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To help you get started, you’ll be assigned an assistant with the name of Matsui Tomo.
Matsui Tomo is well versed in all things idol, but has always declined any promotion that would put her in charge of her own group as she likes her job as it is and doesn’t want the additional responsibility.

Now, the question remains: Who are you?

The people you don’t pick will become your rival managers.

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>pic related for images

Manager #1: Yukimori Kyoden
Iron: You don’t easily succumb to pressure.

From one managing position to the next, the board of directors saw the miracles you worked over in the accounts and finance department and they are curious if your skillset can be applied to managing idols.
At least this new position pays a lot more and, well, your previous department basically runs itself by now.

In situations where other crumble – you stand tall.
You’ve never known a problem you couldn’t fix.

-----

Manager #2: Matsuno Kojiro
Persuasive: You gain advantage on deal-making.

It only took you a handful of months before you got this idol managing opportunity, but then again – your uncle is the owner.

This blood relation might be able to help you out at times, but they didn’t stop your uncle from firing his own daughter a few weeks back.

Having worked in sales prior to this, you’re known to have a silver tongue and are skilled in making any deal more favourable.

-----

Manager #3: Nagata Miho
Empathetic: You are more aware of other people’s emotions and might notice idol developments before they occur.

The offer to start managing idols came somewhat as surprise.
Up until recently you were just an average HR worker that would soothe, chat, and support the various idols running around the building.

You haven’t done anything special as far as you know – you were just there for them when they needed a shoulder to cry on.
Being an idol can be a terribly difficult job.

But it seems like the words of praise has travelled up the chain and upper management has given you this golden opportunity.

Who are you?

>Manager #1: Yukimori Kyoden
>Manager #2: Matsuno Kojiro
>Manager #3: Nagata Miho

>>5587606
>Manager #3: Nagata Miho

Some minor info that’ll be relevant in the future

You can ask your assistant, Matsui Tomo, to schedule auditions in an effort to acquire new talent.
Idols have ranks ranging from F to S rank and the chances of scouting a higher rank idol go up as you increase your scouting range – but doing so cost more.

Keep in mind that even local auditions (Cost $50,000) can find S rank idols, but the odds are really low.
There’s a lot of RNG involved when it comes to the stats of idols, but higher rank idols typically have higher base stats and a higher stat potential.

All idols are generated using a small program I wrote to support this quest.
It randomly generates a number between 1 and 10.000 (higher is better) and finds the matching Idol Rank for the selected auditon type.
Lower rank number ranges decrease as you go up in "Audition Scope" and higher rank ranges increase.

Prices
>Local - $50,000
>Regional - $500,000
>National - $5,000,000
>Global - $50,000,000

This is not a prompt, just general info.

Voting for the manager selection closes in 35 min or so.
It'll be immediately followed up with the first idol selection.

I plan to update this quest all evening, so check back often.

>>5587606
>>Manager #1: Yukimori Kyoden

>>5587606
>Manager #1: Yukimori Kyoden
Come Hell and high water, we will drag this venture into the green.

>>5587606
>Manager #3: Nagata Miho

>>5587606
>>Manager #3: Nagata Miho

>>5587606
>Manager #1: Yukimori Kyoden

Even votes for both Nagata Miho and Yukimori Kyoden
Awaiting tie-breaker

>>5587645
>Manager #3: Nagata Miho

>>5587651
Winner
>Manager #3: Nagata Miho

Posting first set of idols soon

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You are Nagata Miho former HR rep turned idol manager.

Matsuno Takechi, the owner, is a firm believer in the idea that healthy competition brings out the best in people.
Starting their managing career at the same time as you are Yukimori Kyoden and Ito Kojiro.
You all work at the same agency so they are your co-workers, but at the same time they are also your rivals.

The first three months will be your training period and the company is prepared to turn a loss as long as it means that you learn a thing or two about managing idols.
In addition to that, you are free to invest any profits you make back into your idols.

You’ll have a performance review with the owner, Matsuno Takechi.
Once this probationary period is over and he’ll decide if you should stick with one idol for now or are ready to manage several.

Matsui Tomo, your assistant, has taken the liberty to start a round of local auditions (-$50,000) and the following prospective idols have caught the eye of the scouts.

>>5587658
>Matsuno Takechi is pic related
Nagata Miho is the blonde girl from earlier

>>5587660
Post full pic

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>>5587661

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>>5587658

You make yourself comfortable in your new office over on the eleventh floor of Matsuno Inc. HQ.
Matsui Tomo walks into the room with an easy smile and hands you a folder containing several prospective idols.

”Here are the results from the audition, Nagata-san,” she says, “I’ve assigned each of them a numerical ranking for their skills, their latent potential for that skill, and a possible marketable trait I noticed after reviewing their audition tapes.

You take the folder and flip through the candidates, there’s only three of them, but, then again, you’re only allowed to pick one idol to represent for the time being.

Your brow furrows, it’s difficult.
Back during your HR days you had to pick candidates all the time, but it feels a bit different now knowing you could make or break somebody’s dream with a single decision.

“What happens to the ones I don’t pick?” you ask,trying to keep the concern from your voice.

Matsui Tomo raises her shoulders, shrugging, ”The folder will makes its way through the rest of the company and a different manager might pick them up,” she says, then winks, “I just made sure you had the first pick considering that I’m your assistant now.”

Matsui-san seems very capable and you tell her as much.
A different manager may have just nodded and perhaps indulged the assistant with a grunt of approval, but you know the importance of voicing your appreciation.

“Thank you for putting this all together, Matsui-san,” you say with a bright smile.

Matsui almost looks taken aback, but then waves the comment off, “What are you saying?” she says, fighting down a chuckle as a blush warms her cheeks, “That's my job.”

It's time to make a decision.

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>>5587686

Idol #1 - Kaiba Aoi (Age 18, Rank E)

Looks: 25 (55)
Vocals: 32 (35)
Dance: 21 (40)
Acting: 37 (63)
Personality: 33 (61)

Trait: Gloomy
Interactions with fans will be rolled with disadvantage.

Fame: 0
This idol is completely unknown.

Costs $5,000 per month

--------

Idol #2 - Ichihara Riko (Age 16, Rank E)

Looks: 32 (41)
Vocals: 31 (69)
Dance: 27 (30)
Acting: 44 (68)
Personality: 19 (37)

Trait: Liar
At times may make promises she doesn’t plan to keep.

Fame: 1
This idol has made some minor appearances.

Costs $8,000 per month

------

Idol #3 - Maki Sumi (Age 15, Rank F)

Looks: 30 (35)
Vocals: 34 (40)
Dance: 15 (54)
Acting: 29 (39)
Personality: 9 (22)

Trait: Secretive
Will be hesitant to share her problems or developments.

Fame: 0
This idol is completely unknown.

Costs $5,000 per month

------

>Idol #1 - Kaiba Aoi
>Idol #2 - Ichihara Riko
>Idol #3 - Maki Sumi
>Don't pick any and request a new round of local auditions (-$50,000)

Resources
Budget: $100,000
Date: January 1, 2015

>>5587695
Kaiba has decent potential except in vocals and the best personality, she'll eventually bloom. Fans will forgive her gloominess if they truly fans at all, they'll get used to it and accept it as normal. As the oldest she'll also probably just be more mature and easier to deal with.

Ichihara has a lot of potential in vocals and acting and her stats overall stick out to me as starting off strong, plus she's already known. Her being a liar is a drama magnet though, as is her shitty personality. Will probably lie to us, her fans about things she'll do, etc. Probably the best all around pick in my opinion, but not my fave.

Maki has the best potential in dance, but I personally don't think dance is as important as vocals, personally I never got the emphasis on both dance and vocals in K-pop, I just want to listen to a song. Otherwise her personality is horrible and she is near a couple of her skill ceilings already. We are probably the best manager suited for her trait, which is why I don't want to take her. Let our rival managers suffer her shit personality and secretiveness.

>Idol #1 - Kaiba Aoi

Favourite pick. Great potential in personality and acting, good in looks, decent dancer and vocals, I'm sure people will love her eventually. I'd also prefer the other managers pick the other two up, assuming they don't go for another audition, I want them to have to deal with their issues from a competitive standpoint. We also shouldn't waste money hoping for another better group.

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>>5587695

”All these numbers, what exactly do they mean?” you ask, scratching your cheek, "Some are fairly straight-forward, but I don't wanna make any assumptions."

Matsui slightly tilts her head, but then her eyes widen and she holds a hand in front of her mouth, “I can’t believe I forgot to explain the system. I completely forget you’re new to the idol world. I’m so sorry.”

”It’s okay,” you reply, “Could you explain it to me?”

She takes a moment to go over the skills with you.

Looks - are the sum total of an idol’s physical appearance.
This skill is used for things like modelling gigs and commercials.
Some jobs might even have a minimum requirement for looks.

Vocals - represent an idol’s vocal ability and their general ability to sing.
Not all idols are great singers, but some jobs require it.
It definitely comes in handy when recording songs and some voice-acting jobs require a voice-actor with vocal skills.

Dance - This one is fairly self-explanatory. It’s your ability to move.
Some commercials require it, back-up dancer gigs require it, and most idol groups require it.
High-profile jobs can have a pretty high min. requirement.

Acting - Your ability to act out a role.
Used in jobs like voice acting as well as ordinary on-screen acting.
Also used when a situation requires you to lie to a person or crowd.

Personality - This is your idol’s marketable personality.
A good personality score means they would be a great addition to a radio show or a reality show.
It’s a combination of their humour, wits, and general likability.

---

Idol voting closes in 30 min or so

>>5587695
>>Idol #1 - Kaiba Aoi
Depressed idols sell too

>>5587695
>>Idol #1 - Kaiba Aoi
The gloominess is her charm point

>>5587695
>>Idol #1 - Kaiba Aoi
The image is cute.
This is the most important factor.

Winner
>>Idol #1 - Kaiba Aoi

>>5587750

”I think we’ll go with Kaiba Aoi,” you say, handing back the folder.

Matsui nods, “Very well,” she says, taking the folder and tucking it under an arm, “I’ll make sure to get the paperwork in order.”
She makes her way to the door of your office, but then stops and turns, “We have Kaiba Aoi’s phone number,” she says, “I can give her a call if you like? Alternatively, we can invite her to the office for a short chat?”

>1 - Let Matsui call her and congratulate her on the start of her new idol career
>2 - Call Kaiba Aoi yourself. It’s the least you can do as her brand new manager.
>3 - First impressions are important. You want to invite Kaiba Aoi to the office so you can get familiar with each other. You’ll be working together a lot after all.

>>5587757
>3 - First impressions are important. You want to invite Kaiba Aoi to the office so you can get familiar with each other. You’ll be working together a lot after all.

>>5587757
>3 - First impressions are important. You want to invite Kaiba Aoi to the office so you can get familiar with each other. You’ll be working together a lot after all.

Gloominess incoming.

>>5587695
>Kaiba Aoi
Despite being gloomy, she has the most marketable personality. I guess we can market her as a kuudere.

>>5587757
>3

Winner
>3 - First impressions are important. You want to invite Kaiba Aoi to the office so you can get familiar with each other. You’ll be working together a lot after all.

Update soon. Sorry that it took a while.

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Barely three hours later, Kaiba Aoi is sitting in the chair opposite of your desk.

She’s running her hands over the end of a long strand of black hair, twirling it in small circles, “Ah,” she begins, then looks towards her feet for a moment, “I’m very sorry. …The call.”

You hold up your hands in reassuring manner, “It’s quite alright,” you say, trying a smile.

Matsui had to call a total of seven times.
Apparently Kaiba had heard the phone ring, but she didn’t recognize the number so she was hesitant to pick it up.
It wasn’t until the seventh call that Kaiba picked up and, in a very mousy voice, asked if Matsui could stop calling – only for her to realize that this was the call she had been waiting for.

“It’s just that,” says Kaiba, “I didn’t think you’d call. I figured I was too old. That you had already picked somebody else.”
”Normally idols start at a very young age, don’t they?” she ads, then seemingly decides to break herself down even further, “I already graduated high school last year and it’s not easy for me to be happy and cheerful like the idols on TV.”

”I picked you Kaiba-san,” you say, “Because I felt like you have what it takes.”

That appeared to make her somewhat happy, but it seems like she has trouble expressing it.
>pic related

>>5587852

"Even though I’m like this,” says Kaiba, “And can’t dance very well?”

These self-confidence issue are going to be a hurdle we’ll have to cross at some point.

“I chose you because you’re the way you are,” you reply, “You don’t need to pretend to be something you’re not. It seems like you don’t believe it, but you already are idol material. That's why you're here.”

It occurred to you that you might be overloading this poor girl with compliments.

Kaiba’s face was beet red as she began to laugh, only it wasn’t really a proper laugh.
Almost more like a nervous chuckle – stretched out for an uncomfortable amount of time.

“Eh-hehehehe,” laughed Kaiba, her face buried in her hands.

You extend a hand towards her, arm hovering above your desk, and it causes the girl to finally look up.

“My name is Nagata Miho,“ you say with a smile, “And I’ll be your manager if you’ll have me.”

The girl takes your offered hand in both of hers, “Yes,” she replies hastily, a sparkle in her eyes, “Absolutely.”

After a long moment you decide to ask for your hand back as she was still hanging onto it.

“Ah,” says Kaiba, letting go, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s quite alright,” you reply, then take out the form that your assistant had prepared earlier.
It was a sheet of questions that Kaiba has been asked to fill out back during the audition.

“While we’re here I’d like to go over some of the answers you’ve given during the audition,” you say, “Just so I can have a better idea of the kind of idol you’d like to be and help you with that.”

Kaibs nods, nerves creeping into her face.

“For the question ‘Why do you want to be an idol?' you answered ‘I don’t know’,” you say, “Could you expand on that?”

Suddenly it seemed like all the progress you’ve made during this conversation was turned null and void.
Kaiba returned to her earlier ways, playing with a lock of hair and turning it in small circles.

>>5587856

“It’s difficult to explain,” she says, “I didn’t know what to do when I graduated high school last year. I’ve been sorta staying at home and in my room during that time. My parents have been asking me to get a job or go to college and I didn’t know what to do. I figured nobody would want a person like me. Sometimes I wish I was different. I’m not happy the way I am. I wish I could be more like other people. Cheer, clap, shout and those sorta things when at a concert. But even when I went to a concert that one time, I couldn’t. I wish I could express myself like that. Be happy – y’know, like idols are. They always seem to have so much fun. I understand that part of that is faked – acting, but I can’t even do that.”

A big part of your years at HR was spend listening, knowing when to just be quiet because you know there’s more to come.
So, you simply waited for the girl to continue.

“I guess I was hoping that if I were to become an idol that I might be able to express myself better and get a ton of friends. Or something,” she concludes, “To be honest I didn’t think I would get picked.”

[Trait: Empathetic]

The unspoken question here was: Why didn’t you write that.
And the answer would be: That would be embarrassing.

The girl on the other side seemed small, her shoulders tight.
As if already regretting opening up and bracing herself for the barrage of questions to come.

“I think that’s a great reason,” you say, clicking your pencil and moving on to the next question.

The relief was clear on her face.

“So on the question regarding what kind of activities you’d see yourself perform as an idol you answered: 'Modelling and voice acting',” you ask, “Can you expand on that?”

“Ah,” she says, wringing her hands, “I figured you wouldn’t have to talk to people that much if you did those. I’m hoping I can be a proper actress at some point, but that feels out of reach.”
She quiets for a moment, but then continues, “I thought that, maybe, if I did modelling and people like it that it would give me some self-confidence. Sort of.”

You begin to notice that this extended conversation is taking a toll on the girl and speed your way through the remaining questions.

>>5587863

A short while later you tap the bottom of your papers on the desk, the universal sign for we’re-done-here, “That’s all,” you say as Kaiba lets out a deep sigh.

“Welcome to the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency,” you say, “You are a proper idol now and will receive your first wage next month. Me and my assistant, Matsui Tomo, will call you tomorrow. Relax and get some rest.”

Kaiba stands and perform a shallow bow, “Ah,” she says, “Thank you. I saved the company’s number in my phone so it’s no longer unknown.”
A pained expression slips onto her face as that memory lingers, “Sorry again for that.”

“It’s quite alright,” you reply, then you say your goodbyes.

----

A short while after Kaiba has left, Matsui comes into the office with a clipboard tucked under her arm. ”Did everything go okay, Nagata-san?” asks Matsui.

You shrug, “I think I have a decent idea of the kind of work that Kaiba Aoi wants to do,” you say, “She might also have to do some idol work that it outside her comfort zone in the future, but I think we’ll play it safe for now.”

Matsui nods in acknowledgement, then raises the clipboard, pen at the ready, “What’s the plan?”

---

Note
Each “Idol Task” takes place over a period of two weeks.
The events happening during that period will be summarized and stat changes will be mentioned.

Rule: Raising Skills
Training skills cost 50 energy. The amount of skill points gained are 1d6.
The DC for this is your current skill amount. You roll a 1d100.

Example: If Acting is 40 and you want to raise your acting you have to roll a 1d100 and get above 40.

This means that it becomes harder to raise skills you are already good at.
Keep an eye out for opportunities to gain a roll modifier.

Budget: $100,000
Date: January 1, 2015

Idol Task: Kaiba Aoi (Energy 100)
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her SKILL_HERE using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba (3d100) – Energy expended depends on job taken.
>4 - Write-in

>>5587864
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her LOOKS using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
A glow-up generally adds confidence to people.

>>5587864
With each decision point being two weeks you have six decisions until your first performance review.

Current date: January 1, 2015
Performance review: April 1, 2015

The performance review determines if you are allowed to manage another idol or will just have to micromanage Kaiba Aoi a bit more.

>>5587864
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her ACTING using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
Let's try to raise a skill she's already good at to a higher level so that we can use it for a job.

>>5587864
This vote will remain open for a long while.
I'll pick things back up tomorrow.

>>5587864
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her LOOKS using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

Fulfill her potential, give her confidence, make her presentable for marketing.

If 3 is chosen do we choose a job from prompts or is it just automatically chosen for us based on what skills Kaiba has and the rolls result?

I say save our money for deals or opening up opportunities to boost our roll modifiers.

>>5587901
>If 3 is chosen do we choose a job from prompts or is it just automatically chosen for us based on what skills Kaiba has and the rolls result?

You get 3 options and pick one.
Important note here is that you HAVE to pick one even if none are a perfect fit.

The excuse is that the Idol Agency makes certain promises to these companies that the jobs will get picked up.
The real reason is that because if I don't add that condition then every decision will be "Let's see the 3 jobs first and if they suck we'll just train a skill".

>>5587864
>>5587867
Supporting this. I think her three main stats should be LOOKS, ACTING, and PERSONALITY. It’ll fit with modeling/acting work, and she can take a side journey into something like general talk shows. Talk about expecting to be passed over due to her age, what she’s enjoying the most in her work etc. etc. It’ll allow her to interact with fans indirectly by speaking to them from through interviews and shows.

Voting LOOKS since it’s directly related to something she wants and is the lowest of the three stats I’m interested in.

>>5587864
>Work on her LOOKS using in house accomodations.
I agree that having her pretty up will help with the image she has of herself. It is an interesting question. Are popular kids confident in high school because they are good at sports, or they are good at sports because they are confident?

>>5587864
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her LOOKS using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

>>5587864
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

Winner
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her LOOKS using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

Kaiba Aoi Looks Improvement Roll
Kaiba's "Looks" currently sit at 25.

Need a 1d100 roll. The DC to beat is 25.
On a success you can roll a 1d6 to see how much your score increases by.

--
Meanwhile I'll start writing the two-week summary.

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>5588395

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5588395

>>5588396
>>5588398
Meets it, beats it

Kaiba's "Looks" score increases by 6.
Her new "Looks" score is 31.

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>5588395

Will be updating the story shortly.

I spend some time to set up a public overview of the story thus far and the characters so people can make informed decisions.
This public overview is synced with my personal story manager and updates automatically.

This link will be posted in all OPs going forward
legendkeeper.com/app/clerg3w370sti08866hb09fcg

The amount of information you can see is restricted by permissions so it should be free of spoilers.

Tags for CTRL+F: wiki, overview, information

>>5588508
Thank you QM. Very cool!

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“As a sort of welcome and to give her a bit of a confidence boost we’ll have her do a full spa tour in the next two weeks,” you say.

“Oh, dear,” replies Matsui, “The full works? Hairdresser? Make-up? Massages? Outfitting?”

“Everything,” you say, “I want the company to offer her whatever it can give. Dieting, personal trainer, physiotherapist. Everything.”

“Oh, my,” says Matsui, noting it down with a playful smile on her face, “I’m a little jealous.”

----

The next two weeks went by quickly.

The two idols from the earlier audition who you hadn’t chosen were picked up by the other managers.
The young, energetic Maki Sumi is now managed by Matsuno Kojiro and the instant “Queen of Gossip” Ichihara Riko is managed by Yukimori Kyoden.

At first Kaiba Aoi was all too happy being pampered.
The first week was filled with manicures, trips to the salon, professional make-up and the like.
The second week however was more taxing as she was assigned a personal trainer and had to make some big changes to her diet.

Kaiba had actually called that day, asking if you could make an exception for giant pretzels, which were apparently half of her diet.
You had to let her down and told her that pretzels were no longer a part of her life.

The rest of the company hadn’t been idle either.
The marketing department were hard at work trying to come up with an image for Kaiba.

Ultimately they decided on…

>1 - A slouchy “gamer girl” persona. Slightly dishevelled, but cute.
>Target market: Young adults, teens, gamers, male

>2 - A tender, motherly image. Soft-spoken and gentle.
>Target market: Young adults, adults, both male and female

>3 - An ice-cold, dark persona. Clad in black.
>Target market: adults, both male and female

>4 Write-in

>>5588539
>2 - A tender, motherly image. Soft-spoken and gentle.
>>Target market: Young adults, adults, both male and female

>>5588539
>1 - A slouchy “gamer girl” persona. Slightly dishevelled, but cute.
>Target market: Young adults, teens, gamers, male
This is close to her actual personality, and her target audience will find it easy to relate to her socialization difficulties.

How do you make the AI generate images of the same character? Or is it not a generated character?

>>5588539
>2 - A tender, motherly image. Soft-spoken and gentle.
>Target market: Young adults, adults, both male and female

Lotta lonely people out there. Kai is certainly soft spoken, at least.

>>5588539
>2 - A tender, motherly image. Soft-spoken and gentle.
>Target market: Young adults, adults, both male and female

Winner
>2 - A tender, motherly image. Soft-spoken and gentle.
>Target market: Young adults, adults, both male and female

>Or is it not a generated character?
All art in this quest (except for the OP image) is generated by AI.

>How do you make the AI generate images of the same character?
Be very specific with the tags and have a lot of patience.

>>5588583
Holy crap, the consistency of her hair is amazing

>>5588539
>1 - Creepy looks, but an actual softie. A teen trying to turn flaws into assets. Relatable, at least near her own demographic.
>Target market: Young adults, teens, male and female.

Kinda envisioning Hex Maniac memes to a lesser extent. Not quite perky goth either since it’d be a lot of stress to be that upbeat, just someone who turned to a darker style that fit her gloominess better and hopes it makes people like her.

Gives her scope to talk about her image problems and earn empathy points from female fans.

>>5588590
I like it. Idol image is not set in stone, so perhaps this can still be an option later on if the prior pick doesn't work out.

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[Kaiba Aoi has gained +6 in Looks. Making her new Looks score a “31“]

Ultimately they decided on a sort of soft, motherly image.
Nothing too crazy that would be difficult for her to maintain, but a persona close to her own.

Pictures of her new look had already been taken and uploaded to the company’s website and Instagram page where they were met with mixed results.
>pic related

Internally though, everyone agreed that Kaiba’s looks had improved greatly.
While Kaiba had been working on her looks, Ichihara Riko and Maki Sumi had both been send on jobs.

Ichihara Riko performed admirably on a short fruit juice commercial where she didn’t have any lines, but only really had to watch with shock on her face as the commercial’s lead actor, some man in his early twenties, rolled by while performing a handstand on a skateboard while sipping from a packet of fruit juice.
Her entire role was perhaps three seconds.

Maki Sumi has been having issues combing school and her new idol career and was only able to spend a single afternoon on a fashion shoot where she modelled children’s clothing.
She had thrown quite a fit when she discovered she had to show off clothes meant for ten year olds.
Turns out she has a bit of a complex about her childlike appearance.

Still, both of them have already made several thousand dollars.

Week 3-4 stands before you. What’s the plan?

Budget: $100,000
Date: January 15, 2015

Idol Task: Kaiba Aoi (Energy 50)
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her SKILL_HERE using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
>4 - Write-in

>>5588630
>Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
Since the agency has revealed her, we have to maintain audience interest.

>>5588630
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba

>>5588630
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
We have a theme established first, let’s see where it takes us.

>The picture
I got a chuckle at the last comment. Feels mean, but I can’t say it’s inaccurate.

I have a million dollar idea guys.
After Kaiba finishes this job, we get her training again. But we turn it into a mini-reality show, more like a vlog. A meek girl overcoming hardships on her way to her dream. Get those parasocial relationships going and attract low-confidence female audience.

>>5588642
Would work well when doing LOOKS especially. There’s a chance to draw advertisers based on the beauty products used. I’d keep the advertising light at most, unmentioned beyond making sure the labels are clearly visible preferably. The focus is to build her brand with those sessions, not to draw in money.

Maybe we do PERSONALITY next and have her talk through some self-help tips?

>>5588539
Aw, missed this vote. I was gonna suggest starting with 1 and then transitioning into something else as her target market grows up, she's young herself after all and would change with her audience.

>>5588630
lmao, Riko in the chat shit talking another member of her gen. Plus the bonus memes of Souv getting inspiration for his JAV quest.

When are we expected to report our earnings again, 3 months minus two weeks from now? We should have something to show at the next meeting so that we can be allowed to manage multiple idols, but if possible I'd like to keep training Kaiba first.

>1 - Have Kaiba work on her LOOKS using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

Keep this up, improve on her appearance to keep her confidence high in response to the criticism she got, then go we'll hopefully have a LOOKS job available next turn. Though training her acting or personality would be fine by me too.

>>5588630
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

>>5588630
>>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba

>>5588648
Shit, I didn’t notice Riko! She’s a known liar at least.

It should mean more when she works and gets complimented by people actually around her.

>>5588641
>Feels mean, but I can’t say it’s inaccurate.
It's honestly impressive how he manages to broadcast a personality on an anon board in a way that you know five words in you're reading a Souvarine post.
Though there have been times I didn't realize until the "Hehe".

>>5588660
>SKILL_HERE
Gotta mention which skill.

>>5588660
>>5588685
Ah whoops my bad.
>LOOKS.

>>5588630
>>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
Shit... we better catch up!! Plus I bet that Kaiba will feel bad if she knows she got a week full of spa while the others worked so hard. She will be motivated to work well!!

>>5588539
>4 Write-in
>An actress through and through. She will show up in TV commercials, radio shows and even work in CD dramas. Her "oh she's not a bitch" features is that she will be connected to all the indie Utaites and Shojo-Byou esque circles, where she won't sing but she will voice act for free because she "loves good stories so much". Peak SOUL

Heading out, next update will be tomorrow.
Vote will remain open until then.

>>5588630
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba

>>5588630
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
This quest, this quest is promising.

>>5588630
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba

I need an irl idol manager. Got the fame but no money and very sad

>>5588630
>Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba

Winner
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba

As some of you know, I wrote a small program that generates the jobs and idols for me.
Right now it just generates a random number and feeds that into the program and it makes an idol/job based on sliding scales. (higher is better)

Would it be better if I let anons roll the number using dice+1d??? and then feed that number into the generator?
The end result is the same: A random number gets made and feed into the machine.

However I know that people like rolling, so I figured it was worth asking.

>>5589796

Let anons roll for job/idol generation
>1 - Just generate them yourself
>2 - I like rolling

>>5589798
>1 - Just generate them yourself
I like rolling for skill checks etc, but creating every idol is just tiring.

>>5589798
>>1 - Just generate them yourself

Rolled 8953 (1d10000)

>>5589800
To clarify, you only roll a single number. A dice+1d10000.
The number then gets used to calculate the "RANK" of the idol. (using the scale of the audition type)
All other stats (looks, dance, etc) are derived from that "RANK".

I'll leave this poll open for a bit while I work on some quest stuff.

>>5589798
>1 - Just generate them yourself

>>5589798
>1 - Just generate them yourself
Keeps the thread going faster.

>>5589798
>1 - Just generate them yourself

Winner
>1 - Just generate them yourself

Pretty clear. I was mostly worried about you guys getting either really good or really bad rolls on jobs/idols and wondering if I was fudging things.
It's the same reason why I roll everything in the open when playing TTRPGs.

Not saying you're one to do it QM, but personally as a tabletop player I prefer the GM to roll behind the screen not only so that they can hide rolls, but so they can fudge things if needed.
RNG is not the best storyteller.

>>5589798
>1 - Just generate them yourself

>>5589798
do 'em yourself. We can roll for advancement and beating DCs

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>>5588630
Time flies and salaries are already due in two weeks.
You only have one idol on your payroll at the moment, but if you want that to ever change then you need the money to start rolling in.
You pick up the phone and call your assistant into your office.
Moments later, Matsui arrives with a clipboard in hand. Diligent as always.

“I think it’s time for Kaiba to work her first job,” you say, “Money isn’t an issue for now, but we do need her to start taking jobs so she can build a reputation, establish her brand, and get some experience under her belt.”
Matsui nods, “It’s never easy for a brand new idol to take on her first job, but it has to happen at some point,” she says, then clicks her pen and puts it to the clipboard, “Do you know what kind of jobs she favours?”

Kaiba has mentioned that she prefers modelling and voice-acting jobs and you tell Matsui as much.

“Very well,” says Matsui, “Modelling jobs should be easy to get if we make good use of the agency’s reputation, but voice-acting gigs are rare and competition is fierce.
Idols are often required to audition for those.
Except for maybe very famous voice-actors who get accepted on their reputation and name alone.”

“The good part about voice-acting (VA) work is that if you’re asked to voice a prominent, recurring character then you’ll probably get a great contract that provides you with a regular income,“ Matsui jots down some notes on her clipboard before she continues, “The worst part is that if you don’t make the cut, then you get nothing except for maybe a thank you and directions to the door.”

That’s definitely something to keep in mind.

“Try to look for modelling gigs for now,” you say, “But if there are open auditions then slip those in there, too.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” says Matsui, then leaves to perform the task at hand.

She returns a few hours later with a binder filled with options.

>>5590147
Forgot to make the dialogue green.

----------

Hand-model for a new collection of rings (DC 60, Rank F)

Sapphire Jewels is looking for a model to show off a new line of designer rings.
Model’s hands should be clean, young looking, and without scars.

Energy: 30
Payment: $2.800
Skill: Looks

About:
Sapphire Jewels is known to be a company with good morals.

----------

Kamota Vegetables Advertisement Campaign (DC 120, Rank C)

We here at Kamota Vegetables are rebranding and we need a model that is able to star in our brochures, advertisements, folders, flyers, and banners.

Energy: 50
Payment: $14.000
Skill: Looks

About:
Kamoto Vegetables is known to be a virtuous company.

-----------

Modelling a new line of designer swimwear (DC 60, Rank F)

Ichida Swimwear is launching a new line of swimwear that is meant to go on sale this summer.
Models are expected to be slim, young-looking, with a generous breast size.

Energy: 50
Payment: $6.300
Skill: Looks

About:
Ichida Swimwear is known to be a company with no morals.

-----------

Audition: Single-occurrence character (DC 80, Rank E)

Studio Bones Animation is looking for a voice-actor for a single-episode character.
You will audition alongside others VAs and we make our selection after the recordings are done.

Energy: 30
Payment: $4.200 if selected
Skill: Acting

About:
Studio Bones Animation is known to be a company with decent morals.

-----------

Job format is subject to change. Relation between company morality, rank, energy, and the payment isn't entirely to my liking yet.

>1 - Hand-model for a new collection of rings (Sapphire Jewellery)
>2 - Kamota Vegetables Advertisement Campaign (Kamota Vegetables)
>3 - Modelling a new line of designer swimwear (Ichida Swimwear)
>4 - Audition: Single-occurrence character (Studio Bones Animation)

>>5590151
I'll be here and updating the rest of the evening.

>>5590151
>4 - Audition: Single-occurrence character (Studio Bones Animation)
Single dice or best of?

>>5590151
>2 - Kamota Vegetables Advertisement Campaign (Kamota Vegetables)

>>5590151

>>5590157
The DC for a job is noted next to the title.
You roll for a job by rolling a d100 and adding your idol's skill as a modifier.

So Kaiba with 31 in looks can roll a 131 at best.

Failing the DC might have consequences like reduced payment, no pay, or story consequences.
Same goes for successes. There's degrees of success and degrees of failure.
The morality of the company that offered the job also factors into it.

>>5590151
I'm a little torn, I do want the payday but honestly the swimwear isn't that much more, we can afford to just build up a reputation to work our way up to affording better jobs. I think the vegetables advertisement is right out. So for me it is either Sapphire Jewels or Studio Bones, but the DC is just high enough on the VA gig that it makes me hesitate but I'd love to get Kaiba's foot in the door on the VA industry.

If we took the ice-cold sexy dommie mommy persona for Kaiba then I honestly might just have gone with the swimwear option and used our empathy to soothe her afterwards. We're gonna probably have to get our hands dirty sometime when competing with our rivals.

>1 - Hand-model for a new collection of rings (Sapphire Jewellery)

Do this for now, just focus on increasing her rep and getting her used to working without having a mental breakdown. We'll go for harder jobs when her stats are better.

>>5590157
Going off our only precedent with the only prior roll, it is a single roll. d100+stat as QM says.

>>5590151
>4 - Audition: Single-occurrence character (Studio Bones Animation)
Torn between this and hand model. Vocal has a low cap, so VA work alone may not mean much. But acting is decent for her and we have a better than even shot as-is. I’ll bite the bullet.

Winner
>4 - Audition: Single-occurrence character (Studio Bones Animation)
>Skill:Acting

Need a 1d100+37 (Acting skill) roll.
DC to beat is 80.

Rolled 63 + 37 (1d100 + 37)

>>5590216
pew

Rolled 30 + 37 (1d100 + 37)

>>5590216
Second roll ok?

>>5590224
It is only first roll, I think.

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>>5590151
BONES!? STUDIO BONES!? Well considering their output I am certain they have a department focused 100% on auditions...
>>5590219
WOW great roll. At a 50 average + 37 a 80 isn't that improbable but I was aprehensive either way... man I can't wait for Kaiba to have her own myanimelist.net entry

Rolled 58 + 37 (1d100 + 37)

>>5590216
Rounding it out because not seeing 3 die weirds me out. Also to comment on >>5590230, I didn’t know Studio Bones but looking at the wikipedia article I should have. FMA? Eureka Seven? Mob Psycho 100? They’ve done a lot of stuff I liked.

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After discussing it over with Matsui for a bit, you decided to send Kaiba to the audition for a minor role in a Studio Bones production.

“We did have her work on her appearance the last two weeks, but, according to the audition results, acting is still her strongest skill,” you say, handing back the folder, “Let’s send her to the audition for voice acting.”

“The audition is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 21st,” replies Matsui, “Will you be joining her there?”

You think for a moment, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind your ear.
Well, you weren’t going to join Kaiba at first, but you might as well.
She could use the emotional support and you don’t have much else going on so you might as well micromanage Kaiba.

Perhaps you can even network a bit.

“Sure,” you say, “I think it’ll be a good idea to familiarize myself with the jobs my idols get themselves involved in.”

“Sounds good,” replies Matsui, “I’ll make sure to give Studio Bones a call to make sure they’re okay with Kaiba bringing her manager.”

“Thanks,” you say as Matsui walks out of the door.

--------

The day arrives. Snow coats the ground around you.
An icy winds blows through the narrow street as you walk towards your destination.
Kaiba Aoi walks beside you and you can’t tell if she’s shivering because of the nerves or because of the cold.

You find yourself in front of a tall office building.
Apparently the auditions are happening at a recording studio and you can see a crowd of people inside as some girl that’s likely a competitor opens the door and then shuts it behind her.

You glance at Kaiba. “You ready?” you ask.

She nods, but instead of walking beside you she follows closely behind.
It seems like Kaiba isn’t all that comfortable with crowds.
You report to the receptionist who steers you into the direction of a waiting room.

Studio Bones has been working on a new anime that is due to release early this year called “Blood Blockade Battlefront“.
The role everyone is auditioning for is one for a woman called “Vivian“ which happens to appear in the first episode.

The significance of this was lost on you at first, but Matsui told you that people often stop watching an anime as the season drags on, but very few quit during the first episode.
This’ll mean guaranteed exposure for Kaiba and her acting skills if she can land the role.

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>>5590317

There are one or two girls here who have brought their agent or manager, but most of them are here by themselves.
The part up for grabs is a minor role, but these are the exact kind of roles that attract aspiring voice actors.

It seems like you'll have to wait for a bit and before long the room is filled with the sounds of a dozen women practicing the same handful of lines over and over.

Eventually, a stern looking women with glasses appears in doorway, checks some kind of schedule, and calls out a name.
A woman replies with a tinge of panic in her voice, “That’s me,” she says, and is motioned to follow to the recording studio.

This happens a few more times.
Slowly, but surely the room empties.
Surprisingly, Kaiba seems to have pulled herself together now the room isn't as busy.
Eventually, her turn arrives. You give Kaiba a thumbs-up and she replies with a shaky smile.
Maybe not that confident, then.

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There are others here, however, that seem to be breaking apart.
Across the room sits a girl who is clearly on the verge of tears, but is trying her darnest to hide it.

There's a man sitting a few seats beside you in the waiting room who is idling away the time using his phone.

Finally, there's a man who has just been sitting in the far corner of the room -- cross-armed and quietly observing.

>1 - Walk over and reassure the girl (2d100, taking highest, adv on empathy rolls)
>2 - Talk to one of the two others managers who seems to be busy with his phone
>3 - Talk to a man who has been sitting over in the corner since the very beginning, quietly observing.
>4 - Do nothing and wait for Kaiba to return.

>>5590329
>>3 - Talk to a man who has been sitting over in the corner since the very beginning, quietly observing.

>>5590329
>Walk over and reassure the girl (2d100, taking highest, adv on empathy rolls)

Nice, Kekkai Sensen! I guess that means this is taking place around 2014-2015ish. This is the character she's auditioning for https://kekkai-sensen.fandom.com/wiki/Vivian

>>5590329
>1 - Walk over and reassure the girl (2d100, taking highest, adv on empathy rolls)
Can’t help but put our skills to use. Observing guy may take note of it if we’re successful too.

>>5590329
>>>1 - Walk over and reassure the girl (2d100, taking highest, adv on empathy rolls)

>1 - Walk over and reassure the girl (2d100, taking highest, adv on empathy rolls)

>>5590329
>1 - Walk over and reassure the girl (2d100, taking highest, adv on empathy rolls)

We always have time to help people. Plus maybe we can poach her one day.

>>5590340
We were already given the date when we were choosing our idol. It's the middle of January 2015 now and it was Jan 1st at quest start.

>>5590329
>3 - Talk to a man who has been sitting over in the corner since the very beginning, quietly observing.

>>5590329
Will continue posting tomorrow.

>>5590329
>3 - Talk to a man who has been sitting over in the corner since the very beginning, quietly observing.
HMMMMMMMMMMM

>>5590329
>3 - Talk to a man who has been sitting over in the corner since the very beginning, quietly observing.

>>5590329
>1 - Walk over and reassure the girl (2d100, taking highest, adv on empathy rolls)

>>5590329
>2 - Talk to one of the two others managers who seems to be busy with his phone
Not sure i want to help a rival even if it could raise our stats?

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There are parts of you that understand the need to network and forge new business relations, but you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t at least try to help a lonely girl that’s clearly breaking down.

You approach the short girl and sit in the seat beside her, leaning in slightly and asking her if everything is okay and if there’s anything you can do to help.

She looks up as tears begin to well up in the corners of her eyes, “I ruined it,“ she says, in scratchy, broken voice, “I ruined it.”

You can tell that the girl has strained her voice in some way.
Perhaps she practiced too much or practiced in a pitch her voice is unaccustomed to.
The part was for an adult waitress after all and the girl sitting beside you can’t possibly be much older than fourteen.
She likely spend hours yesterday trying to make herself sound older.

The result is a voice that may have once been vibrant and cheery, but is now rough, gravel-ish, broken and in dire need of rest and some medicine.

--

Need a 2d100 roll, taking highest.
There's no hard DC for this, just degrees of success and failure, but higher is better.

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>5590882

Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>5590882

>>5590882
Given where we’re at, the studio is bound to have some medicine for sore throats.

Wave/snap at the observing man to come over and ask if he can find a staffer and request some tea or light throat medicine. It lets us focus on the girl.

What’s he going to do, pointedly ignore a pair of ladies after one of them called attention to him? Decline a simple request for help? That’d be rude and bad networking practice on his part too.

>>5590882
>>5590893
Rolled 82 (1d100) - Highest degree of success.

Even though you are a complete stranger to her, it doesn’t take long before the girl is leaning into your shoulder and sobbing.
You simply hold her for a long moment, allowing her to get the tears out.
She probably wouldn’t even hear anything you say to her right now. It’s an ugly cry.
Just full on tears with the occasional 'hick' as her lungs struggle for air, but have to settle for short gasps.

“This was the first open audition I was accepted to in months,” she says in her raspy voice, drawing in a breath through clenched teeth, “My body let me down.”

You pat her on the shoulder a few times thinking she better get used to that feeling as it’ll start happening more often as she gets older, but you don’t say as much.

The other manager clicks his tongue, apparently annoyed by the noise or something he saw on his phone, and escapes to the hallway to make a call.

The man’s act forces the girl back to reality and aware of what she has been doing, she pulls away and rubs her eyes, “I’m sorry,” she says.

“It’s okay,” you reply, giving her a soft smile, “Bad things happen sometimes, but even if they do you just have to keep trying. You have to to take care of yourself, especially in cold weather like this. Don’t be too hard on yourself, just be more careful.”

You can’t help but feel like you’re repeating things she probably already knows.
Perhaps this was one of those cases where she knew things like this could happen, but she didn’t expect them to be happen to her.

The girl makes a small sound of acknowledgement and nods.

A short moment later the stern women with the glasses is back, standing in the doorway as she glances over her papers, “Fujiwara Miki?” she says.

The girl gets up and uses the palms of her hands to wipe at her eyes one last time, “Yes,” she says.
She likely knows this is a failed effort, but she seems determined to see it through till the end.

>>5590999

Before she leaves, you reach into your coat pocket and pull out a business card, “If you ever need help,” you say, “Feel free to call.”

Fujiwara glances over the business card with a hint of surprise and her face lights up when she notices the profession listed on your new business cards: Talent Manager at Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency.

It honestly slipped your mind, having been in HR for years, and what should’ve just been a friendly offering of having somebody to talk to might’ve accidentally led her to getting her hopes up.

In a sudden surge of energy, she thanks you loudly, her voice cracking as he does so, and falls into a deep bow before hastily following the woman waiting in doorway.

All eyes of the handful of people still remaining in the waiting room are now on you and it’s honestly embarrassing.
You flash them a nervous smile and quickly reach for a random magazine lying around in the waiting room.

“There aren’t many people who would do such a thing...” says a faraway voice – the man in the corner.

At first you think he might’ve been referring to helping the girl out, but then he finishes his sentence.

“Handing out business cards for your agency during somebody else’s audition,” he continues.

Dang. You did just do that didn’t you?
Your cheeks flesh red as it dawns on you how rude and disrespectful that might’ve seemed to others despite you actual intentions.

The man reaches for a folder filled with papers, stands, and gets closer until he’s standing only a few feet away from you – arms folded and with a foul look on his face.

>>5591004

Which then falls away, a playful smiles replacing it, “Don’t worry,” he says, waving a dismissive hand, “I understand what you were trying to do.”
He sits down in a seat close to yours, leaving an empty seat between you, “It can be hard at times,” he says, “All these people coming here and knowing you’ll disappoint all but one of them. The girls can’t do anything more than their best and then they’re at the studio’s mercy.”

He seems almost a bit melancholic as he stares at the laminated floor.

“That’s why it comes as a relief that some still have people around that have their best interests at heart,” he says, “Somebody that wants them to succeed, not because of money, but because they want to support somebody realizing their dream.”

Honestly, the man is a bit strange and you can’t help but feel embarrassed, your eyes darting left and right to gauge the reaction of the other people here – only two or three at this point, but it seems like he has more to say.

“I saw you enter with the black-haired girl earlier,” he begins, his brow furrows, then he opens the folder he had been carrying, leaving through several pages, “Kaiba Aoi.”
”She struck me as the kind of girl that wouldn’t be found anywhere near a recording studio if she didn’t have anyone supporting her,” he adds.

You’re not sure what to say, but as Kaiba’s manager you feel a need to speak up, “Kaiba-san is a talented up-and-comer with a very bright future,” you say, “She just doesn’t seem to know or accept that yet.”

The man chuckles, then holds out an open hand, “Can I be so bold to ask for one of your business cards?”

The man seems involved in some way judging by the contents of the folder so there’s no harm in handing him a card – so you do just that.

He takes it, flipping it over in his hands, “Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency, huh?” he says, “You must have a lot of talent on payroll.”

Call it inexperience, but there’s something about the strangely open and casual conversation that makes you drop your guard and instead of loudly praising the vast collection of talent employed by the agency, you instead talk about your own situation.
“The agency, maybe,” you say, “Me, well, I have just one – Kaiba-san.”
There’s a moment of quiet before you speak again, your words laced with resolve, “But I support her with everything I have.”

>>5591014

A warm smile finds itself on man’s face, like one a parent or grandfather might have.
“Well,” he begins, then glances over the card again until he finds what he’s looking for, “Nagata-san. With all this support I’m sure your talent will do well, but let me extend some help in the event she doesn’t.”

He lowers his voice to an audible whisper and leans in.
“They’re working on something else over at Bones Studio, something with superheroes, but it’s still in early phases,” he says, “It’ll take some time before auditions come up, but if you can ensure that Kaiba-san or a different talent of your gets some practice in and builds up some reputation – then I’ll make sure an invitation to the closed auditions finds a way to your office.”

--------

A Strange Encounter

The strange man in the waiting room wants you to raise an idol to a proper voice-actress.
If you manage to accomplish this, he’ll send an invitation to the closed auditions of a new anime happening sometime in the future.

Requirements
- Have an idol with at least 3 fame (Regional Icon) and 55 Acting.

--------

You narrow your eyes a bit at the strange offer, but before you can reply the woman with glasses is back, but she doesn’t call out any names.
She seems to be patiently waiting.

As you sweep your gaze over the room, you notice that the place has emptied out while you were helping the pink-haired girl and were engrossed in the later conversation.

The man beside you slaps his knees and gets up, “All done?” he asks the woman idling in the doorframe.

She nods and, after waving you goodbye, they both leave.

With nobody else present in the waiting room, you decide to wait for Kaiba at the receptionist’s desk.

Kaiba returns a short while later with a, honest to god, actual smile on her face.
Although she manages to make it look slightly creepy.

She got the part and they said they were gonna pay her a little extra for a job well done.
It seems like she made a favourable impression.

Results
Payment: +$5.000 ($105.000)
Fame: +1 (Kaiba: Fame 1)

Forgot to mention Kaiba had to come back the next week to actually record the lines, but that has no impact on the decision to come since it still happened in week 3-4.

>>5591018

A new month as arrived!
Kaiba’s energy is back to 100.
You have to pay Kaiba’s salary! (-$5.000)

Budget: $100.000
Date: February 1, 2015

Time ticks forever onwards.
What’s your plan for the next two weeks?

Idol Task: Kaiba Aoi (Energy 100)
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her SKILL_HERE using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
>4 - Write-in

Other
>5 - Browse social media to check on your agency's idol performance
>6 - Walk around the agency building and check on the other managers

2 more months (4 decisions) until your performance review.

>>5591026
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her ACTING using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
I mean, it's all coming together.

>4 Implement the vlog idea >>5588642

>>5591026
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her ACTING using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
May as well strike while the iron is hot. Not thinking we should push her to 55 until we get some bonuses to rolls though.

>6 - Walk around the agency building and check on the other managers
I feel it’s very HR to try and help people who are competitors as long as they help us in return. We can provide some advice on coaching their idols in exchange for contacts or deals to help with training.

>>5591026
Switching >>5591041 to >>5591037, forgot about the vlog.

I assume that’ll eat up our “other” action to get that squared away.

A bit of math. Kaiba is 18 points short of 55 Acting. A roll of 1d6 has the mean value of 3.5, giving us an average of 6 successful improvement rolls to reach 55. Plus we need 2 successful jobs for fame. This means we're looking at about 8 turns, or 4 months, as long as every improvement roll succeeds.

>>5591037
+1

>>5590968
Supporting this.

>>5590882

File: Screenshot 2023-03-06 081431.png (540 KB, 781x708)

540 KB PNG

>>5591070
Ah, nevermind, it didn't refresh. Woops.

>>5591026
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her ACTING using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

>>5591026
It'll be a couple of hours until I can post another update since I have some other stuff this evening.
If not later today, then I'll post an update tomorrow.

>>5591026
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her ACTING using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)

>>5591026
>Walk around the agency building and check on the other managers

>>5591026
>>1 - Have Kaiba work on her acting using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
>5 - Browse social media to check on your agency's idol performance

>>5591026
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her ACTING using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)

>6 - Walk around the agency building and check on the other managers

We should really talk with Riko or her manager Yukimori about her shit talking her gen mate. Competition or not, we're all in this together!

>>5591231
>We should really talk with Riko or her manager Yukimori about her shit talking her gen mate

I can get behind this. Adding this to >>5591075

>>5591026

>>5591026
>Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
>Walk around the agency building and check on the other managers

>>5591026
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her SKILL_HERE using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)

We have money to burn folks

>>5591026
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her ACTING using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)

>6 - Walk around the agency building and check on the other managers

Rolled 2 (1d2)

These are tied, so I'm doing a roll:
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her ACTING using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her ACTING using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)

Other
>4 Implement the vlog idea
>Walk around the agency building and check on the other managers.

These both got some support, I'll see if I can work them in somehow.

>>5592173

Winner
>>2 - Have Kaiba train on her ACTING using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)

File: Kaiba_Livestreaming.jpg (319 KB, 512x704)

319 KB JPG

In an effort to build Kaiba’s brand, the marketing department has suggested that Kaiba starts her own vlog – a reoccurring livestream that people can either catch live or watch back later.

The story of a girl’s first steps into a dazzling idol career.
The journey of the kind of girl you normally wouldn’t associate with anything idol-ish, but trying her hardest nevertheless.

You’re sceptical at first, wondering if you should be burdening your idol with this kind of pressure, but the marketing department ensures you that this’ll only take maybe half an hour of Kaiba’s day.

In the end the decision is up to Kaiba, so you call her and ask if she can make the trip to your office where you and a person from the marketing department named Tanabe Kenji will explains the general idea and the expectations they have.
Although Kaiba spends a good fifteen minutes hiding under a table and muttering about how she has never even had a social media account before, she ultimately relents – on the condition that you, her manager, are in the room when she first starts streaming.

Tanabe Kenji from marketing, a young man with long-hair wrapped into a topknot, visits the IT department to setup the technical end of the livestream.
Meanwhile you and Kaiba have a long conversation about the kind of things you can and should not say on the livestream – media training.

Tanabe manages to pull some strings and barely a day later the main Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency main account announces the arrival of a live-vlog of a up-and-coming idol named Kaiba Aoi.

Much to your and Kaiba’s surprise the very first livestream has a viewer count well into the double-digits.
In the first vlog Kaiba talks about her motivations for becoming a idol, how she was a aimless shut-in that applied on a whim, and she wanted to become an idol-like person, but never once believing that she actually would get an opportunity to do so.

>>5592352

You can tell that the first vlog is hard on her as Kaiba is incredibly camera shy and is constantly looking away.
The viewer count slowly ramps up to low triple digits and there is an outpouring of support.

[@BrightHime48123: AAAAAAAAAA KAIBA-CHAN FIGHTING T_T]
[@DarkFlightXx: Ah~ Kaiba-chan. My shadowy angel. Enable donations, I want to support you.]
[@Yadimmmm2: bruh, look at those tits BoobaEmote]
[@Waterbottle5221: At least she seems more like a person than most idols. Good luck.]
[@LittleFlowerr9: pwq you can do it kaiba-san!!!!!!!!!]

A short while later, Kaiba’s fingers hover uncertainly over the keyboard and she ends the stream.
She visibly deflates, sags into the chair a bit, and holds up her hands – they are trembling.

“It’s done?” you ask from a short distance away.

“Y-yeh,” she stammers, her voice cracking.

“What’s wrong?” you say, somewhat confused, “It went super well.”

“Y-yeah,” she says, her voice strained with emotion, “So many people supported me."
She goes quiet for a moment, "In school nobody even wanted to talk to me.”
Kaiba places her face in her hands and sobs quietly.

You step forward and crouch down to embrace her in a hug, “You did great, Kaiba-san,” you say while she sobs into your shoulder, “I know it wasn’t easy for you. Thank you for your hard work.”

You notice something on the edge of your vision, the chatroom surges with a burst of messages.
A tinge of panic sweeps through you, “Ah, Kaiba-san, I think the stream is still going,” you say.

Kaiba darts up, “Eh?” she shouts, then hastily lunges forward to smash a bunch of buttons to end the stream, “AAAAAAH”

[Stream Ended]

[@DarkFlightXx: ENABLE DONATIONS AND SUPERCHATS. PLEASE IT HURTS]
[@Yadimmmm2: fake and gay? that end must’ve been a setup?]
[@BrightHime48123: T_T UWAAAA KAIBA-CHAN. WILL ALWAYS SUPPORT]
[@EmikoDesuu55: MANAGER-SAN TAKE CARE OF OUR KAIBA-CHAN x3]
[@YaBoiKyoji: i feel bad for her, fighting kaiba-chan]

That was a tad embarrassing you think as you try not to blush.
You thank Kaiba again for her work and send her home.

----

>>5592353
How many times can a man forget to make the dialogue green.
----

As the days tick by you find yourself in the office on a morning like any other.
You and your assistant have been completely engrossed by the social media buzz surrounding Kaiba and her new vlog and things seem to be going well.

However, with the stream being this new you’ve been hesitant to appoint any community moderators and have been moderating the livestream chat, the facebook group, the instagram page and various other forms of social media yourself in shifts with Matsui.

This alongside all your other duties is a lot of work, but at the same time seeing the flood of interest about your idol fills you with a sense of joy.
You finally get a break and decide to reward yourself with a warm beverage.

As you walk towards the break room for a cup of tea, you happen to encounter Matsuno Kojiro, one of the other new managers and nephew of the owner, sitting in the breakroom while he’s furiously typing away on his laptop.

He’s surrounded by discarded paper coffee cups and you can imagine that he decided to just sit down here instead of walking back and forth between office and break room.
There’s a deep scowl on the man’s face and it looks like he hasn’t slept.
His hair is messy, his suit is wrinkled.

It might be none of your business, but, whether past experiences or inner nature, you can’t help but take an interests in people. ”Something is clearly wrong,” you say, browsing the selection of tea packets.

Matsuno Kojiro sighs deeply, “I’ve been doing damage control for hours now,” he says.
”It was going well,” he says, “It really was. I managed to use some connections from my time back in sales to get Maki jobs that would’ve been way out of reach for her. Some real high-profile stuff. She was racking up followers or her Instagram by the thousands.”

“So, what happened?” you ask, deciding on a mango-flavour for your tea.

“Well,” he begins, then pinches the bridge of his nose, “A fan recognized her and asked for a picture."
He waved a hand, "Some teenager around Maki’s age. I was with Maki at the time and told her it was a good idea. More exposure and all that. This was the first time she was recognized in public and asked for a picture, so she was excited and got perhaps closer than is usual for a photo like this. The boy said he would post it to his Instagram.”

He rubs his eyes, “The problems came after,” he says, “The boy posted the image on Instagram and tagged Maki in it. No harm done.”

“But then,” he continues, anger slipping into his expression, “Ichihara Riko placed a comment that said: ‘Happy two years to the both of you! xP’ and things just exploded from there.”

>>5592357

You recoil, hand covering your lips and genuinely shocked, “Did you put ou--”

“A statement that the comment was false?” he says, “Of course, first thing I did, but people had already assumed the news was credible since it came from another idol at the same agency. News like that bursts out the doorway and all you can do is play catch-up.”

He sighs again and drinks down the remnants of a cup of cold, stale coffee, “Now I have companies that were pushing her childlike, innocent image blowing up my phone. Fans are raging. There’s even a viral video of a hardcore, day-one fan ripping up his custom-made Maki poster with a mall-store katana.”

You wince, wondering how one off-hand comment could do this much damage.
“Surely, the company won’t let this go,” you say, trying to soothe your co-manager somewhat.

“They won’t,” he says, but the defeat is clear on his face, “Ichihara Riko and Yukimori Kyoden are in my uncle’s office now.”

His eyes soften somewhat and he begins collecting the paper cups around him in a single-stack, “Not that it matters,” he says, “The damage is done.”

A part of your feels bad for your co-worker, but a larger part feels relief that Kaiba at least doesn’t get herself involved in such things.
She has her own issues, sure, but nothing like this.

“I think,” he says as he finishes collecting the last cup, “Ichihara may have ended Maki’s career.”

That hits and in a sudden surge of sympathy you feel your eyes fill with tears, “That’s… that’s not fair,” you say.

“Maki is a good kid,” he says, “But the truth is that her potential as an idol is limited. It doesn’t make sense for the business to invest tens of thousands of dollars and dozens of hours to fight this wave of misinformation. There won’t be a return on investment. Her reputation is shot. Companies are pulling back.”

“It’s better to send Maki home with a good severance package and find a new idol,” he adds, “There’s a lot of cases where any news is good news, but a rumour like this will chase her forever.”
He gets up from his seat, slowly and with great effort – further showcasing the depths of his fatigue, and disposes of the cups.

An idol’s career. Destroyed just like that.

“What about Ichihara Riko?” you murmur, partially stunned in disbelief.

“That’s up to the owner,” he says, waving you goodbye, “I’m gonna crash on the meeting room couch for a while.”

File: Spoiler Image (286 KB, 512x704)

286 KB JPG

>>5592360
-------

News of the event slowly bleeds through the company as does the news about the repercussions for Ichihara Riko.
After a heated conversation with the owner she was tasked with broadcasting a public apology.
Word goes that she meant it as a joke and never expected things to turn out like this.

Her manager, Yukimori Kyoden, confirmed that she had been full-on bawling during their conversation with the owner – tormented by guilt and shame.
She promised that she would never do anything like this ever again.

Furthermore she has been hit with several social media restrictions and is not allowed to post anything on her official account without approval from her manager or the marketing department.
She used to post a dozen of times per day, at minimum, but now barely posts once every two days.
Those posts are always some incredibly formal endorsement of a product or service.

Ichihara Riko’s actions were ultimately chalked up to youthful ignorance.

>pic related
Maki Sumi has been let go, but received a generous severance package of $15.000.
This money was taken from Yukimori’s budget.

You were there on the day of Maki’s “Graduation”, which is an idol term for retirement, and you’ve never seen a young girl so thoroughly crushed before.
So hopelessly empty inside.

In the absence of an idol to manage, Matsuno Kojiro has been granted the opportunity to attend a course on idol management until the next round of auditions.
People say he’s grown thoroughly jaded and his responses are now short and blunt.

>>5592364

Several days pass by.

Kaiba has kept some distance from all the internal developments and has been spending a lot of time on her new vlog – which she seems to be enjoying a lot.
Although talking to a camera by herself like that was initially strange to her and became harder once she noticed how many people were watching.
The pressure lightened once she got some experience and figured out how to hide the viewer count.
As time went on she doesn’t even require you to be in the room anymore.

She’s even been getting some donations after that feature was enabled.
Nothing major, but the very idea that people support her fills her with confidence.
Honestly, you almost begin to wonder if she’s beginning to conquer her gloomy-ness.

[@BlueOcean123: (Donated $5.00) Kaiba-chan, fighting!]
[@SkullsSkullsSkulls95: (Donated $10.00) Goth cosplay soon?]
[@Okir99: (Donated $0.50) For future ramen. :) ]
[@DarkFlightXx: (Donated $100.00) Ah~ Kaiba-chan! Kaiba-chan! I made you a fan club!]
[@Idolmaster33: (Donated $0.01) BoobaEmote BoobaEmote BoobaEmote]
[@Keyszz1: (Donated $5.00) 7777777777777777777777777777777777777777]
[@Keyszz1: (Donated $1.00) please enable TTS]
[@NikoPanda87: (Donated $20.00) Win, kaiba-chan! Victory for neets everywhere!]

They mostly seemed to be minor amounts, so you told Kaiba that she should just pocket these donations herself or invest it back into her vlogs.

You tease Kaiba and ask if she really wants to practice her acting or if she just needs something to vlog about.
The joke is lost on her, panic clear in her face, and she becomes incredibly defensive and says she’ll continue to work hard on becoming a better idol.

Ah, well. Not quite so confident yet, it seems.

Rolling
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her ACTING using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)
Kaiba Energy: 50/100 (Spend 50)
Budget: $90.000 (Spend $10.000)

Need a 1d100+10 roll
DC to beat is 37. If successful roll a 1d6.

Rolled 24 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>5592368

Rolled 49 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>5592368

Christ, what a horrible consequence of a moment of impulse.

The good news is that we are doing better than the other managers!
The bad news is that entire kerfuffle and the crushed dreams of a teenager.

Thank goodness we chose an 18-year-old, and they happened to be a shy shut-in. Bit dissatisfied that they were no comments about Chaucer.

DarkFlightXx worries me.

How old is the MC and should we be worried that someone might stalk our personal life?

>>5592364
Ouch. I wonder if HR normally includes info on support groups for former idols when they release them or if the manager would normally handle something like that. We should send along some info to her about that if we don’t think she received it.

May even be worth a talk with Matsuno. He’s a competitor, but getting him to lighten back up is good for the girls and makes it less likely he’ll pick up the wrong lesson from this and sabotage us and Yukimori in the future. No real punishment if a “star” performer burns a lesser idol after all, and who cares if a lesser one gets burned in his crop if it hurts a competitor’s star?

I’m glad we have the vlog going to help push back somewhat on character assassination.

>>5592391
I'd get behind the reaching out to the idol and Matsuno.

>>5592368
I didn't want a livestream specifically to guard Kaiba against the commenters, but thankfully so far it's been okay. Nevertheless, we should get her a lecture on net security.
I don't believe for a moment Riko did what she did on an innocent impulse. See that Okir99? She hasn't learned her lesson either.
We should also keep an eye on DarkFlightXx. He has stalker potential.

>>5592442
>Okir99
Riko99, 2015-16=1999
Good eye! I didn't notice that at all. But also that gal got issues. Could we look into this?

File: Gloomposting.png (392 KB, 512x704)

392 KB PNG

>>5592369

Rolled 24 + 10 (1d100 + 10) did not meet DC of 37
No skill increases.

I did some looking around and it seems that most other quest use a “Best of 3” system.
I’m thinking I’ll use something similar going forward, but the above roll is what it is.
I need to adjust some revealed traits since stuff like “Disadvantage” in the D&D 5e sense don’t make sense anymore.

But those’ll probably turn in something like a negative/positive modifier or rolling 1d100 or 5d100 instead of 3d100.
I want there to be a chance of failure for rolls to matter, but right now it feels too punishing.

--------

Kaiba spend the week with an acting coach, but things didn’t seem to click.
Perhaps it was because the instructor was a bit too forceful causing Kaiba to shut down.
It feels bad to lose $10.000 like this, but you can’t keep having wins.

The live-vlog following that training had been interesting though.
What should’ve been a music stream ended up with Kaiba spending almost the entirety of it with her head on her desk and breaking herself down.
The chat was nothing but emotes of dark, little thunderclouds with a sad face on it – they called it 'Gloomposting'.

Some people tried to cheer her up, but most were caught in Kaiba’s depressive spiral.

------

Budget: $90.000
Date: February 15, 2015

Time ticks forever onwards.
What’s your plan for the next two weeks?

Idol Task: Kaiba Aoi (Energy 50)
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her SKILL_HERE using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
>4 - Write-in

3 decisions (6 weeks) until your performance review.

>>5592568
I'll be here the rest of the evening, I'm hoping for some quick votes so I can keep writing.

>>5592568
>2 - Have Kaiba train on her ACTING using an outside trainer / consultant (50 energy, Cost: $10,000, +10 modifier to the roll)

>>5592568
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her ACTING using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

Are we Bo3 now?
Other than that, for training, when we fail you could decrease DC for next training of said skill by amount we rolled.

>>5592568
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her SKILL_HERE using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

>>5592590
I meant ACTING

>>5592568
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
Train one week, work the next is how I see things. We’re looking to offset their salary at least partially each month.

>Mention @okir99 to our in-house IT to track. List the times of the vlog and rough estimates of when the posts were made to see if anyone inside the company was on the site at those times.
Hopefully it’s paranoia. If Riko is using any company assets for it she’d be caught quickly, but she could be surfing using the company’s guest wifi on a personal phone or something like that that would evade easy detection. Not sure how popular VPNs were at the time.

>(If applicable) Send Maki therapy resources for former idols if you don’t believe she received any. There are more sob stories than successes in the industry, so you know they exist.
Doesn’t have to be much. Just a personal letter with some references would suffice. Kaiba is welcome to include a remark if she’d like.

The most we get out of it is a fan, but it’s a good thing to do regardless.

>>5592568
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her ACTING using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

>Mention @okir99 to our in-house IT to track. List the times of the vlog and rough estimates of when the posts were made to see if anyone inside the company was on the site at those times.
>(If applicable) Send Maki therapy resources for former idols if you don’t believe she received any. There are more sob stories than successes in the industry, so you know they exist.

Noted. I'll include this later.

>>5592587
Yes, we are BO3 now.
We're also moving up to 1d10 for a succesfull roll.

>>5592568
Winner
>1 - Have Kaiba work on her ACTING using the office’s in-house accommodations (50 energy)

Need a 1d100 roll (3 times)
DC to beat is 37. If successful roll a 1d10.

>>5592568
>3 - Ask Matsui to find some work appropriate for Kaiba
More work morrr work!!!!

>>5592391
I'd also support reaching out to Matsuno and Maki to offer emotional support and support group info.

>>5592568
Please for the love of god, no best of 3, leave some room in this quest for failure. We already have modifiers. It is the worst system.

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>5592618

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>5592618

>>5592638
>Please for the love of god, no best of 3, leave some room in this quest for failure.
I understand the concern, but unlike other quests our DCs aren't static or random but ramp upwards as the skill in question increases.
The DC is equal to the current skill level. Meaning that you'll start having only a 20% chance of increase once you hit higher-rank idols who can have a 80 in a stat.

If the new system doesn't work out then I might chance it again and I'll just have to hope people are understanding enough.
---------------

>>5592650
>>5592640
Winner
Roll a 1d10.

I want to post the next story prompt.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>5592665
For me it's rolling? What program you using for the pictures?

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>5592665
I'd be fine with it for stat increases, but i think b03 for the actual jobs is too much, what would be the point of increasing stat modifiers if we can really on easy mode bo3 to carry us forward by skewing our average roll to 70+ every time something important is rolled for?

>>5592665
Rollin'

>>5592668
Eh, I didn't say what I wanted to say right. The modifiers would still be important in a bo3 system if the DCs go into the hundreds, and it would increase our roll floor. What I mean is that it kinda invalidates the tension of rolling and the importance of difficulty and increasing our stats, we can always be assured of victory with bo3, not always for each individual roll, but generally.

>>5592667
+8 to acting, making the new score a 45.

>What program you using for the pictures?
Novel.ai. Costs money though.

>>5592668
>>5592672
I don't have a great answer, I'll think it over for a bit.

>>5592674

And so the remainder of February flew by.

This time around Kaiba practiced her acting using in-house resources and not having an outsider barking at them (that is desperate for results to validate their invoice) helped a whole bunch.

Kaiba’s Acting Increases by 8

Her new daily vlogging habit has forced Kaiba to break out of her shell somewhat.
She still can’t look an actual person in the eyes for more than ten seconds, but she has become a whole lot better at interacting with her viewers and bouncing a conversation around between herself and the live chat – improving her personality.

-------------------------

From “Rules” (I roll a dice to see if this procs)
An idol may try to develop her skills during in her own time (3d100)

Need a 1d100 roll (3 times) as Kaiba is trying to work on her Personality.
DC to beat is 37. If successful roll a 1d10.

-------------------------

Shortly after one of her live-vods, Kaiba receives a message from a viewer which she shares with you and Matsui.
After calling both Kaiba and Matsui into your office, you read the message aloud.

Hello Kaiba-chan,

Great stream as always today, I’m so happy to watch you everyday.
~Ah, I hope that didn’t seem strange. I didn’t mean anything weird by it.
A few weeks back I began a Kaiba-chan Fanclub for fans in the Tokyo area.
You might be surprised to hear that you already have more than a hundred fans in Tokyo alone!

As loyal followers of Kaiba-chan we call ourselves the “Broodlings”.
Some people prefer “Gloomlings”. We don’t have a full consensus yet, haha.

Anyway, I am sending you a message on behalf of the fanclub to request a handshaking event.
We’d love to meet you in person!

You, your manager, and the agency can decide where it is kept and everything.
Just now that if you build it we will come!

As you don’t have any merch for now, I hope you’re okay with some of us bringing printouts of screenshots we took during the stream for you to sign.
That is all. I hope you have a very, very happy day and I hope to see you again tomorrow.

Your most loyal fan,

DarkFlightXx (Takemoto Hikaru)

>>5592695

Having fans seemed to have made Kaiba-san happy, the idea of meeting them, however, seemed to make her deeply uncomfortable. (Kaiba’s trait 'Gloomy')

Nevertheless, an idol will have to get used to meeting her fans at some point.
An opportunity like this were you can decide all the factors yourself might be ideal.
An idol is usually just told to attend some event and you can’t decide where it is, maximum attendance, or how much security is present.

Unlike now.

You turn towards Matsui, “What do you think?”

Matsui shrugs, “Hosting an event like this is almost certain to run a loss,” she says, “But there’s always tag-alongs and other people joining so we might be able to increase the amount of her fans.”

She taps her trusty clipboard with the back of her pen as she thinks, “Merch might be an idea, we may recoup the cost of the event or even turn a profit, but I wouldn’t know what kind of merch we’d make. If you have any suggestions, feel free. We can also leave it to marketing.”

>1 - Decline organizing a handshaking event.
>2 - Organize the event at a small venue (max 100 pers.) - $10.000 (+1 Fame)
>3 - Organize the event at a small venue (max 100 pers.) and create merch for the event - $15.000 (+1 Fame)*

Merch sale is based on Kaiba's fan interaction roll.

Rolled 51 (1d100)

>>5592665
I’m okay with whatever roll logic you want, even if it changes later. Bo3 will lead to fewer failures of course. If you feel that’s generous, changing modifiers or reducing the rewards for a success (d4 instead of d6/d8 as a base) would slow down our growth. Bo2 default is also an option.

I’m no dice mechanics purist though.

>>5592695
Rollin’

>>5592699
>3 - Organize the event at a small venue (max 100 pers.) and create merch for the event - $15.000 (+1 Fame)*

Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>5592695

>>5592699
>3 - Organize the event at a small venue (max 100 pers.) and create merch for the event - $15.000 (+1 Fame)*

We could keep the original d6 increases but have d8s and d10s as options if we pay for outside consultancy or something, give some variety to our options, maybe have special events or unique options happen during those events. Maybe include options for what we personally do during each 2 weeks to add another dimension to the quest, though there is already an element of that, but personal stuff we do can add context to events or maybe give similar bonuses to paying for dice bonuses depending on what we do, I dunno.

>>5592703
>>5592716
DC was actually a 33, but successful roll anyway.

>>5592726
Although I like the idea of the MC, Nagata Miho, being more a character in her own right, I'm gonna hold off on any changes until after the performance review.
There's a good chance you might end up with more idols after all, so there's gonna be an increase in decision making anyway.

But even if the performance review goes well, there's a chance people might still choose to micro-manage Kaiba and not recruit more idols.

You might've noticed I'm somewhat rushing towards the performance review to resolve that uncertainty.

One more month to go.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>5592695
Rolling improvement since Kaiba passed.

>>5592699
>3 - Organize the event at a small venue (max 100 pers.) and create merch for the event - $15.000 (+1 Fame)*
We can trial it as seeing what merch seems the most popular. Better to do it for a small-scale event like this than a larger one where the stakes are higher.

Given the names her fans are considering I’m imagining a pokemon knock-off to represent them. Either that or a Starcraft parody with Swarmlings. She’d be the gloomy Kerrigan, of course.

>>5592699
>>3 - Organize the event at a small venue (max 100 pers.) and create merch for the event - $15.000 (+1 Fame)*
Nice quest.
The fans are ok. But we should think about doing a few things on the side, call it caution.
- Having a list of the fanclub members, for see if there might be familiar faces for Kaiba. Or ones we should be worried about.
- Maybe joining the fan club unofficially for keep an eye on them, and know what they think outside the chat
- Perhaps a few ways for interact with them online before this event ? Like a vote for decide ideas for the merch, with ideas from fans being accepted
- Or maybe a sort of quick test like "What kind of fan you are ?"

>>5592699
>2 - Organize the event at a small venue (max 100 pers.) - $10.000 (+1 Fame)
I don't believe Kaiba is likely to roll on interaction well enough for us to recoup the cost of merch production.
Also we have to make sure not to let the fans feel too entitled. This way lie stalkers and crazies.

>>5592733
Adding 7 to personality

Next update will be tomorrow.
Leaving vote open for now.

Feel free to recommend some mrch

Suggestions so far
>A pokemon knock-off to represent them.
>Starcraft parody with Swarmlings. She’d be the gloomy Kerrigan, of course.

>>5592811
Small dark shadows with yellow eyes

>>5592811
Small dark clouds like the emojis they posted, but smiling.

>>5592811
A chibi stuffed Kaiba doll. Too soon for a dakimakura? If not then one of those.

>>5592811
so merch won huh? We should roll out plastic keyrings and that's it. I don't want to spend money on plushies, the cost would be insane! Cheap plastic keyrings on the other hand are more reasonable, and it's going to be understood by the fans. If there are only 100+ fans, spending $5000 is a bad idea. Each guy should spend $50 on merch alone to break even. I wouldn't pay that for a nascent idol!

On another note, I liked veery much that you bothered to add actual storytelling and go with drama this early. That's interesting and attracive

>>5592811
I'll echo >>5592837 in regards to the storytelling and drama. Had this just been a typical idol management sim where the stats go up and that is all then this would've been a boring quest.

I mean, if it's going to cost $5000 for us either way something more than "wow a plastic key ring!" would be preferred.
>>5592811
It's too early for the fun stuff like 音声/voice works so what about a wall scroll illustration? Something modest like Kaiba at her PC, perhaps?

>>5592837
It’s 100 in Tokyo, so more should exist outside the city. Internet celebrities know no borders after all, and she does have slight fame thanks to a successful audition. If we pull in people from elsewhere then we could see the price per fan to break even drop significantly.

I’d treat this as a focus test for her fans and marketing. We’ll throw some different things out there and see what sticks. Breaking even would be nice, but I consider it secondary to seeing what we can bait them into and upcharge on.

>>5592817
>>5592820
I’ll back these. They can be plastic instead of plush, they’re basically just little emoji icons. Make sure they get added as purchase options in chat, or that anything already in chat gets added to the merch pile.

Other stuff
>Something to accentuate the “motherly” aspect we settled on earlier. Icon of her nursing rocking a little baby gloom cloud to sleep?
>Seed some nametags/mugs/whatever with some different names for Kaiba. Gloomother? Broodmother? The latter would pair well with a Starcraft knockoff.
>Toss in some general merch from the company. We’re bound to have some inventory that needs clearing.

>>5592857
>>Toss in some general merch from the company. We’re bound to have some inventory that needs clearing.
based...
Shit, how about phone cases??? Getting the model & size right might be iffy tho... I would love to have a pen for example. Or something that you would use a lot, like a... keyring...
What is something you use a lot? pen and paper are great but I don't think WORK related merchandise would be nice. But this is Japan we speak of

>>5592731
Oh, and echoing the others about the story. If I wanted a “numbers go up” experience I’d play an idle game. I appreciate turning all this into a narrative.

>>5592817
>>5592820
I'd get behind these as well.
>>5592826
A chibi doll sounds cute, but I think it's too early for a dakimakura, though that may just be my values reoiling at fans cuddling a pillowcase of our young idol. But wait, do idol dakimakuras exists in the real world? I am uninformed about idols and stuff.

>>5592955
HAH ! en guarde you supporter of a noble hoplite from the north of greece !
But yeah i think the small dark shadows or the small dark clouds are cool

>>5592959
Shh, you saw nothing.

>>5592957
>Do idol dakimakuras exist IRL
I honestly have no idea. I don't actually follow any idols unless you count Vtubers. The most I've done is subscribe to a channel that talks about idol news, but that was half a decade ago and I haven't kept up with it. It just seemed like something that would exist because: Japan.

I do want to protect our idols though, the suggestion was more because it felt like a 'mandatory' obvious suggestion to me.

>>5592983
>would exist because: Japan
That's fair. Already in this story there was mention of fan madness:
>ripping up his custom-made Maki poster with a mall-store katana

>>5592731
Good idea. Gives the MC more character, her own personal motivations and a life outside idol management.

>>5592811
Some kind of gacha merch?

File: 61yjozUB2TL._AC_SY450_.jpg (26 KB, 476x450)

26 KB JPG

>>5592382
Agreed.

>>5592695
Concern intensifies as I catch up.

>>5592699
Nevertheless, it's an opportunity to seize!
>3 - Organize the event at a small venue (max 100 pers.) and create merch for the event - $15.000 (+1 Fame)*

>>5592811
>>5592817
>>5592820
Small dark clouds with reversible hapy/sad faces?

>>5592857
If we have Kaiba sort of discuss these as "her little gloomlings", it'll build the motherliness up and fold it into the goth neet gimmick.

>>5592811
Posters or a calendar?
We should get her a job next to expand her appeal.

>>5593225
Reversible is a cool idea.

Winner
>3 - Organize the event at a small venue (max 100 pers.) and create merch for the event - $15.000 (+1 Fame)*
I've noted down the feedback given on merch and I'll try to work it in somehow.

Small dark clouds/shadows with yellow eyes, small kaiba-keychain or phone charm, try to work in the "motherly" aspect somewhat.
I'll post some options in a bit.

File: PlushieOptions.jpg (341 KB, 512x3000)

341 KB JPG

Here's some plushie options to vote on while I actually write an update.
The keychain/phone charm I already have down, but I'll reveal that during the actual handshaking event.

Sorry if Kaiba herself seems kinda off in the above examples, I skimped on photoshopping since this is mainly about the plushies.

Plushie
>1 - Option 1
>2 - Option 2
>3 - Option 3
>4 - Option 4

>>5593397
1 is pretty cute, got a lot of expression on that one. Kind of a doing okay but not great face.
2 seems to me a penguin, but the white part of the their outfit has been removed.
3 reminds me of my cat, especially with those eyes.
4 I don't really know what I can associate it with.

My picks going
be:
>1

>>5593397
One.
>>5593403
4 looks like a Digimon.

>>5593397
It has to be #1. 2 is not distinctive enough, and 3 and 4 too cat-like.

>>5593397
>1
Or
>3

>>5593397
1 no doubt about it

>>5593397
>3 - Option 3

>>5593397
The style of 1 throws me off, but I like the fact that it’s on the verge of crying.

>>5593397
Winner
>1 - Option 1

I'll see if I can clean it up a bit.

>>5588539
>Gothic persona wasn't chosen
Nooooooooo

>>5593397
>3 - Option 3
I like it, it's very expressive

>>5593500
It didn’t seem like the ice-cold persona is something Kaiba could maintain easily. I was okay with the overall goth look with a change in personality, but I voted too late with my write-in.

>>5593516
Do remember that it was a persona vote, not a look vote. Kaiba can be a goth mommy if the situation allows.

>>5593397

”Let’s get some merchandise created,” you say, ”All this is more of a marketing opportunity to us anyway and merch will hopefully help with that. Besides, anything we don’t sell we could put up for sale in a online shop and advertise to the viewers of her stream.”

Kaiba shivers at the idea of meeting her fans in person, ”What if my fans are creepy,” she says, wringing her hands, ”Or scary? Or dangerous?””
They seem okay in the chatroom, but I’m different in real life as well…” she continues, then falls quiet.

Interacting with fans is essential for an idol, but you know that blurting out that information isn’t the right move for now.
It’ll just be another helping of stress and pressure.

"You’ll be ready for it,” you say instead, ”We’ll have the handshaking event at the end of the next month, that’ll give us plenty of time to prepare.”

Matsui gives you a smug look and then raises her eyebrows conspiratorially.
She seems to know as well as you do that that date places the event days before your performance review.
The timing is a nice bonus, but you nevertheless need a good amount of time for marketing, getting the merch made, preparing Kaiba, and planning the whole affair.

"What kind of scale are you thinking of?” asks Matsui.

You lean back for a moment, your desk-chair groans as the springs catch your weight, ”Small venue,” you say, ”Maybe a capacity of a hundred people. If more people show then they can just wait outside.”

Kaiba hesitantly crawls into the conversation, ”H-how many people do you think will show?” she says carefully, ”A hundred at most, right?”

”Well, the message mentioned that the fan club had more than a hundred members,” you reply, ”But not all of those might show. Me and Matsui have been moderating all your social media and because of the analytics we already knew there were a good amount of fans in the Tokyo area. I wouldn’t greenlight a full event and spend thousands based on the words of one fan.”

Matsui leans in towards Kaiba, ”Could be a few hundred,” she says with a playful smile on her face, ”Maybe even a thousand.”

File: Tanabe Kenji.png (432 KB, 512x768)

432 KB PNG

>>5593554

Kaiba visibly pales and slides down her seat.

You shoot Matsui a look, a light frown, before turning your attention back to Kaiba, ”Even if a million fans were to show,” you say as you try to lift Kaiba back into her seat, ”It wouldn’t matter. With a capacity of a hundred there’ll never be more than a hundred people in the building. Otherwise the fire department would come and shut us down.”

You manage to wrestle Kaiba back into her seat, but she still seems out of it.

Glancing upwards, you see that Matsui has returned back to her former, professional self and you can only wonder if that was her real personality peeking through or just a random impulse.
You make a mental note of it, but let it go for now.

”We’ll ask the marketing department to put in some effort over the course of the next month,” you say, ”We’ll ask them to place some advertisements on websites that people interested in idols visit and whatever else they can think off.”

Matsui nods, writing down a note on her clipboard.

You clap your hands, ”Well,” you say, ”Let’s get to work.”

----

Over the next few days you announce your idea to upper management and they approve it.
However, they remind you that the cost of this kind of marketing event centerend around an idol under your management will have to come out of your budget.

The marketing department never rests in a place like an idol agency and they are so busy that you fear you might have to try and create some buzz yourself.

Luckily, Tanabe Kenji from marketing, the man who helped you setup Kaiba’s live-vlog, is willing to put in some effort in his off hours.
But only if you return the favour at some point in the future – though he doesn’t specify in what way.

Marketing
>1 - Take the offer and allow Tanabe to do all the marketing
>2 - Try and do the marketing yourself (1d100, degrees of success)

>>5593556
>1 - Take the offer and allow Tanabe to do all the marketing

>>5593556
>>2 - Try and do the marketing yourself (1d100, degrees of success)