Tokyo Reborn: Dark Superstar

Chapter 214: Monarch-like ruling power

Ryo Nishikido used a copy of the latest fashion magazine "Mina" to exchange information from Yui Aragaki's best friend.

Yui Aragaki is going to Tokyo to enroll in Sunrise High School and take the exam for One Piece Entertainment's artist training class.

Yui Aragaki was born in the Ryukyu region. She is the youngest of three children in her family.

This is an introverted and shy child with a reserved personality and is shy and timid.

But despite her personality, she became fascinated with singing in elementary school, so much so that her childhood dream was to become a singer. She even participated in the Okinawa City Singing Competition, but unfortunately did not make the finalists.

Yui Aragaki's father got a job at the GLONASS satellite research and development center in Obihiro City, Hokkaido, so the whole family moved here.

Yui Aragaki applied to the local artist training school three times, but was rejected every time.

…………

In fact, Yui Aragaki's physical condition does not meet the screening criteria of the Japanese entertainment industry.

She is too tall.

Whether she is the main player in the school badminton club or the manager of the women's basketball team, she is very suitable and does a good job.

However, when it comes to entering the entertainment industry, every time the judges see her "giant" height, she is basically eliminated.

It was not until she participated in the model selection competition of "JJ" magazine that she unexpectedly won the "Best Excellence Award", and was thus invited to interview for the training class of One Piece Entertainment.

Rumor has it that the top executives of One Piece Entertainment saw it and thought that her healing smile would definitely be loved by many people.

Therefore, Yui Aragaki took the interview for One Piece Entertainment's artist training class very seriously and took the Shinkansen accompanied by her mother.

With a busy schedule, there is definitely no time to queue up to buy the album's first release.

…………

So Ryo Nishikido had to take advantage of the time difference and deliver the album to Yui Aragaki's house before tomorrow to make the beautiful lady smile.

In fact, the album was sold out today, and Nishikido Ryo felt both depressed and secretly happy.

The louder the waves, the more expensive the fish.

The harder it is to buy the album, the more important it will be when he gives it to Yui Aragaki, and the better the effect will be.

On the contrary, if they are everywhere, it would be less effective.

Thinking of this, Ryo Nishikido became more and more excited, and he dragged his friends to the audio-visual store at the bobsleigh Tokyo Olympic competition venue. This is a store that specializes in renting books and discs, and has a good relationship with Sony's major distributors in Hokkaido.

…………

In Obihiro City, Hokkaido, the only stores eligible to get a certain number of genuine albums first are Kadokawa Bookstore and this music store.

Other stationery stores, supermarkets and related audio and home appliances stores also sell it, but the quantity is very small and most of them are pirated.

We may be able to get some goods in a few days, but at this juncture, it would be a waste of time to go.

The two of them rode over nervously.

Fortunately, the goods are still available.

Unfortunately, there was a long line in front of us.

Ryo Nishikido was simply unbelievable. He had never seen such a scene in his life, a large group of people queuing up to buy genuine albums.

When did Hokkaido become so rich?

…………

His friend was calmer than him. After all, he was a loyal fan of the band Beasts and had a general understanding of the importance of the words "Bunta Takakura" in Hokkaido.

As the base camp of Takakura Cai's team, I dare not say that everyone is a fan of him. The younger generation does not know Takakura Bunta and the Beast Band.

The neutral faction that controls the Hokkaido parliament passed the Ainu Culture Promotion Law, the 1999 Hokkaido Indigenous People Naturalization Act, the Hokkaido Farm Modernization Workforce Act, and the Japan Hokkaido Region Special Passport Act.

The textbooks for elementary, middle and high schools in Hokkaido are constantly being revised, and the media is providing comprehensive guidance to promote Ainu culture. The Beast Band is the cultural calling card of the Ainu and is the absolute political correctness of Hokkaido.

Last year, One Piece Entertainment conducted a statistics, and in the ranking of sales of genuine albums in various prefecture-level cities in Japan, Hokkaido ranked second only to the Tokyo metropolitan area, and its sales were higher than those of the Osaka metropolitan area.

You know, despite the garrison economy of Mimihaji PMC and the large-scale production investment of Metaverse Planning Co., Ltd., Hokkaido's economic growth rate ranks first in Japan.

However, due to the low total amount, the GDP of Hokkaido region still ranks behind the Tokyo metropolitan area, Osaka metropolitan area, and the famous ancient metropolitan area.

This situation still exists, and the band Beasts can sell more albums here than in Tokyo.

All I can say is that the Beasts band holds a very high position in the hearts of Hokkaido citizens.

Bunta Takakura is to Hokkaido what Takuya Kimura is to Tokyo, with the ruling power of a monarch.

…………Moreover, because One Piece Entertainment controls the online social platform Telegram, while Johnny's Office is obviously lagging behind in Internet promotion……

There is also the metaverse's rice-washing mission.

This makes One Piece Entertainment's cash flow extremely abundant and extremely friendly to fan clubs.

Other fan clubs ask fans to pay money to support their idols, but One Piece Entertainment officially sponsors fan activities through fan clubs.

There are co-branded clothing, coffee, food, cosmetics, buffet coupons, sneakers, and even a bank card co-issued with Hokkaido Bank, which comes with 5000 yen in cash pre-deposited.

When Mary Kitagawa was interviewed by Weekly Bunshun, she repeatedly denounced One Piece Entertainment's "chaotic" distribution of money, and expressed deep sorrow:
"One piece Entertainment is giving money to every fan. That is just fooling everyone. It is a fraud! It is destroying the fan economy environment!"

“If everyone gets paid, it’s the same as not getting paid.”

"All the money was spent on poor fans. What a sin!"

…………

This makes One Piece Entertainment's advantage is that it has a huge influence among young people, and the Beasts band has gained a lot of loyal fans.

Currently, more than 90% of the idol-chasing students in Hokkaido junior high schools are fans of the band Beasts.

The Beasts band is also the only star in Hokkaido where students can be fans of the band without any objection from their parents, who even buy their albums and listen to them together.

In such an environment, it is easy to understand why people have to queue up to buy new albums, and even not queuing up is a novelty.

..............................

Looking at the long line of people, Nishikido Ryo prayed in his heart that the items would not be sold out again.

However, things did not go as planned. Just when there were only a dozen people left before his turn, the staff came out to signal him.

There is no need to queue up at the back because the goods are sold out.

Nishikido Ryo's blood pressure suddenly rose, and he jumped several times on the spot with his fists clenched before he forced himself not to curse.

The friend felt sorry for it, but still advised: "Forget it, it's already three o'clock in the afternoon, it's too late to buy it."

"I'm going to Sapporo with him today. Do you want to come with me?"

Nishikido Ryo was so anxious that his eyes turned red.

Now Aragaki Yui is secondary. He must buy this album today to let out the anger in his heart.

When the friends saw that Nishikido Ryo was getting too excited, they couldn't persuade him anymore. Since he was a good brother, they decided to follow him.

The two rode their bicycles to the train station and bought short-distance train tickets to Sapporo.

…………

An hour later, at Kadokawa Bookstore near Sapporo Snow Country Train Station.

Nishikido Ryo and his friends rushed into the store: "Does the Beasts have a new album?"

"What a coincidence, there's only one left."

The clerk took out an album from the counter and said, "I wanted to leave it for my daughter, but we are doing business, so there is no reason to chase people away. Take the 1 yen."

"So expensive!"

Nishikido Ryo was startled, and the clerk explained to him:
"Seeing that you're like this, you should go somewhere else. This album is so popular that they're selling it at a premium. The purchase price is 2800 yen per copy."

"Look at this album, it has high-definition images, top-notch sound effects, and there are posters and lyrics included. There is also a random signature of Akina Nakamori, Bitcoin from Telegram, and coupons that can be exchanged for concert tickets."

Ryo Nishikido was very tempted, but the budget was insufficient. At the critical moment, his friend stepped forward and filled the gap for him.

The two of them teamed up to negotiate with the clerk, and eventually the price was reduced to 6000 yen. They finally got this last album and left with a mixture of heartache and joy.

After the two left, the clerk happily put the money away.

…………

Kadokawa Bookstore has clear regulations regarding album prices, but there are countermeasures from above and policies from below.

The Kadokawa Bookstore at Sapporo Train Station is not a directly-operated store like the one in Obihiro City, but a franchise store.

In a small shop like this, they occasionally increase the price and sell a few tickets, so it is impossible for people to check them one by one.

Just when I was feeling happy, a woman with an impatient look on her face came into the store and asked if there was any album of the Beasts band. The clerk quickly took out a new one.

"What a coincidence, there's only one left."

(End of this chapter)