Chapter 35: In the World, One Cannot Always Act as They Wish
The production crew agreed to depart in three days, heading to Miyazaki Prefecture to film the scenes for the child actors.
Upon hearing this news, Hikaru Hoshino couldn't help but complain: *Why Miyazaki again? The second-generation B-Komachi will also film their music videos there in the future. Is it some kind of scenic holy land?*
He recalled the scene when he first arrived in this world.
Standing alone deep in the mountains, confronting the God of Abnormalities surrounded by crows.
Towering trees on either side, moss-covered stone steps beneath his feet, dew dripping from above, and the air filled with the buzzing of cicadas and the chirping of birds. Following the steps upward, a primitive, weathered torii gate hung in the air, as if passing through it would lead to another world.
It was a scene straight out of an illustration—vibrant yet harmonious in color.
Thinking about it that way, Miyazaki was indeed an excellent location for filming.
Hikaru sighed. He hoped Aqua and Ruby wouldn't be too affected by the scenery.
He sat in his executive chair, the glowing computer screen before him set to the YouTube homepage. On his desk, scratch paper was spread out like tangled weeds, with musical notes interspersed among them, piecing together fragmented melodies.
The job of transcribing scores wasn't something that could be done with just an extraordinary memory—one had to understand music theory. Otherwise, how embarrassing would it be if he couldn't even write the sheet music?
The theme song prepared for the movie was already finished. After hearing the demo, Taishi Gotanda was stunned, feeling that his chances of winning an award had increased once more. At the same time, he didn't forget to urge Hikaru to get the background music (BGM) ready as well.
Hikaru scratched his scalp in frustration. The theme song was one thing, but what about the score? Should he use something by the great Hiroyuki Sawano, or maybe copy Yuki Kajiura? Neither of those styles really matched the vibe of a modern urban film.
In his previous life as an anime geek, Hikaru didn't watch many J-dramas, which resulted in a lack of knowledge in that specific area. After thinking it over and finding nothing suitable, he had no choice...
He had no choice but to write it himself.
As he wrote, Hikaru slammed his pen onto the solid wood desk with a *thud*.
*Write what? The efficiency is low and the quality isn't guaranteed.*
He decided to be a "tailor." He would take well-known anime soundtracks and stitch together what could be stitched, using individual segments for what couldn't. After all, the score only needed to be used in important scenes. The whole movie was nearly two hours long; there was no need for every single shot to have BGM.
He tentatively planned to use *Hoshi no Negai (Star's Wish)*, *Ushio Narishi (Roaring Tides)*, *Old Memory*, *lit(var)*, and *Theme of SSS* for the emotional scenes. For the climax at the end of the film, Hikaru planned to insert a vocal track.
The theme song he performed himself would play during the ending credits, and then he would write an insert song for Ai to use as part of the score.
Having solved the BGM problem, Hikaru slumped lazily onto the desk and began scrolling through videos aimlessly. At times like this, he always remembered the days in his past life when he would lie on his side in bed scrolling through his phone.
Different world, different body, same way to waste time. It seemed human laziness didn't care about geography—it was rooted deep within the soul.
Suddenly, a striking title caught Hikaru's eye. It was the new song Ai had released just a few days ago.
Ai 「Into the Night (Yoru ni Kakeru)」 Official Music Video
Hikaru clicked the video. Ai's pleasant voice rang in his ears. Along with the singing and melody, a girl leaped from a rooftop like a gust of wind.
Like *Idol*, this was also an animated MV.
Ichigo Saitou had learned from the success of *Idol* that a good song needs a good story and a high-quality MV production team. Imitating Hikaru, he had also commissioned a well-known animation company in the industry to produce the MV, intending to replicate the success of *Idol*.
Incidentally, as of now, the *Idol* MV released by Hikaru had already exceeded 10 million views on YouTube.
This growth rate was extremely rare in the history of YouTube. Thanks to this, the subscriber count for the "Hikari" channel had skyrocketed, reaching just over 300,000.
In an instant, he had gone from a slightly famous rookie composer to a hot new prospect in the industry. Congratulations indeed.
*Into the Night* corresponded to the novel *The Temptation of Thanatos* (authored by Maya Hoshino). Since this novel didn't exist in this world, Hikaru simply moved his fingers to write it down, turned it into a script, and handed it to Ichigo Saitou.
The story was roughly this: The girl is an illusion created by the boy's desire to die, and the boy is deeply devoted to this illusory girl. Every time before jumping, the girl sends the boy a farewell message. On the fourth and final time, the boy finally realizes that he is the one who truly craves death, and he leaps from the rooftop embracing the girl.
The full text of the story was posted in the comments section of the Hikari channel, also crediting him as the composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.
A large number of people praised his talent, and the name "Hikari" was becoming known to more and more people.
The melody was incredibly catchy, the MV production was excellent, and the publishing channel had a solid fan base. Combined, these factors ensured the song's popularity would be immense.
After only one day of release, the number of comments had already reached four digits.
"I want to listen to this song regularly; every melody is stuck in my head."
"The perfect combination of healing music and melancholy lyrics. This song is both addictive and relatable."
"Even though this song is about depression or suicide, the beat is still so catchy. With Hikari's creation and Ai's singing, you definitely don't want to miss this."
"I fell in love after one listen. The voice is so powerful and perfectly fits the rhythm and atmosphere of the song. I could listen for hours."
The results looked good. Hikaru's mood lightened, and as Ai's voice continued to echo in his ears, he began to whistle along with the melody.
Even if it couldn't replicate the chart-topping dominance of his previous life, it should at least reach a national level of fame, right?
Hikaru's demands weren't high; he just hoped the song would become a household name, preferably a representative work of the Heisei era with a level of recognition similar to Hatsune Miku.
He hoped to make it onto the *Kohaku Uta Gassen* by the end of the year. Speaking of which, wasn't there an Olympics in Tokyo in 2020? If they could get an opening performance slot...
Stop, stop. Hikaru forcibly cut off his own daydreaming.
After all, the song was about suicide. Even YouTube displayed a warning when it played; an Olympic appearance was probably unlikely.
His career was still in the startup phase. To secure more commercial collaborations, Hikaru had listed his personal email on his YouTube homepage. Every night, he set aside time to handle the messages in his inbox, and tonight was no exception.
Among the various messages, one avatar stood out.
White letters on a black background—four neat capital letters.
XINI (Xini-Global)
Hikaru did a quick search and confirmed it was indeed the official email of Xini Entertainment.
The content was simple—just one sentence.
The hiragana was neatly arranged on the screen, and both the beginning and end of the sentence were filled with honorifics, emphasizing polite professionalism. However, this didn't alleviate the tension in Hikaru's heart.
He felt as though a behemoth was waving at him.
"We sincerely invite Mr. Hikari to join Xini Entertainment. Compensation to be discussed in person."