Chapter 3: Scouting Trouble

After ensuring that there wouldn’t be any annoying things coming in the future, John signed the contract and received the keys to an office building in Roppongi Hills.

Coincidentally, it was across the street from his apartment complex.

Kai left his business card with John as well as other contact information, saying that he was free to call if he ever needed assistance. Also that Kai would drop by every now and then to check on how business was going.

Standing in front of the double doors and the towering steel and glass building, John muttered, “I guess Yue was right. I do get wrapped up in troublesome things too easily, don’t I?”

He could have easily refused. After all, there was no other transcendent on Earth or even any other being with the slightest hint of abnormal powers.

In short, John was a god among men.

Even so, he found himself being swept up in the mood and agreeing after sensing that guy’s desperation.

“Haah.” John scratched the back of his head and then unlocked the door to the building.

When he walked inside, the first thing he noticed was the reception area. An unmanned front desk with a computer sitting on top of it. Off to the left and right on either side were elevators leading up into the building.

John unfolded the pamphlet Kai handed to him with the building plans and then began to survey the place with his spiritual sense.

“Let’s see… A lounge, a dance studio, a recording room, an office… and then a couple of floors with unfurnished spaces.”

The deed that Kai passed to John gave him free reign to do whatever he wanted with the property. If he wanted, he could probably even move in on one of the empty floors after refurnishing it.

That was definitely something to consider in the future. But for now…

“I should probably do some research, huh?”

It was his collector’s instinct again making him add the business to his property, but he wasn’t the type to leave a place like this unutilized.

Locking the doors behind him, he walked into the elevator.

The facilities in the building were still running, so they opened without an issue. But instead of using them, he bent space to head to the office.

Once there, he walked over to the desk and turned on the PC.

—–AI|IA—–

The next day. A cup of coffee in hand, John leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “So that’s how it is, huh?”

Idols. In Japan, they could be as young as 14 and were mostly female. Talents that could sing, dance, and entertain. It was also a fiercely competitive field where it wasn’t uncommon for the girls to have to resort to unsavory methods to advance. Not only that, it was commonplace for those girls to be taken advantage of because of their youth and desperation.

Often, the ones that applied did so because they had nothing else. Either due to circumstance, or because they had hyperspecialized with the dream of making it big.

“How detestable,” John muttered.

He remembered rumors spilling out around the time he left Earth about the entertainment field’s unsavory underside, but he didn’t think it ran this deep.

It reminded him of those sects back in the Three Realms that saw female disciples as nothing more than resources. It also reminded him of how he cut those bastards down and helped those girls back on their feet.

“…Guess I’m still doing the same even here, huh?”

John let out a self-deprecating smile and shook his head.

It seemed like the same sorts of things would unfold around him no matter where he was… Well, at least on Earth he would have video games and entertainment to make up for it.

It was cool and all having mystical treasures and roaming the land killing and taming monsters, but sometimes pretending was better than experiencing it first hand.

John stretched and then got to his feet.

It was Saturday now. November 2nd, 2024.

There wasn’t really a need to rush looking for talents, but Kai had mentioned that it would probably be good to get the ball rolling before the new year.

The problem was where he would find girls to join.

Music wasn’t a concern. He had plenty of experience in that regard from studying the Dao of music.

Neither was dancing and coordination. A few hours watching past performances was enough for John to get a sense on how to work that out.

Funds weren’t an issue since John could always do some quick day trading to make up for it.

No, his main concern was finding attractive young women that would be willing to join a no-name agency like his own and trust him to teach them how to become an idol.

While walking out the door to his office building (and putting a protective restriction formation on it just to be safe), John muttered, “I need to come up with a name too, don’t I?”

For the group and the company. At the moment, everything was tentatively called ‘Myth Inc.’ but that was just a placeholder. Not to mention a lame name.

He could already imagine how a situation like that would go. Him walking up to a girl and asking if she would want to join ‘Myth Inc.’ Or hosting auditions for ‘Myth Inc.’… Wouldn’t that seem like an AV company instead of an idol group?

No. He needed to figure out a good name for the idol group and then figure out how to find people to join-

At that time, someone bumped into him. A cute young girl in a school uniform with brown hair tied in a side ponytail with a bright orange ribbon.

She started to fall to the ground, caught off guard by the sudden impact. Before she could, John reached out and pulled her up.

“S-Sorry about that.” She mumbled and then steadied her self. When she did, she saw John’s face and panicked. “U-Um…! Sorry! Mistake!“

The girl started speaking in broken English.

John waved her off and replied in Japanese. “It’s fine. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

The girl blinked. “You speak Japanese?”

John smiled. “A little?”

The girl flushed, realizing that she was being teased. But before she could say anything, there was a soft chime. The girl frowned and pulled out a phone from her pocket. Glancing at it, her expression fell.

John frowned. “Trouble?”

The girl shook her head and forced a smile on her face. “It’s nothing, Mister. Sorry for bumping into you But I… I have to go.” Saying that, the girl bowed to John and then walked off.

She seemed to be in a rush to meet with someone.

Ordinarily, John would have left it at that. But remembering her crestfallen expression and the glint of resolve in her eyes… John decided to follow her.

Ducking into a side alley, John concealed his presence and then made his way after the young girl.