >>5638968

>>5638478
Your version of the campaign sounds optimized, but empty.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Yzq2iVvA Mon 17 Apr 2023 02:44:30 No.5638483 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638113
>1 - Refuse. Just focus on damage control for Kaiba.

Get the police and a PR company involved.

We need to frame Kaiba as the innocent victim of a nefarious group of blackmailers who only care about money - even if it destroys lives.

We should also allege that they’ve done this before and we have reason to believe it has led to self-harm amongst targeted idols.

The truth doesn’t matter, they are in the wrong and need the weight of the world brought down upon them

If we have any journalistic contacts at all, now is the time to leverage them

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Mon 17 Apr 2023 03:45:56 No.5638530 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638113
>1 - Refuse. Just focus on damage control for Kaiba

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 07:35:42 No.5638650 Report

Quoted By: >>5638968

>>5638478
Your arguments were self-aggrandizing shit, that's the whole deal. You cannot construct arguments at all.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Mon 17 Apr 2023 07:51:33 No.5638661 Report

Quoted By: >>5638677 >>5638704

Random thought, but if Emi ruins Kaiba’s career and this becomes publicly known, what are the chances some crazy fan ‘deals’ with her?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 08:33:03 No.5638677 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638661
The only thing that stopped me from writing in doxxing Emiko to DarkFlightXx in the last vote was the realization that he can't deal with her quickly enough to prevent her leak.
I'm also absolutely intending to write this in as a revenge move afterwards.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 17 Apr 2023 09:19:56 No.5638696 Report

Quoted By: >>5638730 >>5638973 >>5639020

>>5638113

Winner
>1 - Refuse. Just focus on damage control for Kaiba

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Mon 17 Apr 2023 09:34:40 No.5638704 Report

Quoted By: >>5638712

>>5638661
This is where having a Yakuza connection would pay off.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 09:45:09 No.5638712 Report

Quoted By: >>5638713 >>5639288

>>5638704
If we got yakuza to do illegal things for us, that would give them blackmail material to coerce us in the future. I really wouldn't want our idols to have to run badger games or worse.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Mon 17 Apr 2023 09:46:36 No.5638713 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638712
Become the HR yakuza lady. That's a character arc no one will see coming.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 17 Apr 2023 10:13:16 No.5638730 Report

Quoted By: >>5638733 >>5646502 >>5647189

>>5638696
I'm putting these rules out here for discussion purposes while I work on the update.
As it stands you would make the roll with 1 extra dice for a total of 2d100

------

Scandal Mechanics
Scandal management consists of an optional decision and some rolls.

By default, you will roll a 1d100 without modifiers.
You can get an extra 1d100 if you make a good argument that gets included in the update.

You can further increase the number of dice by calling-in or owing people favours.
The "Favour" mechanic has wide applications, but this is just one of them. It hasn't really come up yet though.
You can choose to call-in/owe as many favours as you like, but I wouldn't recommend too many.
Furthermore, somebody you still owe a favour is not like to grant you another one until you return the favour.

These are basically lifelines you should only use when you really want to save an idol and they don't come cheap.
Maki Sumi's scenario (an accidental scandal) would've been a good choice for a roll to owe favours for.
Whether or not you all decide to owe favours for Kaiba’s current scenario is up to you and will be voted on.

--

Say, you called in one favour and owe another, granting you two extra dice.
You will then roll 3d100 and we'll take highest.

This rolled number will then be put against a series of number ranges.

Options
>81 - 100 - Small chance for great management = Dice+1d2 (Positive)
>21 - 80 - Large chance for decent management = Dice+1d2 (Negative)
>01 - 20 - Small chance for terrible management = Dice+1d4 (Negative)

What do these dice do?
They lower or raise your idol's fame.

>Small chance for a 1d2 dice to increase your fame.
>Large chance for a 1d2 dice to decrease your fame.
>Small chance for a 1d4 dice to decrease your fame.

Small chance for a 1d4 dice to decrease your fame.

As you probably already know, fame affects your earnings. More fame = More money from jobs.
You get fame from events and by performing jobs of a higher rank than you’ve done previously.
Fame should be somewhat easy to come by, but we’ve just spent so much time on this side-quest that it’s been a while since the last job.

One thing you might not know is that fame also affects the RANK of the jobs you get.
A famous rank 5 idol will get more high profile (higher dc) jobs than a low fame idol.

Forced Retirement
An idol that goes below zero fame is considered unemployable and will be forced to retire as an idol.
This is what happened to Maki Sumi.
Retired idols can be let go entirely to pursue their own goals or receive a job within Matsuno Inc.

Returing Favours
At some point you’ll have to start returning favours, here’s some examples:

>They steal a job that was offered to you, probably a high rank one
>They try and make claim on an applicant that showed up in your auditions
>They want to force a job on you, essentially borrowing your idol for 1 week (you get paid)
> Something that particular NPC wants.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 17 Apr 2023 10:14:17 No.5638733 Report

Quoted By: >>5638830 >>5638968

>>5638730

You are free to decline any favour others try to “call in” but remember that you won’t be able to gain extra “scandal management dice” until you return the favour.

Accepted Jobs and Scandals

Reputable companies may try to cancel any pending jobs you have with them if the idol they booked with is caught in a scandal.
The likelihood of this increases with higher company morality.
Sleazy companies don’t care you’re caught in a scandal.
This is a 1d100 roll with the DC decided by company morality.

Bribes
Rarely (if the story allows) you can use the money from your budget to avoid the scandal.
The higher fame your idol, the more expensive the bribe.

This may seem like a lot, but it comes down to this:

Summary for mechanic
>1 - Default roll 1d100 with extra dice granted by QM
>2 - Optionally call-in or owe favours for extra dice
>3 - Roll for scandal management 1d100 + any extra dice
>4 - Roll the resulting fame impact (1d2/1d4)

Notes
>I’m not entirely set on scandal management result ranges.
>I’m not entirely set on “Fame impact” dice numbers
>I’m not entirely set on the “forced retirement” fame barrier.
>Accepted Jobs and Scandals rules may be thrown out entirely.
>Would suck to grind to 5 fame and get a 4 on a 1d4 scandal.Though that’d just be double unlucky. You’d have to roll low on the first roll and high on second.Would feel really bad though considering it likely takes weeks of IRL time to get that high.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dYzISNav Mon 17 Apr 2023 11:48:53 No.5638768 Report

Quoted By: >>5638830

I feel like we have more than enough material to take that person to court. Let's not even bother playing those shitty games with us and just straight up report it ASAP, without waiting to go home.
Also, we've been way too easy on Kaiba. She's not talented, has been dead weight on the company and might cause us to lose out on a lot of reputation within and outside of the company. I'm done covering for her mistakes. This is the idol industry, not middle school, difficult decisions HAVE to be made sometimes, even if she's "muh big titty depressed waifu". We're running a business here, ffs

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 17 Apr 2023 12:55:57 No.5638830 Report

Quoted By: >>5638968

>>5638768
>Dead weight
Then send her on more jobs. She has helped build our career, beating out our rivals to get additional idols, has biilt an online following who attend events and buy merch, and she might be appearing in Fate/Stay Night or whatever soon.

>>5638733
I like these. Even the chance of catastrophic failure which, after all, is a real phenomena with a bad enough scandal. Maybe cap how bad a hit fame and can take on a scandal-by-scandal basis, dependign how compromising the situation is?

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 182937asjdh28.gif, 5MiB, 320x240

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 15:26:50 No.5638968 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638482
I accept your concession.

>>5638650
>spoiler
I agree somewhat: after re-reading all of my points I noticed that they were badly structured, had a lot of grammar errors and some premises were out of order. However, I did manage to change some votes so what this tells me is that my logic is sound, I just need to work on my writing foundations.

>>5638733
>Would suck to grind to 5 fame and get a 4 on a 1d4 scandal
My statistic knowledge is very rusty but, if I did my math right, rolling a <21 (in one single dice) *and* dry 4 is a 5% chance event. If we assume a lot of scandals and bad d100s then, on "average", we will be losing 2,5 fame per scandal.
(the spoiler has a interesting tool, check it)

To me, it seems like a fair deal. It makes sense for the setting we're playing at.

I did that last math by hand but if you're doubting me, you can also check: https://calculator.academy/dice-average-calculator/#f1p1|f2p0

>>5638830
>She has helped build our career
I always wondered if our promotion was due to Kaiba's and our efforts or just... the incompetence of the other managers. I mean, one of them fucking lost an idol and the other one had the girl responsible for that loss. Meanwhile, till the performance meeting we had no controversy. Sure, the vlog was a novelty but even the Marketing team didn't knew how to profit out of it.

>and she might be appearing in Fate/Stay Night
>Studio Bones is a respectable company
Yeah I don't know about that one, chief. I pity your optimism.

Gif related is Miho's and Kaiba's mental breakdown after shit hits the fan but there's no more Emiko to bother them

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:kF/I75pj Mon 17 Apr 2023 15:32:55 No.5638973 Report

Quoted By: >>5639016 >>5639034 >>5639294

>>5638696
Got back to the quest after two weeks, and this shitshow happens. I'm not the best at problem solving, so this is all I got. My best option rn would be to show Kaiba Emiko's email to reassure her that there is no mole and to persuade her to screenshot everything in the messages, and make it look like Kaiba was exposing the blackmail group in a stream (hopefully we get to relax enough in the spa). I forgot the incriminating evidence she has on us, so just debut the idols early? I think we'll have to call a favor in with the HR gal or the manager in charge of the other new idol.

Sorry anons can't think of what to do

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:23:02 No.5639016 Report

Quoted By:

>>5638973
>make Kaiba look like a heroic figure exposing a blackmailer ring so other idols never fall victim to them and have their dreams cut short
That's... Actually genius, anon.

>>5638288
>>5638286
These were my vote. I now support >>5638973 with their plan.

>>5638113
>1 - Refuse. Just focus on damage control for Kaiba.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:25:29 No.5639020 Report

Quoted By: >>5639022 >>5639295

>>5638696

Regardless of how much you’d like to help Kaiba, you’re not going to sacrifice anyone else to do so.
Despite your numerous warnings, she took the risk and now she gets to pay the price.
You’ll do what you can to mitigate the damage, but the price isn’t going to be cheap.

A strange feeling of calm spreads through your body.
Suppose it’s really true that a problem only bothers you as much as you allow it to.
You get dressed properly and casually walk to the women’s toilets.
Only one stall is occupied.
You knock on the door of this stall using the back of your hand.

“Kaiba-san,” you say, “We’ve done what we can to prevent a scandal, but we’re changing our approach – we’ll simply brace for impact and pick up the pieces as best we can.”

There’s a small gasp from the other side of the door, “…Is there nothing we can do?”

“There’s an offer, but it’s a price I can’t afford to pay,” you say, deliberately vague.
You’re not sure your heart could take if you revealed that there’s an option to throw another idol to the wolves and Kaiba would want to take it.
The disappointment you’d feel towards her if she thought that way would forever change your image of her.
You’d like to think she wouldn’t do such a thing, but It’s best to never found out for real.

“I considered playing to her guilt,” you say, “But a person that does what Emiko-chan did to you probably doesn’t have much of a conscience to begin with. They only care about themselves.”

The only thing left to do approach this in the most professional, HR-way possible: using the law.
If EmikoDesu55 is so eager to ruin people’s lives, then you don’t mind adding hers to that list.
Under Japanese law there’s a big difference between threatening to blackmail and actually leaking the information.
The latter kind of extortion carries up to a ten-year sentence, while the former hovers around one year.
Guess you’ll get to find out how confident EmikoDesu55 is in hiding her identity.

“Come on out, Aoi-chan,” you say, “We need to get ready for dinner. There are yukatas in our rooms that we’ll be expected to wear.”
“Things’ll get bumpy in the days to come,” you add, “But let’s try to enjoy ourselves for now, okay?”

There’s a sharp metal click as the door of the toilet stall opens and Kaiba shuffles out.
Then she unexpectedly embraces you tightly, her hands grabbing a tight hold on the back of your shirt.
“I’m sorry,” she says, sobbing into your shoulder, “I didn’t know… I've been so stupid... I’m so sorry…”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:26:51 No.5639022 Report

Quoted By: >>5639023 >>5639295 >>5639299

>>5639020

You pat her on the back, “It’s done, it’s time to move on from this, I won’t let this be the end.”
This last week felt like a month. You look forward to things returning back to normal.

“Don’t respond to her any longer,” you say, “Don’t give her the satisfaction.”

After allowing Kaiba time to vent her frustrations, you slowly let go of her and send Kaiba on her way to her own room to prepare for dinner.
You do the same and wear the yukata that has been left in your room by the staff.
However, you linger for a while and prepare a response for EmikoDesu55’s mail.
It’s probably best practice to not respond to an email like this, these things have a habit of turning up online after all.

You simply do what you think is right.

You might’ve dragged your feet on some things, but in the end you did fairly well, right?
By appointing you as her “mole” EmikoDesu55 revealed she has no way of knowing where you are.
There’s no reason to fear a horde of press stomping their way here on the final day.

She knows Matsuno Inc has some new idols lined up, but it’s an idol agency – it’d be weirder if they didn’t.
Without any names or pictures there’s no way she is actually any threat to Chigusa and Enatsu.

All she has is whatever Kaiba shared with her.
This whole blackmail attempt of her group was more social engineering than anything else.
Trying to dig yourself out of the hole by giving in to their demands would've only end up with you digging deeper.

Instead, you’ve given them nothing.
Let’s see if you can take what she’s got left.
A person like her only cares about herself, so that’s exactly what to target.

--------

Hello EmikoDesu55,

I regret to inform you that we are not willing to participate in your delusions.
Your behaviour thus far has been nothing but shameless as both a fan and human being.

Any previous and pending action taken by you against Kaiba Aoi and by extension Matsuno Inc. will be handled by our lawyers, local law enforcement, and the court of law.

Do not contact me again.

With kind regards,

Nagata Miho, Manager at Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency. 

---------

Sent.

A sane, level-headed person would use this opportunity to slither back to the hole they came from.
But if you’ve come to know EmikoDesu55 in any way at all in these past few days she probably has far too much pride to do that, she’s too high on her own ego.
If she really did run this kind of con several times in the past, then she might ever consider herself untouchable.

She’ll leak the data anyway.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:27:52 No.5639023 Report

Quoted By: >>5639026 >>5639031

>>5639022

You prepare a quick email and sent it to your assistant, Matsui-san.
Detailed inside is a rough description of what happened without incrimination you or Kaiba.
Roughly: “I caught Kaiba chatting a little too intimately with a fan, made her stop, and now the ghosted fan is threatening to leak the conversations they had.”

Finally, you mention to keep this a secret, but prepare to act if the chat history shows up online.
Prepare messages for marketing, legal, and even a public statement for Kaiba-san to read on her stream if it gets to that.
There’s no reason for Matsui-san to trigger the alarm if nothing ends up happening.

A few minutes later you receive a response from Matsui-san.
It’s a selfie of her holding a glass of wine, staring at the camera with a lazy frown.
“Sure… Hope Kaiba-san is alright.” she replies.

Guess she was doing something else, but she’ll see to it – you know she will.
Having a dependable subordinate is truly wonderful.

You stow away your phone in a pocket inside your yukata.
These garments didn’t always have pockets like these, but you’re glad they do now.

Shutting the sliding door to your room, you make your way towards the dining hall.
Only to find you’re the last one there.
Even Kaiba is already here though she looks understandably nervous.
It’s probably hard to enjoy a meal while your life may be crumbling around you.

Enatsu Mari is waving at you with much excitement, “Manager-san,” she shouts, “I saved you a seat!”
You bob your head in thanks and move towards the offered seat, placing you between Enatsu Mari and Chigusa Iki.

Everyone is seated at a low table and using cushions as seats.
They’re all enjoying various drinks, most non-alcoholic, and making friendly conversation.
The moment you sit down, Chigusa Iki pours you something to drink from a tall bottle.
You nod thanks. Looking into the cup it seems like green tea.
Honestly, you could really use a drink, but this isn’t the time or place.

A glance at your phone tells you it’s 17:30 (5:30 PM).
There’s a bit of time left until they begin serving meals.
The dinner itself will consist of a large variety of sides with some meat, fish, and rice.
People should be able to have a satisfying meal regardless of their dietary preferences.

Ichihara Riko seems to be relegated to pouring drinks for Watase Yoko, mostly melon soda.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:28:57 No.5639026 Report

Quoted By: >>5639031 >>5639032 >>5639199 >>5639284 >>5639299

>>5639023

Sitting on the other side of Enatsu Mari is Matsuno Kojiro who, judging by his face, hasn’t stopped drinking since you saw him at the bar a while ago.
Even now he has a glass with a bottom of whiskey within hand’s reach.
Enatsu is asking him what kind exciting things Matsuno’s idols have done and he enthusiastically begins talking about some jobs he has done with Maki Sumi.

As the memories slowly creep in, his story slows down, and eventually stops completely.
He shoots a hate-filled glance at Ichihara Riko, reaches for and slams down his whiskey, and excuses himself to visit the bathroom.

It’s not strange for some resentment to linger, but you hope he’s enough of a professional to move past it eventually.

Enatsu Mari watches him leave after the sudden shift in attitude and looks towards you for an explanation.
You wave her concerns aside. Just leave him be.

Matsuno returns a short while later, putting his phone inside the pocket of his yukata as he enters the room.

The kitchen staff begin to prepare the table for dinner.
Before long the table is filled with a large variety of side-dishes and rice.
Once the entire table is set, raising your cup, you call for everyone’s attention.
This whole trip to the hot spring might’ve initially only been a way to stop Kaiba from meeting up, but the new idols still deserve a genuine welcome.

Calling each new idol by name, you ask them to introduce themselves, maybe share some minor details about themselves, and move onto the next until you’ve introduced them all.

“And with that done, I want to wish them all a very warm welcome to the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency,” you say, then raise your cup, “Cheers!”

Cheers echo from all corners of the large table as everyone raises their glass and then, with formalities done, you all enjoy a nice dinner.

Even Kaiba seems to momentarily forget her worries.
With their stomachs filled, some stretch and decide to retire to their rooms while others remain seated, take a seat at the bar for drinks, or play games in the lobby.

Information

Nagata’s current stress is 100. (High)
This can always be viewed in the wiki.

You will spend two days at the resort and return home Sunday afternoon.

Time for activities
Saturday: Evening, late evening/night
Sunday: Morning, early afternoon

After each selection, the people performing an activity change up.
Some activities may not be available at certain times.

Hot spring, sauna, and massages are separated by gender.

Decision (Evening)
>1 - Engage in small conversation at the dinner table (Yukimori, Matsuno, -10 stress)
>2 - Play some games in the lobby (Enatsu Mari, Ichihara Riko, -10 stress)
>3 - Go to your room and call it an early night (Kaiba Aoi, Chigusa Iki)
>4 - Set yourself up at the bar (Watase Yoko, Stress reduction based on drinking)
>5 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:39:14 No.5639031 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639023
>You stow away your phone in a pocket inside your yukata. These garments didn’t always have pockets like these, but you’re glad they do now.
Japanese women et pockets in their formalwear? Luckyyyy.

>>5639026
>4 - Set yourself up at the bar (Watase Yoko, Stress reduction based on drinking)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:40:26 No.5639032 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639026
>1 - Engage in small conversation at the dinner table (Yukimori, Matsuno, -10 stress)
Manager-to-manager communication.
Miho probably could use a drink right now, but this is not the time to get drunk (and also I don't want to roll for bad decisions)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:42:38 No.5639034 Report

Quoted By: >>5639037 >>5639040 >>5639049

Let's review everything that we know: I don't believe that getting the police/attorneys involved will help us.

>Our understanding of Emiko:

1 - Emiko the so-called make-up artist (this is important), has a group focused on these things - ergo, she has done this multiple times. Thus, we can assume that Emiko is not the perpetrator's real name and the email she sent us is, allegedly, untraceable. Adding to that, she made Kaiba install a separate app for the conversations: this might've been done to avoid tracing her location, IP etc.

Conclusion: therefore, we don't know WHO she is, nor where she is. We would be shooting at the dark basically. She might've attended the handshake event with a lot of make-up to make her harder to recognize I assume.

2 - She doesn't have a lot of material besides the leaked idols. Her group won't be very happy with so little material and she said herself that she'd sack her friends to leak the chat all by herself.

Conclusion: shit might not hit the fan that hard - this might be circumvented.

> The solution

1 - >>5638973
>make Kaiba look like a heroic figure exposing a blackmailer ring
Yeah except that... she can't expose anyone, as the arguments above have estabilished. Trying to play hero when she was the one being strung would probably require another ACTING roll (exposing someone just isn't Kaiba) and I'd rather minimize our dependance on Lady Luck. But, I see merit on your approach and in previous approaches of sentimental/friendship is magic anon. So, my proposal is:

Tell the honest-to-god truth to her viewers. Kaiba will be blunt and tell how she felt about this whole ordeal, how she just wanted to have a friend that cared about her. We can participate in the livestream too and tell our part of the story: how we chose to keep most of the things to ourselves, how we priotized our idol, going as far as risk our own carreer because, for us, their dreams matter more than our own. We wouldn't be lying nor pretending being someone else, we'd just reveal our side of the story, what we went through our minds and why we did what we did.

Hell, this whole thing is a sob story already and the fans love to see Kaiba's struggles and her efforts towards the idol world. They will (hopefully) understand.

So, my vote (for when we have to handle this) is:
>Tell the truth to her viewers and to everyone else.

>4 - Set yourself up at the bar (Watase Yoko, Stress reduction based on drinking)
She seems like a nice gal (and she's hot). Yep, that's my reasoning and nothing else

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:46:17 No.5639037 Report

Quoted By: >>5639043

>>5639034
. We can participate in the livestream too and tell our part of the story: how we chose to keep most of the things to ourselves, how we priotized our idol, going as far as risk our own carreer because, for us, their dreams matter more than our own.
This will reveal that we allowed the spa trip to take place despite the risk, and didn't report to our superiors when we should have. We could lose our job for that. Let's make sure not to suggest we knew the full scope of the danger until AFTER we were at the spa.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:49:23 No.5639040 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639034
>We can participate in the livestream too and tell our part of the story: how we chose to keep most of the things to ourselves, how we priotized our idol, going as far as risk our own carreer because, for us, their dreams matter more than our own.
This will reveal that we allowed the spa trip to take place despite the risk, and didn't report to our superiors when we should have. We could lose our job for that. Let's make sure not to suggest we knew the full scope of the danger until AFTER we were at the spa.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:56:18 No.5639043 Report

Quoted By: >>5639046

>>5639037
>This will reveal that we allowed the spa trip to take place despite the risk
I think this will come to light regardless. Take another look at >>5638106
>[07:55] @EmikoDesuu55: i guess something must’ve happened
>[16:37] @KaibaAoiOfficial: Manager-san saw the chat…
>it doesnt take a genius to figure out what happened when kaiba-chan WHO WOULD NEVER, EVER IGNORE ME suddenly disappears after saying her manager walked in…

These messages will be the main argument of Emiko when she eventually tries to also drag us down to hell together with Kaiba.
I assume that the other employees would figure this out since we had a panic attack at the office a day before the trip so yeah, no point in trying to hide that.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 17 Apr 2023 16:58:58 No.5639046 Report

Quoted By: >>5639050

>>5639043
Fair, but I guess we better get ready for severe disciplinary action and/or to start our own agency.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 17:03:41 No.5639049 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639034
>we don't know WHO she is, nor where she is
Actually, we have some info to go off of, and potentially a lot of info. I'm talking about Emiko's old social media accounts we've googled up. Some diligent cyberstalking might give us her name and address. Also, the cafe she invited Kaiba to must be somewhere convenient for her, so either near her home or work.
Moreover, we could offload the cyberstalking onto angry fans.

>Tell the truth to her viewers and to everyone else.
I thought about such an approach too, and I think it's probably a good idea.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 17:04:54 No.5639050 Report

Quoted By: >>5639301

>>5639046
>we better get ready for severe disciplinary action
I forgot to include that in the main argument post but this is where the Favor System comes in:
Although I'd hate to do this, we'd probably have to ask a favor to the CEO. Something that would probably involve nepotism and his nephew. What I assume that can be the worst case scenario is that we end up losing our two new idols to Yukimori (or, worse, losing Kaiba) but it is what it is. Another option is getting a favour from someone else but I have no other idea.

Regardless, I want to use this system in some way to avoid losing our jobs. I think this is a system to help us getting out of Death's Door and there's no better moment to make use of it than now.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 17 Apr 2023 20:12:24 No.5639190 Report

Quoted By: >>5639341

Winner
>4 - Set yourself up at the bar (Watase Yoko, Stress reduction based on drinking)

Probably won't be able to post the update today, but I wanna get started at least.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Mon 17 Apr 2023 20:21:37 No.5639199 Report

Quoted By: >>5639305

>>5639026
>1 - Engage in small conversation at the dinner table (Yukimori, Matsuno, -10 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Yzq2iVvA Mon 17 Apr 2023 22:30:47 No.5639284 Report

Quoted By: >>5639305

>>5639026
>1 - Engage in small conversation at the dinner table (Yukimori, Matsuno, -10 stress)

Drinking is a bad idea - we need a clear head tonight and tomorrow

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 17 Apr 2023 22:31:48 No.5639286 Report

Quoted By: >>5639334

>>5638478
I agree

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 17 Apr 2023 22:32:49 No.5639288 Report

Quoted By: >>5639334

>>5638712
What is a badger game? :)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 17 Apr 2023 22:38:38 No.5639294 Report

Quoted By: >>5639334

>>5638973
>exposing this shit on a stream
I... like this idea

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1669113532642279.png, 129KiB, 676x380

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 17 Apr 2023 22:40:55 No.5639295 Report

Quoted By: >>5639334

>>5639020
>“I’m sorry,” she says, sobbing into your shoulder, “I didn’t know… I've been so stupid... I’m so sorry…”>>5639022

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 17 Apr 2023 22:49:41 No.5639299 Report

Quoted By: >>5639305 >>5639334

>>5639022
>This last week felt like a month. You look forward to things returning back to normal.
Heh...
>Placing you between Enatsu Mari and Chigusa Iki.
KAIBA NOOOO
>>5639026
>2 - Play some games in the lobby (Enatsu Mari, Ichihara Riko, -10 stress)
It's not an Onsen trip if we don't play table tennis!!!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 17 Apr 2023 22:55:27 No.5639301 Report

Quoted By: >>5639334

>>5639050
I'd say we call for a favour and give up Kaiba to repay it. She will be sad but understanding. And hopefully she gets sent to Kojiro and we get some hot Dom & Sub action with Watase Yoko.
Wait why did I say that? That's silly, why would I want to give up our loveliest idol just to have her mingle with Watase Yoko?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 17 Apr 2023 23:09:07 No.5639305 Report

Quoted By: >>5639313

>>5639199
>>5639284
>>5639299
Anons...
Don't forget to Ctrl+F "Winner" before submitting a vote, might save you face (and time)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 17 Apr 2023 23:20:35 No.5639313 Report

Quoted By: >>5639334

>>5639305
I WANNA PLAY PING PONG DAMN IT

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 17 Apr 2023 23:50:05 No.5639334 Report

Quoted By: >>5639342

>>5639286
>>5639288
>>5639294
>>5639295
>>5639299
>>5639301
>>5639313
Anon, come on what even is this string of posts? Why not condense them into one or two, buddy?

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO WataseYoko_AtBar_ReducedSize.jpg, 564KiB, 776x1200

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:07:44 No.5639341 Report

Quoted By: >>5639343

>>5639190

You excuse yourself from the other two managers and make your way to the bar.
Watase Yoko is already there, as she said she would, watching you approach with what is quickly becoming her trademark smug grin.
It seems like she was sure you’d arrive as she already ordered a pair of shots.

“Was worried ya' might sneak off to yer' room instead,” she says, sliding a shot your way and ordering another one for herself.
Ah, both of those were supposed to be for her then.

As the drink slides you way, you stop it with a hand only for part of the contents to spill.
You quickly ask the barman for a cloth to clean it and Watase watches you work with mild bemusement while leaning on an elbow.

Once cleaned up, you carefully smell the shot of hard liquor.
Strong. Far stronger than you’re used to. Maybe you shouldn’t…

“Cheers,” says Watase, raising her shot glass near you so you can cling your glasses together.

“Cheers,” you say, tapping your shot glass against hers.
Well, just one is probably fine.

Watase slams it down in one go.
You, not wanting to be a person that carefully sips a shot, do likewise.

Hissing through clenches teeth, you grimace.
Whatever drink that was burns its way down your throat.

“So, how’s the Kaiba girl doing?” asks Watase, sliding your another shot, “She doing alright?”
She drinks down another shot.

“Yeah,” you say, holding onto the shot for now, “She’s okay. She has a job coming up with a famous studio. I might’ve just been nerves.”
You breathe in sharply through your nose and raise the shot glass to your lips.

“You know she was ogling you, right?” says Watase.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:08:38 No.5639342 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639334
idc, as simple as.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:08:48 No.5639343 Report

Quoted By: >>5639344

>>5639341

Only half of the shot makes it down your throat, the rest you sputter onto the bar counter.
It burns! You hastily rub the back of your hand over your lips.
After a while of coughing, you recover, “Kaiba? No way,” you say, then raise an eyebrow, “Weren’t you asleep?”

Watase flashes you a sly grin, then wags her head from side to side while rolling her eyes, “Not that asleep,” she says.
She calls out to the barman for another round of shots.

You give the barman a quick wave.
“Just a beer for me,” you say.

The barman nods and sends a half-litre glass of beer your way.

“Quitting on me already, manager-san?” says Watase.

You hold the cold, tall glass between your hands.
”Well,” you say with a light chuckle, “I’m not that young anymore.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” says Watase, eyeing you up and down.

Is she doing this on purpose or just messing with you as she was previously?

“Please,” you say, waving a dismissive hand, “I’ll be twenty-seven soon. That’s ancient in idol terms.”

The two of you talk for a long while as you continue sipping your beer.
The shots you downed in rapid succession are beginning to spread through body, soothing it with a comfortable warmth.

>Stress reduced by 20 (10 stress per shot)

Drinking is probably a bad way to cope with stress.
It’s just too bad it feels so good. Like being wrapped in a warm blanket.
Like you could just drift off…

Watase waves a hand in front of your face, “Hellooo?” she says.

“Huh?” you reply, “Sorry, did you say something?”

“Yah. What’s the last time ya' dated anyone?” asks Watase.
It seems like she switched to mixed drinks.
Some kind of soda combined with rum or the like.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:09:52 No.5639344 Report

Quoted By: >>5639348 >>5639349

>>5639343

“Eh?” you say, caught off-guard by the question.
You’d blush, but judging by the warmth in your cheeks from drinking it probably wouldn’t even show.

“I mean I’ve tried,” you say with a shrug, “But it never really went anywhere.”
“And I have my cat, of course,” you add, “Can’t just… stay out, you know?”

“Of course,” says Watase, taking a sip of her drink.

The realization that you have a non-existent love life is kind of putting you down.
“Oh,” you say, “There was a guy from my building that I kinda liked. He lives two floors down.”

“And?” asks Watase, “Went anywhere?”

You scratch your cheek, “No, he, eh, works for a, well, black company,” you say, “I haven’t seen him in months, probably should’ve exchanged numbers, but haven’t.”

In some companies massive overtime isn’t just the norm, but outright expected.
People working at these 'black companies' basically live at work and rarely go home for anything other than sleep.
If they’re not already sleeping under their desk at work, that is.

“So, I guess I haven’t really dated anyone in the strongest sense of the word,” you say.

This is depressing.
You take a long pull from your beer only to find it going empty on you.
Truth be told, your vision is already starting to swim a bit, but your room is just around the corner.
So, it’s fine, right? You could even crawl there if you had to.

>Stress reduced by 10 for drinking beer

Against expectations, Watase isn’t doing much better.
She’s slouched over the counter and just sort of watching you.
Watase seemed so confident earlier, but the effects of alcohol appear to have snuck up on her.
Either that or she just has a low alcohol tolerance.

“Tell me about it,” she says, exhaling sadly, “Bein' an idol is miserable at times!”

“I figured that you with,” you say, gesturing at Watase in general, “Like all this and the way you are you… didn’t have those problems.”

Watase sighs, “It’s because of ma' face,” she says, slamming a fist on the counter.

Knowing the beginnings of a story when you see one, you order another beer and slide into the seat next to Watase.

“Y’know, I could be a cute magical girl,” she says, “I’d be adorable, no?”

You blink slowly. Huh?
Where did that come from?
“Yeah,” you say, “Absolutely.”

“But I don’t get those roles,” says Watase, “I always get cast as the evil people. Villains.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:11:44 No.5639348 Report

Quoted By: >>5639349 >>5639350

>>5639344

“Like, typecast you mean?” you ask, sipping your beer.

“Yeh,” says Watase, downing the remains of her drink, “Because of my face. Even with voice acting roles! It’s all stupid.”

“So, like, the evil grin and frown isn’t on purpose?” you ask.

“Evil grin? Do I really…? That’s just my face and how I smile, always has been,” she says, “I got into so many fights back in high school because people thought I was looking for one. They called me a delinquent before I knew it.”

“Oooh,” you say, “So it was all a mistake, you weren’t in a gang or something?”

The barman slides Watase a new mixed drink.
“Thanks,” she says, then looks back at you, “I mean, I was, but it sorta happened on its own.”

She sighs again and uses a finger to stir her drink.
“Then when I got recruited off the street as an idol, they took one look at me and decided a aggressive, punk look was the way to go,” she says, “I’ve been acting as my idol persona for so long now I barely remember how …to just be me…”

This is quite the contrast to her usual behaviour.
Is it the alchohol? Is she actually some kind of gentle girl at heart?

“Then the whole ‘Watase-sama' thing that your fans are into is an act?” you say, carefully, “You’re not really into girls that way?”

Watase looks up, raising her eyebrows, “What? No, messing with girls is my favourite part of the job! I made sure that hitting on cute girls was a part of my idol persona. Even if somebody snaps a photo of me with a girl the comments will just be 'wish that was me'. I’m, like, scandal proof.”

You’re about to sue this damn girl for causing you mental whiplash!
The barman gives you a thin-lipped look before walking off.

Using her hands to squeeze down on something invisible, Watase continues, “I like the soft girls the best, you know, like the shy ones? That’s how a girl should be. Just huggable. Cute girls should blush and squirm when you hug them, and like pant when you kiss them…”

Great, you’ve become a sounding board for this girl and her fetishes.
You take a sip of your drink.

Steeling your resolve, you try out a dangerous question.
“Is that why you hang out with Ichihara-san so much?” you ask, “Is she your type?”

Watase looks at you in disgust, “No way,” she says, “She’s like sixteen. I like them older than that, besides she’s a total bitch. Real bad. Like on the first day I met her she said you… ”
A pang of realization hits her, “Ah… forget it…”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:13:50 No.5639349 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639344
Gap moe... she's so gap moe!!!
>>5639348
So she bullies the girls she likes and she also bullies the girls she doesn't. It's a win win! And she only gets away with it because she's so pretty

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:13:50 No.5639350 Report

Quoted By: >>5639351 >>5639352 >>5639353 >>5639365 >>5639418 >>5639430 >>5639435 >>5639513 >>5639537 >>5639568 >>5639630

>>5639348

“No, no,” you say, scooting closer, “Tell. I’ve had my difficulties with Ichihara-san as well, so I’m curious…”

Watase looks away, “I dunno,” she says, “I sorta promised not too. s’not manly to break a promise.”

There's that manly again. What's with that?

Did Ichihara try something?
Back in the hot spring Ichihara mentioned that she thought Watase was a pain.
So if there’s mutual dislike, why are they spending so much time together?

“Come on…” you say, trying to encourage her.

“I dunno,” replies Watase, then grins lusciously, “Maybe if you make it worth my while.”

The implication leaves you blushing.
You glance over your shoulder back at the dining hall and find it empty.
It seems like the other managers went elsewhere in the pat hour or so you've been drinking and the barman still hasn’t returned.

Honestly, you knew this was a possibility the moment somebody like her invited you out for drinks.
You don’t see girls that way though, so there’s no way you would do anything physical with her.
Right? Yeah. Doing something like that would surely be a bad decision.
You can’t allow yourself to be swept away by her.

Information

Time drinking: 1h 30m. Beer downed: 0.5 litre. Shots: 2 Weight: 120lbs
Blood Alcohol Percentage: 0.11% (0.08% is limit for driving)

Bad Decision Points = ((Percentage * 100) * 5) = 55

>1 - You're not playing her games
>2 - Make a bad decision roll (1d100+55)

Do not make the actual roll until the vote is concluded.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:16:02 No.5639351 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639350
No more updates today.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:16:08 No.5639352 Report

Quoted By: >>5639418

>>5639350
>1 - You're not playing her games
This gal is gay.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:17:07 No.5639353 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639350

Here's the bad decision table for this roll
>00 - 80 - Convince her using words
>81 - 120 - Buy a round of shots
>121 - 140 - Say you’ll owe her a favour
>141 - 160 - Like a small kiss, maybe
>161+ - ??? (Not drunk enough to reach)

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1675443441906898.png, 56KiB, 802x417

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 18 Apr 2023 00:46:04 No.5639365 Report

Quoted By: >>5639588

>>5639350
I wonder if you are doing the absolute alcohol formula to get those numbers... Pic related is just an approximation to... unfun stuff.
About your formula, we have
Blood_ethanol_concentration = (Volume_ingested * Concentration_ingested * 0.8) / (Weight * 0.6)
A result expressed in mg/dL that we multiply by 0.001 and obtain the BAC.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Tue 18 Apr 2023 02:32:46 No.5639418 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639350
>1 - You're not playing her games

>>5639352
>This gal is gay
...Yes? Was that not explicitly stated?
She has based taste, though

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 18 Apr 2023 02:53:37 No.5639430 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639350
>2 - Make a bad decision roll (1d100+55)
I just find her (Watase) funny, I want to see where this will end

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Tue 18 Apr 2023 03:03:48 No.5639435 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639350
>2 - Make a bad decision roll (1d100+55)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:+E9vAqma Tue 18 Apr 2023 04:46:22 No.5639513 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639350
>2 - Make a bad decision roll (1d100+55)

Odds are decent - and information is power

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:rTjIYBle Tue 18 Apr 2023 05:44:47 No.5639537 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639350
>1 - You're not playing her games

We've had enough playing with fire as is

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 18 Apr 2023 07:37:26 No.5639568 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639350
>1 - You're not playing her games
Nope.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 10:03:31 No.5639588 Report

Quoted By: >>5640175

>>5639365
I use this https://www.calculator.net/bac-calculator.html

Vote closes when I get back from lunch

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 11:55:04 No.5639630 Report

Quoted By: >>5639659

>>5639350
>1 - You're not playing her games (x4)
>2 - Make a bad decision roll (1d100+55) (x3)

Winner
>1 - You're not playing her games

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 12:38:39 No.5639659 Report

Quoted By: >>5639660 >>5639662 >>5639665 >>5639667 >>5639674 >>5639678 >>5639690 >>5639695 >>5639715

>>5639630

You’re curious as to what Ichihara has been up to and what kind of relationship she and Watase have where they both dislike each other, but are still willing to keep secrets to shield the other.

However, your vision is swimming and you’re not even sure you could walk a straight line right now.
With all this alcohol in your system you might find yourself doing something you might regret.
It’s best not to try anything.

You simply shrug, “I want to know, but not that badly,” you say, finishing your drink.

>Stress reduced by 10 for drinking beer.

“Aw,” says Watase, with an exaggerated pout, “You’re no fun.”
“Isn’t gossiping and oversharing part of drinking?” she says, then sighs, “Oh, well. Another shot?”

You stare at the bottom of your own empty beer glass.
All those problems that bothered you seem like a distant memory, hidden far away, deep in your mind.
It feels great. To just relax like this. Unconcerned with what else is going on.
Tomorrow's problems are exactly that -- tomorrow's problems.

Having another drink or two is very tempting, but you have to be careful to not overdo it.
Lest you become known as the employee that gets stupid drunk on company trips.

There's still some stress weighing you down, but it's nothing compared to what it was.
Still though, one or two more drinks might make you feel even better...

-----

Time drinking: 2h. Beer downed: 1 litre. Shots: 2 Weight: 120lbs
Blood Alcohol Percentage: 0.14% (0.08% is limit for driving)
Nagata Miho’s stress: 60 (Average)

Decision
>1 - Nah, you’re gonna switch to water.
>2 - One more drink shouldn’t hurt (-10 stress)
>3 - Two more and then you’re done for real (-20 stress)
>4 - Room around the corner? Go all out. (-30 stress)

Short vote mostly for stress management

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Tue 18 Apr 2023 12:40:54 No.5639660 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639659
>2 - One more drink shouldn’t hurt (-10 stress)
You can try to drown one's demons, but those bastards will learn how to swim.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 18 Apr 2023 12:52:34 No.5639662 Report

Quoted By: >>5639690

>>5639659
>1 - Nah, you’re gonna switch to water.
The only reason to vote for drinking further is a desire to see Miho acting unwise. I say we've acted unwise enough for some time.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RjtBsEg0 Tue 18 Apr 2023 12:58:27 No.5639665 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639659
>4 - Room around the corner? Go all out. (-30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Tue 18 Apr 2023 13:10:02 No.5639667 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639659
>3 - Two more and then you’re done for real (-20 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Tue 18 Apr 2023 13:32:45 No.5639674 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639659
>4 - Room around the corner? Go all out. (-30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 13:39:18 No.5639678 Report

Quoted By: >>5639680 >>5639804 >>5640067 >>5640085

>>5639659
Hour passed.

Winner
>4 - Room around the corner? Go all out. (-30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Tue 18 Apr 2023 13:42:21 No.5639680 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639678
Hangover time!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 18 Apr 2023 14:01:59 No.5639690 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639662
I was curious to see the consequences of a bad decision roll but if I could've voted for >>5639659 then I'd definetely have picked 1. I just got out from a hangover this sunday and while drinking really helped de-stress, the headache is not worth it imo

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 18 Apr 2023 14:10:18 No.5639695 Report

Quoted By: >>5639696 >>5640573

>>5639659
Wait a damn second.
>Weight: 120lbs
>120lbs = ~54kg
Miho weights 54 kilos? With boobs like these >>5635641? No fucking way, QM.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Tue 18 Apr 2023 14:17:04 No.5639696 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639695
Maybe we're short? Japanese women are tiny.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO bac.png, 34KiB, 942x295

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 14:45:56 No.5639707 Report

Quoted By:

I don't want to waste time on a hospital arc so I picked the combination of drinks with lowest BAC, but this is as low as it goes.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:95diUJC/ Tue 18 Apr 2023 14:59:00 No.5639715 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639659
>1 - Nah, you’re gonna switch to water.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 18 Apr 2023 17:00:11 No.5639804 Report

Quoted By: >>5639811

>>5639678
QM, if we want to create an idol band and set up our own concerts, how does it work with the job system?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 17:04:00 No.5639811 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639804
>QM, if we want to create an idol band
You can, but I wasn't planning to introduce this until after the second performance review (after male idols also arrive).

>Set up our own concerts, how does it work with the job system?
It doensn't. It would be a special event much like the handshaking event.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 20:48:46 No.5640019 Report

Quoted By:

Should be able to post the update shortly, just hung up on some images.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:+E9vAqma Tue 18 Apr 2023 21:40:19 No.5640067 Report

Quoted By: >>5640071

>>5639678
QM, your voting windows are tiny!

I’d consider extending them if there is going to be a bit of time between updates

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 21:49:21 No.5640071 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640067
I normally leave votes open overnight.
That particular vote was supposed to be a short one with a quick update afterwards, but I didn't expect people to pick the "All out" option.
So the update turned out a big larger than expected.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO NagataMiho_Yukata_Drunk_4.jpg, 360KiB, 1015x1500

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:05:45 No.5640085 Report

Quoted By: >>5640086

>>5639678

“It’s fine, no?” says Watase, “We’re celebrating all the new idols after all…”

Yeah… She’s right. You should be able to indulge for once.

After a while the barman returns and Watase orders another round of shots.
It’s the same stuff over and over.

“To the new idols,” says Watase, raising her shot glass.

You tap your small shot glass against hers, then cheer, “Oooo!”
Both of you unceremoniously down your shots.
Immediately a now familiar warmth fills your cheeks.

It suddenly occurs to you how you’re acting overly familiar.
“Ah,” you say, “I’m sorry for the ‘Oooo', that’s really…”

Watase laughs to herself, “Don’t be,” she says, “We’re celebrating.”
“Besides, it’s cute,” she adds.

Cute? Isn’t it just childish behaviour?
Among friends you might be able to get away with such a thing, but this is a professional relationship.
Doesn’t seem like she cares a lot about such things.
Watase has been awfully forward in a lot of ways.

You roll the shot glass between your fingers, “Watase-san,” you say, “I don’t want to be presumptuous, but you know I’m straight, right?”

Watase raises an eyebrow, “I don’t see how that’s relevant?”

Gosh, that’s embarrassing.
With all these signals you were sure she was into you in some way.
You’ve complimented other girls on things your entire life.
It wasn’t weird for her to say something you did is cute.

You’ve been spending too much time around all these lesbians.
Why are there so many? Now it seems like your perception is messed up.
Normal friends would be nice, yeah.

“Another drink?” you say in an effort to move on.

Watase shrugs, then waves at the barkeep for another round.
Once arrived she pounds hers down without hesitation.

You, however, are a bit slower.
The burning sensation from the previous drink is still there.
Can you keep up with Watase? Should you be trying to?

Well, your room is just around the corner, right?
Getting there should be easy, even if you overdo it a bit.
Slam it down, Miho!

“Pwoah,” you say, lowering the shot glass back down.
Now you really do feel warm all over.
Yet, shivers race down your spine.

“I have to say, Nagata-san,” says Watase, “You can drink with the best of them.”

Mind cuddling around what sounds like a compliment, you smile.
”My~” you say, holding a hand to your warm cheek, “I’m trying my best.”
You’ve never been much of a party animal, but it seems like you can at least hold your liquor.
As you lower you arm down, you can’t help but feel that it’s moving awfully sluggish.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:06:46 No.5640086 Report

Quoted By: >>5640087

>>5640085

“Say, Nagata-san,” begins Watase, leaning on an elbow with a smile, “Thanks again for organizing the trip, I had a lot of fun.”
“I was having so much trouble fitting in,” she adds, looking sad.

You blink a few times to get Watase back into focus.
“That’s not true,” you say, acting stern, “You’re a, ah, wonderful new girl. You’ll be a great idol.”
“Watase-san is already a famous idol, no?” you add, “You should be more proud…? prouder? … of yourself.”

Watase shoots you a thin smile, as she continues leaning in a propped up fist, “Why I’m so glad to hear you say that, I thought you might hate me after what happened at the massage parlour…”

“Eh?” you say, thinking back to how she was basically swaggering around naked.
“No way! I could n-never hate you, Watase-san,” you say, then open you arms wide for a hug – nearly catapulting the shot glasses off the bar as you do so, “I h-have a lot of respect for hard-working idols!”

Watase rolls her eyes with a smile, but leans in towards you.
She’s a lot taller than you are, she might be almost six feet! Or something?
A lot taller than your five foot two, at least!
The result is almost comical, with you having to reach upwards to wrap your arms around her head.

“When my friend gets sad, I make her feel better like this~” you say, patting Watase’s head.

“I feel better already,” says Watase in a somewhat distracted tone.

The result of what should have been a wholesome action is that because of the height difference you are basically pulling Watase’s face into your cleavage.
After a few moments of rubbing Watase’s head, this unfortunate side-effect dawns on you.

“Ah!” you say, quickly letting go, “I didn’t meant to! Ah… A drink! You want a drink?”
Not waiting for a response, you wave at the barman, “Barman! One more!”

“…Are you sure?” says the faraway voice of the barman.

You glance at Watase, who’s simply observing you with a sly grin.
Is she judging you? She must be, right? A real manager wouldn’t be dismissed so easily.

You slam your fists on the counter and barely feel it, “Come on,” you shout, head craned towards the ceiling, then sheepishly mind your manners, “Please.”

The barman sighs, then prepares and slides two shots your way, “Last ones.”

Your heartrate is up. You can feel it all the way up in your throat.
After receiving the shot glass, you raise it, “Oooooo!”
Watase and you tap your shot glasses together.
For once you beat her to it and are the first to slam down your drink.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:07:57 No.5640087 Report

Quoted By: >>5640088

>>5640086

Strangely, Watase simply places her shot back on the counter and slides it to the barman – who takes it away.
Does this mean you won? Did she give up?
Eyes pressed closed, you raise both fists to shoulder height and shake your body a little.
Winner!

You open your eyes and everything’s sliding all over the places.
Hand questing for the counter to steady yourself, you instead find Watase supporting your back and pushing it towards the counter.
Seems like you were about to topple from your barstool.

Everything feels like a dream.
Not in the ‘this is wonderful' sense, but in the ‘nothing feels real’ sense.
Your consciousness is flickering.
Rest. You need just to rest for a moment. Just put your head down.

“Ah~” says Watase with a drunk grin as she watches you lay your head down on the counter, “Insecure office ladies really are the best… ”

You pass out, the last thing you see being Watase Yoko smiling down at you.

---------

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:08:58 No.5640088 Report

Quoted By: >>5640091 >>5640126 >>5640440

>>5640087

Birds chirp excitedly outside your room.
You’d shoot them if you could.
How dare they make such a racket this early in the morning.
You have a terrible headache and each second of birdsong is like somebody tapping away at your skull with a small hammer.

Wasn’t there something important you should’ve kept an eye on?

Honestly, you can’t even remember how you made it back to your room.
Eyes squinting to keep out the light, you look towards the clock in the left side of your room.

Only to find it isn’t there.
In fact, the window isn’t where it should be either.
Were the covers on your futon always this colour?

Somebody moves under the covers beside you, shifting the blanket.
Eh? You completely freeze up.Where are you? What’s happening?

A soft hand slides over your thigh, gradually making its way to your stomach – where it rests.
A different hand slides underneath your body, gripping your side.They pull you in towards them, embracing you in a tight hug.
Something soft presses into your upper back.

A strand of red hair slides over your shoulder as this other person places a small kiss in your neck.

Ah. This feels nice. How long has it been seen you cuddled like this? Have you ever?

>Stress reduced by 10 for cuddling.

“Good morning~” says Watase Yoko with a sly grin.

Reality taps you on the shoulder a few times before then slapping you back into the here and now.
Wait, wait, wait. Your body goes cold as dread envelops you.

“W-what are you doing?” you say with a shiver in your voice.

“Oh, sorry, sorry,” replies Watase, “Instinct.”

“Instinct?” you ask.

“I wake up next to a pretty girl and, well, habits…” she says, still holding on.

Why did you wake up next to each other to begin with?

“W-we… didn’t… right?” you ask carefully.

Watase moves her shoulders backwards in an effort to stretch the muscles, then hugs you tighter.

“Watase-san…?” you ask again.

“Just Yoko will do,” says Watase, as she continues to cuddle with you.

You remember the start of the evening, but things get blurry after that.
Judging from your position you can kind of guess what happened.
Only yesterday you were reprimanding Kaiba for not being careful with her relationships and now look at you.

“Please, don’t tell anyone…” you say, shaking, “If Yui-chan finds out… she’ll be so upset…”

“Oh?” says Watase, “Who’s this Yui-chan? I love it when I take a girl from somebody else…”

“You’ll keep this quiet… right?” you say, panic creeping into your voice.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO WataseYoko_InBed_3.jpg, 864KiB, 1500x1017

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:10:35 No.5640091 Report

Quoted By: >>5640093

>>5640088

“Hmm~,” says Watase, “I don’t know… I mean, nothing happened.”

Eh?

With some effort you release yourself from Watase’s grip and roll over to face her.
Then you slide backwards a bit as you find out your faces are only inches apart.

Watase replies with a wide grin, then puts some more space between the both of you, “Nothing happened, for real!” she says, pulling the covers towards herself, “Do you really think I would do something to a person that can’t even stand and passes out every other second? That’s not manly at all.”

“Watase-san, please,” you say, shaking your head to force away the headache, unsuccessful, “What happened?”

“You were a mess, girl,” says Watase, matter-of-factly, “Like beyond drunk. I tried getting you to your room, but I didn’t know which one it was or where you kept your room key…So I went to mine.”
“I figured that was better than dragging you towards random rooms and showing off the state you were in to the people inside,” she adds.

Thank the gods for that.
Just imaging Watase Yoko dragging you, bobble-heading drunk, into each of the rooms only to go “Woops, sorry” is enough to make you wince.

“Besides, you also looked like you could throw up at any moment so I figured I couldn’t just dump you in some room and take off,” continues Watase, “I wasn’t doing so hot either, I planned to take out another futon for me, but the moment I laid you down I couldn’t get up and just barely made it out of my yukata before I passed out myself…”

“Well, I suppose sleeping in both a yukata and Juban would be quite hot,” you say.

Watase lifts the blanket a bit as she grins, allowing you a peek underneath.

“You’re naked?!” you shout, then quickly adjust to a loud whisper, “Why?”
Hopefully nobody heard.

Watase shrugs, “I always sleep naked, I just took all my clothes off by habit.”

“That isn’t weird to you at all?” you ask, perplexed, “There was another person…”

“No?” replies Watase, “Why would it be?”

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO WataseYoko_InBed_2.jpg, 636KiB, 1200x801

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:12:09 No.5640093 Report

Quoted By: >>5640094

>>5640091

Your eyes widen and you have a quick look at your own situation.
Relief. You’re at least wearing your Juban, the underclothes traditionally worn under a yukata.
They’re in quite a state though, the belt has come untied – leaving your stomach exposed and the hem has ridden up your leg to allow easy access for intruding hands.

You toss your part of the covers aside and quickly fix your clothing, pulling the belt of your Juban tight to make sure it doesn’t loosen again.

Watase Yoko is lounging on an elbow, watching you, “…I mean, since we’re both here we could still…?” she says.

“No,” you reply flatly, “I think you’ve had your hands on me quite enough…”

In response, Watase Yoko tosses the covers aside completely, “I don’t mind returning the favour,” she says, “Have at it…”

How can she be so shameless like that…

What she did to you earlier was straight-up sexual harassment, wasn’t it?
Not like you can tell anyone without mentioning everything that preceded it.
You sigh. Forget it.

She’s an absolute lecher, but she cared enough to get you into a bed – even if that bed ended up being her own.
It thankfully wasn’t necessary, but you would’ve been grateful that she was there if your body ended up handling the liquor poorly.

You pick up Watase’s clothing and toss them at her, “Get dressed,” you say.
After glancing around the room, you’ve finally located the clock, it won’t be long until they serve breakfast and it’ll be suspicious if the both of you are absent after the other managers saw you both at the bar yesterday.

You put your yukata back on as it is the only clothing you have on hand.
Ah, your head hurts. Your mouth and throat feel like they haven’t seen a sip of water in days.
You would rather just stay in bed for the rest of the day, but instead you have to deal with all this.

Watase is happy to just stay in bed and watch you get dressed.
Once you’re fully dressed, she reaches for her own clothes.

“I don’t get how you can be so calm about all this,” you say.

“Morning after can always be a bit awkward if drinking is involved, no?” she says, sniffing some of yesterday’s clothes.
They pass whatever low standard she has for them and begins to get dressed.

Are you overreacting?
No, normal people don’t behave like this.
This girl is just thinking too little of this.

“Get your phone out,” you say to Watase, rubbing your temples, “We need to share numbers.”

“And here I was thinking you felt nothing for me,” she says in a playful tone while getting dressed.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:13:11 No.5640094 Report

Quoted By: >>5640098 >>5640126

>>5640093

Can this girl take this seriously, please?
This might be just another day to her, but you’re not about to make the first impression your two new idols have of you being one of some kind of drunk.
Or worse and more likely – one where you sleep around with idols.

“You have to leave first, this is your room after all, and head to breakfast,” you say, “Send me a message when everybody else is there and I’ll pop into my room to change and join you later.”

Watase shrugs, “Sure,” she says, then smiles at her phone as she saves your number, “Feels like I’m back at college. Sneaking around like this.”

You clearly went to different colleges.
You pinch the bridge of your nose, “Just go to breakfast already, I’ll wait here…”

“Yes, yes, ma’am,” replies Watase, “As you say.”
She glances at a nearby mirror, picks something out of her teeth, and heads out.

Might sound harsh, but you’re somewhat surprised Watase went to college while being an idol.
It’s not out of the ordinary but being able to combine all the responsibilities of being an idol with school is quite a feat.

Hold on.
You should’ve probably told her that the both of you reek of booze. Oops.
Well, you’ll freshen up and brush your teeth before meeting up with the others even if she doesn’t.

You sit in Watase’s room and wait for the signal, thinking. This could’ve ended a lot worse.
Excessive drinking to a point that you can’t even control your own body isn’t worth repeating.
At least Watase had some morals and didn’t take complete advantage of you…
And cuddling was sort of nice. Maybe you should try dating again? Men, of course.

If nothing else, you can’t help but be a bit more understanding of Kaiba’s situation.
Affection can be incredibly addictive. Maybe even Emiko’s twisted kind that was withheld on a whim…

Jeesh, what are you thinking?

You really need to find a man before you end up with five cats instead.

Maybe Kitabayashi would be interested in going clubbing or something?
Is that cruel? Asking the girl that was interested in you to help you look for somebody else?
You’re still twenty-six, that’s not too old for clubbing, right? W
here do you even find somebody in your late twenties?

A little jingle sounds, you check your phone.
A message from Watase Yoko. The signal.
You also have an email from Matsui Tomo, but you’ll check that later.

You sneak towards your room, get out of the yukata and into pyjamas, only to walk towards the shared bathroom, brush your teeth, clean up a bit, get into fresh clothes, and head out.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:14:27 No.5640098 Report

Quoted By: >>5640099 >>5640118 >>5640140 >>5640179 >>5640217 >>5640282 >>5640345 >>5640378 >>5640408 >>5640440 >>5640481

>>5640094

Information

Nagata’s current stress is 30. (Low)
This can always be viewed in the wiki.

You will spend two days at the resort and return home Sunday afternoon.

Time for activities
Sunday: Morning, early afternoon

After each selection, the people performing an activity change up.
Some activities may not be available until later in the day.

Hot spring, sauna, and massages are separated by gender.

Decision (Morning)
>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Yukimori, -30 stress)
>3 - Enjoy a final dip in the hot spring (-30 stress)

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Yukuata_Showcase.jpg, 639KiB, 512x3214

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:15:36 No.5640099 Report

Quoted By: >>5640217

>>5640098

No further updates today.
Pic related is some Nagata Yukuta picks that I didn't end up choosing.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:55:34 No.5640118 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640098
>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)
We're ok stress-wise, so why don't we socialize a bit.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 18 Apr 2023 22:59:37 No.5640126 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640088

Come have your fill, >>5630032 anon.

>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)

>>5640094
>Maybe you should try dating again?
Hmmm... I wonder...
Would Kojiro do?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Tue 18 Apr 2023 23:17:58 No.5640140 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640098
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Yukimori, -30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Wed 19 Apr 2023 00:16:54 No.5640175 Report

Quoted By:

>>5639588
That's aigh... I wonder if it's healthy if you add a mechanic where Miho starts becoming more tolerant to alcohol. Something that would make us want to choose the booze option when relieving stress because it's easier and easier... then we find out that the game HAD an addiction mechanic us

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Wed 19 Apr 2023 00:28:29 No.5640179 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640098
>>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)
There are two things that fuck you up when drinking (that causes hangovers). Dehidration and hipoglycemia. Get some juice in there

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Wed 19 Apr 2023 01:28:19 No.5640217 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640098
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Yukimori, -30 stress)

>>5640099
Cute!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Wed 19 Apr 2023 03:16:00 No.5640282 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640098
>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Wed 19 Apr 2023 04:43:45 No.5640345 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640098
>3 - Enjoy a final dip in the hot spring (-30 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:KApWpWUK Wed 19 Apr 2023 05:34:35 No.5640378 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640098
>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)

Stress is fine, let’s socialise

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Wed 19 Apr 2023 06:36:12 No.5640408 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640098
>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Wed 19 Apr 2023 07:22:03 No.5640440 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640088
To think I almost started to think Yoko is alright.

>>5640098
>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)
Less stress release, but right now we need to drink a lot of water.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Wed 19 Apr 2023 09:21:42 No.5640481 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640098
>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 19 Apr 2023 14:19:31 No.5640573 Report

Quoted By: >>5640578

Winner
>1 - Breakfast in the dining hall (Enatsu, Ichihara, Watase, Kaiba, Matsuno, -10 stress)

>>5639695
She's 5 foot 2.Which is the average height for japanese women.
Still, 5''2 feels crazy short, but it is what it is.
With 120lbs she's also above the average weight.
So, we'll just say that excess weight is all boobs.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1680209234002546.jpg, 27KiB, 636x474

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 19 Apr 2023 14:43:37 No.5640578 Report

Quoted By: >>5640683 >>5640819

>>5640573
>she's 5'2
~1,55/1,57m
So, she's cuddling material.
>mfw no blonde small stature big tiddy empathetic idol manager gf
why even live, bros...

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:AZdRjeOo Wed 19 Apr 2023 17:49:09 No.5640683 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640578
Don't forget ever stressed on the brink of tears

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Wed 19 Apr 2023 21:39:38 No.5640819 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640578
No wonder why Miho draws in attention from Kitabayashi and Yoko like flies to honey.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 19 Apr 2023 21:53:19 No.5640829 Report

Quoted By: >>5640830 >>5640862 >>5640888 >>5640897 >>5640911 >>5640930 >>5641165 >>5641181

With careful grace you move towards the dining area where the others are having breakfast.
Not so much having breakfast as staring at it, people are exchanging uncomfortable glances as Watase Yoko gets an earful from her manager, Matsuno Kojiro.

“First company event and you decide to get blackout drunk?” he asks, “It’s like we pulled a bum from under a bridge and put them at our breakfast table.
We could smell you coming before you even entered the room!”

Watase Yoko simply leans away and rolls her eyes, “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Matsuno Kojiro glances at the gathered crowd, “It’s time you’d show me some respect as your manager!” he cries, trying to save face.

“Respect?” shouts Watase, slamming a hand on the table, “Why? You haven’t done anything for me and we’re the same age!”

“I got you this job,” shouts Matsuno, getting similarly heated and standing.

“I can get another just as easy,” retorts Watase.

This is a whole other side of Watase.
Her behaviour to you hasn’t been like this in the slightest.

Matsuno runs a hand over his face and groans, “Look,” he says, “All I’m asking is that you condone yourself in a professional manner at…”
He finally seems to notice that the both of them are making a scene. ”We’ll talk about this later,” he says.

“We won’t,” says Watase, clutching her head, “You got a problem? Say it.”

You don’t envy Watase for getting into heated discussion like this when she’s probably as hungover as you.
Not that two people shouting at each other is beneficial to your own headache.

Then Matsuno points at you, “Nagata-san was there drinking with you, but here she is! Dressed proper, doesn’t reek of drink, and ever professional,” he says, “That’s because she knows her limits!”

You manage a thin smile, but inside you’re screaming.

Matsuno sighs, then gestures wildly, “Look! All of Nagata-san’s idols are well-behaved,” he shouts.

You glance at each of the idols.
Chigusa Iki is sipping on tea, ignoring the entire conversation.
Enatsu Mari is holding up her hands defensively, her gaze switching between both parties, not knowing how to make them stop.
Kaiba is... either high or extremely sleep deprived.

“Nagata-san,” says Matsuno, “How do you manage it? Can you talk some sense to this girl?”

“Yeah,” says Watase, “Say something…”

Decision
>1 - Keep quiet. Don’t get involved. Hope it passes.
>2 - Jump to the defence of Watase, tell Matsuno he should calm down.
>3 - Agree with Matsuno. She should be more mindful of environment.
>4 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 19 Apr 2023 21:54:20 No.5640830 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640829
No further updates.
Sorry, I didn't have much time today so only a small, bland update.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Wed 19 Apr 2023 22:00:26 No.5640834 Report

Quoted By: >>5640835

>You manage a thin smile, but inside you’re screaming.
Pulled into an argument while hungover sounds hellish.

I don't know what to choose. Matsuno is high strung due to losing Sumi and still harbors a grudge against Riko, and Watase has a strong character. We woke up next to Watase so...that seems like a no go arguing against her, maybe she might respect that.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Wed 19 Apr 2023 22:02:15 No.5640835 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640834
>maybe she might respect that
I meant arguing against her she might respect not keeping quiet.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 19 Apr 2023 23:29:38 No.5640862 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640829
>3 - Agree with Matsuno. She should be more mindful of environment.
Hypocrisy? I don't know, just because we did a wrong doesn't mean we don't know what is right

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Thu 20 Apr 2023 00:24:20 No.5640888 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640829

>1 - Keep quiet. Don’t get involved. Hope it passes.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Thu 20 Apr 2023 00:51:02 No.5640897 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640829
>>3 - Agree with Matsuno. She should be more mindful of environment.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Thu 20 Apr 2023 01:14:32 No.5640911 Report

Quoted By: >>5641191

>>5640829
>4 - Admit you got hammered, too, and are just hiding it better, in part thanks to Watase. Bow, apologize, promise to do better.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Thu 20 Apr 2023 01:38:42 No.5640930 Report

Quoted By: >>5641181

>>5640829
>4 - Write-in
>Admit that you got piss drunk.
>If this is about appearances, I understand the concern because Yoko yes, Yoko is an idol, but if that's the case then she needs training, not an earful

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 20 Apr 2023 07:29:06 No.5641165 Report

Quoted By: >>5641181

>>5640829
>4 - Write-in
>"Oh, Matsuno-san, I wanted to talk with you about something"
>Take him out of sight of Watase and ask about the technicalities of organizing an idol band until he calms down
If Watase won't use this time to clean up her act enough not to trigger him again when he returns, that's on her.
After that bout of sexual harassment we really should just throw her under the bus, but I'm soft.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Thu 20 Apr 2023 09:18:46 No.5641181 Report

Quoted By:

>>5640829
>>5640930
Supporting

>>5641165
We did pick the softest manager after all

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 09:35:07 No.5641191 Report

Quoted By: >>5641207 >>5641323

>1 - Keep quiet. Don’t get involved. Hope it passes. (x1)
>3 - Agree with Matsuno. She should be more mindful of environment (x 2)
>4a - Admit that you got piss drunk. (x3, counting >>5640911 as same)
>4b - "Oh, Matsuno-san, I wanted to talk with you about something" (x1)

Winner
>4a - Admit that you got piss drunk. (x3, counting >>5640911 as same)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 09:44:33 No.5641193 Report

Quoted By: >>5641197 >>5641200 >>5641207 >>5641344 >>5641346 >>5641400

Meta vote while I work on the update. (I am procrastinating on actual work)
---
As mentioned, some of the idols have brothers / sisters.
Now, the "anime" way to refer to these is "Onii-chan / Imouto".
Which, to be honest, feels like a gut punch of cringe.

However, I'm already using "Senpai" and stuff, so I don't mind sinking lower.

How to refer to siblings
>1 - Onii-chan / Otouto / Onee-san / Imouto
>2 - Older brother / Younger brother / Older sister / Younger sister

There'll also be many times where they simply refer to each other by name.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Thu 20 Apr 2023 09:49:36 No.5641197 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641193
>2 - Older brother / Younger brother / Older sister / Younger sister

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 20 Apr 2023 09:58:07 No.5641200 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641193
>1
Honestly, simply directly translating to English sounds even more cringe to me. Either adapt the speech patterns to English completely, or leave it in Japanese

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 20 Apr 2023 10:16:22 No.5641207 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641191
>Admit that we were drunk
Aaaah, how I missed this! The Bad Voting Curse is back at full force! Good job making Miho look like a irresponsible drunkard (in front of her idols, mind you) a day before the scandal.

>>5641193
>How to refer to siblings
Honestly...
>2 - Older brother / Younger brother / Older sister / Younger sister
Using the "anime" terms in a English written story would feel off. Even the EN localization of Persona, the weebest game I've ever played, uses honorifics, senpai and stuff but still refer to parents in the english way.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 14:45:09 No.5641323 Report

Quoted By: >>5641324

>>5641191

Scratching your cheek, you laugh quietly, “Actually, I was pretty out of it myself,” you say, “Far worse than Watase-san…”

Watase smiles, folds her arms, and nods knowingly, “A downright mess,” she says, then laughs boisterously, “I wasn’t gonna say anything, but since you admitted it yourself – yeah, a total wreck.”

You let out an embarrassed chuckle, “Watase-san…that’s…”
Take a hint, please.

“Could barely walk!” continues Watase, then slaps her knee and laughs some more.
Then looks at the other idols, “You girls are lucky, at least your manager knows how to have fun!”
“Unlike some people…” she adds.

Watase-san, please stop talking.

Matsuno clicks his tongue, “There’s a time and place for such things and here and now isn’t it.” He sits back down, “I figured you’d know such things, Nagata-san.”

Enatsu Mari pipes up, “My dad says getting drunk is a privilege of adults,” she says, then reaching for some rice.
It doesn’t seem like she minds either way. She just wants the fighting to stop.

Beside her sits Chigusa Iki, sipping green tea from a clay cup.
She doesn’t say anything, but as far as you can read Chigusa’s limited expression, she seems disappointed.

Sighing, Matsuno refuses to let the matter go, “Even so,” he says, turning to Watase, “Nagata-san, didn’t come in looking and smelling like something coughed out by a bar after closing.”

Watase slams her fists on the table, “Hah? What’s your problem with me?”

Matsuno points an accusing finger, “Your attitude! Your trashy attitude!”

Knuckles whitening as she pulls her hand into a fist, Watase rises to her feet.
She stares at Matsuno with eyes full of hatred, then turns away, “Aaahh… I’m not hungry after all,” she says, walking away.

The mood is definitely ruined.
You sit down beside Kaiba and all of you eat breakfast, the silence only broken to ask somebody to pass along a side-dish.
Matsuno is the first to excuse himself, he pulls what seems to be a carton of cigarettes from his pocket as he heads outside.
You didn’t take him for a smoker, but suppose that’s his way to deal with the sudden stress.

“…Does anyone want to go in the hot spring in a bit…?” tries Enatsu Mari.
You assume she wants to wait a little while since she has just eaten.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO TiredKaiba.jpg, 542KiB, 667x1000

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 14:46:31 No.5641324 Report

Quoted By: >>5641327

>>5641323

“No,” says Chigusa Iki flatly, placing down her clay cup, “Repeated hot baths will damage my skin, so I’ll refrain.”

Enatsu Mari looks to Kaiba, “Aoi-chan…?”

Kaiba has been continuously nodding off during breakfast, just bobble-heading.
Aside from that she’s also still wearing yesterday’s yukata, which isn’t odd, but it looks like she hasn’t taken it off at all.
She blinks a few times, “Eh?” she says, “Uh, eh… No, I’m sorry. I don’t feel so good.”

Enatsu Mari nods, visibly dejected, “Okay…”
She then excuses herself and heads off.

Chigusa Iki stands and bows, “Then, I’ll be leaving to gather my things and get ready for departure.”
There are hours left until you leave, so of course she’s gonna get ready right away.

As they both leave, you turn to Kaiba.
“How are you holding up?” you ask.

“Ah, manager-san,” says Kaiba with a tired smile, “I’m well enough…”

“You don’t look it,” you say, “Get any sleep at all?”

“Well, I was up for almost the entire night checking online to see if my career was over, but I found a way to make myself stop,” says Kaiba, “After that I got some sleep.”

That’s quite the mental fortitude.
You would’ve thought this would overwhelm her, but she seems to be handling it well.
“How’d you manage that?” you ask.

“I threw my phone in the koi pond,” says Kaiba, then takes a sip of her tea, “It’s still in there.”

It appears Kaiba isn’t handling things all too well.
It’s such a waste, too, because fish can’t use phones.
What kind of thought is that? Man, you feel so hungover.

You set aside tea for now and focus on nursing your headache with water and juice.
The both of you simply sit for a while, Kaiba trying to stave off sleep and you fighting your hangover.

Occasionally, you notice Kaiba glancing at you, her mouth briefly opening as she gathers the courage to speak.
The courage doesn’t come, instead becoming flustered.
After a while, it seems like her mind settles on a different subject that doesn’t tilt her as much.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 14:47:52 No.5641327 Report

Quoted By: >>5641330

>>5641324

“Manager-san,” says Kaiba eventually, “Do you think everything will turn out okay?”

“I hope so,” you say, “But I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Kaiba looks towards the floor, “I see,” she says, then gets up, “I think I’ll try and get some sleep until we leave.”

“Okay,” you say, then recall something she said earlier, “Shouldn’t you get your phone from the koi pond?”

Raising her shoulders in a tired shrug, Kaiba speaks, “It’s probably broken anyway,” she says, “I’ll get it before we leave.”
Then leaves the room slightly swaying in slow, difficult steps.

Leaving you alone in the dining hall.
Staff eventually come by to clear the plates and leftovers.
Might as well return to your room, start packing, and check out that message from Matsui.

As you head towards your room, you see the girl that showed everybody to their rooms walk off with a tray full of dishes – the girl with strange interests.
You take a turn into the hallway leading to your room.
In fact, it was this hallway where –-- a hand slams into the wall in front of you, barring your path.

“Yo,” says Watase, towering over you.

People shouldn’t go performing kabedon on old ladies in their late twenties.
“Watase-san…?” you say, shocked.

“Yoko,” corrects Watase, “I said you can call me Yoko.”

Honestly, you didn’t figure she was serious about that back under the covers.
It seemed like that was just her messing around to make you think something happened.

“…Yoko,” you say, “…wha-”

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Nagata_Smiling.jpg, 415KiB, 667x1000

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 14:49:02 No.5641330 Report

Quoted By: >>5641331 >>5641378 >>5641551

>>5641327

“Listen,” says Watase, with a sigh, then takes a moment as she scratches her head, “Aahh… I might’ve said too much earlier, I’m sorry. I wasn’t really thinking.”

What she said certainly didn’t help your reputation and made you seem downright irresponsible.
Both Chigusa and Matsuno aren’t like to forget it.
Things got pretty emotional when Watase argued with Matsuno, combine that with the brain fog from the hangover...
You can understand it somewhat, but it still would've been better if she hadn't said anything.

“What I’m trying to say,” says Watase, “Is, well, thank you… You didn’t have to break yourself down like that to make me look better, but you did. So, thanks.”

Watase takes away her hand and stops looming over you.
“So, yeah,” she says, “I owe you one. If there’s anything I can help with, let me know, okay?”

You can tell this is hard on Watase for some reason.
Is this the same girl that was ready to get into a fist fight with her manager only a while ago?
You struggle not to laugh. How can such a rough girl have such difficulty with being nice?

Having to look up since she is so close, you smile, “Thank you, Wat.. Yoko-chan,” you say, “You’re very kind.”
>pic related

Watase almost looks taken aback, like she was struck in the chest.
“…Yeah, happy to,” she says, “I’m gonna go and… sauna… while I can.”
With a nod, Watase leaves and heads into the direction of the sauna.

What an abrupt departure.
Well, some people are like that: not used to compliments.

>You’ve gained one favour from Watase Yoko.
>Matsuno Kojiro and Chigusa Iki think less of you.

Once you make it back to your room, you check the email you received from Matsui.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 14:50:03 No.5641331 Report

Quoted By: >>5641332

>>5641330

Hello Nagata-san,

I’ve seen nothing online yet, but a friend of mine at Saito Media said they received an offer to buy a story revolving Kaiba-san from an anonymous source.
It’s a gossip magazine, so they’ll publish just about anything.
Perhaps we can sue if they do publish it. I’ll look into it.
They also have a website where the lesser articles end up.

I already sent a message asking them to hold the article if they end up buying the story.

Will keep you posted.

With kind regards,

Matsui Tomo

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 14:52:27 No.5641332 Report

Quoted By: >>5641334 >>5641335 >>5641339 >>5641344 >>5641400 >>5641416

>>5641331

Is EmikoDesu55 trying to make a quick buck with the blackmail material?
That while she was so adamant about throwing it all online if you didn’t do as she said.
Well, she is a college student. Perhaps she just needs money for some reason.
Thinking back to the comments of Twitter, her friends did seem pretty eager for a payout.
Wouldn't surprise you if they refused to simply accept that EmikoDesu55 was gonna drop all the work for free.

The email was sent late at night, it seems like Matsui Tomo has been working hard.
Meanwhile, you were busy being blackout drunk. Feels bad.

It’s probably for the best that you stay to handle all this once you the bus takes you all back to the office.

---

Information

Nagata’s current stress is 20. (Low)
This can always be viewed in the wiki.

You will spend two days at the resort and return home Sunday afternoon.
Bus leaves at late afternoon.

Time for activities
Sunday: Early afternoon (Last activity)

Hot spring, sauna, and massages are separated by gender.

Decision (Early afternoon)
>1 - Simply relax in the lobby (Yokimori Kyoden, Chigusa Iki, -10 stress)
>2 - Receive a relaxing massage (Ichihara Riko, -30 stress)
>3 - Diffuse tensions with Matsuno Kojiro who is smoking outside (Matsuno Kojiro)
>4 - Enjoy a final dip in the hot spring (Enatsu Mari, -30 stress)
>5 - Visit Kaiba Aoi in her room (Kaiba Aoi, -10 stress)
>6 - Enjoy the sauna (Watase Yoko, -20 stress)
>7 - Go relax in your own room. Just wait out the time. Skip. (-10 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Thu 20 Apr 2023 14:55:01 No.5641334 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641332
>3 - Diffuse tensions with Matsuno Kojiro who is smoking outside (Matsuno Kojiro)
Stress

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Thu 20 Apr 2023 14:58:02 No.5641335 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641332
>1 - Simply relax in the lobby (Yokimori Kyoden, Chigusa Iki, -10 stress)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Thu 20 Apr 2023 15:03:09 No.5641336 Report

Quoted By:

I wonder what Kojiro’s stress is at.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 20 Apr 2023 15:05:26 No.5641339 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641332
>3
Should really check on Kaiba, but the Kojiro thing might bite us in the ass

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:W5aDilz4 Thu 20 Apr 2023 15:09:23 No.5641344 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641193
>1 - Onii-chan / Otouto / Onee-san / Imouto
It's weirder having people refer to their subling as "Hey, Little Sis!" and such. Outside of the most exposition heavy movies and, like, step-family fetish porn, Westerners usually just use their siblings' names, but honorifics are important in Japan. Whatever the connotions to weeaboo anime fans, that's just a thing regular Japanese people do.

And anyway, nobody playing an idol quest full of sexy anime girls has any right to call other weebs cringe

>>5641332
>3 - Diffuse tensions with Matsuno Kojiro who is smoking outside (Matsuno Kojiro)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Thu 20 Apr 2023 15:11:58 No.5641346 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641193
>2 - Older brother / Younger brother / Older sister / Younger sister

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 20 Apr 2023 16:14:52 No.5641378 Report

Quoted By: >>5641407

>>5641330
>Matsuno Kojiro and Chigusa Iki think less of you
And here I was planning to ask him a meeting with his uncle to ask for a favor in case the scandal gravely threatens ours or Kaiba's career. Well thanks again, anons.
>"B-b-b-b-but a-a-a-anon! Acktshually Watase would've told Kojiro anyway!"
Yes my negro but it would be our word, the word of a respectable and educate manager against the word of a rebellious punk idol. Fuck Watase's favor, I don't expect her to be useful to do shit and even if she is, no one here wants to pay back her favor because she'll probably ask for a kiss or something worse like fondle our massive boobs or something. And this time Yui might see it and break her bonds with us.
Anyway.

>3 - Diffuse tensions with Matsuno Kojiro who is smoking outside (Matsuno Kojiro)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Thu 20 Apr 2023 16:51:21 No.5641400 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641193
>2 - Older brother / Younger brother / Older sister / Younger sister
When denoting relatives you should use a straight translation, but when used as an affectionate greeting then use Onee san etc.

>>5641332
>3 - Diffuse tensions with Matsuno Kojiro who is smoking outside (Matsuno Kojiro)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Thu 20 Apr 2023 17:13:03 No.5641407 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641378
You're so whiny.

>thirsty gangster woman may make us make out with her because SHE owes US a favour
Lol, what? That's not how favours work. That's if WE owe HER. We don't.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 17:31:15 No.5641416 Report

Quoted By: >>5641637

>>5641332

Winner
>3 - Diffuse tensions with Matsuno Kojiro who is smoking outside (Matsuno Kojiro)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:AZdRjeOo Thu 20 Apr 2023 19:36:39 No.5641551 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641330
TITS

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 22:18:34 No.5641637 Report

Quoted By: >>5641638

>>5641416

You can’t afford any bad blood between you and other managers.
A short search for Matsuno Kojiro places him outside in the gardens, just beside the koi pond.
He’s messing with his phone and, judging by the cigarette butts on the grass, chain smoking.

“Hello, Matsuno-san,” you say as you approach.

Matsuno looks up, taking a drag from his cigarette, “Nagata,” he says.
He taps his smoke with a finger, causing ash to fall.

Fishing into his pocket, he pulls out his pack of cigarettes, “Smoke?”

“No thanks,” you say, noticing the pack is already half-empty.
You silently hope those cigarette butts around him are from other smokers that were here prior, because if not then he’s obviously dealing with something.

“Suit yourself,” he says, taking another drag, then pocketing his pack of smokes again.
He points at you with his smoke, “You’re a crafty one, aren’t you?”

“Eh?” you say, “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

“I understand how you did it,” he says, “But I don’t get… why?”

“Matsuno-san,” you say, waving your hand in confusion, “I came here to talk. So, can we? Talk? I’m not sure what you’re accusing me of. I wanted to talk about the tension between you and Watase-san.”

Matsuno smirks, then shakes his head, “You organize this trip,” he says, gesturing at everything around him, “Under the cover of 'Welcoming the new idols'. But, you see, I’ve been paying attention. During this entire trip you haven’t interacted with your new idols even once outside of dinner and breakfast. Beyond maybe a mere hello, that is.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 22:19:34 No.5641638 Report

Quoted By: >>5641639

>>5641637

He finishes his cigarette, drops it into the grass, and uses the heel of his shoe to grind it into the dirt.
“Instead,” he says, standing up, “You’ve basically spent all your time with Watase Yoko. What’s up with that?”

You recall hearing how he became jaded and distrustful after what happened to Maki Sumi.
This goes beyond that, he’s downright paranoid.

“What are you imply--” you say, before you get interrupted.

“Let me finish,” he snaps, “Here’s something I know that you don’t. Idols can’t decide to change managers. Idols are a dime a dozen. Everybody wants to be an idol!”
He takes a moment to take a breath, “IDOLS. DON’T.GET. TO. PICK.”

Placing his hands in his side, he laughs, then wags a disapproving finger at you, “They can only switch managers if the manager allows it and let me tell you: I’m not letting her go.”

Ah. So, he’s afraid of losing Watase.

“I have no interest in recruiting Watase Yoko,” you say, “I just recruited two new idols of my own and haven’t even started working with them.”

He pulls the pack of cigarettes from his pocket again.
Probably better off keeping it out with how often he reaches for it.
Taking a cigarette between his fingers, his hand trembles as he tries to light it using a lighter – unsuccessfully.
After a dozen tries, he overhand throws the lighter into the koi pond where an unfortunate koi takes it to the face.

You watch the school of koi fish disperse in a frenzy, bringing the bottom of the pond in view.
Oh, look. It’s Kaiba’s phone.

“And then when I’m in the middle of reminding Watase that she can’t show up as a drunk, something we can all agree on, you have to step in make light of it,” he shouts, “Just because you got blackout drunk as well doesn’t make it acceptable to do so! You are not the standard for good behaviour.”
He sighs, but his rant isn’t done, “Then I try to remind her that the problem lies in the difference between how you presented yourself and she lashes out at me,” he says, “You know why? Because by backing her up she feels like she has you in her corner. That girl has no respect for her manager. I finally try and force some respect and you get involved.”

“You blame me for not getting respect for your employees?” you say.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 22:20:37 No.5641639 Report

Quoted By: >>5641641

>>5641638

“Oh, but I do,” he says, “Have you MET Watase Yoko? Do you know how hard it is to manage an established idol like Watase? We’re the same age, but she has years of experience on me. She second-guesses every decision I make.”

“Didn’t you say she was a pro? Back in the bus?” you ask, mostly to get a word in.

“She’s a pro, yes,” he says, “And she doesn’t hesitate to call me the amateur.”
“The point,” he continues, “The point is that I can’t have you butting in and making me look weak.”

That much you can understand.

“You know the strings my dad and uncle had to pull to get me an idol like Watase?” he shouts, “This is my LAST CHANCE, get it? Either I make this idol trash work and move onto proper songs and media or it’s back to sales and I’m negotiating modelling deals for teenagers for the rest of my god damn life.”

Whether it’s stress or something else, he’s prone to rambling and isn’t really listening.

“There’s no point in talking to you when you’re like this,” you say, turning to leave.

Matsuno cackles, “There you go! Flaunting this superiority of yours,” he says, “I’m not the one that took two young girls to a place high up in the mountain filled with strangers and basically ignored them because I was too busy sabotaging somebody else’s career!”

Alright, that stings. You probably should’ve watched over them a bit more.
He doesn’t know you’ve spent a bunch of that time dealing with Kaiba’s situation though.
“Don’t go assuming you know everything going on in my life,” you say, “I’ll make it up to them.”

“The orange haired one will probably be fine,” says Matsuno, relishing in the fact that he seems to have hit a nerve, “She chats and makes friends with anyone that gets near, even the staff. The other one however, the stern one, she’s basically been by herself this entire weekend.”
“Talking to nobody, going nowhere. Just a quick bite to eat and back to her room,” he adds.

Unlit cigarette pinched between his lips, Matsuno offers you a golf clap, “Good job, Nagata-san,” he says, “I’m sure she feels very welcome now. Hell of a start.”

On the way here he seemed quite nice, tall and handsome even.
But now, you see how skinny he is. The bags under his eyes.
He’s standing there, back hunched and ground littered with cigarettes, laughing at you - clapping.
Stress pouring from every inch of his person. A jackal of a man.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 22:21:39 No.5641641 Report

Quoted By: >>5641642

>>5641639

Is it true what he said though? Chigusa was at some of the group activities, right?
Doesn’t Chigusa simply prefer being alone? You’re having doubts now.
What did she say during her interview again? You can't quite remember, you're still a bit hungover.
You did check on Kaiba-san a bunch of times, but mostly forgot about the others.
How does he know all this anyway? Is he just saying things?

“Who knows?” says Matsuno, shrugging, “One of them may have even cried themselves to sleep. Kids get homesick awfully easy, you see. Even I know that much.”

Chigusa is seventeen and Enatsu sixteen.
Surely, they can handle being away from family for a bit.

No, he simply switched to personal attacks.
Trying to make you doubt yourself.
Stress be damned. This behaviour is inexcusable.

“I came here because I was worried about your relationship with Watase-san,” you say, “I came here exactly to avoid a rift between you and her.”

“Oh, please,” replies Matsuno, “You just came to see if your efforts are paying off.”

“Matsuno-san,” you say, trying for the final time, “We’re co-workers. Not enemies or rivals.”

Matsuno scowls and gets close, sun at his back and looming over you, “For once you’re right,” he says, “Rival implies equal. One word from me means your career at Matsuno Inc. is over. Remember that.”
He flicks his unlit cigarette into the pond where a koi promptly swallows it.

Poor koi will probably die from that.

“I’m going home,” says Matsuno, walking past you.

“Bus doesn’t arrive until three,” you say, somewhat quietly.

“I’ll have a cab come up here,” he replies, “I can afford it.”

You take a deep breath.
It feels bad to be a target of somebody’s pent-up frustrations.

On the one hand, you want this man and his spiteful, unjust attitude to leave.
However, you can’t have him bearing a grudge. That isn’t beneficial to anybody.
Perhaps he’ll think differently when Kaiba’s scandal leaks and he figures out that the main reason you went drinking with Watase Yoko is because you were basically breaking down from the stress.
Can you expect any sympathy from this man though?

If nothing else, this past weekend has done wonders for your stress.
All that tightness in your shoulders is gone and you feel fit as a fiddle.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 20 Apr 2023 22:22:40 No.5641642 Report

Quoted By: >>5641644 >>5641646 >>5641651 >>5641802 >>5642020

>>5641641

Decision
>1 - Let him leave. Him and his delusions.
>2 - Say he’s mistaken and ask if there’s anything you can do for him to prove it (Offer favour)
>3 - Reveal that you’re dealing with a scandal and it’s been breaking you apart. Watase just happened to be the only woman here you could drink with. To cope.
>4 - Apologize, but what he says isn’t true. Say you’ll distance yourself from Watase if it makes him feel better.
>5 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Thu 20 Apr 2023 22:23:51 No.5641644 Report

Quoted By: >>5641692 >>5641705

>>5641642
>3 - Reveal that you’re dealing with a scandal and it’s been breaking you apart. Watase just happened to be the only woman here you could drink with. To cope.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Thu 20 Apr 2023 22:29:18 No.5641646 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641642
>2 - Say he’s mistaken and ask if there’s anything you can do for him to prove it (Offer favour)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Thu 20 Apr 2023 22:34:36 No.5641647 Report

Quoted By:

So has Matsuno been watching us this entire time?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:+n/k5Z91 Thu 20 Apr 2023 22:38:27 No.5641651 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641642
>2 - Say he’s mistaken and ask if there’s anything you can do for him to prove it (Offer favour)

Do NOT reveal the scandal to him yet. Especially if it turns out to be nothing

This is the strongest way to mend any rift

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Thu 20 Apr 2023 23:24:32 No.5641692 Report

Quoted By: >>5641693 >>5641705 >>5641802 >>5642138 >>5642231

>>5641644
DO. NOT. DESTROY. EVERYTHNG. WE'VE. DONE

>5 - Write-in: Go check up on Chigusa

“Growing up idols have always granted me much joy,” replies Chigusa, her face not showing any of that joy as she speaks about it.
“I’ve aspired to be like them for as long as I remember. I’ve taken dance lessons, seen vocal coaches, practiced the violin, and meticulously followed a healthy diet combined with exercises targeting muscles most necessary for a career as an idol.”

“I’d like to provide future generations with the same enjoyment I had, to be there for them even if nobody else is,” she adds, “Being an idol is less a career to me than a calling. This is the only thing I want.” Well she wants to be an idol and it seems she doesn't care about meeting friends and whatnot. However... the reason why she likes idols so much is because she doesn't have friends... parasocial and etecétera. Damn it Chigusa

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Thu 20 Apr 2023 23:26:30 No.5641693 Report

Quoted By: >>5641799 >>5642138

>>5641692
Ah, I am not voting to offer a favour because Matsuno is not in the position to give us much right now. He can do great damage, that's true, but he doesn't have the power to do great good. We stay away from his dealings and that's it.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I8vp5zau Thu 20 Apr 2023 23:42:30 No.5641705 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641692
I switch my vote to this >>5641644. On reflection, he seems like a walking time bomb before he has a freak-out.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:g2azlQHV Fri 21 Apr 2023 01:25:04 No.5641799 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641693
The fact that he can do a lot of damage is why we should mollify his anger and offer a favour

He will likely not care about the specific challenges of our situation - and is more likely to use the information against us in the future

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Fri 21 Apr 2023 01:30:30 No.5641802 Report

Quoted By: >>5642235 >>5642390

>>5641692
Support. Sucks to have such an asshole chewing us out for our mistakes, but Nepo Baby has a point.

>>5641642
>5 - Write-in: Go check up on Chigusa

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 21 Apr 2023 07:39:14 No.5642020 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641642
>4 - Apologize, but what he says isn’t true. Say you’ll distance yourself from Watase if it makes him feel better.
>5 - Write-in: Go check up on Chigusa

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 21 Apr 2023 12:20:00 No.5642138 Report

Quoted By: >>5642154 >>5642235 >>5642311

>>5641692
>5 - Write-in: Go check up on Chigusa (x4)
I don't mind going with this write-in, but it isn't entirely clear what you're gonna do with Matsuno.
Do you let him walk off (1) or try for some form of damage control (3/4)?

>>5641693
From this one I assume you want to go for 1 (Let him leave), but I'm just making sure.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Fri 21 Apr 2023 12:58:33 No.5642154 Report

Quoted By:

>>5642138
I would try for a favor but eh

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:S+WGH13H Fri 21 Apr 2023 14:58:33 No.5642231 Report

Quoted By:

>>5641692
+1

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:hcJbhNdG Fri 21 Apr 2023 15:02:14 No.5642235 Report

Quoted By:

>>5642138
I am >>5641802, and my intent was to ignore his freak-out for now and go see Chigusa.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 21 Apr 2023 15:51:35 No.5642250 Report

Quoted By: >>5643091 >>5646085

Good enough for me.

Winner
>1 - Let him leave. Him and his delusions.
>5 - Write-in: Go check up on Chigusa (x4)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 21 Apr 2023 18:07:54 No.5642311 Report

Quoted By:

>>5642138
My intent is for Miho to perform a 360° and walk away, to check up on Chigusa, yes

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 12093809oasd.png, 29KiB, 250x245

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 21 Apr 2023 19:25:08 No.5642390 Report

Quoted By: >>5642391 >>5642427

>>5641802
Uh... what?
I'll try to be as polite as possible but... what?
I'm sorry, I might have missed something but could you care to explain to me what do you hope to accomplish by checking on Chigusa now instead of whenever else? Like... The bus is coming soon and Watase just left, so he won't see that you took his advice to the heart so... I'm really, really sorry but I'm just... dumbfolded. Again, if you could provide an insight of your line of thought when thinking about this decision I'd be very grateful, unironically.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 21 Apr 2023 19:26:38 No.5642391 Report

Quoted By:

>>5642390
*Kojiro just left, not Watase. Mystyped!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:fqHYFhbi Fri 21 Apr 2023 19:55:05 No.5642427 Report

Quoted By:

>>5642390
I'm doing it because he pointed out that we were neglecting her, and he's right. She deserves a chexknin and, if necessary, a heartfelt apology. It's for Chigusa's benefit, not asshat's.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 22 Apr 2023 14:27:10 No.5643091 Report

Quoted By: >>5643175

>>5642250
I'm caught between other obligations and I can't seem to find the time to write the update.
It might have to wait until tomorrow.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 22 Apr 2023 17:27:10 No.5643175 Report

Quoted By:

>>5643091
Gotcha boss

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Tue 25 Apr 2023 11:58:50 No.5645808 Report

Quoted By: >>5645812 >>5645882 >>5646040

Is it time to worry yet anons.....?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Ul1VAknp Tue 25 Apr 2023 12:12:59 No.5645812 Report

Quoted By:

>>5645808
no.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 25 Apr 2023 13:23:52 No.5645882 Report

Quoted By:

>>5645808
No - we had a several day hiatus before and he came back nonetheless. He's most likely busy with work and couldn't find the time to update the quest.
Go do something else, anon.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dTVJNjA2 Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:20:53 No.5646040 Report

Quoted By:

>>5645808
Calm down anon

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:49:36 No.5646085 Report

Quoted By: >>5646086

>>5642250

There’s no point in talking to him when he’s like this.
Hopefully he can find a way to relax during the rest of the day and doesn’t bring this attitude to the office tomorrow.

Hands in his pockets as he stalks away, Matsuno fades from sight as he goes back inside.

You sigh, yet another person you need to keep in mind or otherwise deal with.
However, there’s more important stuff for you to do right now.
Glancing left and right, you eventually find what you’re looking for: a large scoop net.

Its primary use is to retrieve sick or injured Koi from the pond, but you’re fishing for something else.
After some effort, you manage to fish Kaiba’s phone from the pond using the net.
It doesn’t seem to turn on, but perhaps this is one of those phones that can remain underwater for a while and the battery is just dead.

Considering that Kaiba threw it in there because she couldn’t stop herself from doom scrolling her way into an anxiety attack, you decide to give it back to her right before you all head for the bus.

A wind howls through the forest surrounding the resort, you shiver and hold your skirt down.
You turn to leave, stop in your tracks, sigh, and return to pick up all the cigarette butts that Matsuno left around the koi pond.
It feels bad to clean up after Matsuno after he just tore into you, but it’s the right thing to do and you don’t want the owner to think poorly of the idol agency you all represent.

Though a lot of Matsuno’s comments bordered on paranoia, there were a few things that struck home.
You got so caught up in trying to deal with outside threats like Watase and EmikoDesu55 that things may have been crumbling from within.
Although you verbally welcomed your new idols during the dinner, you might not have actually made them feel that way.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:50:37 No.5646086 Report

Quoted By: >>5646088

>>5646085

A quick check with the resort’s staff confirms that Enatsu Mari is in the hot spring and that Chigusa Iki is sitting in the lobby, patiently waiting for the bus home to arrive.

As Matsuno specifically mentioned how Chigusa was isolating herself, you decide to check in with her first.

Arriving in the lobby, you see both Yukimori and Chigusa sitting around a table.
Much to your surprise and relief, they are chatting.
Though knowing Yukimori is probably more like an interrogation.
Still, he cared enough to even shut the lid of his laptop.
Not wanting to interrupt, but simultaneously curious – you listen in.

“…and you’re confident in your abilities?” asks Yukimori, steepled fingers resting on the table.

“I am,” replies Chigusa, posture perfect, “I’ve been practicing the violin for over a decade, though I’m not aware of any idols using classical instruments in their songs and performances.”

Yukimori nods, “They are a rarity, that much is true,” he says, “Typically, one would associate idols with pop songs, but that needn’t be the case. There are idols that have made other genres work. It’s something you could consider when deciding upon your idol image and persona later on.”

From her seated position, Chigusa bows, “Thank you for your guidance,” she says, “I will be sure to keep this in mind.”
She raises her head, “When are an idol’s image and persona decided upon?”

Yukimori takes a sip from his tea, then speaks, “Before their announcement, but image and persona changes may also happen later on if it turns out what was previously established doesn’t work.”
He places his cup down with a soft thud, “Your manager will aid you every step of the way.”

“I see,” replies Chigusa, looking disappointed, but then looks up again, “Would you mind if I came to you for questions during office hours?”

Hold on. That’s your cue.
You may have shown off some questionable behaviour with the drinking and disregarded Chigusa somewhat, but you didn’t think her confidence in you had fallen that far.
Even though she demands perfection for herself, she can’t expect that from everybody else.
You adjust your wind-swept clothing, the---

“I’m afraid not,” says Yukimori, looking displeased, “There’s a hierarchy. One that you need to respect. Violating this hierarchy will bring drama, gossip, and problems. All things I’m not fond of. Any questions you have should be directed at your manager and others under her guidance.”

Chigusa is silent for a moment, her eyes pressed shut, “I apologize,” she says, “I wasn’t aware and overstepped.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:51:38 No.5646088 Report

Quoted By: >>5646091

>>5646086

Yukimori sighs, then folds his arms, “Don’t lie,” he says, “I’ve gained plenty of experience with liars recently and advice against it. I think you were very much aware but tried regardless.”

Posture still perfect, Chigusa shivers, “It is as you say,” she says, “I have no excuse.”

It’s getting harder by the minute to just casually drop in.

“Your manager, Nagata-san, has been employed by Matsuno Inc. for a number of years now and has shown exemplary performance,” says Yukimori, “In fact, she is also the only one among the new idol managers that received glowing marks in her performance review.”

Is Yukimori standing up for you? He seems to be.
Well, you did point out what Ichihara Riko was doing a while ago.
Perhaps this is him trying to return the favour.

“I see,” says Chigusa, bowing, “Perhaps I was hasty in my judgement. I haven’t received much opportunity to speak with her and what happened this morning made me question her ability. I’m sorry.”

“Understandable,” replies Yukimori, a grave look on his face, “I wasn’t present at the time, but I heard what happened. It wasn’t a good look for her or Watase Yoko and I don’t support their behaviour.”

Geh. This was to be expected.

“Nevertheless,” continues Yukimori, “You’ll find, as I did, that being an idol manager requires a certain set of soft skills that Nagata-san excels at.”

Ehehe~ You’re getting praised behind your back.
Now it’s even more awkward to drop it.
You’ll just have to trust in Yukimori for now.

“If you’ll forgive the comparison,” concludes Yukimori, “We are alike in ways. More confident in raw ability than interpersonal skills. Nagata-san compliments you formidably. Making up for the skills you might be lacking in. You are lucky to have her as your manager.”

“Thank you,” says Chigusa, bobbing her head, “It seems like the world of idols is far more complicated than I had anticipated. Simply practicing the associated skills might not be enough.”

Yukimori nods, “Far more complicated, indeed.”

Their conversation gradually drifts away to lighter topics, then slowly dies down.
Afterwards they simply sit in silence, with the occasional short exchange.
When Yukimori reaches for his laptop to work, Chigusa stops trying for conversation.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:52:39 No.5646091 Report

Quoted By: >>5646092

>>5646088

You decide this is as good a timing as any and stroll into the room.

“Good afternoon,” you announce, trying to appear nonchalant, “Have you both finished packing your things?”

“Good afternoon,” says Chigusa, turning to face you, “I finished packing this morning.”

Yukimori briefly looks up from his laptop to greet you, mentioning he also packed his things.

Seeing as Yukimori is typing away on his laptop, you ask if you can borrow Chigusa for a bit.
After the both of them agree, you lead Chigusa into an adjoining room and close the sliding door.

“What did you want to talk about, Manager-san?” asks Chigusa.

Ah. Where to begin?
A part of you wants to apologize for leaving her unattended during the weekend, but she might think you weak for doing so.

Well, she can think you weak then.
Shipping off a young girl to a strange location and then ignoring her for days wasn’t your intention and you feel bad for doing this to her.

“I came to apologize,” you say, “I should’ve spent more time with both you and Enatsu during the weekend.”

Chigusa bobs her head, “I’m sure you had your reasons.”

That you did, but you can’t quite share them with her.
Darn it. Why is this girl so hard to read?
You can’t tell by her expression if this past weekend truly bothered her or not.
Seeing as she turned to Yukimori for conversation and questions, you’ll just have to assume it did.

“I did,” you say, “But that doesn’t make it alright. Did you at least manage to enjoy yourself?”

“I think so,” says Chigusa, “I had resolved myself to reach out to the other girls a bit more, but in the end, I decided I didn’t want to bother them. It seemed like they were having fun and I didn’t want to ruin that.”
She looks towards the side, gazing out a window, “Still, I enjoyed it here. The hot spring was very relaxing. I hope to bring my grandparents here someday. I think they’ll like it.”

“You come from a remote town, right?” you ask, “They don’t have a hotspring there?”

Chigusa shakes her head, “There’s a public bathhouse, but that’s it. My grandparents are quite old, as are most of the residents in the town, and they don’t really go anywhere. It doesn’t even have a school.”

That sort of thing is becoming all too common these days.
Remote towns filled with nothing but elderly.
Places with little to do, nothing to see, and nobody your age to meet.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:53:40 No.5646092 Report

Quoted By: >>5646094

>>5646091

“Eh?” you say, “No school? How did you attend classes?”

Elementary and middle school are compulsory.
Furthermore, home schooling is extremely rare.

“Growing up my grandmother brought me to elementary school in the next town over,” says Chigusa, “My grandfather needed the car for work and left early, so she brought me by bicycle.”

It seems like Chigusa lost her parents at a very young age if her grandparents were already caring for her in elementary school.
Probably not the time or place to ask about it though. She did mention that her grandparents were bringing her to things like vocal and dance practice as she growing up, was that all by bike, too?

“Eventually I got big enough to bike to school myself,” continues Chigusa, “I did that up until I had to attend middle school. The middle school I went to was quite far, so I only had to bike to the nearest train station and ride the train instead.”

Some people are forced to grow up and become independent at a very early age.
Living in a place so far away from school will socially cripple you.
There’ll be no time for clubs or to socialize after school, else you’ll risk missing the train home.

“How about now?” you ask.

“I go to Tokyo Jogakkan,” says Chigusa, “It was too far to travel, so I live by myself in a one-room apartment here in Tokyo.”

It isn’t uncommon for junior and senior high school to be combined into one place, but you guess that the middle school (junior high school) that Chigusa attended was only for the compulsory parts of high school education.

There’s also the question of how she can afford such an apartment as even things like studio apartments can get quite expensive in Tokyo.
Perhaps there’s government subsidies or the high school itself has some connections with large apartment complexes.

In any case, if Chigusa can cut it as an idol at Matsuno Inc. then she’ll have nothing to worry about.
Independant, underground, or idols working at small agencies might have to struggle and scrape by, but Matsuno Inc. is a pretty big name in the entertainment and idol industry.
Though it may not have raised any nationally known idols, it has consistently supplied the country with pretty girls to star in commercials and advertisements.
It can afford to pay their idols a generous wage.

“I see,” you say, “That must be hard at times.”

Cooking, cleaning, practice, school, study, and now being an idol on top of that.

“It isn’t so bad,” says Chigusa, “The alternative would’ve been spending several hours in public transport each day.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:54:44 No.5646094 Report

Quoted By: >>5646095 >>5646819

>>5646092

You take a breath, “But to get back to the point at hand. Even if I seem busy, know that you can always approach me for any questions. Okay? Even if you just want to talk, that’s fine too.”

Chigusa nods, “Thank you,” she says, “I considered at first, but I was afraid I might seem a nuisance. I haven’t proven myself yet.”

Proven herself? What?
Does this girl think you’ll throw her out if she takes up a bit of your time?
Was she turning to Yukimori with questions because she was afraid of coming to you?

“Don’t worry about things like that,” you say, “Just come to me at any time.”

Sporting a thin smile, Chigusa nods, “Thank you, manager-san.”

You chat for a little while longer before parting ways.
The bus will arrive soon, so you spend some time gathering everyone.
As expected, Matsuno Kojiro is nowhere to be seen.
When asked, you simply say that he had something he had to attend to and that he left early.

As you go to pick up Enatsu Mari, you find both her and Matsudaira Haru (the girl you spotted in the hallway with Watase) sitting on their knees in the locker room as they are reprimanded by a different staff member.

Apparently, Enatsu had somehow convinced Matsudaira Haru to race each other in the hot spring.
It was only yesterday that Matsudaira Haru was the one stopping Enatsu from swimming in the pool, yet here they both are -- getting scolded.

You apologize to the older staff member on Enatsu's behalf and mention that it's time for you all to leave.
Enatsu Mari rushes off in a panic, shouting about how she hasn’t packed yet.

After you follow to help her, you peek into her room.
It’s like a bomb went off here. It’s a giant mess.
She has only been here one day and managed to get the room to look like this.

You utter a silent prayer for Enatsu’s family, it must be hard living like with somebody like that.

Kaiba-san is still vast asleep. Huddled away in her futon.
Well, she did mention she was awake for most of the night.

As you nudge her shoulder a bit, she rolls over, props herself up on an elbow, and rubs her eyes.
Looking past her, you heart aches. There are tear stains on her pillow.
You pretend not to notice and tell her that the bus will arrive soon.
Placing down the phone you fished out of the koi pond, you leave.

Everybody else already has their bags packed and is waiting in the lobby.
You enjoy some idle chatter until the bus eventually pulls up.

All the staff of the resort come out to see your group off.
After a short exchange of thanks and pleasantries, your group boards the bus.

It’s time to go back to Tokyo.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:55:50 No.5646095 Report

Quoted By: >>5646097 >>5646098 >>5646114 >>5646135 >>5646234 >>5646252 >>5646275 >>5646365 >>5646434 >>5646575 >>5646715

>>5646094

On the way back you…

Decision
>1 - Sit by yourself. (Skip to office part)
>2 - Sit with Yukimori, reveal you listened in, and thank him for what he did.
>3 - Sit with Yukimori without revealing you listened in.
>4 - Sit with Chigusa Iki
>5 - Sit with Enatsu Mari
>6 - Sit with Kaiba Aoi
>7 - Sit with Ichihara Riko
>8 - Sit with Watase Yoko

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:bElKxwxS Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:57:39 No.5646097 Report

Quoted By: >>5646819

>>5646095
>6 - Sit with Kaiba Aoi

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Kaiba_Asleep.png, 368KiB, 511x578

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 25 Apr 2023 16:57:49 No.5646098 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646095
Forgot image

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:jsr9VwSw Tue 25 Apr 2023 17:11:00 No.5646114 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646095
>2 - Sit with Yukimori, reveal you listened in, and thank him for what he did.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Tue 25 Apr 2023 17:23:11 No.5646135 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646095
>2 - Sit with Yukimori, reveal you listened in, and thank him for what he did.
Good to have you back QM.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 25 Apr 2023 18:45:22 No.5646234 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646095
>Sit with Kaiba Aoi
We can thank Yukimori in the office, while Kaiba needs moral support.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Tue 25 Apr 2023 18:53:07 No.5646252 Report

Quoted By: >>5646833

>>5646095
>5 - Sit with Enatsu Mari
She's the one we've now had the elast quality time with. Kaiba will need plenty of aupport moving forward, but our takeaway here should be that she cannot be our sole focus.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Ux14Jg0K Tue 25 Apr 2023 19:04:29 No.5646275 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646095
>Mari
She won't run out of things to speak
I recommend you to devote whether or not speed things up. You said that this arc is way too long and i agree. I am voting for mari because she cute, but consider skipping this even though anons didn't vote to skip. In fact the skip vote is null because why would i want less content

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 25 Apr 2023 19:53:12 No.5646365 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646095
>1 - Sit by yourself. (Skip to office part)
No point in doing any of that now. Let's get straight to the point.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:kb5Mg3VX Tue 25 Apr 2023 21:02:11 No.5646434 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646095
>5 - Sit with Enatsu Mari

We’ve spent the least time with her

Kaiba is likely to be asleep and revealing that we’ve been eves-dropping is not a good look when combined with our drinking…

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 25 Apr 2023 22:26:44 No.5646502 Report

Quoted By: >>5647009

>You said that this arc is way too long and i agree
If everything goes as planned, it'll all end tomorrow.

Votes revolving around scandal management will go up in roughly 11h 30m.
As mentioned in >>5638730 those votes affect how many dice you can roll.
The votes will remain open for a few hours, then we roll using the scandal mechanics.

Afterwards I'll write out what happens based on those votes and rolls.

And then we go back into actual idol management.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 25 Apr 2023 23:49:43 No.5646575 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646095
>>5 - Sit with Enatsu Mari
Might as well get to listen to someone who ENJOYED the trip... might even lower our stress

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 25 Apr 2023 23:54:04 No.5646580 Report

Quoted By: >>5646605

>Miho: 20 stress
:)
>Kaiba: 110 stress
:(

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 21937129daskl.jpg, 15KiB, 784x165

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 00:37:27 No.5646605 Report

Quoted By: >>5646818

>>5646580
>Kaiba:110 stress
>Week 15-16: +30 - Feeling of impeding doom
>pic related
ok fuckers, which one of you defeated the pillars without warning the rest of the server?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Wed 26 Apr 2023 02:32:55 No.5646715 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646095
>5 - Sit with Enatsu Mari

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ihd6pZ6B Wed 26 Apr 2023 04:30:18 No.5646818 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646605
My bad homie I swear I wasnt aiming at it, there was just a shit ton of mobs

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ihd6pZ6B Wed 26 Apr 2023 04:31:19 No.5646819 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646094
Also
>>5646097
+1

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qonqFkNC Wed 26 Apr 2023 05:09:40 No.5646833 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646252
+1

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 08:57:30 No.5646969 Report

Quoted By: >>5647067

Winner
>5 - Sit with Enatsu Mari

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 09:59:20 No.5647009 Report

Quoted By:

>>5646502
>roughly 11h 30m.
I lied. I wasted too much time on generating art.
Update will be up soon though.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO EnatsuMari_Outside.jpg, 447KiB, 533x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 11:48:38 No.5647067 Report

Quoted By: >>5647069 >>5647131 >>5647560

>>5646969

I surrender, the AI does not want to generate tan skin right now

As you all board the bus, you decide to sit next to Enatsu Mari.
You haven’t been able to speak with her much during the trip, so might as well do that now.

“Ah, Manager-san,” says Enatsu Mari, “Hello~”

“Good afternoon, Mari-chan,” you say.

Enatsu Mari is one of the few people that is clearly shorter than you are and she’s basically drowning in the large coat she’s wearing.

“My~,” you say, “Isn’t that coat a little large on you?”

“Is it?” says Enatsu, opening the coat a bit to glance it over, “It used to be my brother’s coat.”

Right, Enatsu comes from a big family.
Hand-me-downs are inevitable.

“Well, it looks good on you,” you say, trying to salvage the situation somewhat.

Enatsu pulls the coat closed and grins, “Right!?” she says, “It’s so warm!”

The both of you get comfortable as the bus prepares to take off.
Once it’s true and well on the road, you turn to Enatsu.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to spend more time with you all at the hot spring,” you say, “I had a lot of things I had to talk about with other adults.”

Is that a weird way to put it?
Enatsu Mari is sixteen, but you can’t help but treat her like she’s younger because of her small stature and cheerful demeanour.

“That’s okay,” she says, “Adults are busy all the time. It had fun with Aoi-chan and Haru-chan.”

Haru-chan? Ah. Matsudaira Haru. One of the granddaughters of the owner.

“Oh, Haru-chan,” you say, “One of the girls that was helping out her grandfather at the resort. She seemed like a nice girl.”

Albeit an extremely depraved one.

“I know, right?” says Enatsu, then pulls out her phone, “I added her to Line, so we can talk more.”
“Ah,” says Enatsu, staring up as she’s trying to remember something, “Manager-san, you’re close with Watase-san, right?”

Geh! Well, closer than you are comfortable being, maybe.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 11:50:20 No.5647069 Report

Quoted By: >>5647070

>>5647067

“A b-bit,” you say, trying hard to fight down this morning’s memories, “How so?”

“Haru-chan is a big fan of Watase-san,” says Enatsu, “So she’d like a signed picture or something. I promised I’d ask.”

That’s not too bad.

“I’ll ask her tomorrow, okay?” you say, adding a smile.

“That’s fine,” replies Enatsu, tapping a reply on her phone, “I’ll let Haru-chan know. She’ll be happy.”
She looks confused for a moment, then holds up her phone above her head, “It doesn’t work,” she says.

“There’s no signal. It’ll come back when we return to Tokyo,” you say, “Just be careful, okay? Don’t share anything about the things you do as an idol.”

You’re having flashbacks to the moment when you first discovered Kaiba chatting to EmikoDesu55.
However, trying to stop Enatsu Mari from having or meeting with friends is a fool's errand.
First thing tomorrow, once this whole scandal business is done, you’re setting up that social media training for all your idols.

---------

After a two-hour ride, the bus returns at the office.
People come up to you and thank you for the trip.
There’s a few minutes of chatter and then people say their goodbyes.

Most of them will be returning home to enjoy what remains of their weekend.
For you, however, the day has only just begun.

Working in the weekend is, sadly, nothing strange to you or your co-workers so there aren’t any questions when you mention you want to reply to some urgent emails back in your office.
If anything, their faces show thin smiles of sympathy before they depart.

This only leaves you and Kaiba Aoi.
You check your phone, but there’s no new messages from Matsui Tomo.
Hopefully this means that nothing else happened, that things aren’t that bad.

“Manager-san,” says Kaiba, looking nervous, “You’re going to try and stop what Emiko-chan is doing, aren’t you?”

You nod, no need to hide it.
“I am,” you say, “I’m going to do whatever I can to limit the damage she tries to do.”

“Can I come?” asks Kaiba, “I promise I won’t get in the way. I just don’t want to spend another night wondering what if… I don’t think I can take that.”

It’s probably better for Kaiba if she’s here to see what’s happening.
For one, it’ll allow her to witness the damage that information leaks can do.
She’ll hopefully be more careful in the future.

Mostly, it should provide her with some peace of mind.
As bad as the fallout of this scandal might be, the stuff she can come up with while isolated away in a dark room is probably far worse.

“Sure,” you say, “Lets go to my office.”

---

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 11:51:42 No.5647070 Report

Quoted By: >>5647071 >>5647314

>>5647069

Together you ride the elevator.
The elevator pings, the doors open.
Standing before you is Matsui Tomo, in person.

“I figured I should be here for this,” she says.

Things might be far worse than anticipated.

---

Moments later, the three of you are in your office.
Matsui Tomo has dragged in a small desk and set up a laptop there.
Kaiba’s sitting in a chair a short distance away, biting her nails.
Meanwhile, you sit at your desk.

You take a deep breath.
“Tell me, Matsui-san,” you say, “How bad is it?”

“I’ve called in some long-standing favours from people I used to work with and discovered several companies that have purchased the information of the anonymous seller,” she says, “I’ve managed to make most of them fold by threatening legal action.”

“Kaiba-san,” she continues, flashing an apologetic smile towards Kaiba, “Is not yet famous enough that they’ll risk their reputation or a lengthy legal battle over it.”

“But some refused,” you say, stating the obvious follow-up.

“Three,” says Matsui, then leans in towards her laptop to read something from the screen.
“Saito Media, a magazine – which I’ve mentioned before. Everything Idol, a popular freelance blog. And, finally, Cupid-san Shintaro, an online web series that focuses on relationships and gossip about idols and celebrities.”

You nod, “That’s all of them?” you ask.

“All I know about and likely the biggest ones,” says Matsui.

“So, what do they want?” you say, “They wouldn’t have bothered replying if they didn’t think they could get a better deal.”

Matsui sits at her temporary desk.
“Cupid-san Shintaro wants us to promise to send an idol to his show,” she says, “He’s planning a variety show filled with games like ‘truth or dare' and he’s looking for idols to participate. It’ll feature both male and female idols.”

A thinly veiled dating show.

“When does this show take place?” you say.

“Somewhere at the end of May, so a little over a month,” replies Matsui.

Both your new idols will have debuted by then, so maybe you’ll be able to send one of them.
Kaiba-san could also be an option, but even with months between now and then – the host is almost certain to bring up the current leak if any of it slips through your fingers.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 11:53:07 No.5647071 Report

Quoted By: >>5647072

>>5647070

“What about the others?” you say.

Matsui clicks on her mouse a few times, pulling up a new window.
“Saito Media wants us to reimburse the cost of the info, the estimated value of the traffic the article would’ve generated, and the hourly cost they spend writing it. A total of $15.000.”

Ouch. No doubt in your mind that that isn’t an incredibly inflated number.

Kaiba speaks up for the first time, looking shocked, “…I-isn’t that just blackmail?”

Matsui shrugs, “When companies do it then it’s called 'doing business'.”

At least it’s straight-forward.

“How about the last one: Everything Idol?” you ask.

“They want to publish the article no matter what,” says Matsui, “But they’re willing to rewrite it to make Kaiba-san appear as the victim if we provide them with a scoop in the future. A piece of info that they receive before anyone else so they can write an article that’ll draw all traffic to them.”

Usually, information is presented by Matsuno Inc. on their website or social media.
All the news outlets, gossip websites, magazines, and other players receive it at the same time and they all rush to get an article out.
The result is an outright boom of interest in the subject matter.
The information will rocket up the prioritization charts in search engine algorithms and content websites with so many places publishing articles about the same thing at the same time.

Matsuno Inc. is the absolute winner in this scenario.

Providing a specific company with a scoop means they have an article ready to go and they publish it when you give the go-ahead.
With this monopoly on the information, the company will draw all the initial traffic to themselves.
The end result is that a lot of companies, knowing they’ve been beaten to the punch, might not even bother to write an article themselves.
With fewer players, the news won’t make as big of an impact as it could’ve.

Everything Idol would be the winner in this scenario.

“What would we even give them?” you say.

“Whatever you want,” replies Matsui, “But it can’t be smaller than this news or they’ll feel cheated.”

Matsui leans back in her chair, thinking.
“I know some managers keep a news outlet in their contacts to leak scandals to.” she says.

“On purpose?” asks Kaiba, clearly confused.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 11:54:46 No.5647072 Report

Quoted By: >>5647077

>>5647071

Still leaning back in her chair, Matsui waves her hands in the air above herself, “Exhaust for the dirty smoke. The scandal. If they know they can’t stop it, they might give one company the scoop to ensure they make an article before anyone else and with content approved by the manager. Other places might not bother writing an article if there already is one.”

Matsui leans forward, sitting upright in the chair.
“Won’t work for us right now though, our information is already out there,” she says.

You grumble. This would’ve been good to know a few days ago.
Can’t blame Matsui for that though. You’ve purposely kept the leak hidden.
You had little choice, right? Sharing the leak might’ve resulted in the trip being cancelled.
Trip being cancelled meant Kaiba-san would’ve gone on that date with EmikoDesu55.
Which probably would’ve resulted in even more blackmail material.
Though things only reached that point because you didn’t want to tell Kaiba you spied on her chatlogs.
At least Kaiba seems to trust you now more than ever.

Hindsight sure has a way of making things seem easy.

Ah. You can’t wait for this all to be over.

You sag in your seat, then sigh, “I wouldn’t know what big news I would tell them…”.

Matsui looks uncomfortable all of a sudden.
No. Downright nervous.

“There is another way…” says Matsui, “But I’m not sure if we should use it.”
She seems hesitant to even offer up her suggestion.

Normally, Matsui would say that any option is a good option.
Just having more things to pick from already helps a great deal.
The only reason she would act this way is if it’s an option she doesn’t want you to pick.

Matsui glances at you and speaks carefully.
“Have you met Hada-san?” she asks.

You think for a moment. Hada-san. That’s the assistant of Matsuno Takechi, the owner.
You’ve met her once before when you had your performance review. She had a very peculiar choice of attire.

“Tracksuit lady?” you say.

Matsui nods gravely, “She has a lot of connections,” says Matsui, “There’s a reason why Matsuno Takechi drags her to every single one of his new businesses.”
“One call from her,” continues Matsui, “And the problem disappears. Everything Idol won’t dare publish a thing.”

Matsui’s nervousness is somewhat contagious.
It’s already affecting Kaiba.
To be fair, that doesn’t take a lot.

“T-that’s good…right?” says Kaiba, balled together in her seat.

“But you’ll owe her,” says Matsui, “And she’ll make you work hard to repay that favour. Really hard. And you can’t possibly refuse.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 12:00:11 No.5647077 Report

Quoted By: >>5647125 >>5647131 >>5647137 >>5647146 >>5647189 >>5647200 >>5647233 >>5647262

>>5647072

“How do you know all this?” you ask.

“I worked alongside her for a long while,” says Matsui, looking melancholic, “I was her protégé, I was supposed to be the second Hada-san, but I… couldn’t. To do what she does… you'd have to be completely empty inside. I couldn’t do it.”

You swallow.
“Perhaps as a last resort…” you say.

-------

Three ways to increase your chances of limited the damage of this scandal
All of them with a cost. They’re not required, you could also simply hope for the best.
With 2d100 you already have a good chance of limiting the damage of the scandal, but you might get unlucky.

War Room: Scandal

You currently have 2d100 to roll.
People made some good suggestions in the replies that I’ve already included and I felt that should be rewarded with a +1d100.

Result ranges
>81 - 100 - Small chance for great management = Dice+1d2 (Positive)
>21 - 80 - Large chance for decent management = Dice+1d2 (Negative)
>01 - 20 - Small chance for terrible management = Dice+1d4 (Negative)

Cupid-san Shintaro
>1 - Agree to send Kaiba Aoi (+1d100)
>2 - Agree to send Enatsu Mari (+1d100)
>3 - Agree to send Chigusa Iki (+1d100)
>4 - Agree to send Watase Yoko (+1d100, -1 Favour from Watase Yoko)
>5 - Refuse. Let them discuss Kaiba’s scandal on their show.

Everything Idol

>1 - Agree to share some big news with them so they rewrite the article (+1d100)
>2 - Request a favour from Hada Midori to make this disappear (+1d100)
>3 - Let them publish the article as they please.

Saito Media

>1 - Pay what is basically hush money. (-$15.000, +1d100)
>2 - Let them publish it.

-----

I'll try to combine the votes as best I can if there's no clear winner.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Wed 26 Apr 2023 13:00:23 No.5647125 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647077
>2 - Agree to send Enatsu Mari (+1d100)

>1 - Agree to share some big news with them so they rewrite the article (+1d100)

>1 - Pay what is basically hush money. (-$15.000, +1d100)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 13:03:28 No.5647131 Report

Quoted By: >>5647146 >>5647183

>>5647067
This is the beginning of the AI rebellion. It starts small but hits where it hurts.

>>5647077
Our chances with 2d100 are 36% great, 60% decent, 4% terrible. With 3d100 it's 48.8%/50.4%/0.8%, with 4d100 59.04%/40.8%/0.12%. The gain from 3 to 4 d100 is imo marginal, so I suggest going for only one of the damage control measures.

>3 Send Iki to Shintaro
Mari seems like she should be better suited, but Iki's Personality is higher

>Don't give shit to the rest

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:JbwMbO+D Wed 26 Apr 2023 13:15:35 No.5647137 Report

Quoted By: >>5647146 >>5647183

>>5647077
>To do what she does… you'd have to be completely empty inside. I couldn’t do it.
Literally me.

Let's take this opportunity at the War Table to review everything we know and a proposition that some of us agreed upon.

>Emiko and the scandal
1 - Emiko will most likely paint this in a light that benefits her but dirties us and Kaiba. I think this is an axiom so I won't write an explanation for this premise.

2 - Her strongest ammo is gone since the trip is over, sure. However, this will damage us and Kaiba strongly so if we refuse we will take a big, big hit.

3 - Everyone that wants to publish this article knows about the second point. If we bribe them, they will most likely dangle this scandal (and probably future ones) at our faces - I think this is a similar situation as Emiko's ultimatum.

Our previous decision was to be honest and tell the truth, putting our faith in the fans and our colleagues. Therefore...

Conclusion: I think we should let them both publish, but we take Everything Idol's, offer. We will have a bad article and a good one justapoxing each other. When we speak our side of the story, fans will be prone to hear us given that there's another source corroborating with our story.

>Things to watch out for

Kojiro and the tracksuit lady. They have the eyes of a killer, just like me and Miho is already easy prey without this scandal and now we're even more of a prey given our great diplomatic skills during the Watase incident.

>What we can do about the upcoming dangers
I have an idea but I'd rather see y'all burn in hell and have headaches on upcoming drama arcs. You brought this on yourselves. Okay I'm sorry for being bitter, now the actual advice:
Let's wait and see. No point in worrying about that right now.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:JbwMbO+D Wed 26 Apr 2023 13:26:03 No.5647146 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647077
>>5647131
>>5647137

I was going to post the maths on the following post but ty anon! Based on what I said on the previous post, I'd like us to vote for:

Cupid Shintaro
>4 - Send Watase.
Might as well use the favour now. I don't give a shit. We could use this in the future when we eventually have to pay Everything Idol's favour but I really don't care about this Watase favour nor this clown cupid shitshow.

Everything Idol
>1 - Agree to share some big news with them so they rewrite the article (+1d100)

As I said, it would be nice to have someone else backing us up when do the sob story livestream.

Saito Media
>Let them publish it.

If the media only painted us on good light, people would be suspicious. Let them do as they please - hardcore fans will shoot down the anti's rrats.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:3Ec5Kj+E Wed 26 Apr 2023 14:35:49 No.5647183 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647137
Adding one more thing to my previous points:
Do not send our new idols to Cupid-san Shintaro. That would be a disservice to them, the poor things barely debuted and they would be forced to attend to an embarrassing show online with questions they might not be comfortable answering. Putting them on the spot like that wouldn't make our image look good in their eyes. You guys said you liked playing the emotional/empathetic manager, right? Then don't use them as cannon fooder and put yourselves on their shoes. Even Mari might not be up to a stunt like that.

Watase, however, owes us a favor so we could safely send her.

Alternatively, we could send no one. Like >>5647131 said, the gain from 3 to 4d100 is somewhat marginal anyways.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 14:43:03 No.5647189 Report

Quoted By:

To clarify:

As mentioned in >>5638730 when I first shared the mechanics:
>Say, you called in one favour and owe another, granting you two extra dice.
>You will then roll 3d100 and we'll take highest.

You do not add the dice you roll together.
You take the highest.

I should've added that in >>5647077 here as well.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:jlbUTXic Wed 26 Apr 2023 15:10:22 No.5647200 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647077
>2 - Agree to send Enatsu Mari (+1d100)
>3 - Let them publish the article as they please.
>> 3a - Beat them to the punch by having Kaiba confess r wanting a friend and getting carried away, and apologize on her vlog
>2 - Let them publish it.

Can't protect her forever, but we can sure spin this.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 15:58:40 No.5647229 Report

Quoted By: >>5647240

One vote still tied, waiting on tie breaker.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Wed 26 Apr 2023 16:05:46 No.5647233 Report

Quoted By: >>5647260

>>5647077
>4 - Agree to send Watase Yoko (+1d100, -1 Favour from Watase Yoko)
>1 - Agree to share some big news with them so they rewrite the article (+1d100)
>2 - Let them publish it.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 16:11:41 No.5647240 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647229
Which one is tied?
Shintaro:
Send Mari 2x
Send Chigusa Iki 1x
Send Watase Yoko 1x

Everything Idol
Agree 2x
Let them 1x

Saito
Hush money 1x
Let them 2x

The two new IDs where mine. I was killing time while waiting on a job interview so of course I won't vote for a tie break obviously. I thought that 4chan picked your ID based on your device's mac address and not your current IP. Strange.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 16:51:19 No.5647260 Report

Quoted By: >>5647262

>>5647233
oh right I didn't see that post, forgot to update the thread. So the Cupid-san Shintaro vote is indeed tied, my bad

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 16:53:14 No.5647262 Report

Quoted By: >>5647297

>>5647260
You were right. That later vote wasn't included when I called for the tie-breaker.
Could've sworn I saw a second "Let them publish the article as they please" for everything idol, but guess not.

I do have a tie between Enatsu Mari and Watase Yoko for the variety show now.

>>5647077
Following two votes are locked in to avoid more tie-breakers

Everything Idol: Winner
>1 - Agree to share some big news with them so they rewrite the article

Saito Media: Winner
>2 - Let them publish it

Cupid-san Shintaro: Tie-breaker needed
>2 - Agree to send Enatsu Mari (+1d100)
>4 - Agree to send Watase Yoko (+1d100, -1 Favour from Watase Yoko)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:SlBlo3kK Wed 26 Apr 2023 17:29:41 No.5647297 Report

Quoted By: >>5647305 >>5647314

>>5647262
>2 - Agree to send Enatsu Mari (+1d100)
She won't do bad in something like that, could even be beneficial for her and a favour could be used for something better

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 17:53:24 No.5647305 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647297
Cupid-san Shintaro: Winner
>2 - Agree to send Enatsu Mari (+1d100)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 18:01:31 No.5647314 Report

Quoted By: >>5647316 >>5647318

>>5647297
>She won't do bad in something like that
That's true, but see:
>>5647070
>“[...] a variety show filled with games like ‘truth or dare' [...]. It’ll feature both male and female idols.”
>A thinly veiled dating show.
This is a trap. An idol is married to her/his fans. Gachikois aren't prone to reacting positively to ships, implied, rumored or otherwise. This will damage the career of anyone that attends, including the males.

The Quest Wiki, on the page related to Jobs / Events states:

>Failing the DC by a lot might means you lose fame, and your idol gets super sad.

And
>An idol that goes below zero fame is considered unemployable and will be forced to retire as an idol.

I assume (and it will most likely be true) that the Cupid-san Shintaro event will be considered, well... A Job / Event like any other and will be held by the same rules. This means that if we get a bad roll on this event then Mari, with her current 0 Fame, will be forcefully retired.

I assumed this was also common knowledge, which is why I chose Watase since if she somehow lost any fame, that wouldn't cost her job. In hindsight, I should've pointed that out in my list of arguments.

Well, it is what it is, but I'm guessing we'll pass this roll since I'm not expecting a high DC for such a random event.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 18:07:35 No.5647316 Report

Quoted By: >>5647324

>>5647314
Dating show participants are generally pretty popular. Even the winners, because dating show relationships never last.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:1DVmlJa3 Wed 26 Apr 2023 18:08:32 No.5647318 Report

Quoted By: >>5647324

>>5647314
In any case we have time for prepare for it, we can just train her. Worst case scenario we lose a 0 rank idol we barely invested anything in.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 18:17:35 No.5647320 Report

Quoted By: >>5647324 >>5647347 >>5647355 >>5647359

After discussing things for a while, you all come to an agreement.

Saito Media’s demand for $15.000 is simply too high, they can publish their article if they want.

The web-show “Cupid-san Shintaro” can expect Enatsu Mari to participate in their show.
You don’t mention her by name as she hasn’t debuted yet, but you mention that you’ll send an idol to participate.

“What about Everything Idol?” asks Matsui.

You sigh and place your hand over your forehead, that headache from last night’s binge drinking is trying to make a comeback.
“I don’t know yet,” you say, “We’ll think of something. Just say we’ve got something for them.”

Matsui nods, "Alright," she says, "But make sure to send something. They won't forget."

Everything Idol also promised to rewrite their article to make Kaiba appear as the victim.
Hopefully that article ends up the most popular so that you control the narrative.

You have Matsui send out the various replies while you write a statement for Kaiba to announce on a livestream.

"Things are starting to pop up," says Matsui, "It's time to act."

---

War Room: Scandal - Rolling Phase

1d100 + 1d100 (Replies) + 1d100 (Deal) + 1d100 (Deal) = 4d100

Result ranges
>81 - 100 - Small chance for great management = Dice+1d2 (Positive)
>21 - 80 - Large chance for decent management = Dice+1d2 (Negative)
>01 - 20 - Small chance for terrible management = Dice+1d4 (Negative)

Need 4 x 1d100 rolls. Taking highest.
I'm not sure if there's enough people to roll, but try to limit to 1d100 per ID for now.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 18:27:16 No.5647324 Report

Quoted By: >>5647364

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>5647316
I don't know if the same logic could be applied to idols but you might be right, I don't know. I've only watched one dating show in my entire life, when I was a kid. The show was pretty popular thanks to the announcer doing stunts like dressing as popular singers, dancing and doing song covers during the show. I don't know if any of the participants got really famous after the sessions but I do remember some of them returning. There was even a couple that got married thanks to the show. Just South America things
>>5647318
>we can just train her
Yeah, on what exactly? I don't know if this was intentional but just to remind you: everytime we get a list of jobs to pick from, the QM shows us the Stat that will be rolled and the job's DC *before* we pick 'em. Obviously, this lets us evaluate our probabilities of failing each job and we decide based on our risk compliance.

The Cupid-san Shintaro didn't had any stats and DC on the post. We could deduce which stat would be needed but we'll be going blind until the actual roll. We sure could grab some Fame before May, though.

>>5647320
Rolling.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 19:19:16 No.5647347 Report

Quoted By: >>5647364

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>5647320
This is a variety show, not a reality show, so there's likely just 1 episode and basically no chance of a real relationship. We'll need to instruct Mari on how to behave anyway though.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:jlbUTXic Wed 26 Apr 2023 19:27:42 No.5647355 Report

Quoted By: >>5647364

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>5647320

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:z3m61fqO Wed 26 Apr 2023 19:38:21 No.5647359 Report

Quoted By: >>5647364

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>5647320

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 19:44:07 No.5647364 Report

Quoted By: >>5647366 >>5647399 >>5647450

>>5647324
>>5647347
>>5647355
>>5647359
Thanks for rolling.

Highest: 70
>21 - 80 - Large chance for decent management = Dice+1d2 (Negative)

Need a 1d2 roll. That's how much fame Kaiba will lose.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 19:45:55 No.5647366 Report

Quoted By: >>5647368 >>5647399 >>5647433 >>5647450

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5647364
Let's get this over with. Goodbye, 3 Fame 50 Acting job.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 19:48:35 No.5647368 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647366
Good thing we haven't told Kaiba about that job

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1657042918792.png, 416KiB, 727x906

Anonymous ID:z3m61fqO Wed 26 Apr 2023 21:01:45 No.5647399 Report

Quoted By: >>5647433

>>5647364
>>5647366
the voice acting job....
its gonna take so long to get back there....

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Wed 26 Apr 2023 21:33:46 No.5647433 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647366
>>5647399
Woof, Kaiba's gonna' be so bummed.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 21:47:15 No.5647450 Report

Quoted By: >>5647453

>>5647364
>>5647366

The news starts popping up. Almost the entire chatlogs were leaked.

Even if there’s no livestream, the chatroom of Kaiba’s live vlog is exploding with activity.

The forum of Kaiba’s fan group is offline. Bandwidth exceeded.

Surprisingly, the leaks don’t include any audio files nor the screenshot of the company email.
There’s a good chance that EmikoDesu55 withheld those.

Whether it was your threat of legal action or some lingering concern for Kaiba that made her pull her punches, you don’t know.
Not that such shallow mercy will save her.

She may have been smart enough to not leak any company information, but there’s still plenty of other things you can sue her for.

“It’s out,” you say, then turn to Matsui, “Send the prepared emails to marketing and legal.”

You hope for EmikoDesu55’s sake that whatever satisfaction or money she gained from this was worth it, because you’re gonna throw everything you can at her.

Kaiba sits on the office floor, her phone in hand.

“What’s the response?” you ask Kaiba.

Kaiba stares blanky at the screen before turning it to you, “I don’t know,” she says, slipping into a chuckle that becomes more unhinged by the second, “It’s broken. Black screen.”
“But his is probably what my future is like – empty,” she murmurs.
She pulls her knees into her chest, then wraps her arms around them, “I can’t believe Emiko-chan would do this…”

There’s a part of you that wants to say: I told you so.
You warned her repeatedly, but she clung to her fake relationship anyway.
Now’s not that time for pointing fingers though.

“Everything Idol published their article,” says Matsui.

As promised, Everything Idol publishes an article that leads with a warning about the dangers of online communities.
How even the kindest fans could be secretly scheming against you.

The content slowly transitions into a report about what happened to Kaiba.
It’s pulling examples from the chat logs and presenting it almost as a sort of case study, showing examples of what manipulative behaviour might look like.

At times the article points out how Kaiba must’ve been either quite gullible or extremely desperate for personal interaction.
Furthermore, the article pulls from various peer-reviewed papers, citing how the people that seem the most connected, might be lonelier than anyone.

The article is well received and most of the comments show sympathy for Kaiba’s situation.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 21:47:57 No.5647452 Report

Quoted By: >>5647747

Now, not all hope is lost. We still have the pity party livestream gamble and a favour from Watase (in my opinion, a useless favour but let's see how do you guys plan to use this).

Alternatively, we can just send her to more jobs.She's on high stress right now so we might actually send her on vacation t b h. The Fate/Stay Night job is definitely gone, though - I assume we got it on our list due to having Fame 2 but after zeroing out due to a scandal, I doubt that the company would want anything with Kaiba for the time being.

Overall, I liked this arc. I mean sure, on the big picture it has completely demolished all our efforts and we basically got a soft reset on Kaiba but it is what it is. I hope we might take a lesson from this, because I don't think we handled the issue optimally or even good at all - hell, even I admit that some of my suggestions were pretty shit: like voting for keeping quiet about the leak when we first heard of it. Matsui was more competent than seventy or so anons bashing their collective heads on their keyboards and promptly had all potential threats mapped, with a handful of suggestions for each of them. I hope that the QM let us rely on her a little more!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 21:48:17 No.5647453 Report

Quoted By: >>5647455 >>5647458 >>5647500

>>5647450

MegamanFan1982 - 18 April, 2015

Idols aren’t allowed to date anyone of they’ll basically get lynched by their fans.
I guess it must get very lonely. I doubt she’s the only idol that chats with some people in private.
Sucks that some girl leaked the logs though, what a bitch.

Starchildxxx2 - 18 April, 2015

Logs make me laugh though.
Half of it is her begging for attention.
Can’t believe I supported her. What a loser~

NikoPanda87 - 18 April, 2015

Woah… I feel bad for Kaiba-chan, but I do feel cheated a bit.
I thought she was kinda like me so I was cheering her on, but turns out she’s just another normie…
I bet this is just one of many of her private chats… I feel so lied to…

------

Meanwhile, the forums of Kaiba’s fanclub have finally come back online and they’re creating new threads every second.
Although their threads focus pretty hard on one part in particular.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 21:49:17 No.5647455 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647453

Thread: GLOOMMOTHER LEAK GENERAL – LESBIAN SEXO by Administrator

THIS IS THE THREAT. STOP MAKING NEW ONES YOU FUCKING MONGRELS.
NO MORE NEW THREADS. THIS IS THE GENERAL. ALL DISCUSSION HERE OR INSTABAN.
--------


[18:50] @Gloomling895: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
[18:50] @Gloomling835: MOOMMMMMMMYYY MOOOOMMMMMYYYY NOOOOOOOOO
[18:50] @Gloomling135: I WISH THIS WAS A LEAK ABOUT HER DATING SOME DUDE
[18:50] @Gloomling135: INSTEAD I GET THIS AND ……… NO HOPEEEEEEEEEEEEE
[18:50] @Gloomling492: I’m okay with this, NTR is a kino fetish (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
[18:50] @Gloomling731: …my wife…… why are you ghey…….?
[18:50] @Gloomling611: i actually prefer this over a dude, mommy stays pure
[18:50] @Gloomling977: WE CANT STOP WINNING, YURIBROS
[18:50] @Gloomling325: LET’S GOOOOOOOOO, SUCK IT "MEN" KAIBA BELONGS TO US!!!
[18:50] @Gloomling993: Hey @Administrator, do something, ban that dyke above me
[18:51] @Gloomling325: wtf @Gloomling993 fuck you
[18:51] @Gloomling325: your mommy kaiba-chan will NEVER EVER kiss a DUDE like you
[18:51] @Gloomling325: enjoy getting KEKED by pretty girls (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
[18:51] @Administrator: @Gloomling325 GTFO
[18:51] @Gloomling459: bro… @Administrator …calm down, that’s not a ban-able offense
[18:51] @Gloomling531: @Gloomling459 his wife cheated on him lol (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
[18:51] @Administrator: SHUT THE FUCK UP
[18:51] @Gloomling398: welp, at least I was happy for a few weeks… time to cut myself again
[18:51] @Gloomling491: better do it right this time @Gloomling398 lolol nothing to live for anyway
[18:51] @Gloomling375: GAYS HAVE NO PLACE IN JAPAN, OUT OUT OUT OUT GO TO USA
[18:51] @Gloomling218: anyone managed to dox this EmikoDesuu bitch yet?
[18:52] @Gloomling008: yeah, I got it…she had a bunch of accounts so it was easy
[18:52] @Gloomling218: @Gloomling008 praise single digit user
[18:52] @Gloomling731: praise single digit user
[18:52] @Gloomling135: praise single digit user /\
[18:52] @Gloomling008: read the logs, this emiko cunt groomed my wife into a lesbian
[18:52] @Gloomling008: im gonna set her fucking house on fire
[18:53] @Gloomling008: watching kaiba-chan was the only happiness i had
[18:53] @Gloomling008: i’ll probably go to jail for it, but i dont care anymore
[18:53] @Gloomling835: praise single digit user o7
[18:53] @Gloomling731: o7
[18:53] @Gloomling135: o7
[18:53] @Gloomling1758: WAAAH MY GLOOM MOMMYY!! This is how you all sound… CRINGE
[18:53] @Gloomling135: four digit trash detected, new fag get out
[18:53] @Gloomling618: hey @Administrator, ban new fag pls
[18:53] @Gloomling1758: fuck off, he wont (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
[18:53] @Gloomling218: praise @Administrator
[18:53] @Gloomling135: praise @Administrator
[18:53] @Administrator: praise me more
[18:53] @Gloomling218: sorry about your wife (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 21:50:27 No.5647458 Report

Quoted By: >>5647463 >>5647500 >>5647614

>>5647453

Thread: GLOOMMOTHER LEAK GENERAL – LESBIAN SEXO by Administrator

THIS IS THE THREAT. STOP MAKING NEW ONES YOU FUCKING MONGRELS.
NO MORE NEW THREADS. THIS IS THE GENERAL. ALL DISCUSSION HERE OR INSTABAN.
--------


[18:50] @Gloomling895: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
[18:50] @Gloomling835: MOOMMMMMMMYYY MOOOOMMMMMYYYY NOOOOOOOOO
[18:50] @Gloomling135: I WISH THIS WAS A LEAK ABOUT HER DATING SOME DUDE
[18:50] @Gloomling135: INSTEAD I GET THIS AND ……… NO HOPEEEEEEEEEEEEE
[18:50] @Gloomling492: I’m okay with this, NTR is a kino fetish (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
[18:50] @Gloomling731: …my wife…… why are you ghey…….?
[18:50] @Gloomling611: i actually prefer this over a dude, mommy stays pure
[18:50] @Gloomling977: WE CANT STOP WINNING, YURIBROS
[18:50] @Gloomling325: LET’S GOOOOOOOOO, SUCK IT "MEN" KAIBA BELONGS TO US!!!
[18:50] @Gloomling993: Hey @Administrator, do something, ban that dyke above me
[18:51] @Gloomling325: wtf @Gloomling993 fuck you
[18:51] @Gloomling325: your mommy kaiba-chan will NEVER EVER kiss a DUDE like you
[18:51] @Gloomling325: enjoy getting KEKED by pretty girls (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
[18:51] @Administrator: @Gloomling325 GTFO
[18:51] @Gloomling459: bro… @Administrator …calm down, that’s not a ban-able offense
[18:51] @Gloomling531: @Gloomling459 his wife cheated on him lol (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
[18:51] @Administrator: SHUT THE FUCK UP
[18:51] @Gloomling398: welp, at least I was happy for a few weeks… time to cut myself again
[18:51] @Gloomling491: better do it right this time @Gloomling398 lolol nothing to live for anyway
[18:51] @Gloomling375: GAYS HAVE NO PLACE IN JAPAN, OUT OUT OUT OUT GO TO USA
[18:51] @Gloomling218: anyone managed to dox this EmikoDesuu bitch yet?
[18:52] @Gloomling008: yeah, I got it…she had a bunch of accounts so it was easy
[18:52] @Gloomling218: @Gloomling008 praise single digit user
[18:52] @Gloomling731: praise single digit user
[18:52] @Gloomling135: praise single digit user /\
[18:52] @Gloomling008: read the logs, this emiko cunt groomed my wife into a lesbian
[18:52] @Gloomling008: im gonna set her fucking house on fire
[18:53] @Gloomling008: watching kaiba-chan was the only happiness i had
[18:53] @Gloomling008: i’ll probably go to jail for it, but i dont care anymore
[18:53] @Gloomling835: praise single digit user o7
[18:53] @Gloomling731: o7
[18:53] @Gloomling135: o7
[18:53] @Gloomling1758: WAAAH MY GLOOM MOMMYY!! This is how you all sound… CRINGE
[18:53] @Gloomling135: four digit trash detected, new fag get out
[18:53] @Gloomling618: hey @Administrator, ban new fag pls
[18:53] @Gloomling1758: fuck off, he wont (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
[18:53] @Gloomling218: praise @Administrator
[18:53] @Gloomling731: praise @Administrator
[18:53] @Administrator: praise me more
[18:53] @Gloomling218: sorry about your wife (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 26 Apr 2023 21:51:48 No.5647463 Report

Quoted By: >>5647478 >>5647482 >>5647500 >>5647565 >>5647595 >>5647610 >>5647701 >>5647747 >>5647919

>>5647458

“Matsui-san,” you say, “Remind me to never host an event for Kaiba’s fan club again.”

Matsui raises an eyebrow, “Sure…”

They do bring up a point.
Whether or not Kaiba is straight or not seems to be a big deal for her fans.

Watase Yoko has proven that somebody can be an idol even if they are openly lesbian.
Then again, her idol persona is very different from Kaiba’s and matches her perfectly.

Even if you outright deny it, there’ll always be a rumour that Kaiba favours girls.

What to do…

>1 - Include in the announcement that Kaiba is straight, but was just lonely and swept along.
>2 - Include in the announcement that Kaiba is a lesbian, accept the image change.
>3 - Let Kaiba decide
>4 - Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Wed 26 Apr 2023 22:00:22 No.5647478 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647463
>Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement
Kaiba should be the one to choose but she in no way is in the right mindspace to make such a statement.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:z3m61fqO Wed 26 Apr 2023 22:01:10 No.5647482 Report

Quoted By: >>5647953

>>5647463
>4 - Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement

I think it's best to not talk about relationships right now, or ever actually.

Hey QM, just wanted to say this is the first quest I read here, been reading it since a few days back on work and public transport and now i'm catched up, it's been fun. Saw your post about oshi no ko, and just wanted to say that I think you're doing fine, even if I'm a newfag here, I think you should keep going like you are doing up until now, it's good

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 26 Apr 2023 22:17:55 No.5647500 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647453
>MegamanFan1982
Based Megamanchad poster. Alas, this was 2015 and the last game we had back then was MM10... And one year later, Inafune blessed us with that... thing. I pity you, MegamanFan1982. Your gaming future isn't going to be bright.

>>5647458
An accurate excerpt from /vt/, no doubt about it. You even included the doxxfag, nice job with the fidelity QM!

>>5647463
>Even if you outright deny it, there’ll always be a rumour that Kaiba favours girls.

Having that said, I can't help but ponder: does that even matter...? No matter what we pick, the chatlogs will paint her as a lesbian anyway.

>3 - Let Kaiba decide
"Do whatever you want, gloomy retard. Let's hope this is the first and last time you're re-welcomed to the 0 Fame club ever again."

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Wed 26 Apr 2023 22:59:33 No.5647560 Report

Quoted By: >>5648085

>>5647067
Why is she so white in this picture nooooooo

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Wed 26 Apr 2023 23:04:21 No.5647565 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647463
>4 - Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement

Our idol's orientation should always remain secret. Let them imagine.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Wed 26 Apr 2023 23:33:44 No.5647595 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647463
>4 - Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:F9ybQwk+ Wed 26 Apr 2023 23:41:45 No.5647610 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647463
>4 - Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Wed 26 Apr 2023 23:44:29 No.5647614 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647458
*ejem*
SEXOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
>Voting for option 4
Answering any question with half truths and frustrating phrases is the way to go for idols

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Thu 27 Apr 2023 01:29:46 No.5647701 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647463
>4 - Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Thu 27 Apr 2023 02:12:24 No.5647747 Report

Quoted By: >>5647830

>>5647452
>anons voted in ways I didn't like, so i hope the QM has an NPC do our job and play the quest for us.
Anon. Come on. You're better than this.

>>5647463
>4 - Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 03:20:36 No.5647830 Report

Quoted By: >>5647836

>>5647747
I am better than that already: I had some good ideas after all (I just didn't knew how to sound convincing. I still don't know how to but I'm working on that), or at least the most beneficial ones - we sure didn't lose our jobs (yet...) but this was basically a failure anyway: cope all you want but the fact is that we wanted to prevent a scandal but the scandal happened regardless. Had Emiko been a chaos sower psycho, she would've leaked about the trip on Kaiba's fansite and things would be far far worse.

Matsui wasn't doing our job since we still have to do the decision making and bad decisions still exist (like paying 15 grand to shut down a tabloid written by literal whos) and we are free to *not* make them. You're being cynical.

Using characters is part of the quest, no? Like how you fellas wanted to use Yui's help to deal with Kaiba's retardation. Using our literal assistant would be no different.

Anyway, I'm here to remind all of us that we, Miho, actually have a deal to uphold: we promised Kitabayashi that we would tell Kaiba the full truth of how we ended up knowing about Emiko - Kaiba doesn't know we spied on her and we need to tell her that (else we get that dogeza pic leaked).

I'm also here to remind some anons about our "deal" - we agreed that, when the after-scandal announcement vote comes, we'd vote for telling the truth to her fans. I trust you "oldfag" anons will keep your words.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Thu 27 Apr 2023 03:26:05 No.5647836 Report

Quoted By: >>5647845

>>5647830
Personally, I vote we have a drink with Yui first and talk about why we might not ACTUALLY be doing Kaiba a favor by demolishing her trust in us right now, when she seems to be feeling very vulnerable and alone and has nobody else to really lean on. She knows we've read all the chats now -- what good will it do anyone to reveal we were play-acting and spying? Our intentions were, and are, good.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 03:40:13 No.5647845 Report

Quoted By: >>5647900

>>5647836
I honestly, from the bottom of my heart, do not care. The reminder was more of a warning since some of you might not want to lose Yui's trust and friendship and Yui doesn't want Miho to fall down into the devil's road - she believes that we can perform this job without losing our pure heart.

Personally, I don't give a shit about Yui's belief in us or Kaiba's trust. Imho, the idol industry is borderline insanity and sometimes the ends HAVE to justify the means, else you get swallowed by the sea of leviathans that inhabit the market - reality more often than not is unfair and principles can only get you so far. Do what needs to be done, become what you must.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Thu 27 Apr 2023 05:29:27 No.5647900 Report

Quoted By: >>5647919 >>5648157

>>5647845
I do not think you'll find this quest offers rich soil ground for that ruthless tree to grow and bear fruit, but best of luck.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 13E1783F-F2C3-4B79-93BB-5EAA8ADB (...).jpg, 2MiB, 1170x1716

Anonymous ID:WN/stZZM Thu 27 Apr 2023 06:21:32 No.5647919 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647463
>4 - Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement

>>5647900
How poetic

I can’t wait for our fall from hero to anti-hero

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 27 Apr 2023 07:19:39 No.5647946 Report

Quoted By: >>5648589 >>5648591

Winner
>4 - Completely exclude anything regarding sexual orientation from the announcement

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 27 Apr 2023 07:28:13 No.5647953 Report

Quoted By: >>5648192

>>5647482
Thanks for reading, mate.

>been reading it since a few days back on work and public transport
I apologize for forgetting to spoiler some of the hot spring images

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO grid-0008.png, 3MiB, 1344x1536

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 27 Apr 2023 12:44:16 No.5648085 Report

Quoted By: >>5648103 >>5648167 >>5648530

>>5647560
Sorry, mate. The AI I was using at that time has been giving me trouble.

I'm in the process of generating them locally using various public models so I can move away from that AI.

Here's some examples (with tan / brown skin)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 13:08:16 No.5648103 Report

Quoted By: >>5648107 >>5648111

>>5648085
Man, these are good! Though some still have weird details. What model is this?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 27 Apr 2023 13:11:31 No.5648107 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648103
MeinaPastel V4

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO grid-0009.png, 2MiB, 1344x1536

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 27 Apr 2023 13:14:18 No.5648111 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648103
>Though some still have weird details.
Yeah, that always happen. That's why you generate in bulk, pick the best one, and refine it further.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 14:50:47 No.5648157 Report

Quoted By: >>5648169 >>5648173

>>5647900
You say that and yet you want to take the our spying to the grave, claiming good intentions. So the end does justify the mean, no? :)

As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Not only that but QM warned us that acting on the wiki chatlogs would mean we spied again and anons chose to do so. I'm no futurologist but I'm almost certain Miho won't be remaining the same, her "corruption" will take root.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Thu 27 Apr 2023 15:05:02 No.5648167 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648085
Yeah, I was wondering why you used novelAI instead of just doing it locally, you can get a lot better results with specific loras and stuff

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dwd/RL6t Thu 27 Apr 2023 15:09:57 No.5648169 Report

Quoted By: >>5648186

>>5648157
>So the end does justify the mean, no? :)
Depends on the ends and depends on the means, doesn't it? Seems silly to deal in absolutes. We may be not be some shinign paragon of morality and transparency, but spying on your idol to protect her and then risking your personal and professional well-being to double down is very different from being ruthless in the way you describe.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Thu 27 Apr 2023 15:18:20 No.5648173 Report

Quoted By: >>5648186

>>5648157
Sorry to get in your and that other anon's back and forth but you seem to regard the situation with an almost fetishistic approach while banking on the fact that the idol industry is messed up, which is true, but that doesn't mean our intent to keep Miho a good person futile or stupid. Success and failure aren't binary and we did the best we could in that situation Miho isn't becoming "corrupted".

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 15:49:45 No.5648186 Report

Quoted By: >>5648203

>>5648173
I fail to see how pointing out hypocrisy is somehow approaching the situation fetishistically.

>>5648169
>>5648173
>Seems silly to deal in absolutes.
>Success and failure aren't binary
Yes, that is true: the quest itself features degrees of success and degrees of failure. And sure thing, there are degrees of good and evil. But here's the thing: had we approached the situation more ruthlessly this could've been dealt with quicker (or, at the very least, we'd have gotten an ultimatum earlier imo). I saw anons complaining about sidequest fatigue when they had the chance to end this earlier but chose to not to - I don't see words backed up by actions. I've said before that I'm enjoying the quest even if the choices aren't what I have/would've voted for. But still, its puzzling seeing Miho being led to certain decisions when the apparent intentions aren't what motivated them.

There's also the fact that resource management is a big part of this quest (time being the most scarce and valuable of all resources) and I saw many votes being done with zero objective arguments to support them: we can argue about the definitions and intrincacies of good, evil, success and failure but a -2 Fame after 16 weeks of work, a ~60k budget and 3 idols with 0 Fame to manage is objective truth, hard data - it's impossible to argue against that. And when one of the goals of the game is getting money to invest on your idols which in turn would get them better stats, to perform better jobs thusly getting them famous and (probably) happy we end up having a compromise with logic and optimization. See, these things are rather *implicit* - I shouldn't be telling anyone that but here we are.

TL;DR: vote for whatever makes you happy but take my words to heart. I will be keeping my mindset open for change should compelling arguments arise and will reflect my votes as such (this is the point of a democratic voting system, no?) and you're free to keep yours closed if you wish so.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 16:05:15 No.5648192 Report

Quoted By: >>5648203

>>5637241
>>5647953
Btw uncensored hot springs pics when, QM?
What? why do you think I voted for Miho back at the start of the quest? Yukimori would've reflected my world view better but man, I'd rather look at a big tiddy anime woman. A man has to have priorities, you know.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Thu 27 Apr 2023 16:41:04 No.5648203 Report

Quoted By: >>5648225

>>5648186
>I fail to see how pointing out hypocrisy is somehow approaching the situation fetishistically.
I've used that word because of your choice to describe Miho's actions as a "corruption" that will take roots or about how the road to hell is paved with good intentions and your rethorical question which ended in a smile face of all things. I will admit however that fetishistic isn't the right word to describe your analysis, perhaps self-indulgent would be a better term to describe your choice of words. Regardless, that comment was more about the way you presented your arguments rather than their validity, so take it however you want.

>had we approached the situation more ruthlessly this could've been dealt with quicker
I don't think it would have been that easy since by the time we discovered Emiko, she already had the chatlogs about Kaiba loving Miho. I can see that if we tried to break the relationship early and ruthless as you said, Emiko would have threatened to send those chatlogs instead of the ones detailing the "love" between her and Kaiba, this would have been worst since it could have easily portrayed our agency as manipulating the idols into romantic relations on top of the lesbian debackle and Kaiba not being a pure idol waifu© AND it would have turned Kaiba against us. Say whatever you want about our approach, but it was a baptism by fire for Kaiba and she got out of it less naive than before.
As for the numbers game, that's true, but I doubt the QM would have let us go on without introducing some chaos related to our handling of the idols' personal life.
>>5648192
>Btw uncensored hot springs pics when, QM?
>+1

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dTVJNjA2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 16:45:12 No.5648205 Report

Quoted By: >>5648225

This has been the most pointless debate ever

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 17:12:48 No.5648225 Report

Quoted By: >>5648287

>>5648203
I think that the worst bit is Kaiba being tricked into leaking confidential information. Emiko hadn't a lot of ammo now imo (even though it hurt quite a bit and we haven't seen the last of it), and would've had even less back then.

>>5648205
Aren't they all? Too early to conclude that, I say. I hope I managed to open the eyes of at least some readers, but I will only be capable of knowing for sure after some votes.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 18:25:34 No.5648287 Report

Quoted By: >>5648470

>>5648225
You're hilarious
>We should've told to the teenager that we spied on her private conversations and forbidden her from contacting her only friend.
>This whole situation in no way could've ended with anything else than the teenager perfectly obeying us and not finding another way of contacting said friend.
>It's not like her "friend" could've used this to turn her against us and manipulate her into creating even more problems for the company because at that point our word would've meant nothing to her.
>It's not like this could've ended up with her fired outright and our new idols involved in a scandal at the very start.
>Because teenagers are widely known to be perfectly obedient robots, especially to people who breach their trust.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 27 Apr 2023 23:12:04 No.5648470 Report

Quoted By: >>5648552 >>5648957

>>5648287
>We should've told to the teenager that we spied on her private conversations and forbidden her from contacting her only friend.
We should tell her *now*, sister. Nagata herself suggested that we should tell her after the issue is over, and Yui seemed to agree. Don't pretend to be a retard, even though you seem to be pretty good at it.
>This whole situation in no way could've ended with anything else than the teenager perfectly obeying us and not finding another way of contacting said friend.

You seem to think that a ban would be asking her nicely to stop contacting Emiko and not threatening to fire her if she didn't obey or if we knew that she revealed any company information. Fired idols tell no tales and Kaiba doesn't seem like the rebellious type - she folded to Emiko due to pressure of losing a friendship, I'm inclined to assume that she'd fold to our threats if she had the pressure of losing her career. Hell, we can read her like a book: I doubt that she'd be able to lie if we interrogated her about keeping private conversations with Emiko.

If acording to you I'm hilarious, then you're a clown.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 28 Apr 2023 00:24:11 No.5648530 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648085
DELICIOUS

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:jlbUTXic Fri 28 Apr 2023 00:39:39 No.5648552 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648470
We should not tell her.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 01:51:26 No.5648589 Report

Quoted By:

>>5647946

It might be best to simply keep them guessing.
In the end whatever type of person Kaiba is into is nobody’s concern but her own.

As both you and Matsui put the finishing touching on Kaiba’s statement to all this on your computer, you glance over your shoulder to see Kaiba doomscrolling on Matsui’s laptop.

“Twenty-two thousand…” says Kaiba.

“Fifteen thousand,” says Kaiba a few minutes later.

“Twelve thousand…” says Kaiba yet another few minutes later, her voice tight with emotion.

You lean in towards Matsui, “What’s she doing?” you whisper.

“It’s the follower count of her live vlog,” replies Matsui, whispering, “It was nearly thirty thousand before the news broke.”

You glance at Matsui, “We might have to reconsider sharing this announcement during a livestream… maybe we’ll just make a post from her account…” you whisper.

“What was it all for…?” says Kaiba, speaking to nobody in particular, “All these months…All the meetings…The late evenings…The training…”
“Months of work…gone…” continues Kaiba, face emotionless, “Just like that.”

Ultimately, Kaiba’s follower count bottoms out around five thousand.
The credibility she built up, the following, the fame – all gone.

You walk over and place a hand on Kaiba’s shoulder.
“I know things may seem pretty bad right now,” you say, “It may seem like you’re forced to start over from scratch, but you’re not.”

Kaiba looks up at you, a tired smile on her face. Wholly unconvinced.

“All the skills and the experience you’ve gained as a live streamer aren’t just gone,“ you say, “It’ll be easier the second time. You know what to expect now. It’ll b--”

Kaiba interrupts you, “Manager-san,” says Kaiba, sighing, “I know, I know... but I just feel… really bad right now.”

There’s a ping coming from Matsui’s laptop where Kaiba is logged into her own account.
A new DM. Kaiba takes in a breath, then clicks to open it.

[19:32] @Aljsldjfa: you should’ve never left your room, hikineet trash

You lean in, take the mouse, and report the user – causing the chat to disappear.

Ping.

[19:33] @Gaysburninhell109823: Preaching about loneliness on stream while chatting with your dyke gf, ill never trust you again you two-faced cunt

Ping.

[19:34] @Gloomling32910: Aokigahara is lovely this time of year, you should visit 

Once again you reach for the mouse, but instead of reporting the individual you log Kaiba out of the account for now.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 01:53:40 No.5648591 Report

Quoted By: >>5648594 >>5648597

>>5647946

It might be best to simply keep them guessing.
In the end whatever type of person Kaiba is into is nobody’s concern but her own.

As both you and Matsui put the finishing touching on Kaiba’s statement to all this on your computer, you glance over your shoulder to see Kaiba doomscrolling on Matsui’s laptop.

“Twenty-two thousand…” says Kaiba.

“Fifteen thousand,” says Kaiba a few minutes later.

“Twelve thousand…” says Kaiba yet another few minutes later, her voice tight with emotion.

You lean in towards Matsui, “What’s she doing?” you whisper.

“It’s the follower count of her live vlog,” replies Matsui, whispering, “It was nearly thirty thousand before the news broke.”

You glance at Matsui, “We might have to reconsider sharing this announcement during a livestream… maybe we’ll just make a post from her account…” you whisper.

“What was it all for…?” says Kaiba, speaking to nobody in particular, “All these months…All the meetings…The late evenings…The training…”
“Months of work…gone…” continues Kaiba, face emotionless, “Just like that.”

Ultimately, Kaiba’s follower count bottoms out around five thousand.
The credibility she built up, the following, the fame – all gone.

You walk over and place a hand on Kaiba’s shoulder.
“I know things may seem pretty bad right now,” you say, “It may seem like you’re forced to start over from scratch, but you’re not.”

Kaiba looks up at you, a tired smile on her face. Wholly unconvinced.

“All the skills and the experience you’ve gained as a live streamer aren’t just gone,“ you say, “It’ll be easier the second time. You know what to expect now. It’ll b--”

Kaiba interrupts you, “Manager-san,” says Kaiba, sighing, “I know, I know... but I just feel… really bad right now.”

There’s a ping coming from Matsui’s laptop where Kaiba is logged into her own account.
A new DM. Kaiba takes in a breath, then clicks to open it.

[19:32] @Aljsldjfa: you should’ve never left your room, hikineet trash

You lean in, take the mouse, and report the user – causing the chat to disappear.

Ping.

[19:33] @Gaysburninhell109823: Preaching about loneliness on stream while chatting with your dyke gf, ill never trust you again you two-faced cunt

Ping.

[19:34] @Gloomling32910: Aokigahara is lovely this time of year, you should visit 

Once again you reach for the mouse, but instead of reporting the individual you log Kaiba out of the account for now.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 01:54:57 No.5648594 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648591

“Maybe you should just go home for now, Kaiba-san,” you say, patting her shoulder, “We’ve done what we can.”

“One weekend,” says Kaiba, “That’s all it took… everything that made me happy is just…gone.”
“I come back here tomorrow and…do what exactly?” she adds.

“Well, you can prepare for that jo--” you begin, but are interrupted by your phone buzzing.
You excuse yourself to the hallway where you take the call.

“Nagata Miho speaking. Ah, Kawahara-san, hello,” you say, forcing some cheer in your voice, “How are things at Ufot-- Cancel?”

“…Ah, yes, the timing is poor…”

“…No, I understand…”

“…It’s fine… We’re managing… “

“…Thank you…“

“…I at least hope you’ll consider us again in the future…”

“…Goodbye.”

The caller hangs up.
You stare at your phone until it goes into standby and end up looking at your own tired reflection.

It appears that the show Ufotable Studios is working on is a high-profile affair and they can’t afford any bad press.
The Ufotable Studios audition for the role of “Sella” is gone.

You take a breath and open the door into your office, seeing both Kaiba and Matsui staring at you.

“…You heard?” you say, not even having the energy to act surprised.

“Fragments,” replies Matsui, “But enough to piece things together.”

Kaiba doesn’t respond, opting to simply hang her head.
She’s clutching her stomach like she’s in pain.

You walk over to Kaiba who’s now sitting on the ground, knees up and her head buried in her arms.
Crouching down beside her, you speak, “Perhaps you should just take the week off,” you say, recognizing the signs of high stress when you see it, “People will forget. There’s so much happening in the world, both in and outside the realm of idols, that this whole thing will be forgotten before you know it.”

You pat her shoulder twice before getting up, “Just take it easy for a while,” you say, “We’ll make some plans for a big return once you’re back. We won’t let this be the end of the idol Kaiba Aoi.”

Kaiba seems to be struggling with a stomach-ache, but manages a smile.

You walk over to Matsui and speak in a whisper, “Do we have any contact information for Kaiba’s parents?”

Matsui nods, “I think they’re listed as her emergency contacts in her HR file.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 01:57:11 No.5648597 Report

Quoted By: >>5648599

>>5648591

“Maybe you should just go home for now, Kaiba-san,” you say, patting her shoulder, “We’ve done what we can.”

“One weekend,” says Kaiba, “That’s all it took… everything that made me happy is just…gone.”
“I come back here tomorrow and…do what exactly?” she adds.

“Well, you can prepare for that jo--” you begin, but are interrupted by your phone buzzing.
You excuse yourself to the hallway where you take the call.

“Nagata Miho speaking. Ah, Kawahara-san, hello,” you say, forcing some cheer in your voice, “How are things at Ufot-- Cancel?”

“…Ah, yes, the timing is poor…”

“…No, I understand…”

“…It’s fine… We’re managing… “

“…Thank you…“

“…I at least hope you’ll consider us again in the future…”

“…Goodbye.”

The caller hangs up.
You stare at your phone until it goes into standby and end up looking at your own tired reflection.

It appears that the show Ufotable Studios is working on is a high-profile affair and they can’t afford any bad press.
The Ufotable Studios audition for the role of “Sella” is gone.

You take a breath and open the door into your office, seeing both Kaiba and Matsui staring at you.

“…You heard?” you say, not even having the energy to act surprised.

“Fragments,” replies Matsui, “But enough to piece things together.”

Kaiba doesn’t respond, opting to simply hang her head.
She’s clutching her stomach like she’s in pain.

You walk over to Kaiba who’s now sitting on the ground, knees up and her head buried in her arms.
Crouching down beside her, you speak, “Perhaps you should just take the week off,” you say, recognizing the signs of high stress when you see it, “People will forget. There’s so much happening in the world, both in and outside the realm of idols, that this whole thing will be forgotten before you know it.”

You pat her shoulder twice before getting up, “Just take it easy for a while,” you say, “We’ll make some plans for a big return once you’re back. We won’t let this be the end of the idol Kaiba Aoi.”

Kaiba seems to be struggling with a stomach-ache, but manages a smile.

You walk over to Matsui and speak in a whisper, “Do we have any contact information for Kaiba’s parents?”

Matsui nods, “I think they’re listed as her emergency contacts in her HR file.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 01:58:32 No.5648599 Report

Quoted By: >>5648600 >>5648643

>>5648597

Walking over the computer, you check some records and find the number you’re looking for.
You, once again, excuse yourself and exit to the hallway – taking care to put more distance between yourself and your office this time around.

You dial the number and wait until the call goes through.

“Kaiba household, Kioko speaking,” says a voice on the other side of the phone.
This must be her mother.

“Hello, this is Nagata Miho with the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency,” you say.

“Eh? So it was a real thing after all?” says the voice.

“Yes?” you say, not sure how to answer, “In any case, I’m calling regarding your daughter Kaiba Aoi. She’s been experiencing some difficulties during work. An online scandal to be specific. Kaiba Aoi is fine, but it’s been a terrible mental burden. I called so that you’re aware of what happened and hoping you might be able to support your child in these trying times.”

There’s a bit of a silence before the other party responds.

“It doesn’t surprise me, I just hope she hasn’t brought any shame on the Kaiba name,” says the voice, “The idea of Aoi being an idol was ludicrous to begin with. I’ve told her time and time again that failure was not an if, but a when. Does she listen to her mother? Of course not. I told her! You can ask my husband. I said this will all fall apart and it did. It was all too good to last. $5.000 a month? A girl shouldn’t be earning more than her mother. Ridiculous.”

The voice on the other side of the phone sighs, then continues, “Well, let’s hope she learned her lesson. The new college year already started, but it’s only been two weeks so she may be able to enrol somewhere.”

“I’m sorry, Kaiba-san,” you say, “But you misunderstand. We’re just having Aoi-chan rest for a while. Her career isn’t over. I figured a parent might wonder what’s happening with their child if they suddenly came home stressed. That’s why I called.”

“But if she doesn’t enrol in a college now it’ll be too late,” says the voice, “She’ll have to wait an entire year! I advise you miss… Nagata, was it? Pull the band-aid. Fire her. We both know that she has no future as an idol. She already wasted a year at home, she can’t waste another!””My neighbour’s son is already heading in his second year and Aoi hasn’t even picked a college yet!” she adds.

You feel your energy dwindle.
There’s so much going on, you don’t have the time or will to fight on the phone with Kaiba’s mother.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 02:01:11 No.5648600 Report

Quoted By: >>5648604

>>5648599

“Be that as it may,” you say, “I’ll leave that decision to Kaiba Aoi. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I still have a lot of work to do regarding the before-mentioned developments. Goodbye, Kaiba-san.”

“Don’t let me keep you,” says the voice, ice cold, “I’d hate to get in the way of your important idol work. Goodbye, Nagata-san.”

You sigh. So far for a mental support safety net.

As you enter your office, Matsui mentions that the official response of Matsuno Inc. on the scandal is ready to publish.
Some people from the marketing team are standing by on their laptops at home to evaluate the response and moderate the chat and comments.

You publish the response and the comments are filled with angry trolls and a handful of fans roaring sympathies.
More websites that were waiting on the official stance of Matsuno Inc. begin to pump out articles of their own.

You work throughout the night alongside Matsui, trying to keep things as small as possible.

Despite your protests, Kaiba didn’t go home either.
Saying how she will have plenty of time to rest regardless of how this all plans out.

In the end, this whole scenario with EmikoDesu55, from their first interaction at the meet & greet until that last spite-filled act of betrayal, cost Kaiba dearly.

A secret relationship that began with a handshake and ended with a middle-finger.

Kaiba lost almost all her fans. Her popularity is back to where it was when she just began.
There’ll be rumours and speculation about Kaiba’s lesbian past for the rest of her days as an idol.
Furthermore, she was dropped from the high profile job she had lined-up.

And that’s without mentioning the trust issues that Kaiba probably developed during all this.
Probably not towards you, but you doubt she’ll see her fans in the same light ever again.

Furthermore, Watase mentioned during the hot spring trip that Kaiba was peeking at your body at times.
Will EmikoDesuu55’s influence on Kaiba, to see girls in a different light, fade with time?
Or will Kaiba, like some degenerate gambler, only remember the bright highs?
Longing for a happiness that’s forever connected in Kaiba’s mind to relationships with other women.
They did end up chatting and calling for a long time after all. Some things might stick.

Only time will tell.

More than anything, you’re happy this is over with.

This EmikoDesu55 affair is finally done.
Lawyers and police can handle whatever remains.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 02:09:43 No.5648604 Report

Quoted By: >>5648608 >>5648630 >>5648643 >>5648658 >>5648660 >>5648667 >>5648734 >>5648799 >>5648821 >>5648842 >>5648929 >>5648941 >>5648944

>>5648600

Kaiba will be staying at home for most of this week (-60 stress), only checking in at work to see the company’s therapist and to attend the social media training you had prepared by a consultant.

And so, you can focus on your other idols.

A roll that was voted on more than a month ago. In the previous thread.

Idol Task: Enatsu Mari
>1 - Have Enatsu work on her VOCALS using the office’s in-house tools

Idol Task: Chigusa Iki
>1 - Have Chigusa work on her LOOKS using the office’s in-house tools

Training rolls are BO3 (Taking highest)

Need a BO3 roll for Enatsu Mari (Vocals) - DC to beat: 23
Only roll one dice if you can so that others can roll as well.

Need a BO3 roll for Chigusa Iki (Looks) - DC to beat: 47
Only roll one dice if you can so that others can roll as well.

---
No further updates today. It's 4 AM and I'm full of regret.
This is officially, once again, an idol manager quest instead of some kind of deviant art tier yuri dating sim

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Fri 28 Apr 2023 02:12:59 No.5648608 Report

Quoted By: >>5648870 >>5648955

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>5648604
I was literally about to turn my pc off when you posted
>Aokigahara is lovely this time of year, you should visit
jesus that's an impressive way to say kill yourself

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qzmNGB7V Fri 28 Apr 2023 02:42:14 No.5648630 Report

Quoted By: >>5648955

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>5648604

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 02:53:47 No.5648643 Report

Quoted By: >>5648652 >>5648667 >>5648870 >>5648955 >>5652142

Rolled 29 (1d100)

>>5648604
Rolling.

>>5648599
Wonder what else did I expect from her parents. I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up quitting the job.
And I wonder if that wouldn't be better for her and... for us.

>Kaiba's Stress: 170
Jesus fucking christ. After her week long break (-60 stress), she'd be at 110 - almost at the same level that we had our panic attack. I feel like I'm playing Darkest Dungeon and I just sent Kaiba to a Ruins expedition with no torches.

Now, let's see.

Kaiba made $8500 from two jobs and 2 (-2) fame. These were the gains we had with her. So far, we've spent $45000 on her, including the trip. She "is" -$36500 on red, back at the starting point and on the brink of a mental breakdown.

For comparision: Yukimori spent $59000 on Riko, including payment for damages on the Maki Sumi incident, and Riko made $28900. Yes, Yukimori+Riko are still sitting at -$30100, but Riko made more than 3 times the amount of Kaiba.
I won't post Kojiro's numbers since we don't know how much he spent on Watase and since we don't have that number + he lost an idol pretty early he will more likely than not be on the green with the data we have rn

My point is... depending on how we take the next steps regarding Kaiba, we might be falling for a sunk-cost fallacy. I think that Kaiba might not be worth keeping b u t I'm not a fucking monster (yet) and firing her while she's sitting at depression's poison door would be a little bit *too* ruthless. She must be sent on new jobs ASAP (both for the sake of our budget and for the sake of her self-esteem), but first I suggest (and honestly I want suggestions for) dealing with her high stress rn.

I don't know how we could lift her up again. Maybe we can invite her to a sleepover? Take her to a park? A stroll around Tokyo? I don't know. Her parents are retards and won't help her and -60 stress from the break is just too little.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 28 Apr 2023 03:05:20 No.5648652 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648643
I agree, we gotta ensure Kaiba keeps herself active. Something like making kaiba work two times and rest one and for the girls they work one time and improve another. We haven't explored the NUMBERS part of the quest because it has so much content and stories, but a solid 4-8 week period where our idols do stuff and level up sounds great. Kojiro was right when he said Kaiba is a training idol. We focused too much on improving her stats and almost no jobs. which is something that's gotta change!!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Fri 28 Apr 2023 03:19:25 No.5648658 Report

Quoted By: >>5648955

Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>5648604

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 28 Apr 2023 03:21:58 No.5648660 Report

Quoted By: >>5648955

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>5648604
oh I get to roll? Awesome!!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 03:29:59 No.5648667 Report

Quoted By: >>5648955

>>5648643
>>5648604
Speaking about stress, I'd like to give a feedback about that mechanic QM. I'm sorry I might be sounding whiny and the answer might just be "skill issue" or "vote better" but...

So far, stress has been a resource that's too easy to increase but too expensive to lose - both time and money wise. Our character had to spend a weekend and almost fall into an alcoholic coma to deal with stress that we gained in the previous 3 or so days. I know it's been a while since we last had a conventional session but it would be nice if we had options to lower stress along the week - nighttime activities would be nice but I was thinking about something that didn't straight up took a whole post worth of update but costed in-game time. Like, I don't know. Watching 3 hours of vtuber streams at work or leaving early.

I'm suggesting this more for the side of the idols since most of them simply can't drown their sorrows on the bar due to being underaged but they'd still be gaining stress on the daily by doing jobs and training.

Just a suggestion though - I wrote all of this but maybe the mechanic works like this intentionally and I'm just being whiny.

Been enjoying the quest regardless. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2XbrZ9z Fri 28 Apr 2023 04:20:13 No.5648734 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>5648604

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:P25mpM7j Fri 28 Apr 2023 05:06:18 No.5648799 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>5648604

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dTVJNjA2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 05:23:28 No.5648821 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>5648604

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:WFrRKUg5 Fri 28 Apr 2023 05:41:50 No.5648842 Report

Quoted By: >>5648849 >>5648955

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>5648604

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qzmNGB7V Fri 28 Apr 2023 05:48:29 No.5648849 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648842
Am I going crazy but weren't there other third rolls earlier?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Fri 28 Apr 2023 06:14:55 No.5648870 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648608
Yikes, that was brutal, poor Kaiba. But, well, business goes on. We'll help her when we can.

>>5648643
I support being Kaiba's buddy and support, though there's a risk she'll become codependent to us or even fall in love. Also: yes, she needs to do more jobs, to build fame and reputation and earn her keep. Success in her profession will also stick it to her parents and build her sense of self-worth.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ihd6pZ6B Fri 28 Apr 2023 07:38:39 No.5648929 Report

Quoted By: >>5648955

Rolled 76 (1d100)

>>5648604

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Fri 28 Apr 2023 08:03:35 No.5648941 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648604
>Aokigahara is lovely this time of year, you should visit
Lol that's mean

>This is officially, once again, an idol manager quest instead of some kind of deviant art tier yuri dating sim
Good thing Nagata's straight as a ruler!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Fri 28 Apr 2023 08:04:35 No.5648944 Report

Quoted By: >>5648955

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>5648604

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 08:40:05 No.5648955 Report

Quoted By: >>5648957 >>5648958

>>5648608

>>5648643
>>5648667
I have some other changes planned that I hope will make stress easier to deal with.
But we haven't been able to test these because of the whole sideplot thing.

First 3 rolls. DC 23 -- Success
>>5648608 - 85
>>5648630 - 68
>>5648643 - 29

Second 3 rolls. DC 47 -- Success
>>5648658 - 37
>>5648660 - 28
>>5648842 - 47

I feel bad to exclude these two high rolls, but we simply don't need this many rolls
>>5648929
>>5648944

Need two 1d10 rolls to see how much the stats increase by.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 08:47:39 No.5648957 Report

Quoted By: >>5648962 >>5649114

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>5648470
>We should tell her *now*
Weren't you the one who spent like ten self-aggrandizing posts gloating that we should've banned her from contacting Emiko right away? Have you already forgotten? Or is it too inconvenient to remember?

>I'm inclined to assume that she'd fold to our threats
And I'm inclined to assume she wouldn't. She had a backup channel in the form of phone calls, and one frantic call to Emiko gives her a confidant who can shore up her defences and instruct her on how to avoid detection.
>I doubt that she'd be able to lie if we interrogated her
Even if she wasn't - what would we do? Fire our only famous idol? That'd be a resolution strictly worse than what we have now. That's not accounting for the possible parting sabotage Emiko could convince her to do, like give her all the dirt Kaiba knows on our other idols.

>>5648955
Roling

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Fri 28 Apr 2023 08:52:22 No.5648958 Report

Quoted By: >>5648962

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>5648955

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 09:06:07 No.5648962 Report

Quoted By: >>5648963 >>5649006

>>5648957
Enatsu Mari's vocals increase by 5. It's now a 28.

>>5648958
Chigusa Iki's looks increase by 1. It's now a 48.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 09:10:52 No.5648963 Report

Quoted By: >>5648968 >>5649006

>>5648962
We'll do one more set of "two weeks" and then with the start of the new month I'll share the updated mechanics.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 09:21:54 No.5648968 Report

Quoted By: >>5649006

>>5648963
>We'll do one more set of "two weeks" and then with the start of the new month I'll share the updated mechanics.
Actually, scratch that. We're already in the new month.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 11:12:16 No.5649006 Report

Quoted By: >>5649008

>>5648962
>>5648963
>>5648968

During the remainder of the week you have Enatsu Mari and Chigusa Iki come in to practice various skills.

Enatsu Mari’s vocals skills aren’t all that great at the start, but she’s eager to take instruction and ends up improving quite a bit during her lessons.

However, things don't work out that well when you decide to send Chigusa Iki on the big “Looks” tour (dietician, stylist, make-up artist, and so forth).
She ends up trying to overrule those that try to help her.

Chigusa is convinced that the diet she’s been following is perfect for her, that the make-up she’s using is the correct one for her skin type and tone, and that her clothing projects exactly what an idol should look like.
In the end, because of her stubbornness, her gains are only minimal.

The mandatory “social media training” actually swells up in size to be a company-wide event.
All the other managers and their idols sit in on the training and are educated in the proper way to engage with fans, companies, and talent from outside agencies.
Everybody’s hoping to avoid another Kaiba Aoi or Maki Sumi incident.

You get to see Kaiba during the training, but she doesn’t stay for long.
She’s wearing baggy clothes again like before, hasn’t bothered to do her make-up or curl her hair, and seems to just want to go home.

Kaiba met with the company therapist during the week.
Although the therapist is not at liberty to share Kaiba’s condition with you on account of doctor / patient confidentiality, she says Kaiba has a couple of things to sort out but should be fine.

>Kaiba’s stress is reduced by 30 by chatting with the therapist.

All your idols are now on the monthly schedule to meet with the company therapist.
Hopefully this’ll provide them an opportunity to talk through their problem instead of letting them fester.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 11:17:50 No.5649008 Report

Quoted By: >>5649009

>>5649006

Meta - Updated Mechanics

There’s been a harsh imbalance between story events and idol mechanics.
Here are some changes to ensure that both of these parts of the quest get equal time to shine.

One-week decisions instead of two
Previously every decision and event happened over the span of two weeks, this is now one week.
By reducing the amount of fictional time, I hope to make mechanical decisions and rolls a more prominent part of the quest.
If there’s less time for story events to play out, then mechanics should come around sooner.

Idol salaries are still on the first of the new month.
This means you now have four decision points to manage your idols per payment round.
Use these to train your idols, gather more income, or reduce stress.

Single weeks are also short enough that I can have stuff “happen in the background” without feeling like I need to address it right away as letting them drag on for two weeks would feel unrealistic.

Calendar

There’s a calendar in the wiki (under a tab of the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency page) that’ll show noteworthy events.
These contains things like birthdays, but also events or deadlines you might need to work towards.

Now that we progress forwards with jumps of one week rather than two, the calendar lines up perfectly.

My only regret is that we skip or handwave “Week 17” because of the way that double weeks have no regard for the “unevenness” of actual months meaning there’s gap.
I hope you can all look past that. Such thing should no longer happen going forward.

Therapist

Your idols are now on the monthly schedule to meet with the company therapist.
This extra stress reduction happens at the end of the month.

Story Events

I want to keep the story engaging by summarizing events and moving to the more interesting bits.
Not every event needs to be written out in order for you to understand what happened.

That being said, I will provide the ability to vote on events you want more detail about.
The items with the most votes will be written out in full, but probably not more than one or two.
Everything else will be summarized.

Fake example would be
>Celebrate Kitabayashi’s birthday
>Enatsu’s variety show appearance (job)
>Chigusa’s dance practice
>None. Move to next week.

If you voted for Chigusa’s practice, then I would write about that and introduce the dance instructor.
It’ll also provide insight into that character’s mental state and you'll learn some things about their backstory.
I might still write out an event because I feel like it adds to the story, because showing that event in a list of items would’ve spoiled things, or simply because I want to.

But I’m basically trying to avoid a situation where I derail the quest for a month.

The order for this is:
>1 - Vote on what your idols are gonna do and how you handle story events
>2 - Pick which events you want to explore in-depth

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 11:22:29 No.5649009 Report

Quoted By: >>5649019 >>5649022 >>5649091 >>5649104 >>5649114 >>5649120 >>5649123 >>5649150 >>5650226 >>5650246

>>5649008

Budget: $67.900
Date: May 4, 2015 (Monday, Week 19)

A new month as arrived!
You have to pay Kaiba’s salary! (-$5.000)
You have to pay Enatsu’s salary! (-$2.500)
You have to pay Chigusa's salary! (-$2.500)

Budget: $57.900
Date: May 4, 2015 (Monday, Week 19)

Time ticks forever onwards.
What’s your plan for the next week?

Every week an idol’s stress is automatically reduced by 30.

Manager Task: Nagata Miho
>1 - Write-in

Idol Task: Kaiba Aoi (60 Stress)
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house tools (40 stress)
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba Aoi
>3 - Tell her to take a week off (-50 stress)
>4 - Write-in

Idol Task: Enatsu Mari (0 Stress)
>1 - Have Enatsu work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house tools (40 stress)
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Enatsu Mari
>3 - Write-in

Idol Task: Chigusa Iki (0 Stress)
>1 - Have Chigusa work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house tools (40 stress)
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Chigusa Iki
>3 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 12:04:20 No.5649019 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649009
Miho
>Find Kaiba a friend.
This disaster will destroy her capacity to have human relationships if nothing is done. Let's find some people in the company who we think would be compatible with Kaiba. Doesn't matter who, even the janitor will do. Use our HR knowledge. How to get them to become friends is a question for later.

Kaiba
>3 - Tell her to take a week off (-50 stress)
Also gives the public more time to forget the scandal
But afterwards we need to work her like a dog, because while her fame decreased, her salary did not.

Mari and Iki
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Enatsu Mari
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Chigusa Iki
Since making an idol band will only become available after the next review, I'll switch the strategy to having them both work for the while. They both have some reasonably high stats for their fame so the chances of success should be good.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 12:07:07 No.5649022 Report

Quoted By: >>5649028

>>5649009
Btw we haven't had a vote on our new idols' images.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 12:16:43 No.5649028 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649022
If doing a job becomes the winning vote then we'll vote on idol image / persona and have the idol debut.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Fri 28 Apr 2023 14:39:55 No.5649091 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649009
>Find friends from outside the idol industry for ourself and Kaiba

>3 - Tell her to take a week off (-50 stress)
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Enatsu Mari
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Chigusa Iki

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dwd/RL6t Fri 28 Apr 2023 15:02:17 No.5649104 Report

Quoted By: >>5649119 >>5649150

>>5649009
>Manager Task
Go have a drink and talk to Yui Kitabayashi about our promise. We cannot keep it.

>Kaibi Aoi
2, find her some fulfilling work

>Enatsu Mari
2

>Chigusa
2, but also broach sibject of dating show contestant status

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 15:26:00 No.5649114 Report

Quoted By:

>>5648957
>Weren't you the one who
Yes and? Are you really so out of your mind or did your brain stop functioning? The CURRENT premise is telling her the truth, as asked by Yui, due to CURRENT outcomes. Had we banned contact when we first read the chatlogs, a thing that happened BEFORE talking to Yui, then we wouldn't have any compromise of revealing anything.

>Fire our only famous idol?
Another idiotic statement. Retarderino, we gained $50k for a new round of auditions one week BEFORE this incident - we'd have new idols and a fired idol doesn't cost at LEAST $5k/month and doesn't stain our scandal-less records.

The rest of the points are not even worth mentioning - schizophrenic as you are (and to a certain degree I am too), we can't know what could have been - it's a pointless argument that we'll never know the answer for. But I'll still point out that, multiple times, Kaiba questioned her behaviour being detrimental to her job. I keep my stance - she would fold if she had that threat on her neck.

I won't respond to any more of your statements. You're either arguing in bad faith or plain stupid.

------------------------

>>5649009
60 stress is manageable - we have free 30 stress per week as stated in:

>Every week an idol’s stress is automatically reduced by 30.

-- and at the end of every month, they go to therapy, reducing stress by 30. So, per month, we have around 150 of budget stress.

We need to see the available jobs first before deciding if sending her to one would be too taxing on her mind. Sending her home to spend another week with awful parent is not a good idea - she needs something to distract herself: let it be work and chatting with massive badonkers Manager-san. Hell, press her head against our breasts if we have too - this girl needs to get her job going.

T h e r e f o r e

Manager Task:
>Send Kaiba this following songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnlPtaPxXfc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8hUwP_5Qc4
I'm joking, of course.
>1-Write-in: Invite Kaiba to our home, have a talk with her and affirm her that we are by her side no matter what - as a loyal friend.
She can even meet Azuki! Everybody likes cats.

Idol Task: Kaiba Aoi, Enatsu, Chigusa
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work for them all.

Let's get the cash rolling. Money, money, money! The greatest motivator - the universal power tool, used to move montains and make kings bow!
... our budget is dwindling :(

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 15:39:29 No.5649119 Report

Quoted By: >>5649137 >>5649150

>>5649104
>broach sibject of dating show contestant status
We're sending Enatsu, aren't we?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 15:41:34 No.5649120 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649009
Huh. I don't know if it was intentional, but the option to train them using outside consultants is missing, QM. This was a option that granted a +10 modifier to our rolls - it was available up until week 11-12 IIRC (so, up until the last time we had the idol manager side of the quest) so I don't think it was removed due to the change of having bo3 rolls to training.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Fri 28 Apr 2023 15:43:19 No.5649123 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649009
Idol Task: Kaiba Aoi
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba Aoi
Let's try and work up that fame stat up again

Idol Task: Enatsu Mari
>1 - Have Enatsu work on her LOOKS using the office’s in-house tools (40 stress)
Mari doesn't have any strong stat, maybe we should focus on getting either looks or dance high since those are the highest limits she has

Idol Task: Chigusa Iki
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Chigusa Iki
Iki in the other side has decent stats in everything and its close to her max in most of them so training is not a horrible idea but we kinda need to start making at least a bit of money

Manager Task: Nagata Miho
Maybe have a chat with Kaiba about her parents, even if it didn't go that well before she needs support from them right now, last thing she needs is getting home stressed just to get called a lazy whore again

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 16:16:23 No.5649137 Report

Quoted By: >>5649140 >>5649148 >>5649375

Winner
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Enatsu Mari
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Chigusa Iki
>2 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba Aoi
>0 - (Write-in) Try and get Kaiba and Nagata some friends

>>5649119
Yeah, Enatsu won that vote.

>Huh. I don't know if it was intentional, but the option to train them using outside consultants is missing
Intentional.

>She can even meet Azuki! Everybody likes cats.
Ah, yes. The cat. The cat that returned back home and I didn't forget about.
The cat that Nagata totally picked up at Kitabayashi after returning from the trip.
That cat.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Fri 28 Apr 2023 16:20:18 No.5649140 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649137
>>Huh. I don't know if it was intentional, but the option to train them using outside consultants is missing
>Intentional.
Why?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 16:28:05 No.5649148 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649137
>and I didn't forget about
You monster.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Fri 28 Apr 2023 16:35:14 No.5649150 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649119
Woops, right, switch those two!

>>5649104
Mari for dating show discussion.

>>5649009
Sorry, QM.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 17:36:08 No.5649163 Report

Quoted By: >>5649170

Posting delayed. Technical difficulties.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 18:04:18 No.5649170 Report

Quoted By: >>5649175 >>5649181 >>5649310 >>5650246

>>5649163
This might take a while.

Apparently the entire platform was offline for several hours today and stuff hasn't been syncing.
However, it also turned out that the entire platform going offline was my fault and my account was suspended.

The page for the "EmikoDesu55" arc (60k+ words with large images) was so large it crashed the database because a syncing error made the database row a few gigabytes.

So, the company deleted the row.
Meaning they deleted the work.

However, because I post everything on 4chan and have the /qst/ archive, I'm piecing things back together.
I'll continue writing once I've got everything back and slotted into several smaller files.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:f19EXcK2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 18:11:25 No.5649175 Report

Quoted By: >>5649181

>>5649170
Fucking Emiko, going for meta villainy too!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Fri 28 Apr 2023 18:21:18 No.5649181 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649175
Goddamn, she realy wrecked our shit, huh?

>>5649170
That sucks, QM. Keep up the good work, and no rush!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 18:30:45 No.5649187 Report

Quoted By: >>5649193 >>5649230

>tfw you have to discuss what content in your borderline hentai online web trash might've caused the problem
just kill me now, they're browsing the directory and images

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO itsover.png, 262KiB, 416x453

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Fri 28 Apr 2023 18:37:31 No.5649193 Report

Quoted By: >>5649203

>>5649187
If it makes you feel better they probably find it hot too

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 18:54:09 No.5649203 Report

Quoted By: >>5649230

>>5649193
>they found the Enatsu Mari folder

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 34123123.png, 88KiB, 206x264

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 19:26:08 No.5649230 Report

Quoted By: >>5649235

>>5649187
>>5649203

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO folder.jpg, 519KiB, 1500x890

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 19:39:00 No.5649235 Report

Quoted By: >>5649240

Alright, everything outside of my self-respect has been recovered nicely.

I think I got everything, but if you do notice a weird discrepancy between the story and some of the idol / employee pages -- let me know.
Thigns haven't been syncing and I had to redo some pages. Luckily it's mostly stuff of the last 1/2 days.

I also split the EmikoDesu55 arc into several files and some references aren't correct yet.
Like a certain "Stress gain" might point at Week-15-16-1 while the actual event for that stress gain is in 15-16-5.

I'll spend some during the weekend to sort that out.

>>5649230
I wish I was joking, but I generated a whole load of images for Enatsu Mari because I figured it was easier to have some on hand.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 19:48:02 No.5649240 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649235
Deleted the file because the image of the Enatsu Mari collection contained spoilers

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 28 Apr 2023 21:23:22 No.5649310 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649170
>Local anon destroys a host provider

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 22:37:41 No.5649375 Report

Quoted By: >>5649376

>>5649137

You think back to that moment two weeks ago when you picked up your cat, Asuki, from Kitabayashi.
What a great thing that was that absolutely happened and you certainly didn’t forget about.
Can you imagine? That’d be terrible if you did. Good thing you didn’t forget.

You sit and your computer and go over this week’s planning.
As much as you’d like to have your idols practice all kinds of skills until they’re as good as they can be, it’s not possible.
Reality isn’t so kind. Your budget is dwindling.

Neatly tucked away in a binder on your desk are some suggestions for Chigusa and Enatsu’s idol personas.

There’ll be another performance review on August 1st and you have an inkling that they’ll probably expect something more than lofty promises and songs of untapped potential.
Luckily, there’s plenty of time until then, but the sooner you get all your idols out there – the better.

You send a quick message to Matsui for a chat and she appears in your office, clipboard in hand.

“Nagata-san,” says Matsui, closing the door behind herself, “How can I help?”

“Our budget is draining fast, our only idol which had some renown has been knocked off her throne, and I have absolutely nothing to show at the next performance review,” you say, “I think it’s time we debut both Chigusa and Enatsu and find jobs all three of the girls, including Kaiba.”

Matsui grimaces and making a note on her clipboard, “You’re not wrong,” she says, “This is a business after all. If we had to deduct both your and my salary from the budget, then we might’ve already hit zero.”

“What kind of income can we expect from the three of them?” you ask.

“Right now,” says Matsui, “Not much. Two of them are completely unknown and Kaiba is still a bit radioactive until she proves herself once more.”
“But it’s not all bad,” adds Matsui.

Oooh! Positivity. Latch onto that with both hands!

“How so?” you say, working in a quick smile.

“My job is a lot easier since they’re all basically starting from the same point,” says Matsui, returning your smile, “No need to negotiate higher wages on account of popularity.”

Geh.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Options_EnatsuMari.jpg, 633KiB, 600x2600

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 22:39:36 No.5649376 Report

Quoted By: >>5649378 >>5649394 >>5649415 >>5649425 >>5649445 >>5649474 >>5649514 >>5649521 >>5649524 >>5649657 >>5649742 >>5649824

>>5649375

“So,” says Matsui, tapping her clipboard with a pen, “Here’s what I’m going to do: I’ll find ten jobs total for all of them and you can decide who you send where? Okay?”

That’s fair. None of your idols are popular enough that they warrant a curated list of jobs tailored to them.

“That’s fine,” you say, “We need to get them out there. The sooner they build up some fame, the better.”

You open the binder on your desk. “Marketing dropped these off,” you say, raising some papers to show them off to Matsui, “They’re some personas that fit well with the new idols and they rate highly with focus groups.”

As you glance over the suggestion you remember something Watase Yoko told you.
That she spent such a long time acting as her persona that her previous personality basically withered away.

Actually, the same kind of happened to Kitabayashi Yui.
Her cheerful demeanour and somewhat childish behaviour are a direct legacy of her time as an idol.

Kaiba however hasn’t displayed many traits of her intended motherly image.
Perhaps it’s because she was only required to act that way during her stream.

That’s a stark difference from Watase Yoko who was expected to act like her persona around the clock.

Enatsu Mari
>1 - Happy, energetic, sporty girl. Very similar to her current self.
>2 - Bratty younger sister image.
>3 - Airheaded and very affectionate.

I'm trying out various models to generate art with, so let me know how this artstyle compares to the previous ones

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 28 Apr 2023 22:42:20 No.5649378 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
Write-ins are also allowed

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Fri 28 Apr 2023 23:06:39 No.5649394 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
>What a great thing that was that absolutely happened and you certainly didn’t forget about.
kek.

Hard to choose because she fits all 3, tomboy that you find cute because of how dumb she is.
>2 - Bratty younger sister image.
I'll go with 2 because it's the most marketable one

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Fri 28 Apr 2023 23:20:56 No.5649415 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
>1 - Happy, energetic, sporty girl. Very similar to her current self.
She's too earnest and impulsive to really be anything hut herself, I suspect.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 23:25:53 No.5649425 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
>1 - Happy, energetic, sporty girl. Very similar to her current self.
Her acting stat is pathetic, so let's choose the character that's the easiest for her to stay in.
(I also like this type)

This model is really good, and better with the dark skin than the previous one. Though the colors look too desaturated for my taste on the sporty pic.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 23:49:07 No.5649445 Report

Quoted By:

>>5629457
>It feels like all you have to do is place this girl in front of an audience and she’ll become an idol all by herself.

>>5649376
>1 - Happy, energetic, sporty girl. Very similar to her current self.
That was an easy one, QM. I have no idea what persona Chigusa might fit though.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 23:52:41 No.5649448 Report

Quoted By: >>5649460

If we go for an idol band, it'd be best for Mari's and Iki's personas to play off each other. They basically already do, so let's lean into it.
They also fit the boke/tsukkomi dynamic, so we can lean into that as well.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 28 Apr 2023 23:55:18 No.5649454 Report

Quoted By:

That being said, I have to go sleep. Give Iki a good persona, anons.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO uh.gif, 3MiB, 360x360

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 00:03:40 No.5649460 Report

Quoted By: >>5649521 >>5649817

>>5649448
Hmmmmmm...
Mari has an absurd dancing potential - she can go up to 82, and Iki can get to 62 which is good. I don't know where to fit Kaiba, though.
In my head, I was thinking something like:

Chigusa playing an instrument, Mari dancing and... huh. Kaiba has a 35 potential on vocals.

Yeah... an idol band, huh?

>gif related

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Sat 29 Apr 2023 00:31:23 No.5649474 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
>1 - Happy, energetic, sporty girl. Very similar to her current self

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:WN/stZZM Sat 29 Apr 2023 01:06:03 No.5649514 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
>1 - Happy, energetic, sporty girl. Very similar to her current self.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 29 Apr 2023 01:15:08 No.5649521 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
Mari is perfect as she is. Her name means Love!!! Plus her being bratty or deredere would mean she would wear less revealing... attires. And I don't want that to go to waste!!!
>>5649460
Kaiba is so far off from the other two that I see no reason to get them together. This is the ideal combination, because that way we diversify our assets. Kaiba being gamer and smelly versus Iki and Mari being awesome. Plus there will be little overlap among the fans so we won't have friction, in that regard.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sat 29 Apr 2023 01:20:21 No.5649524 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
>2 - Bratty younger sister image
Skin is fine but whole image looks as if it was left in a fryer

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sat 29 Apr 2023 03:33:19 No.5649628 Report

Quoted By:

Was testing a new model and got a bit bored and decided to see what we could have had if yuribros won
note that I didn't do any editing and its like a third try so it's a bit fucked up, just don't look at the details
https://imgur.com/SRiY166

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Sat 29 Apr 2023 04:10:04 No.5649657 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
>1 - Happy, energetic, sporty girl. Very similar to her current self.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qzmNGB7V Sat 29 Apr 2023 05:26:25 No.5649742 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649376
>1 - Happy, energetic, sporty girl. Very similar to her current self.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 07:36:03 No.5649817 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649460
Kaiba was never intended to be in the band, she doesn't have the stats for it. Purely an Iki-Mari duo

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 07:51:42 No.5649824 Report

Quoted By: >>5649852

>>5649376

Winner
>1 - Happy, energetic, sporty girl. Very similar to her current self.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Options_Chigusa.jpg, 1MiB, 494x2396

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 09:05:30 No.5649852 Report

Quoted By: >>5649853 >>5649854 >>5649855 >>5649856 >>5649857 >>5649886 >>5649887 >>5649918 >>5649954 >>5649977 >>5649980 >>5650095

>>5649824

You show off the idol personas to Matsui.

“I have no doubt that they’re all popular,” says Matsui, “But some might not be a good fit for Entasu-san. You’d need some serious acting chops to pull off a character with a personality so different from your own.”

You nod, “Probably best to simply go with the ‘Sporty' type. That’s basically just her being herself.”

Matsui makes a note of it, “Seems fair,” she says, “What about Chigusa-san?”

It would’ve been great if Chigusa Iki was some kind of star actor.
Her own hard-working, but cold personality might not be attractive to fans.

Nevertheless, marketing came up with some ideas.

First of which is that of a cold and isolated princess type.
Chigusa’s usual distant demeanour would be in character.
The kind of idol that should only be appreciated from afar.

The second suggested persona is much the same, but catered towards a female audience.
In the absence of cutesy behaviour, marketing felt like it might be worth it to double down on Chigusa’s stoic and masculine traits.

Last type is that of a smart, but stern childhood friend.
The type that might stick around to point out your faults and nudge you in the right direction.
These kinds of characters come with the underlying assumption that they secretly really like you and that’s why they go out of their way to help you.

Chigusa Iki Idol Persona
>1 - Princess type. Cold and condescending.
>2 - Prince type. Like princess, but favouring male clothing and targeted towards a female audience.
>3 - Stern childhood friend type.
>4 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qzmNGB7V Sat 29 Apr 2023 09:13:02 No.5649853 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
>3 - Stern childhood friend type.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 09:13:57 No.5649854 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
>3 - Stern childhood friend type.
The only persona compatible with Mari's, I feel. The other two are really for a solo idol.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 09:15:45 No.5649855 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
This model is real nice. I love the traditional painting vibe it gives off.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 09:16:34 No.5649856 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
>prince pic
Those are big hands, damn.
Didn't even notice it before I uploaded, but I suppose that's what you get when you put "masculine" in the AI prompt.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sat 29 Apr 2023 09:30:44 No.5649857 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
>1 - Princess type. Cold and condescending

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0CxL9xU5 Sat 29 Apr 2023 10:56:08 No.5649886 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
>1 - Princess type. Cold and condescending.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 10:56:09 No.5649887 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
I'm closing this vote in roughly 3h or so as I want to post the jobs.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 11:55:56 No.5649918 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
>3 - Stern childhood friend type

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2XbrZ9z Sat 29 Apr 2023 13:32:53 No.5649954 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
>3 - Stern childhood friend type.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Sat 29 Apr 2023 14:04:20 No.5649977 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
>3 - Stern childhood friend type.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 14:16:16 No.5649980 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852

Winner
>3 - Stern childhood friend type

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:YkOHTSLv Sat 29 Apr 2023 16:54:39 No.5650095 Report

Quoted By:

>>5649852
>1 - Princess type. Cold and condescending.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO ReducedSize_Matsui_v2.jpg, 353KiB, 500x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 16:56:27 No.5650098 Report

Quoted By: >>5650104 >>5650119

You consider your options for a moment.
Although the current Chigusa is a shoo-in for either the prince or princess personas, both roles have a shared, fatal flaw.

Both personas centre around being distant and unapproachable.

This fits the current Chigusa perfectly.

However, if you understand her correctly – she doesn’t actually want to be isolated.
Having grown up with grandparents in a town full of elderly, she simply hasn’t had the opportunity to make many (or any) friends.

Surrounded by nothing but adults, a child will quickly adjust and turn into a smaller adult themselves.
A transformation all too common, started by innocent compliments like ‘Oh, she’s so mature for her age'.

Eager to please, a child will continue behaving in ways the adults approve.
Robbing a young girl of her childhood one compliment at a time.

Rather than cementing her in a role that suits the current Chigusa, you decide to give her a chance to grow into a role that more aligns with the kind of person you think she wants to be.
One that is made to be surrounded by people, but at the same time not a persona far removed from Chigusa’s current self and thus still within reach.

“Let’s go with the childhood friend one for Chigusa,” you say, then closing the binder.

“Sure thing,” says Matsui, making a note.

“With those personas in mind, do you think you can find them some work?” you ask.

“I’ll do my best,” says Matsui with a smile.

About an hour list, you receive a list of potential jobs in your inbox.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 17:01:46 No.5650104 Report

Quoted By: >>5650105

>>5650098

Looking for young women to show off cosplay wear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Isekai Cosplay is an online retail selling all your cosplay needs.
Recently we’ve acquired a brand-new line of cat ears and we’re looking for models to show these off.

Stress: 40
Payment: 7800
Skill: Looks

About:
Isekai Cosplay Wear is known to be a company with a decent reputation.

---

Looking for Entertaining Girls (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Everybody knows a man is more likely to spend big with a pretty girl on his arm.
There’s a big event coming up that’ll fill our building with some very wealthy patrons.
We’re looking for girls to walk the casino floor and 'motivate' men to try their luck a little harder.

Stress: 60
Payment: 12600
Skill: Personality

About:
The Greyhound Casino is known to be a sleazy company.
---

Background dancers for a skit (DC 60, Rank F Rank)

We’re doing a skit where a guy wearing flashy clothing and a cane is followed by group of exotic dancers wherever he goes!
When the music starts, you’re expected to dance, regardless of the place.

Stress: 50
Payment: 4500
Skill: Dancing

About:
Steamy Nights Talkshow is known to be a company with no morals.

---

Go! Princess Precure (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Ever since she was young, Haruka Haruno has always aspired to become a princess.
Despite being mocked for this seemingly childish wish, Haruka perseveres to make her dream a reality, ultim--
ately culminating in her acceptance into the prestigious Noble Academy—the birthplace of people's fantasies.

We’re looking for an actress to portay the role of “Yui Nanase”.

Stress: 60
Payment: 9900
Skill: Acting

About:
Toei Animation is known to be a well-respected company.

---

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 17:02:47 No.5650105 Report

Quoted By: >>5650106 >>5650226

>>5650104

Maido Café Momoi - Advertising (DC 100, Rank D Rank)

Maido Café Momoi is looking to open a new store in the upper Tokyo area.
We’re looking for some girls to star in the advertisement campaign.

Stress: 60
Payment: 11400
Skill: Looks

About:
Maido Café Momoi is known to be a respected company.

---

Guest stars needed for Variety Show (DC 60, Rank F Rank)

Crazy Ogura Talkshow is doing a variety segment where we’d like girls to do improv.
karaoke under weird, wacky, and sometimes maybe inappropriate clips of movies.

We already have the singers covered, but we’re looking for guest starts to react to the content.

Stress: 60
Payment: 6300
Skill: Personality

About:
Crazy Ogura Talkshow is known to be a sleazy company.

---

Looking for model to advertise “Bright“ (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Sakura Perfumes is debuting a new line of perfumes under the name “Bright“.
The model should represent joy, positivity, and broadcast a love for life.

Stress: 40
Payment: 7800
Skill: Looks

About:
Sakura Perfumes is known to be a decent company.

---

Looking for girls for in-person marketing (DC 60, Rank F Rank)

We’re looking some girls to wear and show off our line of jewellery.
You’re expected to walk across the Tokyo metropolitan area and impress.
When asked, direct potential customers to a Sapphire Jewellery store.

The idea is to instil a subconscious importance to jewellery.
Remind a girl how it may elevate her looks. We’re hoping to turn those people into customers.

Stress: 20
Payment: 1950
Skill: Personality

About:
Sapphire Jewels is known to be a decent company.

---

Ushio to Tora (2nd Season) (DC 60, Rank F Rank)

Due to an illness of the previous voice actress, we’re recasting the role of “Saya Takatori“.

Stress: 50
Payment: 6950
Skill: Acting

About:
MAPPA Studio is known to be a decent company.

---

Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Genki clothing is expanding its business to include sportswear.
We’re looking for some girls to show off this clothing.

This will be a taxing job as this is our first foray into this branch of clothing and we have a large collection of items that need to be caught on camera for advertisements.

Stress: 80
Payment: 11400
Skill: Looks

About:
Genki Clothing is known to be a virtuous company.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 17:03:57 No.5650106 Report

Quoted By: >>5650110 >>5650132 >>5650133 >>5650306 >>5650332 >>5650582 >>5650726

>>5650105

All jobs that mention that they’re looking for multiple girls can be taken by more than one idol.

Kaiba Aoi

>1 - Looking for young women to show off cosplay wear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>2- Looking for Entertaining Girls (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>3 - Background dancers for a skit (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>4 - Go! Princess Precure (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>5 - Maido Café Momoi - Advertising (DC 100, Rank D Rank)
>6 - Guest stars needed for Variety Show (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>7 - Looking for model to advertise “Bright“ (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>8 - Looking for girls for in-person marketing (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>9 - Ushio to Tora (2nd Season) (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Enatsu Mari

>1 - Looking for young women to show off cosplay wear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>2- Looking for Entertaining Girls (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>3 - Background dancers for a skit (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>4 - Go! Princess Precure (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>5 - Maido Café Momoi - Advertising (DC 100, Rank D Rank)
>6 - Guest stars needed for Variety Show (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>7 - Looking for model to advertise “Bright“ (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>8 - Looking for girls for in-person marketing (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>9 - Ushio to Tora (2nd Season) (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Chigusa Iki

>1 - Looking for young women to show off cosplay wear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>2- Looking for Entertaining Girls (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>3 - Background dancers for a skit (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>4 - Go! Princess Precure (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>5 - Maido Café Momoi - Advertising (DC 100, Rank D Rank)
>6 - Guest stars needed for Variety Show (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>7 - Looking for model to advertise “Bright“ (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
>8 - Looking for girls for in-person marketing (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>9 - Ushio to Tora (2nd Season) (DC 60, Rank F Rank)
>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sat 29 Apr 2023 17:10:03 No.5650110 Report

Quoted By: >>5650121

>>5650106
Kaiba Aoi
>4 - Go! Princess Precure (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Enatsu Mari
>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Chigusa Iki
>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

assuming we hit all the rolls, 30k is good money, also having the new idols do their first work together might help them bond and it's good for marketing

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 17:33:40 No.5650119 Report

Quoted By: >>5650268

>>5650098
You'd think all those grandmas and grandpas would've spoiled her rotten, but.

Aoi
>Ushio to Tora (2nd Season)
She's very unlikely to fail this and it'll cover her salary for the month, as well as hopefully giving her some confidence.

Mari
>Advertising of a new line of sportswear
She's freaking made for this.

Iki
>Looking for young women to show off cosplay wear
She gets double stress on failed jobs, so sportswear is too dangerous for her.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 17:34:51 No.5650121 Report

Quoted By: >>5650123

>>5650110
Chigusa gets double stress on failed jobs - which is potentially 160, straight into a panic attack tier. I think we should send her on something less stressful

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sat 29 Apr 2023 17:38:38 No.5650123 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650121
It's not that hard to beat the DC for any of them, chigusa needs a 32

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Sat 29 Apr 2023 18:06:07 No.5650132 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650106
Kaiba:
>9

Mari:
>10

Iki:
Hm. Trickiest one... But cats are aloof.
>1

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sat 29 Apr 2023 18:09:00 No.5650133 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650106
Kaiba
>9 - Ushio to Tora (2nd Season) (DC 60, Rank F Rank)

Enatsu
>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Chigusa
>3 - Background dancers for a skit (DC 60, Rank F Rank)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 20:39:31 No.5650221 Report

Quoted By:

I'll leave the vote open overnight and update first thing tomorrow.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 20:46:59 No.5650226 Report

Quoted By: >>5650246

>>5650105
>MAPPA Studio
*breathes in*
MAPPA WHERE'S SNK THIRD SEASON FINALE REEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Also, hey QM - Is Kaiba sitting at 80 or at 60 stress? Wiki says 80, but >>5649009 says 60.

Kaiba:
Well... both acting jobs are pretty stressful. Since the difference between them is merely 10 stress but $3k, I'd go for
>4 - Go! Princess Precure (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
and pray to whatever God up in the sky that anons are not terribly unlucky to roll below 30. I'd bet that if Kaiba succeeds, she'll begin to feel worthy of her idolness again.

Enatsu Mari:

Tsk. This is hard. Plenty of jobs with high DCs and the lower ones have terrible pay IMO. Let's see, Dancing and Looks are her forte so I'd vote for either

>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
or
>7 - Looking for model to advertise “Bright“ (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Since she fits both. In case of a tie between the two for Mari, I'll pick 10 since it pays better.

Chigusa Iki:

Man... That's tough.

>1 - Looking for young women to show off cosplay wear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)
or
>8 - Looking for girls for in-person marketing (DC 60, Rank F Rank)

Low stress jobs for her. If we fail, she can tank another week of jobs nevertheless due to passive stress reduction. Job 8 pays very little but is also the least stressful and has a pretty low DC. I'd go for 8 in case of a tie.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 29 Apr 2023 21:16:20 No.5650246 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650226
>Also, hey QM - Is Kaiba sitting at 80 or at 60 stress? Wiki says 80, but >>5649009 says 60.
60.

Boils back to >>5649170 I had to manually redo a lot of stuff and it seems I forgot something.
Good catch.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:YkOHTSLv Sat 29 Apr 2023 21:51:45 No.5650268 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650119
Supporting this

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 21:59:44 No.5650279 Report

Quoted By: >>5650308

Damn anons, just saw this clip of Oshi no Ko and I might watch your idol anime... (spoilers for the ending)

https://youtu.be/vOW-pB76YaY

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 29 Apr 2023 22:37:19 No.5650306 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650106
CATGIRS???? DID SOMEONE SAY CAT GIRLS!?!?!?
I think it's an adequate pay for the stress and dificulty plus it's a job that allows all the idols to be together, something to have in mind when we want to form an unit with either two or three of 'em. The reputation of this company is something to keep in mind as well.
Kaiba Aoi To succed: 48%
>Cosplay
Enatsu Mari To succed: 68%
>Cosplay
Chigusa Iki To succed: 67%
>Cosplay

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 29 Apr 2023 22:39:57 No.5650308 Report

Quoted By: >>5650320 >>5650345 >>5650362

>>5650279
I don't have the time, but if we REALLY want to game this (which turns into a pain in the ass for the QM) we can divide the pay by the stress so we get a nice ratio, then we factor in the difficulty of each job and we run some simulations...

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1675832679235905.png, 161KiB, 320x320

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sat 29 Apr 2023 22:52:03 No.5650320 Report

Quoted By: >>5650328 >>5650331

>>5650308
do you even have fun that way?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 29 Apr 2023 22:56:37 No.5650328 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650320
Not one bit, no.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 29 Apr 2023 22:57:57 No.5650331 Report

Quoted By: >>5650400

>>5650320
Now change your vote to have all the girls posing as catgirls. There is another meta catch. Since the QM said that we will have to choose one of the girls to see her activities in detail (narrative), how about we don't choose at all and get the three in the same scene?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:v9z9o9eK Sat 29 Apr 2023 23:00:18 No.5650332 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650106
>5
>5
>5
GO BIG OR GO HOME

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 23:15:45 No.5650345 Report

Quoted By: >>5650362

>>5650308
It would be a little more complicate than that but we absolutely should do this - this is ALSO a numbers game, after all. We need to factor in natural stress decay - a decision takes a week, so the idols would naturally lose 30 stress after a job.

I liked your idea anon. Informed decisions benefit everyone.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO dirty_deeds_done_dirty_cheap.png, 27KiB, 582x224

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 29 Apr 2023 23:32:35 No.5650362 Report

Quoted By: >>5650650

>>5650308
>>5650345
If anyone is curious, there it is: $ per Stress point of the current available jobs.
I wanted to generate a public Google Sheets link so we could add the previous jobs, make some graphs & etc but by doing that I'd basically doxx myself so yeah.... I might think about creating another google account just for that but I don't know. Anyway, enjoy this small table.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 00:03:20 No.5650400 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650331
As much as I like maids and catgirls it's not the best option

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Sun 30 Apr 2023 03:40:22 No.5650582 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650106
Kaiba Aoi
>9 - Ushio to Tora (2nd Season) (DC 60, Rank F Rank)

Enatsu Mari
>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Chigusa Iki
>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

We need that money and fame

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 30 Apr 2023 05:29:08 No.5650650 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650362
You can always change the name that your google acc displays. It lead to some hilarious... situations when I have shared official documents through drive tho...

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 08:44:37 No.5650726 Report

Quoted By: >>5650765

>>5650106

Winner

Kaiba Aoi
>9 - Ushio to Tora (2nd Season) (DC 60, Rank F Rank)

Enatsu Marie
>10 - Advertising of a new line of sportswear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Chigusa Iki
>1 - Looking for young women to show off cosplay wear (DC 80, Rank E Rank)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 10:31:24 No.5650765 Report

Quoted By: >>5650768

>>5650726

There’s a large variety of work available catering to all the various skills an idol may possess.
Although there’s merit in making all idols excel in a specific area, your current idols with their differing strengths are suited for a wider range of work.

Chigusa and Enatsu have quite similar skillsets, but Kaiba is almost the exact opposite.

You decide to send both Chigusa and Enatsu to modelling jobs while sending Kaiba to another voice acting audition.

Although a bit at odds with the idol persona you picked for her (that of a cold and strict childhood friend that’s supposed to slowly warm up to their fans), you decide to send Chigusa Iki to Isekai Cosplay so she can have her official work debut in catgirl attire.

Perhaps she’ll awaken a more playful and less strict side of herself. Who knows?

Enatsu Mari’s job was easy to pick. There’s one that almost seems tailor-made for her.
Looking at the estimated stress, you feel a little bit bad handing Enatsu such a massive workload for what is to be her first job.
However, it pays well, matches perfectly with her idol persona, and should solidify Enatsu’s image in the minds of any potential fans.

While Kaiba mostly focused on her live vlog for the past few months, she has done well in the voice-acting audition that she attended so another one of those seems like a good fit.
Besides, there’s still that secretive job offer that might appear in the future and Kaiba seems to be the only idol in your roster with the acting skills to pull it off.
Experience and fame will help her with that.

You’ve spotted Kaiba in and around the building a bit and although she doesn’t appear as stressed as she did before, she has kind of let herself go.
It’s good to see that Kaiba no longer adheres to the frilly, dolled-up version of herself that EmikoDesu55 favoured and pushed on her, but now she’s done a complete turn-around and then some.
She doesn’t seem to bother with make-up anymore and her clothing is back to hoodies and sweaters that she wears for days at a time.
Her live vlog hasn't started back up yet as marketing said it's best to wait since the scandal is quite fresh in people's minds so she's been able to get away with looking like she has.

It’s important that Kaiba Aoi gets back out there if she wants to survive as an idol.
You decide to start her off easy with the kind of job she’s familiar with: a voice-acting job at MAPPA Studio for Ushio to Tora.

Hoping she doesn’t take it the wrong way; you send Kaiba an email informing her of the audition where you subtly hint that she should make sure she looks presentable on the day of.

With all those decisions made, you strech for a moment, then sigh.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 10:33:58 No.5650768 Report

Quoted By: >>5650771 >>5650772 >>5650810 >>5650812 >>5650813 >>5650817 >>5650936 >>5651033

>>5650765

The work never seems to ease up, there’s always something to do.
This counts double for things outside the office. Your chores at home have piled up.
You should probably get to those soon.

There’s also that new album you’ve been meaning to get from the music store.
It’s not like it’s important that you go to that specific store: Ishibashi Music.
Sure, the man behind the counter was helpful, nice, and recommend some pretty good music, but your main reason is that you want to support local stores!
Online web shops have done a real number on brick-and-mortar stores, you know!?

Your phone buzzes. It’s Watase Yoko, again.
Ever since you exchanged phone numbers at the hot spring Watase has been regularly sending you messages filled with complaints about her manager, Matsuno Kojiro.
It’s a bit in poor taste to complain about your own manager to another one, but you can tell she doesn’t harbour any malicious intentions – she just seems to want to vent.

Seems like she wants to meet-up for lunch. Well, you need to eat at some point, might as well hear her out.

--------

All events will be summarized by default, but the first one or two with the most support will be written out, get some art, and you might be able to micromanage them a bit.
As mentioned previously, I might also write out an event because I want to or because I feel it adds to the story.

Events
>1 - Kaiba’s voice acting audition at Ushio to Tora (2nd Season)
>2 - Enatsu Marie’s sportswear modelling job at Genki Clothing
>3 - Showing off catgirl clothing by Chigusa Iki at Isekai Cosplay
>4 - A Day in the Life of Nagata Miho (House, groceries)
>5 - Help Kaiba prepare for her audition by going shopping
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.
>7 - Watase Yoko wants to meet up for lunch

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qzmNGB7V Sun 30 Apr 2023 10:51:20 No.5650771 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650768
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 30 Apr 2023 10:55:50 No.5650772 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650768
>2 - Enatsu Marie’s sportswear modelling job at Genki Clothing
>4 - A Day in the Life of Nagata Miho (House, groceries)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 12:18:09 No.5650810 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650768
>>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.
>>7 - Watase Yoko wants to meet up for lunch

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 12:34:59 No.5650812 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650768
>5 -
or
>6 -
Inclined towards 5 in case of a tie.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 12:35:36 No.5650813 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650768
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.
>3 - Showing off catgirl clothing by Chigusa Iki at Isekai Cosplay

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Sun 30 Apr 2023 12:48:10 No.5650817 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650768
>4 - A Day in the Life of Nagata Miho (House, groceries)
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 30 Apr 2023 15:32:36 No.5650936 Report

Quoted By:

>>5650768
>>2 - Enatsu Marie’s sportswear modelling job at Genki Clothing
Vote for the brown girl damn it

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 17:01:53 No.5651033 Report

Quoted By: >>5651080

>>5650768

>7 - Watase Yoko wants to meet up for lunch
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.
>4 - A Day in the Life of Nagata Miho (House, groceries)
>4 - A Day in the Life of Nagata Miho (House, groceries)
>5 - Help Kaiba prepare for her audition by going shopping
>2 - Enatsu Marie’s sportswear modelling job at Genki Clothing
>2 - Enatsu Marie’s sportswear modelling job at Genki Clothing
>3 - Showing off catgirl clothing by Chigusa Iki at Isekai Cosplay

Winner
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album.
>4 - A Day in the Life of Nagata Miho (House, groceries)

Yes, I know "2" got the same amount of votes, but I made an executive decision.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 17:40:24 No.5651080 Report

Quoted By: >>5651091 >>5651318

>>5651033

Chronological order
>7 - Watase Yoko wants to meet up for lunch (Monday) -- Summarized
>5 - Help Kaiba prepare for her audition by going shopping (Tuesday) -- Summarized
>2 - Enatsu Marie’s sportswear modelling job at Genki Clothing (Wednesday) -- Summarized
>3 - Showing off catgirl clothing with Chigusa Iki at Isekai Cosplay (Thursday) -- Summarized
>1 - Kaiba’s voice acting audition at Ushio to Tora (2nd Season) (Friday) -- Summarized
>4 - A Day in the Life of Nagata Miho (House, groceries) (Saturday) -- Full
>6 - Nagata indulges in her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album. (Saturday) -- Full

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 30 Apr 2023 17:47:36 No.5651091 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>5651080
Aaah the last vote was to decide what do we want to see. I thought it was about choosing one of those events, got it.
Prepare those 1d100 anons, channel your luck!! Go wash the dishes, make your bed, laundry, broom the floor and shave. We need positive karma for this one

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1679467840956871.jpg, 37KiB, 720x732

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 17:59:21 No.5651112 Report

Quoted By: >>5651139 >>5651245

I can't believe you guys prefer reading about doing groceries instead of yoko

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 30 Apr 2023 18:21:10 No.5651139 Report

Quoted By: >>5651169 >>5651180

>>5651112
Agree. I wanted catgirls. Maybe more people thought that this was a choice about what to do and not what to read?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:NUBlM5vt Sun 30 Apr 2023 18:49:23 No.5651169 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651139
I know what I voted for.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 30 Apr 2023 18:56:20 No.5651180 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651139

I like groceries, and I also voted for Enatsu

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 20:23:48 No.5651245 Report

Quoted By: >>5651304

>>5651112
Silence, Baefag.
Miho cute and t b h Yoko is kind of giving me weird vibes - she either seems to be lying about her or has some sort of personality disorder (wants to be a cute girl but obeys a mainly code of honor, doesn't like how she was sold as a punk rebellious girl but uses the opportunity to fondle submissive women)
... and she's a sexual predator, there's that

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 21:13:48 No.5651275 Report

Quoted By:

Hoping to get the update out soon.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1675218944290350.png, 395KiB, 533x476

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 21:53:08 No.5651304 Report

Quoted By: >>5651314

>>5651245
This is not the place for waifu fagging but I will not tolerate slander towards my rat wife.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:03:06 No.5651314 Report

Quoted By: >>5651315

>>5651304
Why is your wife sitting on a girl's head?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:04:45 No.5651315 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651314
Nono, the girl is my wife, she's also a rat

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:06:41 No.5651318 Report

Quoted By: >>5651321

>>5651080

The hours fly by as you send out various emails and try to keep up to date with everything happening in the idol world.
The clock hits 1 PM before you know it and you hurry to gather your things to meet up with Watase Yoko who’s waiting in the hallway.

You’re going to have lunch together.
Meaning she’s going to complain about her manager while you eat and nod.

“Yo,” says Watase.

“Good afternoon, Watase-san,” you say, “Sorry for keeping you waiting.”

Watase leans in, “Haa?” she says, unexpectedly fierce and getting really close.

Great start. What’d even do wrong? Ah.

“Y-yoko-chan,” you say, leaning away.

“Yoko,” corrects Watase.

“Yoko,” you say, looking away.
If she’s gonna be like this the entire time, then you’re never lunching with her again.
She might be almost a foot taller, but you’re still older AND her superior.
It wouldn’t hurt her to give you some proper respect while you’re in the office, right?

Watase grins and points over her shoulder with a thumb, “I know a nice place not too far, let’s go.”

Oh. It seems like she has already decided on a place.
That’s fine. You nod and simply follow her as she heads out the door.

To your surprise there’s already a taxi waiting.

“Eh?” you say, looking at Watase, “Where are we going? Is it far?”

Watase’s brow furrows, “No,” she says, her expression softening, then pointing at your shoes as she scratches a cheek, “It’s just that, I noticed you’re sometimes walking in heels and I didn’t want to make you walk the entire way in those.”

You’re wearing flats today, so walking a short distance it wouldn’t have been an issue.
Still, that’s… oddly considerate of Watase.

Watase herself is never seen wearing anything other than sneakers or combat boots.

The both of you get in the taxi and are driven towards a small bistro.
It was about a ten-minute drive in the busy Tokyo streets, but that would’ve been killing in heels.

Once inside you both order your meals, just a light lunch for you and seafood for Watase.
You enjoy your meal over friendly conversation and as expected Watase spares no time to tear into her manager.

He’s unexperienced. Knows nothing about the industry. Refuses to heed advice. And so on so forth.
You listen attentively and nod at the appropriate times, making comments like: “Wow, that’s crazy.”

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 3ed7873d-90ce-4eda-8fee-38e2765a (...).png, 1MiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:08:12 No.5651321 Report

Quoted By: >>5651326

>>5651318

After a while she changes the subject and instead wants to know what you’ve been up to.
It’s true that you haven’t really spoken much in person since the hot spring trip, so you indulge her.

Leaning on a hand, Watase listens with a soft smile on her face as you talk animatedly about getting your idols ready for their debut.
Although it’s the new girls that’ll debut, you mention how it’s scary for you as well and that you can’t help but worry about the reception to their debut.

After that you talk some more and Watase seems eager to learn more about you, Nagata Miho, but after mentioning a handful of things you confess with a chuckle that you’re not all that interesting.
Watase says she disagrees, but before you can talk more your alarm rings.

It’s time to get back to work.

There’s a taxi to take you back to the office and on the ride back you mostly talk about the meal you just had.

Watase Yoko might seem awfully crass at times, but you’re happy to find yourself reminded that she can be kind as well.

Back at the office, you part ways with a wave and return to your respective duties.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 3cde9bb0-c60b-457f-91c1-ce4bed62 (...).jpg, 67KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:14:47 No.5651326 Report

Quoted By: >>5651332 >>5651555

>>5651321

>5 - Help Kaiba prepare for her audition by going shopping

It’s Tuesday and as you look over your schedule, you’re reminded that Kaiba’s audition is this Friday.
The way she has been presenting herself around the office has you nervous.
Surely, she wouldn’t actually go to an audition like that. Right?

…

Maybe just send an email to see if she wants to go shopping together, just in case.
You kind of need new clothing yourself, anyway. It just overlaps, that’s all.
Considering that you’ve got Enatsu’s and Chigusa’s job planned for Wednesday and Thursday, this shopping trip will have to happen today.

Considering that Kaiba hasn’t all that much going on with the live vlog on hiatus, you decide to set out around 3 PM, near the end of the workday.
Unlike Kaiba you probably have to head back to work afterwards to catch up on those missed hours, but it serves as a nice break.

At 3 PM, you meet up with Kaiba in the lobby where she’s sitting on a couch in front of a small table.
She’s surrounded by a bit of a mess, just staring blankly ahead.

“Aoi-chan, hello~” you say as you approach her, adding a smile and wave.

Kaiba looks up, snapping out of her daze, “Nagata-san,” she says.
She seems to remember where she is, looks at her surroundings, and hastily cleans up the mess.

The papers she collects and stuffs in a large purse.
You wince as you watch them crumple up. Hopefully they weren’t important documents.

She seems at a loss what to do with this second pair of pants she has brought along.
After glancing left and right a few times, she spots what she’s been looking for and pulls out a backpack that had been hidden under the table.
Kaiba puts the jeans in there and leaves the backpack there for now.

You crack a smile, “Why the pants?” you ask.

“Ah, the, eh, ones I had one were dirty, so I changed in the bathroom,” she says.

“Okay…?” you ask, turning your head slightly, “Everything alright?”

“Mhhmm,” says Kaiba, making a small sound of confirmation, “Let’s get going, okay?”
She gets up and turns towards the exit.

You glance back, “Don’t you want to take the backpack?”

“Eh?” says Kaiba from the door, looking uncertain, “It’s heavy… I’ll come back for it later.”

“Heavy?” you say, glancing at the backpack.
It does appear stuffed to the brim.
“What’s in it?” you ask.

“Ah, stuff… like clothing and things,” she says, “I’m… going to a sleepover at a friend’s house.”

Kaiba made friends! That’s delightful to hear. If it wasn’t an obvious lie.
Nevertheless, Kaiba doesn’t seem to want to talk about it.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Nagata_Clothing.png, 639KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:18:03 No.5651332 Report

Quoted By: >>5651333 >>5651338 >>5652265

>>5651326

She wouldn’t be… meeting up with EmikoDesu55 would she?
Even she would have more self-respect than that, wouldn’t she?

“Nagata-san,” says Kaiba from the door, “You coming?”

“Ah,” you say, “Of course.”

The both of you head off into the city and end up only buying a handful of things.
You buy a new dress, a grey one, apologizing to Kaiba for taking up so much time as the shopkeeper takes your measurements in a private room so it can be tailored down to your size while Kaiba waits.

Naturally, you have to strip down to your underwear for the measurements to be taken.
It’s a dress after all. A body-hugging one. The underwear stays on as it has to be taken into account.

The seamstress clears her throat, “You’ll have to remove any padding that you have in the bra…”

“Eh?” you reply, looking confused, “There’s none.”

“Hah?” replies the seamstress.

Kaiba hastily excuses herself and decides to wait outside.
You watch her rush out the room, wondering what's up with her.

---

In the end Kaiba purchases a travel-size make-up kit, a pair of jeans, two shirts, and a sweater.

It’s closing in on 5 PM at this point, so you decide to head back.
As you hit the borders of the shopping district, Kaiba speaks up, “I’ll be going this way…” she says, pointing towards a street heading north.

“Ah, alright,” you reply, then give a mournful look as you drop your shoulders a bit, “I have to head back to the office for now…”

“Nagata-san, fighto~,” says Kaiba, raising her fist with a thin smile filled with sympathy.

The both of you part ways.
Strange, you could’ve sworn Kaiba’s house was in the other direction.
Maybe she really is meeting with a friend.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:19:05 No.5651333 Report

Quoted By: >>5651338 >>5651345

>>5651332

Once you arrive back at the office you notice the backpack that Kaiba left behind is still under the table.
Ah, she must’ve forgotten all about it.

It’s probably bad to leave it here, right?
Somebody could walk in and take it.
You decide that you’ll take up to your office.

After dragging the bag from underneath the table, you grab firm hold off one of the backpack’s straps and with a grunt of effort swing it over your shoulder.
And as you do the bag’s momentum successfully takes you down to the ground.

The breath is knocked out of you as you hit the floor.

Heavy! Gosh, what’s in here?
Has Kaiba been carrying this around?

Pulling yourself up from the ground, you dust off your suit.
Then you upright the bag and begin to undo the clasp…

“Oh my~” rings a voice, with a sound of heels clacking on the lobby’s tiling, “What do I see here?”

Geh!

It’s Kitabayashi Yui, heading off from work for the day.
“You alright?” she says, “You hit the ground pretty hard there…”

“I’m fine, Yui-chan,” you say, “Just trying to move Kaiba’s bag that she left by accident.”

Kitabayashi earlier look of concern is replaced by a smug grin, “Kaiba’s, eh?” she says, looming over you, “You weren’t about to open it to have a little peek inside, were you?”
“That’d be a little like spying, now wouldn’t it?” she adds, “You know, I haven’t forgotten about that what you told me…”

Ah, yes. You asked for her help with the EmikoDesu55 situation.
But to do so you had to reveal that you spied of Kaiba’s private chat.
Not only did she reprimand you pretty harshly for that, but she made you promise to reveal to Kaiba that you spied.

“I know,” you say, looking down in regret, “It’s all gotten very complicated…”
You look back up, staring Kitabayashi in the face, “I’m trying to find the right moment, I really am…”

Kitabayashi stomps her food down, “That’s not fair!” she says, pouting, “Don’t look at me like that!”
She scratches the side of her head, “Aaargh, fine,” she says, “But you better tell!”

You nod, “I will,” you say, “Can you help me get this bag to my office? I’m not trying to do anything with it. I just want to make sure it isn’t stolen from the lobby by anyone.”

“Fine,” says Kitabayashi.

Together you lift the bag.

“Heavy!” cries Kitabayashi.

The bag eventually finds its way to your office.
Kaiba recovers it the following day, but dodges any questions regarding the content.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:26:09 No.5651338 Report

Quoted By: >>5651347 >>5651349

>>5651332
>>5651333
Alright anons, this definitely warrants further investigation. Did Kaiba flee her home? Even Miho's hotness can't assuage my worry.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 00037-2362955052.png, 602KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:32:15 No.5651345 Report

Quoted By: >>5651349 >>5651350 >>5651368 >>5651780

>>5651333
>2 - Enatsu Marie’s sportswear modelling job at Genki Clothing (Wednesday)

It’s hot! It’s so terribly hot today!

You’re standing in the rafters of an athletics stadium. The kind the Olympics could be held in.
The sun sits high in the sky and there’s not a cloud in sight.

As your hand wasn’t up to the task, you’re currently fanning yourself with a stack of papers.

You’d love, love, LOVE, to take off your suit jacket, but you’ve kept it on too long.
There’s no doubt that your white blouse is already sticking to your back and is probably see-through by this point.
As you’re not particularly eager to show your new business partners what colour bra you’re wearing, you’re forced to keep the jacket on.

Ah, being a woman is rough sometimes.

Enatsu Mari and the other models are lucky.
They’re wearing the new range of sports apparel specifically made to exercise and sweat in.

There must be over a dozen of models here. All of them trim and athletic.
Although there’s two other girls around Enatsu’s age, the rest of the models are of all ages and genders.

There’s an elderly man that can, no doubt, outrun you, a woman that could likely crush a watermelon with her thighs, and a guy in his thirties that probably spends half his life in the gym.

They weren’t joking when they said this was a huge undertaking.
The business is expanding all kinds of ways. They used to focus on children’s clothing.
Additionally, they even rented this entire stadium for the photoshoot!

Genki Clothing clearly has big bucks invested in this advertisement campaign.

Enatsu Mari looks up at the rafters and sees you there, she waves with much excitement.
You wave back. The interaction has you feeling like a mom watching her child perform at some sports event.

It isn’t though, it’s a professional modelling job that Genki Clothing is spending tens of thousands of dollars to make happen.

The models are currently gathered on the running track.
Enatsu Mari seems perfectly at ease. Not a single trace of nerves.
Well, she did mention during your initial interview that she was part of her school’s track and field club, so this must all feel quite familiar to her.

The only difference being that there’s plenty of cameras there to take pictures of them.

You glance at the papers you’ve been fanning yourself with – a schedule of today’s events.
The company’s aim is to take “action shots”, images of the new line of sportwear as it is being used.

For the first shoot, the models will be racing against each other, but the goal isn’t to win, but rather to look as photogenetic as possible while they’re doing it.

After that there’ll be a series of other shoots featuring running, jumping, and throwing skills.
You’ve told Enatsu Mari as much, but you just have to hope she remembers that today’s purpose is that of a photoshoot.

Need a LOOKS roll for Enatsu Mari. DC 80.
Roll a 1d100+49.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:32:47 No.5651347 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651338
>Did Kaiba flee her home?
Sort of my suspicion as well. Or got kicked out.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:33:36 No.5651349 Report

Quoted By: >>5651358 >>5651368

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>5651345
rolling
>>5651338
thought the same, we'll have to talk it with her

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:33:48 No.5651350 Report

Quoted By: >>5651395

Rolled 90 + 49 (1d100 + 49)

>>5651345

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:41:01 No.5651358 Report

Quoted By: >>5651360

>>5651349
Nice roll. Mari CRUSHED it like that one women could do to a watermelon (can I see a picture of her, pretty please?)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:43:00 No.5651360 Report

Quoted By: >>5651362

>>5651358
FOCUS ON THE JOB!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:45:22 No.5651362 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651360
I was specifically hired by undisclosed parties to beg for pictures!

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 00056-1218889221.png, 574KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 22:53:26 No.5651368 Report

Quoted By: >>5651390

>>5651349
>>5651345

Enatsu Mari completely forgets that she’s supposed to model for the camera.
As a result her photos are the most authentic out of all, she’s genuinely enjoying herself and it shows.
Her photos capture the kind of sheer joy and love for sports that can’t be faked.

She does end up posing once or twice, but those pictures come out great, too.

All in all, a job well done.

-----------

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO ChigusaCat.jpg, 587KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:07:21 No.5651390 Report

Quoted By: >>5651395 >>5651396 >>5651397 >>5651779

>>5651368

“This is degrading,” says Chigusa Iki, clearly upset, “The little teeth press into my lower lip.”
She wouldn’t appear upset to anyone else, but you’re starting to get the hang of reading Chigusa’s near imperceivable emotions.

“It’s not so bad,” you say, reaching up and adjusting the fluffy cat ears on her head.
This cosplay is darn impressive. You’d say it almost looks real.
That is if cat girls were actually real.

On this Thursday, you’re at Isekai Cosplay.
A place selling hundreds of cosplay costumes for all kinds of fantasies and franchises.
There’s a banner pinned to the wall that says: “Reincarnate into your favourite character here at ISEKAI COSPLAY.”

You pull your attention back to the task at hand.

“I think you look cute,” you say, finishing the adjustment of her cosplay, “The freckles are a nice touch, too.”

Chigusa wrinkles her nose, “The people that are into this disgust me.”

“Urgh!,” says a nearby man, clutching his chest as he bends forwards.
Chigusa doesn’t know since the deal for the job was made through an intermediary, but the man happens to be the owner of Isekai Cosplay.
You know, the people paying you almost eight thousand dollars to be here.

You hold up your hands defensively, “Ah,” you stammer, your gaze flipping between Chigusa and the man, “I’m sure she didn’t mean it like that…”

Still reeled over, the man raises a shaky hand as he carefully looks up at Chigusa, “It’s okay,” he says, “If I could just hear it…one more time?”

What?

Looking down at the man and with a fresh incentive to do so, Chigusa has no problem repeating herself, “Disgusting.”

The man’s knees almost seem to buckle, but he catches himself, “T-thank you,” he says, scampering off.

Chigusa watches him leave, brow furrowed, “It appears some kind of deviant has snuck in,” she says, “He appeared to be just wandering around. Who was that?”

“N-nobody important,” you say, laughing nervously as you lie.

A different man calls out that they’re ready for the photoshoot.

Chigusa takes the stage as the lead photographer shouts instructions at her.

“Can you go like …Nyaa?” says the man, holding his hands angled like the paws of a cat.

“Eh?” replies Chigusa.

Chigusa tries her best.
However, all of your pictures have a kind of pained look like she's dying inside.

Need a LOOKS roll for Chigusa Iki. DC 80.
Roll a 1d100+48.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:15:01 No.5651395 Report

Quoted By: >>5651396 >>5651422

Rolled 88 + 48 (1d100 + 48)

>>5651390
(wish we could use my 90 at >>5651350)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:15:27 No.5651396 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651390
>“If I could just hear it…one more time?”
he just like me fr
>>5651395
damn we getting nice rolls

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:15:33 No.5651397 Report

Quoted By: >>5651401

Rolled 81 + 48 (1d100 + 48)

>>5651390
lady luck I hate you but please....

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:17:17 No.5651401 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651397
yeah I *definitely* rolled for Kaiba's job, QM. 4chan is just being silly today!

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 00088-3217633246.png, 629KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:30:35 No.5651422 Report

Quoted By: >>5651423 >>5651431 >>5651780

>>5651395

Despite the photographer’s best efforts, they can’t get Chigusa to do the cute cat girl pose.
She simply doesn’t know what the hell they’re on about.

For the people of Isekai Cosplay It’s one of those painful moments where you find out you’ve actually in being in a bit of an echo chamber with like-minded friends.
All these references you considered universal? They’re not universal at all.
You're the weird ones.

“I’m trying, okay?” says Chigusa, “I just don’t know what you want me to do!”

You’ve never seen Chigusa act like this.
She’s normally so docile and well-behaved.

Hold on. Is this because of fear?
A fear of failure causing her to lash out at anything that might be responsible for it?
You remember that Chigusa has “Defeatist” as her observed trait, but you didn’t think it would manifest itself like this…

She’s pointing fingers, shouting, and doing her best to get answers in her own way.

The cameraman scratches his bald head, “Guh, what do we do?” he says, “It’s like she hasn’t seen a single anime in her entire life!”

A hand claps the cameraman on the shoulder.

The camera man looks back, “Boss?” he says.

Isekai Cosplay’s boss raises a thumb, “We use it,” he says, raising a thumb, “Degrading cat girl is top tier!”

Geh.

The pictures come out looking great, but a little different than you had imagined.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 2c60ff2b-1f32-4ab1-be72-cfab13e4 (...).jpg, 81KiB, 600x761

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:34:01 No.5651423 Report

Quoted By: >>5651431 >>5651447

>>5651422

>1 - Kaiba’s voice acting audition at Ushio to Tora (2nd Season)

The day of Kaiba’s voice-acting job arrives and you are, naturally, there to support her.
Much to your relief, she has actually heeded your advice in the email and has come out with the entirely new set of clothing you bought together, she showered, and had her make-up professionally done.

Kaiba’s understandably nervous, this is only her second job and the first one after the scandal.
Although you highly doubt anyone will actually comment on the scandal or even know who Kaiba is, you can’t blame her for seeing ghosts where there are none.

The both of you greet the MAPPA Studio employee that oversees the audition and are escorted towards the waiting room.
Once there you make some small conversation with Kaiba to put her at ease and ask how things have been for her since the scandal.
She’s weirdly evasive about some stuff but says she’s managing.

After waiting a while with the other voice actresses, Kaiba is called out and portrays the “Saya Takatori“ character of Ushio to Tora as well as she can.

Need an ACTING roll for Kaiba Aoi. DC 60.
Roll a 1d100+58.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO super-buu-hourglass.gif, 522KiB, 498x276

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:37:50 No.5651431 Report

Quoted By: >>5651435 >>5651436 >>5651447 >>5651537 >>5651549 >>5651555 >>5651590 >>5651779 >>5652070

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>5651422
reminder she's 17

>>5651423
impossible to miss this one

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:39:06 No.5651435 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651431
You gotta be kidding me.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:39:08 No.5651436 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651431
ah.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:44:40 No.5651447 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651431
Honestly impressive.

>>5651423
No further updates today.
I unexpectedly need some more time to do the update to the final roll.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO junpei sitting at bar.webm, 48KiB, 728x526

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 30 Apr 2023 23:49:32 No.5651456 Report

Quoted By:

It's so fucking over, Kaiba can't catch a break

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Mon 01 May 2023 01:45:45 No.5651537 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651431
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO mfw (23).gif, 688KiB, 320x246

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 01 May 2023 01:53:31 No.5651549 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651431
>1
Alas, poor Kaiba.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1657436411545989.gif, 2MiB, 498x370

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 01 May 2023 02:02:37 No.5651555 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651326
>“Ah, stuff… like clothing and things,” she says, “I’m… going to a sleepover at a friend’s house.”
Holy shit those papers were an apartment contract weren't they.
>>5651431

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Mon 01 May 2023 02:42:03 No.5651590 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651431
>1% chance to fail
>fails
How Kaiba? How?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 08:03:10 No.5651779 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651390
Omg, those freckles...

>>5651431
Fucking how.
What are these fucking narrative dice.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 08:04:48 No.5651780 Report

Quoted By: >>5651873

>>5651422
>>5651345
QM, have you considered giving small hidden modifiers for job compatibility that only get revealed when we actually roll? Like with the current choice of jobs Mari would've gotten a small bonus, while Iki a small penalty.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 09:55:40 No.5651873 Report

Quoted By: >>5651887 >>5651890

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5651780
>small hidden modifiers for job compatibility
Although I like the idea, that'd be another thing I would have to keep track off and the quest is getting awfully complicated as is.

I'm gonna roll a dice to decide whether or not I do "crit fails" and "crit success"
As it stands Kaiba only missed the roll by a single point, so it would be a minor failure.

But I also like the idea of crit fails and success.

>1 - Rolls 1 and 100 have no special significance
>2 - Crit fails / success are a thing

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 10:07:48 No.5651887 Report

Quoted By: >>5651890

>>5651873
>that'd be another thing I would have to keep track off
Pity. I feel like trying for a bonus would encourage paying closer attention to the idols and add more excitement to the number-crunching.
Also, you don't have to do it with every job and every idol, just sprinkling a couple of mods would be enough.

As for the crits,
>1 - Rolls 1 and 100 have no special significance
would be my preference

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 10:13:31 No.5651890 Report

Quoted By: >>5651893

>>5651887
>would be my preference
I'll go with what I rolled (>>5651873) for this roll.

We'll have an actual vote on whether we continue to use "crit fails / success" at a later time.
Doing a vote now would probably lead to to people voting against to soften the hit on Kaiba.
If a 100 was rolled instead people would've likely voted in favour.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 10:15:06 No.5651893 Report

Quoted By: >>5651896

>>5651890
Ah, I didn't notice it wasn't a vote

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 10:22:14 No.5651896 Report

Quoted By: >>5651938

>>5651893
I flaked on the one-time crit fail.
It felt too harsh to one-sidedly decide the fate of Kaiba with a coin flip like that.

I'll just gonna treat this as a minor failure and we can vote later of crit success / fail later.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Mon 01 May 2023 11:09:58 No.5651938 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651896
Was she going to kill herself if the crit fail went through?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:h2FLa68r Mon 01 May 2023 11:12:40 No.5651942 Report

Quoted By:

Kaiba, truly an hero

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 13:28:10 No.5652070 Report

Quoted By: >>5652073 >>5652074

>>5651431

Kaiba returns from the audition and she seems confident.
She has practiced her acting more than any skill and this minor role should be easy for her to acquire.

As you sit in the waiting room, a man comes in and requests a different applicant to follow. T
he man returns a few minutes later.

“Thank you all for your time,” he says, “We’ve made our decision and will be selecting Mano Sakiko for the role of Saya Takatori. Have a safe trip home.”

And with that, he leaves.
You slowly glance towards your left, at Kaiba.

Kaiba looks devastated.

What it nerves? Or stress? Or something else that caused her to come up short?
Well, it doesn’t matter anymore.

She could’ve really used a win, but it seems like that isn’t in the cards right now.

Slowly, the room empties out as the disappointed applicants return home.
As Kaiba hasn’t moved yet, you simply sit beside her.

After opening and closing her mouth a few times, Kaiba speaks.
“Manager-san,” she says, eyes fixed on the floor, “Do you think… it m-might be best for me to retire?”

“Eh?” you say, shocked, “Why would you? You’ve barely begun.”

“Nothing ever goes my way,” replies Kaiba, a pained smile on her face, “… I’m a born failure.”

“Why would you say that, Aoi-chan?” you say, “Don’t talk about yourself like that…”

“…It’s what my mom always says,” says Kaiba.

Ah. Kaiba Kioko. You spoke on the phone. She didn’t seem like a nice person at all.
You distinctly remember her being clearly envious of the salary Kaiba was pulling in.

“Well, she’s wrong,” you say, “There might be some bumps on the road, but I still believe you have what it takes.”

“I’m not so sure anymore…” says Kaiba, “I even failed the audition just now.”

You sit up a little straighter, “You know who else failed the audition?” you say, “Everybody else but one person. That’s how auditions are. Only one person takes the prize.”

Noticing you have Kaiba’s attention, you continue, “Yes, you don’t get paid if you don’t get the part, but they’re not like other jobs where not winning has consequences. You can simply apply elsewhere and try again.”

Performing poorly at a job like modelling will end up with the company that hired you talking badly of you.
Often this is mostly out of spite because the company still has to pay your fee.

As word spreads, such badmouthing might affect your reputation and other places are less likely to hire you.
As in, your desirability and fame go down.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 00164-4271915974.png, 617KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 13:29:50 No.5652073 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652070

No such things with auditions.

Not getting the role simply means not getting paid.
If similar badmouthing happened with auditions where there’s twenty applications for one role, then the voice artist industry would purge itself of all its young talent.

“Even failing just ends up being practice,” you say, “Just do your best.”

“What if my best isn’t good enough?” says Kaiba morosely.

“Then you practice until your best becomes a little better and try again,“ you say.

Kaiba wraps her arms around herself, hunching forward a bit.
She speaks, but seems too embarrassed to look at you directly, “Thank you, manager-san,” she says, “For being so patient with me… I know I’m not doing a good job… I’m certain any other manager would’ve fired me by now…”

“Lucky for you I’m not those managers,” you say, somewhat teasingly, “So, you get to try, try, try, and try again and I’ll support you every step of the way. I won’t let you quit that easy!”

Despite your best efforts, the barrage of bad news and failures seems to get to Kaiba.
Kaiba reaches for her purse as she notices herself tearing up, probably searching for a packet of paper handkerchiefs or the like.

Much like the backpack from a few days ago, the purse is filled to the brim and as Kaiba tries to pull the paper handkerchiefs from the depths of her purse – things overflow and fall to the ground.

Nothing major. Just some lip-gloss and folded papers.

“Let me get that for you,” you say, reaching for the items.

Thoughts elsewhere, Kaiba apologizes with a distant stare and then nods.
However, as you pick up the items, she seems to change her mind.

“I’ll get it myself!” she suddenly shouts, reaching for the papers.

But it’s too late. You’ve already seen.
They’re flyers, brochures, and printouts for apartments in the Tokyo area.

“You’re moving out of your parents' home?” you ask, not sure why there’s such a need for secrecy.

“Ah…” says Kaiba, mumbling, “In a w-way, yes…”

“There’s websites for these things now, you know?” you say, “That’s easier.”

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO rename.png, 617KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 13:31:43 No.5652074 Report

Quoted By: >>5652075

>>5652070

No such things with auditions.

Not getting the role simply means not getting paid.
If similar badmouthing happened with auditions where there’s twenty applications for one role, then the voice artist industry would purge itself of all its young talent.

“Even failing just ends up being practice,” you say, “Just do your best.”

“What if my best isn’t good enough?” says Kaiba morosely.

“Then you practice until your best becomes a little better and try again,” you say.

Kaiba wraps her arms around herself, hunching forward a bit.
She speaks, but seems too embarrassed to look at you directly, “Thank you, manager-san,” she says, “For being so patient with me… I know I’m not doing a good job… I’m certain any other manager would’ve fired me by now…”

“Lucky for you I’m not those managers,” you say, somewhat teasingly, “So, you get to try, try, try, and try again and I’ll support you every step of the way. I won’t let you quit that easy!”

Despite your best efforts, the barrage of bad news and failures seems to get to Kaiba.
Kaiba reaches for her purse as she notices herself tearing up, probably searching for a packet of paper handkerchiefs or the like.

Much like the backpack from a few days ago, the purse is filled to the brim and as Kaiba tries to pull the paper handkerchiefs from the depths of her purse – things overflow and fall to the ground.

Nothing major. Just some lip-gloss and folded papers.

“Let me get that for you,” you say, reaching for the items.

Thoughts elsewhere, Kaiba apologizes with a distant stare and then nods.
However, as you pick up the items, she seems to change her mind.

“I’ll get it myself!” she suddenly shouts, reaching for the papers.

But it’s too late. You’ve already seen.
They’re flyers, brochures, and printouts for apartments in the Tokyo area.

“You’re moving out of your parents' home?” you ask, not sure why there’s such a need for secrecy.

“Ah…” says Kaiba, mumbling, “In a w-way, yes…”

“There’s websites for these things now, you know?” you say, “That’s easier.”

“I know,” says Kaiba, “But my phone is still broken…”

Kaiba is making a very generous salary.
She could’ve just bought a new one.

“Then use the computer at home,” you say.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 13:32:56 No.5652075 Report

Quoted By: >>5652078

>>5652074

Kaiba looks away.“I’m sorry…” she says.

“What are you sorry for?” you ask, “What’s the matter?”

”I can’t go home anymore…” says Kaiba.

“Eh?” you say, “Where have you been staying?”

“Hotels…” says Kaiba, struggling to keep her lower lip from quivering.

Things start to lock into place. For the last few weeks Kaiba has been gradually letting herself go.
She hadn’t bothered with make-up for a while because she didn’t have any.
That’s why she bought the travel-size make-up kit when you were shopping the other day.
A lot of her items are probably still at her parents' house.

Wearing the same clothes for days at a time boils down to have no place to wash them.
The big backpack that she drags around probably contains everything she could carry.
You did notice Kaiba with clean clothes every now and then, perhaps she visited a laundromat at times.

“I really wanted to do a good job this time,” says Kaiba, on the verge of tears, “I practiced for hours in the hotels.”

“Where are you staying now?” you ask.

“In a hotel in Toyama in the Shinjuku ward,” says Kaiba.

That’s only a short distance away from Kabukicho, Tokyo’s gambling and red-light district.
It’s cheap, yes, but a girl shouldn’t be walking those streets late at night.

“Those streets are dangerous!” you cry, “There might even be yakuza… Why didn’t you say something… or go somewhere safer?”

“I didn’t have the money…” she says, “My mom kept my bank book when she kicked me out, I only had the money I was able to withdraw before that…”

Bank books are used in Japan to withdraw money from ATMs.
Without it, Kaiba would be locked out of her bank account.
She can order a replacement, but that often takes weeks and if she did it would end up at her home address…

“How are you going to sign up for an apartment without a bank book?” you ask.

Kaiba’s eyes widen, “I… I d-didn’t think about that… I don’t know what documents they need...”

She’s hopelessly unprepared to stand on her own in the real world.
“Why did you parents kick you out in the first place?” you say.

“They…” says Kaiba, wringing her hands, “Heard about the scandal… They said being an idol is a …b-bad influence on me and that I should quit, but I don’t want to… so they kicked me out.”

Bad influence? Isn’t this job allowing Kaiba to get out of her shell?
What part of the scandal could’ve… Ah. A relationship with another women.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 13:33:57 No.5652078 Report

Quoted By: >>5652079

>>5652075

Truth is that the larger part of Japan still frowns upon same-sex relationships.
Same-sex marriages or unions aren’t legal anywhere in the country.

Although public opinion is rapidly shifting, Kaiba’s parents, being of an older generation, are probably not as free thinking.
Furthermore, Kaiba is eighteen, so her parents have no legal obligation to care for her.

“They said I could come back home if I stopped wasting time on being an idol and went to college instead,” says Kaiba.

If her parents kicked her out around the time of the scandal, then that means she’s been homeless for around two weeks.

You fold open some of the papers still scattered on the floor.
The printouts have a little line at the bottom that mentions they were printed at a library.
She could’ve opted to use her computer at work, but for some reason decided not to.
Perhaps she was scared of the notorious “IT Monitoring Software” that, according to you, caught trace of Kaiba’s chats with EmikoDesu55.

“Why didn’t you say anything…” you say, looking at Kaiba.

“I didn’t want people to know I was homeless!” she cries, “I feel like dirt… Watching other people get on the train, to go home, and I don’t have that… I can’t go home.”
“Instead,” she continues, “I have to go find a hotel or spend another night hiding if I can’t find a room… I didn’t want anyone to think of me as some bum…”

Kaiba face begins to flush, getting angry, “What kind of joke idol is homeless!?” she shouts, then calms down a bit, “What if word got out… that’d be another scandal for sure… My idol career would end…”

There’s absolutely no sense in the way Kaiba handled her problems.
Shouldering them all by herself. Not telling anyone about them.
If she had reached out to you then you could’ve helped, why would somebo--

Ah. You did the same didn’t you?
Kept things quiet because you were afraid of other people’s opinions.

As far Kaiba’s concerns for her career go, it’s a miracle that nobody noticed her skulking around with a giant backpack and visiting hotels.
She probably has owes her lack of personal upkeep to that, the grubby Kaiba walking around late at night is probably very different from the professionally styled Kaiba that appeared on live vlogs.

“You can’t stay in those hotels anymore, Kaiba…” you say.

Your own apartment has an occupancy limit of two, so perhaps you could take Kaiba in for a while.
However, the relationship between you and Kaiba is moving further and further away from a professional one.
It might not be a good idea for an idol and her manager to live in the same house.

That’s how rumours of idol favouritism start.

Perhaps there’s somebody else you can ask.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 13:35:29 No.5652079 Report

Quoted By: >>5652080 >>5652081 >>5652097 >>5652105 >>5652123 >>5652221 >>5652237 >>5652297

>>5652078

Decision

>1 - Explain the situation to Kitabayashi and request a favour and ask if Kaiba can move in with Yui-chan for a while.
>2 - Make use of the favour that Watase still owes you and ask if Kaiba can stay there for a bit.
>3 - Request a favour from Matsui Tomo and ask if Kaiba can temporarily stay at her place.
>4 - Kaiba can stay with you in your own apartment. It'll be like having a younger sister.
>5 - Front Kaiba some money from the budget so she can stay in hotels in a nicer area until she finds a place of her own (-$10.000)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qzmNGB7V Mon 01 May 2023 13:37:08 No.5652080 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652079
>1 - Explain the situation to Kitabayashi and request a favour and ask if Kaiba can move in with Yui-chan for a while.
Bet on Yui

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dSgzqtrp Mon 01 May 2023 13:42:06 No.5652081 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652079
>Explain the situation to Kitabayashi and request a favour and ask if Kaiba can move in with Yui-chan for a while.
As much as home shananigans with Kaiba sound fun, Yui is the better option.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 01 May 2023 14:03:20 No.5652097 Report

Quoted By: >>5652225

>>5652079
>Yui
This... is not a good idea.
Yui: "Say, Kaiba-chan! Has Miho already talked to you how she handled Emiko before the scandal? No? Well, you see: she's been lying to you this entire time and actually spied on your private chats! There's no IT Software, silly!~ And even though I talked to her about telling you the truth, she kept stalling for time!"

>Watase, the sexual harasser lesbian
lol and dare I say, lmao

>Matsui Tomo
hmmmmmmmmm maybe?
>lend her some money
Would be a nice idea, if we had some. Don't forget that we put all our idols to work because we need money
Voting for:
>4 - Kaiba can stay with you in your own apartment. It'll be like having a younger sister.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 14:16:43 No.5652105 Report

Quoted By: >>5652142

>>5652079
>5 - Front Kaiba some money from the budget so she can stay in hotels in a nicer area until she finds a place of her own (-$10.000)
We've been leaning on Yui too much already, Watase is a sexual predator, Matsui... could work, but ultimately I think money is better.
>Tell Kaiba she can look for an apartment on our office PC
>In fact, help her search
>If not having her bank book means Kaiba has no access to her own salary, work out a solution with the accounting.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Mon 01 May 2023 14:33:40 No.5652123 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652079
>5 - Front Kaiba some money from the budget so she can stay in hotels in a nicer area until she finds a place of her own (-$10.000)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 01 May 2023 14:57:38 No.5652142 Report

Quoted By: >>5652148 >>5652177

>>5652105
>>5652105
Pledging a change of vote with data:
>https://www.legendkeeper.com/app/clerg3w370sti08866hb09fcg/cletpm1uu001n03lcjek8h3ri/
Wiki says our current budget is $52900. With two jobs being a sucess, that's a +$19200

Our current budget then, is $72100. Fronting Kaiba money would mean we'd be set back to $10000, which is almost what Iki gained on her job - that'd be essentially "failing" two jobs, budget wise and would set us back almost to our previous budget level, around ~60k.

>>5648643

Lending her $10k also puts her on -$46500 of "debt" - we'd have spent almost an audition worth of resources on this girl. Yes, she will have to pay us back but that money would come from her salary - it would be a zero-sum situation.

Nevermind how we'd explain that to accounting - Kaiba has a salary, she can afford rent. She'd only need to settle things with her mom. Her personal problems aren't company problems, I think they wouldn't budge/care.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 01 May 2023 14:59:56 No.5652144 Report

Quoted By:

holy shit, I have just realized that kaiba had a 99% chance to succed!! Narrative dice indeed...
>2 - Make use of the favour that Watase still owes you and ask if Kaiba can stay there for a bit.
This is... a purely strategic decision.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 01 May 2023 15:05:37 No.5652148 Report

Quoted By:

Also I understand kicking someone out (barely) but not allowing your kid to fill up a suitcase with her clothes and documents? Imagine if they kick you out but they take your driver's license.
>>5652142
I have to agree, however. Kaiba's problems are hers. I believe that the father is more lenient however, and choses to shut up because he is fed up with his wife. To the point of losing his daughter... Emergence

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 15:25:56 No.5652177 Report

Quoted By: >>5652220

>>5652142
>Yes, she will have to pay us back but that money would come from her salary - it would be a zero-sum situation.
So what? Zero sum means we don't lose anything. And not fronting the money doesn't mean we gain anything. In fact, there's no solution to this where we gain more money. Kaiba's salary is not a part of our income. So I don't understand why you think zero sum is a bad thing.
>how we'd explain that to accounting
Exactly how it is - her parents are trying to pressure her to leave the company by blocking her access to her own money. The homelesness doesn't need to be mentioned.
>Kaiba has a salary, she can afford rent.
We aren't asking for more money from accounting, just a way for Kaiba to access what already is hers.
>She'd only need to settle things with her mom. Her personal problems aren't company problems
When settling things with her mom means leaving the idol job without returning on the investment in her, her problems ARE company problems.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 01 May 2023 16:17:54 No.5652220 Report

Quoted By: >>5652236

>>5652177
I don't think you know how companies work, anon...

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Mon 01 May 2023 16:18:44 No.5652221 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652079
>3 - Request a favour from Matsui Tomo and ask if Kaiba can temporarily stay at her place.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 01 May 2023 16:23:05 No.5652225 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652097
Changing my vote to
>1 - Explain the situation to Kitabayashi and request a favour and ask if Kaiba can move in with Yui-chan for a while.
Else there would be a tie.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 16:35:55 No.5652236 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652220
Only have been working for a decade in one, so what do I know.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 01 May 2023 16:36:31 No.5652237 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652079
>1 - Explain the situation to Kitabayashi and request a favour and ask if Kaiba can move in with Yui-chan for a while.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 01 May 2023 17:09:55 No.5652265 Report

Quoted By:

>>5651332
I hadn't clicked on the spoiler before but...
Miho is now my oshi. We must get her to debut and do catgirl cosplays right fucking now, anons. This is not a joke.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 01 May 2023 17:26:32 No.5652272 Report

Quoted By: >>5652304 >>5652344 >>5652353

Is it me or Miho has consistently been increasing her bust size? Those AIs are into something

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 18:18:06 No.5652297 Report

Quoted By: >>5652412 >>5652524

>>5652079

Winner
>1 - Explain the situation to Kitabayashi and request a favour: ask if Kaiba can move in with Yui-chan for a while.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Mon 01 May 2023 18:32:11 No.5652304 Report

Quoted By: >>5652353

>>5652272
No, it's not just you

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 19:18:48 No.5652344 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652272
Miho's been stress eating.

Anonymous

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Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 01 May 2023 19:25:35 No.5652350 Report

Quoted By: >>5652351 >>5652362

I would gain stress in this situation... Miho is built different

Anonymous

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Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 01 May 2023 19:28:06 No.5652351 Report

Quoted By: >>5652362

>>5652350
>Kaiba: "manager-san I've been kicked out of home, I have no access to most of my money and I've been sleeping on borderline red-light district hotels please help..."
>Miho's honest reaction:

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 19:32:25 No.5652353 Report

Quoted By: >>5652355 >>5652375

>>5652272
>>5652304
Miho's titties inflate and deflate on command.
Also, I'm experimenting with various AI models and it's hard to get consistent results until I pick one.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Mon 01 May 2023 19:34:50 No.5652355 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652353
(((((BIGGER)))))

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 19:54:08 No.5652362 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652350
>>5652351
Miho's feeling relief because she thought Kaiba was drug running for yakuza or something.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Mon 01 May 2023 20:09:13 No.5652375 Report

Quoted By: >>5652379 >>5652384 >>5652412 >>5652447 >>5652481

>>5652353
Try "Medium Bust"

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO grid-0032.png, 7MiB, 2400x2400

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 20:15:59 No.5652379 Report

Quoted By: >>5652386

>>5652375
Bit better. It works better on some models than others.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 01 May 2023 20:24:04 No.5652384 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652375
You monster

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Mon 01 May 2023 20:26:16 No.5652386 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652379
Nooooo.... not the milkers.....

Anonymous

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Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 20:36:34 No.5652396 Report

Quoted By:

Different model with higher line density.
I'm generating these while I'm writing the update, so that's still coming up.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:YkOHTSLv Mon 01 May 2023 20:56:26 No.5652412 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652297
Can we also help her sort the bank book + apartment situation

>>5652375
Anon, you’ve killed our busty goddess

Anonymous

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Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Mon 01 May 2023 21:53:58 No.5652447 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652375
DELETE THIS POST

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 01 May 2023 22:36:25 No.5652481 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652375
Die, monster! You do not belong in this world.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO whomst.png, 9KiB, 261x65

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 01 May 2023 23:04:22 No.5652521 Report

Quoted By: >>5652864

who's that? I don't think we ever met her
(clicking gives a 404 btw)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 23:09:34 No.5652524 Report

Quoted By: >>5652527

>>5652297

Deciding that you’ve squatted long enough in Studio MAPPA’s waiting room, you tell Kaiba that you’ll continue the conversation in the car.

Once Kaiba’s seated in your trusty Renault Twingo, your open the driver side door and lean in. ”[/green]I need to make a quick call, okay?”[/green] you say.

Kaiba nods.

As much as you’d like to offer Kaiba a stay in your own apartment, doing so would jeopardize your work relationship even further.
It probably wouldn’t be much fun for Kaiba either, to spend the evenings with her boss.
Must feel like you’re supposed to working all the time.

There’s somebody you can call that would probably take Kaiba in.
Somebody with a two-bedroom apartment: Kitabayashi.

Asking somebody to open up their home to what to them is a stranger is no small demand.
You’d feel terrible if you called in the car with Kaiba next to you and Kitabayashi would say no.

Taking out your phone, you check the time: 12:40.
Around the time Kitabayashi usually takes lunch, so it should be alright to call.

You make the call and Kitabayashi picks up shortly after.

“Miho, hallo~,” says the voice of Kitabyashi, “If you’re calling for lunch, I’m already at a place, sorry!”

“Yui-chan, hello,” you reply, then glance at your surroundings to make sure no passer-by overhears, “…Yui-chan, can you please listen to my shameless request?”

“….Oeh, ah, let me take you off speaker-phone…” says the voice of Kitabayashi.

…

You feel your face flush, “Why would you pick up with speaker phone!?”

“I’m eating!” barks the phone in Kitabayashi’s voice.

There’s a sound of a chair scooting backwards, a few moments later, you hear Kitabayashi’s voice again.
“You owe me a warm lunch…” says Kitabayashi in mournful tones, “But I can talk. What’s wrong?”

You sigh, “I’m about to owe you a whole lot more than that… It’s about Kaiba-san.”

“What about her?” asks the voice of Kitabayashi.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 23:10:36 No.5652527 Report

Quoted By: >>5652528

>>5652524

“Well,” you reply, “I found out today that her parents kicked her out a while ago. She’s been homeless and living in and around hotels since then.”

“Eeeeh?” says the voice of Kitabayashi, “How did that happen?”

“Her parents learned about the scandal and want her to quit to go back to college because they think being an idol is a bad influence on her… in certain ways…” you say.

“In what ways?” asks the voice of Kitabayashi.

“Eh… Did you read the leaked chatlogs?” you ask, glancing at your surroundings.

“No,” says the voice of Kitabayashi, “I haven’t. Only read what you showed… Miho, as much as I like gossip, I know the pain of a scandal… I hate reading about those sorta things, knowing other people have to go through that…”

Oh, no. You glance at your surroundings again.
You’re gonna have to walk Kitabayashi through the contents.

“Ah…” you begin, “Well, it seems like Kaiba-chan and this other girl were a lot more … i-intimate than we initially thought. Their chat continued for a while after that and they have even been making… like… calls, but at night…”
“Anyway!” you cry, “Her parents saw all that…”

There’s a long moment of silence.

“Uwaaa…” says the voice of Kitabayashi, “I’d totally die inside. On the spot.”

“So, I think her parents may have kicked her out because of the …eh… yeah…” you say.

“I see,” says the voice of Kitabayashi, “I think I can sort of tell where this is going… You want me to take in Kaiba-san for a while?”

“Would you, Yui-chan?” you say, pouncing on the opportunity, “I’ll make it up to you! I swear! It’ll just be for a little while, until we can find Kaiba-san an apartment of her own. As her manager I don’t feel comfortable taking her into my own house, it’d be weird…”

“I suppose,” says the voice of Kitabayashi, “It’d be pretty weird if the woman that’s a target of all these office romance rumours suddenly took in a young girl…”

Eh?

Anonymous

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Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 23:11:38 No.5652528 Report

Quoted By: >>5652530

>>5652527

“What have you been up to, Yui-chan…” you ask, holding the phone a little closer to your ear.

“Not me, you idiot!” says the voice of Kitabayashi, “You!”

“Me!?” you shout into the phone, “What rumours!?”

“You know Watase-san has a certain reputation, don’t you?” says the voice of Kitabayashi, “If you’re spotted going into a taxi with her then people are going to talk! Then there’s also the rumours of the two of you being drinking buddies during the hot spring trip?”
“I’m losing my Miho-chan, am I?” says the voice of Kitabayashi, full of panic, “Are you being conquered?!”

“I’m not!” you shout into the phone, “She asked me if we could have lunch, that’s all!”

“Well, yeah, I figured as much,” says the voice of Kitabayashi, completely calm again, “But you should still be careful. Word goes that Watase didn’t job hop for better prospects, but rather because things were getting too hot under her feet. She has a thing for office ladies that behave like small animals, you see…”

“Oh…” you say, “….Wait. Me!? I’m not a small animal!”

“Has she tried anything?” asks the voice of Kitabayashi.

There was the thing in massage parlour.
The advances during drinking.
Waking up with her naked next to you, with her fondling you.

“N-no,” you say.

“Miho!?” shouts the phone in the voice of Kitabayashi.

“Can we talk about Kaiba-san, please?” you plead, “She’s been staying in a hotel near Kabukicho, I don’t want her to stay there anymore…”

“Kabukicho? Uwaa… yeah, that’s pretty bad,” says the voice of Kitabayashi, then sighs.

“Kaiba-san can stay with me, I’ll clear the other bedroom in my apartment, it’s sorta just been dusted over exercise equipment in there anyway…” says the voice of Kitabayashi, “But you owe me big!”

“Thank you, Yui-chan. Thank you!” you say, bowing with the phone in hand purely by habit.

“I’m gonna drive to Kaiba’s hotel now and pick up her things, can we meet at your apartment after work?” you say.

“Sure,” says the voice of Kitabayashi, “Make it around 6 PM. I should probably stock with the fridge with something other than beer…”

You finish up the call and join Kaiba back in the car.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 23:12:39 No.5652530 Report

Quoted By: >>5652533

>>5652528

Once you’re seated, Kaiba speaks up, “Everything okay, manager-san?” she says.

“Yes,” you say, putting the key in the ignition, “We’re going to pick up your stuff at the hotel, you’ll be staying with Kitabayashi-san from HR until you find a place. She’s a good friend of mine.”

Kaiba’s mouth opens, then closes, and she just nods. A smile on her face.
Knowing you have a place to call home after being homeless for a while must be such a relief.

You do as promised and take Kaiba to her hotel near Kabukicho.
Even at the middle of the afternoon, the streets are swarming with tourists, thugs, and strange people.
You can’t believe Kaiba was able to walk these streets at night.

“Hey…” you say, glancing at the unsavoury folk dotting the sides of the road, “Nothing happened here, right?”

“Eh? No. Why?” says Kaiba, confused.

“Nevermind,” you say, throwing in a quick smile.

After a few more minutes, you arrive at the hotel and go to gather Kaiba’s things.
Luckily, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of it, so you don’t have this in this neighbourhood for too long.

Afterwards, you return back to work where you finish off the day.
Marketing mentions they’re planning to start the vlog up again soon, so there’s that small win that Kaiba has been looking for.

After work, you meet up at Kitabayashi’s place. Who looks exhausted.
Judging by the cleaning equipment still in the living room, she put in some serious last minute effort to make the place look presentable.

Like the previous time you were here, when you dropped Kitabayashi off after a night of heavy drinking, there’s not a lot of furniture.
The wall that used to filled with picture of Kitabayashi’s time as an idol is now blank.
She has tried her best to hide it, but you can still see faintly outlines where the pictures used to hang.

Kitabayashi and Kaiba may have seen each other in passing at the office, but you decide to do formal introductions anyway.

Things are understandably a bit awkward.
Hello~ here’s a stranger that’ll living with you for a while.

Kaiba bows at the waist, “Kitabayashi-san,” she says, “Thank you for letting me stay. I’ll try not get in the way too much.”

“My~,” says Kitabayashi, smiling, “Don’t worry about things too much. We’ve all had moments in our lives when we need some help.”
“Let me show you your room,” adds Kitabayashi.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 00056-34064393.png, 653KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 23:15:25 No.5652533 Report

Quoted By: >>5652535 >>5652555

>>5652530

There’s a spacious bedroom waiting for Kaiba, but quite barren.
There’s only a small table wedged in the corner and a futon.

“You kinda caught me by surprise,” says Kitabayashi, scratching a cheek, “We can get you some other stuff tomorrow, I just have the futon that I keep for guests for now.”

“…Uuuu…Hic…”

Ah. Kaiba-chan is crying again.
It’s hard to imagine for you to not know where you’re sleeping that night.
Sleeping at the kind of place she was, she must’ve been quite scared.
But that’s all over now.

You hug Kaiba-chan from behind, arms wrapped around her shoulders. “You get settled in, okay?” you say, “I need to talk with Kitabayashi for a bit.”

Kaiba wipes away her tears, nods, and goes to unload her backpack.

Meanwhile, you and Kitabayashi move into a different room.

Kitabayashi is crying, too, “I’m sorry,” she says, fanning her face with her hands, “When other people cry… it gets me toooo….”

You flash her a smile, then embrace her from the front, “There, there,” you say.

“Hug, getto~” says Kitabayashi.

Geh.

You look up and see Kitabayashi grinning at you.

“Hello~” says Kitabayashi, fingers splayed into a peace symbol over her eyes, “Former idol and actress, Kitabayashi Yui~”

“This counts as the favour I owed you,” you say,

“No fair!” replies Kitabayashi, pouting.

“Luckily, I need another one,” you say, letting go.

“Ah, my Miho-chan is such a greedy girl,” says Kitabayashi, wrapping her arms around you to keep you in place, “What is it?”

“It seems like Kaiba-san’s mother has taken her bank book, so she can’t get an apartment or access to her money,” you say, “Would you mind helping her replace it and make sure her salary gets deposited in the new account?”

“Not a problem,” says Kitabayashi, “That’s sorta my job anyway.”

“…And Kaiba might need some help looking for an apartment…” you say, guilt rising as you keep asking favours.

“That’s fine,” says Kitabayashi, “We’ll spend every evening together anyway, besides browsing houses is kinda fun. I do it when I’m bored, too.”

“Thank you, Yui-chan,” you say, “Really.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 01 May 2023 23:16:57 No.5652535 Report

Quoted By: >>5653927

>>5652533

Kitabayashi smiles, then uses her fingers to flick your forehead, “Not that easy, missy,” she says, letting you go, “This is cold, hard world of business. I’ll be making a bunch of demands of you~ Look forward to them.”

Using a hand to rub your forehead, you smirk, “As long as it isn’t anything weird, I’ll do it. I owe you that much,” you say.
“I should probably get going,” you say, turning to leave, then pause.

“Don’t do anything weird to Kaiba-chan, okay?” you ask, somewhat uncertain.

“Geh!” says Kitabayashi, waving an angry fist, “Who do you take me for?”

You sigh in relief. Kaiba will be just fine here.

----

>You owe Kitabayashi Yui one favour
>Chigsa Iki has made $7.800 at her job at Isekai Cosplay and gained one fame.
>Enatsu Mari has made $11.400 at her job at Genki Clothing and gained one fame.
>Kaiba Aoi has made no money and gained no fame

The summarized parts are now over.

Next up are:
>4 - A Day in the Life of Nagata Miho (House, groceries) (Saturday)
>6 - Her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album. (Saturday)

No further updates today

Sorry that I didn't manage to end on a vote.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qzmNGB7V Mon 01 May 2023 23:19:04 No.5652538 Report

Quoted By: >>5652540

Yui is a great friend.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 01 May 2023 23:24:42 No.5652540 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652538
Agreed. Wholesome okay, a little horny lesbian HR lady. We're lucky to have her.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 01 May 2023 23:48:28 No.5652555 Report

Quoted By: >>5652719

>>5652533
>There’s only a small table wedged in the corner and a futon.
Luckily Yui doesn't own a cat, otherwise said cat would bother her to go to sleep early every night... and ramble something about treasures, collective unconscious, and a place beneath Shibuya called Mementos - whatever that is.
Yeah. Aoi is lucky indeed.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Tue 02 May 2023 04:19:14 No.5652719 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652555
Could be worse, Yui could have had a white cat with red eyes and big ears and babble about contracts and entropy.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 102773112_p0.jpg, 3MiB, 874x1800

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Tue 02 May 2023 04:50:59 No.5652743 Report

Quoted By: >>5652832 >>5653315

Worry not anons, I shall present this hand drawn image as compensation. Try to imagine what scenario would lead Nagata to this

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 02 May 2023 07:59:44 No.5652832 Report

Quoted By: >>5652956

>>5652743
Anons being too blase with the favor system. Or maybe anons spending time with Watase too much.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 02 May 2023 08:50:19 No.5652864 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652521
The page 404s because it's listed as "Hidden" because you haven't met her, she's another HR employee that works part-time.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 02 May 2023 12:31:49 No.5652956 Report

Quoted By: >>5652990

>>5652832
>Anons being too blase with the favor system.
let me tell you a secret, green id anon:
You were right, lending Aoi money or taking her to our house were the best options since they didn't rely on owing a favor but I changed my vote just so anons could feel the weight of owing "two" favors - remember, we still owe some article worthy news to Everything Idol since we convinced them to rewrite Aoi's article.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 02 May 2023 13:29:30 No.5652990 Report

Quoted By: >>5653020 >>5653025

>>5652956
Why are you so antagonistic towards other players?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Tue 02 May 2023 14:19:21 No.5653020 Report

Quoted By: >>5653025

>>5652990
It's how he gets off.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 02 May 2023 14:29:24 No.5653025 Report

Quoted By:

>>5652990
If I wanted to be antagonistic I would've forced a tie
>>5653020
No, those are for Miho

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 02 May 2023 18:45:05 No.5653203 Report

Quoted By: >>5653208 >>5653212 >>5653316

To my regret, I don't think I have time to write today.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:S+WGH13H Tue 02 May 2023 18:52:26 No.5653208 Report

Quoted By:

>>5653203
This is an unforgivable action QM, you will have to be punished;

harshly.

Normally I would recommend public execution for such a grievous action, but I think circumstances call for an even more grave punishment: YOU ARE SENTENCED TO THE K-POP MINES FOR A PERIOD OF NO LESS THAN 20 HOURS! AWAY WITH YOU CRIMINAL!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Tue 02 May 2023 18:55:36 No.5653212 Report

Quoted By: >>5653221

>>5653203
I miss QM uuuu...

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 8680130443721820.png, 63KiB, 672x684

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 02 May 2023 19:02:19 No.5653221 Report

Quoted By:

>>5653212
Go back.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 02 May 2023 21:27:31 No.5653315 Report

Quoted By: >>5653424 >>5653565

>>5652743
That's a minor

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 02 May 2023 21:29:02 No.5653316 Report

Quoted By:

>>5653203
QM is cuter than usual today

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Tue 02 May 2023 23:35:36 No.5653424 Report

Quoted By: >>5653439 >>5653487

>>5653315
Who is it?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 02 May 2023 23:58:58 No.5653439 Report

Quoted By: >>5653483

>>5653424
dunno, why? use saucenao idc

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:fHAZoIIz Wed 03 May 2023 01:10:33 No.5653483 Report

Quoted By: >>5653591

>>5653439
>asserts that drawing of fictional blonde woman is minor
>doesn't know who it is
>poster says it's our legal adult manager MC
Looks like she's not a minor.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 03 May 2023 01:14:52 No.5653487 Report

Quoted By:

>>5653424
https://myanimelist.net/character/75284/Erina_Nakiri

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Wed 03 May 2023 03:09:15 No.5653565 Report

Quoted By:

>>5653315
Anime girls represent only the character described. Checkmate atheists.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Wed 03 May 2023 03:41:00 No.5653591 Report

Quoted By: >>5653810

>>5653483
Eh, it was but a jest. I based myself on the clothes that were discarded around her

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 03 May 2023 13:20:09 No.5653810 Report

Quoted By:

>>5653591
>the clothes that were discarded around her
huh true, those are high school unifo-
>there are also condoms next to her
what did they mean by this...?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 03 May 2023 16:45:15 No.5653927 Report

Quoted By: >>5653928

>>5652535

Praise the gods, the weekend has arrived.
You had a fairly ordinary week as you feel a manager should have.
Assigning jobs to your idols, accompanying them to support them, and chatting with co-workers.

This normal week lasted up until Friday when you found out that one of your idols, Kaiba, has been homeless and living out of her backpack for the past two weeks.
Luckily, you were able to find her a place to stay until she gets back on her feet.

Which means that you finally have a weekend to yourself.
It’d be nice to relax a little. Sadly though, there’s a heap of chores that need doing.

You’ll have to wash clothes, clean the apartment, get groceries, and so much more.

You sigh. You’ve barely woken up and you’re already feeling overwhelmed.
The alarm on your phone continues to beep as you’ve yet to turn it off.

There’s a faint purr coming from the side of the bed as your cat, Asuki, jumps onto the covers.

“Uuuuu,” you say, reaching for Asuki, “Have you come to soothe me…”

The cat evades your grasp, always remaining barely out of reach.
It meows loudly. Jumps off the bed, waiting in the doorway to see if you follow.
You shut off the alarm on your phone, then stretch.

“Ah,” you say, “The feeder must be empty…”

Phone in hand and fuzzy slippers equipped, you shuffle your way to the adjoined kitchen in living room.
Squinting to fight against the sun beaming through the window, you refill the automatic feeder.

With a mechanical whirr, the machine deposits some kibble into the bowl.
Asuki pats it twice with a paw, then walks away.

After taking a seat at the kitchen table, you yawn.
You should probably stop by Kitabayashi’s house later today to drop off some groceries.
That’s the least you can do, right?

Living this high up in an apartment complex is great, you’re free to sit around in long shirt serving as improv pyjamas without risking anyone peeking through the windows.

The only sounds in your apartment are the faint sounds of your slippers being dragged over the kitchen floor and the aggressive sputtering of your age-old coffee machine.
Sitting back down with a cup of coffee, you decide to check your phone.

There’s a message from Kitabayashi and one from your younger brother, Nagata Aki.

The message of your younger brother is short and formal as always.
---
Business has me in Tokyo next week, we should meet up.
Mother wants to know how you’ve been. 
---

Nagata Aki isn’t a bad person, he’s very diligent and hard-working, but he’s just… not fun.
Meeting up with him is less like spending time with a relative and more like a business relationship.
He doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t go clubbing, and his idea of good time is optimizing things until all the fun is drained out of it.

Still, he’s your brother.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 00017-1362819681.png, 2MiB, 1400x1096

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 03 May 2023 16:46:19 No.5653928 Report

Quoted By: >>5653933 >>5653982 >>5653991 >>5654017 >>5654020 >>5654026

>>5653927

You send a message that you’d like to meet-up, but can’t commit to anything until you know next week’s schedule.

Kitabayashi’s messages are a lot more cheerful.
It’s a picture of Kaiba sitting on the living room, watching some kind of movie. Kaiba seems to be have settled in, so that’s reassuring.

“She was really stiff at first, but she managed to relax a bit. Kinda feels like I’m somebody’s big sister now,” says the accompanying message from Kitabayashi.

Kitabayashi’s place sure seems large though compared to yours.
All you have in your apartment is a living room kitchen combo, a single bedroom, a tiny laundry room, and a bathroom.
Bringing Kaiba to Kitabayashi was definitely the right decision.

After tossing some clothing into the washing machine, you decide to get dressed.

It’s time to get some groceries.

Where do you go?

>1 - Local convenience store (Encounter local residents)
>2 - Larger supermarket a few miles away (Random encounters)
>3 - The big supermarket chain in the shopping centre (Strange encounters)

The next few votes will be kinda short as they're all minor decisions.
It's basically navigating your way through the day.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Wed 03 May 2023 16:56:47 No.5653933 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 3 (1d3)

>>5653928
I'll leave this to the will of the narrative dice.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Wed 03 May 2023 18:09:35 No.5653982 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>5653928
Let fate decide her path.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Wed 03 May 2023 18:23:56 No.5653991 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 3 (1d3)

>>5653928
RNGessus take the wheel.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dwd/RL6t Wed 03 May 2023 19:02:29 No.5654017 Report

Quoted By:

>>5653928
>3 - The big supermarket chain in the shopping centre (Strange encounters)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Wed 03 May 2023 19:05:34 No.5654020 Report

Quoted By:

>>5653928
>2 - Larger supermarket a few miles away (Random encounters)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Wed 03 May 2023 19:12:47 No.5654026 Report

Quoted By:

>>5653928
>2 - Larger supermarket a few miles away (Random encounters)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 03 May 2023 19:32:40 No.5654042 Report

Quoted By: >>5654052

Tie between
>2 - Larger supermarket a few miles away (Random encounters)
>3 - The big supermarket chain in the shopping centre (Strange encounters)

Waiting for tie-breaker

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Wed 03 May 2023 19:46:27 No.5654052 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654042
>3 - The big supermarket chain in the shopping centre (Strange encounters)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 03 May 2023 19:53:58 No.5654059 Report

Quoted By: >>5654323 >>5654680

Winner
>3 - The big supermarket chain in the shopping centre (Strange encounters)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 03 May 2023 21:31:08 No.5654125 Report

Quoted By: >>5654151

Man, it's another case of working outside work hours.
Don't think I'll be able to do any further updates today.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1679199175359530.png, 162KiB, 348x476

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Wed 03 May 2023 22:05:36 No.5654151 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654125
It's alright! Work is just like that sometimes

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Perk_wild_wasteland.png, 9KiB, 210x210

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 04 May 2023 02:12:41 No.5654323 Report

Quoted By: >>5654686

>>5654059
>Strange encounters

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 04 May 2023 16:42:16 No.5654680 Report

Quoted By: >>5654684 >>5654707

>>5654059

As you haven’t really managed to relax lately, you decide to head to the local shopping centre.
Sure, you were at the mall earlier this week, but you were there knowing you had to go back to work later – a sense of pressure which killed any chance of relaxation.

You’ll browse some stores, having a nice lunch, get some groceries, and on the way back you can stop by Ishibashi Music to buy a new album you’ve been meaning to get and just sit for a while.

It’s a perfect day! Nothing can go wrong.

As you move to leave house, you halt at the mirror hanging next to the front door.
Asuki sits at the end of the hallway, watching you with curiosity.

…

“Maybe,” you say to Asuki, “A little more effort…?”

The photo you received earlier of Kaiba and Kitabyashi was a relief, but at the same time it reminded you of some depressing things as well.
Like, how you have nobody to share things with.

It’s not like you need anyone though, you’ve been fiercely independent all these years.
Sure, the dating pool shrinks with each passing year and, yes, the older you get the more men’s gazes will pass over you and settle on girls of a younger generation, but that sort of thinking only bothers those that desperately need a relationship.

That’s not you at all.

If it ends up happening, then you wouldn’t be exactly against it though.
Right? It’s not exactly awful to end up cuddling with somebody on the couch as you half-watch a movie.

Cuddling, huh? What would it be like to do that with a boyfriend...

Watase Yoko is pretty tall, so you guess it should be pretty similar to cuddling with a boyfriend.
Even with Yoko it was pretty nice. To be the little spoon like that…

“No!” you say, slamming your hands on the wall.

In fact, if you confessed to Kitabayashi she’d probably accept on the spot…

“I’m not that desperate yet!” you shout, “I can find a boyfriend! Easy!”

Your cat, Asuki, explodes into the living room because of your sudden outburst where they knock something over.

“Twenty-six is plenty young, right? I mean, I’ll be twenty-seven next month, but shouldn’t be a problem either! Tons of people focus on their careers instead! That’s the norm! I can totally get a boyfriend! I just haven’t been trying, that’s all,” you loudly declare as you try to cope with reality.

As today is one of those rare days where you actually leave the house to go somewhere other than work, you decide to put in some extra effort into your appearance.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 04 May 2023 16:43:18 No.5654684 Report

Quoted By: >>5654688 >>5654693 >>5654694 >>5654707 >>5654723 >>5654724 >>5654730 >>5654735 >>5654749

>>5654680

Perhaps somebody will approach you if you look good enough.
That’s right. Your entire dating strategy at the moment is becoming a “Pick me” girl.
Nothing wrong with that! Men are supposed to approach women.

“I just need to go into the real world,” you say as you stand in front the bathroom mirror and get a little bit extra with your make-up, “I'm just connecting those thoughts to girls because of the things that happened, but I’m not actually into girls or anything. Right, Asuki?”

The cat lingering in the bathroom doorway meows.

You focus on your make-up for a moment, then talk to yourself again like any sane person would.
“And I’m not lonely in the first place,” you say, “Right, Asuki?”

The cat has left.

“Asuki?” you say, leaning away from the mirror, “Come back…”

You stare at your reflection in the mirror and sigh.

All your life you’ve played it safe with your appearance.
No gaudy make-up, piercings other than earrings, and anything risky.
Even your earrings are just plain studs.

A lot of the women at the office don't even pierced ears.
They don't wear earrings and when they do they're just clip-ons.

You stare at the mirror and smile, "Hmpf," you say, smirking.
Perhaps you are just too rebellious.

Maybe, just for today, it’s time for an image change?
Ah, but at the same time isn’t twenty-six too old to do something like that…

Decision
>1 - No. Office clothes are fine.
>2 - Embrace J-rock, clothe and accessorise accordingly.
>3 - Go with fashionable streetwear.
>4 - Perhaps some casual clothing will do.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Thu 04 May 2023 16:44:31 No.5654686 Report

Quoted By: >>5654724

>>5654323
>tfw some gaijin in a trenchcoat and a top hat pulls out a revolver and headshots Emiko.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qzmNGB7V Thu 04 May 2023 16:45:29 No.5654688 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654684
>1
Office lady

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Thu 04 May 2023 16:47:06 No.5654693 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654684
>4 - Perhaps some casual clothing will do.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Thu 04 May 2023 16:47:10 No.5654694 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654684
>3 - Go with fashionable streetwear.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 04 May 2023 16:59:11 No.5654707 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654680
Wasn't the cat named Azuki before?

>>5654684
>2 - Embrace J-rock, clothe and accessorise accordingly.
This way we can advertise our interests to potential suitors so that we have a point of contact from the get-go.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 04 May 2023 17:12:35 No.5654721 Report

Quoted By:

>one vote of each
Vote will remain open for another 30 min, but I do you wanna write again as I feel very behind on updates

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Thu 04 May 2023 17:13:52 No.5654723 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654684
>3 - Go with fashionable streetwear

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 04 May 2023 17:15:21 No.5654724 Report

Quoted By: >>5654727

>>5654686
>Emiko shows up in the supermarket, pulls out That Gun and points at Miho
"Truth is, the game was rigged from the start"

>>5654684
Can we get her to dress like Jolyne? No? Well alright then

>2 - Embrace J-Rock

I hope she turns out into a westaboo once she listens to some progressive rock and djent.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 04 May 2023 17:20:47 No.5654727 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654724
We should do that to Emiko

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Thu 04 May 2023 17:26:23 No.5654730 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654684
>4 - Perhaps some casual clothing will do.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Thu 04 May 2023 17:35:14 No.5654735 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654684
>3 - Go with fashionable streetwear.
Gotta look good for the boys right?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 04 May 2023 17:56:17 No.5654749 Report

Quoted By: >>5654819

>>5654684
Winner
>3 - Go with fashionable streetwear.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Nagata_Bandshirt.jpg, 546KiB, 600x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 04 May 2023 20:20:34 No.5654819 Report

Quoted By: >>5654821 >>5654843

>>5654749

Halfway through your renewed make-up, you stop and clear it all off.

The usual simply will not do!

You’ve been walking around with that for years now and did anyone ever ask you out on a date?
No. They haven’t. So, it simply doesn’t work.

Stomping towards your bedroom, clothes fly around your room as you dig deep into your closet.

There are some band shirts you bought but have never worn outside.
You got them when you attended some concerts by yourself, just idling in the back with a mask on.

You look at them, smiling as you recall the memories.
There’s nothing wrong with putting your interests on display.
That’s a good conversation starter.

All the stuff you bought, but have been too embarrassed to wear.

Band-shirt, on! Spikey bracelets, on! Boots, on!

Be proud, Miho! You’re no longer that insecure fifteen-year-old!
You stand tall in front of the body-length mirror in your bedroom.

Then shrivel up, covering your face as you hide from your own reflection.
There’s no way you can wear this outside…

You dig through the closet.
If office attire is too tame, then what about some fashionable streetwear?

That’s what college girls wear, right?
You’re short and your skin is pretty good, maybe you’ll be able to pass yourself off as being younger?

Pulling up your phone, you check online to see what kind of streetwear is fashionable these days.
Things have changed a fair bit since you were in college, but you should be able to pull together a look that’s close enough to what’s trendy if you mix-and-match your clothes.

It mostly seems to be baggy clothes like a large sweater with some kind of print, cargo pants.
That’s all fine and well, but you don’t own any of those.

There’s seems to be a sportier sub-culture of streetwear with denim jackets and crop tops.
That’ll have to do. It seems like as long as it is baggy and oversized then it qualifies as streetwear.

It does look like what you found online, but wearing this as somebody in their late twenties has you feeling self-conscious.
Sometimes you wish you could borrow some of the confidence you display during work and put it to use in your private life.

As you compare yourself to the images you found online you make a startling discovery.

…All these trendy girls have skinny waists and small chests.
Are large breasts unfashionable? Is that why nobody wants you?

A third and hopefully final dive in the closet has you pulling out a compression sport bra.
After replacing your current bra with that one, you’ve managed to acquire a more modest bust.

Do you look like a trendy college girl now?
Or more like a late-twenties hag trying to play pretend?

You’ve been staring in the mirror for too long, you can’t tell anymore.

Anonymous

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Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 04 May 2023 20:22:35 No.5654821 Report

Quoted By: >>5654831 >>5654833 >>5654834 >>5654843 >>5654849 >>5654858 >>5654889 >>5654905 >>5654915 >>5654937 >>5654939 >>5655014 >>5655018 >>5655034 >>5655177 >>5655320

>>5654819

“I’ll just go like this,” you shout to encourage yourself.

You hurry out of the house before you change your mind.
One speedy drive with your trusty Renault Twingo later, you arrive at the shopping centre’s parking lot.

It’s a Saturday, so it’s understandably busy.
Hundreds if not thousands of people are shopping today.

A veritable sea of bodies.

There’s a van with its roof covered in speakers promoting some kind of candidate for a local election.
You hurry past before one of the promoters is able to hand you a flyer.

Are people staring? Somebody just laughed behind you. Was it you they were laughing at?

Embarrassment rising, you hurry towards the shopping centre – constantly pulling your shirt down.
A wind funnelled through the many buildings of Tokyo is pulling at your clothes.

---

That nuisance ends once you make it inside the shopping centre.
You decide to save the grocery shopping for last so you don’t need to drag around the groceries.

Today is all about reinventing yourself.

Looking for all kinds of ways to make you more desirable and to get you that coveted boyfriend before you end up with either five cats or with a girlfriend because you got so touch-starved that you couldn’t take it anymore.

Your first stop is the beauty salon.
It’s been years since you changed your hairstyle.

Hairstyles
>1 - Keep what you have. Medium/long blonde hair.
>2 - Wavy bob haircut
>3 - Pixie haircut
>4 - Messy ponytail
>5- Woven low bun
>5 - Wavy short haircut

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 04 May 2023 20:30:27 No.5654831 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654821
SSStylish Miho! Damn girl, slay!

>4 - Messy ponytail
Blonde Calli will do

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Thu 04 May 2023 20:34:06 No.5654833 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654821
>2 - Wavy bob haircut

>existential crisis when going for groceries
Truly the femcel of our time

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:HdZ0oCJ2 Thu 04 May 2023 20:34:17 No.5654834 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654821
>4 - Messy ponytail
Why not? Goes well with the hot and the top!
compression bra? Miho, no, let the girls free!
I feel bad for her, though. I know that feel, and I don't have the solace of being some flawless AI generated anime waifu.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 04 May 2023 20:48:54 No.5654843 Report

Quoted By: >>5654845

>>5654821
>3 - Pixie haircut

>>5654819
>did anyone ever ask you out on a date?
They did, actually, so the problem isn't the looks. We just need to go out more.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 04 May 2023 20:53:29 No.5654845 Report

Quoted By: >>5654847

>>5654843
did any male asked Miho out on a date, though? I think that's what she was reflecting on

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 04 May 2023 20:55:49 No.5654847 Report

Quoted By: >>5654854 >>5654858

>>5654845
She fails to consider that she was asked out and basically confessed to by a woman and in fact possesses a veritable harem of them. So the problem must be she doesn't spend enough time around men.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Thu 04 May 2023 20:58:15 No.5654849 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654821
>2 - Wavy bob haircut

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 04 May 2023 21:01:31 No.5654854 Report

Quoted By: >>5654885

>>5654847
are women tastes in women the same as men's? a pointless discussion: the undeniable fact is that she was never asked out by a man, as said by herself - which would imply that she wasn't asked out even during college, a time were she (supposedly) surrounded by a sea of thirsty lesbian women.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Thu 04 May 2023 21:04:57 No.5654858 Report

Quoted By: >>5654885

>>5654821
>2 - Wavy bob haircut
>>5654847
>possesses a veritable harem of them. So the problem must be she doesn't spend enough time around men
>My harem can't help my love life as an idol manager?!
Watch Miho add idol boys to her harem while remaining obvious to the fact

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Thu 04 May 2023 21:27:29 No.5654885 Report

Quoted By: >>5654940

>>5654854
>are women tastes in women the same as men's?
Individual variance trumps any gender-specific one, so it would be most correct to say that if some women are interested in Miho, then some men should be as well.
>she wasn't asked out even during college
Maybe people considered her out of their league. Or maybe she wasn't social enough. Or, most likely, she's an anime character who's single for plot reasons despite being a catch.

>>5654858
It wouldn't be a harem otherwise

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:8F07TLn2 Thu 04 May 2023 21:30:12 No.5654889 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654821
>1 - Keep what you have. Medium/long blonde hair
I like the hair we have now. Maybe trim off the uneven edges but it's mostly fine.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Thu 04 May 2023 21:48:31 No.5654905 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654821
>2 - Wavy bob haircut

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Yzq2iVvA Thu 04 May 2023 22:00:10 No.5654915 Report

Quoted By: >>5654918 >>5654922 >>5654940 >>5655037 >>5655066

>>5654821
>4 - Messy ponytail

Although, I do like our hair now

Anons, what else can we do to attract the male gaze? Higher heels? More gym sessions? Crank up the jewellery?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Thu 04 May 2023 22:04:03 No.5654918 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654915
see through clothing

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Tops-T-Shirt-Women-blowjob-queen (...).jpg, 337KiB, 1000x1000

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Thu 04 May 2023 22:08:37 No.5654922 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654915

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Thu 04 May 2023 22:14:00 No.5654926 Report

Quoted By:

Maybe Nagata is right in setting higher standards. Wait until the idols are famous on an international level and then snap up a gaijin bf.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Thu 04 May 2023 22:43:52 No.5654937 Report

Quoted By: >>5654941 >>5654962

>>5654821
>1 - Keep what you have. Medium/long blonde hair.

To be honest none of those convince me for her, maybe ponytail just for the change of it since she can just untie it later

>or with a girlfriend because you got so touch-starved that you couldn’t take it anymore

Is this something that could happen? Could we fail so much with getting a boyfriend she eventually just gives up and gets a girl?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:qzmNGB7V Thu 04 May 2023 22:45:36 No.5654939 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654821
>1 - Keep what you have. Medium/long blonde hair.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Thu 04 May 2023 22:49:54 No.5654940 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654915
>what else can we do to attract the male gaze?
1 - don't be a retard
men don't have high standards, don't forget the millenium old tradition "if there is a hole, there is a way" still holds true to this day.

>>5654885
words words words... but: at the end of the day, she had no dates that took the initiative and called her out - we can, and did, agree on that

Also I can't believe anons are voting for a *vomits* bob haircut, y'all have no fashion sense baka my head......
C'mon her long hair is her charm! she's cute with it, and a ponytail would accentuate her cuteness

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Thu 04 May 2023 22:51:23 No.5654941 Report

Quoted By: >>5654942

>>5654937
>settle for lesbianism
Would seem to defeat the purpose of our big vote on sexual orientation

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Thu 04 May 2023 22:53:19 No.5654942 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654941
That's why i'm asking it wouldn't make a lot of sense

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 04 May 2023 23:15:29 No.5654962 Report

Quoted By: >>5654968 >>5654999 >>5655177 >>5655309

>>5654937
>Is this something that could happen? Could we fail so much with getting a boyfriend she eventually just gives up and gets a girl?

It was meant half-jokingly as it would undermine the "what's Nagata's sexuality" vote from the prev thread, but I've considered it.
I'm afraid people might sabotage straight relationships to force a lesbian route though.
Although I like the "I will make you fall for me" angle, I'm refraining from tracking "Affection" for female NPCs for now.

Lesbians routes aside:

I've written out some "relationship" rules and they're basically inverted rules from normal dating games.

In a normal game you'd pursue somebody and gradually built relationships.

As this quest is largely "reactive" I figured it might be better (and the pinnacle girl experience) if others pursue you.
Though if the players want to be proactive at times then I won't stop you, but it'll likely mostly be others coming onto you.

Say you get a message from a guy that contacted Nagata to meet up.
You vote to meet up or not.
If the meet-up happens then and everything goes well (might involve dice) then Nagata's "affection" for that guy goes up.

The higher your affection, the easier you give in (much like the drinking rules).
Say you're at a second or third date and the character wants to kiss Nagata and her affection is high enough then she'll reciprocate if not we might roll.

If Nagata hits 100 affection for somebody we basically enter "heart pupils" territory and she's putty in their hands.
Depending on the person this might be great for Nagata or bad. The age-old "He's not that bad, I can fix him" route.

Affection can also go down if you don't interact with that character for a while (like you decline all their advances) or because of a vote.

Example
>Watase Yoko invited you to lunch last Monday
>She wasn't a lecher and generally nice: +10 affection
>Nagata now thinks a little better of Watase Yoko

The above is an example and no I didn't track that "Affection" gain since Watase Yoko is a woman and the event wasn't one that was voted on.
I just sorta had the lunch with Watase happens and in hindsight accepting the "lunch" should've been a vote.

I've also considered a "Loneliness" stat that would weigh in, but then things start getting complicated.

In summary:
I'm still thinking about the rules for now and open for suggestions.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Thu 04 May 2023 23:19:40 No.5654968 Report

Quoted By: >>5654993

>>5654962
Sounds like a way better system than "yeah no more yuri now"
I personally wasn't reading here when that vote happened but I would have voted bi just because it's more open to options.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 04 May 2023 23:54:48 No.5654993 Report

Quoted By: >>5655009 >>5655011

>>5654968
>I personally wasn't reading here when that vote happened but I would have voted bi just because it's more open to options.
I don't know how to tell how much readers or players a thread has outside of looking at replies, but I think it's safe to assume that some who used to read have left and new ones may have joined.

Nevertheless, the only way for votes to matter is to chisel the result into the story and have it be a permanent part of it.

I don't mind having a vote to cover female NPCs under the "Affection" rules, but since this would supersede a previous decision a simple majority wouldn't do it.
The vote would have to be basically unanimous for me to change it.

I don't want players to feel like their votes don't matter or feel cheated.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 05 May 2023 00:00:42 No.5654999 Report

Quoted By: >>5655009

>>5654962
>Although I like the "I will make you fall for me" angle, I'm refraining from tracking "Affection" for female NPCs for now.

I wouldn't like that approach - if anons could reverse/invalidate previous 'no turning back' votes then you might as well not even give us any vote to begin with.

>"Loneliness" stat
Suffering builds character
That aside, yeah. Another stat to keep track of would be hellish - maybe you could transform loneliness into stress? If I'm thinking about what you're thinking, the stress system still translates well.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 00:13:53 No.5655009 Report

Quoted By: >>5655022

>>5654999
>I wouldn't like that approach - if anons could reverse/invalidate previous 'no turning back' votes then you might as well not even give us any vote to begin with.

>>5654993
>Nevertheless, the only way for votes to matter is to chisel the result into the story and have it be a permanent part of it.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Fri 05 May 2023 00:18:24 No.5655011 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654993
I like your female characters a lot and would love more yuri, but also that's not why I'm playing this quest and I really don't like undoing a formative vote like that without reason.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Hairstyles.jpg, 1MiB, 1200x2400

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 00:27:33 No.5655014 Report

Quoted By: >>5655019 >>5655066 >>5655309

>>5654821
Here's an example of most hairstyles.
As the point is mainly to show the hair I didn't bother to fix hands or breast size and the like

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ScvgnKbN Fri 05 May 2023 00:34:37 No.5655018 Report

Quoted By: >>5655022

>>5654821
>1 - Keep what you have. Medium/long blonde hair

>Are large breasts unfashionable? Is that why nobody wants you?
MIHO NO AAAAAA

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO a51d9hzjzwx41.png, 63KiB, 350x406

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Fri 05 May 2023 00:35:51 No.5655019 Report

Quoted By: >>5655021

>>5655014
Can I change my vote to pixie

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO no.jpg, 5KiB, 300x168

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 00:37:43 No.5655021 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655019

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 05 May 2023 00:37:50 No.5655022 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655009
me and my stubbornness of not turning on auto-update striked again, I hadn't seen your post when I wrote mine

>>5655018
Don't worry, anon. As long as she doesn't learn about breast reduction surgeries, we're fine.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 05 May 2023 00:56:48 No.5655034 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654821
FUCK I CAME FROM THE HOSPITAL can I vote???? oh maaan...
>Wavy bob
>Look Chigusa we match!
>She remains impassive, but her face gets red
cam ooon make it a reality

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Fri 05 May 2023 00:58:28 No.5655037 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654915
>Actually going outside
just saying

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Yzq2iVvA Fri 05 May 2023 01:22:22 No.5655066 Report

Quoted By: >>5655075

>>5654915
Changing my vote here to:
>1 - Keep what you have. Medium/long blonde hair

Having seen the options >>5655014 I just like it better, it suits us

Maybe that’s an idea - less formal power suits for the office and more dresses?

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO JapaneseOfficeAttire.jpg, 459KiB, 1399x2122

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 01:34:00 No.5655075 Report

Quoted By: >>5655309

>>5655066
>Maybe that’s an idea - less formal power suits for the office and more dresses?
Female office attire has been based roughly on pic related

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Fri 05 May 2023 03:46:41 No.5655177 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654821
>1 - Keep what you have. Medium/long blonde hair.

>>5654962
Reasonable system, although Miho is bad at reading signals lol

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 05 May 2023 08:49:23 No.5655309 Report

Quoted By:

>>5654962
I don't like this system - not the "others pursue you" part, that's fine, but the "The higher your affection, the easier you give in" part. It undermines player agency. However reactive this quest is, it's still the players who decide what to do, except cases of heavy inebriation. I don't want love to be analogous to alcohol poisoning.

>>5655014
>pixie cut is impossible to generate
>mfw
Alright, I'll switch to
>Messy ponytail.

>>5655075
I bet Miho would look stunning in the formality 3 leftmost suit. But if she wants to look approachable to suitor, then it probably should be something less formal.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 09:28:49 No.5655320 Report

Quoted By: >>5655557 >>5655559

>>5654821
>4 - Messy ponytail (x3)
>2 - Wavy bob haircut (x4)
>1 - Keep what you have. Medium/long blonde hair (x6)

Winner
>1 - Keep what you have. Medium/long blonde hair

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 09:32:16 No.5655321 Report

Quoted By: >>5655322 >>5655339

Need a single person to name me one character from the quest for something dumb

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 05 May 2023 09:37:13 No.5655322 Report

Quoted By: >>5655323 >>5655336 >>5656218

>>5655321
That IT guy we've seen once.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 09:40:04 No.5655323 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655322

...I'll admit that this kinda threw a wrench in what I had planned, but I'll commit

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 100kwords.jpg, 816KiB, 800x1200

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 10:14:33 No.5655336 Report

Quoted By: >>5655345 >>5655349 >>5655375 >>5656218

>>5655322
>only mentioned once
>never described
>never named

Next fan service pic at 200k words

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Fri 05 May 2023 10:31:20 No.5655339 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655321
Our boss

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 05 May 2023 10:45:38 No.5655345 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655336
He's pretty jacked for an IT guy

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:eNPACR+g Fri 05 May 2023 11:01:30 No.5655349 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655336
ok everyone next time QM asks for a random character we all say Kaiba

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 05 May 2023 12:39:31 No.5655375 Report

Quoted By: >>5655386

>>5655336
why, though?
what did QM mean by this...

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1C741418-0D5F-4F72-A72A-0FE691C1 (...).jpg, 741KiB, 964x1229

Anonymous ID:Yzq2iVvA Fri 05 May 2023 13:05:53 No.5655382 Report

Quoted By:

Our girl needs to rock this look

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 13:15:56 No.5655386 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655375
I just wanted to do one of those "yey we hit a milestone" posts with a random character as the quest hit 100k words.
Was expecting the character to be something like Nagata, Kaiba, or maybe Watase, but it is what it is.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 19:35:16 No.5655557 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655320

“What will it be?” asks the hairdresser.

An entirely new you. Something that’ll draw a clear line in the sand between then and now.
A look so dazzling and enticing you’ll get a boyfriend without any effort at all.
A coupe that’ll turn heads wherever you go!

“Ah, j-just a little off the sides,” you say, “Even it out a bit…”

Next time for sure! Can’t change too much at once, have to ease into such things.

Before doing anything else, you decide to find a nice spot to relax.
It’s closing in on 11 AM now, the perfect time for some tea or coffee.
Most places are stuffed to the brim, but after looking for a bit you find a small café.

Outside the windows, cars rush by and hundreds of people walk the busy sidewalks.
But here, inside, it’s quiet. You wonder what kind of isolation they use to muffle the sound like that.

As you spy at your phone, you notice you’ve got some emails from public relations, but you can check that out later.

Worries are for later, now is time to relax.
The hairdresser fluffed up your hair all nice and you’re certain you look radiant.
With a cup of mint tea warming your hands, you take a deep breath.
There’s a sort of solemn, but calming tune playing over the speakers.

You close your eyes for a moment.

After a good hour of doing nothing, you finish your tea and pack your things again.
Unnoticed by you until now, there are some men, maybe in their fifties, that’ve entered while you were zoned out.

They seem in some kind of deep discussion, one of them visibly angry, but they still manage to find the time to stare at you as you walk by.

Once outside you decide that it’s probably time to get groceries as you want to go to the music shop later.

Shortly after leaving the café, you pass by some parked cars, one of them has their driver seat window open and is billowing cigarette smoke.

You’ve never been a fan of smoking, so you put your head down and try to push past.

“Nagata-san,” says a voice from inside the car, “Right?”
It’s an incredibly fancy car, the kind used to impress business relations.

“Eh?” you say, turning at the mention of your voice. You recognize the brown-haired man inside the car.

“Yoshimura-san,” you reply, then bow a little, “How have you been?”

While Yoshimura Ken lives over in your apartment complex, you don’t see him around all that much since he works at a black company.
Every few weeks or months you bump into each other at the lobby.

Last time this happened you decided to get dinner together since neither of you had eaten.
You blush a little as you faintly recall calling that innocent dinner a date in a drunken brag to Watase Yoko during the hot spring trip.

He’s looking a fair bit better now than he did previously.
Perhaps his workload has eased up a little.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 19:36:37 No.5655559 Report

Quoted By: >>5655562

>>5655320

“What will it be?” asks the hairdresser.

An entirely new you. Something that’ll draw a clear line in the sand between then and now.
A look so dazzling and enticing you’ll get a boyfriend without any effort at all.
A coupe that’ll turn heads wherever you go!

“Ah, j-just a little off the sides,” you say, “Even it out a bit…”

Next time for sure! Can’t change too much at once, have to ease into such things.

Before doing anything else, you decide to find a nice spot to relax.
It’s closing in on 11 AM now, the perfect time for some tea or coffee.
Most places are stuffed to the brim, but after looking for a bit you find a small café.

Outside the windows, cars rush by and hundreds of people walk the busy sidewalks.
But here, inside, it’s quiet. You wonder what kind of isolation they use to muffle the sound like that.

As you spy at your phone, you notice you’ve got some emails from public relations, but you can check that out later.

Worries are for later, now is time to relax.
The hairdresser fluffed up your hair all nice and you’re certain you look radiant.
With a cup of mint tea warming your hands, you take a deep breath.
There’s a sort of solemn, but calming tune playing over the speakers.

You close your eyes for a moment.

After a good hour of doing nothing, you finish your tea and pack your things again.
Unnoticed by you until now, there are some men, maybe in their fifties, that’ve entered while you were zoned out.

They seem in some kind of deep discussion, one of them visibly angry, but they still manage to find the time to stare at you as you walk by.

Once outside you decide that it’s probably time to get groceries as you want to go to the music shop later.

Shortly after leaving the café, you pass by some parked cars, one of them has their driver seat window open and is billowing cigarette smoke.

You’ve never been a fan of smoking, so you put your head down and try to push past.

“Nagata-san,” says a voice from inside the car, “Right?”
It’s an incredibly fancy car, the kind used to impress business relations.

“Eh?” you say, turning at the mention of your voice. You recognize the brown-haired man inside the car.

“Yoshimura-san,” you reply, then bow a little, “How have you been?”

While Yoshimura Ken lives over in your apartment complex, you don’t see him around all that much since he works at a black company.
Every few weeks or months you bump into each other at the lobby.

Last time this happened you decided to get dinner together since neither of you had eaten.
You blush a little as you faintly recall calling that innocent dinner a date in a drunken brag to Watase Yoko during the hot spring trip.

He’s looking a fair bit better now than he did previously.
Perhaps his workload has eased up a little.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 00025-727225456.png, 599KiB, 571x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 19:37:39 No.5655562 Report

Quoted By: >>5655564 >>5655567

>>5655559

Yoshimura takes a pull from his cigarette.
“Almost didn’t recognize you,” he says, “I’ve only ever seen you in work clothes after all.”

You look down at your clothing and while they have grown on you, you can’t help but feel a little bit embarrassed.

“Ehe… It’s a Saturday after all, so I figured… casual clothes…” you say, trying to frame it as an excuse, “Just shopping…”

Yoshimura nods, “Looks good, just didn’t figure you the type,” he says.

“Ahaha…” you say, scratching a cheek, “Thanks.”
“What brings you here?” you say to navigate the conversation away from your clothing.

Yoshimura reaches for a folder on the passenger seat, holding it up, “Working,” he says, “My boss is in there with a possible business partner. Told me to arrive late with the files so he can trash talk me while I act apologetic.”
He pointed towards the little café you left just moments ago.

“Eh?” you say, somewhat confused, “Isn’t it rude to arrive late? Why not just go now?”

Yoshimura takes a pull from his cigarette and smirks, “Because those bastards run a black company as well,” he says, “I suppose they get off on belittling their workers. Perhaps that’s how those pigs bond, who knows?”

How do you even respond to that?

“Well,” you say, “You’re looking good at least.”

Oh, no. That almost sounded like a compliment.
You can’t go around complimenting random men.

“Compared to how we usually meet, I mean” you say, “At like 11 PM in the lobby …ehehe..”

Saved.

“Thanks?” says Yoshimura as he raises an eyebrow, then glances at his jacket, “Too bad my boss is about to toss whatever drink he’s enjoying onto me as part of his act though. He always does.”

This much you remember about Yoshimura, extremely self-deprecating.
You’ve never understood why men do that to themselves.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 19:38:40 No.5655564 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655562

An alarm beeps and Yoshimura looks towards his phone.
“That’s my cue,” he says with a sigh, turning off the alarm and pocketing his phone, “Time to put that high school drama club experience to use.”
He gets out the car and locks it using a button on his car keys, the window rolls up automatically.

Don’t feel bad Renault Twingo-san!
Those features might be fancy, but they’re unneeded!

Yoshimura adjusts his jacket, then turns towards you, “Had lunch yet?” he says, “My thing will maybe take ten minutes. Hand over files, get hit a few times, have a drink dumped on me, and then I’m good to go.”

Matter of fact, you haven’t had lunch yet, but do you want to spend lunch with Yoshimura?

Decision
>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better.
>2 - Make an excuse, his self-deprecating attitude is kinda…

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Fri 05 May 2023 19:39:45 No.5655567 Report

Quoted By: >>5655574 >>5655578 >>5655588 >>5655610 >>5655624 >>5655666 >>5655670 >>5655671 >>5655740 >>5655787 >>5655944

>>5655562

An alarm beeps and Yoshimura looks towards his phone.
“That’s my cue,” he says, turning off the alarm and pocketing his phone, “Time to put that high school drama club experience to use.”
He gets out the car and locks it using a button on his car keys, the window rolls up automatically.

Don’t feel bad Renault Twingo-san!
Those features might be fancy, but they’re unneeded!

Yoshimura adjusts his jacket, then turns towards you, “Had lunch yet?” he says, “My thing will maybe take ten minutes. Hand over files, get hit a few times, have a drink dumped on me, and then I’m good to go.”

Matter of fact, you haven’t had lunch yet, but do you want to spend lunch with Yoshimura?

Decision
>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better.
>2 - Make an excuse, his self-deprecating attitude is kinda…

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Fri 05 May 2023 19:46:19 No.5655574 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655567
Ganbare, Renault Twingo-san!

>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better.
Ganbare, Miho-chan!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Yzq2iVvA Fri 05 May 2023 19:49:40 No.5655578 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655567
>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better.

He’s a smart guy in a well-paying job, easy to have a huge ego in these circumstances. Being down to earth and able to joke about yourself is good

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Fri 05 May 2023 19:56:27 No.5655588 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655567
>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better.
Screw it, better than alone forever

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Fri 05 May 2023 20:11:29 No.5655610 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655567
>2 - Make an excuse, his self-deprecating attitude is kinda…
Nah senpai, you're not that guy

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Fri 05 May 2023 20:24:43 No.5655624 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655567
>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Fri 05 May 2023 21:00:52 No.5655666 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655567
>2 - Make an excuse, his self-deprecating attitude is kinda…
That worklife is a bit too unstable.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Oswy3tbM Fri 05 May 2023 21:02:30 No.5655670 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655567
>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO file.png, 285KiB, 521x319

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Fri 05 May 2023 21:03:29 No.5655671 Report

Quoted By: >>5655809

>>5655567
>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better.

Why not

>you’ve got some emails from public relations

scary

I just want to remind everyone this is a renault twingo
can we use all the budget into a new car please, it's a very important business expense

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:xNsMRe99 Fri 05 May 2023 22:29:41 No.5655740 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655567
>2 - Make an excuse, his self-deprecating attitude is kinda…

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ScvgnKbN Fri 05 May 2023 23:57:46 No.5655787 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655567
>2 - Make an excuse, his self-deprecating attitude is kinda…

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:I+6ZqS6Y Sat 06 May 2023 00:44:05 No.5655809 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655671
>turning our back on Twingo-san
Never!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 05:15:27 No.5655944 Report

Quoted By: >>5656207

>>5655567

>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better.(x6)
>2 - Make an excuse, his self-deprecating attitude is kinda…(x4)

Winner
>1 - Accept his invitation, maybe get to know him a bit better.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 14:14:40 No.5656207 Report

Quoted By: >>5656208

>>5655944

Might as well take him up on it.

“Sure,” you say, “I didn’t get much of a breakfast either, so I can go for a lunch.”

“Great,” says Yoshimura, “I’ll be back soon. You can wait in the car if you like?”

“No, that’s alright,” you say, “I’ll just find a bench somewhere.”
You’re not about to cheat on your trusty Renault Twingo.
What if you get dazzled by the fancy features of Yoshimura’s car and never look at your own car the same way?

Yoshimura shrugs, “Alright,” he says, holding up the folder he showed you earlier, “I’ll just go deliver this then.”

You nod and Yoshimura walks off.

In the spare minutes you decide to check the email from public relations.
The email concerns Chigusa and Enatsu’s debut as both of them have worked on a job this past.

Both Genki Clothing and Isekai Cosplay mentioned they plan to publish the photos from this weeks’ photoshoots somewhere this month.
Thus, public relations presses that you should ensure your new idols have a proper debut before those pictures go live so you can piggyback on the buzz generated by those companies.

You didn’t do anything special for Kaiba’s debut, you simply had an image of her posted on the company’s social media.
Perhaps you should do things differently for Enatsu of Chigusa.

A proper debut event will cost a bit, but it might be worth it.
You decide to put it on your to-do list for now.

Roughly ten minutes later, Yoshimura comes back and, as he predicted, his shirt and jacket is drenched with some kind of drink.
He’s using paper towels to furiously scrub his jacket.

“Bourbon,” says Yoshimura as he gets closer, fighting a stain, “Bad luck today, it’ll be a pain to get out.”

You check your phone, it’s not even close to 1PM.
Were those people really drinking bourbon at this time of day?

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Mad.jpg, 175KiB, 400x366

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 14:15:42 No.5656208 Report

Quoted By: >>5656209 >>5656255

>>5656207

You fish into your purse for some wet wipes, paper towels aren’t going to do much good against a sticky liquor like bourbon.

“Come here,” you say, frowning as you suppress the urge to stomp over to the café and give Yoshimura’s boss a piece of your mind, “Paper will just stick and shred, you’ll end up with dozens of tiny bits to your shirt.”

You take a wet wipe in hand and try to fight the stain in Yoshimura’s shirt.
Yeah, this is not going to come out that easy. Looks like an expensive shirt, too.

What a waste.

How can somebody stay in a job where their boss treats them like that…
How dare people treat their employees that way to begin with…

The nerve of those people. Black companies truly are the worst.

After a fair bit of effort, your frown relents and you sigh, “It’s not helping much, you’ll have to take it the cleaners,” you say, then looking up.

Yoshimura is staring down at you with small smile, “Sure, I’ll do just that.”

He sure is close. Wait.
He didn’t get close. You did.

It finally dawns on you what you’ve been doing.
You were so caught up in your own thoughts you barely noticed until now.

After hurriedly taking a step back, you bow in rapid succession, “I’m sorry, so sorry,” you say, “I wasn’t thinking.”

When you notice a mess, you clean it up.
That’s a given, right?

Yoshimura laughs, “Don’t see me complaining,” he says, pressing a button on his car keys as he walks towards the car, “I came prepared, there’s a new shirt in the car, so don’t worry.”
The lights on the car flash twice, signalling that it’s unlocked.

You feel blood rush to your face, then stomp your foot down, “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“And miss out on what just happened?” says Yoshimaru, “Not a chance.”
He has no issue with chancing his shirt in the middle of a busy Tokyo street.

It feels silly to look away after you were basically rubbing his chest only moments ago, but you do so anyway.
It’s different now that you’re aware of it.

“Have to cherish moments like these,” says Yoshimura, as he buttons up his fresh shirt, “They don’t come often for guys. Hell, I still remember the compliment a girl gave me back in high school.”

“What did she say?” you ask.

“She complimented my new haircut,” says Yoshimura, “Said it made me look cool. Handsome.”
He puts his dirty shirt and jacket in the trunk of his car.

“What kind of haircut was that?” you say.

“This one,” says Yoshimura, pointing at his hair, “I’ve had this haircut ever since.”

Wearing his hair like that ever since?
That’s… strange, right?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 14:16:43 No.5656209 Report

Quoted By: >>5656210 >>5656255

>>5656208

Exchanging compliments is part of your average conversation for girls.
It must be much the same for guys and he’s just joking around.
Nobody would go years without receiving a compliment on their appearance.

You have to agree with the nameless high school girl though. He does look handsome.
Not that’d you ever tell him that. That’d be so embarrassing.

“You ready to go?” says Yoshimura as he opens the car door.

“Ah,” you say, “Actually I plan to do groceries after, can we have lunch somewhere nearby?”

Yoshimura shrugs, “Not a problem,” he says, closing the door and locking the car with the press of a button, “Let’s go.”
He circles the car and walks towards you.

“I know a nice place towards the eastern side of Shibuya,” you say, nodding towards the right.

Yoshimura looks up, “East?” he says, then thinks for a moment, “I know a good place myself, not too far from here.”
He presses a hand into the small of your back to steer you slightly towards the west of Shibuya.
“Only a short walk from here,” he says.

You jolt at the sudden pressure on your back.

How can he just casually touch you like that!
You’re not that familiar with each other.

Ah, but you sort-of did the same just now.
It’d be hypocritical to complain.
You basically signalled that it should be okay for him to do the same.

The both of you walk deeper into Shibuya.

As you walk towards your destination, you feel like talking a bit more.
What’s going on in his life? How’s he been? What are his hobbies?

However, just as you try to strike up conversation, Yoshimura lights up a cigarette.

Instead of talking, you spend the remaining walk wrinkling your nose as the smoke from the cigarette always seems to find a way to hit you in the face.
Too polite to complain, you hope he notices, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

After ten minutes, during which Yoshimura manages to smoke two cigarettes, you arrive at your destination.

It’s a Izakaya restaurant. A place ordinary reserved for after-work drinking and snacks.

“My usual place,” says Yoshimura, “They’ve been cracking down on it, but this is a place where you’re still allowed to smoke indoors.”

Huray for that…

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Barman.jpg, 502KiB, 586x800

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 14:17:46 No.5656210 Report

Quoted By: >>5656211

>>5656209

As expected, as you enter there’s an overwhelming stench of smoke and the walls and ceiling are stained yellow by continued exposure.

There’s a bald man behind the counter.
“Yo, Yoshimura,” says the barman as he shelves away some bottles.

“Shoji,” says Yoshimura, nodding to greet the man, “Is my table free?”

“Yeah,” replies the barman, who then eyes you over, then looks back at Yoshimura.
“Oi, oi, Yoshimura…” he says, “College girls, really? Aren’t you almost thirty?”
The barman sighs, “This is why you can’t find a wife…”

“Thanks for the sage advice,” says Yoshimura with a deadpan stare, “Some cups and green tea to my table.”

“Coming up,” says the barman.
The barman presses a button on a machine which dispenses steaming hot water and catches it in a small teapot.
Adding some tea leaves, he then places the teapot and cups on a tray for Yoshimura to take with him.

“What happened to service?” says Yoshimura.

“Service my ass,” says the barman with dismissive wave of his hand, “Take it with you.”

As he waves you notice the barman is missing a part of his pinkie finger.

Yoshimura clicks his tongue and holding the tray in one hand and a clean ashtray in the other, he moves into the restaurant – you follow.

“Bring me the lunch menu in a bit,” shouts Yoshimura as he rounds the corner.

There wasn’t really a good moment to introduce yourself.

You assume from the interaction that Yoshimura must come here a lot.
There something else to take away from the conversation though…

The barman called you a college girl!
Here you were thinking you’d look like some hag dressing up.
The diligent skincare routines and your short stature are paying off!

“Happy about something?” says Yoshimura as he moves into a private room.

“Fufufu~” you say, following, “Who knows?”

It’s an older style room with tatami mats where the table is sunken into the floor with plenty of free space beneath it.
Rather than having to sit on your knees, you can let your feet rest beneath the table.

Yoshimura sits down at the seat closest to the door, you sit in the seat beside him.
There’s a scowl on his face from the chat with the barman.

You reach for the teapot and, hoping that the leaves have steeped enough, pour the both of you some tea.

“Oh,” says Yoshimura, his scowl replaced by a smile, “Thanks.”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 14:18:48 No.5656211 Report

Quoted By: >>5656232 >>5656233 >>5656255 >>5656260 >>5656270 >>5656289 >>5656328 >>5656409

>>5656210

For somebody that seems so grim and serious, he does have a nice smile.
You’d half expect his teeth to be stained a hard yellow from smoking, but that isn’t the case.
Perhaps he simply hasn’t been smoking for that long.

Decision
>1 - Remembering what he said earlier, you decide to compliment his smile.
>2 - Ask why Yoshimura doesn’t get a different job. One where they respect him.
>3 - Subtly inquire about Yoshimura’s dating status. Is he seeing somebody?
>4 - Ask Yoshimura how long he's been coming here.
>5 - Inquire about his friend the barman.
>6 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 06 May 2023 14:31:44 No.5656218 Report

Quoted By:

>>5655322
>>5655336
Damn it I wanted the guy in charge of marketing
I mean, women are HOT!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 06 May 2023 14:42:00 No.5656232 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656211
>>4 - Ask Yoshimura how long he's been coming here. Add a sprinkle of "the heck is this place"
I wanted to ask about the barman, but a girl asking you about someone else hurts...

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sat 06 May 2023 14:42:49 No.5656233 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656211
>2 - Ask why Yoshimura doesn’t get a different job. One where they respect him.

If we say 1 he's gonna think we are getting married next week, 3 is obvious that he isn't, but could be interesting to see what he says, 4 and 5 are interesting conversations but I think asking why he's still in that company is more important to know him better

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 06 May 2023 15:01:04 No.5656255 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656208
The guy has too much confidence for someone who's been riding on a high school compliment.

>>5656209
And no respect for boundaries.

>>5656211
>2 - Ask why Yoshimura doesn’t get a different job. One where they respect him.
We need to determine whether he actually works for yakuza

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:FPZgRcT3 Sat 06 May 2023 15:03:43 No.5656260 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656211
>1 - Remembering what he said earlier, you decide to compliment his smile.
>2 - Ask why Yoshimura doesn’t get a different job. One where they respect him.
Both, please, but if only one may be chosen I lean towards #2.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 06 May 2023 15:14:29 No.5656270 Report

Quoted By: >>5656274

>>5656211
>2 - Ask why Yoshimura doesn’t get a different job. One where they respect him.

>6 - https://youtu.be/TYIOVBBxsNA
>As expected, as you enter there’s an overwhelming stench of smoke and the walls and ceiling are stained yellow by continued exposure.
Jesus fucking christ niggerino, is this a fucking place to take a cute girl? Dear God. You definitely aren't that guy.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sat 06 May 2023 15:17:08 No.5656274 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656270
Can you believe he brought a college girl into that shithole? baka my head

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:V6P4N9D+ Sat 06 May 2023 15:27:14 No.5656289 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656211
>2 - Ask why Yoshimura doesn’t get a different job. One where they respect him.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 06 May 2023 15:27:29 No.5656290 Report

Quoted By:

I bet two internets that he will offer to pay and miho will dismiss him completely

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sat 06 May 2023 16:14:55 No.5656328 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656211
>1 - Remembering what he said earlier, you decide to compliment his smile.
>2 - Ask why Yoshimura doesn’t get a different job. One where they respect him.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 17:29:46 No.5656409 Report

Quoted By: >>5656486

>>5656211
Winner
>2 - Ask why Yoshimura doesn’t get a different job. One where they respect him.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 18:37:54 No.5656486 Report

Quoted By: >>5656487

>>5656409

“Say, Yoshimura-san…” you say.
It might not really be any of your business, but as a former member of HR you can’t let the way they treat Yoshimura slide.

“Hmm?” says Yoshimura, glancing towards you as he sips his tea.

“With the way your boss treats you… throwing drinks on you… hitting you… shouting at you…” you say, “Wouldn’t it be better to a different job? One where you get some basic respect?”

Yoshimura chuckles, turning to face you, “Got you worried, have I?”

“Well, yeah,” you say, looking him in the eye, “It’d be weirder if I wasn’t.”

“I’m not particularly worried myself,” says Yoshimura, “They’re hard on me, yeah, but it’s a hard job. I’m the youngest of my group and the most recent hire. They’re hard on me because they need to be sure I can take it when it matters.”

He gulps down the remainder of his tea, “If I can tough it out a bit more then I’ll be in the clear.”

“Don’t your parents worry?” you say.

Yoshimura scoffs, “Not particularly, that’s all I’m gonna say about it.”

A sore spot. Perhaps you shouldn’t have brought up his parents.

There is a moment of silence.

“I brought the mood down, didn’t I?” you say, looking down, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he says, “It’s cute that you care, but I plan to tough this one out till the end.”

You refill his tea.

“How about you?” asks Yoshimura, “Human resources, right? That’s what you said last time?”

“Ah, well,” you say, “A lot happened and while I still work in the same place as before, but I now manage idols.”

“No kidding?” says Yoshimura, “With the songs, dancing, glitter and glamour?”

You nod, “All that and more.”

“Go figure,” says Yoshimura, holding up his cup and inspecting it, “Opposites really do attract, huh?”

Eh?

Was that what it sounded like?

As in he being attracted to you?

Or did he mean it more in a “we happen to run into each other” kind of way?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 18:39:07 No.5656487 Report

Quoted By: >>5656501 >>5656522 >>5656527 >>5656548 >>5656554 >>5656564 >>5656578 >>5656606 >>5656614 >>5656619

>>5656486

“S-so it seems,” you say, drinking some of your own tea.
Bleh. This is basically just hot water. You poured the tea too soon.
The leaves didn’t have enough time to steep.

Yoshimura didn’t complain even once though.
Not at all since you went out for lunch.

Then again, if he can take the verbal, mental, and physical abuse then what’s tasteless tea?

It’s strange how your chat back at the car began with him basically ranting about his boss, but the more time you spend with him the more guarded he becomes.
Isn’t it supposed to be the opposite?

Why is he so eager to keep up appearances all of a sudden?

You can’t spend too much time thinking about this.

“Being an idol manger has been very fun,” you say to break the silence, “It isn’t always easy, but I’m helping girls realize their dreams and I think that’s worth the effort.”

“Sounds like a great job,” says Yoshimura, smiling, “I’m happy for you.”

The remark should make you happy, but knowing he’s able to say such things while working at a gruelling black company kind of makes you sad instead.

“More tea?” you ask.

“Please,” he says, sliding over his cup.

In the silence that follows you contemplate the conversation thus far.

What if Yoshimura really was into you?
Are you into him?

It’s too early to talk about things like love, but is he worth meeting again?

>1 - He is. Decide to share your phone number with him after lunch so you can keep in touch.
>2 - Just stick around till lunch and go your separate ways afterwards. If fate wills it then you’ll meet again.

This decides if Yoshimura becomes somebody I track "Affection" for

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Sat 06 May 2023 19:01:23 No.5656501 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656487
>1 - He is. Decide to share your phone number with him after lunch so you can keep in touch.
Worth a go! Not like we have to marry the mook, especially if (as I suspect) he is maybe a gangster. But he's an interesting character, and Miho needs to build some confidence around the other sex.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 06 May 2023 19:24:48 No.5656522 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656487
> 1 Yes

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 06 May 2023 19:30:03 No.5656527 Report

Quoted By: >>5656535

>>5656487
>2 - Just stick around till lunch and go your separate ways afterwards. If fate wills it then you’ll meet again.
If he's worthy, fate will bring him back.
Also jesus christ anons, you have some bad taste - Miho deserves better.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 06 May 2023 19:36:44 No.5656535 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656527
Oh course she does!! But dating is a skill like many others. She's getting a little old already...

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B+CG2Tvj Sat 06 May 2023 19:50:12 No.5656548 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656487
>2 - Just stick around till lunch and go your separate ways afterwards. If fate wills it then you’ll meet again.
The work-life balance is one I cannot see working out healthily. More so considering that he works for a black company.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dYzISNav Sat 06 May 2023 19:54:00 No.5656554 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656487
>>1 - He is. Decide to share your phone number with him after lunch so you can keep in touch.
It's not like this is a committment to anything deeper, though.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 06 May 2023 19:58:53 No.5656561 Report

Quoted By: >>5656567

While we have Miho dating, why don't we think on how to present our new Idols? I am thinking that besides the basic new entry on the company's webpage, we should get a youtu- niconicodouga video going on as a promo. Maybe even set it up as an ad if the budget permits.

What will the video be about? Not sure. A teaser trailer kind of? A short interview with each of the idols, where they answer the usual questions? Bonus points if they are sitting on a black couch and the interview is done in 1st POV with the questions being displayed on the screen in an unintrusive manner

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ly3G4fQn Sat 06 May 2023 20:02:24 No.5656564 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656487
>2 - Just stick around till lunch and go your separate ways afterwards. If fate wills it then you’ll meet again.
Nope, that "if I endure that stuff, they'll accept me" attitude about his shit workplace plus the problems with his parents are a dealbreaker as far as I am concerned. Please anons, don't pick the "I can fix him" options.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ly3G4fQn Sat 06 May 2023 20:05:44 No.5656567 Report

Quoted By: >>5656593 >>5656619 >>5656681

>>5656561
They play well eachother, a friendly tomboy and a stern ice-queen, I say however we debute them, they must do an interview together.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 20:15:37 No.5656578 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656487
Vote closing in roughly 30 min, there's some other stuff I wanna post today.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Oswy3tbM Sat 06 May 2023 20:34:42 No.5656593 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656567
Supporting this idea! Together interview is a smart play.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sat 06 May 2023 20:49:36 No.5656606 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656487
>2 - Just stick around till lunch and go your separate ways afterwards. If fate wills it then you’ll meet again.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 21:00:01 No.5656614 Report

Quoted By: >>5656648

>>5656487
>1 - He is. Decide to share your phone number with him after lunch so you can keep in touch. (x3)
>2 - Just stick around till lunch and go your separate ways afterwards. If fate wills it then you’ll meet again. (x4)

Winner
>2 - Just stick around till lunch and go your separate ways afterwards. If fate wills it then you’ll meet again.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 06 May 2023 21:04:44 No.5656619 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656487
I was late to the vote, but I'm glad you anons voted 2. He raises my alarms a bit, and they were on point about Emiko.

>>5656567
I intended to do it like this from the start, so obviously I agree

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 21:48:44 No.5656648 Report

Quoted By: >>5656651

>>5656614

Before long the barkeep comes by with the lunch menu.
You decide to order a bunch of small dishes together so you can try things out.
The food is a tad greasy at times and not the best you’ve had, but all-in-all it’s an enjoyable lunch.

You glance at your phone, it’s getting pretty late.

“I should probably get going,” you say.

“Oh, grocery shopping,” says Yoshimura, looking up, “You mentioned.”
He gets up to see you off.

“Will you be going back to work today?” you ask as you shoulder your purse.

“I’m basically on call,” says Yoshimura, “In a way -- I’m always working.”

That sounds terrible. Never being able to truly relax.

“Thanks for a nice lunch,” you say, “Since you seem determined to stay with your current job, well, what can I say…. Hang in there. I hope things work out.”

“I’ll make sure they will,” say Yoshimura, “Let me walk you out.”

You walk to the entrance together.

“I’m gonna stick here for a while,” says Yoshimura, “You take care, Nagata-san.”

You nod, “You as well, Yoshimura-san,” you say, bowing, “I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah,” says Yoshimura, looking a little disappointed, “See you around.”

The both of you know what this is. There was no real spark.
Perhaps your paths will cross again and things will be different.
For now, however, you go your separate ways.

You bow again, then turn to leave.

Yoshimura goes back inside.

The last thing you hear is the sound of the barman roaring with laughter, “Gahahaha! Too pretty for your ugly, old mug anyway!”

--------------

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 21:49:45 No.5656651 Report

Quoted By: >>5656652

>>5656648

Trying to catch up on list time, you take some shortcuts through a few smaller streets.
Just as you arrive at the end of one street that’s supposed to open up into a large square, you find your path blocked by a large, unwieldy tent dotted with stars and crescent shapes.

You’re not the only person impatiently waiting for the path to clear.

Unfortunately, the only person struggling with the tent is a girl that can’t be much older than her mid-teens.
Every time she raises one side of the tent, some kind of support inside topples over and the other side collapses again.

People around you are getting visibly angry.

You sigh. Why do you keep doing this…

“Good afternoon,” you say, stepping closer, “Do you need some help?”

A silver-haired girl with strange eyes looks over her shoulder.
She’s wearing long, flowing robes with covered by a dark cloak with a hood.
As she looks over her shoulder, the support she had been trying to raise topples over, “Ah,” she says.

The wooden support clatters to the ground.
The silver-haired girl stares at it briefly, then ignores it, looking back at you.

The girl strikes a pose, covering half her face with a hand.

“Though the whims of fate are mine to observe,” she cries, “My palace of divination’s state is sorely lacking. I will accept your help!”

Outward you smile, inward you groan.

You help the girl and though both of you are short, with a little teamwork you manage to get the tent situated.
With the stars and crescent shapes decorating the outside fabric of the tent, It looks like some kind of place where budget fortune telling happens.

“Hmpf!” says the girl, leaning in as she presses a hand against her upper chest, “Rejoice, mortal. For Lady Tomiju of the House of Seven Crystals has blessed you with the opportunity to shed some light on the unknowable darkness of your existence!”

IT IS a place where budget fortune telling happens.
That would make the silver-haired girl the fortune teller, no?

“Ahaha…” you say, scratching the bridge of your nose, “I should really…”

“Come!” shouts the girl, both hands pointing towards the dark tent, “Enter my domain and I will reveal the patterns hidden within your life’s tapestry! Their meaning as clear as the day the gods wove it using the threads of fate!”

Uwaaa….

Your head swivels left and right. People are totally staring.
Those that were impatient have already moved on, the rest are enjoying the show.
They’re all perfectly fine with you monopolizing this strange individual.

You have to get out of this somehow.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 21:50:45 No.5656652 Report

Quoted By: >>5656653

>>5656651

“For a small of fee of only fifty dollars I will dispel the mists shrouding your potential!” continues the fortune teller girl.

“Eh, fifty?” you say, “That’s a little…”

“Forty,” replies the fortune teller instantly.

“I don’t know…”

“Thirty,”

“I…” you try.

“Twenty,”

“It’s just that…”

“How much you got?” asks the fortune teller.

What?

“I’m sorry,” you say, “But I didn’t bring any paper money…”

The fortune-teller huffs.

“It can’t be helped,” says the fortune-teller in the tones of somebody doing you a massive favour, her chin resting in the space between index finger and thumb, nodding sagely, “This, too, is fate! You helped me and thus I shall help you!”
She also mumbles something under her breath about the importance of marketing.

…Some of the people in the crowd are pulling out their phone to record the exchange.

“By channelling the intricate energies hidden with the cosmos, I sha--” manages the girl before you interrupt.

“Yes, yes,” you say, ushering the girl into her tent, “I’ll be in your care!”

“Eh?” says the girl, but quickly adjusts, “Leave it to me!”

The last thing you need is a video on the internet of you and this girl.
What if somebody recognizes you as Kaiba’s manager…

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Fortuneteller.jpg, 776KiB, 750x1000

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 21:51:47 No.5656653 Report

Quoted By: >>5656658 >>5656662 >>5656678 >>5656681 >>5656684 >>5656738 >>5657127 >>5657209 >>5657264 >>5657271 >>5657294

>>5656652

---------

Everything else aside, the inside of the tent actually captures that fortune teller atmosphere.
A closer look reveals that it is little more than painted illustrations on the tent’s cloth, a wooden table with cushions serving as seats on either side, and some battery-powered mood lighting.

Both you and the fortune-teller girl take your respective places at the table.

“As a tool to guide me in this, I shall rely on the crafts of western mysticism,” says the fortune teller as she points towards a deck of cards.

Western mysticism? Those are just tarot cards, aren’t they?
Makes you wonder if people in the west add things like ‘Eastern' or ‘Oriental’ to things to make them seem more authentic.

“I am the mystic known as Tomiju Aya,” says the fortune-teller, “Have you visited a fortune-teller before?”

“Hmm,” you say, thinking back, “Maybe during high school? It’s been a long time though, I can’t remember much…”

“My~, that’s quite alright though,” says Tomiju, her face is one of kindness and compassion, but you notice she pumps her fist underneath the table in glee, “I’ll explain.”

You nod your head, “Thanks, I’ll be in your care.”

Fortune-teller Tomiju reaches for one of the decks of Tarot cards, shuffling them.

“You ask a question for fate to answer and then we’ll draw three cards, these represent the past, present, and future. I am nothing more than fate’s instrument in this, laying out the cards and diving their meaning.” explains Tomiju, “Each card has a certain meaning and it might change depending on whether the card face points towards me or you, but you can leave all that to me.”

You glance at the deck of cards.
There’s quite a pile of these.
And each of those has their own meaning and adjusted meaning?

“That seems like a lot of information to retain,” you say.

“Hmpf,” says fortune-teller Tomiju, somewhat smug, “When you submerge yourself in the mystic arts and divination like I do then such knowledge becomes part of you before long. Ingrained in your very being.”

That makes sense.
Still impressive though.

“Let’s start, shall we?” says fortune teller Tomiju, “What question would you place before the cosmos?”

Well, you could at least humour her a bit to give the crowd outside some time to disperse.

Decision
>1 - Ask her about what the universe has in store for you in regard to your love life.
>2 - Will you find success as an idol manager?
>3 - Ask what fate has in store for Chigusa Iki
>4 - Ask what fate has in store for Kaiba Aoi
>5 - Ask what fate has in store for Enatsu Mari
>6 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B+CG2Tvj Sat 06 May 2023 21:55:30 No.5656658 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656653
>6 - Ask what fate has in store for Matsuno Kojiro

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Sat 06 May 2023 22:02:04 No.5656662 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656653
>1 - Ask her about what the universe has in store for you in regard to your love life.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dNW9iIlZ Sat 06 May 2023 22:27:43 No.5656678 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656653
>4 - Ask what fate has in store for Kaiba Aoi
Worried about that girl. She seems cursed.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sat 06 May 2023 22:39:33 No.5656681 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656567
Fuck yea. They better tease eachother with their photo sessions too! Imagine Mari showing up with a life-sized canvas of Iki in cosplay wear. Maybe the ice queen can counter by producing a sport bra and say it was the one Mari wore and put it for auction. For jokes, she won't DO THAT.
>>5656653
>6 Write in
>What will our first male idol be like
Thinking on the long game you see

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 06 May 2023 22:42:18 No.5656684 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656653
HELL YEAH TAROT READING ANONS, WILL WE GET A STAND OR A PERSONA QM?

>1 - Ask her about what the universe has in store for you in regard to your love life.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 06 May 2023 23:03:46 No.5656701 Report

Quoted By: >>5656712

I'll leave this vote open until tomorrow after which we'll roll to draw cards.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sat 06 May 2023 23:30:56 No.5656712 Report

Quoted By: >>5657426

>>5656701
Huh. You'll actually read the cards? Nice one, QM! I thought you'd use the fortune teller to give us hints about upcoming story arcs (i.e the reading would be scripted)

I've read about the whole idea behind the Arcanas and their meanings (the Fool's Journey and all that) but I've never performed a reading nor had someone read them for me - now I'm really interested

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1631758671028.jpg, 90KiB, 824x824

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 07 May 2023 00:01:57 No.5656738 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656653
>1 - Ask her about what the universe has in store for you in regard to your love life.
did you guys know that persona 5 invented tarot cards

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:WFrRKUg5 Sun 07 May 2023 05:38:09 No.5657127 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656653
>2 - Will you find success as an idol manager?
Tarot readers should look like a bum

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 07 May 2023 08:04:38 No.5657209 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656653
>1 - Ask her about what the universe has in store for you in regard to your love life.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:S+WGH13H Sun 07 May 2023 11:45:54 No.5657264 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656653
>6 - Write-in
>"WHO IS GONNA WIN THE SUPER BOWL THIS YEAR??!!"

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:tJfhR5Ni Sun 07 May 2023 12:05:14 No.5657271 Report

Quoted By:

>>5656653
>2 - Will you find success as an idol manager?
This is now a souv quest

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 13:25:27 No.5657294 Report

Quoted By: >>5657329

>>5656653

Winner
>1 - Ask her about what the universe has in store for you in regard to your love life.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO DealingCards.jpg, 1MiB, 1083x1166

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 14:31:18 No.5657329 Report

Quoted By: >>5657335 >>5657340 >>5657346

>>5657294

There’s a lot of things you can talk about as there’s always something to worry about.
However, as the lunch with Yoshimura is still fresh on your mind, you gravitate towards the age-old classic that people have been asking fortune tellers for centuries.

“How about love?” you say, “Will I be able to find somebody?”

Why couldn’t the fortune teller be some wizened, old granny?
Now you have to chat about love with a teenager…

Fortune-teller Tomiju smirks, “Fufufu~,” she says, her face slowly going red, “I suppose y-you’re at that age. It can’t be helped…”
She shuffles the Tarot deck once more.

“Draw three cards!” she shouts, “Take hold of your destiny with thine own hands!”

------------

A Tarot Deck has 78 cards each of which has a meaning.
When the cards are drawn, placed face down, and then revealed the “picture” (or face) will point towards either the fortune teller or the customer.
The underlying meaning of the card changes depending on which way it points.

With 78 cards which all have two possible states (facing away/facing towards) we end up with a simple flat list of 156 options.

Need three rolls, make sure to mention which one you are rolling for.
One person per roll, please.

The Past
Need one 1d156 roll.

The Present
Need one 1d156 roll.

The Future
Need one 1d156 roll.

Rather than draw from the top of a deck, it's like we draw a random card from a spread deck of cards.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 07 May 2023 14:37:08 No.5657335 Report

Quoted By: >>5657420 >>5657423

Rolled 154 (1d156)

>>5657329
>The Past

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Sun 07 May 2023 14:42:15 No.5657340 Report

Quoted By: >>5657420 >>5657423

Rolled 84 (1d156)

>>5657329
The Present

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 07 May 2023 14:50:50 No.5657346 Report

Quoted By: >>5657420 >>5657423

Rolled 119 (1d156)

>>5657329
The Future.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 16:33:41 No.5657420 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657335
>>5657340
>>5657346

The three cards are laid out.

The fortune teller laughs, “Kukuku~” she says, “And so destiny reveals itself…”

Even though you’re just going along with things, you feel yourself getting nervous.

“Regarding love in times gone past, the before-days…” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, as she flips over the card, “Facing you is The High Priestess.”

“Facing me?” you say, “Is that good?”

“Often,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “Though it largely depends on the eye that sees it.”
“Caught between the pillars of establishment and strength, masculine and feminine, good and evil, positive and negative. The fate of the High Priestess is that of a mediator. Forever torn between the above and under, residing in the in-between. You’ve led a life where you cater to others but forget yourself. Her facing you is much like a confrontation. It’s time to stop thinking and start feeling. In the past you’ve closed yourself off, it’s time to open up.”

Fortune-teller Tomiju reaches for the card and slides it towards you, “There was love in your past that you weren’t aware of or didn’t accept. These individuals will surface again, be ready and open when they do. A storm of emotions may stir under a calm visage.”

“Ooooo,” you say, “You almost sound like the real deal!”

“Hah!?” says Fortune-teller Tomiju as she presses a hand against her chest, “I am the real deal!”

You nod, “I see, I see,” you say, “What about the other cards?”

Fortune-teller Tomiju grumbles, “Don’t take my cosmic might lightly!” she says, then turns another card.

“For love in the present…,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “Facing you is the Eight of Pentacles!“

The image on the card displays a young man dedicated entirely to his craft.

Fortune-teller Tomiju clears her throat a little, “Eight of Pentacles is a card of commitment and hard work. You need to work hard to achieve what you desire. Be proactive. Love is also hard work, don’t forget that. With effort and persistence, you will achieve what you desire!”

You lean in the little, “Do the cards really say that?”

Fortune-teller Tomiju folds her arms, looking a little smug, “Well, something like that.”

“Now the future…” says Fortune-teller Tomiju with a menacing tone.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 16:34:52 No.5657423 Report

Quoted By: >>5657424

>>5657335
>>5657340
>>5657346

The three cards are laid out.

The fortune teller laughs, “Kukuku~” she says, “And so destiny reveals itself…”

Even though you’re just going along with things, you feel yourself getting nervous.

“Regarding love in times gone past, the before-days…” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, as she flips over the card, “Facing you is The High Priestess.”

“Facing me?” you say, “Is that good?”

“Often,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “Though it largely depends on the eye that sees it.”
“Caught between the pillars of establishment and strength, masculine and feminine, good and evil, positive and negative. The fate of the High Priestess is that of a mediator. Forever torn between the above and under, residing in the in-between. You’ve led a life where you cater to others but forget yourself. Her facing you is much like a confrontation. It’s time to stop thinking and start feeling. In the past you’ve closed yourself off, it’s time to open up.”

Fortune-teller Tomiju reaches for the card and slides it towards you, “There was love in your past that you weren’t aware of or didn’t accept. These individuals will surface again, be ready and open when they do. A storm of emotions may stir under a calm visage.”

“Ooooo,” you say, “You almost sound like the real deal!”

“Hah!?” says Fortune-teller Tomiju as she presses a hand against her chest, “I am the real deal!”

You nod, “I see, I see,” you say, “What about the other cards?”

Fortune-teller Tomiju grumbles, “Don’t take my cosmic might lightly!” she says, then turns another card.

“For love in the present…,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “Facing you is the Eight of Pentacles!”

The image on the card displays a young man dedicated entirely to his craft.

Fortune-teller Tomiju clears her throat a little, “Eight of Pentacles is a card of commitment and hard work. You need to work hard to achieve what you desire. Be proactive. Love is also hard work, don’t forget that. With effort and persistence, you will achieve what you desire!”

You lean in the little, “Do the cards really say that?”

Fortune-teller Tomiju folds her arms, looking a little smug, “Well, something like that.”

“Now the future…” says Fortune-teller Tomiju with a menacing tone.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 16:36:01 No.5657424 Report

Quoted By: >>5657436 >>5657456 >>5657464 >>5657488 >>5657496 >>5657498 >>5657509 >>5657512

>>5657423

You swallow as her hand reaches for the card.

“Facing you is the Ace of Cups,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju.

The card shows some kind of chalice being offered by a hand sprouting from the clouds.
Sparkling water rests in the cup. It’s an offer of soothing nourishment.

“The Ace of Cups is one the best possible cards to get for a love reading,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “It signifies new relationships, blossoming feelings, and deeper levels of intimacy. The soil is plentiful, the stage is set, and the planets align in your favour. All you have to do is cast aside your reservations and drink deep. It heralds a new beginning, but only if you’re brave enough to take it.”

Honestly. Fortune readings sure are great, aren’t they?

“What would it have meant if it was facing away from me?” you ask.

“Solitude, darkness, emptiness, emotional loss, suffering, and continued despair at being unloved,” replies Fortune-teller Tomiju bluntly.

“Uwaa…” you say.
Maybe not that great.

“But, rejoice, for that is not the fate that destiny brands you with,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju as she collects the cards, “All-in-all, I’d say love is very much a possibility for you, but you need to put yourself first at times, stop overthinking and just do stuff, and be more open.”

Well, if she says it without the air of mysticism then it just sounds like general life advice.

“Can I ask another question?” you say.

“Twenty-five bucks,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, folding her arms.

You wilt a bit, “Ah, but I didn’t bring any money.”

Fortune-teller Tomiju pulls out her phone, tapping away at it, “You can add me on Line and then you can LinePay me twenty-five. Easy.”

Dang, this girl is really on top of things.

“Extensive use of my mystical powers causes their energies to reverberate through the unseen realms,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, as she waves her hands in the air above herself, “I may have time for only one more question for I fear enemies may show if I linger.”

Decision
>1 - Will you find success as an idol manager?
>2 - Ask what fate has in store for Chigusa Iki
>3 - Ask what fate has in store for Kaiba Aoi
>4 - Ask what fate has in store for Enatsu Mari
>6 - No. You should get going. Groceries and music store and all that.
>5 - Write-in

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 16:38:04 No.5657426 Report

Quoted By: >>5657434 >>5657500

>>5656712
I basically have all the cards listed in a numbered row with the "Major Arcana" in the highest number range.
Quests are a great fit for this as the drawn cards and their readings are just fun and easy inspiration that I can work into the story.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 16:48:43 No.5657434 Report

Quoted By: >>5657500

>>5657426
>I basically have all the cards listed in a numbered row with the "Major Arcana" in the highest number range.
Actually, not entirely true.

I have all the cards listed in numbered rows, but around the middle the list resets.
1-78 are all the "Facing Away" cards and 79+ the "Facing Towards"
So 56-78 are all also Major Arcane, but negative.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 07 May 2023 17:05:29 No.5657436 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657424
>1 - Will you find success as an idol manager?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:5Olf13oo Sun 07 May 2023 17:37:47 No.5657456 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657424
>6 walk away
If the QM uses these as an inspiration it's best we don't ask about antyhing that matters

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 07 May 2023 17:43:19 No.5657464 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657424
>3 - Ask what fate has in store for Kaiba Aoi
I'm honestly worried about Kaiba, I know we can't throw her under the bus right now, but after she finds an apartement maybe it would be good to let her go to another manager

>5 ask what fate has in store for the Renault Twingo

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 18:15:59 No.5657487 Report

Quoted By: >>5657489 >>5657490

Hoping to finish this week before the thread falls off the board as we're already on page 9.
Job votes and the like will be in the next thread.

Threads are up so long these days that glancing back at the first few posts of this thread throws me for a loop.
Kinda feels like forever ago, but Watase, Entasu, and Chigusa were all introduced in this thread.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Sun 07 May 2023 18:18:12 No.5657488 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657424
>3 - Ask what fate has in store for Kaiba Aoi

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 07 May 2023 18:22:29 No.5657489 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657487
>it's been a literal month
jeez

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 07 May 2023 18:22:40 No.5657490 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657487
Congrats on having the most replies for a currently active quest thread. /qtg/ isn't a quest so it doesn't count.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 07 May 2023 18:28:54 No.5657496 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657424
>"for I fear enemies may show if I linger.”
Lmao the police will bust her out
>6 - No. You should get going. Groceries and music store and all that.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sun 07 May 2023 18:32:24 No.5657498 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657424
>3 - Ask what fate has in store for Kaiba Aoi

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 07 May 2023 18:40:18 No.5657500 Report

Quoted By: >>5657533

>>5657426
>>5657434
I see, that's definitely interesting.
I'm planning to write a World of Darkness campaign and I wanted to start the zero session with a Tarot Reading - I might adapt your idea to my future needs, I liked it

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:S+WGH13H Sun 07 May 2023 18:49:05 No.5657509 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657424
>>5 - Write-in
>>"WHO IS GONNA WIN THE SUPER BOWL THIS YEAR??!!"

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 18:52:38 No.5657512 Report

Quoted By: >>5657538

>>5657424

Winner
>3 - Ask what fate has in store for Kaiba Aoi

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 07 May 2023 19:21:11 No.5657533 Report

Quoted By: >>5657536 >>5657667

>>5657500
Souv's influence in this board is unmatched.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sun 07 May 2023 19:24:30 No.5657536 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657533
He is legend. I have a strange respect for that vampire sorcerer.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sun 07 May 2023 19:26:47 No.5657538 Report

Quoted By: >>5657539 >>5657541 >>5657543 >>5658681

>>5657512

Twenty-five dollars does seem like a lot for a simple reading, but why not.
It might feel a little childish to admit, but the reading on your love life just now did manage to make you feel a lot better.

Perhaps that’s what fortune telling is all about, telling people what they want to hear.
It’s all smoke and mirrors, isn’t it?

That’s why you’re going to take another question.
Not because of the reading itself, but because you want to support this enterprising young girl with her little business.
It's not because you're getting strangely into this, not at all!

“I’ll take another question,” you say.

“Excellent choice,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “I’ll take my payment upfront.”

“Eh?” you say, “Well, that’s fine with me.”

You pull out your phone and exchanges Line IDs.
A payment request comes in from Tomiju Aya.

“Twenty-five dollars for …lunch?” you say.

“So I can dodge taxes,” replies Fortune-teller Tomiju as she shuffles the Tarot deck.

Eeeeeh….

Fortune-teller Tomiju gets up and fiddles with the lamps a bit, the light dims – coating the tent in an ominous darkness.

You remind yourself to ask Fortune-teller Tomiju where she got the cloth for the tent as they would make excellent bedroom curtains with how well they hold out the light.

“We return for a second look into what lies beyond,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “Let us lift the veil between realms and place our trust in the mystic arts to guide us…”

You nod, fists clenched as they rest on your lap.

“What misery clouds your soul?” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “What wisdom is it that you seek?”

“Well,” you say, “There’s this girl I know and she’s been struggling a bit recently. I was just wondering if she’ll be okay…”

“Okay in what way?” asks Fortune-teller Tomiju.

“Career? Life? Just in general, I suppose,” you say.

“Hmm,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, pinching her chin, “Specific questions are better, but we can simply place our trust in fate and she what comes up…”

You nod, that’ll have to do.
You just want another nice reading like the previous one to ease your worries.

Fortune-teller Tomiju splits the cards in two neat stacks, lifting a corner on each stack, and, with a sound not unlike rustling leaves, combines the stacks into a single deck again.

“Once more…” she says, sliding the deck towards you.

The Past
Need one 1d156 roll.

The Present
Need one 1d156 roll.

The Future
Need one 1d156 roll.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Sun 07 May 2023 19:29:00 No.5657539 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 144 (1d156)

>>5657538
Watch Kaiba get the Tower or something

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Sun 07 May 2023 19:30:04 No.5657541 Report

Quoted By:

Rolled 146 (1d156)

>>5657538
The present

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Sun 07 May 2023 19:31:24 No.5657543 Report

Quoted By: >>5657549

Rolled 7 (1d156)

>>5657538
>The Future

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0SfV72hb Sun 07 May 2023 19:35:48 No.5657549 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657543
>7
>facing away card
>for the future
We should try and get Aoi a role in PMMM, because being Kaiba is suffering

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Sun 07 May 2023 22:17:41 No.5657667 Report

Quoted By: >>5657695 >>5657713

>>5657533
>Souv
Sorry - I'm a newfag on both /qst/ and 4chan. I have no idea who the fuck are you talking about lmao

I'm just a D&D5e fag that liked the Mythbreakers campaign and got interested on World of Darkness. I'm kind of tired of D&D desu and CoC is a pita imo

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sun 07 May 2023 22:49:48 No.5657695 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657667
It's not important, but Souvarine is a regular in the /QTG/ (Quest Thread General) who famously goes on long-winded (but very in-depth) rambles and rants about a variety of subjects, from banking and foreign policy, to Shakespeare and Jane Eyre, to Doom and Wolfenstein, and sometimes to BDSM. Tarot is one of his most prominent special interests, and he sometimes will just post up entire blocks of text just explaining or listing tarot cards and then talking about how he has used or wants to use them in his strange quests.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 07 May 2023 23:22:33 No.5657713 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657667
Mythbr- jesas

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 08 May 2023 20:43:51 No.5658647 Report

Quoted By: >>5658652 >>5659424

I do have an update ready, but I'm struggling to find an AI model that can generate me a normal looking guy.
They're all pointed towards creating anime girls.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 08 May 2023 20:52:14 No.5658652 Report

Quoted By: >>5658673

>>5658647
Look for a bara model
(It won't be a normal looking guy though)

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Mon 08 May 2023 21:17:00 No.5658673 Report

Quoted By: >>5658694

>>5658652
>bara model
Thanks, instead of generating guys that look like they're three drinks and a compliment away from willing to get pegged I now generate dudes that will accept completely sober.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Mon 08 May 2023 21:22:07 No.5658681 Report

Quoted By:

>>5657538
>“So I can dodge taxes,” replies Fortune-teller Tomiju
Good. taxation is theft, after all.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Mon 08 May 2023 21:43:29 No.5658694 Report

Quoted By: >>5658705

>>5658673
As expected. But I'm sure there must exist a fetish for normal looking guys, you just have to find out its name.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Screenshot 2023-05-08 145053.png, 274KiB, 287x518

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Mon 08 May 2023 21:51:33 No.5658705 Report

Quoted By:

>>5658694
Dad Bod

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Tue 09 May 2023 16:24:03 No.5659424 Report

Quoted By:

>>5658647
Try using the key words "strong man", "soldier man" or "armorless knight"
If all else fails then you could just use the femboys

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 09 May 2023 20:19:19 No.5659665 Report

Quoted By: >>5659666

You draw three cards, placing each of them face-down.

“This girl,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “Is somebody you’re close with?”

“Eh? In a way… We work together,” you say.

“I see,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, pointing at the first card, “Let’s reveal what represents their past…”

You flip over the left-most card for “The Past”.

Facing towards you is a card depicting a mighty sword.
A cruel instrument that can hurt anyone it feels deserving of it.

“Justice,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “It signifies truth, fairness, and law. Something happened in her past that has long-term consequences, and she will not escape them.”

Despondent, you look at the fortune-teller, “I thought “facing towards me” was supposed to be a good thing…”

“It is,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “For the scales of justice judge all equally. The card facing towards you tells of a reckoning coming towards those that have done your friend injustice. However, if it was her that did something terrible then the card is a warning. In summary: Karma.”

“I s-see,” you say.

“Does that mean anything to you?” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “Fortune telling is a lot better if the person whose fortune is divined is present.”

You can think of some things, but you keep them to yourself for now.

“Not really... I’d like to know about the present, she’s been going through a very hard time lately…” you say.

Fortune-teller Tomiju gestures towards the face-down cards, “Destiny is within reach…”

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 09 May 2023 20:20:20 No.5659666 Report

Quoted By: >>5659668

>>5659665

You flip over the second card for “The Present.”

Standing on top of an isolated cliff is a lonely man, his gaze set on the horizon.
His only company is the staff he carries and the lantern at his side.

“Ah,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “Facing you is The Hermit.”

“Eeehh…” you say, “I don’t like this card at all…”

“Fear not,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, “Things would be different if this card was facing away, but since it is facing towards you it’s far more positive. The card represent isolation by choice, quiet introspection and reflection. Looking inwards and figuring out what you want in life – who you are. His lantern is fuelled by the wisdom of past experiences so it can light his path and he knows where to put his feet.”

She does have a lot to think about.
Kaiba was doubting whether or not she should continue as an idol the other day, hopefully it’s not that.
She’s with Kitabayashi at the moment, so hopefully Yui-chan can help her through any rough patches.

“I guess it’s as you say and a lot has happened to her, she just needs time to figure herself out.” adds Fortune-teller Tomiju.

“What would’ve been the meaning if the card was turned away?” you ask solemnly.

“M-moving on towards the future,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju hurriedly, “Please flip the card…”

Concerning.

You move your hand towards the card you dread the most – the future.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 09 May 2023 20:21:22 No.5659668 Report

Quoted By: >>5659670

>>5659666

It’s same card as earlier: the young man working hard on his craft that signified a good work ethic and determination to see tasks through till the end.
Only this time it’s facing away from you.

“Turning its back on you is Eight of Pentacles,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju.

A sliver of panic creeps into your body, “W-what does it mean?”

“Lethargy, little motivation, and simply not putting in effort. Drawing this card means she thinks the work is either not worthy of her or that she’s not worthy of the work. It makes a person drag their feet. Why try when you know you’ll fail? If your friend was here in person I would say the card also serves as a reminder to keep trying hard anyway.”

You liked your own reading a whole lot better…
Is Kaiba depressed about failing the voice-over job?
She did mention at times that she feels like she doesn’t have what it takes to be an idol.

Lips pulled tight, you face the fortune-teller, “…is this fate unavoidable?”

“Hah?” says Fortune-teller Tomiju.

“I’m really worried,” you add, “I don’t want her to quit…”

“Eh,” says Fortune-teller Tomiju, then clears her throat, “EHUM!”

“Cast your sightless gaze to the sky as I channel the powers hidden within me!” says Fortune-teller Tomiju.

Sightless gaze?

Oh, she wants you to close your eyes. You do so.
Anything if it helps Kaiba.

Fortune-teller Tomiju mumbles incoherently, it kind of sounds what spellcasting would probably sound like.
Every now and then her mumbling is interrupted by the sound of paper rustling.

After hearing the sound for the fifth time, you crack open an eye.

Fortune-teller Tomiju is leaving through some kind of book as she continues to mumble arcana.
The cover reads: “Tarot Reading in Seven Steps”.
All of a sudden, her face brightens and she snaps the book shut.

You hurriedly close your eyes again.

“Fate has shown me that there may be an alternative path!” shouts Fortune-teller Tomiju.

Either fate or the table of contents.

Fortune-teller Tomiju throws her hands wide, “Fate is always in flux. Destiny is what you make off it! Imprinted in the tapestries of fate are sagas of your own creation!”

“Ooooh!” you say.
It’s common sense, but you’ll take it.
Sometimes you just need to be reminded of things you already know.

Sudden sunlight brightens up the dark tent as the tent flap is pulled open.
The invasive light has you squinting your eyes, barely making out the silhouette of the figure standing in the opening.

A short, but broad-shouldered man looms in the opening.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 09 May 2023 20:23:13 No.5659670 Report

Quoted By: >>5659671 >>5659683 >>5659684 >>5659699 >>5659725 >>5659752 >>5659834 >>5659860 >>5659866 >>5659917 >>5659946 >>5659951 >>5660152 >>5660452

>>5659668

Fortune-teller Tomiju arms herself with the book she had been reading earlier.

“Who dares interfere with the mystic arts!” shouts Fortune-teller Tomiju, holding up a hand to shield her eyes from the trespassing rays, “Identify yourself!”

“It is I,” proclaims the figure, adjusting their cap, “Kazato Hideo. Patrol officer #72 of the Shibuya District. Do you have a permit to set up shop here?”

Fortune-teller Tomiju drops her book.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeh?”

And so your fortune reading came to an abrupt end.

-----------

As you wander off, you ponder the results of your reading.
There are people out there that put a lot of stock in fortune readings, but you’re not sure if you’re one of them.
Nevertheless, there is a kind of romanticism to it.

The idea of governing forces, destiny, and fate.

It's almost a cheap, socially-acceptable form of therapy.
With them prompting you for a question to get you to talk about the things that are bothering you.
Certainly, there’s a sense of relief that comes with talking about your issues, maybe that’s why some people get so into it.

Might be easier to tell people you visit a fortune-teller every so often then admit you're seeing a proper therapist.

For now, the intricate tapestries woven by the threads of fate will have to wait as you still have to do some grocery shopping.
You just have to hope Kaiba is okay.

Grocery shopping is a simple affair.
You don’t really run into anyone you know and simply browse the aisles for items.

Though you don’t want to admit it, Kaiba’s reading has you concerned and you decide to splurge on some snacks for both her and Kitabayashi.
Kaiba is an idol after all. Tasty fruit and snack veggies will have to suffice.

After loading the bags filled with groceries for both you and Kitabayashi’s household into your car you decide to stop by the music store on the way back to buy a new album.

The outside walls and windows of the store are slathered with posters of all kinds.
Small bands announcing gigs, a local guitarist offering music lessons, and dance crews looking for fresh talent.

Ishibashi Music is more than just a store.

It’s a place for all those interested in music to find each other and share their love of music.
More than a few bands owe their existence to this place.

You find a gap between the many posters and advertisements to peek inside.

Ah. It doesn’t seem like he’s working today… 

Not that it matters. You came here to buy a new album most of all.
You open the door and there’s about two dozen people inside.
A fairly typical Saturday afternoon for Ishibashi Music.

Decision
>1 - Get your album and bring groceries to Kitabayashi (Skip)
>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent.
>3 - Low-key ask where the guy that’s usually at the counter is

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:cwu3CaIU Tue 09 May 2023 20:25:20 No.5659671 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Tue 09 May 2023 20:35:55 No.5659683 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>3 - Low-key ask where the guy that’s usually at the counter is

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Tue 09 May 2023 20:37:04 No.5659684 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>3 - Low-key ask where the guy that’s usually at the counter is

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:dYzISNav Tue 09 May 2023 20:47:14 No.5659699 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>3 - Low-key ask where the guy that’s usually at the counter is

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 09 May 2023 21:14:29 No.5659725 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent.

>>5659670
Heh. The popo came for her after all.
We need a hand reading fortune teller next, QM

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:0tc/uiKJ Tue 09 May 2023 21:40:59 No.5659752 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Example.jpg, 607KiB, 1200x1594

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 09 May 2023 22:42:38 No.5659834 Report

Quoted By: >>5659848 >>5659866 >>5659871 >>5659917 >>5659946 >>5659951 >>5659971 >>5660069 >>5660078 >>5660152 >>5660160 >>5660220 >>5660452

I finally found a model and VAE that can do decent looking guys.
However, as you can see from the example the art-style is totally different -- but I don't hate it.

I don't like the idea of all my images having different artstyles, so if I do end up using the model then I'll switch completely.

Top-left is Nagata Miho, others are all random ones.

Meta Decision
>1 - Stick with the previous artstyle
>2 - Go with the new model / artstyle

>>5659670
This vote is still open since it is currently tied.

No further updates today.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Example2.jpg, 607KiB, 1196x1594

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Tue 09 May 2023 23:07:48 No.5659848 Report

Quoted By: >>5659866 >>5659871 >>5660220

>>5659834
Another example with existing characters

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:F/0XokaW Tue 09 May 2023 23:40:23 No.5659860 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Tue 09 May 2023 23:49:47 No.5659866 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659848
Why does kaiba have a dick
>>5659834
>1 Stick with the previous artstyle.
Even thogh I know this is all AI, the previous style had some soul in it. This one is closer to souless seasonal trash anime moe moe.
>>5659670
>3 Guy in the counter doko

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:vhnJBjP2 Tue 09 May 2023 23:54:27 No.5659871 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659834
>>5659848
Aoi and Miho cute
Yui looks... weird
Mari and Chigusa are ok I guess
1+(-1)+0 = 0
But adding the fact that you can actually generate non-peggable guys now, then
0+1 = 1
>2 - Go with the new model / artstyle

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:Oswy3tbM Wed 10 May 2023 00:59:05 No.5659917 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent.

>>5659834
>2 - Go with the new model / artstyle

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:V6P4N9D+ Wed 10 May 2023 01:43:11 No.5659946 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent.

>>5659834
>1 - Stick with the previous artstyle

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Wed 10 May 2023 01:46:40 No.5659951 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent.

>>5659834
>1 - Stick with the previous artstyle

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Wed 10 May 2023 02:16:00 No.5659971 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659834
>1 - Stick with the previous artstyle
Sorry but it reminds me too much of cheap trash anime

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:cwu3CaIU Wed 10 May 2023 04:29:12 No.5660069 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659834
>2

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:hRVmtzAJ Wed 10 May 2023 04:41:30 No.5660078 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659834
>2

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:B5wBgUOh Wed 10 May 2023 06:14:34 No.5660152 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>3 - Low-key ask where the guy that’s usually at the counter is

>>5659834
>1 - Stick with the previous artstyle

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:F/0XokaW Wed 10 May 2023 06:43:40 No.5660160 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659834
>1 - Stick with the previous artstyle

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:IlALEVw2 Wed 10 May 2023 08:11:40 No.5660220 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659834
>New one is Miho in the anime
>Old one is Miho in a commission artist portfolio

>>5659848
I assume the green haired one is Yui? I liked her previous hair color more
And where are Mari's abs? Unforgivable!

Oh the whole I like the old artstyle more, but if it can't into guys I have to vote for
>2 - Go with the new model / artstyle

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ML1BBVIo Wed 10 May 2023 15:49:50 No.5660452 Report

Quoted By:

>>5659670
>3 - Low-key ask where the guy that’s usually at the counter is

>>5659834
>1 - Stick with the previous artstyle

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Wed 10 May 2023 21:51:55 No.5660686 Report

Quoted By: >>5660997

No updates today I'm afraid.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Thu 11 May 2023 05:51:49 No.5660997 Report

Quoted By:

>>5660686
No problem, QM. Thanks for the heads up!

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 11 May 2023 16:19:28 No.5661377 Report

Quoted By: >>5661382

>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent. x 7
>3 - Low-key ask where the guy that’s usually at the counter is. x 6

>1 - Stick with the previous artstyle x 7
>2 - Go with the new model / artstyle x 5

Winner
>2 - Browse, spend some time here. Maybe scout out the local talent. x 7
>1 - Stick with the previous artstyle x 7

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:oEMyeRiH Thu 11 May 2023 16:27:17 No.5661382 Report

Quoted By: >>5661386 >>5661393

>>5661377
Have you found a way to make acceptable looking males?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:RRrpM2vq Thu 11 May 2023 16:35:11 No.5661386 Report

Quoted By:

>>5661382
he could use a specific character LORA, or make one himself

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Thu 11 May 2023 16:48:14 No.5661393 Report

Quoted By:

>>5661382
I have not, but I wasted too much time on models already and it shouldn't take prio over updates.
I'll just make do with what I have while I keep my eyes up for decent models over on Civitai

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:V6P4N9D+ Sat 13 May 2023 16:23:23 No.5662952 Report

Quoted By: >>5663033

This thread is going to be archived very soon. A new thread will be needed for the update.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 13 May 2023 17:54:04 No.5663033 Report

Quoted By: >>5663036 >>5663559

>>5662952
I've archived the thread. It might be a few days until I start the next one as I want to review what I've written so far.

I feel like this past "in-quest" week was a lot faster than the previous one, but I still want to speed them along a bit more.

If you have any suggestions or feedback, feel free to post it in this thread which should be up for one or two more days.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:E2waI5p7 Sat 13 May 2023 17:55:06 No.5663036 Report

Quoted By: >>5663559

>>5663033
>Named the new archive Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency #1 instead of #2
Nice

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ihd6pZ6B Sun 14 May 2023 04:17:36 No.5663532 Report

Quoted By: >>5663559

Why not use the new artsyle one for guys only?

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:zYWMhRuK Sun 14 May 2023 04:48:53 No.5663559 Report

Quoted By:

>>5663036
Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency is ALWAYS NUMBAH ONE baybeeee.

>>5663532
I think QM's worried it'll look disjointed or mismatched.

>>5663033
I like the pace right now, honestly.

Anonymous

Anonymous ID:ZuQgmiD1 Sun 14 May 2023 17:44:27 No.5663951 Report

Quoted By:

I say, if the whole AI for males thing is too bothersome, how about we just forget about male idols for the time being

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