Chapter 119 Candidates Arrive
Monday, November 16th
Theo woke up earlier than usual.
He had to be at the Tokyo Studios to oversee the start of the interviews.
When he finished his workout, he went back to his bedroom to take a shower instead of showering in the gym's bathroom as he used to.
He wanted to dress up to go out after he took his shower.
He finished getting dressed and moved downstairs to cook for his sister.
He didn't make anything fancy that day as he didn't have time to cook too complicated dishes.
He finished cooking before Aurora descended.
"Sylph, is Aurora awake already?" Theo asked he sat down to start eating.
"Master Aurora is taking a shower now." Sylph replied.
Theo nodded and started eating.
He didn't have time to wait for her, so he could only start having his breakfast without her.
When he finished eating, he heard Aurora entering.
"Good morning, cupcake!"
"Sorry, I have to be at the studio early; so I can't have breakfast with you today. But your breakfast is here and I left your bento box on the countertop." Theo gave her a loving smile.
Aurora looked at him and didn't reply.
She just ran and hugged him tightly.
"Happy birthday, big brother!" Aurora said with a sweet voice.
Theo was momentarily surprised, he forgot that his birthday was today.
He was completing 19 years old.
This was the first time for him to be 19 yo in his two lives.
He hugged his sister tightly too.
"Thank you, cupcake!" Theo said with a loving voice.
There was nothing better than receiving a happy birthday from the people he loved.
They hugged each other for a while and enjoyed the moment.
"Please, be here at 7:30 pm?" Aurora said with nervous eyes after they let go of each other.
Theo was curious as he saw that she was nervous.
He figured she bought something for him and wanted to show it.
"Sure! I will be here at 7:30 pm!" Theo gave her a reassuring smile.
Aurora heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that.
Yesterday she combined the last details with the guys.
They would come to Theo and Aurora's house at 6 pm to start preparing for the party.
They would put the decorations and start cooking.
So, Aurora needed Theo to be away from the house until 7:30 pm.
Theo hugged her again and said goodbye.
Aurora saw her brother leaving with an excited heart.
She was looking forward to seeing her brother's face when he saw the surprise party.
Theo drove his car out of his house toward the Tokyo Studios.
Meanwhile, he was driving leisurely his car.
Waves of people could be seen arriving at the international airport of Elffire City.
They were freelancer animators from Sakura City!
These people were the most indecisive ones as they decided to come for the interview at the last minute and took the flight to Elffire City which arrived just a little before the interviews started.
But most of the candidates arrived the day before.
They slept the night in cheap hotels because they didn't have much money.
Inside a cheap hostel, 25 people with a median age of 24 years old were having breakfast.
"Did Ryoko-chan say anything else to you guys?" A short girl with blonde hair asked.
"No, I didn't see anything else in the chat group." A tall man replied.
That's right.
They were Ryoko's classmates from college.
They graduated together with her with an animation degree.
But life after college was tough for them.
From their classroom of 40 students, they were the ones without any connections in the industry.
They had to work as freelance animators to be able to survive.
These 25 people were ecstatic when they heard about Ryoko's proposal.
"We have to ask how Ryoko-chan was able to turn around her life so much!" One of them said.
"Yeah! One moment she was unjustly accused by that basta** and fired from Hunter Studios. We even tried to get her some jobs." The short blond girl said.
"Yeah but the bas**** blocked all jobs for her."
"And now she's got a job in a studio that is opening?" Another of them completed the thought.
"That's a hell of a turnaround!" One of them commented.
"I just hope we pass the interview." Another girl said suddenly.
All of them sighed hopefully and nodded in agreement.
They finished their breakfast and got ready to go to the address that Ryoko gave them.
They got out of the hotel a while later.
They took the subway and got out of it at the station close to the address.
The streets were much less than Sakura City's streets they admired.
Elffire City looked like a fresher city compared with the capital.
When they arrived at the address, they saw an enormous beautiful building.
They saw the sign and confirmed it was that place.
[TOKYO STUDIOS]
They were stunned as they saw the building.
They thought that it was a small building with nothing fancy.
But just by the building's size, they knew that the studio had heavy investments.
Their hearts jumped with excitement as they walked toward the entrance.
They stopped at the security post.
The security was having a tough job that day.
With the hundreds of new people entering the building, they had to monitor everything and check everyone's id.
They also would make the security throughout the whole interview process.
Ryoko's classmates showed their IDs and were guided inside the building by a security guard.
He was in charge of guiding the candidates to the auditorium of the building.
Ryoko's classmates couldn't talk as they looked in astonishment at the fancy inside of the building.
Everything was new and with fresh and cozy decorations.
They could feel that the building itself cost more than could even imagine.
They arrived at the auditorium and they were not alone.
People were constantly arriving and there were already more than 500 people in the auditorium.
All of them came from Sakura City in search of a better life.
They were bold enough to let their lives in the capital without any guarantees that the proposal was real.
But when they saw the studio, their hearts also started beating faster in excitement.
They wanted to work in this studio!
Their boldness was worth it.
When it was 8 am, which was the time that the interview was going to start officially, 916 people were seated in the auditorium with hopeful hearts.
Theo looked at these people and smiled.
"Ryoko, you did an amazing job!" Theo complimented the blue-haired girl.
"Thank you, boss!" Ryoko replied excitedly.
For the last two weeks, she had been learning how to manage a company with Sam and she became a new person.
She was much more confident and decisive.
She was becoming the person Theo hoped would be the head of his studio.
"Sam, tell the guys to be on standby." Theo said to the blonde-haired woman.
Sam was going to help Theo oversee this interview process.
As the Tokyo Studios only had Ryoko as an employee, Theo had to use the employees of the Umbrella Corporation to help him in this process.
And Sam did an amazing job as always.
She did everything that Theo asked and the interview was ready to start!
"You two come with me to the stage." Theo said to the two girls.
Sam just nodded, after working in a position of power she became accustomed to being in highlight.
But Ryoko was super nervous.
It would be the first time she would appear as the head of the studio publicly, so it was normal for her to be nervous.
She took a deep breath and followed Theo and Sam as they walked to the stage.
This was the start of her successful career!
They arrived on the stage and the talks of the candidates instantly stopped.
They looked at the three people on the stage with hopeful and aspiring eyes.
Theo smiled at the hundreds of people in front of him.
The start of his studio was now!