Tokyo Agent: Starting with Picking Up a Problem Girl

Chapter 12 Principled Agent

It was almost noon.

Nakajima Hiroshi felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

There's definitely something wrong with Asuka.

Training on scales was particularly difficult; she seemed to struggle to control the precision of her pronunciation.

To be precise, it's impossible to control which octave the pronunciation belongs to.

An octave refers to the cycle of the scale from Do to Ti, with each set of scales forming a group.

Once you return to Do, raise the pitch by an octave for the next group.

In fact, after gaining perfect pitch, a spiral staircase composed of musical scales seemed to form in Nakajima Hiroshi's mind, with each octave occupying one level.

When Hiroshi Nakajima hears a note, he can immediately tell which floor it belongs to and which musical note it belongs to.

Hiroshi Nakajima, who had a basic understanding of music theory, wouldn't have had this ability.

In other words, this is indeed the effect of perfect pitch.

But Asuka's voice is like a reckless fledgling bird, which should be staying on the third floor Re staircase, but will suddenly crash into the first floor.

Although it is the same "Re" sound, it sounds incredibly abrupt.

She herself was clearly unaware of it.

Not right.

Asuka clearly possesses the same talent, so why is this the case?

Furthermore, the correction process was also very difficult.

The entire morning was spent just helping her calibrate the most basic set of scales.

Moreover, it's clear that Hiro Nakajima is still relying on muscle memory, rather than understanding vocal techniques.

This is terrifying for a candidate.

If this cannot be changed, Asuka's singing will drift aimlessly between different octaves, failing to form a stable and coherent melody, which will undoubtedly ruin the performance.

We need to pinpoint the problem quickly.

"Asuka."

Hiroshi Nakajima interrupted Asuka's awkward practice, uttering two different octaves of Do: "Can you hear the difference between them?"

Asuka nodded.

This morning, Nakajima Hiroshi explained the relationship between scales and octaves, and she was able to understand it in general.

Upon hearing this, Nakajima Hiroshi remained silent for a moment.

Since you can hear the difference, the problem isn't with your hearing.

Could it be that there's something wrong with my throat?

No, that doesn't make sense either.

Asuka's voice is beautiful, but her musical progress is slow.

Moreover, she had previously sung a song for herself, and although it was a complete mess, it did have different octaves, which shows that her vocal organs are normal.

Since there's nothing wrong with my hearing and voice, then why...?

Hiroshi Nakajima was very confused.

"Naka... Island".

"Yes, is there a problem?"

Asuka cautiously probed.

She found herself terrified of disappointing this man.

Nakajima Hiro's expression clearly told her that the other person was in a very troublesome situation.

"It's nothing."

Nakajima Hiro quickly composed himself, forcing a smile: "I'm troubled by other things."

This is clearly not a problem that Asuka can solve, and talking to her will only bring unnecessary pressure.

"Just focus on your practice and don't be too impatient. Every artist needs time to grow."

"oh."

Asuka nodded obediently.

Nakajima Hiroshi withdrew his gaze and secretly began to calculate.

It would be too much of a luxury to delve into the reasons right now.

Because for trainees, the vocal part usually only uses one or two octaves, the song selection will not be too complicated, avoiding a quick collapse due to singing mistakes.

In any case, the goal is more to win over casual viewers than to attract discerning audiences, so there are usually no segments that showcase technical skills.

Instead of spending a lot of time agonizing over this problem, it would be better to let Asuka henna practice all the scales within two octaves until they become muscle memory, and then try to find a solution after she gets through the current difficulty.

After all, they had to finalize a disclosure within fifteen days, so time was extremely tight.

Yes, let's deal with this disclosure first, and then consider long-term issues.

"Asuka, let's go get something to eat and replenish our energy."

"The training ahead may be a bit boring."

Asuka's eyes lit up instantly when she heard it was time to eat, like an excited little hamster.

This child is visibly greedy, yet he manages to maintain such a tall and slender figure, which, in a sense, is a kind of talent.

Only by looking at Asuka's beauty could Nakajima Hiro feel a little comforted.

Each person receives a pork rice bowl, served alone, with no other side dishes.

Unfortunately, funds were extremely tight, so Nakajima Hiroshi had no choice but to cut costs.

"Asuka, you need to practice on your own this afternoon. The goal is to master the entire scale across two octaves."

"I will teach you the general method. If you have any questions, be sure to ask me in advance. Don't do ineffective exercises with only a superficial understanding."

Of course, even if Asuka is allowed to practice alone, she needs a reliable reference standard, otherwise she might practice in the wrong way.

He instructed Asuka to download the tuner software on his phone.

This thing is very easy to use. Within the same octave, from Do to Ti, a smooth waveform will be displayed on the screen.

If you sing the wrong octave, the waveform will suddenly rise or fall, making the problem immediately apparent, and you can even determine whether your pitch is too high or too low.

"Your task is to continue the octave practice from this morning and master another set of scales. Is that alright?"

The girl nodded.

"Hey, Nakajima, aren't you coming with me, or supervising or something...?"

"No, I have my own things to do."

Nakajima Hiroshi's tone was very serious: "As for the director..."

"If you need others to restrain you from persevering and working hard, it will be difficult to become an outstanding artist."

"Who, who needs to be supervised? I'm just, just..."

She frantically searched for an excuse.

But seeing that Nakajima Hiroshi did not respond, but only stared out the window with a solemn expression, Asuka quickly quieted down as well.

Hiroshi Nakajima does indeed have things to do.

He needs to make money.

The funds on hand are barely enough for the food expenses of two people, and are far from sufficient to operate the disclosure project.

This matter also incurs expenses, and quite a significant one at that.

Even just getting an artist into a variety show costs 20,000 to 30,000 yen just for the entry fee, not to mention stage outfits, makeup, and basic promotion...

Even if you keep everything simple, you should still prepare at least 30,000 to 50,000 yen.

The worst part is that they're chasing this money way too hard.

Nakajima Hiroshi might not even have fifteen days to prepare, because he has no control over the exact date of the announcement.

There's no time to work; he doesn't have the time, and he can't wait until payday.

Daily-paid part-time jobs might be worth considering, as the pay could theoretically cover this expense.

However, this makes it difficult to provide Asuka with consistent guidance. Judging from Asuka's performance today, it is unlikely that she will become self-taught.

This is undoubtedly putting the cart before the horse.

As for borrowing money, forget about it.

Without even a legal identity, Nakajima Hiroshi had virtually no chance of success.

Asuka is...

Stop.

Whether it's feasible or not is another matter, but we can't expect employees to take out loans to work.

He's a principled agent; how could he do something so unethical?

then……

"Hey handsome, you've got some nice muscles."