novelraw Chapter 29: 3.24%!
Chapter 29: 3.24%!
On Thursday early morning, the air inside the TV Tokyo Production Bureau Headquarters Building seemed thinner and crisper than usual.
Sunlight filtered through the massive glass curtain walls, illuminating the corridors brightly. Specks of dust danced silently in the air, like some sort of soundless tribute.
'Bang—!'
The door to the Suzuki Section was pushed open violently.
Hashishita Ichiro rushed in, pinching a thin piece of paper in his hand. That piece of paper trembled violently in his grasp, as if it weren't a piece of paper, but a bird struggling to take flight.
That face of his, typically somewhat ashen from the pressures of life and work, was now flushed red—an unreal red mixed with frenzy and extreme joy.
"View... viewership rating..." He opened his mouth, but as if something was lodged in his throat, he couldn't unexpectedly utter a single word. He merely slapped that piece of paper heavily onto the desk piled with manuscripts in the center of the office.
With a "smack", it was crisp and loud.
Everyone's gazes, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, instantly converged.
"Late-night animation 'Yamishibai', fourth episode viewership rating: 3.24%!""Viewership rating level - Extremely Excellent!"
Hashishita Ichiro's voice trembled with excitement.
3.24%.
This number was like a drop of boiling oil falling into this pot of cold water named "Suzuki Section".
Boom!
The office instantly boiled over.
That was an almost feral eruption after continuous, excessively long suppression.
"Ohhhhhh—!" Minamura Hoshi and Haseji Kakeru, like two youths who had hit the jackpot at a festival, embraced each other, shouting and jumping unconditionally. They completely ignored the bento boxes they knocked over on the desks, sauce and rice spilling everywhere; they merely used the most primal roars to vent the almost explosive ecstasy in their chests.
Kitagawa Yao's tears could no longer be restrained, rolling down like pearls from a broken string.
She didn't wipe them; she just let that warm, salty liquid slide across her cheeks. It was the sweetest rain that washed away all the grievances and anxieties of the past days.
Suzuki Kiyoto stood there motionless.
He looked at that report, walked over to pick it up, and gazed at that number that seemed to be glowing. He felt his heart being tightly grasped by a warm and powerful hand, and then slowly released, an unprecedented warmth surging from his heart to every limb and bone.
He slowly turned around and walked towards that young man who had quietly leaned against the sofa with a faint smile from beginning to end.
He reached out his hands that were trembling slightly from excitement and firmly grasped Nohara Hiroshi's shoulders. On that old face etched with countless gullies by time, tears streamed down, his voice raspy beyond recognition.
"Nohara-kun... we... we did it! We truly did it!"
"Of course, Suzuki-san!" A heartfelt, relaxed smile finally appeared on Nohara Hiroshi's face as well.
He knew, this was long since no longer any snowball.
This already was an avalanche that he personally set off.
A 3.24% viewership rating, in the death slot of 12:20 AM considered "garbage time" by all television personnel, this was no longer a miracle; this was a myth.
Not only did it crush all programs across all television stations during the same time slot, it even surpassed certain highly anticipated projects broadcast during TV Tokyo's own late-night 11:00 PM slot.
It had already become a myth!
And this myth, as if possessing wings, flew to every corner of the TV Tokyo Production Bureau within the short span of a single morning.
"Did you hear? That intern in the Suzuki Section, named Nohara Hiroshi, that 'Yamishibai' he made, its viewership rating broke 3%!"
"How is that possible? The early morning slot? You're not joking, right?"
"It's absolutely true! The reports are out! I heard it's exactly the genius manga artist who draws 'YuYu Hakusho' in 'JUMP'!"
"My god... an intern, a manga artist, achieved such results? This... is this a counterattack?!"
Whispers secretly circulated in the tea rooms, in the corridors, in the elevators.
The name Nohara Hiroshi, for the first time, was engraved into the minds of these industry elites in such an impactful manner.
Their gaze towards the Suzuki Section also changed from past sympathy and pity to today's astonishment, curiosity, and even... a trace of imperceptible awe.
Amidst this clamor, the phone on Suzuki Kiyoto's desk rang.
He picked up the phone. His somewhat uncontrollably excited emotions instantly turned respectful and solemn upon hearing the voice from the other end.
It was Section Chief Takeshita of the Audit Department.
"Yes, I am. Okay, this is truly a great honor!"
"I will! I will be there early! Yes! Yes!"
"Thank you very much! Please convey my respects!"
After hanging up, a more complex and profound excitement surfaced on Suzuki Kiyoto's face.
He walked over to Nohara Hiroshi, a trace of trembling even he himself hadn't noticed present in his tone.
"Nohara-kun, Deputy Bureau Chief Asumi... he wants to treat me to a meal."
The name Asumi meant too much to Suzuki Kiyoto.
That was his direct superior back when he was at Kanto TV, his talent scout, the benefactor who promoted him all the way up from an unknown little director.
Later, when Kanto Station was acquired, he followed Asumi to this TV Tokyo headquarters, originally thinking he could fully display his abilities, only to unexpectedly be suppressed along with him for several years due to factional struggles.
This meal today was not merely a meal.
It was a bugle call, a bugle call announcing that they, these "outsiders", were about to plant their own flag once again on this peak of power!
At least, this was how it was for Suzuki Kiyoto, who had been suppressed for a very long time.
"Nohara-kun, you must go with me!" In Suzuki Kiyoto's eyes, an unprecedented flame burned, "All of this is your merit! I must, I absolutely must introduce you to Deputy Bureau Chief Asumi! You are our greatest contributor!"
However, beyond his expectation, facing this invitation capable of changing a newcomer's destiny, Nohara Hiroshi merely smiled apologetically, then glanced at the clock on the wall.
"Section Chief, thank you very much for valuing me, and please also convey my gratitude to Deputy Bureau Chief Asumi." His voice was gentle yet firm: "Only, I probably won't be able to go. I haven't... gone home in a long time."
He paused, revealing a trace of soft helplessness and sweetness characteristic of an ordinary young man.
"Misae she... called twice last night. I'm afraid that if I don't go back, she'll rush to the television station to drag me away."
Suzuki Kiyoto was stunned.
He looked at the young man before him, looking into those clear eyes unobstructed by victory, and that rush of hot blood rising from excitement slowly settled down within him.
What he saw was no longer a genius who created a myth, but a man of flesh and blood, with attachments, and with responsibility.
He suddenly understood something.
This young man, his strength perhaps lay not merely in that world-shocking talent, but even more so in this composure and clear-headedness capable of maintaining his original self while facing overwhelming fortune.
"Okay... okay!" Suzuki Kiyoto heavily patted Nohara Hiroshi's shoulder, his eyes full of appreciation and gratification: "Go back quickly! Say hello to Misae for me! I've got things covered here!"
Just as the two were speaking, a group of figures practically rushed past the hallway outside the office door as if deliberately speeding up.
The one in the lead was precisely Iwata Masao.
He no longer possessed the arrogance and overbearance of the past few days. That face routinely wearing a mocking smile was currently as ashen as the sky before a torrential storm.
That group of lackeys behind him were also all crestfallen, like a flock of defeated roosters. Even when passing by the Suzuki Section, they subconsciously quickened their pace, as if the cheerful voices radiating from inside were burning flames.
Iwata Masao didn't stop. He looked straight ahead and walked directly to the end of that corridor, pressing for the elevator on his own and parting ways with these subordinates.
Because these subordinates needed to handle various miscellaneous chores for 'Onibo Samurai'.
While he was going upstairs, arriving at Deputy Bureau Chief Takada Toshihide's office.
"Section Chief Iwata, the Deputy Bureau Chief is waiting for you." The secretary at the door saw Iwata Masao approaching, stood up, and made an inviting gesture towards him.
"Yes." Iwata Masao nodded politely to this female secretary in her thirties, swallowed a gulp of saliva, and pushed the door open to enter.
Inside the office, the scent of sandalwood lingered, yet the atmosphere was as cold as winter.
Takada Toshihide didn't lose his temper again. He merely sat calmly behind the desk, looking at this top confidant of his. On that face typically written full of astuteness and calculation, only panic and unease remained at this moment.
"This matter has already happened; scolding you now has no meaning." Takada Toshihide's voice was very impassive, so impassive it made Iwata Masao feel a burst of heart palpitations.
He knew, this was the precursor to the Deputy Bureau Chief's true fury.
"How is the promotion for your 'Onibo Samurai' progressing?" Takada Toshihide inquired indifferently.
"It's already... already all arranged. The station's promotional resources have been given the best positioning. Before next Monday, all the pre-heating run-ups will be completed." Iwata Masao answered carefully.
"Not enough." Takada Toshihide shook his head: "Promotions from the station alone are not enough."
He took out a business card from a drawer and placed it lightly on the table.
"Kato Shin, Chief Film Critic of 'Nitto Shimbun'. I already arranged for someone to communicate with him last night. Before your animation is broadcast, he will publish a suitably weighty review article. The 'writing fee' I gave him is enough to make him praise your 'Onibo Samurai' absolutely perfectly."
Iwata Masao's eyes instantly lit up.
Kato Shin!
That was a recognized masterful writer in the industry; his articles had always been the bellwether for box office and viewership ratings!
"Thank you, Deputy Bureau Chief! Thank you, Deputy Bureau Chief!" He bowed repeatedly in excitement.
"Don't be happy too soon." Takada Toshihide's eyes grew cold. He stared fixedly at Iwata Masao, enunciating every single word: "Everything I could do for you, I have already done. Next Monday, your 'Onibo Samurai' must not only win, it must secure a beautiful victory! I want you to use the highest viewership rating to tell everyone that a so-called miracle, facing absolute strength and resources, is nothing but a joke."
He paused, dropping his voice even lower, like a whisper, yet carrying the weight of a thousand pounds.
"Also, regarding that S-rank live-action horror project in the second half of the year, the station has already made a preliminary decision. For the selection of the director, the program viewership ratings from the first half of the year will be heavily considered. Do, you, understand what I mean?"
Iwata Masao's body violently shook.
He raised his head, looking into Takada Toshihide's bottomless eyes, and finally understood.
This was no longer a simple battle over viewership ratings. This was a war... betting on his future prospects.
"Yes!" Iwata Masao immediately lowered his head again with a completely solemn expression, replying earnestly: "I will do my utmost!"