this infinite world

Chapter 1292 Part 6
"…Sorry, this is all I have at home for now."

Sitting face to face on both sides of the square table, Ruomai tried his best to make a cup of barley tea for the other party and bowed his head slightly: "Please forgive me for the poor hospitality..."

"No, I am the one who offends you by visiting me so late at night."

In response to Ruomai's greeting, the agent, who was dressed quite formally like a professional woman, bowed her head in return, but her words unexpectedly lowered her attitude: "Excuse me, Meow Meng dear."

——Since you know it’s impolite, then don’t be so late. It’s already so late…

The superficial politeness could not erase the complaints in his mind. Ruomai's eyes passed over the steaming barley tea on the table, and unconsciously shifted to the almost finished barrel of soy sauce ramen on the other side... Feeling the cramps in his stomach, Ruomai quickly picked up the cup and took a sip of tea, barely suppressing the discomfort in his body.

"You're trying really hard, Meow Meng-kun."

After entering the room, the agent did not speak immediately, but first carefully looked at the decoration of Ruomai's rental house. She first glanced at Ruomai's laptop computer on the workbench, which was still on, and then noticed the drumsticks and headphones next to it. She smiled slightly and said, "From Kumamoto to Tokyo, I have been working hard for a long time until I got to this point today..."

"I guess it must be quite difficult."

"Uh……"

Although she knew that her information, origin, and background were all on file at the firm, and even today when she was approached directly, she still felt uncomfortable for a moment when her past was pointed out so bluntly. She quickly raised her teacup and took a sip, then replied in a polite but intimate tone: "It's okay, I've been doing this since I was a child, and I've gotten used to it over time..."

"No, I think hard work is a good virtue." The agent smiled, raised the cup to her lips, and blew away the rising hot air carefully: "After all, in most cases, even if people know that 'hard work' will make them better, they would rather drown themselves in the illusory beauty until they are drowned by the tide of reality."

"Ah ha ha……"

Was this some kind of meaningful hint? Or just a simple compliment? Ruomai couldn't tell...but the more she listened to the other person's words, the more she felt that the other person was coming with bad intentions.

It would be fine if the other person was a relative, a classmate at school, or a friend in life, but the problem is that the other person is not only the band's agent, but also the kind of "colleague" with whom he basically has no contact and is a kind of dispensable person. Such words must have a hidden meaning.

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the agent's late-night visit was definitely not that simple. Maybe the other party was dissatisfied with the situation during this period and blocked him here. In fact, there were already a hundred or eighty swordsmen lying in ambush outside, waiting for the signal of smashing the cup, so that they could rush in, put the knife to his neck, and force him to tell the inside story of Ave Mujica.

In a trance, Ruomai seemed to have seen the capital letter "danger", and the hot steam from the teacup in front of him slowly rose up -

"Don't be so nervous, Meow Meng-kun. After all, I'm just the band's manager."

The manager took in Ruomai's expression and smiled. She took a sip of tea and then said in a more intimate tone than before: "Although I haven't done anything for everyone in the band, I feel that I should also fulfill some of my responsibilities as a manager..."

“I wonder what Miao Mengqin, the drummer of Ave Mujica, thinks about the current situation and future development of the band?”

"Well..."

Ruomai put down the teacup while her brain was working frantically. After a moment of hesitation, she chose to speak in the same tone as usual: "As for my feelings about the current band, I feel it is pretty good, both in terms of musicality and the relationships between internal members; and there is no doubt that Ave Mujica is moving steadily towards the future, and it can be said to be thriving..." "Meow Meng dear." The agent smiled unchanged: "Although there is nothing wrong with these feelings, you should know that the focus of my words is not this."

"What do you mean by . . . ?"

"I'll get this straight - I want to talk about Ave Mujica's upcoming concert at Budokan."

——Ah, I really can’t get through it.

Ruomai was depressed - actually he was not that depressed. Besides the feeling of hunger, what was surging in his heart was more of a "this was expected" thought.

Yutenji Wakamugi was not an idiot, she naturally knew that the agent's late-night visit had a hidden meaning, and the most likely reason was for the upcoming performance at the Budokan.

Saitama Budokan, these five words not only represent the success of the band Ave Mujica, but also represent the success of the agency behind the band. No one would really think that a band formed from scratch, with five members wearing masks that do not reveal their true identities, and performing at Budokan less than a month after their official debut, which sounds outrageous, does not have the support of big capital behind the scenes?
The relationship between the agency and its commercial bands is essentially an investment one - the former provides the latter with corresponding industry resources, allowing the latter to obtain performance opportunities and corresponding exposure... and since there is "investment", there must be "recovery of investment".

Although it is not yet time to officially divide the cake, when Ave Mujica's success is almost certain, smart diners will always be one step ahead and divide the corresponding shares in advance.

"I'll just put it bluntly, Miss Ruomai."

But what Ruomai didn't expect was that her manager, who she had classified as "a marginal figure who was originally dispensable but now can't sit still and wants to get a piece of the pie", said something completely unexpected to her: "Although Ave Mujica, as the fastest band to enter the Budokan, has attracted a huge amount of traffic and attention, in fact, these are far from enough."

"We should have been able to do better."

Um……?
Hearing this, Ruomai narrowed his eyes slightly and cautiously asked: "Excuse me, Miss Agent, what do you mean...?"

"mask."

The manager seemed not to notice Ruomai's serious tone. She said calmly, "If the masks on the faces of Ave Mujica members previously helped the band maintain a certain sense of mystery, and combined with their unique style and musicality, they attracted a large number of fans; but as time goes by, these five masks have become an obstacle to the band's further fame."

"..."

"And you and I should all know that the moment the mask is put on, it is destined to be taken off. The only difference is when to take it off to maximize the benefits of this action."

Seeing Ruomai remained silent for a while, the agent finally put down the teacup that was no longer steaming, and said the last sentence that was really revealing: "In my opinion, the Budokan..."

"It's just that the timing couldn't be better."

(End of this chapter)