"Finally…"
The moment the Stage's notification chimed, Hanabi felt the weight lift from her shoulders.
All that effort. Half her life poured into performing at full throttle—and it had paid off.
[Congratulations. You have successfully graduated from the role of background extra and become a full-fledged actress.]
[Your Idol permissions have been upgraded.]
[Actress benefits and perks are now available.]
A minor supporting role, and only LV1 at that—but Hanabi had officially gone from temp worker to permanent staff.
The Stage's notifications came in one after another.
The interface had expanded considerably. New features everywhere, but two categories stood out immediately: Actress Benefits and Actress Perks.
"Paid leave?"
An extra, when you got right down to it, was day labor. Show up, collect your lunch box stipend, go home. No benefits to speak of.
But now that she'd made it to Supporting Actress—minor as that role was—the perks were real.
[Paid Leave: Based on actress rank, the Stage will provide a set amount of paid vacation each quarter. Current title: Supporting Actress LV1. Available leave: 3 days/quarter.]
[Directed Training: Based on actress rank, the Stage will provide one directed training plan per quarter. Current title: Supporting Actress LV1. Available course quality: 3-star, Blue.]
[Screentime Card Benefits: Based on actress rank, the Stage will provide a set number of Screentime Cards per episode. Cards must be used within that episode's runtime. Current title: Minor Supporting Actress LV1. Cards per episode — Close-Up Card: ×1, Daily Life Card: ×1.]
A decent spread of perks, all told.
Mostly quality-of-life improvements, really. She wasn't the lead—these were about what you'd expect for someone her rank.
"Now this one's interesting…"
[Multi-Track Strategy]
[By spending a certain amount of popularity points, you may develop yourself across multiple career paths. Options include but are not limited to: print modeling, livestream content creation, idol performance, vocalist career, gymnastics, film/drama actress, game character…]
[Opening a career development path requires the corresponding qualifications.]
Not just acting—she could branch out.
Did that mean she could end up as an SSR in someone's gacha pull?
This had potential.
"Right, a real idol develops across all five pillars—intellectual, moral, physical, aesthetic, and vocational. Makes sense."
Hanabi queried the Stage for details and got a clearer picture.
The Multi-Track Strategy required her to actually possess the relevant skills. If she didn't have euphonium technique, she couldn't perform as a euphonium player. If she wanted to play euphonium, she'd need to either undergo training or pull the corresponding skill card.
"This could pair well with the Directed Training."
Based on how her previous training sessions had worked—all in other worlds—Hanabi suspected that if she really did study euphonium, she'd probably end up as one of Kumiko Oumae's classmates, learning at Kitauji High School.
That tracked.
"So if I wanted to study marksmanship, what world would I land in? Lycoris Recoil? Black Lagoon? Or would they just drop me into World War II or something?"
She filed that under "later." Guns existed in the Naruto world, but using one here felt deeply out of place. Maybe once she got cast in a sleek modern-setting production. Something with more style.
"Hm?"
Hanabi pulled up another interface: Schedule Management.
[Current Bookings: 1/2]
[Booking 1: Ninja's Path]
[Type: Animated series, long-running serial]
[Role: Minor Supporting Actress]
[Client Task: None at this time.]
[Booking 2: None]
"Booking 2? Does that mean I can take on a second production?"
She asked.
[Current character is under active contract. Additional bookings cannot be accepted.]
"Can't negotiate something with the client? Get them to make an exception?"
The Stage's reply was blunt.
[Insufficient star power.]
That one hit directly in the soul.
Insufficient star power—that's why she couldn't take two jobs.
"Wait. 'Current character'—meaning if I use a different character card, I could enter another world?"
Hanabi recalled that her three character cards, once maxed out, could each become alternate identities. Did that mean she'd eventually be able to run two accounts simultaneously?
[Second booking slots can be claimed using Shop items including Character Inheritance Cards, Reincarnation Cards, and similar products.]
"And what happens to me while I'm running the second booking?"
[The Stage can adjust time flow, or allow simultaneous operation based on the actress's preference.]
"Considerate. So I can 'switch accounts' or 'dual-run' depending on what I want."
She had no plans for dual-running right now, though.
This world—the Naruto world—was where she'd reincarnated. Even if it was technically a film set, for Hyuga Hanabi, it was a second home. A place worth investing in seriously, as a key popularity-point source.
"Looks like the treatment really does change after a promotion."
The Stage had always been responsive, but now it was noticeably more thorough. Most of her questions were getting clear answers.
"Actually—what's the difference between fans and popularity?"
[Fans represent individuals who are personally invested in the actress's portrayal of her character. They provide a steady percentage of popularity and are willing to purchase related merchandise.]
"Got it."
Popularity from performances was hunting. Find a big target, score a big haul.
Fans were… leeks. Repeatedly harvestable.
Right, farmland. Repeatedly harvestable.
They weren't many yet, but the Stage's definition seemed to be pointing at the diehard type. The ones who stayed.
The kind you could harvest repeatedly.
"I can have merchandise?"
[Yes.]
The Stage added a follow-up.
[At your current rank, you cannot independently develop merchandise. Higher titles unlock that permission. However, if manufacturers contact the Stage requesting a collaboration, that can be facilitated.]
"So I can't initiate it—but if a figure company, say Kotobukiya, wants to collaborate, that's on the table? Or if Mixue Bingcheng wants to do a crossover event, that works too?"
Take incoming work, but can't self-develop.
[Correct.]
"Understood."
With her new permissions, Hanabi brought up a question that had been nagging at her: "Earlier, when the show was being promoted, I was positioned alongside Sasuke and Naruto. That doesn't match my actual role in the series, does it?"
[Marketing for Ninja's Path is handled externally by the main-body team. It does not reflect the actual filming situation.]
"As expected…"
Maybe it was her insufficient star power, maybe it was just how Naruto worked as a franchise. Either way, the audience-side world seemed to have its own Staff—people who worked alongside the Stage on promotion without knowing the full picture.
"That's worth leveraging."
Speaking of promotion, Hanabi's mind drifted to one item in the popularity shop.
[Market Expansion Survey: Locate additional dimensional audience demographics. Searching for new markets requires an extraordinary amount of time.]
Price: 30,000 popularity points.
Now that she'd been promoted, she could actually buy it.