A Genius In The World Of Conan

Chapter 26: The Newcomer

The pale blue dawn intertwined with the faint morning mist, filtering through the gaps in the curtains and casting a soft glow on Itakura Misaki’s face.

Perhaps sensing the light, her eyelids trembled slightly before she gradually awoke.

She barely opened her eyes, leaving only a narrow slit.

After a few seconds of adjusting from the dazed state of just waking up, Itakura Misaki suddenly jolted upright in bed.

She reached out and grabbed her phone from the bedside table.

Only after checking the time did she let out a long breath of relief.

"That was close… I thought I overslept."

The brief moment of panic had completely erased any lingering drowsiness.

She turned off the alarm she had set on her phone and then got out of bed to head to the bathroom.

Today was an extremely important day for her—there was absolutely no way she could be late!

There had been far too many times before when she had set an alarm, only for it to never go off, making her wake up in shock way past the intended time.

Brushing teeth, showering, blow-drying her hair, putting on makeup.

After spending over an hour getting everything done, Itakura Misaki slipped into a brand-new suit, still carrying that distinct fresh-fabric scent, wrapped a scarf around her neck, and stepped out the door.

The place she was heading to was none other than Wonderful—Japan’s largest entertainment agency, located in Shibuya.

Three months ago, Itakura Misaki had switched careers and joined this agency.

After three months of training, she had finally passed her assessment last Friday, officially becoming a rookie talent manager.

However—

Since she had joined the company several months later than the rest of the new hires from the April cohort,

her final evaluation scores had barely made the cut.

Last Friday, the new batch of signed artists had also just completed their initial training.

And today—

Itakura Misaki would finally be assigned her very first artist to manage.

For someone who had always dreamed of working in Japan’s entertainment industry, this was a monumental day.

"I’ll make sure my artist becomes a national sensation in Japan!"

"Step by step, I’ll turn them into the hottest star out there!"

"And when that day comes… maybe I’ll get the chance to work alongside Yoko-sama!"

That’s right—

Itakura Misaki was a die-hard fan of Yoko Okino.

Her main reason for joining Wonderful was her deep admiration for Yoko Okino,

so she had followed in her idol’s footsteps and entered the same company.

As she walked through the office, Misaki couldn’t stop daydreaming about the future—

her artist’s rise to stardom, working alongside Yoko Okino, and finally standing in the same professional sphere as her idol.

At the same time, she energetically greeted her colleagues, her voice brimming with excitement.

After dropping off her belongings at her desk, Misaki headed straight to the restroom.

Using the mirror inside, she carefully checked her makeup and outfit for any imperfections.

She was about to meet her assigned artist for the first time.

She absolutely had to make a good impression!

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she saw a delicate, attractive face, a gift from her mother’s good genes.

Yet, deep inside, a small sense of regret surfaced.

Throughout her student years, judging by how her classmates and friends treated her,

Itakura Misaki knew that she belonged to the "cute girl" category.

Unfortunately—

She had completely inherited her programmer father’s skills instead.

While she was exceptionally skilled in anything related to computers and numbers, she had zero talent for being an entertainer.

That was exactly why Itakura Misaki had chosen to switch careers from programming to talent management instead of becoming an entertainer herself.

Between a job she was good at and a job she loved, Itakura Misaki had chosen the latter.

She flashed herself a confident smile in the mirror, then turned and headed back to her desk.

At exactly nine o’clock, the workday officially began.

At the same time, the department head started distributing artist assignment files to the newly certified talent managers.

"Thank you."

Itakura Misaki took her file from the department head and politely expressed her gratitude.

The moment she got her hands on it, she eagerly flipped it open.

She was incredibly excited to see what kind of talents her first assigned artist would have.

— "Kousuke Akikawa."

"Oh my god, he's gorgeous!"

Misaki read out her assigned artist’s name in a whisper, but the moment she flipped to the first page, her eyes were instantly drawn to the photo in the upper right corner.

Even though she had already seen more beautiful men and women during her three-month training than in her entire life combined, and even though she was almost numb to attractiveness at this point, the sight of the young artist in the file—with chestnut-colored hair and gem-like sapphire blue eyes—made her gasp in amazement.

"My luck is amazing! I got assigned to such a handsome artist! Looks like my dream of working with Yoko-sama isn't too far off!"

Misaki muttered to herself excitedly,

then eagerly turned to the second page to read Kousuke Akikawa's detailed training evaluation.

But—as soon as her eyes scanned the text, her words immediately got stuck in her throat.

"Visually outstanding, but his physique is on the thinner side."

"Singing ability is below average. Due to poor physical fitness, he can barely dance, so his evaluation in that area is very poor."

"Fairly intelligent, but introverted and gloomy. Almost never seen him smile, so his salesmanship is assumed to be terrible."

"Overall rating: C. Ranked 23rd out of 23 trainees."

Misaki stared at the file with her mouth slowly falling open.

‘Isn't this just a pretty face with zero talent?! There are tons of guys like this all over Japan!’

‘How the hell did he even pass the auditions and screening process to get into the company?!’

Her mind was filled with pure confusion.

After all, before an artist could officially join the company, they had to go through multiple rounds of auditions and evaluations.

Only after surviving those rigorous screenings could they begin training as an official recruit.

Yet Kousuke Akikawa's evaluation showed that most of his skills were far below average.

So how had he even managed to enter Wonderful in the first place?

But then—

She spotted the "SG" mark on the top of his profile.

And instantly, she covered her face with both hands in utter defeat.

"He was scouted..."

The so-called SG, or "Scouting Group," referred to artists who were directly headhunted by talent scouts.

These artists did not have to go through the normal screening or audition process.

They could sign with the company and begin training immediately.

On the other hand, most artists belonged to the "AG", or "Audition Group", meaning they had worked their way through competitive auditions to secure a contract.

Naturally—

AG artists were far more skilled than those in the SG category.

As Itakura Misaki realized her first-ever assigned artist was an SG, she couldn't help but feel like her career as a talent manager was over before it had even started.

But just as she was silently mourning her doomed future, a low, slightly gloomy voice suddenly spoke from beside her.

"Are you Itakura Misaki-san?"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kousuke Akikawa."