Girl idols are meant to be exploited!

After everyone in the interview sat down, a man who looked like a "scout" also sat behind the table and took off his sunglasses, revealing a handsome face that looked slightly younger.

"Welcome everyone, my name is Taku Hoshikawa, I'm the manager of the Hoshikawa Agency, and I'll be the host of your first interview."

He introduced himself with a smile, then turned sideways to look at the middle-aged man next to him.

"Also, let me introduce you to today's examiner. You know the Toyokawa family, right? They're the multinational conglomerate, a giant in the entertainment industry. This person is a member of the Toyokawa family."

"Hello, I'm Toyokawa Kiyoshi." The man nodded.

He didn't say a word, just simply said his name, but this made the expressions of many interviewees present become solemn.

"Toyokawa Seikao... this name sounds familiar. He seems to be the son-in-law of the Toyokawa family. I didn't expect him to be the chief examiner for this interview."

The fact that Toyokawa Kiyoshi was kicked out of the house was a family matter, and like the huge amount of debt owed by the Hoshikawa family, only a few insiders knew about it.

In the eyes of others, Toyokawa Kiyoshige is still the son-in-law of the Toyokawa family.

As for what he did, it is not something that ordinary people can know.

Ebizka Satoshi and Rupa were completely unfamiliar with this name, but seeing the reactions of the people around them, they knew that this was no small role, and they unconsciously became nervous.

Taku Hoshikawa, who was standing by, spoke up at the right moment, smiling, "Mr. Toyokawa actually wants to discuss a collaboration with me today, so I pulled him over to be the examiner. So everyone, relax and show your best."

They told us to relax, but it was impossible to relax as all the interviewees sat upright.

When Hoshikawa Taku saw this scene, he couldn't help but laugh in his heart.

As expected, the name of the Toyokawa family is still useful.

Relying on this "tiger skin", he successfully intimidated these elites.

Chapter 46: The only drawback of good things is that they are expensive

When deciding to have an interview, Taku Hoshikawa was thinking about finding someone who could keep his composure and serve as the examiner with him.

I am too young. The interviewees are all around 30 years old. If they see that I am the only examiner, they will definitely look down on me and not take this interview seriously.

This is not what Taku Hoshikawa wants. What he wants is a formal and serious interview, in which each interviewee will try their best to show themselves in order to get the job.

So, Taku Hoshikawa thought of Kiyosuke Toyokawa.

Although his business collapsed, he was kicked out of the Toyokawa family like a "roadside".

But as the former successor of the Toyokawa family, he has held important positions in the family business since his marriage to Shoko's mother and has received more than ten years of elite training.

He has rich management experience and vision for selecting talents. We cannot deny his entire life because of one failure.

It would be most appropriate to let him help me to keep things under control.

Especially his last name "Fengchuan". Whenever this name is mentioned, any interviewer will take it seriously.

Although he is no longer a member of the Toyokawa family, who knows?

The only difficulty is how to get Toyokawa Kiyoshi to agree.

After leaving Pochi's house, Taku Hoshikawa did not go home, but ran to Toyokawa's house.

It was past ten o'clock and Xiangzi was getting ready to go to bed when he saw Taku Hoshikawa coming to his door.

She thought that Taku Hoshikawa had something important to discuss with her, and was thinking about how to talk to her father to get him out of the way. Unexpectedly, Taku Hoshikawa invited her father to have a drink, which made Xiangzi very angry.

And Toyokawa Seikao accepted everyone who came. Even though there were empty bottles all over the floor and he still had a half-finished bottle of beer in his hand, he still stood up staggeringly and went to a nearby izakaya with Hoshikawa Taku.

When Hoshikawa Taku asked someone to do something for him, he still started with the "drinking table culture" and toasted this "elder" in many ways.

First, get Toyokawa Kiyoshi drunk, and then when he is drunk, ask him to be an interviewer.

Toyokawa Kiyoshi refused at first, but as Hoshikawa Taku kept pouring him wine, Toyokawa Kiyoshi agreed under the influence of alcohol.

When Hoshikawa Taku helped the drunken Toyokawa Kiyoshi back home, he was faced with Xiangzi's cold eyes.

Xiangzi had not gone to bed yet. She was very angry that Taku Hoshikawa came to see her father but not her, and even got her father drunk.

She asked Taku Hoshikawa to give a reason.

Shoko Toyokawa has a strong sense of self-esteem and she doesn't like to use her status to bully others. Hoshikawa Taku didn't tell her the reason, but just made up an excuse to fool her and promised to find a music director who could practice with her soon. Only then did Shoko let Hoshikawa Taku go half-believingly.

When Xiangzi went to school this morning, Taku Hoshikawa sneaked into Xiangzi's house and told him about the agreement he and Qinggao Toyokawa had made yesterday.

Fengchuan Qinggao was in a daze and had completely forgotten the promise he made last night.

But after Hoshikawa Taku took out the recording and tried to persuade him with both emotion and reason, saying that the agency was just starting out and he needed him to help him keep things under control, and that if his parents were still alive, he would never do this... Toyokawa Seikao couldn't help but agree to it out of pride.

Toyokawa Kiyoshige has already severed ties with the Toyokawa family, and logically speaking, he can no longer use the Toyokawa family's name to build momentum, so he only agreed to say that he would listen from the side, and as for the negotiations, Hoshikawa Taku himself would be responsible.

And this is enough. Just his appearance here, even without saying a word, can mean a lot.

Looking at the intimidated interviewees in front of him, Taku Hoshikawa felt that his strategy of "borrowing the power of a tiger to bully others" was successful.

He smiled slightly and patted the table: "Okay, everyone take turns introducing yourselves, starting with the first person on the left."

The first interviewee on the left stood up. He was a young man in a well-tailored suit.

He pushed up his glasses and smiled confidently: "Hello everyone, my name is Sato Nobuya, I'm 28 years old, and I graduated with a master's degree in economics from the University of Tokyo.

I worked as an event planning manager at Dentsu for three years, leading entertainment marketing campaigns for several major brands, including behind-the-scenes operations for last year’s Red and White Songs Festival.”

She actually graduated with a master's degree and also worked as an event planning manager...

The introduction of the first interviewee made Ebizuka Satoshi bite his lips.

The second person was a young woman wearing simple business attire.

She stood up and spoke in a clear and organized voice: "Hello everyone, my name is Mizushima Erina, I am 26 years old, and I graduated from Waseda University School of Business.

I worked as an entertainment project planner at Avex Group, where I led two idol concerts with over 5 attendees and participated in the entire production of an idol documentary.

I am very familiar with the processes in the idol industry and also have some unique experience in data-driven marketing plans..."

Next comes the third, the fourth...

When introducing themselves, everyone had a "finishing touch" and showed achievements that attracted people's attention, making Hoshikawa Takuto nod frequently.

All I can say is that every applicant who is selected by the system has something worthwhile.

However, the only drawback of good things is that they are "expensive".

Taku Hoshikawa really can't afford to hire these talents.

Soon, it was the turn of Rupa and Ebizuka Satoshi, whom Hoshikawa Taku was most looking forward to, to introduce themselves.

In fact, after the first two speeches, Rupa and Satoshi Ebizuka knew that it would be difficult for them to get the job.

Compared with the other party, my experience is nothing to show off, but I can't just give up without saying anything.

Rupa and Xiaozhi looked at each other, took a deep breath and stood up, with a slight nervousness on their faces.

"My name is Rupa, I'm 22 years old. I don't have a background in prestigious schools, nor do I have experience working in major studios. However... I once formed a band with Satoshi Ebizuka, where I played bass and was responsible for the overall operations of the group.

We have appeared in many small music festivals and street performances and have accumulated a lot of practical experience.

In addition, we also run an independent music account, which currently has 20,000 active fans and has released several hit singles on the platform.”

Satoshi Ebizuka then stood up and said the same thing as Rupa, except that he changed his expertise in bass to expertise in electronic organ.

This is how they beautified their own experiences after discussing them.

Although I am not as good as those elites who came from big companies, it is at least much better to truthfully introduce myself as a "Tokyo working girl".

However, even if it was beautified, it was still far inferior to the achievements of others, and the elites looked at them with contempt.

Hoshikawa Taku didn't comment much, but just started his second question.

"If I want to create an idol band where all the members are masked, how can I make them quickly become popular and sweep the country?"

He paused, his eyes scanning the faces of each interviewee.

“Everyone can come up with a complete planning idea based on their own experience and understanding. There is no time limit and it should be as detailed as possible.”

Chapter 47: "Sleeve" and "The Person Inside"

The first person to stand up was still the elite man named Sato Nobuya.

He thought for a moment and said confidently, "Since we're creating a masked idol band, my core ideas are 'mystery' and 'skin separation'."

“First, in terms of visual design, we needed to design highly recognizable masks or decorations for each member. Just like Deadpool and Spider-Man’s masks, they will be associated with us as soon as we see them.

This not only helps the band's image become more popular, but is also an excellent way to develop peripheral merchandise."

"Secondly, we need to design a unique character for each member. Even if they are wearing masks, they must have distinct personalities and background stories. They can interpret their own roles like actors."

He talked to Xingchuan Taku calmly:

"Mr. Hoshikawa, have you heard of the concept of 'virtual idols'? We can think of these masks as their 'suits', and the people underneath the masks can be flexibly replaced. This way, the band members will always maintain their 'all-round singing and dancing' and will always be the best group..."

After him, the second person to stand up was Erina Mizushima.

She spoke calmly but methodically, "My point of view differs from Mr. Sato's. Although they wear masks, the performers are, after all, real people. In today's highly information-based society, it's almost impossible to completely conceal the identity of the person being portrayed."

If fans find out that their favorite idol is actually played by multiple different people in rotation, once this "truth" is exposed, the consequences may be very serious and may even destroy the entire band."

"So, rather than creating a perfect idol, I prefer to prioritize showing their faces and select those who are already trending or explosive. The mask is just part of the package, and their true identity should also be a selling point for the band..."

The next person to stand up and argue an argument completely different from the previous two was focused on how to make the band famous quickly.

"I suggest that in the early stages of a band's existence, they could hold a series of mysterious offline performances. These performances wouldn't need to reveal any information about the band members; they could simply captivate the audience with music and the atmosphere. After the performances, the audience could spread the word on social media, gradually sparking public curiosity."

"In addition to regular social media promotion, we can also plan a series of street flash mob events, making full use of their 'masked' image to create hot topics among passers-by. At the same time, we can collaborate with well-known producers or brands and use their influence to endorse the band..."

His proposal is more practical and is obviously based on promotion.

Each interviewee is indeed an elite, and their ideas coincide with those of Taku Hoshikawa. Some of them have even predicted the future development path of AveMujica.

Takuma Hoshikawa wanted to hire them, but he didn't have enough money.

Rupa and Satoshi Ebizuka also spoke, but their ideas were much inferior to those of these elites. They discussed from the perspective of "independent bands" and talked about some old-fashioned issues.

This is normal. After all, they are both still young and their vision is limited to the small piece of land in front of them. If they could really come up with an effective plan to become famous, they would have become famous long ago instead of continuing to work as part-time girls at Yoshinoya.

Taku Hoshikawa was not disappointed. On the contrary, their performance was exactly what he wanted.

If they perform well, how can I "PUA" them?

The worse they perform, the more ashamed they feel, and this is a great opportunity for me to recruit them.

Next, Taku Hoshikawa asked the interviewees several more questions, some of which were related to masked bands, and some were related to network operations. Their answers had different entry points, which gave Taku Hoshikawa a lot of inspiration.

After the interview, Hoshikawa Taku stood up and announced in a calm tone: "Thank you all for coming today. The interview results will be notified via text message, so please be patient."

Satoshi Ebizka and Rupa realized the gap between themselves and the others halfway through the interview. They were so disappointed that they stood up silently and left with the other interviewees.

They knew they had no chance of making it past the first round of interviews.

After watching everyone leave, Toyokawa Seikao, who had been silent all the time, finally spoke.

"Xingchuan, these people are all very good. Which one are you going to recruit?"

"Recruit the two youngest ones."

Toyokawa Seikao was stunned, an expression of disbelief on his face. "You mean Ebizuka Satoshi and Rupa? Why did you hire them? Any other interviewee would be better than them."

"But the price I ask for is much higher than theirs." Hoshikawa Taku shrugged helplessly, "Uncle Qinggao, they all want a monthly salary of 700,000, 800,000, or even 1 million yen. Do you really think I have the money to hire them?"

Taku Hoshikawa thinks their asking price is reasonable and they are worth the price, but it is indeed not cost-effective for him now.

"But can those two little girls really help?"

"The firm doesn't have the money to hire top talent these days, but it can't be without people doing the work. These two girls may have limited experience, but at least they have execution skills."

Hoshikawa Taku said with a smile, "Besides, they have some understanding of band operations, and their salary is easy to negotiate. It's very cost-effective."

Toyokawa Kiyoshi felt that it would be better not to hire such a new employee, but he did not refute and offend Hoshikawa Taku on the spot.

"Uncle Qinggao, you've worked hard today. This money is your reward for your hard work."

Taku Hoshikawa suddenly took out 50,000 yen from his pocket and stuffed it into Kiyoshi Toyokawa's hand.

Fengchuan Qinggao quickly waved his hands and said, "I didn't do anything. I just sat here all morning. How can I have the nerve to take your money?"

"How could that be possible? If Uncle Qinggao hadn't been here, I wouldn't have been able to get so many elites to answer questions seriously. You have to accept this money. Just think of it as buying you some wine."