My daily life with the original diva

This is the most troublesome situation. Kimura Hiroshi's expression also turned sour upon hearing this. He was not afraid of a strong enemy, but he was afraid of an enemy hiding in the shadows, making it impossible to find them even if he wanted to fight them.

But his intuition told him that the enemy should be Johnny's, because he had just debuted and there was only one person with whom he had a conflict, namely Masahiko Kondo. Of course, he had also offended the rock scene by debuting as a rock musician.

"Since we don't know yet, we'll have to trouble Terabayashi-san to find out who it is as soon as possible. If we don't know who the enemy is, we'll be in a very passive position." Kimura Hiroshi can only leave this kind of thing to professionals, which is why it's best for artists to have an agency.

The entertainment industry is not just about glamour; it also has a terrifying jungle law and a dark side. It's difficult for one person to handle these things alone, and professional help is essential.

Terahira nodded and bowed, saying, "Please rest assured, Kimura-san, I will do my utmost to find that despicable person hiding in the shadows."

“I will mobilize resources to cooperate, Kimura-san. However, the investigation will take time. So what should we do now? Should we spend money to suppress these rumors?” Hanami asked.

Spending money is the most direct way, and the entertainment industry often does this, but it's also a very bad choice. Even worse is to come forward and clarify things. Kimura Hiroshi thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Thank you for your support, President, but spending money is not advisable. If we do this once, who knows how many more times we'll do it in the future? Besides, doing this could be used as a pretext for further hype, making people say we have a guilty conscience. By the way, what were the rumors about Akina-san that were spread before?"

The media has been very unfriendly to Akina Nakamori since her debut, often spreading strange rumors and even pairing her up with other celebrities.

Faced with this question, both Hanami and Hayashi remained silent. Kimura Hiroshi looked at the two of them and immediately understood that they hadn't done anything.

Because the rumors targeting Akina Nakamori appear without any rules and are not as serious as those against Hiroshi Kimura, they are purely malicious attacks on Akina Nakamori by the media. In such cases, nothing can be done.

Hiroshi Kimura was silent for a while before he finally spoke, “Since things have already happened, let’s muddy the waters completely. We’ll also release information, and on a large scale, in a chaotic manner. We’ll release rumors about famous celebrities. We can’t let Ken-On do this by paying middlemen.”

By thoroughly muddying the waters and bombarding us with a barrage of chaotic and impactful news, it's estimated that few people will continue to pay attention to Kimura's negative news. The jumbled information will also confuse people, making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

Is this even possible? Kimura Hiroshi's idea completely overturned Hanami Kagami and Akiyuki Yoshizawa's imagination, but it was indeed an excellent idea. Why didn't they think of it before?

"That's amazing, Kimura-san. If you weren't a natural idol, I would really like to hire you as the head of the public relations department," Hanami said in a surprised tone.

Hiroshi Kimura didn't seem to think much of it and continued to explain his approach: "This is just a response to the situation with newspapers and magazines. We still need to retaliate. From now on, I will not accept any interviews from these magazines and newspapers that publish rumors, nor will I allow them to publish the photos I took."

And didn't they say I have rock stars behind me, so I can only sing rock? Well then, I'm not going to play rock anymore. I'll sing pop love songs, plus one upbeat J-pop song.

He has countless hit songs from Japan stored in his mind. These guys trying to compete with him are like dung beetles running around looking for shit.

Chapter Nineteen: Mary's Wrath

"Breaking News! The Secret Behind Seiko Matsuda's Small Feet!"

"Taihara Toshihiko secretly met with a man late at night, and the two returned to his apartment together."

"I'm shocked to hear that the Bitter Persimmon Band is so astringent."

The phrase "chaotic and disorderly" aptly describes the content of entertainment magazines and newspapers these days. It started with the widespread dissemination of rumors detrimental to Hiroshi Kimura, with strange and baseless rumors targeting male and female idols in the entertainment industry spreading rapidly in the media.

Some media outlets were initially unwilling to publish such content, but the sensational and bizarre nature of the material led to a surge in sales for those reporting it, forcing the rest to follow suit. Whenever someone submitted an article, they would immediately publish it without any scruples.

"This is outrageous! Who did this? Make them stop this shameful behavior immediately!" Spreading rumors like this harms the entire entertainment industry, especially the idols. How could their agencies possibly stand idly by and let this happen?

Seeing that the matter was escalating and showing signs of getting out of control, they immediately contacted the media, asking them to stop spreading these baseless and sensational stories, or else they would terminate all cooperation with them in the future.

This warning was highly effective, since these entertainment media outlets often rely on press releases from these agencies or interviews with their artists to create enough content to attract readers. With so many agencies making a joint request, they had to take it seriously.

Within just a few days, apart from a few tabloids still reporting these nonsensical descriptions, most other newspapers and magazines stopped publishing them, and even the rumors about Kimura Hiroshi decreased significantly.

In those tumultuous two weeks, Hiroshi Kimura's debut single sold over 170,000 copies in the third week and 110,000 copies in the fourth week, dominating the sales charts for four consecutive weeks.

The achievement of selling over a million copies of his first single has already been reached, meaning that the rumors haven't had a significant impact on Hiroshi Kimura. Even if they continue to smear him personally, it probably won't do any good.

With over a million views in four weeks, it can be considered the strongest debut song for a male idol and pop singer in Japanese history. The media had already forgotten how they had previously smeared him and began to report on the matter positively, even analyzing how great Kimura Hiroshi's future achievements would be.

The media is just that pragmatic; they want to grab the most attention. At this time, it's obviously inappropriate to smear Hiroshi Kimura, and it might even be disliked by readers.

Mary Kitagawa, who orchestrated the whole incident, was furious when she saw that her methods had no effect and had not even been able to stop the sales of a newcomer like Kimura Hiroshi's single.

What angered her wasn't this particular failure—she'd failed before—but the fact that she'd attacked someone a hundred times weaker than herself and that guy was still unharmed was an insult to her control of power.

"These idiots actually removed what I requested. Do they look down on me, Mary, or on Johnny's Entertainment?" Mary was furious as she looked at the newspapers and magazines that were full of news about Hiro Kimura's debut single surpassing one million copies in four weeks. She swept everything off her desk.

Sitting on the sofa was Johnny & Associates president Hiroshi Kitagawa, Mary Kitagawa's younger brother. He watched his sister go crazy, and only after Mary had gone a little too far did he speak up, "That's enough, sister. Stop it. If you continue to go crazy like this, it will be a huge blow to Johnny & Associates."

The current scandal, which has swept through almost the entire entertainment and idol industry, started when his sister bribed the media to smear Kimura Hiroshi. If people find out about this, it will be a huge problem. The affected agencies may take their anger out on them, since they started this bad precedent.

Yes, Johnny's is very strong, but it's not strong enough to control everything. There are several agencies that are stronger than it, such as Sony and Burning, not to mention those Yakuza who are barely visible in the entertainment industry. In this circle, it's best not to be too arrogant. Being appropriately low-key is actually very important.

"My brother, what do you mean? Do you want me to admit defeat to a newcomer who has just debuted?" Mary Kitagawa glared at her brother, seemingly showing no intention of giving up.

Compared to his sister's occasional outbursts of rage, Hiroshi Kitagawa appeared very calm. However, the fact that he was able to create and expand Johnny's Entertainment shows that he was definitely a formidable figure; otherwise, he would have been devoured by his sister long ago.

He stood up and said, "Don't think I don't know why you would use tricks on a newcomer. You'd better control your hormones. There's nothing wrong with finding a young man to vent your frustrations on."

But if you truly don't care about the agency's interests and act recklessly to stand up for a young man, then I will dismiss you, because you are no longer suitable to remain at Johnny's as vice president.

This was an ultimatum. Mary Kitagawa instantly calmed down. This time, dealing with Kimura Hiroshi was just something she did on a whim, because she felt that dealing with a newcomer who had just debuted did not require any special methods or plans.

Unexpectedly, things didn't go as she imagined. The other party used a method she had never seen before to completely muddy the waters and make things even worse, leaving her in an awkward position.

In the past, when dealing with those opponents, although she was ruthless, she always planned ahead, calculated all possibilities, and strived to kill them with one blow.

It's normal to make a mistake if you do something carelessly, but losing your composure because a newcomer challenged your power made her even more embarrassed.

"I understand, Mr. President, I will stop immediately." Mary Kitagawa said calmly, but her hands were clenched into fists, veins bulging, as if she had countless rages to unleash, but nowhere to vent them.

Seeing that his sister had finally calmed down, Kitagawa Hiroshi nodded slightly. "That's good. Don't do anything for now. Let it calm down as soon as possible. Now you can focus on your work."

After speaking, Kitagawa Hiroshi left Mary's office. Seeing her brother leave, Mary's eyes became increasingly terrifying. She slowly returned to her chair and sat down.

“I will never let anyone who embarrasses me get away with it, Kimura Hiroshi. I'll let you have your fun for a while, but I'll make you realize that in the entertainment industry, you'd better not offend me,” Mary said viciously.

Her mind began to race, devising a plan to completely crush Kimura Hiroshi. However, she couldn't act now, as it would provoke conflict between her and her brother. Moreover, public opinion was too chaotic to act again. She had to wait until everyone forgot about it before making her move.

She couldn't deal with Kimura Hiroshi now, but she had a way to deal with Ken-On behind him. Before long, she came up with a vicious plan. She picked up the phone and called her secretary, "Call Yan-Yan here."

Chapter Twenty: Nine Million Yuan in Royalties

Although it was expected that Hiroshi Kimura's debut song would sell over a million copies, the entire Ken-On staff was overjoyed when the prediction came true, not only because of the revenue from the record, but also because of the impact of this success.

As a small agency, it actually has very limited resources and can't sign any high-quality artists or newcomers. However, when a newcomer it launches becomes a hit, it will attract the attention of other high-quality newcomers. Artists who want to switch agencies can also see the agency's capabilities and consider it.

This is a huge benefit for the artists signed by Yanyin in the future, so Yanyin plans to hold a big celebration party, after all, it is rare for a record to break one million copies.

The celebration was held at a leisure club. To prevent outside interference, Hanami Kaku booked the entire club. Almost all of Ken-On's artists and Warner Pioneer staff involved in the record production would be there, and even Ken-On's actual controller, Nozaki Shuno, would be attending.

Starting at 7 p.m., guests began to arrive one after another. Each person brought a gift for Kimura Hiroshi and personally handed it to him, making Kimura Hiroshi feel like a senior.

When the gifts were delivered, Kimura Hiroshi naturally didn't pretend to be arrogant and thanked them one by one. However, he didn't recognize almost any of these Ken-On artists, whether now or in the future, which shows that Ken-On was really in a predicament at the time, and probably only himself and Nakamori Akina were worth mentioning.

Later generations said that Nakamori Akina dragged Ken-on forward, and now it seems that this is true. If he hadn't joined, Ken-on would only have Nakamori Akina. Unfortunately, this originally complementary relationship would break down a few years later. He couldn't help but think about himself and what his relationship with Ken-on would be like in the future.

"Kimura-san, this is Mr. Nozaki Shuno, the major shareholder of our Ken-On." Just as Kimura Hiroshi was thinking, Hanami Kaku walked in with a man in his fifties or sixties wearing a suit. He gave Kimura Hiroshi a sharp look.

Then, smiling, he extended his hand and praised, "As expected, Kimura-san truly lives up to his reputation as a national-level handsome young man."

"It's not that exaggerated. I'm just a singer, Mr. Nozaki." Kimura Hiroya was very polite and shook hands with him. This Nozaki Toshio was the head of the Ken-On conglomerate behind the scenes, and he was no ordinary person.

"Haha, you're too modest, Kimura-san. I'm very happy that your debut song has sold over a million copies. The agency has decided to give you a reward. I wonder what you would like, Kimura-san?" Nozaki Toshio said with a smile.

If there's a reward, wouldn't it be foolish not to take it? After thinking for a moment, Kimura Hiroshi spoke up, "Could you give me the record royalties first? I'm really broke right now."

That's right, Hiroshi Kimura is very poor. He only has 30,000 yen left. If it weren't for joining Ken-On, where he doesn't have to spend money on food or performance clothes, he would probably be homeless by now.

Who would believe that an idol singer who is about to become a top star only has 30,000 yen?

Besides, he's famous now and can no longer live in that dilapidated apartment because it's neither comfortable nor safe.

He's already an idol who's captivated countless Japanese girls. I wonder how many Japanese men would envy, be jealous of, or even want to kidnap him for money. But that won't do. He's not some reborn soldier king in the city. He might not be a match for thugs with weapons.

To avoid becoming material for future videos made up by content creators, such as "Why did a certain handsome Japanese male idol singer mysteriously disappear?" or "Handsome idol Kimura Hiro cheated on his girlfriend and was killed by her simp in revenge," he needed to find a high-end apartment that was also safe enough.

Relying on a fixed monthly salary of 500,000 is definitely not enough; royalties must be received first.

Now that his singles have sold over a million copies, and with each record selling for 1500 yen, he could earn approximately 90 million yen in royalties (6%). With subsequent sales, surpassing 100 million yen would be no problem at all.

This number seems like a lot, but the yen is currently worth very little, with an exchange rate of about 1:250 against the dollar. In other words, what appears to be hundreds of millions in royalties is actually only about $40.

Of course, if people knew that he earned $400,000 from a single record in the 1980s and was still not satisfied, he would probably be beaten to death.

However, his request made Nozaki Toshio somewhat uncomfortable, because no artist had ever mentioned such a thing before. You see, once a record is sold, the money doesn't come back immediately; it needs to slowly circulate from various places. So, it usually takes several months after a record is sold before the first royalty payment is settled.

But if he took back the reward he had promised, wouldn't he lose face? So Nozaki Toshio thought for a moment and then replied, "Okay, I can pay you the royalties for one million records first. I hope you will create more and more moving records in the future."

Upon receiving royalties, Hiroshi Kimura smiled and replied, "I will, Mr. Nozaki. I will definitely create more great songs."

With a total of 9 million yen in royalties, Kimura Hiroshi will not save any of the money except for renting a luxury apartment.

What? The Plaza Accord will be signed in two years, and your money will appreciate fourfold in ten years, becoming $200 million. Why not save it?

Of course, it's time to buy real estate! The property prices in Ginza will increase tenfold in the next ten years. If you buy now, the value will probably be more than tenfold. Anyone who doesn't buy is an idiot. Kimura Hiroshi is definitely going to buy, and he's going to buy heavily and aggressively.

At eight o'clock, the celebration officially began, and the atmosphere became lively. Everyone toasted Kimura Hiroshi. Knowing that he was about to achieve financial freedom, Kimura Hiroshi was very happy and drank a few cups with them. They were all low-alcohol sake. He refused to drink any more, citing the need to protect his throat.

Although the atmosphere was lively, Kimura Hiroshi noticed that Nakamori Akina was not there. She also had a program today and didn't know when it would end, so she probably wouldn't be able to come.

The celebration lasted until 10 p.m., and the drunken crowd finally began to leave. As the host, Kimura Hiroshi had to see each guest off at the door before he could leave.

Just as most people had left, Nakamori Akina and her assistant hurriedly walked over. Seeing that Kimura Hiroshi was still there, Nakamori Akina waved happily.

"I'm sorry, Kimura-san, I'm late. I'm so sorry." Nakamori Akina, who had rushed over, was covered in sweat; the weather in July was already very hot.

Seeing her anxious and embarrassed look, Kimura Hiroshi quickly said, "No, no, I can feel Akina-san's feelings. It's too late, I shouldn't have come."

"How could I miss Kimura's celebration? I also have a gift for you." With that, she handed over the gift she was holding.

The gift was in a box, and he didn't know what was inside. Kimura Hiroshi took it and said, "Thank you for the gift, Akina-san. It's not some strange doll again, is it?"

Speaking of this, knowing that Kimura Hiroshi still remembered the prank from last time, Nakamori Akina chuckled, "How could that be? This is a proper gift, Kimura-san, don't worry."

"That would be perfect. Oh, by the way, I've finished writing my novel too. I'll give it to you to take a look." With that, Kimura Hiroshi led Nakamori Akina to the club lobby.

There was some cool air from the air conditioning, but you weren't directly exposed to it, which was perfect for Nakamori Akina, who was weak and prone to catching colds, to rest. Kimura Hiroshi went to the private room to get his backpack and took out the bound novel inside.

After handing over the novel, Akina Nakamori took it while jokingly saying, "What kind of novel is it? It's not one of those delinquent ones..."

Before she could finish speaking, her face turned bright red, and she couldn't say anything more because the novel's cover had a large title: Love Letter.

"Could it be that Kimura-san is planning to use the excuse of delivering a novel to send me a love letter? But we've only known each other for less than two months, isn't this too fast?" Nakamori Akina thought shyly. She was only eighteen years old this year, a time when she was full of dreams.

Standing right in front of her, Kimura Hiroshi saw the change in Nakamori Akina's expression and the words she hadn't finished saying, and he immediately knew what was going on.

He gently tapped Nakamori Akina's head. "What are you thinking? This is just a serious novel, a very good one. You'll see when you get back. Don't get the wrong idea, Akina-san. You should know that a handsome young man like me, Kimura Hiroshi, can only accept being pursued by others."

Hearing Kimura Hiro say that, Nakamori Akina realized that she was at a disadvantage. Her expression became a little strange, as if she wanted to save face. She reached out to hit Kimura's head back, but found that she couldn't reach him. Kimura Hiro was too tall, and she was like a dwarf.

He could only lightly punch Kimura Hiroshi in the chest. "Hey, you shameless Kimura brat, how dare you hit your senior on the head, you deserve to die."