A Core Ship From The Start-Chapter 2389 - 1603: Gravure Scandal (Autumn Promotion Bought a MeCard)
According to Sakurajima Mai, she discovered a few days ago that she had become like this. At that time, she went to the aquarium, but no one saw her. Back then, Sakurajima Mai thought she might have been overthinking and that those people were just too focused on the aquarium to notice her.
But when she left the aquarium and went to a nearby café to take a break, the staff ignored her, and even when she tried talking to them, there was no response. None of the other customers noticed her either.
Over the next few days, Sakurajima Mai kept looking for places where people could see her and places where they couldn’t, which is why she’s here now.
"So, you walked around everywhere in a bunny costume?"
After listening to Sakurajima Mai’s story, Duanmu Huai looked bewildered, and Sakurajima Mai glared at him.
"Of course not, I keep the costume in a locker at the station."
"It’s really a strange phenomenon."
Duanmu Huai looked at Sakurajima Mai in front of him, puzzled. The two of them were in a café nearby, but the staff couldn’t see Sakurajima Mai at all. When Duanmu Huai asked for two coffees, the staff even looked puzzled for a moment.
"To me, you’re also quite strange; even though you’re like this, no one pays attention to you."
Sakurajima Mai looked at Duanmu Huai, equally surprised. Although Duanmu Huai wasn’t wearing any bunny costume, his white hair and red eyes were very noticeable, and he didn’t dress like some celebrity trying to avoid attention. Logically, even just sitting in a café, someone should notice him.
But neither the customers nor the staff paid any attention to them... In Sakurajima Mai’s view, this was puzzling.
"You just need to lessen your presence, lower your aura to the level of a roadside pebble, and people won’t care about you. I’m pretty good at this."
Duanmu Huai took a sip of his coffee and said.
"But back to the point, doesn’t it bother you? If you go for a shoot and the staff can’t see you, it would be quite troublesome."
"You don’t know yet?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai’s question, Sakurajima Mai showed a surprised expression.
"Know what?"
"I’ve stopped working."
"Why?"
Duanmu Huai couldn’t help but be a bit surprised hearing Sakurajima Mai say this.
"You really don’t know?"
"I’m not very interested in the entertainment industry."
"...You call yourself a celebrity?"
Sakurajima Mai was speechless hearing Duanmu Huai’s answer.
"So, what happened? After ’Jintian,’ your fame increased quite a lot, didn’t it? Why suddenly stop working?"
Although Sakurajima Mai played a supporting role in ’Jintian’, her popularity wasn’t bad, and Duanmu Huai couldn’t understand how she ended up like this in just less than half a year.
"...That’s exactly why."
Sakurajima Mai clenched her fists tightly, lowering her head.
"???"
"Like you said, after acting in ’Jintian,’ my popularity increased significantly. Then my manager—my mother—decided on her own to have me do a photo book without telling me, and it’s even swimsuits!"
"...Wow."
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai could only exclaim without much else to say.
Swimsuit photos.
For Japanese artists, especially female artists, it’s practically a killer move. The more famous the female artist, the better it sells.
But this doesn’t mean it comes without side effects.
Once a female artist does swimsuit photos, she gets labeled with "selling sex," and it never goes away.
Of course, if it’s a star who became famous for provocative and sexy appearances, this aligns well, and there’s no real issue.
But Sakurajima Mai is just a high school student! Previously, she was filming a pure romance like ’Jintian,’ and now she’s turning around to do swimsuit photos? To put it bluntly, this is akin to a pure actress going down a seedy path.
In Mei PRO, though, Hei Chuan Chi Yin and Arima Kaname would do photo books, but theirs were clean, in dresses or everyday wear, like sailor uniforms. Swimsuits were a no-go because that’s not their image. Doing swimsuit photos abruptly would mean exhausting their artistic reputation.
It’s like the top courtesan in an ancient brothel claiming to sell art, not her body. As long as she refuses men’s advances, everyone appreciates her.
But once she allows men to stay overnight, she’s no longer seen as a goddess.
So for female artists, deciding to do swimsuit photos is a crucial decision.
Of course, if it were a regular agent, doing everything for money would be understandable. But Sakurajima Mai’s agent is her mother. Her mother is selling her daughter so thoroughly?
"I thought it was just a regular photo book, but in the studio, they suddenly brought out swimsuits, and there were only adults around... They said a contract had been signed; although I was unwilling, they insisted it was work... I had no choice but to accept!"
Sakurajima Mai clenched her fists in anger as she spoke.
"In the end, that person only thought about using me to make money!"
To Sakurajima Mai, it wasn’t the staff she was angry with, but her mother. After all, being betrayed by the closest person to her was a bitter experience.
"And then you decided to stop working?"
"Yes, this matter quickly spread online, and although they didn’t explain the real situation, it was already quite a rumor..."
"Oh, I only browse the internet for cat videos."
Duanmu Huai said he had no interest in boring showbiz gossip, feeling that watching cute cat videos suited him better.
"So that’s it, because I stopped my activities, I had time to relax at the Aquarium, and as a result.. it turned out like this."
Sakurajima Mai silently picked up her coffee and took a sip.
"Maybe deep down I have this kind of thought too, not wanting everyone’s eyes on me, focusing on me, but rather ignoring me, treating me as if I don’t exist.."
"But it’s quite troublesome, isn’t it?"
Duanmu Huai stared at Sakurajima Mai.
"Indeed, others can’t see me, even if I shout and scream in front of them, they can’t hear, and I can’t even buy anything."
"Have you tried hitting them?"
"..Huh?"
To be honest, this tricky question posed by Duanmu Huai really left Sakurajima Mai dumbfounded.
"Hit?"
"Yeah, if just talking doesn’t work, how about physical contact? Just slap the other person across the face or something?"
"This.."
Truth be told, Duanmu Huai’s leap in logic was so fast that Sakurajima Mai’s brain couldn’t keep up for a moment. However, Duanmu Huai didn’t care at all; he glanced around the restaurant and then pointed to the side.
"Perfect, there’s someone right there on the phone, go slap them."
Sakurajima Mai followed the direction of Duanmu Huai’s finger and saw a guy with multicolored dyed hair, looking like a delinquent, loudly shouting into his phone in the corner of the restaurant. Although the staff wanted to dissuade him, they were too scared to say anything by his intimidating air.
"Really go?"
"Give it a try, there’s no harm. If anything happens, I’ll handle him."
As he said this, Duanmu Huai clenched his small fist.
".."
Sakurajima Mai hesitated for a moment, then stood up, walked to the ranting delinquent, and stared at him. But even when Sakurajima Mai was right in front of him, the young delinquent ignored her, continuing to chat loudly on his phone.
Then, Sakurajima Mai raised her hand and gave the delinquent a firm slap!
"Slap!"
In Duanmu Huai’s eyes, the slap landed perfectly, and the delinquent indeed stopped for a moment. However..
"Whoa, what’s going on? My face suddenly feels a bit sore."
Saying this, the delinquent rubbed his cheek.
"Could it be that talking too long caused muscle cramps?"
Then, the delinquent turned and returned to his seat, leaving Sakurajima Mai speechless, standing there. Not until Duanmu Huai came over and grabbed her hand.
"Alright, let’s go."
It was evident that this incident severely impacted Sakurajima Mai; afterward, she just remained silent, went straight to the station, changed back into her usual clothes, then turned and left directly.
"This is really.."
Watching Sakurajima Mai board the tram, Duanmu Huai shook his head speechlessly; it was the first time he’d seen something so peculiar.
As for the news about Sakurajima Mai’s photo shoot.. I guess I’ll have to ask around later.
As for the person Duanmu Huai was going to contact..
"Eh? You only just found out about this?"
Arima Kaname’s surprised voice came from the phone, almost making her jump to the ceiling.
"Is it that strange?"
"If it were anyone else, I’d say it’s strange, but with you, I find it not strange at all."
"Because I haven’t heard you guys talk about it."
Duanmu Huai was sure that in the office, Arima Kaname and Hei Chuan Chi Yin never mentioned such topics.
"After all, gossiping behind someone’s back isn’t that interesting, and besides, Sakurajima Mai is quite pitiful too. I mean, I do understand her feelings.. To be honest, if I had taken those kinds of photos, I wouldn’t want anyone to see them, ever! I might even wish I’d never been born into this world!"
"Wish you’d never been born..?"
"It’s just a figure of speech."
Though Arima Kaname said it was just a figure of speech, Duanmu Huai could somewhat understand her meaning.
After all, it was a swimwear photo shoot, and being forced into it without knowing, wanting to end it all, or escape from the world, isn’t impossible.
Could it be because of this that Sakurajima Mai ended up with such a problem?
"Has that photo book been released yet?"
"I’m not quite sure, but it seems not, because shooting, publishing, and printing all take time.. It should be any day now."
"Alright, thanks."
Duanmu Huai hung up the call, pondered for a moment, then picked up the phone to dial another number.
"It’s me.. yeah, do you know about Sakurajima Mai’s swimwear photo shoot situation? Yes, issue a lawyer’s letter in the name of the company to inform them that these photos could negatively impact the filming of ’Jintian’ Season Two, demanding they halt the release. Otherwise, we will claim compensation from them for violating the contract and negatively affecting the crew. Let’s see how much money they can afford to lose."
Holding the phone, Duanmu Huai coldly issued the command.
