Chapter 770

Returned to Tokyo in the evening~

His own villa in Kyoto had still been ravaged by Shuichi Ido. Naoki Nagayama recalled the scene of Shuichi Ido frolicking in the Red Fish Courtyard, playing in all three main halls, and even wanting to touch the stones by the small stream... he always had the feeling that the Red Fish Courtyard was no longer clean~

He would have to tell the courtyard butler to clean it thoroughly afterward!

Tokyo at this time was full of Christmas atmosphere~

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way!" Christmas songs permeated the streets of the commercial district, colorful lights on the street trees flickered with the music, and Christmas trees hung with gifts were placed in the center of shops...

The markets were hung with decorations of reindeer and snowflakes, hosting various Christmas activities, and Santa Clauses wearing red clothes, red hats, and large white beards were handing out small gifts...

"If it were when I was a child, I would probably be very happy..." Naoki Nagayama and Shuichi Ido walked on the streets of Ikebukuro, looking at everything around them and sighing, "Such a joyful and beautiful atmosphere, Shuichi-san, do you really think anyone will come to watch the premiere of 'Ring 2' today?"

"This is what you call being unconventional!" Shuichi Ido laughed. "Why are haunted houses always so attractive in such joyful places like amusement parks? It's just to seek excitement!"

"When people are happy, their courage is always a bit bigger... it's also very appropriate to watch a horror movie~"

"Shuichi-san, three days of separation, one must look at you with new eyes!"

Naoki Nagayama sighed. He didn't expect Shuichi Ido to be able to say such reasonable-sounding principles, and nodded with gratification...

Near vermilion, one becomes red; near ink, one becomes black. This must be because under his own positive influence, Shuichi-san had developed his own methodology in promotion!

"... I always feel like you're not praising me, Naoki-san..." The inexplicable feeling didn't exist in Shuichi Ido's mind for too long. He said to Naoki Nagayama, "Naoki-san, walk faster, let's go to the Bungeiza to watch the premiere!"

Naoki Nagayama shook his head:

"I'm just going to see the preparations and then I have to leave. I still have to pick up some custom gifts... It's a proper Christmas Eve, do you really expect me to spend it with you, a grown man?"

"Eww~~~" Shuichi Ido made an unclear snort, then was attracted by the keyword. "Custom gifts? What are they? Are there any for me?"

"....... Are you a girl?"

"Gifts, everyone wants them regardless of gender!" Shuichi Ido was originally grinning, but suddenly seemed to think of something, and his expression turned terrified instantly. "Christmas gifts!!"

Seeing his friend's instantly terrified expression, Naoki Nagayama narrowed his eyes, thinking of the reason:

"I say, Shuichi-san... you didn't prepare Christmas gifts for Regarding Jia Yi-chan and Jia Wei-san, did you!"

"Yeah!!! I've been busy with editing and test screenings these past few days, I've barely even gone home! So I forgot!" Shuichi Ido asked Naoki Nagayama for help. "Naoki-san, what should I do?! How can I make up for it!"

"No way, no saving you, just wait for death!!"

Naoki Nagayama gave a cold triple-hit. In this situation, if you buy a gift casually, it's very easy to be seen as insincere! Especially for a wife and daughter you live with day and night...

Unless...

"Naoki-san, please! Please share two gifts with me!" Shuichi Ido grabbed Naoki Nagayama's arm. "According to your habits, the custom-made items you mentioned, you definitely didn't just order one, right!"

"........ How did you know?"

The crystal apples and crystal apple ornaments Naoki Nagayama had custom-made were indeed in large quantities... besides the Christmas gifts for Akina and his sister, he also planned to give them to some important people as gifts after "Love Century"...

"Naoki-san really likes commemorative editions, limited editions, one-of-a-kind things, like cat-ear hair accessories, angel bells, etc. Once custom-ordered, they are definitely in multiples!"

Shuichi Ido said with certainty, indeed very understanding of his friend.

"So, sharing two with me is definitely okay, right!"

"Uh......"

Shuichi Ido saw Naoki Nagayama's hesitant look and knew there was a chance.

"Naoki-san, we are old friends for many years, as close as brothers! You definitely can't watch me get scolded by Jia Wei and hated by Regarding Jia Yi-chan, right!"

"......"

To be honest, he still kind of wanted to see it...

Seeing that he couldn't move Naoki Nagayama with friendship, Shuichi Ido could only use a crooked trick:

"Ahem, Naoki-san... a new club opened in Minato Ward, I heard there are many foreign young ladies, you can chat with people about exotic scenery..."

"Shuichi-san, what kind of person do you take me for!" Naoki Nagayama said righteously. "Remember, the gifts I share with you are entirely for the sake of our many years of friendship!"

"Mm-hmm... I'll remember!"

During their conversation, Ikebukuro's Bungeiza was soon reached.

Facing the street-corner display window, instead of placing Christmas trees or Santa Claus statues like other shops, they had used a black-and-white tone to build a horror movie scene, with a television set in the middle, and a Sadako doll crawling out from the screen...

Naoki Nagayama gasped: "Which genius came up with this idea?!"

"Haha, scared, right!" Shuichi Ido's face was full of pride. "This was thought up by me... and Eiichiro Watanabe!"

"Are other movie theaters like this too?"

"Of course not, this is a special plan only for Bungeiza!" Shuichi Ido laughed. "This is special treatment! I discussed it with Eiichiro Watanabe, only movie theaters that have signed exclusive agreements with us have it!"

"That's good, that's good..." Naoki Nagayama breathed a sigh of relief, his tone complex. "You two are truly crouching tigers and hidden dragons... for Tree Friends to have both of you at the same time, it's truly 'surprising'..."

"Right, it's even more exciting inside... hahahaha~"

Shuichi Ido laughed and led Naoki Nagayama into the movie theater lobby, which was already hung with "Ring" posters, and elements from "Ring" could be seen from time to time.

The old-fashioned black telephone by the pillar, the videotapes on the front desk storage rack, the dry well prop in the corner of the lobby, the black hair at the entrance of the screening hall...

It was practically a "Ring" themed haunted house!

Come to think of it, this was the first time Naoki Nagayama hadn't asked about the movie's promotion at all. He didn't expect the distribution department to be so thorough in letting go. It seemed that the promotion of this era was all in this style, exaggerated creativity, even more flamboyant props...

It could be said that it gave him an unforgettable "Showa Shock"!

"Shuichi-san, this place could directly be used as a 'Ring' theme park~"

"Haha, it's not that exaggerated yet!"

"I think it is..."

One after another, invited reporters and media came, as well as many horror movie fans...

He didn't expect that there really were many people attracted by the displays outside, and there were quite a few viewers who walked in from the street. Every pair that came in seemed to be shocked by the theater's features~

Looking at the continuous stream of viewers, Shuichi Ido's face also hung with a smile.

Naoki Nagayama patrolled the movie theater, chatted with the staff on-site, and roughly confirmed that there wouldn't be any accidents before preparing to leave.

"Shuichi-san, I'm going to check other theaters too..." After all, it was a sequel to a niche movie IP like a horror film, and Naoki Nagayama also wanted to understand Tokyo's acceptance. "I'll pick up the custom gifts on the way... yours will be left at the company, you can pick it up when you go back tonight!"

"Hai, thank you for your hard work, Naoki-san!"

Shuichi Ido had to stick to the premiere at Bungeiza. Although no main creators came to participate in the media meeting, some small interviews couldn't be avoided.

Taking a taxi for a round trip, the holiday fare had risen quite a bit, but Naoki Nagayama didn't care anymore.

When he arrived at the glass workshop in Sumida Ward, the sky had already darkened.

"Ah, Naoki-san... I thought you weren't coming!" Shopkeeper Shoji Kazuma breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Naoki Nagayama. "I was about to call you..."

"Just came from Kyoto this afternoon, a bit late." Naoki Nagayama laughed. "Are the gifts all ready?"

"Hai, they are all there..."

Shoji Kazuma led Naoki Nagayama to the small warehouse and moved out a large box, which was labeled with warning signs like fragile items.

Naoki Nagayama took out a transparent crystal apple from it and held it up to check... under the light, no matter how it was rotated, the crystal-clear crystal apple shone with light, beautiful as if it were not of this world.

The subsequent red crystal, green crystal, purple crystal, and blue crystal were also very beautiful, and each had a pattern-like logo engraved in a corner where the leaves were not obvious.

There were also much smaller crystal apple pendants, looking both cute and beautiful~

"Very good~"

Naoki Nagayama decided to keep the green crystal one for Shuichi Ido, give the transparent crystal one to Akina, the blue crystal one to Tsuruko, and give the others to acquaintances...

After paying the money readily, shopkeeper Shoji Kazuma helped wrap them into gift boxes with colored paper, making them easy to give away.

"Naoki-san... Merry Christmas!" When leaving, Shoji Kazuma said with a smile.

"Haha, Merry Christmas... but I don't have any gifts for you..." Naoki Nagayama laughed. "But I can remind you, prepare more transparent crystal apples next year, glass ones will do too... they will become popular next year, you will get rich!"

"Haha, Naoki-san is joking~"

"Believe it or not, it's up to you~"

Naoki Nagayama waved his hand, preparing to go back~

He stopped by the Waseda apartment on the way. As expected, Tsuruko wasn't there; she must have gone out to play with her boyfriend... Naoki Nagayama placed the gift under the small Christmas tree in the room, then returned to Shanyingyuan alone.

Eitaro was still enthusiastically welcoming his master, and even Miaotaro gave him face by running over to rub against Naoki Nagayama's leg~

"Haha, you all have Christmas gifts!"

On Christmas Eve, some people were reunited at home, eating Christmas dinner; some were playing on the streets, strolling through carnivals... all were in an atmosphere of happiness and peace.

However, there were young people who insisted on finding fun and playing for excitement... for example, four college students...

"Tsuruko, are we really going to watch 'Ring 2'?" Junshui Ishii pulled Naoki Tsuruko's sleeve somewhat timidly. "It's going to be very scary!"

Tsuruko, leading the way in front, was fearless:

"What are you afraid of? Knowing that Sadako was made up by Baka-niichan, the feeling of fear is reduced by more than half!"

"But during the first one, weren't you also so scared that you didn't dare to go to the bathroom at night?!" Junshui Ishii still remembered that Tsuruko was almost scared to tears by her brother's phone call.

"That's all in the past!" Tsuruko couldn't hold her face and pointed to the two seniors following behind. "This time we have them!"

"They were there last time too..." Junshui Ishii dismantled her.

Tsuruko had no choice but to pull Junshui Ishii close with her arm and then whispered: "Junshui-chan, don't you want to take a step further with Iwai-senpai!"

"Eh... this..."

"Then stop talking nonsense!" After Tsuruko let go of her best friend, she turned her head and pulled her boyfriend, Dalu Jin Tian. "Lu-kun, let's go buy tickets!"

"Mm!"

Dalu Jin Tian responded dotingly. He and Tsuruko were currently in the honeymoon phase; even if his girlfriend wanted to pluck stars, he would agree.

The four of them found a small movie theater near the university town. It wasn't as exaggerated as Bungeiza, but the large posters also rendered some horror atmosphere.

After arriving at the screening hall, Tsuruko found that there were actually quite a few people watching, and they were all young people~

"Mm, with more people, one's courage is also a bit bigger..." She pushed Junshui toward Dayang Iwai. "Iwai-senpai, take good care of Junshui-chan! If she gets scared, she will burrow into someone's arms!"

"You're the one!" Junshui Ishii retorted in shame and anger.

"Hehe~"

As the lights in the screening hall dimmed, the movie began to play...

Following the ending of the previous one, Sadako's bones were found, but the forensic examination showed that this skeleton had only died recently, which meant Sadako had lived in the dry well for more than thirty years!

The police had to bring relatives from Izu Oshima to identify the body...

And then, there was the long hair in the morgue...

Twisted limbs, white shadows outside the window, black shadows in the mirror, strange laughter in the photos...

As the plot progressed, amidst constant terror, the protagonist step-by-step unsealed the truth about Sadako, who had been asleep for thirty years.

The audience in the screening hall also began to gasp constantly with the plot, and from time to time, there were sounds of gasping and screaming~

"Ah!"

Junshui Ishii indeed burrowed into Dayang Iwai's arms.

"!"

Tsuruko controlled herself not to scream, but she hugged Dalu Jin Tian's arm in her arms~

There were also some more timid people who even closed their eyes tightly, not daring to look down... but after a while, they secretly opened a crack...

The more afraid one is, the more one wants to see; this is the charm of horror movies!

At the end of this year, Sadako appeared in front of the Japanese people once again, making countless people unable to sleep at night...

Approaching midnight, in the living room of Shanyingyuan.

Naoki Nagayama had already set up a small projector and sound system, and a screen that could be remotely retracted had been installed on the wall. It was completely a mini home theater!

While Naoki Nagayama was still debugging, Akina Nakamori, who had finished showering and was wearing pajamas, came to the living room with a thin quilt and placed it on the sofa.

"Naoki-san, is it ready?"

"Ready!" Naoki Nagayama turned his head and was amused by Akina's attire. "Akina, have you even finished showering?"

"Of course, after watching a good movie, maybe I won't dare to shower alone!" Akina Nakamori had a very clever look. "This way, after watching, I can go straight back to bed to sleep!"

"..... I can accompany Akina to shower!" Naoki Nagayama said with a smile.

"Hmph!" Akina Nakamori rolled her eyes. "After watching a horror movie, let's see if Naoki-san can still be lewd!"

"......"

Sigh! I was the one who filmed the first one!

Turning off the living room lights, the projector began to work. When Naoki Nagayama sat on the sofa, Akina draped the thin quilt over Naoki Nagayama, and her whole body leaned over as well.

The fragrance with a faint water vapor lingered at the tip of his nose, smelling good and charming; the hair that had just been blown swept across his neck, teasing his heart; not to mention the warm and soft body, making one just want to hold her in his arms~

"Naoki-san! Don't touch randomly!"

Akina Nakamori held down her boyfriend's mischievous large hand. In the dim light, she couldn't see her expression clearly, only her slightly rapid breathing.

"We're watching a movie!"

"Sigh... alright~"

Naoki Nagayama regretted why he had been so excited to watch a horror movie at home with Akina...

What's so good about horror movies! He had already eaten Akina dry and wiped her clean, and didn't need to go any further!

It would be better to watch love action movies; at least he could learn some knowledge!

Mm, purely learning knowledge! ===== CHAPTER 771 =====