Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Xia Fan suddenly discovered that his faith value, which had originally accumulated to more than a thousand, had been reduced to one tenth of its original value.

"Is it because of the descent of God? No, the faith value did not decrease after the descent of God. When exactly did it happen... I remember it was when we dealt with the 'Toilet Paper Lady' on that slope!"

"So that's how it is. Even for gods, exorcising evil spirits requires consuming faith. The law of conservation of energy is true!"

After carefully searching his memories, Xia Fan confirmed the reason for his decreased faith, and a hint of joy appeared in his eyes.

"Your thoughts are the same as most folk psychics. You are unwilling to cooperate with official organizations, which is understandable."

Not noticing Xia Fan's distraction at all, Jinguji Aoi continued to persuade him sincerely.

"I know that with your ability, you naturally don't care about the monthly subsidy of 1 million yen from the Exorcist Association. But judging from your secret exorcism, you must have a kind heart of 'if you are poor, you should take care of yourself; if you are rich, you should help the world'..."

"...Join us, you will not be bound by mandatory tasks, and you can use official information and privileges to better cover up your daily identity while exorcising ghosts."

After all, the strength Xia Fan displayed on that ramp was far beyond all the psychics she knew.

Perhaps, only in the Heian-kyō era thousands of years ago, when a hundred demons paraded at night, did the legendary Onmyojis possess such power.

With his assistance, the Psychic Association and Lesson 9 would be able to avoid many casualties in the future.

"What? One million... Privileges... Free to exorcise ghosts..."

A series of key words drew Xia Fan's attention back.

"Okay, I'll join."

He nodded without hesitation.

"what?"

This caught Aoi Jinguji, who was still trying to appeal to her emotions and reason with her, off guard.

"Are there any formalities required?"

"No formalities are necessary. You can just register with the Exorcist Association and the Ninth Class. We will keep your identity confidential."

Xia Fan’s idea is very simple.

If one wants to gain faith and exchange health and abilities with the God of Heaven, this will inevitably make the power of this evil god stronger.

"Tian Yu Shen" solved the problem of the toilet paper girl. It seemed easy on the surface, but it actually consumed all the faith he had accumulated from the popularity of his new song in recent days.

In other words, although the evil spirit is terrible, it is the only known way to consume the faith in this evil god and delay the "illegal invasion" of one's own body.

Cooperating with the Psychic Association and Lesson 9 not only earns you a good salary, allows you to easily find evil spirits to consume your faith, and also provides you with the opportunity to learn other ways to fight against evil gods.

The only risk he took was exposing the evil god in his body, so the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.

What's more, if one day in the future, Tian Yu Shen completely replaced himself, he could at least try to notify Lesson 9 in advance to prevent the situation from escalating to an unmanageable level.

"Regarding this incident and the one in Ikebukuro, your ninth class should have complete investigation materials. Please share a copy with me."

After pondering for a moment, Xia Fan made another request.

Having encountered cult scams and toilet paper girls one after another, and next time he will be exposed to other "dirty things" that will consume his faith, he must learn the basic common sense about these supernatural beings in advance.

"No problem. As a consultant for Lesson 9, you have the right to apply for access to these materials. Someone will send them to you later."

Aoi Jinguji agreed respectfully.

"If it's okay, I'll go first."

"Of course, I will contact you again if there is any situation in the future."

After exchanging contact information with Aoi Jinguji, Xia Fan opened the tailgate of the ambulance and found himself next to the ramp, only about a hundred meters away from the student dormitory.

There were several ambulances and police cars parked nearby, rescuing detectives who had their mouths stuffed with toilet paper and were unconscious from suffocation.

"Mr. Xia Fan's personality is so straightforward and free and easy. I admire it very much."

Watching Xia Fan's figure disappear down the slope, Jinguji Aoi's face turned slightly red.

……

"Really? What a messy night... hiccups..."

Dragging his tired body back to the dormitory, Xia Fan felt his abdomen was extremely full.

"This Tian Yu Shen is so reckless. Not only did he eat so much food willfully, he also used up all my living expenses for a week!"

He took out a stomach-strengthening and digestion-promoting tablet from the drawer, put it in his mouth and chewed it, then glanced at the balance in his PayPal account with heartache.

"Hey, hey, you god who entered someone else's body so casually, come out and speak!"

Thinking of the powerless feeling of losing control of his body, Xia Fan looked fiercely at the dressing mirror, but there was only himself with an angry face.

"Oh, I still have one more 'Prayer', maybe I can use it...how can I use it..."

Xia Fan clasped his hands in front of his chest and closed his eyes in prayer without any sincerity.

"Um, God Tian, ​​I am praying to you here, please cure my brain tumor and let me recover my health!"

He silently recited his wish in his heart.

"I already know your wish."

The moment he closed his eyes, Tian Yushen, with black hair, black pupils and black robe, appeared in front of Xia Fan with an expressionless face.

"Your brain disease has been temporarily alleviated by me. If you want to cure it completely, it involves subverting fate and cause and effect, and you need more faith."

"Of course, if you use more decisive means, this faith can be obtained in just one battle."

Her figure flickered slightly, her voice was intermittent, and she seemed a little weak.

"No, I will only use my own way to gain faith."

Xia Fan shook his head decisively.

"Hmph, as faith increases, my divine power will also revive. It is only a matter of time before I descend again and conquer the world myself."

The corner of Tian Yushen's mouth curled up in disdain.

"Your 'God's Descent' only lasts for one hour, and it will be consumed if it encounters an evil spirit. It can't last long. Also, you didn't do anything bad to those people at the night market. Instead, you took care of a lot of business..."

"The reason you came here today is because you noticed that the Toilet Paper Girl had set her sights on me, and you wanted to take action to get rid of her first, right?"

Xia Fan looked at her without any fear and asked seriously.

Having shared the memories of the "God's Descent", and based on the fact that the Ame no God "failed to get out of the snack street in his first step to conquer the world", he naturally knew the other party's true intentions.

“Tsk, eliminating the opponent in advance is the way to win the war of faith. Why should I explain to a mere mortal what I want to do?”

“Tenmi-shin” turned his face away indifferently.

Chapter 22 Promotion Planning

2024-07-13

"Tian Yu Shen, what you want is nothing more than faith. Give me a chance, and I will prove to you that in this era, artistic creation and performance can also win people's love."

Realizing the other party's acquiescence, Xia Fan continued to argue.

"Hmph, your so-called art and performances that earn people's love are nothing but flowers in the water and the moon in the mirror! Only fear can make people remember it all the time and for generations to come!"

As if he recalled something, Tian Yushen sneered, and murderous intent gradually rose in his eyes.

"It doesn't matter. The thing I have the most is time."

"You'll soon realize that if you don't give them what they want, you'll be forgotten."

After leaving these words, she disappeared from Xia Fan's sight.

[Great God, I have heard your prayers. Your brain tumor has received initial treatment. You will need to pray many times to be completely cured.]

[The God has sent down an oracle: Make the accumulated faith value exceed 5000. After completing it, you will get a chance to "Pray" once.]

[The gods have sent down an oracle: Sing the sacrificial song "Red Lotus" and lead 10,000 people to sing along. After completing it, you will receive the gods' blessing.]

Only the "oracle" remained echoing in my mind.

"Let's go to the hospital for a follow-up check tomorrow to confirm the effectiveness of this 'initial treatment'."

Falling headfirst on the bed, Xia Fan looked at the ceiling and began to think silently.

"Looking at the meaning of this new oracle, the God whose faith has been consumed by the evil spirits has reluctantly agreed with my 'weak and boring' method?"

"However, it may take some time to reach 5000 faiths just relying on the follow-up effect of Sakura. We still have to find a way to publish Crimson Lotus Flower."

According to his own "theory of diminishing marginal faith effect", people who listen to his work for the first time will contribute their faith to the maximum extent according to their degree of liking.

But when you listen to the song repeatedly, without the initial surprise, the faith in the feedback will drop to a negligible level.

But this "diminishing effect" may be because he only holds the title of lyricist and composer. If the singer performs live, there should be a different sense of freshness every time.

"Just by being credited as a lyricist and composer, I can indirectly receive so much faith. If I debuted myself and sang my own songs on stage, wouldn't it be..."

As his imagination ran wild, Xia Fan seemed to see himself standing on a huge stage like Hoshina Hanami...

"No, that won't work. The medium of faith transmission is 'name' and 'image'. If the two are combined, the growth rate of faith will probably be several times higher than it is now..."

"If my faith increases too quickly and I don't have time to find the evil spirits to consume, won't I be 'descended' by the gods again, or even lose my body forever?"

Thinking of some terrible possibility, Xia Fan slapped his face hard.

"Be sober and don't be greedy! I'll just focus on creating behind the scenes. Even if I have to do front-stage work, I'll prioritize choosing the type that won't expose my name, to avoid increasing my faith too quickly."

After sorting out his thoughts and confirming his "faith in sustainable growth strategy", he closed his eyes and fell asleep in bloating and fatigue.

……

The next day, Shinjuku, Company B Building, conference room.

"President Amateur, your promotion plan is totally unfeasible. Even though the budget is sufficient, and even though Hanami and Sakura are very popular right now, as a 'newcomer' you can't appear on a show that ranks people based on seniority!"

"That's better than your 'cheap little theater concert'. Not only can the venue not accommodate many people, but Hoshina has only this one debut song. What else will they perform after that?"

The noise from Yoshihide Higashino and Ryoko Tachibana discussing the "publicity and marketing plan" was so loud that it could be heard outside the meeting room door.

"The examination report is out... the tumor has really shrunk..."

In the corner of the conference table, Xia Fan was checking the physical examination report on his mobile phone and couldn't help but smile.

In order to verify the effect of "prayer", he went to the hospital for a check-up early in the morning.

The report showed that the brain tumor had shrunk by 2 centimeters. The doctor's diagnosis was that the targeted drug was effective and recommended that the patient continue to take the drug.

The current size of the tumor is roughly the same as the 'early stage' level three years ago, which means Xia Fan has at least four years to live.

"Stare... Xia Fan looks so good when he smiles... But, he is smiling so happily, what is he looking at... Is he chatting with a girl?!"

In another corner, Hoshina Hanami covered her face with a notebook, leaving only a pair of big eyes exposed, secretly staring at Xia Fan.

"Hey, is anyone listening to me? You two, at least give us some opinions."

"That's right. If we don't promote it now, the popularity of "Sakura" will soon disappear, and Xiaohuajian will become an 'unknown original singer' in the future."

The two presidents, who were arguing until their mouths were dry, turned their attention to the two people who had different thoughts but were equally absent-minded.

After "Sakura" topped the list last night, thanks to the "head effect", the number of paid downloads quickly reached a height that the second and third place could not reach.

Company B quickly matched a larger amount of publicity and promotion funds, but the agency was required to submit its own planning proposal, so the two presidents quickly convened a meeting to discuss the matter.

"Well, I'm just a newcomer, I don't really understand these things."

Hoshina Hanami shook her head sincerely.

"I'm just an amateur who hasn't debuted yet. I don't even know why I was called to attend the meeting..."

"By the way, how about trying 'walk-and-sing'?"

Xia Fan suddenly had an idea and made a suggestion.

"Singing on the street or performing in a live house?"

"That method is too inefficient for publicity. It's not as good as a small theater."

The three people's curious eyes were focused on Xia Fan.

“I think Hanami’s live performance is more appealing than the studio version. If more people can hear her live singing, they will probably have a deeper feeling for this song.”

Xia Fan sorted out his thoughts, took out his mobile phone, and opened a website under the Meteorological Agency called "Sakura Front".

"The cherry blossoms are blooming recently, so why don't we follow the 'Sakura Front' and perform live at the cherry blossom viewing spots in major cities from Kyushu to Hokkaido?"

Region 1 is a long and narrow island country with a great difference in climate between the north and the south. The cherry blossoms will bloom from the warm south to the north from January to May, forming a "cherry front" advancing from south to north.