They all pushed me!

Unlike many fans outside the industry who are more concerned about the cast that has not yet been announced on the Internet and do not care about this at all or think that there is nothing wrong with the original author being the screenwriter, including the operator Sumiya Kaminari and producer Katsuragi Kaburaki, in fact, most people in the industry were not optimistic about this when the project was first proposed. If it weren't for Samejima Abiko's strong desire and everyone's desire to take advantage of the popularity and traffic of "Tokyo BLADE", one of the hottest IPs nowadays, it might not have been officially approved in the end.

This also led to dissatisfaction among many professional screenwriters who had been paying attention to this project and wanted to get a piece of the pie. Kitagawa Ryo even heard that many people had complained about this matter in private, saying things like, "For that little girl, the impression of stage plays in her mind probably only remains on the art performances she saw in the school stadium during high school." These were quite contemptuous remarks.

However, these rumors in the industry soon disappeared without a trace. In order to rekindle the confidence of the producers and operators, Kitagawa Ryo quickly spread the news that he was working on the script with Samejima Abiko through Kindaichi Toshiro. As one of the most prestigious drama actors in the industry and a new generation screenwriter with the annual masterpiece "Tomorrow", Kitagawa Ryo's platform undoubtedly made everyone put away their own little thoughts, and the slight doubts and distrust of this project soon faded away.

In fact, Kitagawa Ryoya did not simply speak out and provide all the help except formal help to Samejima Abiko as some people maliciously speculated. During these two years, he was indeed taking her to recognize, understand and experience the relevant knowledge in this area, and finally completed the script with his slow and meticulous work.

"I made some notes and wrote down some of my own thoughts when I printed it out last night. The animation and theatrical version of Tokyo BLADE were both successful, so the stage play should not fall behind. I couldn't help much in the beginning, but in this regard, I certainly hope to show the best results in front of Abiko."

Samejima Abiko pursed her lips slightly and took the script handed to her by Kitagawa Ryo with both hands, but she did not open it immediately. She just put it on her thigh and shook her head gently. She first raised her head to look at Kitagawa Ryo, but then quickly lowered her eyes:

"Liang has always been helping me, and has always been helping me, yeah, always."

As she spoke, she picked up the glass on the table again, bit the straw silently, and quickly drank several sips of the fruit drink. Then she tilted her head slightly, held her cheek with her right hand, and slowly spoke:

"…Ryo should also want to know who is the ideal actress to play the role of Scabbard Princess in my mind, right?"

"No."

Beichuan Liang just shook his head neatly:

"Abizi hasn't seen anyone's audition or their specific performance yet, so the one you like now may not be the final choice."

"That's fine. After all, the only actor confirmed so far is Ryo. No, Ryo is the one I've always liked the most... um, the actor who plays BLADE."

As Samejima Abiko spoke, she lowered her head and flipped through the script on her lap, making it difficult to see her expression. After a while, she suddenly raised her head and smiled at Kitagawa Ryo:

"But Ryo said that I haven't seen the performances of the actors who are going to audition yet, which is actually not true. So it seems that everyone is hiding this from Ryo."

"Huh? What?"

Facing the somewhat puzzled Beichuan Ryo, Samejima Abiko casually took out her phone from her pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and then showed the screen to him:

"Here."

Samejima Abiko held the phone in her left hand, and began to raise her fingers one by one with her right hand:

"It started about half a year ago. Kana, Xiaoqian, Ruby... No, it was even earlier. It seems like a year ago, they sent me performance videos or makeup photos of themselves wearing cosplay costumes."

As he spoke, Samejima Abiko also turned up the volume by pressing the button on the side of her phone. As the inexplicably shameful lines echoed in the box, Kitagawa Ryo's mouth twitched as he saw his sister, who should be in the practice room at the ACE base, holding a wooden sword that was most likely passed down from him. He gave the camera a determined look:

"I don't want to fight him... but I also want him to see how much I've grown over the years."

Samejima Abiko placed her finger on the screen and swiped it to the right.

"Jian Yi, huh? Ask BLADE to come out and see me."

As if he had seen an unpleasant scene, Kurokawa Akane's eyes were quite scary.

Draw your finger again.

"You are still the same as before."

Arima Kana was half-kneeling on the ground, with nothing in her hands, but her whole posture and the movement of her right hand made people feel as if she was supporting herself with a broken sword blade, unwilling to fall down completely. It was a very exquisite, even showy, performance without props.

"That's about it."

After casually showing Kitagawa Ryo three clips that could be considered famous scenes from the original comics, Samejima Abiko took back her phone and covered her forehead with some helplessness:

"It seems like the three of them don't know that the other party is doing this kind of thing, so I can only send some 'awesome' emojis to fool them every time."

"So what Liang said just now about me not watching the actors' specific performances is wrong. I have been bombarded by these three for almost half a year."

At this point, Samejima Abiko also sighed, revealing a rather tangled expression:

"But everyone really acted so well that I was a little reluctant to ask them to stop posting it."

"Perhaps it is because of Abiko's ambiguous attitude that the three of them feel that they have a chance and are working harder to post."

Beichuan Liang was also speechless about this matter, but these photos and videos sent privately through the chat software reminded him of those selected photos that Hoshino Ai sent him every now and then when he and she were still dating. Now he has properly stored them in a secret folder on his hard drive and made two backup copies.

If you think about it this way, even when it comes to changing character costumes, Rumi seems to lag behind Ai.

"Ryo should also think that the final candidate for the role of Shoji will definitely be one of these three people."

Samejima Abiko's words interrupted Beichuan Liang's inexplicable associations. He nodded and replied:

"Well, although Shiranui's acting skills and looks are also very good, she didn't plan to audition for the role of Shoji from the beginning, so she has no competition with Kana and the others."

"Shiranui? She seems to be quite popular recently. That's a pity. After all, I'm still curious to see how she will interpret the role of Shoji."

After saying this, Samejima Abiko was silent for a while, then shook her head:

"But even after watching the performances of Ruby and the other three, just like what Liang said, I still don't have a definite candidate in mind."

“Tokyo BLADE has been positioned as an ensemble drama from the beginning to the end, so compared to this kind of one-man show, I would like to see more rivalry in real time, and I want to see the interaction between the actors and the characters.”

There was no longer the slightly abnormal expression and behavior that she had when they first met tonight. Now Samejima Abiko once again entered the state of being a creator. She began to speak faster, emphasizing each word, and stared straight into Kitagawa Ryo's pupils:

"Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, desire, life and death, separation, hatred, desire and failure, twists and turns. I want to see everyone recreate all of these in the original work on this 2.5-dimensional stage. Of course, the protagonist must be played by Liang."

Perhaps it was because of her sudden excitement that caused her body to tremble unconsciously, and the script that was originally spread out on her legs suddenly fell to the ground with a snap.

"I've heard that last sentence so many times that my ears are almost callused..."

Beichuan Liang bent down and reached out to pick up the script again, and tapped Samejima Abiko lightly on the head with it:

"I will definitely do what I promised, and I won't run away suddenly."

"But before I actually saw Ryo play BLADE, I was always inexplicably worried. Anyway, I couldn't accept letting anyone else play the role of BLADE."

Even though it was just a light hit, Samejima Abiko was still knocked out of her previous state, and said a little aggrievedly.

Even though she had celebrated her 20th birthday and coming-of-age ceremony not long ago, Samejima Abiko, who had officially entered the ranks of adults, did not seem to be very stable or mature. But when he thought about how she had already achieved financial freedom, Kitagawa Ryo was too lazy to intervene and could only go along with her words, softening his voice like he was coaxing a baby at home:

"Okay, okay, you'll be able to see it in two days. By then, I'll be ready with a full set of costumes and standing there. Just point your finger, and I'll go up and act with the actors. You can watch it to your heart's content, okay?"

"Yeah, this will make it easier for me and Mr. Kindaichi to make the choice, especially in this part of the story, where Shoji has a large part of her role tied to BLADE, and she will be in trouble."

"it is good."

After finishing the topic neatly, Samejima Abiko smiled again and reached out to raise the glass again:

"Then - Cheers!"

I have something to do today, so I'd like to take a day off.

The latest plot development of the original work by Tuizi is also expected. I mentioned in the first volume that the role of Hoshino Ai's mother should be very important. Sure enough, she has appeared now. I hope that Mr. Oaka won't do anything bad. However, I am almost finished with this book, so it won't affect me (laughs).

It's getting colder recently, so everyone should keep warm. I have symptoms of a cold and a runny nose.

Chapter 4: She Wants It Too (5k)

"Good evening, everyone. Welcome to my live studio tonight. Yes, today is the long-awaited chat session. Come and have a pleasant chat with MEM啾."

As usual, she skillfully adjusted all the equipment for the live broadcast, and checked her makeup in the mirror in the room. Then, MEM啾 started today's personal live broadcast on time.

As someone who has been intentionally trying to gain popularity through live streaming since he was still an idol, and the only one among the three ACE members who is not a dead-line warrior and exceeds the number and time requirements of live streaming every month, MEM啾 has been steadily operating and managing his personal channel.

To date, she has gained over one million subscribers and followers on both Youtube and TikTok. Although she is currently active as a self-employed business owner, because she was previously an artist under Kitagawa Ryo's personal agency, and after graduation she often collaborated with the artists there or carried out related business cooperation, in the eyes of most viewers, the distinction is not that obvious. After all, MEM啾 herself still habitually uses the prefix of our agency to enthusiastically tell fans about recent news, and fans sometimes ask her about related things because of this relationship.

"It's been a long time since we last had a casual chat. I'm happy."

"MEM-chu is so cute today as expected."

"good evening."

Because the live broadcast time is fixed, when MEM啾 just started the live broadcast for a while, a large number of loyal fans who had been waiting for a long time arrived first. The sparse barrage of comments gradually began to become dense, and soon, the SC who rewarded krypton gold jumped conspicuously in front of MEM啾.

"Thank you, Tanukijiro, for the 10,000 yen SC. Good evening. Um...MEM, can you tell me the latest news about the Tokyo BLADE stage play?"

"The Tokyo BLADE stage play project is indeed a big news that has attracted much attention recently. Although the host has a good relationship with Abiko-sensei, she doesn't know much more than you do. As for the cast, it should be officially announced in two days. Everyone just needs to wait patiently for the official news."

MEM啾 was not surprised that fans would come to his live broadcast room to ask such questions. After all, the "Tokyo BLADE" stage play project is indeed one of the hottest topics on the Internet recently, and all kinds of true and false statements are emerging one after another.

One moment they confidently stated that Kurokawa Akane had already secured the role of Shoji, and would be starring on the same stage with Kitagawa Ryo again after more than a year since "Pests". The next moment they revealed with certainty that the original author Samejima Abiko and the stage director Kindaichi Toshiro had different ideas and were unhappy about the casting. It can no longer be said that there is a new version of the story every day, and two completely opposite statements can be seen almost every few hours.

In this situation where no one can convince anyone else and curiosity is growing as if they are being scratched by a cat, many netizens thought of MEM啾's live broadcast room first.

After all, Samejima Abiko was an idol for a long time before she officially became a professional cartoonist, and she has always been very good friends with the other two members of the team. After graduation, she even returned to the Tokyo Dome performance as a guest performer. She should know some more inside information.

It just so happens that Kitagawa Rumi has basically not actively broadcast live in the past two years except for the irregular broadcast of "Today's Meal at the Kitagawa Family". In this case, MEM啾's live broadcast room naturally became the first choice for fans who are closely following the information related to the "Tokyo BLADE" stage play.

In fact, MEM啾 himself had anticipated this situation a long time ago, but he did not choose to happily eat up this huge amount of traffic that fell from the sky alone. After communicating with relevant people including Kitagawa Ryo, Samejima Abiko, Kaburagi Katsuya and others, he slowly clarified his actions.

Even though the cast of "Tokyo BLADE" has not been officially confirmed yet, both producer Katsuya Kaburagi and operator Sumiya Kaminari, they must first pursue commercial success. Their expectations for this project are not just limited to recovering the costs, they have to make a lot of money. In a sense, this is contrary to the idea of ​​the original author Abiko Samejima. If it is not handled properly, conflicts will arise. This is why Katsuya Kaburagi hinted at the other party at the drinking party with Sumiya Kaminari that day.

Just like Kaburagi Katsuya pointed out at that time that Kitagawa Ryo was the most important person, in the entire project, Kitagawa Ryo's identity was definitely not limited to a leading actor. In Kaburagi Katsuya's eyes, he was the best middleman and glue connecting the two, thanks to his own influence on the original author Samejima Abiko.

In fact, Kitagawa Ryo is also aware of this. His task is to make this project satisfy both Samejima Abiko and Raita Sumiko, and to lead it smoothly to a successful ending that everyone is happy with.

When he asked Samejima Abiko yesterday whether the candidate for the role of She-Hime would be among Kitagawa Rumi, Arima Kana and Kurokawa Akane, he was actually inadvertently testing the waters, because from the standpoint of Kaminari Sumiaki and Kaburaki Katsuya, the actress who played She-Hime could only be one of these three people.

For them, the quality and significance of the work are secondary. Popularity, traffic and the commercial value that can be realized are the most important. Taking these factors into comprehensive consideration, in the current candidate list, only three of them are qualified. In terms of popularity, Shiranui Furilu can barely be considered, but the other party has voluntarily given up the role, so she was naturally eliminated.

Fortunately, Samejima Abiko did not have any disagreement with Kaburaki Katsuya and the others, although her decision was purely based on acting considerations.

Although the planning of the stage play "Tokyo BLADE" has officially started, there is still some time before the official performance. In order to maintain the discussion during this interim period, the operator is actually directing and acting by themselves, and taking advantage of the situation to leak information to stir up the heat. In a sense, MEM啾, who suddenly appeared in front of them at this time, has undoubtedly become the most suitable person to be pushed to the forefront.

To put it simply, under the principle of "keeping the wealth within the family" pursued by Kitagawa Ryo and the strong promotion of Kaburagi Katsuya, who was already an old acquaintance, MEM啾 did not immediately choose to use personal connections to take up the traffic that was delivered to his mouth, and also left a good impression on the operator. In this way, he obtained permission to "leak the information in accordance with the emperor's order." Of course, as a good friend, Samejima Abiko herself had no objection to this.

So, just when the fans in the live broadcast room and the passers-by who followed in to learn about the "Tokyo BLADE" stage play were disappointed by MEM啾's remarks, they heard a certain anchor facing the camera, who was very consistent with the temperament of the little devil headdress on his head, smile slyly:

"But I did talk about this topic recently when I was chatting with Abiko."

After chuckling and drawing the attention of the audience in the live broadcast room back, MEM啾 also put his right index finger on his chin, leaned back slightly on the chair, and revealed a look of nostalgia:

"I heard that many of our (our agency's) children will be auditioning."

When she just finished speaking, the comments were still full of familiar jokes like "Still in our house, still in our house", "The anchor wasn't fired by the agency, it's just that no one wants her", "Do you think you are a professional idol (24 years old)", but they immediately changed to "Is there Kana Ari?", "Will Kana go for the audition", and "Will I be able to see Kana then?"

"Kana? Kana will definitely go. If you count, how many rounds will it be against Akane? In addition to Kana, Himekawa and Shiranui will also be there. Just look forward to it."

As MEM啾 was chatting casually, many loyal fans of the original "Tokyo BLADE" and tabloid reporters who wanted to take advantage of this wave of traffic rushed to the scene. They gave various rewards and SCs as if they were free, just to hear some specific content of the plan in this authoritative live broadcast room, which is the only and most credible one in the entire network.

But just when the reporters from various marketing accounts and tabloids had finally compiled the first wave of transcripts based on scattered live screenshots and the host's speeches, they discovered that "Weekly Entertainment Live" had already released the first-hand reports in real time, and even the real-time video footage of MEM啾 when he made these revelations was quite complete, beating everyone else.

"Inoue, no wonder people say you're like Tanaka from our newspaper. Your ability to catch hot spots is so sharp even after get off work. The editor-in-chief has already said that a place has been reserved for you among the best reporters in the newspaper this year. Okay, then you should continue to pay attention and keep working hard."

Daichi Inoue, who was huddled in the room wearing a MEM啾 cheering suit, curled his lips and threw the hung up phone onto the bed. He had just opened the live broadcast room of Danpu as usual, started recording as usual, and prepared to stay up late to make interesting segments to help the anchor attract traffic, but he didn't expect to grab the first-hand reporting time by accident.

Never mind, let’s just continue watching the live broadcast.

With this thought in mind quite simply, Inoue Dai nodded, then turned his gaze back to the computer screen that was showing the live broadcast.

"In fact, there is another important news that I can share with you."

Looking at the rapidly increasing number of viewers and comments in the live broadcast room, MEM啾 was able to control his facial expression very well. He raised a finger casually and spoke as usual:

"Ruby will also be attending this audition. It's Ruby, Ruby."

Although Kitagawa Rumi's exposure in the past two years is not as high as before, she was once a top idol after all. In addition, this was originally MEM啾's live broadcast room, and quite a lot of viewers were fans of ACE in the past. So after MEM啾 opened her mouth, the barrage immediately sent out a lot of "Ruby!" "Is it Ruby! " "It feels like I haven't heard about Ruby for a long time" "The one in front is a fake fan, Ruby just broadcast "Today's Meal at the Kitagawa Family" last week" Okay", all kinds of SCs are also endless.

Among all the SCs, MEM啾 accidentally caught a glimpse of one, which was sent by a user named 'I have always been MEM啾推啊'. She remembered this name and thought he was an old fan who had been pushing her for a long time:

"Isn't the host going to give it a try? I remember the scriptwriter was Abiko, right? If the host also goes up to perform with Ruby, it would be considered the resurrection of ACE."

...Will you become an actor yourself? Or a stage actor?

Almost subconsciously, he threw away this idea that suddenly popped into his mind and seemed unreliable at first glance. MEM began to thank other SCs casually, but when he read it again, he seemed unable to say the sarcastic "How is that possible? I'm not that proud of myself."

"Ryo-senpai? Ryo-senpai is definitely confirmed, don't worry about that. Didn't Abiko herself say that most of the inspiration for this "Tokyo BLADE" and even the character design of the protagonist came from Ryo-senpai."

As if deliberately not thinking about this, MEM pursed his lips, immediately returned to his normal self, and answered another question in the barrage with a smile.

"Don't worry about the script. It has been completed under the guidance of Senior Liang. Abiko has been writing it for two years. It will give you a 100% authentic "Tokyo BLADE" experience. There is absolutely no ooc."

MEM啾 carefully grasped the degree that Kitagawa Ryo told him, and slowly shared all the information that could be exposed to the public to stir up another wave of popularity. Then he officially started his own chat session, casually talked about some things in ACE's past, and then chose to officially end the broadcast.

She yawned and walked out of the room. The corridor on the fourth floor was quiet. Her two younger brothers were now in college and therefore lived in the campus dormitory. In order not to disturb their mother during the live broadcast every night, her room was not on the same floor as her mother's.

The season of early May already brought a bit of heat. MEM opened a window nearby and felt the cool evening breeze. She lazily rested her upper body on the window sill, supported her cheek with her right hand and looked out. The night in Tokyo was grand and glorious.

For a long time, she had never seen these things with her own eyes. On the one hand, it was because she had no time or energy to do so, and on the other hand, the houses were not that tall.

Yes, she is already 24 years old, and the family's financial situation has long been improved. Her two grown-up brothers have begun to support themselves by working part-time to pay for their own university tuition.

Perhaps it was because of these tangible changes that her mother, who had finally had some free time, tactfully talked to her about love and even marriage on her 24th birthday not long ago.

When he thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a burst of heat rising from the depths of his soul. Even the evening breeze with a distinct chill blowing on his body was somewhat numb.

It was obvious that she was not afraid of heat at all before. When she slept together with her mother in the summer when there was no air conditioning, and when she put herself in that thick kitten doll cover to perform, she didn't feel how hot it was.

She decided to go to Morinaga's online flagship store tomorrow to place an order for this summer's popsicles.

Unlike Kitagawa Rumi, MEM啾 always buys an extra flavor of ice cream every time. In addition to the orange bear, there is also the watermelon cat. After all, this was also the role she played in the commercial. To put it in a more high-sounding way, it was probably the beginning of her acting career?