In the hotel hallway, Yuan Chuan You looked at Sakurajima Mai, who was staring intently at him, and felt this was a bit troublesome.
Although he hadn't intended to eavesdrop, having been discovered on the spot, it was only natural for her to worry that their recent conversation might be leaked.
With this in mind, Yuan Chuan You thought for a moment and decided to reassure her first.
"I know what you're worried about, Sakurajima-san, but please rest assured, I will absolutely not leak anything I heard."
After hearing this statement, a thoughtful light flickered in Sakurajima Mai's beautiful eyes.
Her private complaints to her mother weren't a huge deal in themselves, but if such words were to get out, it would be very troublesome if Johnny & Associates decided to make an issue of it.
"How about we just pretend we never ran into each other here?"
Yuan Chuan You knew she was weighing her options, so he took the opportunity to bring up the previous incident.
"Besides, you helped me out of a bind earlier, Sakurajima-san. After passing the audition, I haven't even had a chance to thank you. How could I possibly repay kindness with malice?"
"..."
Sakurajima Mai was silent for a moment, then rested her delicate, fair hand on her chin.
"It's not like you passed the audition because of me, Yuan Chuan-san. You're the winner now. I believe that 'loser' won't be bothering you anymore."
That was right. Sakurajima Mai had deliberately laughed earlier to interrupt Togo Takeshi's aggressive behavior.
"But I still have to thank you, Sakurajima-san. You're a good person."
Yuan Chuan You controlled the tempo, fast-forwarding the conversation to the "friend-zoning" stage.
"...Yuan Chuan-san, you're quite cunning."
Sakurajima Mai was cornered. Since Yuan Chuan You had acknowledged the favor and expressed his gratitude, she couldn't very well keep pressing the current issue.
After all, he had already given his word. She couldn't exactly force him to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
So, a faint smile appeared on the girl's face, indicating she accepted that the matter was settled.
"In that case, I'll be going. I look forward to working with you on set, Sakurajima-san."
"There's one more thing."
Sakurajima Mai took her phone out of her pocket, looking at Yuan Chuan You's face with a smile. "Yuan Chuan-san, let's exchange Line accounts."
"?"
"We'll be co-starring from now on, so exchanging contact information should be fine, right?" A sly glint flashed in Sakurajima Mai's eyes.
"...Okay."
Yuan Chuan You didn't overthink it and quickly added the girl as a friend on Line.
"Alright then, see you on set, Sakurajima-san."
"Okay."
After Yuan Chuan You turned and left, Sakurajima Mai stared at his back with a contemplative expression.
Adding a friend was a simple social gesture. She had just learned about Yuan Chuan You's audition situation from the director's assistant. Since he could make Director Asano hold a special audition for him, his acting skills were probably not bad.
So... what kind of person was he really?
I'll get to know him slowly once we officially start on set.
-------------------------------------------------
After his agent, Nakahara Kazuya, finished handling the contract issues, Yuan Chuan You received a text message notification from his bank.
[Hello, 80,000 yen has been deposited into your bank account 623xxxxxxxxxx.]
In Japan, talent agencies generally have two common types of contracts with their artists: a salary system and a commission-based system.
The salary system means the artist receives a monthly wage from the agency. Even if they don't get any work for half a year, they are still guaranteed a basic standard of living. However, if they do get work, most of the earnings go into the agency's pocket.
With the commission-based system, on the other hand, the agency doesn't proactively give you a single cent. But as long as you can land a job, the final percentage you get to take home is quite substantial.
Of course, if you are a big-name star at the company, the talent agency will usually have you sign an exclusive contract to prevent you from leaving, which falls outside the scope of these basic rules.
As a newcomer, Yuan Chuan You's artist contract was commission-based. Because he consistently failed to get work, he had become increasingly destitute.
"Yuan Chuan, everything's taken care of."
Looking at the young man before him, Nakahara Kazuya wore a smug smile. "You should have gotten the text from the bank, right? This time, I managed to negotiate the highest-tier price per episode for you. You have scenes in five episodes total, which will earn you a payment of around 150,000 yen."
"Thank you for your trouble, Nakahara-san."
Yuan Chuan You did the math. The money that just arrived should be the deposit from the production crew. After filming, there would be a final payment of around 70,000 yen. This appearance fee was enough to alleviate his current financial distress.
"If you really are a late bloomer, I'll definitely fight to get you more good scripts in the future, as well as variety show appearances or other job opportunities."
"Then thank you in advance, Nakahara-san. As long as the pay is right, I'll take any job."
"Good!"
The relationship between an agent and an artist isn't purely professional. On one hand, it involves significant financial interests, and on the other, they spend a great deal of time together. Therefore, most artists and agents have very good relationships, even becoming the closest of friends and comrades-in-arms.
Today was Yuan Chuan You's first formal meeting with Nakahara Kazuya. The man across from him constantly exuded a very positive attitude toward life.
Working with someone like that put him at ease.
After saying goodbye to his agent, Yuan Chuan You boarded a train, contract in hand. He found a less crowded corner and carefully examined the system's light screen in front of him.
"The upgrade condition for the [Entry Library] is to accumulate 10 entries. I have to hurry. Only after the [Entry Library] is upgraded to Lv2 can I search for higher-level acting entries."
His gaze swept through the vast sea of the entry library. After a moment, Yuan Chuan You's eyes lit up, because he had found another synthesis path related to [Focus].
[Writing (White)] + [Focus (White)] + [Burst of Inspiration (White)] = [Junior Novelist (Green)]
"Writing novels... that should be profitable too, right?"
Yuan Chuan You felt the wallet in his pocket. Although he had succeeded in this audition, he didn't know when the next role would come, so he had to find a new way to make money quickly.
"I'll choose this one for now."
[Writing (White)]
[Producible]
[Production Condition: Acquire 100 Writing Experience Points.]
With a slight stir in his heart, Yuan Chuan You placed [Writing (White)] into the [Entry Production Station].
[Production Queue 1: Writing]
[Experience: 0/100]
"Before I head home, I'll stop by a stationery store."
________________________________________
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