bookbashuk Page 25
Page 25
Logically, it would be best to trouble Kuzunoha and Yoshi, who are both boys, with this kind of thing, but strangely enough, Shimizu Toru has a better relationship with the girls.
The main reason is that not only do Rion Takamiya and Lily Yuhi take the initiative to chat with him every day, but Yuika Shiina, Midori Sen, and Lilim also come over to chat with him from time to time.
As for Ge Ye and the others, they usually just ask if we have time to play games together, and if we do, we log in right away.
Unfortunately, he hasn't had much free time these past few days. Just like he told Rion Takamiya before, he's either teaching or recording during the day, and he has to do live broadcasts at night, so we naturally have less contact.
But in reality, because he was bored while waiting for the recording, Shimizu Toru could only browse Twitter, read novels, and chat with the girls who took the initiative to talk to him.
If it weren't for the lack of interactive icons on LINE, he would genuinely suspect that Rion Takamiya and the others were trying to start a relationship with him.
Right now, the people he's closest to are still Xi Yang Lili and Jin Hanhan, but the latter lives with her family, which is obviously inconvenient.
Lily lives alone, but it's not easy for her to bring this up rashly, in case she's mistaken for someone having ulterior motives.
After hesitating for a while, Shimizu Toru decided to try asking tomorrow, and if that didn't work, she would have to go to the company.
"Besides the April Fool's Day prank project, there's only one audio recording that needs to be done. Should we start a new project?"
I won't go into details about the prank plans; they had already figured out how to prank which people on the day of their debut, and all they had to do was follow the plan.
As for her voice... well, it's actually something she mentioned to Jiang herself not long after her debut.
At the time, I was focused on accumulating enough funds as soon as possible and then going all in on Bitcoin. Since the personal returns from audio were 15% higher than those from SC, I naturally couldn't let it slip by easily.
Just then, Jiang told him that the company had plans to release a collective audio recording on April 1st, so she helped him submit his name.
It's already the 22nd, and recording is about to begin. Changing our minds at the last minute is obviously not a good idea.
Moreover, as a voice actor, just like an actor, one should unleash their true nature; being too ashamed is not a good thing.
Let's not even talk about 18+ anymore. If the character you're voiced has an intimate scene, you can't exactly tell the director that there are too many people and you can't be open, or that you and the others should just leave, right?
If it weren't for a chance encounter that led her to join Nijisanji, Shimizu Toru might be forced by circumstances to start voicing short animations now, so a voice actor isn't really a big deal.
Moreover, he had read the script written by someone from the company beforehand, and there was nothing too extreme in it; it was definitely for all ages.
However, Shimizu Toru thought that the purchasing power of dream girls was much stronger than that of otaku, and that it would be a bit cheesy for a grown man to release male-oriented voiceovers, so the content of the voiceovers was decided to be female-oriented.
The general plot involves him playing a butler, or a housekeeper, picking up the young lady from school and taking her shopping along the way.
Aside from needing to say "Miss" repeatedly, there's nothing too outrageous about it. Its selling point is entirely based on the voice of Shimizu Tomo, which appeals to everyone from ninety-nine-year-olds to toddlers, both men and women.
The price is only 1500 yen per unit. If he can sell tens of thousands of copies, he can get 750 million yen, which is undoubtedly a huge sum of money for him who has just started out.
As it stands now, it's just so-so. It's not exactly useless, but it's more like icing on the cake.
"Group 19 consists of three newly debuted members today, making a total of twelve people. How about we do an offline collaboration?"
The first generation, second generation, and SEEDs often have collaborations with their fellow students, but Gams rarely do. This is probably because Kuzunoha, Lilim, and the others are either antagonists or lazy.
Shimizu Toru's contemporary is Otogihara Eriyo. If the two of them do an offline collaboration, wouldn't that be like a date?
—Actually, according to the Japanese way of dividing the year, everything before April is considered the winter of the previous year, otherwise the April anime season wouldn't be called the spring anime season.
However, it's clear that Meiji Tota and Chitose Kuon, who debuted earlier, can't be counted in SEEDs, since the three departments were merged at the end of last year.
Then Shimizu Toru discovered a problem: out of the twelve people in Group 19, including the three deer.
Even if you remove the "ghost member" from Nijisanji who only did three live streams and stopped updating Twitter a little over a month after her debut, I'm the only male among the remaining eleven.
"Hiss—maybe we should reconsider and think about this some more?"
Imagine yourself alone against ten girls, and Shimizu Toru suddenly understands the One and Only God a bit. Anyone would be socially awkward in that situation!
If the ratio of men to women is equal, the women are more likely to know what it means to be reserved.
With the score at 1 to 10, and that female hooligan Jun Dao Meiling still around, he'd be lucky to even keep his underwear.
Volume 1: Chapter 49 Only regretting the lack of financial resources
The next morning, Shimizu Toru had just arrived at the office when he was stopped by Sakazaki Daisuke.
"Shimizu, Sony asked me to ask you when you'll be free recently."
"Are you asking me to do voice acting for Kaede Manyo now? It can't be that early, can it?"
Ye Tiandi only appears in the later part of the Liyue main storyline, right? When he went to audition last time, the character was still in the original concept, and he had only thought of a few lines of dialogue.
Xiao and Xingqiu were both ready to launch during the closed beta, but he didn't manage to get one.
"It's not that ronin character, just some NPCs, but the total amount of dialogue they have is quite considerable. Aren't you short on money lately?"
The mobile game boom began a few years ago when NetEase brought "Million Arthur" and 648 to Dongda University and made a fortune.
Back then, most of the game companies in Tokyo relied solely on character design and big-name Japanese voice actors to make money, with gameplay and operations being nothing short of disastrous.
Over the years, it has become an industry consensus that dubbing for Dongda Company is lucrative and hassle-free, since no company had ever considered going overseas before, and therefore did not need to cooperate with publicity.
—Even recording a VCR to say a blessing to the players was brought about by Genshin Impact, not to mention radio dramas, radio programs and the like.
"I'm available anytime, as long as it doesn't conflict with other voice-over work. Let me know when you have any updates, I have to go to class now."
There was a practice room on the second floor of the agency. Just as Shimizu Toru sat down, his instructor, Toyoshima Haruki, came in carrying a guitar. Seeing him about to get up, he immediately pressed his palm down on Shimizu's back.
"Don't stand up. I know you too well. You're the kind of guy who treats even the club president like an equal."
"Tsk, Toyoshima-san, you're wronging me a bit—I still have a lot of respect for the president."
The two have actually known each other for a long time. Shimizu Toru was originally Shimizu's vocal teacher, and now he has just started teaching him to play the guitar one-on-one.
As time went on, Haruki Toyoshima gradually figured out his personality: "You weren't like this before, kid. Could it be that you developed a split personality from an illness?"
"Isn't it good the way I am now? Do you think I was better the way I was before?"
"Then forget it. No matter how talented you are, you won't achieve anything without enough courage."
Thinking back to the quiz three months ago, Shimizu Toru couldn't bring himself to sing loudly in front of his classmates whom he had known for almost half a year.
Haruki Toyoshima had to admit that the changes in the other party were a good thing; otherwise, the company would have at most gotten Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, but now it might have gotten Mamoru Miyano.
—The latter is a genuine singer who debuted in 08, released albums, broke sales records for singles, held a solo live performance at the Budokan, and even held an Asian tour concert.
Having acted in numerous TV dramas, he can be considered the most successful male voice actor since the rise of voice actor idols. Incidentally, his Asian concert tour is scheduled for the second half of this year.
The lesson lasted a full two hours, and seeing Shimizu Toru already able to play chords, albeit haltingly, Haruki Toyoshima nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, that's all for today's lesson. You should buy a guitar and practice on your own as soon as possible, instead of always trying to mooch off me."
“ε=('ο｀*))) Sigh, I want to buy it too, but I just don’t have enough money.”
At this moment, Shimizu Toru desperately wished that a rich woman would appear and say to him, "I am quite wealthy."
After his guitar lesson, he grabbed a few bags of snacks from Daisuke Sakazaki and went straight home.
Voice acting courses are no longer of much use to him, since practice is the only way to truly learn.
It's the right approach to wait until you hit a bottleneck before returning to learn more advanced theoretical knowledge. Otherwise, if you only study without practicing, you'll eventually become all talk and no action.
On the tram back to the apartment, Shimizu Toru took out his phone and hesitated for more than ten seconds before finally deciding to get straight to the point with Yuhi Lily, which would make him seem like he had no ulterior motives.
"Lily, I'm participating in Green Fairy's song relay project on the 26th, but the soundproofing in my apartment isn't very good. Can I borrow your computer for a bit?"
The message was marked as read within a second of being sent—yes, Line has a read receipt function, and voice calls and video chats were available earlier than on WeChat.
By the way, Japanese people don't send "on" or voice messages when chatting, because they feel it's shameful to have their voice recorded on someone else's phone.
Sunset Lily replied instantly: "Come to my house!? Sure! I'd love to have you!!"
Is that all the focus? But since she's already agreed to let me go to her house, borrowing her computer shouldn't be a problem, right?
Her slender, fair fingers tapped rapidly on the phone screen. Shimizu Toru replied, "That's great~ I'm so sorry to have troubled you."
"It's alright, we're best friends, I'll definitely help you with this little thing!"
Oh right, I'm her best friend, and she's my best friend, so there's no need to be so polite.
Just as I was thinking of this, Lily in the Sunset sent another message: "I heard you went to eat barbecue with Liyin? I helped you so much, it's not too much to ask me to treat you to barbecue, right?"
"That's not unreasonable, but are you sure you want to go eat barbecue together?"
Shimizu Toru, who had no intention of getting something for nothing, preemptively stated his thoughts before she could reply: "I was planning to cook for you myself and treat you to authentic Chinese cuisine."
Lily, who was at home typing with one hand and petting her cat with the other, saw this message and immediately deleted everything in the chat box, replying decisively: "Chinese food! I want to eat it!!"
"www, then it's settled. Let's go grocery shopping together, so I don't forget what you like to eat."
Sunset Lily blinked, subtly teasing, "I love anything you make~"
"You really have no dietary restrictions? Then I'll just eat whatever I want?"
After hesitating for a few seconds, Lily in the Sunset honestly confessed: "I can't handle spicy food very well, but I still really want to eat Mapo Tofu!"
It's Mapo Tofu again, as expected. Just how much do the Japanese love this dish? Is it really the most popular Chinese dish per capita?
"Got it~ Mild spicy is fine, right? I can't handle too much spice anyway, remember to send me the location later, okay?"
At first, Shimizu Toru thought that she could enjoy spicy food just like before she transmigrated.
As a result, this body, which had never been tested by hot pot, tiger-skin green peppers, or barbecue, learned what it meant for chili peppers to be spicy at both ends.
I used to find spicy food a little sweet, but now I'm a weakling who can only handle medium spice at most, and I have to drink water while eating.
That's good. After all, spiciness is a form of pain, and eating too much of it can make your taste buds less sensitive, so you'll just keep seeking out even greater stimulation.
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Currently at 674 blades, two chapters missing.
The book will be available for purchase the day after tomorrow, and there will be two extra chapters for free tomorrow. I hope everyone can subscribe then.
Volume 1: Chapter 50 is only 70% complete? [Bonus Chapter for 600 Blades]
At 2:15 PM, at Nijisanji headquarters, Shimizu Toru met Tazumi Riku for the second time since the interview.
Born in 6, Tianjiao Lu is only 23 years old this year, even younger than many of the company's V's.
After graduating from Waseda University in 2017, he started four businesses, but all of them ended in failure.
Even his two friends who had initially supported him chose to resign and join other companies as ordinary employees, leaving him as the only person in the entire company for a time.
It wasn't until last year, when no company was willing to buy the face-touching software I made, that I had to recruit a few people from the public to promote the software, and then things just spiraled out of control.
Who would have thought that when he first graduated, Tian Jiaolu couldn't get venture capital because he didn't know how to program at all?
How did he learn iOS programming skills in just six months, create the live streaming software that Nijisanji uses today, and grow to this point with an initial investment of 50 yen?
However, his 2434 software failed to pass the review because its basic functions are derived from Apple's 3D animated emoji feature, Animoji, and it has not been able to be listed on the Apple App Store to this day.
The operating logic of the 2434 software, simply put, is to replace the original Animoji image with a self-made leather case.
Even after the first generation of SEDDs debuted last year, Nijisanji only had three staff members, and now the operations department only has about ten people.
The person in charge of live streaming and company operations is usually COO Iwanaga Taiki, also known as iwanaga-san by Nijisanji members. He is even in charge of the interviews for the second generation members and SEEDs.
Shimizu Toru always sees iwanaga-san when he comes to the company, but if Tazumi Riku hadn't taken the initiative to see him today, he might not have seen the latter.
"President, it's been a long time. What's the reason you specifically asked me to come to the company today?"
Since our company was just starting out and only rented out a few rooms, there were only two rooms available for office use. It's said that the first-generation trainees would livestream from inside while the staff provided feedback from outside.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have put the 3D studio and broadcasting studio in another location. This is a common problem for many companies that suddenly rise to prominence, since no one can be sure they will succeed.
"You're still so direct when you talk to people. Sometimes I even doubt whether you're really an international student from the University of Tokyo."
Having started his business a little over a year ago, Riku Kakuta is still in the stage where he can share the joys and sorrows with everyone, and he has a lot of things to do personally every day.
Sometimes he even had to act as a programmer, since he was the one who built the software from scratch. Later, when the programmers he hired had trouble understanding any code, they would come to him for help.
As for Riku Tazuna, who a few years later spoke fluent Japanese-accented English and offered a perfunctory apology to his Western fans because of the Nijiren incident, he had already become a mature capitalist.
He shifted the blame from the streamer's conflict with the company over resources to the conflict between the streamers themselves, causing their fans to fight each other while he watched from the sidelines.
“You have a lot to do, and I’m not so free that I have time to waste, so let’s be more decisive.”
Shimizu Toru sat down opposite him at his desk and got straight to the point: "Have you agreed on what kind of treatment I'll get? Don't try any word traps, okay? I'll take it back and have my lawyer review it."
"Tsk! You're really something, so mature for a minor! Since you've said so, let's get started."
Taking a document from the drawer, Tian Jiaolu handed it to him and briefly explained, "The most important part is the revenue sharing. After deducting the platform's cut, the company will split the profits 30/70 with you."
"How come I only got 70%?" Shimizu Toru flipped through the thick document, which was more than 20 pages long, and thought that he should stop pretending to know what he didn't. He should just ask a lawyer to take a look.
"Hiss—this profit sharing ratio is already very high! Even the first generation members like Mito and Higuchi only get 40% or 60%!"