I, Hiroshi Nohara, the star of Japanese cinema!

Hashijita gritted his teeth.

This realization was like a blunt, poisoned knife, slowly cutting back and forth in his heart, bringing bursts of sharp pain.

He picked up the teacup, hoping to use the warm liquid to extinguish the evil fire, but the tea only turned into a deeper bitterness when it entered his throat.

Just then, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

It's Kojima, the assistant in Iwata's classroom next door.

Kojima was standing at the door of the tea room. He didn't come in, but just gave him a subtle look, then nodded slightly with his chin towards the secluded corridor next to him.

Hashijitachi's brows furrowed slightly.

He and Kojima had an okay relationship, not quite friends, but because their classrooms were next to each other, they would occasionally eat lunch together at the convenience store downstairs and chat about trivial matters.

He thought about it and put down the teacup.

Perhaps, he wanted to escape for a while from that bustling circle that made him feel suffocated.

He said to Minamimura Hoshi, who was still looking at Nohara Hiroshi with envy, "I'm going out to smoke a cigarette," and then walked out of the tea room calmly.

He followed Xiaodao and turned into the fire escape that was rarely used by people.

At the end of the corridor is a conference room that has been vacant for many years and used as a storage room.

The door was ajar.

"What do you want from me?" Hashijitaro looked at Kojima with a flat tone.

Kojima didn't answer, but just showed a strange smile on his face, then pushed open the door and made a "please" gesture to him.

"Why are you so mysterious?" A trace of inexplicable uneasiness flashed through Hashijitaro's heart.

But he went in anyway.

There was no light in the room, the light was dim, and the air was filled with the smell of stale dust.

Then, he saw it.

In the deepest shadows of the room, a figure was slowly standing up from a chair.

The man was wearing a well-tailored suit and had a sinister smile on his face, like the tongue of a poisonous snake.

It's Masao Iwata.

"Hashimoto-kun."

Masao Iwata's voice rang out in this closed, dimly lit room, with a creepy stickiness.

"Let's... talk."

Hashijitaro looked at his face which looked more and more distorted in the shadow, and felt his back instantly soaked with a layer of cold sweat.

He subconsciously wanted to turn around and leave, but found that the door behind him had been gently closed by Xiaodao at some point.

There was a crisp, decisive "click".

It was like a cage with the final bolt down.

Chapter 49 "Anzhiju Season "

The busy work continues again. After all, the production of "Anzhiju Season 2" needs to be put on the schedule as soon as possible.

Or it’s already on the agenda.

The huge success of the first season of "Anzhiju" brought unprecedented glory to Suzuki Classroom and also brought about visible changes.

They moved out of the old office located in the corner with insufficient lighting and moved to a new classroom with a better floor, more spacious and brighter space.

A new computer, a new drawing tablet, and even the coffee machine in the pantry was replaced with the latest model that can grind beans.

The biggest change is people.

Under the personal supervision of Deputy Director Asumi, personnel were reshuffled within the production department. Two experienced animators and a young man who was good at sound effects production were temporarily transferred to Suzuki's classroom to help.

This guerrilla force, once composed of old, weak and disabled soldiers, finally upgraded its muskets and cannons and began to look somewhat like a regular army.

"Mr. Nohara, the storyboard for the first episode of Season 2, 'Taro', is now complete!"

"For the sound effects, I've also added some bicycle chain noises and the subtle friction sounds of the puppet's joints as you requested. Listen to the effect."

"Nohara-kun, this is the original drawing from the second episode, 'The Kitchen.' Take a look at the nervous expression on the housewife's face when she's isolated. Is it accurate enough?"

The office was bustling with activity.

Everyone was like a wound-up gear, running at high speed and precision around the absolute core of the office.

The core is Hiroshi Nohara.

But now he was sitting quietly at his new workstation, but what he was holding in his hand was not the drawing of "Anzhiju".

Instead, it was a brand new copy of "Weekly Shonen Jump" that still smelled of ink.

On the center color page of the magazine, the largest font and the most passionate brushstrokes announce the arrival of a new era.

"—The Dark Martial Arts Tournament is at its climax! Yu Yu Hakusho enters a new chapter!"

He looked at the familiar scene: Urameshi, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei, the four of them standing side by side. Behind them was the hideous island full of death and glory, lurking like a giant beast.

"good."

The corners of his mouth curled up in a satisfied arc.

The success of "Anzhiju" gave him a foothold in this TV station.

The outbreak of "Yu Yu Hakusho" will give him the confidence to be truly independent of anyone and to have an equal dialogue with the world.

After all, he earns millions of yen every week.

How can it not be confidence?

……

While Masao Iwata's conspiracy was quietly fermenting in the darkness, Suzuki's classroom was still filled with the enthusiasm of a creator.

Nohara Hiroshi did not disappoint anyone's expectations.

In the following week, like a supercomputer that never crashes, he presented all the remaining stories of the second season of "Dark Zhiju" to everyone in a way that was almost divinely inspired.

The drawings flowed from his pen with an unquestionable precision and sophistication.

In "Taro", the ventriloquist puppet used in the police performance is possessed by the soul of someone who died in a car accident. Amid the inexplicable laughter of the audience, it tells a cold monologue from another world.

In "The Kitchen", the unsociable girl was isolated step by step under the enthusiastic "care" of her colleagues, and was eventually silently swallowed up by the seemingly warm collective.

The story of "Inside" is transformed into a creepy Russian nesting doll. Each doll that is opened represents a soul that has been sucked out, until in the end, the entire family has become an expressionless shell.

There are also "Wall Girl", "Cabinet", "Xiao Zhi"...

It seemed as if those stories were not created by him, but quietly descended from another dimension onto this thin piece of paper through his pen tip.

Of course, you can say that.

After all, this is Neon in the previous life, and it is also a late-night horror animation produced by the production department of Tokyo TV with great effort.

I really put a lot of effort into it!

Each story is like a sharp scalpel, accurately dissecting the hidden fear, loneliness and human weaknesses beneath the glamorous appearance of modern urbanites.

The entire Suzuki classroom was almost working day and night, transforming the cold words and strange lines written by Hiroshi Nohara into frames of images that were enough to make the soul tremble.

A week later, the second season of "Dark Zhiju" was completed.

This time, Deputy Director Ming Hai personally approved a publicity budget that far exceeded that of the first season.

The energy of Tokyo TV was fully mobilized.

For a time, the entire Tokyo public opinion field was like an iron pot that had been placed on the fire and preheated for a long time, just waiting for the main dish "Anzhiju" to be put into the pot.

Countless newspapers and magazines gave it high praise without hesitation.

Nobuyuki Kato even wrote a second column himself, titled "When fear becomes an art: Why we can't stop watching "Anzhiju"."

As for ordinary publicity, there are countless of them.

"Can the genius Hiroshi Nohara's second attempt surpass the legend of the previous work?"

"From phenomenal to legendary, the second season of 'Anzhiju' will define new heights of Japanese horror!"

"Industry insiders predict: Season 8's ratings are expected to break %, creating a late-night ratings miracle!"

All kinds of praise were overwhelming, bringing "Anzhiju" and Nohara Hiroshi to an unprecedented height.

This made the entire Suzuki classroom extremely excited.

People all love praise.

As a producer on "Dark Zhiju," if the second season's ratings hold up, I'll be adding a very useful qualification to my resume. Whether it's for a promotion or a pay raise, it's incredibly useful!

……

The classroom was in Takada Shunei's office. The smoke of sandalwood was still lingering, but the oppression had disappeared a lot.

Takada Toshihide looked at the praises of "Anzhiju" in the newspaper and a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Because that's what he wanted.

"How's the matter going?" he asked without raising his head.

Iwata Masao stood respectfully by, a look of uncontrollable pride on his face. "Deputy Director, rest assured, Hashiji Ichirō is completely at our disposal. He's told me everything he knows about 'Anzhijuu' these past few days. I've already had my team begin studying and emulating that production philosophy."

"Very good." The curve of Takada Shunying's mouth became colder.

He raised his head and looked at Masao Iwata with a look as if he was looking at a sharp tool that was about to be used.

"Do you know why I allowed that Asumi guy to create such a big publicity for 'Anzhiju'?"

Masao Iwata was stunned and was indeed very confused.

"Praise to kill."

Takada Shunying squeezed out these two words from between his teeth, and there was a chilling viciousness in his voice.

"'Dark House' has now been hailed as a masterpiece by the media and those self-important critics. Audience expectations have also reached an unprecedented height. They are waiting to see a miracle, a horror feast that will surpass the first season and be even more thrilling."

He paused, his bottomless eyes flashing with a venomous light.