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“Eh? They really agreed to pay us???”
“T-That’s right, boss. The woman from the White Deer’s side said that as long as we agree to not cause trouble for their team for the next two weeks, they’ll pay us the full amount in advance.”
Although they had long since been confident that the White Deer would give in to their demands sooner or later, none of them had expected them to do so this easily. After all, with their previous track record, shouldn’t they have at least first tried to get the police to clean them out?
The gang leader couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. “Well, it’s a pity, but since they took up our offer, we can only honor our word. Shame, I was really looking forward to smashing their board.”
It might sound silly, but in their ‘field’, verbal promises weren’t so easily broken, being the backbone of most of their transactions. Unless they could make sure that the other party would never be able to talk about it, that is.
Under his command, the ‘patrols’ around the area naturally retreated swiftly, and although the staff wasn’t sure what caused the sudden change, they couldn’t help but sigh out in relief.
After all, most of them had never even thrown a single punch their entire lives, and just looking at these gangsters hovering around them caused many to have endless nightmares the past few weeks. So long as they were gone, wasn’t it all good?
Just as many of them were celebrating, however, an announcement from their ‘boss’ sent many spiraling into disbelief and despair.
“The gangsters will be… helping us?”
“As actors?!”
The ‘boss’, being a direct subordinate of Noelle who had weathered many ‘storms’ before, remained completely unfazed while facing their pointed fingers. “Calm down, everyone. I know it sounds absurd, and your concerns are valid, but listen to me first.”
She cleared her throat and continued confidently. “The skills of an actor come into play whenever they’re trying to portray something that they’re not, but is that skill really necessary when one’s just being themselves? If we’re just asking a boxer to fight in the ring as they naturally would and just filming it as is, they don’t really have to be a particularly good actor, right?”
pan-d a-n0vel.com Her statement left many of them staring at each other dumbfounded, but they couldn’t find any argument to refute her with.
The lady knew she’d shaken off most of their fear, and that was good enough. “No need to think about it too much, this is a decision from the top. The gangsters will only be acting as themselves at the time of shooting, and we’ll all do it in a single take. So make sure to be at the top of your game, understand?”
The staff grumbled a little at the prospect of having to ‘cooperate’ with those hateful thugs, but left to make the preparations as instructed nonetheless.
Of course, the moment the door to her temporary ‘office’ was closed, the ‘boss’ quickly took out the tissue from her drawer to wipe the non-existent layer of sweat from her forehead. ‘F-Fuck, I-I’m getting really good at lying, aren’t I?’
Her mom always told her only bad girls would lie, but Noelle wouldn’t be paying her so well if she was just a good girl, right?
Plus, not to mention telling a few harmless lies, she would even start calling the gray-haired lady mommy if it meant her salary would be doubled. Hell, she might even do it for an extra fifty — no, thirty percent!
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The only unfortunate thing was how innocent and easily deceived the staff here were, like little children, which made her feel even more guilty than usual, but luckily the situation would soon change once little Emi and her manager got here.
Then she could just pretend to have been just as out of the loop as the rest of them when they discovered the truth, and blame it all on the ‘bosses’ not letting them know to keep it a secret to maintain her trustworthy image.
Although technically she would only be her ‘superior’ in name for the purpose of ‘directing’ the event, the ‘boss’ could only apologize for buckling this pot on the poor woman’s head in advance. ‘It’s either you or me, pal. You or me.’
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Unlike the staff at the shooting location, the details shared with little Emi’s manager were slightly different. Of course, with Penny by her side, Emilia was confident that no one would be able to ‘expose’ her plans inadvertently.
Of course, the woman could only scratch her head, perplexed, when she first received the news. “The contents were changed by the higher-ups? But… why?”
Even if she was slightly confused, though, being a professional meant that she had to adjust according to the circumstances and do as she was told anyway.
Naturally, she didn’t expect Penny to give her any answers, and little Emi was even less likely to know more about it, so the two of them wisely decided to stay silent while the woman paced back and forth.
After considering it for a while, she hummed thoughtfully. “Little Emi’s athletic skills are quite good, so it shouldn’t be an issue making her jump around according to the requirements… but I’m not sure how well her ‘beating people up’ skills could be portrayed on camera.”
After all, in her experience, even professionals often had trouble perfectly timing their shots to not make them appear ‘dampened’ when sped back up again.
‘If only the requirements were acting brave or annoying, little Emi would definitely have done very well.’ She sighed.
Fortunately, Penny’s ability to spew nonsense and convince others of it was top-notch.
“Actually, our little Emi doesn’t need to worry about such flaws at all.”
The manager blinked at her curiously. “Oh?”
Penny nodded enthusiastically. “Yes yes, after all. Look at her little fists. So soft and adorable! Does she even have to hold back? It’ll probably feel good even if she hits someone full force.”
The manager looked at little Emi’s hands, and absurd as it was, she couldn’t help but agree with her usually idiotic ‘assistant’ this time. ‘They do look very soft…?’
Penny became even more confident as she puffed out her almost-flat chest with a smug grin. “In fact, look, let me give you a demo. Emi, baby, come hit me?”
Emilia could only indulge Penny reluctantly, even though she was slightly worried about not being able to perfectly control her punch.
The manager narrowed her eyes as the crimson-haired little girl rushed forward to throw a punch at Penny, eager to catch any signs of unnatural behavior. ‘This pervert can’t be trusted, after all.’
Fortunately, her anxiety seemed to have aided her strength control considerably, and the apparently ‘full force’ punch only landed on Penny’s face with a soft tap, not even leaving much of a dent on the chubby cheek.
‘Yes! Princess punch, get!’ Penny cheered internally. ‘Heh, I bet Dixie’s never felt this before!’
Meanwhile, Emilia was just relieved that she hadn’t sent Penny flying into the wall, while the manager nodded, half convinced and half resigned. ‘She’s a pervert, after all. Look at that satisfied grin… even if that punch hurt, I couldn’t tell if she would be even happier.’
Unfortunately, until she had solid proof, there was little she could do about it, and the manager could only sigh in defeat and pretend not to notice anything. “The requirements are a bit strict, particularly considering that we have to do it in a single shot. But since they’re all professional actors especially trained for the job, guess we can just do as we’re told and have faith in their ability to adapt, then.”
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