Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Chapter 8 Fieldwork
"No matter if he is an evil god or not, completing the 'oracle' and gaining enough faith to exchange for a 'prayer' opportunity to cure my illness is my only chance of survival right now."

“It’s going to take some serious planning.”

Thinking of this, Xia Fan's eyes became firm and serious.

"The growth of faith has slowed down. The effect of that advertising flyer has almost reached its limit."

The speed at which faith increases has dropped significantly compared to noon. The current accumulated faith value is slowly staying at [231], which is still quite a distance away from the 1000 mark.

The daily customer flow of KKC stores in several major business districts in Tokyo is conservatively estimated to be tens of thousands. Judging from this, every point of increased faith value represents more than ten customers who have seen the posters and have a favorable impression of their image.

The growth rate of belief has slowed down, probably because most of the customers with "similar aesthetics" have already seen the flyer he took. Even if the same person sees it several more times, they will not be able to generate belief due to "aesthetic fatigue".

"The Faith Points are not enough, and there are a lot of unfinished Oracles."

The oracles he has not yet completed include "Let ten thousand people listen to the sacrificial song", "The cumulative faith value exceeds 1000" and "Perform the 'Izumo Sword Dance' in front of a thousand people".

Except for the unlimited way to accumulate faith points, the other two oracles must be completed through specific actions.

"As for the festival song, I should be able to achieve my goal after the music awards. But for the sword dance, do we really have to go out and do it on the street? With more than a thousand people, we'll have to go to places like Akihabara or Shinjuku. It feels a bit embarrassing..."

While thinking about his next plan, Xia Fan finally couldn't resist the sleepiness, his eyelids drooped, and he fell into a deep sleep.

He had long been accustomed to sleeping in the dead of night with the fear of death, not knowing whether he would be able to wake up tomorrow.

……

A few hours later, the moon was rising above the branches and Xia Fan was sleeping soundly.

"I thought that after I exhausted my last bit of faith and performed miracles, I would fall into a deep sleep for a while. But I didn't expect that this kid would gain faith equivalent to conquering an entire village in just one day."

In the shadow at the foot of the bed, a little girl wearing a black kimono, with black hair and black eyes, squirmed and stood up.

She has delicate features, skin as white as snow, and a pair of big, flowing eyes that exude a natural charm.

"But how did he do that when he obviously never left his house most of the time and never fought or preached?"

"According to his plan, in a world thousands of years from now, people can gain faith just by selling their bodies, festival songs and Kagura. Has humanity become so superficial and degenerate to this extent?"

"Forget it. I have been asleep for thousands of years. I don't mind a little more time to observe..."

"Moreover, the knowledge about the parallel worlds in this person's awakened memories of the 'mystery in the womb' is quite interesting and worth reading."

The childish appearance forms a strong contrast with the archaic wording and vicissitudes of life tone.

"However, gaining faith in such a weak and peaceful way is not the right way after all. I absolutely do not agree with it!"

"Once I understand the reason and have accumulated enough strength, I will take over this body and conquer the world myself, so that the humans who betrayed me in the past will remember the power of the 'Ame-no-God'."

She just quietly watched Xia Fan falling asleep, muttering to herself.

……

Two days later, in the recording department of Company B building.

"how is it going?"

In the lounge, Hoshina Hanami clasped her hands in front of her chest, her face full of anticipation.

Sitting next to her was Xia Fan, who was wearing headphones and listening with his head lowered.

"Well, compared to the last demo, the technical proficiency, the fluency of the song, and the confidence in the singing have all improved a lot."

Taking off his headphones, Xia Fan nodded in admiration.

"In terms of emotional expression, I think it's basically up to standard."

After a moment's hesitation, he added, "Hana Hoshina in front of him looked much more haggard than before because he had been working all night in the recording studio for the past two days. He also looked more pitiful than before, which made people reluctant to blame him."

"Basically qualified? Indeed, I also think there is still room for improvement in terms of relationships, but I always fail to grasp the key point."

"Tonight is the final deadline for submitting songs for the competition. Is this the only version I can submit first? But I still don't have confidence in my performance of the emotional part during live singing."

Hoshina Hanami held her little face in distress.

"As for feelings, why not refer to the scene where everyone takes graduation photos under the cherry blossom trees?"

Touching his chin, Xia Fan suggested.

The main themes of the song "Sakura" are separation, anticipation of reunion and blessings, which fits in well with District 11's custom of holding graduation ceremonies in the cherry blossom rain.

"I'm ashamed to say that because of my parents' work, I kept changing schools in elementary and junior high school. In my second year of high school, I was signed by an agency to be a trainee. I missed the graduation seasons of elementary, junior high, and high school, and I never experienced that kind of scene in person."

As if her sorrow was touched upon, tears began to well up in Hoshina Hanami's eyes.

"Oh, ha ha ha, the live performance is the day after tomorrow, and you still haven't grasped the emotions of the song yet?"

"As a singer-songwriter like me who writes and composes the lyrics, I don't have to worry about these things."

Sakamoto Hide, with his long flowing hair, came to the lounge at some point, with one hand on his waist and a disdainful smile.

"Well, since you are fully prepared, why did you come to the recording studio today?"

Xia Fan asked curiously.

"I... I just have other things to do at the company, and I just want to confirm the last recorded version of the song... I'm very busy and don't have time to chat with you two rookies..."

As if being asked about his pain point, Sakamoto Hide's expression froze slightly and he hurried into the recording studio.

"This guy must have been the type of student who pretended to be relaxed on the surface but stayed up all night to practice questions in secret."

Xia Fan curled his lips.

"Even the studio version is barely passable... What about the live performance... What about the debut... Will I disappoint President Tachibana's expectations..."

"Feelings, feelings of separation, flower viewing, quickly imagine it..."

Hoshina Hanami, who was standing beside him, had fallen into a "self-tense cycle" and had no time to listen to him.

"Oh, isn't it the 'cherry blossom graduation season'? Why not go out and collect materials on the spot? If you imprint similar scenes in your mind, you will have an emotional anchor when you sing."

Thinking of a solution, Xia Fan grabbed his backpack and stood up.

……

Three hours later, at the Changgong Bridge Park.

"What a mistake!"

"Although the cherry blossoms in Tokyo have bloomed early, there is still a week before graduation season begins, and no one has come to take graduation photos yet."

Xia Fan took out two bottles of juice from a roadside vending machine and handed one to Hoshina Hanami.

"Thanks……"

"It's because I don't have enough imagination and life experience, so I can't deeply understand the emotions in the song. However, I've been in the recording studio for the past two days. I came out to get some fresh air and I feel much better. I have to thank you, Xia Jun."

Looking up at the cherry blossom buds about to bloom on the branches on both sides of the road, Xing Minghua stretched lazily and began to comfort Xia Fan in return.

(End of this chapter)