A New Start & Time Skip

Sometime in the morning

*Beep Beep Beep*

"Ugh..."

As the sun started rising early in the morning, the alarm coming from the clock seated on the nightstand went off, waking me up at once. My best guess was that they had set it on by default; alas, I had no choice in the matter.

I frantically tried to turn it off by hitting its snooze button, missing every damned time. I just gave up and tossed it across the room, yet thankfully it ended up falling on the rug—saving me from having to pay for it. Still, the alarm was still ringing out, the annoying sound crushing my ears.

With no other option in sight, I got up and angrily walked over to it, pressing the button on top of it so hard that I had finally calmed down. There I was, awake... extremely miserable and unhappy, but awake.

With lazy steps I made my way into the bathroom, washing my face with cold water in an attempt at waking up, hoping that it would wash the sleep away. The towel was soft against my face, absorbing the moisture. Once finished, I stared into the mirror, taking in every detail of the face that met my eyes.

"Ugh... After all these days I still can't get used to seeing this face in my reflection. I guess it's to be expected, since I didn't spend much time staring in mirrors, so I didn't have the chance to begin with."

As I spoke, I tried to make different types of faces and poses to see what it looked like.

"It's one thing to become another person, but it's a whole other feeling becoming a kid again, and a girl at that."

Turning my head down, I look at my slim, pale arms and legs. Then I took one of the braids and examined it thoroughly, untying it. Doing so, I accidentally smell my armpits, almost reflex vomiting from the smell.

*Gulp*

"I should take a shower... But it feels like I will lose something in the process... Fuck it, we ball. I can't really handle this stench anymore."

After those thoughts, I took off my clothes and went into the shower while trying not to be conscious about it.

And so an hour passed, with me scrubbing every possible spot I knew I had to focus on. Indeed, my mind was extremely against most touches, turning my mind inside out as my past came into conflict with the present.

Finally out of the shower, I dried myself off, once again contemplating something. Should I keep her style, or should I change it and opt for something different?

Well, out of necessity—and my abilities to handle long hair being close to zero—I opted for twintails. I made sure to dry my hair up too and fix it in place as well as I could, wincing a few times since I was pulling too hard on it.

Back in the bedroom, I simply sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at my own palms, contemplating my next steps.

*Knock Knock*

"Oh, that must be the breakfast..."

After looking through the peephole, just in case it was something else, I opened the door and took the breakfast set, sitting down at the table, eating in peace.

"Now that I've cleaned myself up and rested, I should start thinking about what to do now since I need to get documentation and some kind of income."

"One route would be to get help from a government office or something, but I technically have no papers at all.

The next option would be to try and live as I am, a secret life without anyone knowing of my existence, but that would be tough as well.

The other possibility, one that seems far-fetched, is to somehow become popular and known by many.

Otto would probably have a harder time kidnapping me, should he find out about my existence, but then again, I have no papers.... ARGHHHHH, THIS IS A HEADACHE TO DEAL WITH!"

My mind was a scrambled mess as I tried to figure out something, anything, that I could do and wouldn't exactly need my identity.

There was a possibility to somehow get fake papers or just play some kind of innocent kidnapped girl who's got no clue about where she's from and somehow get papers here.

Nothing clear came to mind, and the fear that Otto would be on my trail was also gnawing at my thoughts.

"Maybe I could try getting into the entertainment industry? I doubt the entertainment is that advanced considering that the only thing popular here is just Homu and nothing else."

I took a deep breath, fighting back the urge to just slam my head against the wall.

"Screw this! Why can't life just be as simple as a walk in the park?"

"Whatever, let's just recreate whatever song was stuck in my head from my previous world, and let's see how it turns out. Thankfully, I played around with this stuff, and those hours spent singing in the shower should come in handy."

Thus, I grabbed my most important things and went out through the city, keen on finding an internet cafe—and hopefully one with a private room and a decent microphone.

My efforts weren't in vain, since I did come across such a place, yet talking was a little awkward considering that I was a foreigner in a country like Japan.

I spent a few minutes trying to kind of gesticulate and talk my way into renting a private room, and thanks to the guy at the reception being helpful, I managed to get what I needed. It wasn't the best setup, but I could work with that.

Hours of work spent on it, I barely managed to create something at least somewhat decent. With it being off-tune, lacking the perfect rhythm, or not even hitting the notes sometimes. That's sort of what I managed to get done on the first day. Still, in order to leave no traces, I went ahead and got rid of the original stuff, leaving nothing behind for the time being.

Two weeks went by with me trying to perfect my art until I finally managed to create a decent song. I didn't think too much of it and made a quick account online and uploaded the song wherever I could. My work was far from perfect, but unique in its own right, sort off. I spent the rest of the time just figuring out my next song, spending some time immersed in the task.

Around 2 hours later, I did check the song again. To my surprise, it ended up amassing 15k views in that short timespan. The most surprising thing about this, however, wasn't the traction it was getting but that one independent label immediately wanting to sign me up for a contract for 2 years.

At first skeptical, I reached out and tried to pry more information about the company. It turns out that it was just an independent studio label hiring small to medium creators, with most of them being teenagers or young adults. It was something along the lines of idols in the making.

Of course, getting that contract would let me make some money for the time being, but the issue was that I had no documents to my name, so I was worried. After a long messaging session, I did manage to discuss my situation as well, focusing on the lack of papers.

To my surprise, they brushed it off as something normal, saying that I was far from the first person to be in that kind of situation.

They would handle everything for me, as long as I signed the contract. I told them to give me some contact information, which I did scribble down on a piece of paper before going back to my hotel room, lost in thoughts.

My current issue was my name, which I did lack in this world. Using my old one, a man's name, would come across as weird—obviously. I couldn't just run around the place and call myself K-422, could I? Well, I could, but I'd be like a weirdo walking with a huge target sign on their back.

All my thoughts vanished as I just got to my room and fell asleep, resting way better than before.

After waking up the next morning, I went straight for their office building in the city. It was a decent-sized office with enough space for workers and talents to use.

Going in, I met the receptionist and told her that I was told to come here for a discussion with the recruitment manager, and she let me in after checking something on her computer. I was told where to go, and so I followed along, entering the lone office.

*Bang! (Door closes shut.)*

"Welcome, Miss Kaslana. Please have a seat."

"Thank you for having me, Miss!" I make a light bow, then take a seat across from her.

She was a beautiful woman, suitable for the job. Slender form, with her office outfit hugging her in all the right places. Her gaze was sharp, striking right for my core, trying to read me like I was some open book. Instantly, however, she switched to being polite.

"Aw~ There's no need to be so polite. Also, you may call me Misato, as I'll be your manager, Shiori. That is, if you agree to the terms discussed before."

"I'm still a little skeptical thanks to that documentation issue, but you saying it's no problem is the most reassurance I could get."

"Don't worry about that, Shiori. As I said before, we're used to handling such situations.

We're always on the lookout for young talents, some of whom do end up making a name for themselves. Where we see potential, we invest, even if for a while.

For now, we can give you an employed foreigner status, which should suffice for the time being, then later on as discussed, if it's possible even citizenship."

"Will I have rights to my works after the contract ends while also not showing my identity during and after it? Also, will I have some kind of income from this?"

"Yes, and the income part goes without saying. You will have both your rights to the content created and 75% of the revenue generated from your works, with complete anonymity if it is what you desire."

"Can I get some kind of bank account then? Considering that I don't have it and thus am unable to redeem the pay."

"Every talent gets a local debit card with their first month's revenue. Sometimes the process could take longer, so please be patient if something like this happens."

"Hmm... Where do I sign?"

She took out a contract, pointing to a few points on the page.

"Here, here, and here on the corner."

I did read it through, since it was in English. With a flick of the pen, I had signed for the time being. Misato pulled out a second paper, same as the first, and I signed it too.

Thus, both of us had a copy of the contract, signed and valid for the next two years.

"For now keep this as close and safe as possible. It's both proof of you working for us and also for us to have some information on you. See you in the coming days, Kaslana Shiori. Also, if you ever need to use the studio, tell the receptionist, and she will guide you to it. Have a nice day."

"Bye, Miss Misato!" I bow again and leave, clutching the piece of paper like a lifeline.

So with new confidence and reassurance, I finally took my first steps into the industry and my new life. In that way, seven years had passed, and a lot of things had happened during that time.

7 years later

*Beep Beep Beep*

"Ugh~"

*Click*

'Another day, another morning to finish my work, uhhhh...'

I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day. After freshening up, I stepped into the kitchen and made some pancakes. Thankfully, after my contract ended, I gathered even more of a fanbase, so I even managed to hire some tutors for various things.

One of them was an experienced chef, because for some reason, whenever I tried to cook, my taste buds became unresponsive, leading to me cooking something that shouldn't have ever been brought into existence. It was a must for me to learn how to cook, and so I spent a lot of time perfecting it, considering that Kiana's cooking was... eldritch, pure horror. It took me some years to actually bring my skill level to something above average, making edible dishes.

It did make me wonder just how bad Kiana was at this—way more than I expected.

Grabbing my plate of pancakes, I plopped down onto the couch, turned on the TV, and started eating my breakfast.

^...Welcome back to daily news with Sakura! 🎶 Today, Akira's newest single set once more a new record for the most listened-to song in 24 hours. 🎶 A massive gas leak led to an explosion in Nagazora city, resulting in massive casualties, with the ones found and evacuated suffering from Honkai poisoning. The search of the remaining survivors is still in progress. 🎶 The government sets aside 250 million yen to provide families of victims and surviving people financial and humanitarian support. 🎶...^

"So the events in Nagazora already happened, huh... I wonder if I should also try to get involved there.

"Considering that after a month or two I will have my last concert and Otto is constantly raiding my old hotel rooms as discreetly as possible, he probably has a clue about who I am at this point. Exposing myself and joining Theresa might not be that bad, to be honest."

"If I chose not to join, then I would need to constantly change living spaces without having one to call my own. I'd have one less thing to worry about if I join."

"But that would mean that I would be required to become a Valkyrie if I want to enroll to study there."

"Ugh... whatever... if I am left with no other choice, I might as well join later on. But for now I still have stuff to complete and to finalize my identity reveal concert."

I finished my meal and went back to work in my room, the usual for these past few years, hoping that I could live without worries for at least some time.