The Stand User Of The Daily World

Chapter 104: Honoka, What a Fool and a Grand Plan

"Compared to profits, I'm more worried about your mental state."

Umi Sonoda didn't care about the profit-sharing at all. She had joined Honoka in becoming school idols purely because she couldn't resist Honoka's pleading. Making money wasn't even on her mind—it was never part of her thought process.

Shunsuke grew impatient. "Just say if you're signing or not."

"If you're not lying to us, of course I'll sign."

"With all the resources I have at my disposal, do you really think I need to deceive you? Even Yumemi Yumemi, who's ranked number one on Love Live right now, is practically begging to connect with me."

As Shunsuke spoke, he showed a photo on his phone of himself with Yumemi Yumemi.

In the picture, Yumemi's enthusiasm was visibly apparent.

For Yumemi, who wanted to transition from being an idol to an actress, there was no need for Shunsuke to make any bets with her.

Simply flaunting his connection with Mai Sakurajima and promising support once Yumemi finished high school and was ready to transition was enough.

She eagerly handed over her resources and introduced him to her trusted contacts in the entertainment industry.

If Mai weren't so highly esteemed, Yumemi might have even considered forming an idol group with Mai to debut together.

"Whoa, it's real."

The trio of Honoka, Kotori, and Umi leaned in with bright smiles to inspect the phone, their doubts now lessened.

Compared to the untouchable superstar Mai Sakurajima, Yumemi—though famous—felt more within reach, making her more convincing to the girls.

"So, young ladies, come and sign the contract with me!" Shunsuke said dramatically.

Honoka shuddered involuntarily. "Shunsuke, your tone sounds so sinister, like you're up to no good."

"Maybe it's because you're an idiot, Honoka."

"What? That makes no sense at all!"

"Then just forget it."

Shunsuke didn't bother to explain the joke. Trying to clarify it would only make him seem foolish.

"Come on, sign the contracts now."

Shunsuke pulled out three contracts from his backpack.

"Does the vice president need to sign too?" Honoka asked as she grabbed a contract, barely flipping through it before signing her name.

Typical Honoka—completely missing the key point.

The real issue wasn't just the three contracts conveniently sitting in his bag, obviously prepared in advance, but the fact that she didn't even bother to read the terms.

After handing the contracts to Umi and Kotori, Shunsuke glanced at Nozomi. "She doesn't need to sign yet. When she officially joins Muse, she can sign. Also, no expanding the group before your first live performance."

Although Shunsuke's ultimate goal as Muse manager was to rewrite their fate, he didn't want to interfere with the precious debut performance of the original trio.

That first live show was practically the foundation of Muse future.

Without Honoka's standout performance during it, convincing people like Eli Ayase to join later wouldn't have been so easy.

But Nozomi wasn't thrilled with Shunsuke's overconfident tone.

Sure, she had been secretly supporting these girls from the shadows, but his attitude—like he had her completely figured out—was irritating.

It was bold, especially coming from someone younger than her.

—Fine, when the time comes, I just won't sign. Let's see how desperate you get then.

"So, Fujii-kun, if you become our manager, what's your plan?"

"First, I'll produce an anime for you."

"An anime!?"

"Yep. The anime will promote you and build your reputation. After that, we'll move on to manga, novels, music, mobile games—scratch that, no mobile games for now—live-action dramas, and merchandise. This is a large-scale project. The initial goal is to make Muse the most popular name in Japan within a year."

"A year? Can we pull that off?" Honoka asked, her voice full of doubt.

"That's for me, as your manager, to worry about. What you need to do is focus on improving yourselves!"

"Yes, sir!" x3

Shunsuke's sudden authoritative tone made the trio stand at attention on the spot.

"Good, that's the spirit."

The second-year "big brother" Shunsuke was very pleased.

"Alright, that's all for today. Keep practicing," he said.

After collecting the signed contracts and putting them back into his bag, he let Honoka, Umi, and Kotori continue running the stairs to build their stamina.

Then, he turned to Nozomi. "Miss Tojo, can I trouble you to record Honoka and the others during their daily training and practice sessions at school for the time being?"

"What do you intend to do with that?"

"It'll be used as material for creating a live-action series."

In his past life, there was a saying in the anime world: "Tragically adapted into live-action." But this time, it was different.

The characters would play themselves—2D characters brought to life in the 3D world, performing as their animated counterparts.

This was a surefire formula for success, a win-win situation all around.

Failure? Not an option.

Troublesome? Not even close.

It was all about striking the perfect balance between steady and swift progress.

However, Nozomi declined. "Isn't that the manager's job? Besides, I'm not very skilled at filming."

"As a manager, my job is to oversee everything. If I had to handle every little task myself, I wouldn't have time for anything else."

—Like meeting new girls, for example.

"Then how about hiring a photographer?" Nozomi suggested.

"I refuse. There's no way I'm letting Honoka and Kotori be filmed all day by some strange man with a camera. Just the thought of it makes me sick." Shunsuke rejected the idea outright.

"...Then, how about hiring a female photographer?"

Nozomi's mischievous expression faltered slightly, her narrowed eyes betraying her exasperation.

This guy's worldview is way too narrow!

—Can I really entrust my cute juniors to this person?

—Wait, no, he's after all of Muse, isn't he? Should I even join Muse in the future? It's starting to feel a little risky.

"…You're right," Shunsuke murmured, resting his chin on his hand as he slowly nodded.

He realized he'd been stuck in a narrow mindset—every time he thought of photographers, he pictured the otaku guys at conventions.

But on further thought, didn't Kaguya become a photographer later?

He might as well just ask her.

Of course, he was kidding.

Shunsuke had no idea what was going through Nozomi's mind, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.

If Honoka couldn't overcome this minor hurdle to recruit Nozomi into Muse, then she didn't deserve the title of "master recruiter."

Immersed in planning for the future, Shunsuke thought: the manga could be drawn by Star Platinum, the novel written by Star Platinum, and the music composed by Star Platinum.

However, he'd need to rely on Kirari Momobami's influence to handle the animation production and merchandise development.

Without her backing, the animation companies would undoubtedly treat him like a clueless rich client, overcharge him, and deliver subpar work.

Might as well have Kirari find the photographer, too.

After all, Kirari was extremely useful. A "convenient woman," as Shunsuke thought to himself.

Perhaps Shunsuke was the only person in the world who dared to view Kirari Momobami in such a way.

But if he wanted to produce a high-quality anime, her help was indispensable.

Otherwise, dealing with animation companies on his own—even with his remaining 20 billion yen (after using some to acquire a publishing house)—would only make him a target for exploitation.

Worse, the final product would likely be garbage.

This was a harsh lesson learned from the failures of certain animation projects on a certain bullet-comment website in his previous life.

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