Chapter 509: Young people must focus on their careers!!!

"Ugh~~~"

In the dim morning light, under the thick quilt in the room, a human shape bulged, like a caterpillar. The cold air still drilled into the opening of the head and neck, touching the tender skin, causing a murmur:

"Cold~~~"

Nakamori Akina woke up from an uneasy dream, only feeling that she was curled into a ball. Except for the warmth around her body, the rest of the quilt seemed to have become an ice cellar... It was so comfortable that she had no intention of getting up at all.

Clearly, it was still warm two days ago.

Akina, who opened her eyes, looked at the pillow next to her, and her arm also reached out to the side, but it was empty.

When she came back yesterday, it was already almost midnight. Nagayama Naoki naturally didn't stay overnight in the apartment.

But she had only slept in the same bed twice, yet Akina felt that she seemed to have gotten used to having a warm human-shaped pillow beside her. Now that she didn't touch it in the morning, she felt empty in her heart... It was also very difficult to fall asleep last night.

"Should I give Naoki-san a spare key to the apartment..." Such a thought flashed through her mind, and the little girl who reacted was shy. "What a shameless guy!"

The more she thought, the redder her face became. Suddenly, she hugged the pillow next to her, buried her face in the pillow, and made a *ying ying* sound from the pillow... inheriting Eitaro's true biography~

And on the other side, Eitaro... ah, it was Nagayama Naoki, who woke up heartlessly, the whole person was energetic and spirited, even the winter quilt couldn't seal a strong young guy.

Put the washed rice in the rice cooker, add water one and a half knuckles higher, and then press the porridge button, you can use this rice cooker worth yen to cook thick, fragrant white porridge!

Cut the pickled side dishes and put them on a small dish on the side. Taking advantage of this time, Nagayama Naoki shouted at the big white dog: "Eitaro, prepare!"

The dog's ears that were originally lying down stood up!

Wagging his tail, he ran to the entrance, hung the dog leash himself, and then ran to Nagayama Naoki with the handle in his mouth and sat down, his tail like a small mallet hitting the floor *pa pa pa*.

"Well done!" Nagayama Naoki patted Eitaro's head happily and took the dog leash. "The training these days was not in vain! You are already a mature dog! Wearing a dog leash, sure enough, should be done by the dog itself!"

On such a sunny winter morning, taking his dog for a morning run, and then coming back to eat hot clear porridge and side dishes, this is the way every day should start!

The morning light was not so intense, as if separated by a piece of transparent glass, only feeling the brightness without temperature.

The small park next to it continued the coldness of last night, completely without the insect chirping and bustle of summer and autumn. The evergreen trees were covered with ice flowers, and the silence was soundless.

However, Chiyoda had already woken up, and it was full of vitality between the reinforced concrete.

The center of the road was full of dull cars, inside which sat exquisite and fashionable gentlemen and ladies, while the workers wearing thick clothes flowed out from the subway entrance one after another, rushing toward the office building against the cold wind.

The city area that was empty at night would be full of people coming to work during the day.

The cold air flowed into the lungs from the nasal cavity, bringing fresh oxygen into the blood, and then returned to the outside world with the heat of the human body, rising a layer of white mist at the mouth and nose, like a lubricant to start the body that had slept for a night.

"Konnichiwa~" "Ohayo~"

Occasionally greeting a few familiar neighbors, everyone had long been accustomed to this handsome young man who often took his dog for a morning run. 【5

In this day and age, even little punks with dyed rainbow hair can run wild on the streets; what's wrong with a handsome young man going for a morning jog? It's clearly a healthy hobby!

On the way back, the owner of a nearby newsstand, Kenta Yokota, actually called out to Naoki Nagayama.

"Naoki-san, hold on a second!"

"Eh? What is it, Yokota-san?" Naoki Nagayama wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and had Eitaro stop as well.

Kenta Yokota picked up a few newspapers and said quite dramatically:

"Naoki-san, take a look at today's papers!"

"?" Naoki Nagayama was confused.

"Several newspapers have photos of you, Naoki-san!" Kenta Yokota took a few papers, flipped each one to a certain page, folded them, and handed them to Naoki Nagayama.

They were actually all photos of Naoki Nagayama and Akina Nakamori in Otaru! They had been specially cropped to leave only the two of them looking incredibly intimate.

Accompanied by sensational headlines: "Bombshell: Are Akina Nakamori and Naoki Nagayama Secretly Dating?", "Direct Hit: Playboy Naoki Seeks New Love Again and Again!!!", "Shock! Pure Idol Falls into the Devil's Clutches!", "Top Idol Changes to Mature Look Overnight—Turns Out It Was for Him!"

"Isn't that for next week's magazine? Why is it starting today?" Although he had anticipated the exposé, this speed was truly fast.

"Naoki-san, are you really dating Ms. Nakamori?!"

Kenta Yokota's eyes were full of curiosity; after all, the subjects of previous scandals were idols far beyond reach, but now the protagonist of the reports was right in front of him!

"Yokota-san, after running a newspaper business for so long, you still believe the entertainment section?" Naoki Nagayama smiled. Seeing another morning commuter coming to buy a paper, he quickly took out money to pay.

"If it's true, please be sure to tell me!" Kenta Yokota's face was full of smiles. "My kid is a fan of Ms. Nakamori too!"

"Hai, hai~" He waved his hand to say goodbye. If I told you, wouldn't your son run to my doorstep and send me razor blades?!

Naoki Nagayama didn't continue running but walked back slowly. Along the way, he was still pondering the reason for the sudden exposé. This must have been pushed by someone behind the scenes; even if those two paparazzi sold the photos to multiple outlets, it couldn't be this coordinated.

When he opened the door, he discovered that his mailbox was already full of newspapers, and he had several overlapping copies in his own hand.

"Did that Yokota-san deliberately stack those papers together to hand to me? Just so I'd buy more at once?!!"

"As expected, you can't underestimate anyone in business. Profits are squeezed out of these little things!"

When he arrived at the studio, he encountered the employees' mischievous smiles again.

Their boss's tendency to hit the scandal headlines every now and then had already become second nature to them.

"Otomo-san~" Naoki Nagayama greeted him. "It actually got exposed early!"

"Yeah, I just called a few acquaintances. It seems someone sent the photos to the newspapers for free." Tomoaki Fushimura was also very puzzled.

So, this was a pie falling from the sky~

Naoki Nagayama understood. An exposé about a top-tier idol and a playboy in the industry—with such a huge traffic magnet, which media outlet would miss it!

"I wonder who has so much money? Could it be Akina's anti-fans?! Or those people from the Seiko faction?"

Naoki Nagayama had no self-awareness and didn't think for a second that it was his own doing. (Director Shohei Imamura was currently admiring several copies of the papers on his desk~)

"This..." Tomoaki Fushimura was silent. "Seeing a scandal like this, I assume it's your doing, Naoki-san..."

Can we still play together happily?!

Naoki Nagayama took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to retort: "Otomo-san, since it's already been exposed, let's start slowly releasing relevant information! Take it slow, no rush, let the scandal fly for a while~"

"Hai!"

Neither of them considered this a very important matter. After communicating, Tomoaki Fushimura stood up and walked toward the conference room with Naoki Nagayama. The more important thing today was the release discussion for *Ring*!

In the conference room, Shuichi Ido, Masataka Komori, Riko Hayano, and other key members had already arrived, but Naoki Nagayama also saw a girl he didn't recognize.

"Ah, Naoki-san, this is our newly hired Kieda Ochiai, a publicity assistant." Riko Hayano saw Naoki Nagayama's surprise and quickly introduced her. "She just started not long ago. *Ring* is the first project she'll be participating in."

"I see. Well, nice to meet you, Ochiai-san. Please take care of me from now on."

Naoki Nagayama greeted her with a smile, causing the capable-looking girl to quickly stand up and bow. Due to the company's growth, many new people had joined, and since he was often away, Naoki Nagayama hadn't met everyone.

Once everyone was seated, Riko Hayano began to describe her publicity plan on the blackboard.

"First, we've already started pre-heating the Dentsu advertisements, and the first batch of promotional materials has been displayed in high-traffic areas. Next, we will increase the intensity of our publicity."

"Offline, besides advertisements, we plan to hold poster and movie ticket lottery events at haunted houses, Adventure Island, and other venues interested in horror elements..."

"We'll find groups that love adventure and ghost stories and invite them to the preview screening..."

"We'll promote it in horror magazines and horror exploration programs."

As Riko Hayano continued her explanation, the entire publicity thread became clear, and the possibility of *Ring*'s fame going viral was high.

Tomoaki Fushimura gave some instructions on the budget and effectiveness, while Shuichi Ido had some opinions regarding the focus of the film's publicity:

"Riko-chan, you have to know, this *Ring* is a horror movie that absolutely surpasses previous horror movies!! Its level of horror is in a different quadrant! Your publicity plan doesn't reflect that... some of the copy is also very cliché."

"If it were an ordinary horror movie, it would be fine, but for our film, it's a bit weak!"

Riko Hayano nodded on the surface, but sighed in her heart: "These directors always have too high expectations for their own works. This might be an illusion!!!"

Naoki Nagayama saw Riko Hayano's "insincerity" and smiled at Shuichi Ido: "Shuichi-san, saying that to Riko-chan won't make her feel it... she'll just think you're bragging!"

He turned to Masataka Komori and said: "Komori-kun, don't we already have a preview version? Find a screening room today for Riko-chan and Ochiai-san to watch it first... Ah, no, just use the small projector in the editing room; the screen is smaller, so the horror level will be lower."

Then he said to Riko Hayano: "Riko-chan, don't get scared, okay~"

"... Naoki-san, I am an independent new-era woman; I won't be scared by a horror movie, especially on such a small screen!" Riko Hayano looked unconvinced.

"We'll see after you watch it..." Naoki Nagayama shook his head and continued, "What Shuichi-san said just now also makes sense. For *Ring*, we need some different publicity."

His brain turned, and a good idea suddenly appeared: "Otomo-san, we can get the contact information for every theater from Kadokawa, right?"

"Ah, hai! That's all possible." Tomoaki Fushimura didn't know what Naoki Nagayama was going to do, but he confirmed it anyway.

"That's good," Naoki Nagayama smiled. "Then before the release, let's send a set of first-aid equipment to every theater!! Just the portable first-aid kit kind..."

"And we'll popularize first-aid courses for the staff at every theater and connect them to the nearest hospital."

Naoki Nagayama smiled and said in the conference room: "Then, in the newspapers or other publicity channels, we'll say the producers were afraid the audience would be so scared they might suffer sudden death, so we prepared first-aid measures in advance."

Tomoaki Fushimura, Shuichi Ido, and the other veterans all laughed.

"Naoki-san, won't the newspapers mock us for that?"

"But it will also pique everyone's interest!"

"Hahaha, if it were me, just hearing this news would make me go see it! Not to mention those rebellious youths~"

The newly joined Kieda Ochiai widened her eyes, amazed by Naoki Nagayama's whimsical ideas.

Although the scandal broke out a bit suddenly, for Tree Friend Film and Burning Productions, who were already prepared, they knew how to respond.

From the morning on, Burning Productions' hotline never stopped, with countless fans calling to inquire.

Some were suspicious: "Is Akina really dating? No way, no way, it can't be true, right?!"

Some were indignant: "How could Akina-chan find a guy like playboy Naoki? I don't agree! Make Akina change her boyfriend immediately! If she can't find anyone, I can reluctantly step in..."

Some were bitterly advising: "Please, agency, advise Ms. Akina Nakamori well. She's young and should focus on her career. She can't think about dating all day long. She has a long life ahead! It's not worth it for Naoki Nagayama."

This was just a fraction of the opinions; he believed the letters about to arrive would fill Burning Productions' mailroom!

For Akina Nakamori, having been at the pinnacle of the idol industry for over a year since her debut, she had attracted countless fans.

Although there had been plenty of gossip in the media, which had caused many fan wars, this was the first time real, intimate photos had been taken, and with a famous playboy in the entertainment industry, it instantly caused a riot among the fans.

By this time, Burning Productions already knew the attitude of the higher-ups, so the operators could only reply:

"Ah, regarding that, we just found out too. We are currently looking into the situation. If there is any news, we will hold a media conference as soon as possible."

"Thank you for your support of Akina Nakamori. Regarding dating, both Akina and we at Burning Productions take it seriously. As for you dating Akina, please forgive us, we are powerless to help..."

"Yes, yes, our agency has always attached great importance to Ms. Akina's career development. We will take a firm attitude and decisive measures against anyone or anything that wants to sabotage Akina's career."

In short, they adopted a "neither deny nor confirm" attitude toward these calls.

Of course, there were quite a few fans who wanted to call Naoki Nagayama to yell at him or send him razor blades, but... they couldn't find Naoki Nagayama's contact information!

As a public figure, this guy hadn't made any hotline public, had no fan club, no agency contact info, not even a mailing address!!!

In an era without the internet, such a public figure could only be contacted through TV stations!

Ah!!

This guy rarely even appeared on TV.

Why is Naoki Nagayama so low-key—not appearing on shows, not accepting interviews, no events, no commercials—yet one can always hear news about him in the entertainment industry?

Oh, because of scandals!!!