"Aina, can you hear me?"
"No problem, I hear you, Keiko. Are we switching promotion spots?"
Sitting alone by the poolside to rest, Takahashi Aina had waited for over ten minutes for Keiko to speak again. Her tense expression instantly melted into a relaxed smile.
She felt she was so useless for failing to produce any variety-show results. She hoped it hadn't affected Keiko's mood; if she chased away such a responsible manager, she'd definitely be a crybaby.
"Mm... time is about up. We're going to head straight to filming the restaurant food segments. Consider it a half-time break."
Her tone was a bit reluctant. On the other end of the monitor, looking at Aina's gentle smile, Oshima Keiko felt like slapping her own face for cooperating with a scumbag.
However, with Miyazawa Yuu watching like a hawk beside her, she could only go against her conscience and point Aina toward a path of horror.
"This is enough?"
"OK! Leave the rest to us!"
Staring at the camera feed from the following crew, Miyazawa Yuu connected to the internal line of his new staff member, Iori, without blinking. "How is it, Iori? Are you in position?"
"Totally ready. But is it really okay to make Miss Aina drink that stuff?"
"Don't worry, I've already coordinated with the organizers to add a drink to her meal. I guarantee she won't take a huge gulp of the 'mystery drink'!"
The monitor's view switched to Iori's side. Seeing the filming crew and Takahashi Aina hurrying over, he adjusted the uncomfortable hair accessory on his head and slowly pushed the meal cart out from the kitchen.
"It's been a long morning! Today, our lunch is provided by the organizers! I wonder what delicious things there are—I'm so excited!"
Sitting at the dining table, food evaluation was a staple skill for every celebrity. For Takahashi Aina, describing ordinary ingredients with flowery metaphors was basic operation!
Though her mood had been slightly dampened earlier, she still smiled confidently toward the waitress, her eyes lighting up as the delicacies arrived.
"First, the first dish is giant clam. The meat of this shellfish is very delicate, and the texture is top-tier!"
Picking up a large piece of clam meat with her chopsticks, Takahashi Aina stuffed it into her mouth, her cheeks bulging as she chewed happily.
As the various seafood dishes provided by the restaurant arrived one after another, the frustration of her unproductive morning was gradually worn away by the delicious flavors, until...
"Ah, it looks like I'm out of drink. Could the waitress please bring me another glass?"
"No problem at all!"
With a shwish, a maid-outfit-clad waitress stood before the table holding a suspicious white bottle. She quickly poured "iced water" for Takahashi Aina but didn't leave, as if she knew she'd have to come back even if she did.
But having let her guard down completely, Takahashi Aina chose to ignore this small detail and took a light sip from the glass.
"Cough, cough, cough! Ugh! What is this!"
The moment the liquid touched her tongue, she sensed something was wrong. She quickly and warily pushed the remaining liquid away. Takahashi Aina covered her mouth, her tongue sticking out as tears were literally burnt out of her eyes!
"Obviously, this is a glass of iced water."
"Liar! How can iced water be this spicy! There's definitely something added to it!"
"Eh? Even if you say that, there's nothing we can do. Sachi~"
The blue-haired waitress faced the accusation with a troubled expression and snapped her fingers. An orange-haired waitress passing by sighed, walked over, picked up the glass, and took a gulp under Takahashi Aina's watchful gaze.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp. It's clearly just ordinary iced water."
"Eh? How is that possible?"
Her eyes widened. When she drank it just now, it was clearly spicy. Takahashi Aina stared at the second waitress for a long time but couldn't find a single flaw in her micro-expressions.
Her gaze slowly shifted back to the glass. She furrowed her cute brows, wondering if she had tasted it wrong—was the spiciness from the giant clam's wasabi still lingering?
With a "try anything once" mindset, the liquid flowed into her mouth again. This time, the heat shot straight to her brain!
"No! This is clearly the taste of strong spirits!"
"Miss Aina, stop joking. Looking at the color, it's completely normal water. Besides..."
Lighting a lighter at the mouth of the bottle, the blue-haired maid proudly demonstrated: "Look, it can even be lit. It's genuine water, right?"
"That's clearly pure alcohol! Is there something wrong with your stomachs?!"
Slamming the table, Takahashi Aina stood up, her gaze sharp. she was genuinely getting a bit angry!
This waitress was talking absolute nonsense, as if she were intentionally pranking her, but there was no such scene in the program schedule!
"Eh? Is there something wrong with our stomachs?"
Lowering their heads as if they had been waiting for this exact line, the blue-haired maid and the orange-haired maid stood in a row. They each reached a hand into the other's maid outfit and rummaged around.
Finally, a writhing, sac-like red thing was pulled out by the two of them, with two thumb-thick umbilical cords still attached.
"Miss Aina, why don't you see for yourself?"
"???"
Her gaze followed the red blood trail all the way down until it stuck to the ground. Takahashi Aina's entire art style turned gray and white in an instant, followed by an unbelievable soprano scream—
"Aaaaahhh!!! Keiko, save me!!!"
"What's wrong, Aina? If you're in danger, hurry to the diving pool area! Our staff members are there!"
"Mm!"
Having completely lost the ability to think, Takahashi Aina followed the guidance and rushed toward the diving area. Sure enough, she saw two filming staff members in full-body wetsuits and diving masks.
"Sorry! Please help me!"
"What's wrong, Miss Aina? Did something happen?"
A familiar female voice. Although Takahashi Aina couldn't recall her name for a moment, a sense of relief washed over her.
She threw herself into the other's embrace for protection. Upon impact, she felt like she had hit a somewhat hard, gelatinous substance rather than the soft texture of a chest!
"?"
Looking up in confusion, Takahashi Aina wanted to see exactly who she had run into. But as the diving mask and goggles were lifted, a ghastly white face with massive amounts of rouge on the cheeks appeared in her vision.
If she had seen it normally, it wouldn't have been much, but she had just encountered the "disemboweling" maids...
"A waterproof... paper effigy!"
Bubbles of tears instantly burst from the corners of her eyes. Takahashi Aina bolted again without a second thought. The following cameraman, who had finally caught up, felt a gust of wind whistle past him as he carried his equipment.
You're amazing! You're so noble! You aren't carrying anything and ran so fast you left me in the dust!
Wailing internally, the cameraman didn't stop reporting through his intercom while huffing and puffing: "I can't do it, Chief Director Yuu! I can't keep up!"
"Team Two! Team Two, take over! Aina's state is great, her expressions are very natural! If we don't miss a single shot, I'll perform a handstand drinking 'Life Water' for everyone at the celebration banquet tonight!"
"..."
Looking at the guy beside him who was incredibly excited, slamming the table and shouting at the staff while being called "Director," the original director silently shrank to the side to stay out of the way.
Young people nowadays certainly have energy. Besides, he didn't have to work and still got paid—this was exactly the kind of treatment an old-timer like him wanted!
"Kohei, do you think the makeup I did is really that ugly?"
In the diving area, after finishing her promotional lines and pulling her crooked chest padding back into place, Yoshiwara Aina couldn't help but laugh as she looked at "Corpse Beast Number Two" beside her.
Honestly, it wasn't a big deal when this stuff was on her own face, but on Kohei's celebrity face, it was just too hilarious. No wonder those Tinker Bell guys made her the comic relief.
"Actually, I think it's okay. The makeup isn't important; what's important is the person beneath it."
"Mm... then I'll accept that compliment. Let's go! We have to catch the next scene!"
Unabashedly kissing Kohei's pale cheek, Yoshiwara Aina spat out the white foam in her mouth, playfully stuck out her tongue, and ran a few steps before waving back.
...
On the other side, Takahashi Aina's suffering continued. After fleeing the territory of the "Corpse Beast Couple," she was lured onto an ultra-long water slide with the warning: "If you don't paddle away quickly, you'll be caught by the disgusting virgin Yamamoto!"
"Aaaaahhh! Don't come over here!"
She then witnessed a "Flamingo Solo Dance" performed by Yamamoto alongside the fish in the underwater tunnel aquarium.
[Come ON! Come ON!]
"My eyes! I'm going blind!"
Not just her eyes, even her ears were so meme-polluted that she began to have auditory hallucinations that didn't exist.
Under Miyazawa Yuu's meticulous arrangement, Takahashi Aina alternated between running and resting on rides like the log flume. With her absolute soprano screams, she tore through the entire second half of the filming.
"Hah... whew... hah!"
Finally stopping near the musical fountain as the sunset deepened, Takahashi Aina finally found a long-lost sense of security in the crowd.
But as she looked up, she was horrified to find the monsters that had been chasing her appearing openly in the crowd! Only this time, their target didn't seem to be her!
Just then, as the music began, massive columns of water shot into the sky. Hundreds of splashing white ripples announced that the water park had officially entered night operation mode.
"Ah..."
Moved by the stunning scene before her, Takahashi Aina instinctively raised her head. The continuous sound of shutters beside her captured this beautiful photo of the sunset and fountain reflected in her pupils!
"Kya!"
"Don't worry, Aina, it's me!"
Seeing Takahashi Aina like a startled deer, Oshima Keiko quickly moved the camera away to awkwardly reveal her identity. The next second, she was happily pulled into a firm embrace by the lunging idol.
"Keiko! I was scared to death, you have no idea what happened! I'm so relieved to see you!"
"Uh... Aina, actually, everything just now was for filming. Calm down!"
"Filming?"
Slowly raising her head with teary eyes, Oshima Keiko looked at Aina's pitiful state and felt that her cooperating with the scumbags was truly despicable—she was no different from a scumbag herself!
"Yes, filming. It allowed them to enjoy the park while using the 'reverse-prank' as a selling point to earn viewership ratings."
Holding Nanaka's hand, Miyazawa Yuu suddenly appeared, giving Takahashi Aina a start. But after hearing his explanation, she immediately realized what had happened.
"Wait! Doesn't that mean the show—?"
"It's already recorded. If you have any questions, we'll talk at the celebration banquet!"