Chapter 431: A glimpse of Hope |
Suzume looked at Rin and said, "Um, Senpai?"
Rin smiled. "Yes, Suzu-chan?"
Suzume stared at where the knife in Rin's hand had vanished. But then she shook her head and said, "Is there a reason you needed to enter so urgently?"
Rin paused to think about it. And then she said, "Oh yeah! I just heard from Mister John!" She giggled and said, "We're getting new kouhais!"
===
Back at John's office in the Myth Inc. HQ.
John stared at the giant pile of auditions and hummed. "Not sure if I should be flattered or worried about the state of the world..."
Unlike the open auditions in Japan for new talents that they pushed pretty heavily, the audition for English speaking talents was fairly niche.
Although John wanted to expand Project MirAIs to help more people, he also wanted it to stand on its own if they did expand overseas. After all, the core target audience and cultures were different.
Even then, John had a list of over a hundred talents to sort through.
But what was more interesting was that the talents weren't people who wanted to meet the girls. In fact, just from a casual look at the list, most of the talents who applied didn't even really know what Project MirAIs was.
"Well, I'll definitely sort out the male talents right away..." John pressed a few buttons on his tablet and sorted out the list, filtering out the candidates. But that still left seventy. "Hm..."
Streamers, voice actors, cosplayers, underground rappers, artists, actual actors... Talents from all sorts of fields had applied.
And from just a quick skim of everyone's portfolios, all of them were skilled. John could tell that they were all masters of their crafts. But...
"This is what they mean when you can't save everyone..."
John sighed.
As much as it would be nice to just pull everyone under John's umbrella, he couldn't just have Project MirAIs accept everyone-
Wait.
John leaned forward and laced his fingers together, thinking. "Project MirAIs can't accept everyone... but there's no reason why Myth Incorporated couldn't."
Project MirAIs was a specialized idol/entertainment group that was established to give a second chance to girls who wanted to perform and entertain. And because of that, it was important to keep the synergy of the talents in mind. Failing to do so... well, there was a reason why Prodigy was having some troubles right now.
Honestly, John should have thought that through more. But that aside...
Myth Incorporated could use an in-house team of experts. Official cosplayers to promote people. Actors for advertisements. Artists, composers, animators...
Since everything was expanding, John had the space to pick up people who wouldn't fit being a MirAIs idol by slotting them in at Myth Incorporated instead.
A win-win.
John chuckled and quickly sent a note to Jenny about it. "Right. Most people can't save everyone, but I definitely could."
It was just a matter of willingness and probability. Willingness to take a chance on these people, and making it seem like it was possible to give them that chance.
Fortunately, John had infinite resources and Titor could fudge the numbers and history if needed. Speaking of which, John should visit the guy and his new niece sometime... But for now, he turned his attention to the applications.
At that time, the air crackled and a holographic cute girl with rainbow hair and sparkly eyes appeared in thin air. She flew around John and giggled. "Are we taking over the world today, John?"
John poked the girl's cheek and said, "No, Mira-chan. We're saving people."
"Aw..." Mira-chan pouted and said, "But why can't we?"
"Many reasons." John started reviewing the applications and said, "The main one being that owning a world is a hassle. Done it before, and it gets annoying. It's much better just letting people do their own things and giving them self-actualization."
"Self-actual... what?"
John paused. "Oh, I guess you wouldn't understand it yet, Mira-chan. Hm... wait until you get about a decade more experience and develop more of a sense of self. You'll understand then."
Mira-chan pouted.
"Anyway." John started making some filters on the applications to sort the applicants by industry. Then he glanced at Mira-chan and said, "Did you finish the tests with sending the MIRAIZ app to different worlds yet?"
"Yes!" Mira-chan gave a thumbs up and said, "I've connected to similar Earths' internets to look for your home world, Mister John!"
"Any news?"
Mira-chan floated over and said, "I've found a few worlds that don't have any supernatural beings like you asked, Mister John! But most of them do! Like, there's this one world where a guy got reincarnated as a boy who looks like a girl! The gods were wondering what to give him, so I offered the MIRAIZ app and pulled a lost soul near the world to help as the system AI!"
John paused and said, "When you say 'help'..."
Mira-chan pumped a fist in the air and said, "It's to make sure that the user uses the system to its full potential and become the best VTuber Idol Agency ever!"
John sighed. "This is why I haven't given you free reign like Droni yet."
Mira-chan puffed her cheeks out and said, "Why nooot? I've been good!"
"Because right now, you have the mental responsibility of a five-year old while having the keys to the entire world. And I am not going to have to explain to my family why I had to rewind time because you did something like make people send off nukes... or drag extradimensional beings here."
Mira-chan sighed. "Fiiine."
John nodded and continued filtering out the applicants. "Make sure to update the app you give that guy to do what he wants the next chance you get." He paused. "Actually, I should just have Betty supervise that... Maybe hire a few interns too. We could treat it like a sort of VRMMORPG thing and disguise it..." John wrote down some notes.
Mira-chan pouted and then dissolved into pixels, hiding away in her digital pocket space.
John glanced at her and chuckled, reminded a bit of how Meggie used to sulk.
*ding*
John blinked and pulled out his phone. "Speak of the devil...? Oh, no. It's not Meggie."
===
[Rin Hibana]
Forgive me Mister John! I told the others we're getting kouhais!
===
John sighed. "Of course you would, Rin..."
Rin could keep secrets, but when it came to Project MirAIs and the other girls, she was always a bit excitable.
...Actually. Now that John thought about it, she had been more excitable ever since that life counseling session he had with her and Hana. Hm... maybe he should do a follow-up sometime soon, just in case.
But for now...
===
[John]
That's fine. But remember to be careful about saying that stuff around school and your classmates.
===
[Rin Hibana]
Don't worry! I'll make sure there aren't any witnesses! Promise! ^_^
===
John stared at that last message and felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead. "That's..." He paused and then quickly texted just in case.
===
[John]
No violence or intimidation allowed, Rin.
===
[Rin Hibana]
Why not? Just a little?
===
[John]
Rin.
===
[Rin Hibana]
Okay Mister John... I'll just be careful and stealthy then.
===
Crisis averted.
John let out a sigh of relief. "Maybe I should invite Sakura for a talk about Rin sometime..."
Rin had gone a whole 'face yourself' Pers*na style arc, but it seemed she was starting to embrace the more violent and inherited sadistic nature from her father a bit too much...
John should find a way to help her channel that better before things got too out of hand... But anyway.
===
[John]
Also, remember to keep in touch with your mom. Even if you're both busy, it's important.
===
[Rin Hibana]
Aw~ Is Mister John feeling lonely these days now that Onee-chan and Betty nee-chan are out of the house? I'll get them to call more often! And I will, promise!
===
John let out a chuckle. "Read like a book..." He shook his head and then went back to looking at the applications. "Let's see..."
The filtering was done.
Since it was, John decided to start with the applicants that had bothered to send in a cover letter or a personal video message. He sorted the list from earliest to latest and then clicked on the first applicant... which was apparently sent the day the auditions went public.
"Huh." John blinked. "Must be a big fan." He hummed and then opened the personal video message.
A shy girl with dyed light blue hair sat in a metal folding chair. Her clothes were a bit threadbare, but there was a determined look in her blue eyes. She gave a stiff wave and said, "H-Hello, Mister Smith!" She let out a nervous giggle and said, "M-My name is Hope! I-I saw that Myth Incorporated opened an English site and were opening auditions for an English branch of Project MirAIs and I wanted to apply!"
"Hope?" John blinked and sat up straighter. "Hm..."
Like her name, Hope seemed full of wishes and dreams. But she also looked like she was in a rough spot.
John saw that she was streaming from a small studio bedroom with cracked drywall and a dusty window in the back. And from the resolution... the video was probably recorded on an older smartphone too.
The video continued and Hope said, "U-Um... I don't have much talent." She lowered her gaze and said, "I'm not good at streaming or anything... But I'm a hard worker! A-A-And!" She sat up straight and took a deep breath, her eyes sparkling. "I want to make people happy! Like how Hana and Aoko and Alphy and everyone else does!" She paused and said, "I-I know I'm probably not good enough yet and probably won't get accepted this time. B-But I'm going to keep trying! I won't give up until I'm good enough to stand beside them!"
John's eyes lit up and he sat up straight. "This girl..."
Was it her name? Hope really seemed full of... well, hope. There was a fire in her eyes that refused to dim despite her circumstances and the reality of the situation. Like a spark that kept going even though a hurricane was trying to snuff it out.
John smiled and kept watching.
Hope took a deep breath and bowed. Then she sat up straight and said, "H-Here's my audition performance! I'm going to sing Dear You from When They Cry. U-Um... Here I go!"
John waited and listened.
It was an awkward performance. Too many nerves. Her voice too warbly and all over the place. And it was acapella too, so she missed the pitches. Not only that, but since she tried to sing translyrics, the flow was off.
But that didn't matter to John.
Skill could be given. But...
Hope finished her performance and then sighed. She giggled and said, "Sorry. I know it was bad... But! I'll be better! So... Don't forget about me! I'll be back! Thank you for watching, Mister John!" She bowed her head and then reached up to end the video.
John sat there for a while and then chuckled. "Well. I guess there's not really any better fit for an idol group established to prevent bad endings than an embodiment of hope, is there?" He smiled and then pulled out his phone to make a call.
One ring. Two. And on the third, a nervous female voice picked up. "Y-Y-Yes? T-This is Hope Valentia speaking...?"
"Hope. This is John Smith, from Myth Incorporated and Project MirAIs. I just reviewed your application and wanted to ask if you were free for a short talk in person..."