Chapter 34 - Even if the Work Increases
Now, a problem arose here.
This Ayako-chan had no place to go home to.
Apparently, she said, "If I show my face at home, I'm sure the other me will kill me."
Ah, yeah. Probably. Ayako-chan would definitely do something like that.
...Does this mean I have to take care of her?
That was a problem.
For my mental health, it was a huge problem.
I wanted to isolate her somewhere, anywhere, and have time to think.
Also, I needed to settle things as a working adult. I had ditched my job, after all.
So, I decided to shove Ayako-chan into an internet cafe and show my face at the TV station once.
I was extremely late, but if I apologized early, I might be able to keep the impact to a minimum.
Would this incident become the reason I get blacklisted? I headed out with my stomach churning with anxiety.
I wanted money. I wanted work.
However, I felt that if I showed off my abilities too much, something strange would happen.
If the world found out that I was far stronger than modern weaponry, what would happen?
Military use. I might be asked to do stupid things by high-ranking government officials.
Or other countries might complain that Japan having me was the same as having nuclear weapons.
It seemed likely, and I hated it.
In my time in the other world, goblins attacked for roughly that kind of logic, so I ended up having to exterminate them.
I wanted to avoid doing that to humans.
That's why I quite liked the current situation where whatever I did was interpreted as, "Ah, it's a magic trick."
Whether I broke a bat with my butt or flew dozens of meters, I was just a magician.
As long as the media promoted it that way, I could remain a magician.
I could earn money, and I wouldn't be thought of as strong.
So, I wanted to maintain a good relationship with TV people at all costs. It was for world peace.
While solidifying such a large-scale resolution, I boarded the train.
After several transfers and some walking, I arrived at my destination three hours later than scheduled.
A modern cityscape built on reclaimed land.
I looked up at a building with a distinctive form that stood out among them.
Sumire TV.
This station, known for being strong in variety shows, liked me a lot and featured me often.
I was indebted to them.
And yet, I had skipped the recording.
"I'm so sorry," I thought, hunching my shoulders as I passed through the automatic doors.
When I gave my name to the receptionists, they told me to wait there.
They were using a white telephone on the desk to contact someone.
A few minutes later.
With a 'ding,' a nearby elevator opened.
A man in a gray suit stepped out.
He was a bit chubby and about a decade older than me, in his mid-forties.
He had dark skin and the look of someone definitely in the industry.
The man walked straight toward me.
"Nakamoto-san! I've been waiting for you!"
To my surprise, the producer himself had come out.
His name was Kurosawa.
It was a strange coincidence, but he had the same surname as the manager of the ramen shop where I had been working part-time until recently.
Because of that, I had an unconditional aversion to him, but so far he had been favorable toward me.
"I'm very sorry. I got caught up in a person-related accident."
I bowed my head at a ninety-degree angle.
"No, it's fine. It must have been tough,"
Producer Kurosawa said in a fawning voice. He was in an unusually good mood.
"I heard about it. You saved a girl who jumped from the platform, didn't you? My, my, that's wonderful. We've even received submitted footage from witnesses. It's from a smartphone, so the image quality isn't great, but we can clearly tell it's you, Nakamoto-san. As long as we get the ratings, anything is fine. I'd like to interview you after this, that's okay, right?"
"Eh? ...Uh, sure. That's fine."
From now on, it might not be bad to produce you as a hero-like figure rather than a comedy-route magician, he pressed me with his greasy face.
"Originally, Nakamoto-san was popular with the F2 and F3 demographics... oh, you probably don't understand that. Uh. Originally, Nakamoto-san was popular with women in their mid-thirties and older. In other words, the housewife demographic. And now, look, we have this news of a girl's rescue, which seems like it would be well-received by women. Don't you think this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance?"
He pushed his face close to mine.
It seemed his mind had completely switched to business mode.
"...I don't have a problem with it personally, but, um, is it okay that I missed today's work? Should I go around bowing my head to the people involved?"
"What are you saying! As long as the ratings go up, anything is fine, anything! It was a show we were going to end in March anyway, so missing something like that is a trivial matter. I'll handle the troublesome parts on this end."
"It's news to me that the show was ending."
"Hahaha! I'll make you a regular on the new show, so it's fine! Nakamoto-san, you have momentum, you can do it! I almost want you to rescue someone attempting suicide every day. Man, I wonder if someone will jump tomorrow too. If you want, should we prepare a fresh suicide candidate on our end? We have plenty of ADs (Assistant Directors) who look like they're about to die right now."
This producer treated his subordinates like trash, so it was terrifying that it was actually possible.
He often shouted at young ADs, "People like you, you know, commit suicide and ruin the image of the whole station. If you're going to die, quit the company and die a few years later!"
"This is a bit of a tangent, but Producer, do you have a relative who runs a ramen shop?"
"Hmm...? My younger brother owns a shop called Sekiryudo. What about it?"
"I thought so. No, it's nothing."
They were blood relatives.
But that didn't really matter.
I was saved.
At worst, I had been prepared to never be called for a show again, but it seemed to have worked in the direction of increasing my work instead.
I suppose I could breathe a sigh of relief.
"Well then, shall we start the meeting right away? The studio is already prepared, so let's move on to the interview and the creation of the reenactment VTR immediately. After all, it's the person himself appearing! This is going to be exciting!"
"No, well... how is it going to look for someone who saved a life to proudly reenact their achievement?"
"It's fine, it's fine! Viewers don't care about the small details! People who care about that kind of thing don't watch TV anymore anyway! Hahaha!"
"..."
"It seems like the ratings would go up if we gave you an outfit that emphasizes your physique. Nakamoto-san, were you doing some kind of sport? You really have a good body. Let's go with a sleeveless look so the wives will be happy."
"It's winter right now."
"Don't worry about it, don't worry about it!"
I was dragged away to the studio as if being hauled off.
In the end, I refused to appear in the reenactment VTR, but I compromised and accepted the interview in a tight sleeveless shirt.
I wondered if there were actually people who would be happy with this.
After that, I was jerked around and spent the whole day doing various interviews.
Anyway, I was busy. I was tremendously busy.
Since I was originally an ordinary person, I didn't have a manager, nor did I belong to an entertainment agency.
I had to handle everything alone.
On the plus side, I could keep all the appearance fees for myself.
My administrative capacity was about to burst, and above all, I realized I couldn't calculate taxes at all.
Tax savings... failure to report... tax evasion... while feeling a bad premonition, I finished the work.
By the time I was finally released by the producer, it was evening.
When I checked the time on my smartphone, it was 5:01 PM.
It was the moment I broke the promise I had made with Angelica this morning.
I'll be home by five. Let's eat something delicious together. I had brilliantly stood up the girl who was likely waiting restlessly for my words.
"How am I supposed to explain this..."
Feeling at a loss, I headed toward the station.
For now, I needed to retrieve Ayako-chan, whom I had left stuffed in the net cafe.
I had thought about just isolating her there forever, but the current Ayako-chan had a serious situation under her coat.
Her clothes were shredded, and her right half was bare.
Was it okay to coolly abandon a seventeen-year-old girl in such a disastrous state?
I wasn't that much of a demon.
I had to go pick her up.