DUAL GATES THE WORLD FROM THE PROGRESSOR

Chapter 6: Modeling contract and battling a strange man...!?

***

After the shooting session ended, Kazuki found a nearby seat and rested there.

"Ughhhh..."

It was the first time Kazuki had done modeling, and he felt that forcing a stiff expression was too much.

step...

step...

Turning towards the footsteps, Kazuki saw that Marin was now approaching him while carrying two glasses of hot chocolate.

"Do you want one?" asked Marin, offering a hot chocolate to Kazuki.

"Ah, thank you," he replied while taking the hot chocolate.

Marin immediately sat beside Kazuki and drank her hot chocolate.

Sruppttt...

"Ahh~... It's delicious..."

Kazuki then drank his.

Sruptt...

"...It's delicious."

Glancing at Kazuki, Marin softly asked him, "Hey, what's your name, and how should I address you?"

Kazuki lightly answered, "My name is Igarashi Kazuki, you can call me by my first name~..."

"Wahhh... Alright, I'll call you Kazuki-kun, okay?" asked Marin while looking at Kazuki's face.

"It doesn't matter."

"Oh, by the way, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Nakagawa Marin, and you can also call me by my first name!" said Marin gently.

"E-Ettoo... Alright, Marin-san," Kazuki replied stiffly.

You shouldn't forget that just a month before, Kazuki was a chubby youth who had extreme self-doubt. So, even though he has now changed 180 degrees, all of that still can't completely change his character.

"Hey Kazuki-kun, may I ask something?" asked Marin, holding her glass.

"Hmm...? What is it? Just say it..." Kazuki beckoned Marin to ask.

"Have you ever been a model?"

When Kazuki heard that question, he involuntarily spit out a portion of hot chocolate from his mouth.

"Pruftt...!!!"

Seeing that Kazuki was taken aback by her words and spit out his hot chocolate, she swiftly helped him clean it up.

"A-Ahh...! Hold on a moment! Let me clean it up!" he cried suddenly and immediately ran to the photographer team to take the towels provided there.

***

After cleaning up the mess, Marin became very embarrassed.

“Why did you ask that question, Marin-san?” asked Kazuki, who was also a little embarrassed for troubling several people just because of his shock.

“Um… I'm sorry for before. I was asking because I'm really curious about how you can get into those poses,” whispered Marin in a low voice.

Hearing that whisper, Kazuki felt astonished. “Just because of that…?”

“Mm-hmm,” she replied with a soft grunt.

“I've never been a model before. This is my first time doing those poses,” explained Kazuki honestly.

Marin was completely stunned when she heard Kazuki's answer. “Is it true…?”

“Of course.”

“Does that mean you haven't joined any company yet?” asked an old woman named Hatsune who suddenly interrupted their conversation.

“Hatsune-san!” cried Marin angrily.

“Hahaha…! I'm sorry to interrupt your beautiful conversation, Marin-chan, but let me just talk to him for a bit this time,” chuckled Hatsune happily while patting Marin's head gently.

“Hmph~!! Alright!” snorted Marin.

“...Thank you,” said Kazuki.

Glancing back at Kazuki, Hatsune immediately asked, “Haven't you joined any modeling company yet?”

“Company? No, I haven't joined any company.”

Hearing Kazuki's answer, Hatsune then offered him something. “Hey hey, Kazuki-kun~... Do you want to work as a model?”

That question completely stunned Kazuki for a few seconds.

“...A-Are you serious?” asked Kazuki with a stammer.

“Hmm... Of course!” replied Hatsune.

'This is great!' Even though Kazuki was very happy, he still maintained his calm face with his beautiful thin smile.

Then Kazuki silently thought about it deeply for several minutes, just to consider the offer!

When the two of them, who were waiting for a response, saw that Kazuki didn't stop to think anything, they started to panic.

“Hey hey, Kazuki-kun~… If you're considering it, I can tell you about the salary!” said Hatsune, who was impatient just to wait for Kazuki to think.

The moment Kazuki heard about the salary, he immediately snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Hatsune.

"... Salary?"

"Yep, salary!"

Kazuki nodded and asked, "If I may ask, how much is a model's salary?"

Hatsune smiled when she heard that question.

"For a model's salary, it is usually calculated from two types, namely basic salary and additional salary. Basic salary is obtained from advertisements, magazines, photo sales, and much more. Meanwhile, additional salary is the salary earned by a model who works more than their normal schedule. You could say it's the salary for working overtime," explained Hatsune in detail.

"Then the basic salary you will get is around 700,000 yen per month. If you want to earn more money, you can do so by working overtime and increasing your popularity in this world!"

Kazuki immediately froze when he heard the nominal mentioned by Hatsune.

'700,000 yen... It's 700,000 yen?!!!'

'A month ago, I only had 50 yen in my wallet, and even the salary from my part-time job was barely enough to eat every day.'

'But I can earn 700,000 yen in just a month? What kind of dream is this?'

Glancing at Hatsune, who was waiting for his answer, Kazuki replied, "Fine, I'll agree...!"

Hearing his answer, Hatsune felt her heart become very relieved.

At least Hatsune had one very good male model. It just takes a bit of training to get even better.

Marin, who also heard Kazuki's approval, subconsciously cheered, "Yatta!! You'll become my junior, Kazuki-kun~!!"

“Yes, regards to you, Marin Senpai~…” Kazuki lightly joked.

"Hehehe... Praise me again!" Marin actually became even more excited!

"Kazuki-kun, you don't have to mind Marin-chan's nonsense."

"Hmphh!"

"Then now, let's sign the contract over there," Hatsune asked, pointing to a table that was ready with several documents.

“Looks like you've planned it,” Kazuki was slightly flabbergasted by that fact.

"Of course," Hatsune replied with a knowing smile.

***

"Who's that guy that chatted with Marin-chan?" one spectator asked.

"Does anyone know...?" another replied.

"I don't know..." a third said.

"Is he a new model...?" someone else speculated.

A lot of such chatter arose among the spectators who had witnessed Kazuki and Marin's great poses from the very beginning.

"But one thing is for sure, that is that the poses that this man strikes are absolutely stunning!" someone remarked.

That was the final conclusion of those who watched the photo session. Secretly, Kazuki began to gain fame through the internet, and his work would soon be widely recognized by many people in the world.

***

"Hahh...!! It's finally finished!" Kazuki sighed in relief after going through the process of signing the document for a long time.

"... How about now...?" asked Marin who followed by his side.

Looking down, he looked at Marin's face and asked in confusion, "What do you want to convey?"

Seeing that Kazuki was a bit flustered, Marin answered him, “Do you really not have a cell phone?”

"I don't have..." Kazuki replied flatly.

"Then don't you want to have it?" asked Marin curiously.

"... Of course I would."

"Then why don't you buy it now?"

"Now?" Kazuki was a little confused by what was proposed by Marin.

"Yep, by now, you've also gotten the money from signing the contract and there's a cell phone shop nearby."

"Is this money enough?" asked Kazuki while holding up the small bag that contained the money he got earlier.

"Un, this money is more than enough! Then do you have any criteria for the phone you want to buy?"

“For criteria...” Kazuki remembered that he would often go to extremes, so he decided.

"... I want a phone that is durable, durable and can withstand anything, the most important thing is that it can also be used like a normal cellphone."

"Uwahhh... The criteria are quite extreme, what do you want to use the cellphone for?" Marin was slightly flabbergasted by Kazuki's desired criteria.

“Well... To be honest, I sometimes like to do things rough, I'm afraid that if the phone is too weak, it will break quickly,” Kazuki said tiredly.

"A powerful and well-featured phone huhh... Alright, I'll show you the way! Come follow me!"

Marin pulled Kazuki's hand and they walked through the staff, but when they almost reached the end of the crowd, they suddenly heard a loud sound of arguing.

"Bastard!!! Didn't I tell you I'd be a bit late? Then why are you guys doing the photoshoot without me!" a handsome man suddenly shouted at the staff who were there.

"Don't blame us, it's your own damn fault! You're more concerned with playing women than working!" replied the man who had recruited the handsome man.

"Who's he?" Kazuki asked Marin.

"It seems he's the man I'm supposed to be doing a photo shoot with," Marin whispered softly.

"Who stole my work schedule?!" roared the man as he looked around with an extremely angry expression.

The man was quite burly and handsome, but when compared to Kazuki, he fell far short in comparison.

The man kept looking around until he saw a familiar face.

"Marin! Aren't you supposed to have a photo session with me? Why are you taking pictures with other people?!" roared the man as he approached Marin quickly.

"That's because you're slow! It's not just ten or thirty minutes, it's been two hours! Two hours is a very long time! And we're just wasting our time waiting for you to finish your business! Are you crazy?!" Marin argued loudly.

This was the first time Kazuki saw another side of Marin.

'What a feisty girl...' he thought to himself.

Hearing Marin's words, the man couldn't contain his anger and slapped her across the face.

"He's gone too far!"

"Stop him!"

But before the slap hit Marin's face, Kazuki swiftly caught the man's hand.

Grip!

"Hey dude, aren't you being too rough on a girl?" Kazuki said calmly.

"Who are you?! There's no need to meddle in my business!" the man snapped, trying to pull his hand away.

"Meddle? Who's meddling? I'm the man who's substituting for you," Kazuki said casually.

"It turns out that you bastard!!"

Without thinking much, the man immediately swung his right hand, which was not held by Kazuki at all, quickly!

Punch!

Swsohhh...

However, Kazuki just caught it calmly.

Grip!

"Let go of my hand, you bastard!!" he roared while pulling his hand as hard as he could.

"You better drink mineral water first and wash your face. You drank too much alcohol," Kazuki advised.

"No need to advise me, you bastard! Let go of my hand if you don't--!"

"Otherwise what?" Kazuki immediately interrupted him.

"Otherwise, you will receive very fatal consequences from everything you did to me!" he threatened loudly.

Hearing that threat, Kazuki's protective instincts involuntarily kicked in.

Then, Kazuki immediately kicked the man's leg, causing him to fall to the ground and then kicked him in the head.

Crescent kicks!

Thud!

Sprawl...

Kick!

Ouch!!

Kazuki actually did that at a speed that was natural for humans and slowly.

But for the onlookers who were watching, Kazuki's movement was still too fast!

Even Marin, who was next to him, was surprised by Kazuki's reaction.

And finally, the man passed out without any significant resistance.

"... What a scary man..."