Tokyo Sound

"How sad! How lamentable! The industry has become so corrupt!" Shimazaki Nobunaga cried sadly, "If that's the case, then I will create a projection of myself in the second dimension with my own hands!"

"what?"

"Matsuoka, I've understood that the more skilled humans are at acting, the more likely they are to be unable to extricate themselves from the filthy social affairs and become deeply trapped in them." Shimazaki Nobunaga said dimly.

"what do you want to say in the end?"

"It's simple. For the sake of my voice actor career, I want to write light novels!" Shimazaki Nobunaga clenched his fist.

"What???"

"A true voice actor can even create characters that don't exist and are destined to be created out of thin air!" Shimazaki Nobunaga's eyes were ablaze with fire, "As long as I write a best-seller and it's adapted into an animation, then as the original author, I will have more or less the right to choose the voice actor. Humph, the male lead must be played by me! And because it's a character written based on me, it must be perfectly synchronized. By then, it will be a big hit, win awards, and reach the top of the industry. It's only a matter of time!"

"Wow, young people are full of energy. Among all the people I have met so far, your struggle plan is the most tortuous and outrageous!" Hikasa Yoko exclaimed.

"I have already thought of the outline." Shimazaki Nobunaga pondered.

"So fast?!" Matsuoka Yoshitsugu was surprised.

"First of all, the male protagonist is handsome, gentle and charming, and is surrounded by all kinds of beautiful girls..."

"Will this twisted product of personal desires really be popular enough to be adapted into an animation?" Matsuoka Yoshitsugu was speechless.

"Of course not. Aren't there not enough themes like this on the market?" Shimazaki Nobunaga said righteously, "As long as we pick an artist with outstanding painting skills and add exquisite illustrations, it will have the potential to dominate!"

It was over. He actually had such a horrible thought. And what was even more horrifying was that this guy seemed to be serious!

"Wait, didn't you just say that this unorthodox method is not worthy of being accepted by the public? Why are you still researching shortcuts?" Matsuoka Yoshitsugu said, "Although this career plan is very unreliable..."

"If you want to fight against the cold world, you must first learn to be cold and ruthless." Shimazaki Nobunaga sighed, "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't bully the supporting role without a main role! Matsuoka, don't worry, we are brothers after all, I will definitely keep a role for you in my novel. As for Takizawa, put him in the enemy camp and become a stepping stone for the rise of the protagonist!"

"Thank you..."

"Okay, it's almost time, let's go." Hikasa Yoko stood up and stretched lazily.

"Okay." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu quickly packed up his things.

"Wait, where are you going?" Shimazaki Nobunaga looked at the senior and junior pair suspiciously.

"Have a meal."

"Oh, I'll go too."

"You can't go."

"What do you mean? What do you mean I can't go? What on earth do you want to do?" Shimazaki Nobunaga was horrified, and then he said with great sorrow, "I thought only a jerk with red lips and white teeth like Takizawa would betray, but I didn't expect that even a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes like you would betray me!"

"What? Takizawa is going too."

"What?!" Shimazaki Nobunaga looked at the two people in front of him and took a step back in fright.

"Today is the firm's internal spring cocktail party. Everyone should go if they are free." Hikasa Yoko explained patiently, "What do you think it is?"

"Oh, I thought you were going to play mahjong. With me, there will be four of us." Shimazaki Nobunaga said gracefully.

Chapter 87: There is no need to pretend to be a gentleman

I'm Enterprise was established in 1997. With a directly affiliated training institute commonly known as the Nichibaku Ken that directly supplies talent, and its parent company is also a leader, after years of development, it can be regarded as one of the best voice actor agencies in the industry today.

There are nearly a hundred voice actors signed by the company, many of whom are well-known and are in the first echelon of the industry.

The social atmosphere is known for its simplicity and down-to-earthness, and the vitality of "IM people" has always been talked about by everyone.

In front of the entrance of a large hotel in Yoyogi, Shibuya, a festive red welcome sign was erected, which succinctly announced that the conference hall had been reserved by a certain company, warmly celebrating the new year and new atmosphere, and looking forward to the new quarter and new future.

In the spacious meeting room, large round tables covered with white cloths were neatly arranged. Delicious cold dishes such as cold tofu with dried bonito flakes, crisp lettuce and walnut salad, pickled radish skin, and salted spinach and shrimp had already been placed in a circle. The crystal chandelier was turned on at full power, emitting a brilliant and bright light. The high-heeled glasses filled with champagne were formed into a simple pyramid by the skillful and attentive waiters, and the still wine was shining with delicate dots of light.

The cocktail party was more of a team-building event, not a serious one, so many colleagues were dressed quite casually and didn't dress up. There was no strict seating arrangement, so when acquaintances met, they would naturally find an empty table to sit together. The management gathered in one group, the agents gathered in one group, and the voice actors gathered in another group.

At the beginning, the president made a few brief remarks, the gist of which was that we need to grow bigger and stronger, create greater glories, and a better life lies ahead. Then he held a lucky draw on the spot with a sense of ceremony, and gave away more than a dozen new mobile phones, air humidifiers, microwave ovens and so on.

As the waiters started to serve the hot dishes, our multi-talented colleagues sang a few songs and performed a Rakugo show with split personalities and multiple roles, which livened up the atmosphere.

"Kashiwai has been a very busy man recently. Both of his new recruits have great potential. In my opinion, promotion and salary increase are just around the corner." An agent gave a thumbs up and praised him.

"It's just a small achievement, how can I dare to think of a salary increase." Kashiwa Ippei pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and smiled modestly, "Besides, I encountered the failure of "The Idol King 2" not long ago. I can only say that the future is still bumpy."

"That's a problem with the planning. It's none of your business. It's not your fault. Besides, the newcomer is also very competitive. Not long after entering the industry, he has become a hot topic and started to play supporting roles efficiently. Brother Kashiwai has been trying his best to attract resources recently. Everyone has heard about it. It is said that you drank photovoltaic special in three sips and took a six-degree sauna. You were almost cooked into a meat bun. You are an extremely macho man. You should be a role model for agents." The colleague continued to brag.

"With good seedlings in hand, you have a goal to strive for and you have the drive. That's what life is like." Bai Jing nodded.

"Of course. You got all the best prizes last period. How can you not go all out? You have good cards in your hand and you feel confident to drink with others. You're the envy of others." Colleagues cheered.

"Where."

"Today we meet again, so we have to have a good drink! Kashiwa Jing, let me toast you first!" A colleague raised his glass.

"I wish you a successful career and a smooth sailing. I toast to you too!" The second colleague raised his glass.

"Spring is in full swing, and the seedlings are in full bloom. I toast too!" The third colleague raised his glass.

"Several brothers have given their blessings one after another. I am the youngest in seniority, so there is no reason for me not to follow suit. Brother Kashiwaji, I want to toast you too!" The fourth colleague raised his glass.

"I appreciate your kindness, brothers." Kashiwa Ippei looked at his colleagues at the table, who were holding their wine glasses and were eager to follow the example of the 18 princes in attacking Dong Zhuo. His eyes moved slightly but his smile remained unchanged. "To be honest, I have been tired these past few days and my stomach is not good. I often have diarrhea, so I can only drink tea instead of wine today. I hope you can understand."

"Of course, who here hasn't seen the wonderful moments that Kashiwai-san posted on his Moments? How can he be called the king of nightclub companions in Shibuya for nothing? As for the diarrhea, it must be because you ate some expired food. Here are some high-proof liquors, which can be just right for you to drink and kill the toxins in your stomach and intestines! I guarantee you'll be cured by tomorrow!" A colleague slammed the table.

"No, no, I really am powerless." Kashiwai Ippei waved his hand.

"Humph, Kashiwa Jing-san thinks that he's about to become a gold medal agent, so he's proud of his status and doesn't want to clink glasses with his old buddies who are still struggling?" The colleague pretended to be angry.

"Oh, how could that be. In fact, the doctor really told me not to come into contact with alcohol recently. Look, the medical examination forms are all in my bag. Not to mention that I caught a cold occasionally. I also took cephalexin before coming here. It's not that I wanted to avoid alcohol [Note: cephalexin goes with alcohol, just send it away]." Kashiwa Ippei righteously took out the medical examination form and a board of pills from his handbag and placed them on the table openly.

The people at the table looked at each other.

Damn it, they were so well prepared that this guy managed to escape disaster.

This guy brags about drawing a UR card [Note: refers to a very rare card] every day, and shows off what dramas his newcomers have taken on, how many followers they have gained by pushing their accounts, and at the end he has to mention how you guys are doing recently... It's really unbearable!

But you can avoid getting drunk, but you can't avoid getting bloated. Even if you feel dizzy and have a swollen head, we will make you get up several times tonight!

The group of people re-edited the smiles on their faces, clinked glasses and praised each other, making it very lively.

……

Yin Ze filled a bowl of white rice, added a few pieces of juicy pork, and placed two crispy and delicious vegetables.

“What a delicious bowl of Sad Rice.” The man looked at his work and nodded in satisfaction.

"Isn't it just barbecued pork rice? Add a few quail eggs and it would only cost 500 yen at most in a convenience store. What's so sad about it?" Nakajima Masaru complained while biting a crab leg.

"Among Japanese cuisine, only ramen and rice bowls are more suitable for my taste. The portions are large and the taste is strong. I'm not used to things like sashimi." Yin Ze picked up his chopsticks and ate rice.

"Do you prefer affordable cooked food?" Uchida Maaya had her hair tied in a single ponytail today with her bangs pulled back, revealing her smooth forehead. She looked very capable, youthful and lively.

"Yes, a few bowls of rice and a dish of seasoning will do."

"That's home cooking. Can I just use carrot soup as seasoning?"

"I have no problem with three meals of tea and rice a day."

"With such low requirements, you really are easy to support." Uchida Maaya said half-jokingly.

"Of course, I'm so thrifty." Yin Ze laughed.

"Would you like to eat some shrimp? I'll peel them for you?" Uchida Mare rolled up her sleeves, reached out to pick up a few cooked shrimps, and skillfully and easily removed the heads and shells. She dipped the tender white shrimp meat in soy sauce and put it into the small bowl of the man beside her.

"Thank you." Yin Ze said hurriedly, "Eat it yourself, don't be so polite."

"I've been losing weight recently." Uchida Maaya just looked at him and said.

"You're already so slim, why are you still losing weight?" Yin Ze said casually, and he also caught a shrimp, peeled it, and handed it to the girl next to him. "You are in your prime years, eat when you should eat and sleep when you should sleep. Get nutrition, and stay healthy is the most important thing."

"You peeled it too roughly. There's a lot of meat missing." Uchida Mare said with disdain. She bit it off with her chopsticks, but her eyes narrowed into slits with a smile. "You have clumsy hands, so don't make it hard on yourself. It's a waste. Let me do it."

"Okay." Yin Ze accepted it happily.

Sakura Ayane, who was also clumsily peeling shrimps on the other side, stopped what she was doing inadvertently when she heard this. She looked at the miserable shrimp meat in her hand that looked like it had been torn into pieces, and glanced at someone furtively. In the end, she couldn't bear it anymore, so she kept silent and secretly ate the shrimp herself.

"Isn't Matsuoka here?" Haruka Kamura asked curiously while pouring drinks for everyone.

"Here he is. I saw him before, but he seemed to be at another table. Come to think of it, there are a lot of empty seats at our table." Nakajima Maji said, looking around.

"Does he take the initiative to get to know people?" Haruka Jiamura was a little surprised.

"That's real growth." Iwasawa Toshiki sighed.

"...Are you sure you didn't get lost and didn't see us?" Yin Ze looked back, "Didn't you say you came here with Senior Yangzi?"

"Yoko must have gotten together with Rie and her group of female colleagues. Besides, how could they get lost here? They must be in the venue. Alas, I didn't win a prize this time. I've been in the company for many years, but I only got a rice cooker once. It's so unlucky." Nakajima Jianji propped up his head and said in a dull tone, "The jobs I took are not interesting. There are no handsome or cool guys. They are either good tools or bandits who kill knights. I don't know when my luck will change."

"It turns out that even experienced seniors have this kind of trouble." Newcomers such as Iwasawa Toshiki nodded.

……

"When I entered this industry, there weren't so many red tapes and there were fewer people. Although the general salary is higher now and there are more opportunities, everyone is starting to show up and act like an artist or actor, not working behind the scenes anymore. As long as things are made to look glamorous and beautiful, there will always be a large number of young people coming up. In my opinion, the industry is not going to be good if it continues like this! However, little brother Matsuoka, I think you are pretty good! You just don't know how to deal with things!"

"Senior, my last name is Matsuoka..."

"Oh, yes, it was just a slip of the tongue. I'll drink half a glass of wine as a punishment." The fifty-year-old senior with a red face swallowed half a glass of wine honestly and continued his magnificent speech. "I participated in a big production called "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" [Note: a series of novels written by Japanese writer Yoshiki Tanaka, adapted into a TV animation in 2018]. You should have heard of it, right? That was a luxurious lineup. You know, the assembly line products out there that claim to be produced by a celebrity team can't compare to it at all!"

"Yes, yes." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu agreed timidly.

"And the Dragon Pillar, I was a candidate for Vegeta, but I missed the chance because I couldn't make it. Then they asked me to play Frieza, but I had to have surgery on my vocal cords. I got into this industry very early. Don't underestimate some of the veterans. They all transferred in mid-term. They all called me senior on the set!" The old man said with a tone that was invincible and looked at the changing times with a smile, "The past is like smoke, and the river flows east. Come on, let's do another one."

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu had no choice but to hold the cup with both hands, bend his waist, and tilt his head back to drink.

"You have a good alcohol tolerance, but you never show it off." The old man's face flushed and he raised the bottle to pour wine.

"That's enough." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu quickly covered the rim of the cup and said tactfully, "I'm a little dizzy now."

"Ah, so you are a bad boy. How can you resist the senior who offered to pour you a glass of wine? Besides, you said that you were just a little dizzy, far from reaching your limit." The old man smacked his lips, "It's fate that we met today. I've taught you everything I know, but you're still reluctant to drink a little wine. How can we succeed in the future?"

There was really no way to refuse, and Matsuoka Yoshitsugu could only helplessly watch his cup being filled up again.

"You're not a voice actress. If you want to use connections to advance your career, you can only fight for a place at this table. You can't always count on your agent or other nobles to pass on opportunities. You still have to fight for them yourself! Even if you can't drink, you should be more open-minded. You should know that your drinking habits reflect your character, and this can be practiced. You will get used to it if you drink more!" The old man muttered earnestly, "I'm doing this for your own good. This is from the bottom of my heart. Clink glasses, clink glasses."

"Let's take a break?" Matsuoka Yoshitsugu touched his stomach.

"Why are you still being so hesitant? I'm not taking advantage of you. How about this, just drink half a cup." The old man said and drank half the cup, acting first and asking for permission later.

Seeing this, Matsuoka Yoshitsugu had no choice but to drink along with him.

"Well, eat your food." The old man patted the young man's shoulder with satisfaction, and then filled his glass with water.

More than ten minutes passed, and Matsuoka Yoshitsugu had only picked up his chopsticks a few times, and even the bowl was almost clean, but the cup of wine was full.

"Young people nowadays don't like socializing, that's not going to work. Relationships are built through chatting, business is won through drinking. If you have the ability, you also need the right opportunities and platforms, otherwise you will remain unknown! I was arrogant back then, and I worked based on my hobbies. I turned down many classic roles, but they were all played by others."

The old man kept talking about his heroic and glorious past, and his expression was full of excitement when he talked about those days.

"I think you are a bit like me back then, but you have to remember what I said. After all, you are a senior in the same company, so how can you be harmed by him?"

"Okay, okay." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu just said. His head was feeling dizzy and he even saw double of the old man in front of him.

"It's a pity that we met too late." The old man sighed while pouring wine.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu's stomach was a little churning at this moment, and he was about to get up.

"According to the rules, you have to drink this glass before you leave. Drink this glass before you leave." The drunken old man grabbed him and forced the glass into his hands.

"It's really not working anymore." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu waved his hands frantically.

"Why are you still saying that? You don't give me face? Do you still treat me as an outsider?" the old uncle said with dissatisfaction.

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu had a hard time speaking out, physically and mentally resisting the glass of wine that was approaching his mouth. His stomach was getting more and more uncomfortable, and he was very sure that he would vomit on the spot after drinking less than two sips, which would be even more difficult to deal with.

"Don't just stand there. I can't possibly toast you, can I?" The old man frowned.

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu had no choice but to take the cup, feeling uncomfortable.

But before he could figure out what to do next, the wine in his hand was suddenly snatched away by someone else.

"Hey, isn't this that guy? I've seen you on the set. Thank you for taking care of me at that time. I wanted to find an opportunity to thank you, but I didn't expect to meet you here. If I had known, I would have sat here!" The man who appeared out of nowhere savagely snatched the wine from Matsuoka's hand. He was so surprised that he grabbed the old man's hand and kept shaking it, as if he had met a great benefactor who gave him a new life.

"You, who are you?" The old uncle was stunned.

"Senior, I'm Takizawa. We met before on the set of "Anpanman". You also gave me some guidance." The man said fluently.

"I don't remember. I don't think I've ever matched it before..."

"Of course I have, but that level of work is not worth mentioning in your long career. You forget things easily. Thanks to your care that day, I didn't make a fool of myself."

"Whoa whoa."

"Senior, please don't just stand there. Sit down. I'll toast you a glass! I must express my gratitude to you today and show you my love!"