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

Xia Fan raised his eyebrows and gave a tentative answer.

"Wrong! The real reason why this song became popular in just three days is the rapid development of the Internet industry, which broke the monopoly of traditional media platforms such as TV stations on content, information and audience aesthetics!"

The professor tapped the blackboard with chalk and wrote down a few key words.

"Of course, the song itself does have quite excellent qualities in the aspects you mentioned!"

"Moreover, 'Gurenhua' and the recently popular 'Sakura' were written by the same author. According to rumors in the industry, this producer's age should be not much different from yours, but the work he wrote was able to attract Keizo Horie to supervise the recording. It is very worth learning from..."

After analyzing the music industry structure, changes in media communication, and market trends, the professor also praised the song "Red Lotus" itself.

"Horiie Tsubasa: How does it feel to be stumped by a question related to your own work as a producer?"

"Xia Fan: It's my own fault that I was distracted and answered the wrong question!"

After replying to the LINE message on his phone, Xia Fan turned his head and glanced behind him.

There, Horie Tsubasa was listening to the class attentively, and it was impossible to tell that he was secretly operating his mobile phone.

"Horiie Tsubasa: Thanks to your song "Gurenge", Kurokawa Tsubasa's personal YouTube account has exceeded 100 million followers. As a thank you, I'll give you the opportunity to sing a few more lines when you participate in the 'Campus Singer Contest'."

"Xia Fan: No, as a thank you, why don't you sing the whole song solo during the competition?"

Xia Fan followed suit, maintaining an expression of "listening attentively" while secretly sliding his phone under the table.

"Horie Tsubasa: You... how can a contestant go on stage without singing a single word..."

"Xia Fan: I'm just kidding. But the competition is going to start next week, and I'm tone-deaf, what am I going to do on stage?"

The "Campus Singer Contest" is about to open, and Xia Fan, who has weak singing skills and almost no stage singing experience, feels a little panicked.

"Horiie Tsubasa: As a hot new musician, you should have more confidence... How about we make an appointment later to prepare for the performance and song selection?"

"Xia Fan: Of course, with the great 'Kurokawa Tsubasa' as the lead singer, I am very confident."

But when he thought of his teammate, the top singer "Kurokawa Tsubasa" who could perfectly control "Gurenge", he didn't seem so panicked anymore.

"Jinguji Aoi: Mr. Xia Fan, I would like to inform you of the follow-up investigation of the 'Aragami Samurai' case..."

"Jinguji Aoi: According to the current progress of the investigation, the people who secretly moved Tokugawa Kagekatsu's cenotaph and lifted the seal can be basically confirmed to be the same group as the 'Ikebukuro Blood Festival', but the specific identity of this organization is currently unknown and requires further investigation."

At the same time, a message came from Jinguji Aoi's LINE account.

It is worth mentioning that her avatar frame is a picture of golden, crispy, tempting fried chicken piled up into a small mountain.

"Xia Fan: Are they the same people who defrauded me as a religious person? Even Section 9 can't track down these 'supernatural dangerous elements'?"

Xia Fan, who had read the case files of the "Ikebukuro Blood Sacrifice", naturally knew that the group of "cultists" had some extraordinary abilities, otherwise they would not have been able to mess up the rituals and destroy the divine body of "Tengoku God".

"Jinguji Aoi: Since the other party can do this, he is naturally a 'psychic' and has extraordinary means to avoid the investigation of Section 9. However, now that we have a direction for investigation, we will not give up easily. No matter how cunning the fox is, it will always show its tail. If there is any new progress in the case, we will inform you as soon as possible."

"Xia Fan: I understand. Thank you for your hard work."

"Jinguji Aoi: By the way, the commercial we shot a few days ago will be aired between the NHK TV late night dramas starting tonight."

After the routine briefing on the case, Jinguji Aoi suddenly changed the subject.

"Xia Fan: Is that commercial finally going to be aired? What a pity, I don't have a TV in my apartment, so I can't watch it."

"Jinguji Aoi: Do you want me to send you a TV right away?"

"Xia Fan: No, I appreciate your kindness, but my small room doesn't have room for a TV."

"Jinguji Aoi: Do you need me to arrange for you to move to a more spacious place? How about a single-family house in Roppongi?"

"Xia Fan: There's really no need to go through so much trouble just to watch an ad! I'm sure that tomorrow there will be some boring video reposted online, there will always be a way to watch it."

After finishing his conversation with Aoi Jinguji with difficulty, Xia Fan became curious as he recalled the twists and turns in the experience of shooting the commercial.

"Speaking of which, what will the finished film of that commercial look like?"

……

Chapter 71: Red God Worship

2024-07-13

Minato-ku, Roppongi, Inagawa-gumi Tokyo branch.

The empty room, like a giant warehouse, was filled with various fitness equipment such as dumbbells, barbells, sandbags, etc., and was filled with the pungent smell of blood and the nauseating strong odor of sweat.

"Bang bang bang bang bang..."

In the middle of the room, a middle-aged man wearing only boxing shorts and with his upper body bare was punching the huge sandbag quickly and steadily.

His back, which was twice as wide as that of an average man, was completely covered with a red ghost face tattoo.

The bulging and full back muscles rose and fell like waves as he punched, making the ghost face look like it was grinning wildly.

"Minister Takenaka, you are looking for me."

The man in a suit pushed the door open silently and entered the room, standing respectfully by the wall.

The middle-aged muscular man known as "Takenaka" did not stop his movements, but his punches became faster and faster.

"boom!"

Suddenly, the muscles in his arms swelled to twice their original size, and he unleashed a powerful punch that smashed the entire sandbag to pieces, raising fine sand all over the sky.

"Bring in a new sandbag."

The man in the suit silently took out his cell phone and gave instructions to the person on the other end of the call. It was obvious that he was accustomed to this scene.

"I asked you to come here this time. Do you know what it is?"

Pulling his strong arm out of the sandbag, Takenaka asked in a deep voice.

"know."

"The sushi chain's business performance has increased by 10% this month. A competitor complained that our sashimi was too cheap and that the source of the goods came from illegal deep-sea fishing. We have arranged for someone to visit them and 'sincerely' ask them to withdraw their complaint."

"Also, the vegetables planted by illegal immigrants occupying state-owned land in the mountains have been harvested for the first season this week, and the yield is good."

"With the support of these 'high-quality, low-priced', 'green and organic' raw materials, we will soon be able to complete the integration of the entire industry chain from ingredients to central kitchens, to dine-in and takeaway at a very low price, taking the first step to dominate the catering industry in District 11..."

The man in the suit lowered his head and reported respectfully.

"Asshole, I didn't call you here to listen to this!"

"Our Inagawa Group is one of the famous 'three designated violent groups' in District 11!"

"Back then, as long as you had enough men, weapons and ammunition, and fought for territory on the streets with blood and lives, you would have made endless money every day. Why would you need to make money from those low-end side jobs like you do now?!"

Takenaka frowned and gave a powerful roundhouse kick, kicking the shriveled sandbag into the corner of the warehouse, raising a cloud of dust.

"But, Minister, you yourself said it was 'back then', which means the market situation more than ten years ago. The transformation and development strategy of focusing on the characteristics of gangs and vigorously entering the white industry was set by Minister Takenaka yourself."

"Besides, we have done well in recent years, and the turnover of emerging industries has exceeded that of traditional businesses."

"It is because of your foresight that the brothers are not like some gangs that are so poor that they can't even afford to eat, and when they are old they have no pension and have to rely on petty theft to make a living."

The man in the suit handed over the towel respectfully and explained patiently.

The three major restaurants in Japan are Yoshinoya, Gyudon, and Matsuya.

The "Big Three" designated as gangs in District 11 are the Yamaguchi-kai, the Sumiyoshi family, and the Inagawa-gumi.

"Designated violent groups" call themselves yakuza or chivalrous groups. They originated from ronin samurai groups during the Meiji Restoration and gradually took shape in the special post-war era. They are social violence organizations recognized by the government and can "legally operate" under supervision.

In the first few decades after their establishment, violent gangs relied on traditional industries such as illegal drugs, protection fees, extortion, entertainment, customs, drinking and gambling to live a prosperous life.

However, as the government continues to introduce targeted policies such as the "Countermeasures against Violent Groups Law" and the "Regulations on the Elimination of Violent Gangs", and as young people of the "relaxed generation" are no longer proud of being "Yakuza men", against the backdrop of economic downturn and aging, the gray income space of violent groups has declined significantly, and their members are in a lack of young people, and are gradually becoming old and poor.

Some small violent groups were reduced to petty thefts and were gradually eliminated by the police.

In order to make ends meet, the "Big Three" gangs like the Inagawa Group have long been foresighted enough to enter the gaming, entertainment, real estate, construction, transportation, finance, and various emerging consumer industries...

However, the traditional "extreme management model" is often beaten badly by the flourishing new models of modern enterprises such as "Internet+", "Amoeba", "flat" and "drawer-style", and can only survive by relying on a variety of gray means.

The Tokyo branch of Inagawa Group has long adopted the "Amoeba" independent management model. Under the leadership of the current minister, Masahiro Takenaka, it has entered the catering industry, secretly "laundering" illegally grown and caught goods and making huge profits with low raw material costs. It has been doing very well in recent years.

"I called you here because someone in the group didn't complete the Red God Worship this week as required."

After wiping the sweat off his body, Takenaka pointed at his back and got back to the topic.

The scarlet ghost-faced figure seemed to be the "Red God" he mentioned.

"Impossible. I have personally checked. On the OA software, everyone uploaded their daily 'Red God Worship' check-in video on time this week."

The man glanced at his phone, puzzled.

"No, I'm pretty sure, the number is wrong."

Takenaka Masahiro shook his head with certainty.

"According to the oracle, this week, Red God only received 28 points of faith, which is two people short of the expected number..."

He murmured in a voice that only he could hear.

"Could it be that someone used the 'old video' to slack off?"

"Sorry, Minister, I will recheck it immediately!"

The man thought about it for a moment, seemed to have thought of a possibility, and walked out of the room with a dark face.

"What a bunch of bastards with shaky faith..."

"If we don't find a way to expand our industry and team, when will we be able to gather the faith that the gods require?"

In the empty room, Masahiro Takenaka lay on the sofa complaining, turned on the TV and watched his favorite late-night channel.

Like most people in District 11, Takenaka Masahiro has always been superstitious, but his belief is limited to going to temples and shrines to pray to gods and worship Buddha.

More than a year ago, he heard the voice of a god named "Akagami" through a certain "artifact" he obtained by accident.

Takenaka followed the "oracle" and summoned his subordinates to contribute their faith to the "Red God". As expected, he received feedback from the "Red God" and was granted a strong physique.

From then on, he became a fanatical believer of "Akagami", wanting "Akagami" to grant him more power to help him restore the former glory of the Inagawa Group and fulfill his dream of "dominating the national underworld" that he had regretted since his youth.

Chapter 72: Hundred Tales

2024-07-13

To this end, Takenaka Masahiro not only tattooed a huge "Red God Totem" on his back, but also "forced preaching" within the gang, requiring all members, regardless of size, to have a tattoo of a ghost mask symbolizing the "Red God" on their bodies.

Not only that, every week members of the Inagawa Group must kowtow three times and bow nine times to the "Red God" on their bodies for a full hour, and clock in and upload the data to the OA software, which will be included in the salary performance KPI assessment.

After continuously gaining faith in Akagami, Takenaka Masahiro's physical fitness gradually became inhumane. In several "territory disputes", he easily defeated ten enemies at one time.

After that, he strengthened the muscle strength of several core members through the "Blood Alliance" ceremony bestowed by Akagami, making the members of the Inagawa Group, who had originally been quite dissatisfied, gradually believe in "Akagami".

However, gangs are ultimately a sunset industry. The Tokyo branch of the Inagawa Group controlled by Takenaka has a very limited number of personnel and can provide a maximum of 30 standard units of faith per week, or about 1400 standard units per year.

Moreover, as time goes by, lazy Yakuza members will inevitably find various ways to get around the troublesome daily worship ceremonies, which will further "deplete" this number.

Therefore, Takenaka's dream of contributing more faith to the "Red God" in exchange for greater power and dominating the world is progressing extremely slowly.

"It's a pity that the matter of the Red God cannot be noticed by the authorities until I become powerful enough. Otherwise, I could ask all the employees of the catering company to join in and check in for the Red God Worship..."

"In the final analysis, we still have to find a way to expand the industry so that we can increase salaries, recruit more loyal gang members, and squeeze more faith..."

"Zizzizi..."

Just as Masahiro Takenaka was watching his favorite Taiga samurai drama and thinking about how to grow and develop like the shogunate of the past and spread military power throughout the country, the TV screen flashed and was filled with white snowflakes.

"Take a look, take a look..."

"The Hyakumonogatari... has begun..."

A hoarse and piercing voice came out intermittently from the TV speakers.

"It's this weird 'One Hundred Tales' again. Does it have to pop up when everyone is watching it intently?"

Zhu Zhong held his chin with one hand, stared at the snowflake screen, and raised his eyebrows.

Soon after he began to believe in the Red God, a being calling itself "Hyakumonogatari" began to visit him like a ghost through mobile phones, televisions, tablets, computers and other electronic devices with flashing snowflakes.

This "Hyakumonogatari" often provides information about gods and demons, and claims that its purpose is to connect the "agents of God" together to overthrow the current ruling royal family and the "Amaterasu" behind it.

Takenaka was skeptical about this, and when "Hyakumonogatari" occasionally popped up, he just treated it as news.

"Tonight, the first ghost story is... the 'Samurai Aragami' mentioned in the last ghost story has been successfully awakened by a member of the 'Hyakumonogatari' at the Kanda Shrine..."

"Unfortunately... they were discovered by the official psychic and were expelled..."