Mygo, the band legend of Tokyo handsome guy

She made up her mind to help you achieve your goal, which led to this mission.

[Reward to be claimed: Decrypted Information A]

Chapter Nineteen: A Free Life, Free Songs, and the Freedom to Make the Music You Want

Decipher the information? Let's take a look first; ignoring clues will only lead to trouble sooner or later.

【****The Happiness Cycle in Hiroi Kikuri****】

Everyone has their own unique talents, and even if one spends all their wealth, it will return!

Ordinary, so boring; the world, so dull. It is precisely because of this nauseating dullness that I am determined, absolutely determined, to fulfill this musical dream. What I want to do is the music of my dreams.

Although my dream is also facing a lot of difficulties here.

But... how can you see a rainbow without going through wind and rain?

I woke up in a 50-year-old, dilapidated, ghost-ridden single-person apartment in Tokyo (true story).

She rarely carries any coins in her pocket, and the most common food she keeps at home is beer given to her by fans (though she's incredibly happy about it). She even wonders how she managed to save up for college tuition a few years ago.

So, whose meal and bathroom are we going to mooch off today? Shima (the band's drummer)? Or the new member, Eliza (the band's guitarist)?

By the way, she might not seem like it for now, but Hiroi Kikuri is the leader of SICK HACK, the lead bassist and vocalist of FLOT, and a rising star in the band!

Well, I guess I'll just go to the store, grab a wooden guitar, and busk on the street.

Although all the money was used to pay compensation... wait, no, it seems that Muji messed things up last night.

Dead memories suddenly flooded back.

"Honestly, how long are you going to live like this?" the shop owner scolded him.

"Kikuri, you're so old now, it's not good to keep living like this, is it? Think about the future." Shima, the drummer in the same band, also said this.

Ah, even so, what will the future be like?

Actually, well, never mind, anyway, the band is getting better, so let's not talk about it. Right now, we need to...

"Aha! Another one, please!"

"Get hyped! Everyone, sing along with me! Hahahaha!"

Oh, and one more thing! Using other people's money (money earned from busking) to create a happy cycle is amazing.

Music and wine, life and distant places—that's it!

Please, nothing else, disturb my life.

【*****above*****】

In the end, all Mingze Feng knew was that the house she was in was haunted and the names of two band members.

As expected, decrypting it is essentially the same as not decrypting it at all.

Perhaps there's something that Naruzawa Kaede doesn't understand yet.

A performance stage has been set up outside the Shimokitazawa Starry store.

"Don't just stand there, Shima is helping Eliza prepare for some C-exhibition next month. Anyway, you're my guitarist now."

An unidentified guitar was shoved into Mingze Feng's arms.

"Just follow my pace, okay? Don't worry."

Kikuri Hiroi unzipped her long-sleeved jacket, revealing a thin dress underneath—a dress adorned with spider lily patterns. Then, miraculously, she pulled out a box of beer from her empty hand, gulped it down, and laughed, her face flushed.

"Yay, it's getting warmer, it's getting warmer! Hmm hmm hmm."

As Narusawa Kaede tuned his guitar, his eyes involuntarily drifted to Hiroi Kikuri. She miraculously produced a bass guitar from who-knows-where, just as before.

[Hmm hmm hmm hmm...ehegoinggoing...]

She was just singing, simply singing, singing the voice in her heart, as if, after she got drunk, she heard her own voice and then sang it all out, played it all out.

Standing on the stage might not be appropriate.

She seems to be the performance itself; even without the spotlight of the stage, everyone's eyes are still drawn to her.

The ordinary bass she named Shuten-dōji created a chilling rhythm within its vocal range, followed by her uninhibited singing.

The audience below the stage grew larger and larger, and the response was even more enthusiastic than before.

The smiles on people's faces, the footsteps of passersby who paused, the focused gazes, and...

Join the cheering crowd following Kikuto Hiroi!

Cheers echoed like never before in front of Starry's door.

A tingling, electric-like sensation surged up from his spine and heart. Mingze Feng's hands slid across the guitar, gradually adapting to the rhythm of her performance thanks to his still-good basic skills.

It was daytime, yet we could still see many flashes of light.

Before me lay a street, yet it seemed to have transformed into the scene of an open-air concert.

I could still hear Kikuri Hiroi's music in my ears.

She used her superb skills to lead him forward, and the singing of the song turned into her screams.

Even after the performance ended, Mingze Feng was still somewhat dazed, savoring the ensemble he had just played.

The applause from the audience continued, and the swaying cell phones and cheers formed the aftershocks of this performance, still echoing over Shimokitazawa!

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh—! Without alcohol, there would be no me!!"

Kikuri Hiroi seemed to be having a blast, holding her bass above her head and swaying it along with the phones in the audience.

Mingze Feng recalled a line from a movie: "Her singing voice is the roar of her heart."

And another thing is... a drunkard who plays rock music so well.

This is too rock and roll.

......

"Wow, that's so cool!" "When is SICK HACK's next performance?" "His performance is completely different from his usual self."

"You'd never guess he's actually an alcoholic and a scoundrel."

"Her music is just so amazing, so even though her instruments get smashed and she sometimes gets drunk and acts crazy, they still invite her to many live shows."

After Hiroi Kikuri finished singing, she swayed and fell onto Narusawa Kaede's shoulder. She looked completely exhausted. Narusawa Kaede put one of her arms on his shoulder and helped her into the Starry store.

Ijichi Hoshika had already prepared a lounge for her, and it was clear that she knew what was going on with Hiroi Kikuri.

[When Shima called just now, I was wondering if the rumor that it's the bassist, not the drummer, who faints after every SICK HACK performance is true...]

Okay, I just found out too.

The way Hiroi Kikuri slumped onto the sofa made it seem like she was home. Narusawa Kaede was about to drape her coat over her shoulders when Manager Ijichi handed him a blanket.

Hiroi Kiku was covered with a blanket, looking completely exhausted.

"...Was she always like this?"

Ijichi Hoshika leaned against the door, and after hearing Narusawa Kaede's question, she vaguely recalled something.

“Completely unlike…back in college, when she was timid, poor at communicating, cautious, and fearful of the future, she was a typical introverted student.”

"Right now... drinking, borrowing money to play bass, acting like I'm the only one in the world with dreams. I'm still young, I'll be fine in a few years, but... never mind." Ijichi Hoshika wanted to say something, but didn't, even changing her words...

"Little Feng, you have great potential to keep up with her pace. But don't end up like her, or your family will be heartbroken."

[I was such a jerk back then... Nijika...]

Ijichi Hoshika laughed self-deprecatingly; she seemed to have quite a story to tell.

Chapter Twenty: Kikuri Hiroi's Present Days

After a stunning performance, it was time for a get-together. The bands, having rarely gathered together since graduating from university, had endless topics to discuss. They reminisced about the past, poured their frustrations about the difficulties they faced in society into their drinks, and expressed their frustrations about not being able to compose new songs, the high rent, and the low wages.

But as their lives diverged, the gap between them naturally deepened in their conversations. Before long, they stopped delving into their own social circles and instead racked their brains to think of common topics to maintain the atmosphere of the gathering.

Such conversations maintain interpersonal relationships and preserve old friendships, even though those things are shrouded in a veil of time, making them difficult to see, touch, or even feel again.

This is a kind of comfortable life, an ordinary side of the world, and a cruel side of time. People you used to sing karaoke with are now just nodding acquaintances, and the person you promised to be in a band with for life probably never showed up. Between each other, there's music, old friends, and then just looking down at your phone to hide the awkwardness.

This kind of relationship lacks passion for life; it's incredibly dull and uninteresting.

In other words, this kind of life lacks life itself.

At this point, people will talk about the past, simply because the past connects them. Their relationship is a product of the past, and they are able to reunite because of Ijichi Hoshika as the bond.

Their futures will not intersect.

In the silence, someone suddenly asked, "Where's Kikuri?"

Yeah, if she were there, everyone would be going from table to table, eating and drinking, since when you go out to eat, you split the bill, including drinks. Hiroi Kikuri... well, she always sings "Drinking from other people's bowls makes you drunk and it smells so good," and then she connects everyone together.

"She didn't come." "What about Sister Xingge?"

"She didn't come either. There are more people in the store now, she must be quite busy... By the way, is anyone staying at that platform?"

"..."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. They had all finished eating and drinking when they realized that they hadn't greeted Xingge.

And they even forgot to help out.

So who's staying at Starry now?

......

It's Hiroi Kikuri.

After lying down for more than ten minutes, she stood up, pulled Mingze Feng, and ran to the stage to continue partying, but this time they went inside the store instead of outside. The crowded people made the originally spacious room feel cramped, and the music, getting louder and louder, echoed from the walls.

Ichika clumsily served the guests, from tickets, tea, snacks, and drinks to the location of the restrooms... She began to think that she should hire more staff.

And another thing is, counting money is so expensive it'll make your hands cramp! Ijichi Hoshika isn't a big smileer, but she just couldn't help but smile. In just one afternoon, she sold over eight hundred tickets, each costing a thousand.

Eight hundred thousand, eight hundred thousand!

On average, the small shop maintains a customer flow of over a hundred people.

The three of them managed to operate Starry to the bare minimum, and the turnover was surprisingly good.

Ijichi Seika's gaze towards Hiroi Kikuri softened considerably.

Wait a minute, what is this drunkard doing now?

What the hell is that in her hand?!

"Take your hands away!"

"Oops, senior, the sound stopped, could you try again? ~ Tap tap—"

"Don't step on the effects pedals! Damn it, don't spill alcohol on the guests! And what's with throwing the bass at the speakers?! Stop it! Feng, stop her for me!"

"Huh? Ahhhhh, oh my god? Oh dear!" Hiroi Kikuri was completely unaware of her own actions.

In the end, she got so into it that she stepped on the effects pedal, her bass flew off, the sound system broke, and she landed face down on the stage.

Just as Mingze Feng had rescued Beth, he saw her lying on the ground writhing in pain.

"..." No wonder he's the most unpredictable bassist.

The more than one hundred people in the store were stunned.

Then, in the silence, she swayed her body, facing upwards, and loudly sang the song she hadn't finished.

"Oooo!"

"Maple~ My bass—" Zhengzheng—Zhengzheng—

She played out a short, fast-paced rhythm, and in Mingze Feng's eyes, she was lying on the stage twisting like a maggot. The audience below couldn't see any of this, but they inexplicably cheered.

Mingze Feng didn't even know if he should continue playing his guitar.

This is so fucking rock and roll, so fucking psychedelic.

She was probably not fully conscious from the beginning.

As the performance continued, her intoxication intensified, and after finishing the final performance, she could no longer hold back and vomited.