"I said I'd never do this, but here I am breaking my own word."
"I said I'd change, even though I know I'm hopelessly stubborn."
"I know you are my destiny."
"…"
Chisato began singing.
In his previous world, STAY had received worldwide acclaim. The song had topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks—an undeniable achievement.
With its dynamic melody and Chisato's near-perfect vocal performance, the moment he started singing, a wave of cheers and screams erupted from the audience.
For most people, attending this music festival was already worth it just for this performance.
Yukino glanced at her sister, whose eyes sparkled with an unusual brightness. An uneasy feeling stirred in her heart.
However, even so, she could not deny Chisato's talent.
Whether it was the song performed on stage in the afternoon, "Until the End of the World," or the current performance of "STAY," both were of exceptional quality.
That guy on stage might be bad, and he might be a playboy, but at the very least, his songs were excellent.
On the other side of the stage, Suzuki Ichiro was staring intently at the performance, afraid to miss even a single detail.
He felt like he had struck gold.
After all, there were many people with great singing voices, but true talents capable of creating original songs were exceedingly rare.
The general audience only knew how amazing their favorite singers and bands were, but within the industry, it was the creative talents who held the highest status.
Many renowned songwriters and composers found their works in overwhelming demand, with sales reaching millions as if it were nothing.
Suzuki Ichiro turned to his assistant and instructed,
"We absolutely cannot let such talent slip through our fingers. Keep an eye on them, and don't let other agencies snatch them up."
"Yes."
Chisato was unaware of the situation happening offstage.
Unlike the afternoon performance, the nighttime stage was illuminated by blinding lights, making it impossible to see the audience clearly.
Before going on stage, Seika had suggested that if he felt nervous, he should imagine the audience as heads of lettuce.
However, after stepping onto the stage, he realized that was completely impossible.
But that was fine. He cleared his mind of all distractions and focused solely on singing.
Tonight's performance schedule involved singing three songs in succession.
After "STAY" ended, the members of The Kesshoku Band bowed deeply in response to the overwhelming applause before finally straightening up.
Chisato stepped to the side, leaving the job of engaging with the audience and keeping the atmosphere lively to Nijika.
He took the opportunity to rest his voice.
Soon, the second original song of the night began.
The song was called "Lemon."
In his previous life, it was sung by Kenshi Yonezu and served as the famous theme song for the Japanese drama "Unnatural."
Chisato's plan was simple—if he was going to do this, he had to make an explosive impact.
Releasing multiple original songs in quick succession, he wanted to shake up the music scene just a little.
He wanted to wake up the next morning and see The Kesshoku Band on the front pages of music news and entertainment magazines.
Hearing the audience's near-screaming reactions, he knew there was a high probability that his expectations would come true.
Hopefully, after this, the Starry Stage venue wouldn't be overrun by a horde of fanatical fans.
As "Lemon" concluded, it was time for the final song of the night.
"Thank you all for your support! The last song, 'Gradually Being Drawn to You,' is for everyone!"
The audience erupted into cheers once again.
In the crowd, Haruno suddenly smiled for some unknown reason.
Yukino, puzzled by her sister's reaction, turned to look at her with a confused expression.
"Oh my, little Yukino, haven't you noticed yet?"
Yukino frowned.
"Noticed what?"
"The way those four girls on stage are looking at the lead singer—it's enough to make anyone's heart race."
…
After the performance, Chisato led the members of The Kesshoku Band offstage, only to be blocked by the crowd as expected.
This time, the situation was even more chaotic than in the afternoon.
In the end, it was Suzuki Ichiro who called the on-site security personnel to maintain order. They escorted The Kesshoku Band to the parking lot as if they were protecting a superstar.
Suzuki Ichiro's assistant, worried that something might happen to them on the way due to overly enthusiastic and irrational fans, repeatedly insisted on having security drive them home.
He was considerate to the extreme.
But Chisato refused.
Right now, they were only receiving such attention because of their stunning live performance.
Once they left the music festival, who would even recognize them?
Their fame was nowhere near that level yet. The road ahead was still long.
After leaving the festival grounds, everyone let out a small sigh of relief.
The music festival, which was extremely important to them, had finally reached a temporary conclusion.
With that burden lifted, each of them slumped back into their seats.
As they gazed at the flickering neon lights outside the car window, their smiles carried both joy and exhaustion.
Seika, who was driving, was also in a great mood, softly humming a tune along the way.
If one listened carefully, they would realize she was humming "Gradually Being Drawn to You," the very song Chisato had just performed.
After nearly half an hour of driving, Seika finally brought them to a nice yakiniku restaurant.
After a long and exhausting day, nothing was better than some good meat to reward themselves.
"Cheers!"
At the table, the six of them clinked their glasses.
Since Ikuyo's throat was still feeling a little sore, she had warm water in her cup.
"Well done. I'm proud of you all."
Seika, who was usually a bit of a tsundere and not very direct with her words, rarely expressed her true feelings so openly.
The four girls' eyes turned slightly red, and Nijika even threw herself into her sister's arms.
"Ugh, I'm just so glad everything went well…"
Chisato watched their reactions with a gentle smile.
Dipping a piece of grilled beef tongue into the sauce, he took a bite.
"We can't relax just yet. Don't forget, we still have work to do when we get back tonight."
Nijika rubbed her eyes and pulled away from her sister.
"I know—we have to upload all the songs we just performed onto the internet."
"I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder how many downloads we'll have when we wake up tomorrow morning."
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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