Girl idols are meant to be exploited!

So...you must pay off your debt within a year!

After organizing his thoughts, Taku Hoshikawa pushed open the slightly old glass door and walked into the territory that belonged to him.

Although this building was built a long time ago, its design style is exquisite and the interior decoration is quite luxurious, and traces of its former glory can be seen everywhere.

The building is equipped with professional recording studios, rehearsal rooms and conference rooms, and all kinds of musical instruments are available. Although the equipment is relatively old, it can still be used normally.

Taku Hoshikawa casually pushed open the door of a rehearsal room. The floor and mirror inside were still smooth, but there was a light layer of dust on them, indicating that no one had used it for some time.

All the employees of the office have resigned, and now Taku Hoshikawa is the only one left in the entire building.

It's such a waste to leave such a large space vacant. Even if there are no signed artists, it can be rented out for an hourly fee...

Taku Hoshikawa was thinking in his mind and took the elevator to the general manager's office on the top floor.

After a short break, Taku Hoshikawa looked through the office's old files.

These files record the glorious past of Xingchuan Agency - hundreds of contracted artists, participation in the production of many popular variety shows and idol dramas, and even large-scale concerts.

However, all of this has been buried in the dust of history due to the development of the times.

The agency gradually lost its competitiveness, and artists jumped ship one after another. Now all that is left is an empty building and a pile of debt.

Taku Hoshikawa was looking through the files while waiting for Xiangzi to arrive.

Not long after, Hoshikawa Taku's phone rang. It was Toyokawa Shoko.

"Mr. Scout, I've arrived at the door of the office, but the door is locked."

"Oh, I'll go down to pick you up now." Hoshikawa Taku stood up quickly.

After taking the elevator to the first floor lobby, Hoshikawa Taku saw Xiangzi standing outside the door with his head down.

Her figure against the night sky looked lonely and tired.

"There are no other employees in the office except me. I locked the door to prevent outsiders from entering by mistake."

As he explained, Hoshikawa Taku opened the door.

"Yeah." Xiangzi didn't say anything, just nodded silently.

Hoshikawa Taku noticed that Xiangzi was in a very low mood. He asked curiously, "By the way, why did you come here directly today? Don't you still have a part-time job? It won't be too late to come to me after you finish your work."

After a long silence, Toyokawa Shoko slowly spoke:

"I ran into my former bandmate at the school gate. She kept chasing me. By the time I got rid of her, I was already late and my manager fired me."

Shoko Toyokawa does odd jobs. To put it nicely, the threshold is low and it's easy to get started. To put it bluntly, if you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will do it.

There are limited workstations. Xiangzi was late for work, but the manager didn't tolerate her and directly assigned her job to someone else.

Former teammates are hot on his heels...

This reminded Taku Hoshikawa of someone.

"Is she Nagasaki Suyo?"

There was nothing to hide, Xiangzi nodded.

"Well, that's her."

"..."

Hoshikawa Taku fell silent for a moment.

Nagasaki Suyo, look what you've done!

No wonder Xiangzi treated Su Shi so badly in the animation of "My Go". It turned out that he lost his job because of her!

Chapter 8 Black-Hearted Contract

Taku Hoshikawa brought Xiangzi to the office, sat opposite her, and his expression became serious.

"Okay, now that you're here, let's get down to business. Are you sure you want to sign a contract with me and become an artist under the agency?"

"I'm not sure yet."

Xiangzi didn't agree directly. She asked cautiously, "Before that, could you tell me what the firm can offer me?"

As the general manager, Taku Hoshikawa's predecessor's job was to manage the idol artists under him.

He sorted out the memories in his mind and slowly said:

"During the newcomer stage, the firm will provide comprehensive training and capacity building, including courses in vocal music, performance, language expression, stage presence training, etc.

When you are capable enough to perform on stage, we will arrange for you to participate in some small activities and street performances to accumulate experience and exposure.

If the response is good, we will try to secure opportunities like TV shows, advertising endorsements, and magazine shoots to help you make your mainstream debut."

"In addition, the agency will also provide image packaging, publicity and promotion resources, and assign you a dedicated agent and assistant to arrange daily work and handle emergencies."

Glancing at Xiangzi, Xingchuan Taku continued, "If you feel that your current living environment is not suitable for training, the firm will provide housing and living security, including food, lodging, and various daily necessities..."

Hoshikawa Taku said a lot, which made Xiangzi a little moved.

According to Taku Hoshikawa, as long as she signs the contract, the agency will be responsible for everything for her.

Apart from training, she doesn't need to worry about dealing with the tedious matters in life.

However, Xiangzi still had deep doubts about the excellent benefits and resources that Hoshikawa Taku claimed.

Xiangzi couldn't help but ask, "You're the only one in the firm now, right? Are you sure you can deliver on the benefits you mentioned?"

Xingchuan Taku chuckled, put his hands together and said confidently:

"Now it's just me. The agency's equipment is ready. As long as you sign and become an idol, I will immediately recruit professionals and make the agency run at full capacity."

"As for those resources, you don't have to worry about them. Even though our firm seems to be on the verge of collapse, we still maintain good cooperation with many film and television companies and shopping malls.

As long as your professional level is strong enough, there will be no shortage of job opportunities."

Seeing Hoshikawa Taku's confident look, Xiangzi believed it for the time being.

"You said you'd provide me with all sorts of resources... That's going to cost a lot of money, right? I don't have the confidence that I can live up to your training."

"It doesn't matter. Even if the firm makes a loss, we won't let you bear any debt. I chose you because I trust my own judgment."

Taku Hoshikawa looked at Shoko Toyokawa with burning eyes.

"I've seen your outstanding performance on stage, and I believe you were born for the stage. You'll definitely shine on it in the future. As long as you're willing to sign a contract, I can even reorganize a band with you as the core!"

What Hoshikawa Taku said was so tempting, with an irresistible charm.

However, Xiangzi was a man who had experienced many ups and downs, so she remained rational at this moment and did not agree immediately.

"You sound so nice, so... what are the specific contents of the contract?"

The job content and benefits have been discussed, and the next focus is salary and benefits.

The conditions offered by Taku Hoshikawa are so tempting, so what is the price?

Finally talking about the contract, Hoshikawa Taku couldn't help but sit up straight.

At this moment, a light screen appeared in front of him that only he could see, with different contract terms arranged on it.

The specific terms of the contract are very long and detailed, listing the obligations that the artist must comply with and the services that the agency must provide.

There are also some prohibitive clauses above, such as artists must hand over all commercial activities to the agency for management and cannot take private work; idols are prohibited from dating during the contract period, otherwise they will have to pay a huge amount of liquidated damages... and so on.

These are the terms that girl idols need to abide by. They are a consensus in the industry and are similar regardless of which agency.

The differences between these contracts mainly lie in three parts - base salary, commission and contract term.

[Base salary 20 yen, commission 20%, contract term 3 years.]

This is the first contract proposed by the system.

[Tip: If you choose to sign this contract, the host will only receive basic rewards, and the artist will not receive any bonus during the training phase.]

The terms proposed by the system are already relatively loose contracts in the industry.

Most new idols are "money-losing goods" at the beginning. They have no fixed basic salary, and only some large agencies will provide a symbolic fixed allowance, giving a monthly salary of 10 yen to 15 yen.

But this money is usually not enough to cover living expenses, and these idols' income mainly comes from commissions from activities or performances.

This part is also the firm's profit point.

The income share of newcomers and idols is often lower, and the agency usually takes the bulk of the share.

This is because the firm needs to recover its investment in the development of new employees, including training, promotion and living allowances.

Generally speaking, the agency can get 80% of the share, while the artist only gets 20%.

The profit sharing ratio will only be adjusted after the idol becomes more and more popular.

Only larger agencies, such as Johnny & Associates or Sony Music, will offer relatively relaxed ratios in order to attract new artists, allowing artists to get around 30% of the share.

But this does not mean that such large firms are the best choice.

Because the contract terms offered by this type of firm are the longest in the industry, newcomers' contracts are at least five to ten years long.

Even famous artists can only get a "child labor contract" from such agencies and can only wait until the contract expires.

Generally speaking, a contract term of 1-3 years is more appropriate, so that the terms can be adjusted according to the idol's performance.

If Taku Hoshikawa gave this contract to Xiangzi, there is a high probability that Xiangzi would sign it after thinking about it.

Apart from this, it would be difficult to find more lenient terms in this contract.

But Taku Hoshikawa is not doing charity. Don't forget, the system he is bound to is the [Black-Hearted Agent System].

The more stringent the contract terms are, the more rewards he can get.

Taku Hoshikawa's eyes twitched as he scanned the other contracts in front of him.

From a base salary of 100,000 to 50,000 yen, to a profit share of 15% or even 10%, the terms of each contract are becoming more and more stringent.

The contract term ranges from five years to ten years, and there are even options for "lifetime".

Would a normal person sign these contracts?

This is not a signed contract, but a "sale contract".

As for the specific rewards, the system does not display it directly, but if you think about it, you will know that the more "evil" the contract is, the better the reward will be.

How can we get Xiangzi to sign these shady contracts?

Chapter 9: To remain unknown or to become famous?

Shoko Toyokawa sat on the chair opposite Taku Hoshikawa. She looked calm on the surface, but in fact, her fingers under the table had already been nervously clenched together.

In fact, Xiangzi didn't plan to contact Hoshikawa Taku at the beginning.

If it weren't for Nagasaki Suyo's pursuit that caused her to lose her job, she would still be working diligently at her workstation as the customer service representative Xiaoxiang.

She came here simply because she lost her job and had nothing to do, so she came here to take a look around without having much expectations.

But as she listened to Taku Hoshikawa's story, she gradually became moved.

Judging from the work content and benefits alone, this is the job she wants.

She had an agent to help her deal with those trivial matters, so that she could practice piano without any worries until she made her mainstream debut on the stage.

Xiangzi loves the moments of standing on the stage and performing. If it weren't for a family accident, she would never leave CRYCHIC.

That was the happiest time for her since her mother passed away. It felt really good to have a group of people working towards a common goal.

However, since Taku Hoshikawa's words sound so nice, what kind of contract will he offer himself?

As Xiangzi was expecting, Taku Hoshikawa took out the system-generated contract from under the desk and pushed it in front of Xiangzi.

"This is the initial contract. See if you can accept it."

Xiangzi couldn't wait to take the contract and open it, with a hint of anticipation in his heart.

The first few pages were all normal, and were the obligations that a normal idol should abide by. However, when she quickly flipped to the last few pages and looked at the economic share on them, she almost thought she had seen it wrong.

"Base salary 100,000 yen, 10% commission from performances and merchandise, contract term... 10 years!?"

When he saw the deadline, Xiangzi couldn't help but scream out.

Is there something wrong with this contract?!