Everyone Has Talent. If Only We Could Realize It - Volume 1 Chapter 3.1

Collaboration

Despite the uneasy element of a strained relationship with Shibuya Erio, time passed peacefully without encountering any significant problems since that class.

The view count on One-Eight Live had also reached an average of 5000, and performing popular songs could even bring in 10,000 views, which was a number we could be proud of.

And then, on the last day of April.

“Hum hum hum hoo hum〜 The best morning has arrived〜. I’ve been waiting〜 for this day〜♪”

I was in high spirits.

Dancing on our cluttered floor without stepping on anything, I elegantly raised my smartphone with one hand.

By the way, the intonation for “the best morning” is “Sai, Ko, Ooh, Nooh, Ah〜sa”. I was utterly elated.

“Brother… too loud.”

“Ah, my sister. Were you awake?”

“I was sleeping… Woken up by the noise.”

Shika, rubbing her eyes as she came out of her room, sluggishly made her way to the kitchen and muttered, “Milk…” while sweetly scratching at the refrigerator.

“Alright, alright, milk it is.” I took out a carton of milk from the fridge, poured it into a glass, and handed it to her.

She started drinking with gulps, the milk spilling from the corners of her mouth.

“Hey hey hey hey wait—! You’re so bad at drinking! Ah, now you’ve stained your shirt again… Do you know how troublesome it is to wash this!?”

“Dabaa?”

“I wasn’t talking to you! No need to try and have a conversation!”

I hurriedly wiped it with a towel.

Why do I have to do something that feels like caregiving first thing in the morning?

But today, it’s okay. I’ll let it slide.

Letting slide not water but milk, I could even laugh heartily at such a lame joke just for today.

Because today is the day we receive our living expenses for the first time since enrollment!

“Rejoice, Shika.”

“Nmm?”

“The fruits of your effort will now be revealed. Tuna or steak!”

“Ooh.”

1 million yen or 2 million yen. Looking at the earnings of WAYTUBERs and popular live streamers, it felt like achieving that much should be easy.

“Come on! Our golden experience!”

With my heart swollen with the most worldly expectations of wealth, I accessed the account balance page on my smartphone.

The amount deposited from the educational institution, Private Ryoran High School. That number was…!?

43,500 yen. (tln : around 300bucks)

“…Eh?”

…Isn’t that low?

I mean, it’s not too low just based on the amount.

For a high school student to earn this much, it would be quite difficult. Even with an hourly wage of 1,000 yen, it would require 45 hours of work.

But, it’s not about that kind of realistic talk, right?

In a glamorous school filled with aspiring entertainers, I expected the top class to surpass 100 million in monthly income! Even the average should easily exceed 500,000 yen! That was the level of prosperity I had hoped for.

This amount would just melt away with rent and food expenses…

“Is this, tuna?”

“Unfortunately, it’s bean sprouts. We might be allowed the luxury of adding some sesame oil.”

“Gaah… worked hard for… nothing…”

Shika, shocked, slumped disheartened.

I felt the same way.

Making up your face with makeup, singing popular songs with high vocal skills… What more could they possibly want?

*

“Collaboration, isn’t it?”

Before the start of morning classes, as I confided in her about the disappointing deposit situation, my reliable friend, Akiha Mana, suggested that.

“You’ve got the minimum looks and skills. All that’s left is to increase your exposure. Obviously, collaborating with popular figures is the quickest way.”

“Indeed!”

As expected of Akiha. When it comes to leveraging others’ clout to wrestle in the ring, she’s top-notch.

“…You’re thinking something terribly rude, aren’t you?”

“Idiot! It’s respect! The spirit of a bandit is amazing!”

“Ah, I snapped. I’ve gone berserk. Forget about getting any collaboration ideas from me.”

“Ah, I’m so sorry, please forgive me, oh gods, Akiha-sama, please bestow your grace upon me!”

“Can’t help it, then. Since you’ve groveled so much, I might as well lend you my wisdom.”

Akiha said, puffing up with pride.

Watching her nose bridge begging to be folded, a question popped into my mind.

“But Akiha, you seem to be doing just fine. Aren’t you struggling with living expenses even though your average view count is almost the same as Shika’s?”

“The payment is the same, but I also have income from tipping.”

“Tipping!? You get tips for information compilation streams!?”

“Yeah. I fulfill requests in tipping comments, like filming popular students during class or collaborating, and stuff like that.”

“Wow, even bandits are innovative.”

“There he goes again. It’s fine, really. I’m not breaking any rules.”

“Isn’t filming without permission out?”

“Unfortunately, according to the school rules, filming inside the school by school-related people is OK.”

“Seriously?”

“It’d be inconvenient to ban it. For acting and dance, it’s super important to film practice sessions for review later, and filming movies or gravure is a crucial part of activities. Ahh~, such convenient rules. Nishishi♪”

“You’re the type of bandit who exploits loopholes in the law…”

I wondered if such people ended up being big shots in the future.

“Shika’s activities are good or bad, strictly mainstream. If you want to earn with this direction, you need ten to a hundred times the current views.”

“The numbers are too big… Who even achieves that?”

“In our department, only Shibuya Erio, I guess. You remember her debut stream hitting over 300,000 views, right?”

“Ah, that was impressive.”

“Check out Shibuya Erio’s archives on her stream. It’s insane.”

“Hmm? Let’s see… Whoa, what’s this!?”

I was astonished when I visited Shibuya Erio’s page after a long time.

Her most viewed stream looked like this.

[View Count] 4,583,360 [Likes] 43,284 [Tipping Amount] 1,052,500 yen

This was an extreme case, but there were multiple streams with over a million views. The average might even be close to 700,000 views. The number of subscribers had also surpassed 500,000.

“What are these battle power numbers like a grade schooler came up with? It’s too dazzling.”

“With such growth, the school’s payment must be quite substantial.”

“Grr, I’m envious!”

“Is this the time to be envious? Thanks to accounts that earn, we also have the chance to increase our numbers, right?”

“…! So, an effective collaboration means…!”

“Exactly. For the Music Department, the ultimate collaboration would be──with Shibuya Erio!!”

“I see! …Wait, that’s despair!!”

From hope to despair in a flash.