Upon arriving at home, my mom told me to change my clothes and wear my best suit. I went upstairs, took a quick shower, wore my formal suit and sprayed myself with perfume; first impression is very important that's why I want the manager to see me as someone that knows how to present myself.
I could smell the food that my mom is making, I'm sure that she's cooking my favorite A5 Wagyu stake, just the aroma of it makes me drool.
My phone buzzed so I took it out of my pocket and saw that Sakura sent me an SMS asking what I'm doing. I sent her a message explaining that I have a meeting with a potential manager an hour from now and I'm excited for it. She responded with "I'm excited for you too, good luck and keep me posted!".
I decided not to send a message back so she wouldn't think that I'm chasing after her, but I could not control my excitement so I thought of messaging Jin and let him know that I'm about to meet the manager in an hour; then again, it's kinda awkward to communicate with him today after he told me to live his dream as a hero. I want to talk to anyone about it but I have no one to talk to.
There was a sudden knock on my bedrooms door so I opened it, it was my mother who's holding a newspaper.
"Look, there's an article about your favorite hero!" she was pointing at an article.
My favorite hero is Crusader, he debuted seven years ago and he has the ability that uses the sunlight as his weapon. One of his attack is called "Holy Strike" it's like a blinding strike that leave burn marks to those who get hit by it. He is currently rank fourteen as a hero that is why he is not as famous as Panzer who is currently rank three, Jaguar at rank two and Raging Silva at rank one.
The ranking system is a mixture of how popular a hero is and how many accomplishments they have done in a year, the top twenty usually changes every year but the top three heroes remained the same for the past ten years. Jaguar is the fastest and quickest hero; he has a score of ten in agility while having six points in strength, then they have Panzer who is the strongest with a score of ten in strength but only has four in speed. Raging Silva on the other hand is different, he has a score of eight for strength, eight for speed and nine for ability.
Both Panzer and Jaguar has no special ability, they both rely on their physical strengths, Silva has a rare ability while having outstanding physical strengths; nobody really knows what his ability is, it has been said that he takes the most dangerous missions that are confidential but from time to time he takes pro-bono missions which doesn't require him to show his ability.
That's why I like Crusader, he is just like me, he is not that strong with only five points in strength, not that fast with four points in speed but he has a rare ability fetching him eight points for it. We are opposite in terms of ability, he is stronger at day time while I am stronger at night time with my shadow ability.
If I follow his footsteps and do things correctly, I could easily be within the top twenty heroes list and earn like him. Based on the Heroes Furbis magazine report; Crusader has a monthly salary of four million yen plus his endorsement deals, hist most recent deal was with Adodos shoes, he signed a five year contract worth fifty million yen.
I was calculating how much I could earn as a rookie but my phone started ringing, to my surprise it's Mr. Joji calling so I answered the call immediately.
"We will be at your house within five minutes, I bought you your favorite chocolate caramel cake" said Mr. Joji.
"Oh, I'll go ahead and wait outside the door to welcome you. Thank you for the cake Mr.Joji, I'm glad you remembered my favorite!" I answered.
"Of course I do, you're my favorite hero, there's no way I'd forget about what you like. See you in a bit kid" said Mr. Joji sounding proud as ever.
The call ended, I let my mother know that they are arriving soon then I proceed outside to wait for them. The chocolate caramel cake was my favorite like ten years ago, I answered that question when I was seven years old and I stopped liking it when I was ten. After the interview, I'd get two to three chocolate caramel cake in a month for two years before the fad slowed down, but even until today, I still receive a chocolate caramel cake from the people who remembered my interview.
A black luxury car stopped and two men stepped out, I recognized Mr.Joji so the other guy must be the manager. He doesn't look old at all, he definitely look younger than my mother; he must be in his late thirties.
"Mr. Oda, this young boy here is Hayato, he has been eager to meet you" said Mr.Joji.
I bowed to Mr. Oda, he in return smiled at me. His face looks very strict but when he smiles, his demeanor changes into a warm person.
"N-nice to meet you sir, I'm looking forward to work with you!" I shouted.
"Nice to meet you too, Hayato. Let's discuss how we can work together" Mr. Oda answered.
"Oh, please come in. Sorry, our house is small" said my mother who looks more nervous than I am.
"Thank you for letting us in, you have a beautiful house" said Mr. Joji.
We guided them to our dining room, our table is only good for four persons and both Mr. Joji and Mr. Oda are large people. Mr. Joji is a rounded person while Mr. Oda is tall and muscular, he must be over six foot three in height. My mother decided to simply stand at my back to give more space at the table.
"So, let's start the discussion" said Mr. Oda.
"Yes sir, I'm ready" I answered.
"Hayato, do you know that you put yourself in a hard situation when you declared yourself ready to turn professional just after high school?" asked Mr. Oda.
"Yes, I'm pretty much aware that I took the hard path but I'm ready for it" I answered.
"Okay, it is good that we are on the same page. Joji sent me your scouting profile video, I did see your ability which is very rare. However, I think companies will see you as a project right now rather than an immediate asset" said Mr. Oda.
Mr. Oda took out more papers from his leather bag, he was looking for something and pulled out a paper that has my name on it.
"Based on the scouting video, I gave you three points in strength, three points in speed and five points in ability" said Mr Oda.
I didn't answer, I felt bad because I am being judged by a person who barely knows me. A person who isn't even a gifted individual but is telling me that I am not that good at all.
"But I gave you a ten for potential" said Mr. Oda with a smile.
"Does that means that Hayato will be drafted?" asked my mother.
"That means that he has a shot to turn professional" cleared Mr. Oda.
"What do we need to do to get drafted, I want to know what your plan is for me?" I answered.
I didn't expect this situation at all, I've always thought that my ability is enough to get the interests of the big companies. Maybe this manager is not that experienced when it comes to the hero business but then again, Mr. Joji won't get someone that does not have any credentials.
"We need to sell you and your ability, we will form a marketing team to get you the exposure that you need. We will create hype, talk to different news personality and we will try to get you a sponsorship deal that will put your name in the newspaper" said Mr. Oda.
"Okay, I'm in for it. When do we start?" I asked.
"After you sign this paper that says, I will represent you" said Mr. Oda.
I grabbed the pen and paper, signed the document and handed it back to him. We only have less than two weeks before the draft day, yet, we have so much to do.
"Thank you, I'll call my team after our meeting, then by tomorrow I will submit your documents to the Heroes association to make you eligible for the draft. Once you are listed as eligible for the draft we can then look for a sponsorship" explained Mr. Oda.
"Thank you sir, please let me know how I could help with the process" I said.
"Oh, I definitely will" said Mr. Oda.
"Since we are now done with the negotiation, should we start to eat? I'm starving, I have been busy all day that I forgot to eat lunch" said Mr. Joji.
"Oh please eat, thank you Mr. Joji for your hard work. We are in debt to you" said my mother to Mr. Joji.
"That's nothing, I'll do anything for our little Hayato" answered Mr. Joji blushing.
After our dinner, Mr. Oda took my phone number and reminded me to stay away from any trouble, he then got in to his car and drove away. Mr. Joji was about to head home as well but I decided to ask him how his day fared and why he chose Mr. Oda as my manager.
"I didn't choose him, he chose us" said Mr. Joji.
"What do you mean by he chose us?" I asked.
"I phoned different agencies all day, talked to over twenty managers and I even used my position to sell your name but everyone turned down my request" said Mr. Joji who is trying to smile.
"They all turned me down, I don't understand. Am I not that good at all to be drafted?" I asked worried.
"You are great, Hayato. But you have to understand that our society works in a systematic way, you did something that is out of the of system and if something is out of a system, then it is out of the calculated risk. People are afraid of risks that are not calculated" explained Mr. Joji.
Of course I know that, who would risk on a high school graduate that never had an opportunity to compete against other gifted prospects but I didn't expect that they would overlook my rare ability.
"I believe in you though. This is not an easy journey but I watched you since you were a little baby, I don't have any children and I think that you are the closest one that I'll ever get as a son" said Mr. Joji.
"One day, they'll regret not signing with you but what really matter is we show Mr. Oda you are worth the risk that he will take. It will probably cost him almost a million yen just in marketing alone but don't you worry, I'll make sure to get you as many exposure possible in my show" guaranteed Mr. Joji.
I never knew that managers pay for these kind of things, now I feel ashamed for even questioning Mr. Oda after he ridiculed my skills when he is the only one who's ready risk on a stupid kid who thought that he is special compared to others.
I fell on my knees and bowed sincerely to Mr. Joji.
"Than you for all the things that you are doing for me. I promise to always do my best and make you proud!" I shouted.
"Stand up, stupid. What are you doing? People will think that I'm bullying you or something. Hurry up and stand up!" He shouted nervously.
He helped me on my feet and patted me on my shoulders. Suddenly, I realized that what Mr. Oda will do is very unorthodox or rather unheard of. He must be a very experienced manager to think of such crazy ideas and he even thought of forming a marketing team. I wonder if some of the top heroes are signed with him, it would be awesome if me and Crusader are on the same agency. The two of us could form a duo called "Light and Dark Heroes".
"What's the agency that Mr. Oda represents?" I asked.
"His agency is called Golden Heroes Agency or GHA" answered Mr. Joji.
"Golden Heroes, that is a very catchy name. He has a genius strategy, there must be a lot of heroes signed with him" I finally asked my golden question.
He nodded, looking very proud and answered "Definitely a genius move. You are actually his first client, he opened his agency last month".
Suddenly the thoughts of becoming a professional hero slowly faded. I'm doomed.