The First Results

For once, Mahut wasn't standing. He sat on the chair within Director Mishiro's office, with Ushio standing by his side. The older and stern woman was rereading through the report, not once pausing to address any of them. Chihiro stood a respectable distance from the Director, keeping the professional smile glued on her face. He saw how Director Mishiro's eyes meticulously read through each word, no doubt trying to dissect them. He kept his hands relaxed, mentally reminding himself to keep his calm. He noticed that Ushio's hands were balled into tight fists. He was somewhat grateful, with the younger woman essentially taking both of their nerves.

Eventually, the waiting comes to an end, as she lowers the document he and Ushio had written. "This is why I appreciate your work, Zulkar-san."

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" he responded with a single blink of his eyes.

"You treated this little side project of yours with as much seriousness as your other responsibilities, and gave it its due diligence." The older woman said with a nod. "There's only one other Producer in this company with such dignity."

He didn't have to guess who she was talking about. "Thank you, Ma'am."

"Tell me then, in your own words, how it went?" she asked him, leaning closer with an elbow on her desk.

"It's as if the entire group had been roped into one of Shiki's and Frederica's antics, yet it was still organized." He answered, using the girls' own comments on how the session went. "Once they got into the flow, it was just like any other acting job. One that they had almost complete control over."

"Mhm." She nodded again, before picking the report back up. "How likely is it that you will start another session?"

"When the girls' schedule lightens, Ma'am." He replied. "It's the most accommodating for them."

"I see." She looked up, her eyes meeting his. "LiPPS had a photo shoot the next day."

"Yes Ma'am. Advertisement for a skin care product."

"The results of that photo shoot were on display two days ago." She said, almost in a passing comment, but he knew better. "It was also in this week's latest issues of a couple of magazines." She placed the report back on the table, her eyes never once leaving his. "Have you checked the social media responses?"

"They were very favorable, Ma'am." He said, keeping his own surprise in check. "More so than usual."

"Exactly." She nodded, and a ghost of a smirk was briefly seen on her face. "It seemed the people could tell the difference, before and after a session of this game. And, because of that, we are already benefitting from this little action of yours, and LiPPS."

"To be honest, Ma'am, I wasn't expecting to see such clear results, or any even. And so soon too." He told her honestly.

"Neither did I, Zulkar-san." She admitted with a single nod. "And yet, there is one. My question to you now… is how can we improve upon this?"

"If you're suggesting we broadcast the games, Ma'am, I don't think that's a good idea." He said before she could further explain.

"Oh? And why is that? I personally searched through the internet to see if we can exploit this market, and I noticed that such streams could bring in massive numbers."

"Be that as it may, LiPPS had only just had one game session." He explained. "And this all came to be, off of one girl's whim, who wanted to simply have fun. I facilitated this experience for them, not just in the name of improving their morale and mental wellbeing, but also as entertainment for them. Immediately turning this into some sort of programmed, scheduled thing would only serve to dampen and lower their experience. Which would no doubt be counterproductive."

"Hm." Was the Director's only response for a good minute, as she processed his explanation in silence. During this time, her gaze never once left his. "Then do you have any suggestions, Zulkar-san. Ones that can be used to help tackle into this market?"

Mahut drew in a lungful of air, exhaling it as slowly as possible. "An idea would be to publish the photos in a blog, and through social media. Perhaps even short videos. This will put the least amount of strain for LiPPS, while also still giving us an in into the market."

At this, her smile grew, just a bit. It wasn't a wide smile, but it was very noticeable on the Director's usual stern face. "That would be a start. Very well. As long as you keep providing your reports, and publishing these photos and short videos of your sessions, then you can keep on doing these games of your for LiPPS. I trust that you will not conflict their schedules?"

"I will not Ma'am." He said with a shake of his head. "This is something that we all agreed to."

"Good. Thank you for your time, Zulkar-san. You are dismissed."

He pushed himself off the chair and, along with Ushio beside him, bowed before the Director, before they made their way out of the office room. They both walked in silence, keeping pace with one another, until they both reached the elevator. Once the door closed, with no one else inside beside them, Ushio finally relaxed her shoulders, almost slumping down onto the ground, only catching herself just in time. Mahut simply leaned on the elevator with a hand covering his face.

"That went well." He said with a smile. "Couldn't have asked for a better result." He shook his head before he straightened himself. "In fact, you could say that it went too well."

"How so, Producer?" she asked him when she stood back up herself.

"Because now it's essentially another job." He replied with a sigh. "I'm hoping the girls won't feel pressured because of it." He turned to face his assistant. "When's their training done?"

"5pm, Producer."

"Damn. Alright, we'll break the news tomorrow." He told her as the elevator door dinged open. "Let's go about our business for the remainder of the day."

"Where should we begin?" she asked him, following beside him as they made their way back to LiPPS' room.

"Right now, LiPPS' social media is handled by someone else. First, let's see if we can take control of that."

"I will get it done, Producer." She bowed her head before peeling away from him.

Now left to his lonesome, he sighed again. "Let's see if I still know how to blog." He says aloud to himself, as he walks into the room.


AUTHOR'S NOTE

ey, just like i said!

sooner than last time!

still have a bit of backlog, so don't worry. out of game chapters will tend to be shorter than in game ones.

next chapter will be up either tomorrow or the day after. and then another wait.

see you guys next time! and thanks again for reading!