novelslam Chapter 252 The Melody of Dimensional Reduction! Extinguishing the Last Flame of Johnny's (
Chapter 252 The Melody of Dimensional Reduction! Extinguishing the Last Flame of Johnny's (
Chapter 252 The Melody of Dimensional Reduction! Extinguishing the Last Flame of Johnny's (11/71)
The air in the audition room seemed to have completely fallen into a vacuum after Kitahara Shin's suffocating performance.
Kitagawa Eriko's tear stains had not yet dried, and several Fuji TV directors and producers looked at each other, unable to recover from the shock of having their "souls brutally dissected."
The highest level of acting is not about shouting at the top of one's lungs, but about conveying profound meaning through silence. Without a doubt, Kitahara Shin's subtle facial expressions, delivered without any dialogue, had already foreshadowed the outcome of this battle for the male lead.
However, in this arena of fame and fortune, as long as one has a breath left, no one will easily swallow the bitter pill of failure.
"Wait—wait a minute! Directors, please wait a little longer!"
The Johnny's executive leading the team wiped the cold sweat pouring down his forehead and stood up anxiously.
Watching Kitahara Shin's impeccable performance, he was in a state of panic, but he was still making a last-ditch effort to explain himself.
"Mr. Kitahara's acting is indeed top-notch in the industry, and we at Johnny's are completely convinced. But!" The executive suddenly raised his voice, as if grasping at a last straw, "Everyone, don't forget, the character Sena Hidetoshi in the script," his core identity is an extremely talented but stuck "genius pianist!"
He pulled Kimura Takuya, whose face was still somewhat pale, closer to him, his tone carrying an almost tragic pride: "For this role, Kimura turned down all his other engagements and locked himself in the music room practicing the piano for months on end! He can even play all the core pieces required in the script blindfolded! This level of dedication and professionalism is something no other actor could possibly achieve in such a short time!"
Upon hearing this, the production team members were indeed slightly taken aback, and their brows furrowed again.
Indeed, in the filming of Japanese dramas during that era, scenes involving professional musical instruments were often the most troublesome. Usually, they could only rely on stunt doubles, close-ups, or awkward editing to cover it up. If the male actor could actually play the instruments himself, it would definitely be a huge plus for the overall quality and realism of the drama.
Takuya Kimura took a deep breath. He knew this was his, and Johnny's', last trump card in this battle.
He didn't say anything, but quietly walked towards the expensive Yamaha grand piano in the corner of the audition room.
He sat down and opened the piano lid. Kimura closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then his hands fell onto the black and white keys without hesitation.
Chopin's "Little Dog" Waltz in D-flat major (the famous "One-Minute Waltz") played smoothly in the audition room.
To be fair, this performance was quite amazing.
For an idol actor without formal training and who had only crammed for a few months, Takuya Kimura demonstrated astonishing learning ability and muscle memory. While his fingering might seem slightly raw to professionals, from an actor's perspective, he played the piece exceptionally smoothly and with great emotion. The sweat and effort he poured into it perfectly matched his stubborn determination to prove himself at that moment.
After the piece was finished, several directors in the audition room applauded sincerely. Even Kitagawa Eriko nodded with admiration in her eyes.
Kimura's sincerity and perseverance have indeed caused the already tilted scales to sway again in a barely perceptible way.
"Mr. Kitahara, what do you think of this—" Fuji TV's chief producer looked at Kitahara Shin tentatively, his tone tinged with concern.
Despite Johnny's brilliant counterattack, Kitahara Shin showed not the slightest sign of panic. Instead, he chuckled softly, seemingly nonchalantly but with remarkable composure.
He slowly stood up from the chair, took long strides, and walked calmly to the piano, elegantly gesturing for Kimura Takuya to step aside.
Takuya Kimura gritted his teeth, stood up, stepped aside, and stared intently at the man in front of him.
As Johnny's current most popular superstar, his schedule is usually packed. The little sleep he manages to squeeze out in his private time to repeatedly watch Kitahara Shin's legendary dramas to hone his acting skills is already the limit of his efforts.
He simply didn't have the extra energy to pay attention to Kitahara Shin's personal variety show that aired late at night, so naturally he had no idea that this man, in addition to acting, also possessed unfathomable musical talent.
In his conventional wisdom, even the most talented person has limited energy. He couldn't believe that a super-tycoon, whose schedule was usually packed with non-stop work, not only filming but also managing a vast business empire, could possibly have extra time to surpass the results of his months of grueling, all-consuming work on a classical instrument, which required countless days and nights of tedious practice.
Kitahara Shin casually sat down on the piano bench.
He didn't even bother to test the sound or adjust the seat height. The instant his hands touched the keys, the hidden mental device in his mind was automatically activated—
【The Rusty Harmonica of a Wandering Musician (Blue) - Activated】
The equipment that was found on the beach near Matsu Takako's house, with its accompanying "melancholy blues" effect, was now being transferred to the black and white keys of the piano without reservation.
In an instant, Kitahara Shin's musical skills were forcibly elevated to "master level".
At the same time, a rich atmosphere, intertwined with "loneliness and freedom," rippled outwards from him like a tangible force. This melancholic aura, perfectly matching "Lazy Name's" psychological state, instantly enveloped the entire audition room.
"Bang--!"
Without any warning, Kitahara Shin slammed his hands onto the piano keys with astonishing force.
Instead of some gradual waltz, he started with Liszt's La Campanella, a piano piece of extreme virtuosity and insane difficulty, a true test of piano artistry!
Crisp, rapid, and exaggeratedly wide notes exploded in the audition room like a storm!
Takuya Kimura's eyes widened to their limit in an instant, his pupils trembling violently.
Having practiced so diligently for so long, he knew all too well the value of this piece. Kitahara Shin's fingering was so fast that it left afterimages in mid-air; the complex octave leaps and delicate finger tremolos were handled with the ease and grace of eating and drinking.
Every note hits the beat precisely, without the slightest hesitation!
This isn't an actor playing the piano; this is a world-class pianist who just finished a tour of the Vienna Golden Hall, casually warming up!
However, the real dimensional reduction attack has only just begun.
At the peak of the frenzied virtuosity in "Zhong", Kitahara Shin's fingertips suddenly made a silky turn, incredibly completing an extremely difficult chord variation.
The original classical and virtuosic melody, after a brief pause, instantly transforms into a gentle, expressive, and slightly languid improvisational jazz variation.
That was the prototype of the core soundtrack for the future classic "Long Vacation".
In this jazz variation, the system's atmosphere of "loneliness and freedom" is brought to its extreme. The piano music sometimes sounds like someone smoking in an empty room late at night, and sometimes like watching a rainbow after the rain.
That ultimate sense of relaxation and the domineering power of the player and the instrument as one made Kimura Takuya's awkwardness of "playing for the sake of playing" seem like that of a baby who has just learned to crawl!
The song ended.
Kitahara Shin gracefully withdrew his hands, the aftershocks of the piano music still lingering in the audition room.
The entire room was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.
The directors exchanged a silent, shocked look, remaining speechless for a long time. Sitting in the center of the judging panel, Kitagawa Eriko gently gripped her pen, her gaze fixed intently on the man seated at the piano.
Deep within her heart, a storm was already raging.
During countless late nights spent revising the outline of "Long Vacation," she had sketched out the image of "Sena Hidetoshi" playing the piano in her mind countless times—it should not be a simple display of skill, but rather a silent outpouring of a soul with unparalleled talent, yet unable to find an exit from the mire of reality.
The music should contain the gentle breeze of a summer night, the loneliness of the city, and a restrained yet intense longing for freedom.
She had once pessimistically believed that it was impossible to find an actor in reality who could perfectly blend such complex qualities. Even Kimura Takuya's stubbornness, tinged with sweat, ultimately only touched the shell of Sena.
But now, with just a casual jazz variation, Kitahara Shin brought that illusory image in her mind, completely and even beyond the limits of what her words could describe, vividly into the real world.
This is the real Lazy Name! This is the genius Lazy Name who possesses absolute talent but is temporarily stuck in the same place!
Standing next to the piano, Takuya Kimura's face was ashen, as if he had been struck by lightning.
He felt his legs go weak, almost losing the strength to support his body. The pride he had cultivated through so much hard work, the last ember of his attempt to salvage Johnny's dignity, was mercilessly and utterly crushed into dust before the masterful performance of Kitahara Shin, which was like a god descending to earth!
It was a suffocating gap, so large that he couldn't even feel "jealousy," only pure despair remained.
The executives at Johnny's swallowed hard, their faces ashen. They knew it was all over. Faced with this monster, a perfect warrior with no weaknesses, Johnny's last glimmer of hope had been extinguished by the breathtaking piano music.
"A flawless performance—Mr. Kitahara, the role of Hidetoshi Sena is perfect for you!"
After a few seconds of dead silence, Fuji TV's chief producer, his eyes gleaming with fervor, led the applause and immediately approved the decision.
With the male lead's casting decided, the tense atmosphere in the audition room finally dissipated, and it was time for the female lead, "Hayama Minami," to compete.
As the actress who created this character in the original timeline, Tomoko Yamaguchi's audition performance was indeed outstanding. She naturally portrayed the carefree, easygoing, and vulnerable nature of a thirty-year-old woman, as well as the vulnerability hidden beneath her strong exterior.
However, when Nanako Matsushima walked into the audition area, a subtle chemical change occurred in the entire atmosphere.
If Tomoko Yamaguchi brought out the "lifelike quality" of Minami Hayama, then Nanako Tanaka imbued her with a "sense of destiny" that captivated viewers.
A focused glint flashed in Nanako's eyes. She took a deep breath and skillfully used her unique acting technique, which she had honed over the years, to imagine Kitahara Shin possessing her!
She carefully recalled Kitahara Shin's extremely calm breathing rhythm when dealing with various complex situations, and imagined what kind of look the "teacher" would show if he were in such a desperate situation of being jilted at marriage and suffering setbacks in his career.
But while she adoringly imitates the male protagonist's skeletal structure, Nanako is no longer the newcomer who could only blindly copy others.
After experiencing numerous works, she skillfully and flawlessly blended her own "gentleness like a Yamato Nadeshiko" with "the weariness of a modern urban woman".
In a crying scene that was extremely demanding in terms of emotional tension, Nanako did not choose the approach of letting out a loud cry like Tomoko Yamaguchi.
She bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes, but stubbornly tilted her head back to keep them from falling. Her portrayal of a thirty-year-old woman, battered and bruised by life, yet still desperately clinging to the last shred of dignity and self-respect, was deeply moving.
Even more devastating was the way her eyes revealed a powerful longing and dependence—as if she had grasped the last straw in her life—when she looked at Kitahara Shin (the future male lead Sena) sitting on the judges' panel. This created an amazing chemical reaction!
"That's her!" Kitagawa Eriko excitedly drew a large circle on the script. The natural chemistry and sensuality between Nanako and Kitahara Shin was simply a textbook example of a match made in heaven!
Subsequently, under the overwhelming and unyielding aura of Kitahara Shin, Matsushima Nanako naturally landed the role of "Hayama Minami".
Meanwhile, Matsu Takako, who had been intently observing from the sidelines, won over the male protagonist's crush, "Okuzawa Ryoko," without any doubt, thanks to her pure and innocent temperament and solid basic skills.
As for Rie Miyazawa, although she was rejected because her bright and dazzling temperament did not fit the "down-and-out older single woman" setting, after the audition, Shin Kitahara gently held her hand in private.
"Stop pouting. Hayama Minami isn't right for you, but that doesn't mean you're not good enough." Kitahara Shin affectionately ruffled her soft hair and made a firm promise, "Next month, I'll be launching a major commercial film production, and I've already reserved the lead role for you."
The perfectly timed reassurance instantly erased the slight disappointment in Rie's heart, causing her to beam with joy once again with a dazzling smile.
At this point, the core team behind "Long Vacation" was completely and domineeringly controlled by the Northern Plains Empire.
And in the building's underground parking lot.
Kimura Takuya sat in the back seat of the van in deathly silence, his hands gripping his knees so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh.
The executive in charge of the team sighed and cursed the injustice of fate in despair.
But Kimura slowly raised his head. The desolation and brokenness in his eyes, after a painful struggle, miraculously did not completely succumb, but instead ignited a faint yet exceptionally tenacious flame.
"Stop cursing." Kimura's voice was still a little hoarse, but unusually calm. "A loss is a loss. His acting skills, his piano skills—they truly stand at a pinnacle that I can barely even look up to right now."
He turned his head and looked out the window at the massive Fujidai building.
"But—I don't want to give up like this." Kimura Takuya clenched his teeth, a fierce glint in his eyes...
With the fighting spirit to bounce back from the brink of defeat, she thought, "If I can't even catch up to his back in this lifetime, what kind of actor am I! When I get back, I'll fill all my days off with practice. Whether it's acting lessons, vocal lessons, or diction lessons, I'm going to practice ten times, a hundred times harder!"
Kitahara Shin's ruthless attack, instead of completely destroying this genius, unexpectedly forced the previously smooth-sailing Kimura Takuya into a frenzied, life-or-death high-speed growth period.
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