Hoshizora Production (2)

Mid-chat-stream, Karona decided to verrry casually, verrry nonchalantly bring up Hoshizora Production.

"By the by, has anyone happened to hear of Hoshizora Production? I caught wind of them the teensiest bit."

It was a rather less-than-casual way of asking, but the Karonites didn't seem to mind and chatted away in reply.

[Yuugata]: "hoshizora pro? ahh, that's the box hoshizora akari reps, right"

[@denai]: "akari-san throws these blazing pitches, feels like she'd be the ace of a girls' baseball club. sora-kun is probably the manager"

[Kochoran]: "don't become the manager. the boss AND the manager ran off from hoshizora pro, something about trouble with a big-name agency…"

[Akineko]: "ran off? wait, then wtf is going on at the office lol"

"Eh, what's this? Tell me more!"

Intriguing info was already spilling out of the Karonites.

The gist: it had originally been a run-of-the-mill corporate box, but… apparently the CEO had done a midnight runner with the manager, leaving behind nothing but the agency's name, Akari and the other B-Casters, and a respectable pile of debt.

"So the agency is in the red now?"

[Oukashuu]: "pretty sure it's akari-chan serving as leader and rep right now, and the debt itself is being carried by yuki-chan to keep things afloat?"

[Hao]: "they do dungeon runs pretty actively for a box, but that could also just be proof they're broke…"

[@tam323]: "for better or worse, orthodox and stable is kinda their thing. they've got a pretty close-knit vibe"

[@huhum]: "i get it, like the vibe of a school-story mainstream heroine, her best friend, and the childhood-friend hero"

Close-knit. Hearing that, Karona fell into thought.

A close-knit group, two girls and one guy. They'd overcome the hardship of losing both their CEO and manager, and the three of them remained as tight as ever.

And me, a lonely bocchi, squeezing in as the odd one out of that close-knit group… No way! Absolutely no way that works!

… At the very least, if it were like Dungeon Braver with two guys and one girl, I could quietly slip in as a number-balancer for the gender ratio… couldn't I? Hmmm.

[Jack@]: "there's a rumor going around that new members might be joining soon. i mean, those three are definitely the fixed core, but like, a second generation or something like that"

"A second generation!! So there are things like that too… hmmmm."

Karona hummed, thinking it over.

If that were the case, it would be no exaggeration to say they'd be providing her with brand-new "friends."

Well, even if not… th-they'd surely, probably, get along with me… it's work, after all… business-friends…

"Incidentally, everyone, do you have any favorite boxes?"

"oh, we can say? gotta be HoloSanzi, of course! everyone's out there being the best kind of oddball idols"

"Nijilive's great too. Iinchou, Mikado-sama, that crowd. they've got deep bench on the male caster side too, that's a big feature"

[Kokuyou]: "for me it's got to be the Ojou-samas, no contest"

[Sebas]: "just between us, HoloSanzi's succubus school nurse is…"

"oi sebas lol"

"you're supposed to be pushing ojou here lolol. take a page from kokuyou-san! lol"

"Sebas!? As I suspected, is it the bosoms!?"

[Sebas]: "You misunderstand, Ojou-sama! For a man returning from the battlefield to ordinary life, the symbol of maternity is required! That 'softness of solace' not to be found on the sharp edge of war is essential!"

"says 'you misunderstand' while misunderstanding nothing lolol"

"sounds like a denial but it's 100% confirmation lol"

"sensei's the best lol, she's hot lol, huge tits lol"

And so, through Karona's magnificent (if forceful) topic-redirection, the Karonites were successfully steered off course.

Well, the sharper ones probably picked up on it, but Karona made it through the chat stream without ever letting slip that she was being properly scouted.

Sebas claiming he was a fan of someone other than Karona was also all part of the misdirection strategy, not his true feelings… probably… hopefully. No, wait, surely the one he's pushing the most is definitely me, right? Karona began to worry. Well, that's that.