*The Next Day*
By the afternoon of the following day, I was surprised to see the pair in front of me.
Ichigo: "Look, bro! I found a good collaborator in less than a day!" he said, pointing to the girl beside him.
She was a beautiful girl not much older than me, with long reddish-blonde hair and a pair of dull red eyes. Her skin was bright and full of youth.
Tadano: "… This bastard found her…"
Shinomiya: "It's incredible… not even with Yamai's help did we find her, but it took him a day."
With an arrogant smile, Ichigo introduced the girl.
Ichigo: "Her name is Ebina Miyako, her father owns a well-positioned club. A mutual friend connected us, and after a few deliberations, she agreed to help us. She will convince her father to let our upcoming idols perform at the club. What do you think? I'm amazing, right?" he said arrogantly.
Tadano: "Now that I think about it, her previous surname was never revealed…"
Shinomiya: "That doesn't matter now. With this, we have the original Strawberry group. With these two, things will be easier!"
Miyako: "Nice to meet you… I've heard from Saitou-san that you're the one behind all this?" she asked curiously, a strange gleam in her eyes as she looked at me.
I smiled, thinking of something.
Tadano: "Pleased to meet you, beautiful lady… my name is Tadano Hitohito," I said, kissing her hand.
She jumped a little but didn't pull away.
Tadano: "Since you're here, I have to introduce you to my future big star…" I said with a mysterious tone.
When we entered, we found Ai practicing. I had given her a song to practice. Both were amazed to see her performance.
Ai was flitting around the room. Her voice was sweet and charming as she struck cute poses in line with the lyrics she was singing.
Tadano: "She certainly learns fast…" I murmured.
Shinomiya: "Just change her hair color and eyes, and she's exactly that girl… I must admit, I'm very surprised by how skilled she is at interpreting her role with just a few hours of practice."
I smiled, thinking about that.
Tadano: "No wonder she has the skill [Entertainment Prodigy]," I said to myself while looking at a screen with Ai's description.
*Ding*
[Information]
[Name: Hoshino Ai
Age: 14
Relationship: Disciple
Life: 100/100
Afflictions: None
Affection: 80% – (Please don't abandon me)
Stats:
Strength: 4
Agility: 4
Intelligence: 3
Endurance: 5
Vitality: 4
Charisma: 10
Luck: 2
[Skills]
[Dancer – Novice]: When dancing, your body becomes extremely light and flexible, granting you an additional 25% to your agility stat.
[Singing – Intermediate]: Your voice now has a sweet and pleasant tone, quickly attracting the attention of those around you.
[Actor – Novice]: Your performance on stage is good, and you can quickly memorize the lines and actions you need to perform.
[Entertainment Prodigy]: "+200% learning speed for skills related to entertaining the audience.
[Apollo's Chosen]: "The God Apollo has chosen you as his Apostle, as a chosen one you possess unparalleled charisma, which takes your Charisma to 10 with the possibility of improvement over time, as well as increasing your impact on people by 50%."
[Star of an Era]: "You are as dazzling as a star, and your actions can influence the masses. People will feel an indescribable attraction and fascination towards you."
[Unwanted]: "Stars tend to fade at their most dazzling moment, and you are no exception. The line of fate will not favor you –2 to luck."
Likes: Tadano, idols, music, clothes, Yamai-nee.
Dislikes: Her mother, being ignored, being abandoned.]
Tadano: "Undoubtedly all these are exceptional skills except the last one," I thought to myself.
*Ding*
[The Lady of Luck says that the last skill is not really a skill. On the contrary, it could be recognized as a curse.]
Tadano: "A curse?"
*Ding*
[The Lady of Luck says that any individual with less than 3 in their luck stat can be considered a really unfortunate person and tends to die prematurely.]
Tadano: "That explains her fate in the original plot… is there any way to avoid her fate?"
*Ding*
[The Lady of Luck says that as long as the host is close to the mortal known as Ai, the host's luck can influence Ai. However, if you're looking for a better option, you can check the System shop.]
Tadano: "???"
Out of curiosity, I went to look in the shop, but since I didn't know exactly where to look, I just focused on the word luck.
After a beep, a result appeared.
[Extra Stat]: "A miraculous bottle with Gaia's blessing. Drinking it will grant +1 to the stat of your choice, only effective for people other than the host.
Price: 5,000 Idol points.
My eyes widened at the price, but on second thought, it was reasonable.
Timidly, I checked my current points.
Idol Points: 2032
These were the points that had taken me so long to gather since I made my presentation a week ago until now.
I was saving them to improve my stats, but now it seems I will have to reserve them a little longer.
…
After finishing her performance, Ai finally noticed our presence.
At first, she was a bit shy to see strangers, but after thinking about something, a confident and cheerful smile appeared on her face.
In a sweet and cheerful tone, she introduced herself.
Ai: "Hello Onii-san, Onee-san, my name is Hoshino Ai, the future most popular idol of this country. What's your name?" she said with a dazzling smile.
Shinomiya: "Certainly, the classes with Nagisa and Kaede helped her a lot…" he said thoughtfully.
I nodded at that thought.
Ichigo and Miyako were amazed at the dazzling Ai.
After a moment, both introduced themselves awkwardly.
After finishing their introductions, Ichigo quickly turned around and, while holding my shoulders, said.
Ichigo: "You found a diamond in the rough… is she the girl you were looking for?" he said very excitedly.
I nodded.
Tadano: "I want her to become the face of our company and, as you can see, her potential is very high…"
Ichigo nodded energetically.
Ichigo: "Although her movements are a bit clumsy, they are good. You certainly hid her well from me… tell me, how long have you been training her, 1? 2? Maybe 3 months?" he said thoughtfully.
With a smile on my face, I raised 2 fingers.
Ichigo: "Certainly 2 months is something incredible…" he said before being interrupted by my words.
Tadano: "2 days…"
Ichigo: "!!!"
Ichigo: "Two days?!!! Is she the Hatsune Miku in flesh and blood? Her talent is abyssal if it only took her 2 days to reach this state… fine! Give me 3 days to get a studio and suitable instructors. We can't let such talent go to waste! I promise I will make her the most popular idol in Japan! No! In the world!" he said very excitedly while bouncing on the floor.
Then, without saying another word, he took Miyako with him and ran somewhere.
Ai, who was talking to Miyako, was a bit surprised but after a moment decided to ignore it.
Instead, she looked at Tadano and with shining eyes asked.
Ai: "Tadano-nii… Tadano-nii!! Did I do well? Did you like my performance?" asked the little star, anxious for recognition.
Tadano: "Yes, you did very well… just a few more details to polish and Ai will be the brightest little star…" I said with a smile on my face while ruffling my little star's hair.
Ai laughed happily while hugging me.
Tadano: "Well, since you've worked so hard, let's go out and eat something. What do you think?" I asked.
Ai's eyes widened and with a sweet smile, she nodded.
…
While we were walking through the streets, I asked.
Tadano: "Well, since this is your reward for your effort, you will decide what we will eat…"
Ai nodded and started looking around.
After seeing a crepe shop with cute rabbit drawings on its sign, she quickly pointed to it with her little hand.
Ai: "That one! That one!!" she said very excitedly.
I smiled and nodded.
After buying the crepes, we sat at a table.
It was fun to see how Ai ate her crepe.
She looked like a little blue squirrel with her chubby cheeks.
…
While we were walking down the street, Ai was looking at different shops.
Since she hadn't left the house in these 2 days, I wanted to take her out for a bit longer.
While she was looking around, Ai's attention was caught by a game center to which she ran excitedly.
Tadano: "Hey, don't run so fast!"
Ai: "Come on! Catch me if you can, hahaha!" said the girl while running faster and laughing.
Sighing helplessly, I followed this little imp to the game
center.
It took me a bit to catch up to her as the machines were very crowded.
When I finally found her, she was pressing the buttons of a crane machine.
Ai: "Tadano-nii, it doesn't move…" she said a bit annoyed while hitting the button, a frown reflected on her little face.
I pressed her puffed cheek and said.
Tadano: "You know you have to put in a coin, right?" I said, pointing to the slot below the machine's controls.
Ai was surprised to see the slot, but stubbornly recovered her expression and said.
Ai: "I knew that… I was just testing you…" she said while avoiding my gaze.
Then she rummaged through her pockets, and finding nothing, she looked at me with her big eyes.
Ai: "Tadano-nii, can you give me some money∼" she said with a pitiful expression.
I felt as if my heart was pierced by an arrow.
And without thinking much, I gave her a thousand-yen bill.
She took it happily and with some effort put it into the machine.
The machine let out a musical noise indicating its activation.
Next to the controls, a counter with the number 2 appeared.
Tadano: "It seems you have 2 chances…" I said to little Ai.
She nodded very excitedly to get a prize and proceeded to handle the controls.
…
Ai: "WAAAAA… Tadano-nii, this machine is intimidating me!" she said with teary eyes while pointing accusingly with her little finger at the machine.
Ai had already lost 5000 yen, which were 10 failed attempts.
In Ai's eyes, the machine had cunning eyes while secretly counting the bills it had taken from her.
I smiled at her pitiful expression.
She pouted, annoyed to see me laughing at her misfortune.
Ai: "Tadano-nii! Don't laugh and help me! Give the machine a lesson!" she said with pouts while pulling on my clothes.
I smiled at her spoiled behavior.
She was really cute.
Tadano: "Alright, big brother will avenge you…" I said while rubbing her head.
Then I put in a thousand-yen bill.
Observing among all the prizes the machine had, I selected 2 and proceeded to manipulate the machine.
Without much effort, I managed to get 2 prizes.
One was a white rabbit hairpin.
The other was a black rabbit plushie.
Taking the objects out of the machine, I looked at Ai.
Her eyes were very wide with surprise.
Then she started jumping very excitedly.
Ai: "WAAAY! Tadano-nii is amazing! Haha, you showed that machine who's the winner!" she said while moving her little hands very excitedly.
I smiled at her reaction and knelt to her height.
Tadano: "Come here…" I said.
She came closer to me.
Carefully, I put the hairpin in her hair.
I nodded at the result.
By coincidence, this hairpin was very similar to the one she wore in her idol outfit.
Then, before she could say anything else, I placed the black rabbit plushie in her hands.
She was surprised but when she saw the plushie in her arms, she hugged it tightly and said.
Ai: "Thank you very much, Tadano-nii∼" she said while hugging the plushie.
Tadano: "Anything for my little star…"
Then I took her hand, and we started our way home.
While walking, we saw a group of people putting up posters on the street.
Out of curiosity, I took one.
[Great Amateur Games Contest]
[The Kodokawa production company is holding a games contest looking for young talents for their game design department. The winner will receive a prize of 50,000 yen in cash, and their game will be distributed and published by Kodokawa's Games Department.]
Tadano: "This sounds interesting…" I murmured.
Ai: "Tadano-nii, are you going to participate?" she asked curiously.
Tadano: "Haha, of course I will. Will you support me?" I asked.
Ai: "Yes! Tadano-nii is the best! I'm sure your game will be number one!" she said happily.
…
Author's Note: "Alright, here is the somewhat long chapter. I hope you like it. I don't know if I'll bring a chapter tomorrow since it's the weekend, but I'll try. That said, remember to drink plenty of water and know that I love you very much. Sincerely, your favorite depressed author."
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