Chapter 9: If Singing Isn't Your Forte, Then Be My Leading Lady

Chapter 9: If Singing Doesn’t Work, Be My Leading Lady

“Is it really that bad?”

Takeshi Iwata swore that after hearing Shinobu’s singing, he felt as if he had returned to his original timeline.

Why did he say that?

It was as if he had just listened to a performance that far surpassed his sister’s best efforts.

In fact, even a song like "Love’s Offering" by Yoda Mi sounded like a heavenly melody.

No, no—that would be disrespectful to his sister. At least his sister could stay on pitch, but Shinobu was playing hide-and-seek with the melody.

And she kept winning.

He remembered that on her profile, it said she was a singer and had even released songs.

Could it be that after relentless practice, she had finally reached the standards of a singer?

Wait a moment. Looking at Shinobu’s face, though she still had some baby fat, she was pure and lovely, with an elegant and refined beauty.

Her skin wasn’t as pale as before; it had a healthy glow, a characteristic of the Showa-era complexion.

How shallow of him.

What did singing matter? Just look at her face, and that was enough.

Having roughly figured out the situation, Takeshi hesitated.

“Hey, don’t cry. I never said you sang badly.”

But Shinobu burst into tears, and the more Takeshi tried to comfort her, the more she wept.

“You don’t even need to say anything. Even children can tell from how you look.”

“How shameless.”

“Who’s shameless?”

“Why do you have to act so mature? Have you considered how the other girls feel?”

“Heh... you’re so mean! How can you joke at a time like this?”

“No, I’m not joking. I just—”

“Wahhh…”

“Why are you crying? It’s just that you didn’t sing well. What’s the big deal?”

“It’s very important!”

“Important? What’s so important?”

“You don’t understand?”

“How could I not understand? Tell me.”

“Well... if I can’t sing well, I won’t be able to officially debut!”

Seeing Shinobu’s teary, delicate face, Takeshi’s heart trembled.

So that was it.

Regarding the entertainment world—though here it was called the show business—this country was indeed one of the more mature ones in Asia.

Such a mature entertainment industry had many invisible, intangible rules.

Later, in China, many idol talent shows emerged, misusing terms like “first stage” and “debut.”

Of course, since these are Chinese characters originally from our country, we can define them however we like.

But in this country’s entertainment world, these terms carried many “rules” by themselves.

Take “debut,” for instance. On those shows back home, once a group is formed and the variety show ends, they say they have debuted.

But in this country, debut has only one standard.

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The official release of a single.

Simply put, even if an actor only wants to act, to “officially debut,” they must release a song.

Where exactly this rule came from and when it started is unknown.

However, there was one agency that strictly insisted on this rule and promoted it everywhere: Johnny & Associates.

Johnny’s standing needed no explanation. Conversely, no matter how handsome the artist was, how excellent their acting, how many commercials they shot, or how popular they were, without releasing a song, sorry, they weren’t officially debuted.

What was the price of not officially debuting?

In Johnny’s agency, such artists could only earn 150,000 yen a month.

Many fans complained, but Johnny’s remained unmoved.

Of course, this rule wasn’t universally enforced by all agencies here, but many who didn’t emphasize it still followed it.

Even actors from kabuki families released songs.

It was a way of giving face to this “rule.”

In fact, this rule that one must release a song to officially debut was very much this country’s way.

It was like many large companies, when interviewing university graduates, only requiring “appropriate attire,” but if the graduate didn’t wear a black suit, black shoes, and carry a black briefcase, the interview was doomed to fail. Someone might even scold them: “Do you have manners? Don’t you know the rules?”

From Takeshi’s perspective, he really disliked this rule—it was unnecessary. Some people were just suited for acting.

Yet under this rule, the result was that this country’s music scene was truly formidable.

Moreover, artists here were generally capable of both acting and singing.

Now, standing before Chidori Moat, seeing this girl with tearful eyes, Takeshi was moved…

“I have an idea.”

“?”

She stopped crying, eyes still moist, looking surprised at the man before her.

Takeshi’s expression was still a bit awkward, but he was firm.

“Actually, I’m planning to make a movie. I can’t help you with singing, but if you come to act in the film, and if you perform well, then maybe someone will help you with singing.”

From an adult’s perspective, that meant if Shinobu became famous enough—even if her singing wasn’t good—they might make an exception, train her a bit, and let her release songs on her own money, regardless of sales.

It was a bit of a cheat, but faced with such “rules,” there seemed no better way. Many people did this.

But Shinobu was just a young girl. Her understanding was different.

“I don’t want my sister to help.”

The only person she could think of who might help was her older sister.

Hearing this, Takeshi almost laughed.

“You don’t like your sister?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“She’s already very busy.”

Those words struck Takeshi deeply… wait, what was this about “old man”? Almost got dragged into the ditch by this girl—unacceptable!

Shinobu had never spoken so much before, especially not to a stranger. Well, Takeshi wasn’t exactly a stranger; he had treated her to a meal earlier, right?

Yet they had only known each other for a bit over an hour.

So this was truly unusual, but Shinobu felt completely natural about it.

So she kept talking, saying whatever was on her mind.

“My family depends on my sister alone. She’s really amazing, but I don’t want to be a burden to her. I want to be like her, earn money for the family too, become... maybe I can’t surpass her, but I will try. People have to try, right?”

Seeing Takeshi silent, she grew a little worried, but there was still one key question.

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“Can you really make a movie? I’m not saying…”

Takeshi shook his head with a helpless smile.

“Do I seem like one of those so-called ‘talent scouts’ who trick girls?”

When he said this, Shinobu blushed.

Those scouts tricked girls and forced them into terrible situations.

But...

“Uncle, you definitely are not!”

Shinobu said firmly, her attitude resolute.

At that moment, Takeshi felt a warm current flow into his heart. Since crossing into this parallel world, this girl was the first to trust him so completely.

Unable to resist, he gently patted her still baby-faced cheek.

“Thank you.”

Shinobu was utterly confused.

“Thank you for what?”

Takeshi quickly moved to the next topic.

“I actually have a movie project, and I’m the lead actor.”

“Really?” Shinobu was truly impressed.

But that wasn’t all.

“I’m also the director.”

“Really!”

“And the screenwriter.”

“Really!!”

Wow, this man was truly amazing!

Shinobu was just a middle schooler, and from the bottom of her heart, she thought someone who could do all those jobs was incredible.

Takeshi blushed a little at the praise but felt it was his responsibility to prevent Shinobu from becoming like Tang Keke.

“There’s a female lead in this movie.”

“Ah? The female lead?!” Shinobu was stunned. She thought that was too...

“Is it possible? Could I really be the lead? I—I don’t have much acting skill or training.”

She was so excited!

Now, she felt more and more that this man was reliable.

But then...

“The female lead, well, she has some intellectual disabilities.”

“Oh, so that’s the kind of role.”

Shinobu’s expression went from energetic to dejected (╯︵╰).

If I can’t sing and now I have to play an intellectually disabled character... my acting career really is quite something.

Seeing this, Takeshi felt anxious, but before he could say anything, someone called out.

“Shinobu!”

“Sis!”

Thanks to the generous support of Mr. Aotou, thanks to the hidden ice here, thanks to Bayern, thanks to the blood of robots, thanks to Kwan Ning, thanks to ‘Who Am I,’ thanks to Guyue Shuo.

Thank you all for your rewards, recommendations, and monthly votes.

Public updates will remain twice a day. For those who have given rewards, the special chapters will definitely be remembered and will explode with updates upon release. After all, there are still parts remaining from the previous book, so please understand. Thank you very much.

(End of chapter)