Why play in a band if you don't form one for life?

Chapter 9: Talks

A lake next to a rocky hill. That's all that's inside the membrane.

The lake occupied most of the area. It was dark blue and tranquil, with an unfathomable depth. Only a small area by the lake was where the Shengxiang people set up tents and carried out activities.

Everyone stopped in the middle of a group of tents on the lakeside. Hua Lian and Xiao Guang were still surrounded by everyone from Sheng Xiang, and everyone was very concerned about them. As for the other 21 people, although everyone knew that they needed to entertain them, they were all underage girls after all, so at this time, feelings took priority and etiquette was not taken into consideration.

But some people need more consideration. Nana is of course curious about Karen's situation, and doesn't want to leave others alone, so she is a little embarrassed.

Maya took the initiative to step forward: "Everyone, they may need some time, please follow me first."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Maya-chan." Nana nodded gratefully to Maya, and took everyone from Shengxiang to a tent on the other side of the residential area that looked well-maintained.

Maya nodded to them with a slightly gentle expression, but when he turned around to face the girls in the band, he became very serious.

"Everyone, this way." She led everyone to a large tent that stood out from the crowd in the center of the residential area.

Shizi stood in the middle of the crowd, looking around with great curiosity. She had only seen the light spots on the map and had never really seen what this place looked like. Now that she had finally gotten her wish and met all the people in Group 99, she had to work very hard to suppress her excessive excitement.

She had met Nana Ohba once in real life, and it seemed that she was being watched. She didn't know if she had recognized her just now. However, it seemed that her attention was all on Karen, and she probably hadn't noticed her yet... She was thinking about it and wiped the sweat off her face.

"It's so hot..." She noticed this particularly when she was finally able to catch her breath.

Arisaki was standing next to her, sweating more than her: "It's a desert after all... Speaking of which, that blue-haired guy just now..."

"What's wrong?" Kasumi asked.

"I feel like..." Yusaki blushed, "Maybe I've seen you somewhere..."

"I also feel like I've seen that foreigner somewhere before." Yukina also tried hard to recall.

Shizi tried hard to suppress the muscles at the corners of his mouth.

Of course she knew where their sense of déjà vu came from.

To be honest, she couldn't help laughing after seeing i83 and Caisha's split personality.

But I can’t do that… If I laugh out loud at something that no one knows about, people will definitely think I’m mentally ill!

That's not right. Shizi suddenly had an idea.

She was mentally ill.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Shizi's healthy and powerful laughter suddenly rang out. Everyone's eyes turned to her.

Yusaki was puzzled: "No, what are you laughing at?"

Shizi was full of pride: "I just found out that I can laugh!"

"You're crazy!" Yusaki blurted out, but then felt that this was not polite, "Ah, no, I'm sorry..."

"Yes, I am indeed mentally ill!" Shizi seemed even more proud.

"???" Yusaki felt that if she was in good condition, she could definitely complain for a long paragraph. Unfortunately, she was about to faint from the heat and didn't have the energy.

Maya said unconsciously: "Your team... is quite joyful."

"Ahahaha..." Lisa could only laugh dryly.

As they spoke, they had already arrived in front of the tent. Maya lifted the door curtain and gestured to invite everyone in. Her expression was intimidating without anger, and she released a pressure field that was no less than Yukina's, making the few shady people tremble.

The tent looked like a conference room, without much decoration, but with nine chairs and a round table in the middle.

"Sorry, I'll go find some more chairs." It seemed that only after everyone squeezed in did Maya notice the lack of chairs. "No, we should make tea first..."

"She seems to be unaccustomed to this role." Lisa whispered to Yukina. So she stepped forward: "Ah, don't bother with the chair problem, we can solve it ourselves. Hinata, please."

Hina didn't say anything. She pressed the gem and a bunch of chairs exactly like the ones around the round table appeared out of thin air.

Maya looked at Hinata in surprise and said, "Thank you very much. Please take a seat."

Although the round table has always been for nine people, the size is a bit too big. Twenty-one people squeezed in, although it was a bit uncomfortable, but at least they could sit.

Maya brought a pot of tea: "This is herbal tea that helps relieve fatigue." Hongxia stood up and took it, said thank you, and poured it for everyone.

Arisaki took a bite and felt relieved: "It's really good..."

"Thank you." Maya responded simply and sat down in an empty seat. "Let me introduce myself first. I'm a student of the 99 class of Seisho Music Academy, actor training department, student number 18, Tenjo Maya. I've spent half a year in this world."

"Our members come from four schools: Hanaoka, Hanasakigawa, Shuka, and Shimokitazawa," Lisa answered for everyone, "but the biggest thing we have in common is that we are band girls, belonging to four different bands. I'm Roselia's bassist, and we've been here a little longer than you."

"I'm Ichichi Hongxia, the drummer and leader of the band." Hongxia raised her hand and said skillfully, "It's about the same time as Roselia."

"Then it's me, then it's me!" Kasumi stood up impatiently, "Poppin'Party's guitarist, Toyama Kasumi! The time is about the same as Roselia's!"

"Finally, it's us...RAISE A SUILEN," CHU? said without much enthusiasm, "Just call it RAS. Our time is a little shorter than yours, but it's about the same."

Maya's expression remained serious, and I don't know if she remembered it or not.

"Excuse me, are you here because of the introduction of Aishiro-san and Kagura-san?" she asked.

"Let me explain this part." Shizi raised her hand. She briefly explained the existence of the giraffe, the existence of the map, Hualian's resurrection, and their experience of traveling around the entire continent for one and a half times.

Even with the brevity, it was still a lot of content, and it took Maya a while to digest it.

"As expected, the giraffe is also involved... So, you plan to join us and challenge the tower together?" she concluded.

"That's right." Shizi said, "And the sooner the better. After all, many of us here still have a lot of unfinished business in reality, and I believe you do too."

Maya hesitated for a moment and said, "I have bad news."

"what?"

"You may not be able to leave here," she said seriously.

“Eh???” Everyone became agitated.

"What does this mean?" Youkina stood up by the table and stared into Maya's eyes.

However, Maya simply raised his hand and suppressed the voice with his aura: "Let me explain our situation here."

Maya told everything about the state of the place after Karen's death and their current situation.

ps: Chapter 8 seems to be blocked by Shen He?

Chapter 10: Nana Ohba

When the Nine-Nine first arrived in this world, they were just as overwhelmed as the Ending Band was at that time.

At first, because the Audition had just ended, they thought this was another stage set up by Giraffe.

However, they did not find any elements related to giraffes here. Instead, they saw another wolf that was similar to a giraffe but was almost impossible to communicate with.

They had no idea what was going on, so they could only use their newly acquired abilities to create a living space. They had traveled for several days before finding this oasis, which had since become their main base.

"At the beginning, we were just like you, keen on finding a way to return to reality." Maya said, "Because we knew our strength was limited in our usual battles, we didn't go to the tower immediately, but explored the surroundings, looking for ways to become stronger."

"Until a few months ago, we discovered a ruin deep in the desert."

Shizi frowned, could it be...

"Aijo-san died there." Thinking back to that day, even Maya's figure trembled a little, "We have been fighting half-playfully all this time, but... the impact that time was really huge."

"Hua Lian is back." Shizi hurried to comfort her.

Maya nodded, "Ah, that's right. But for us at that time, the whole world became different. Kagura left quietly. She always believed that Aishiro was not dead and wanted to go find her. It turned out that she was right. But this is not the point."

Maya's eyes shone brightly: "Since then, the biggest influence, and the thing that made you unable to leave, was the change in Nana Ohba."

"Nana Ohba..." Someone repeated the name.

"It's the yellow-haired person you saw before." Maya explained, "I don't mean to say bad things about people behind their backs. I've been treated like this before, and I know how it feels. There is no doubt that we can survive until now, absolutely without her. She is like everyone's banana. The tables and chairs, tea, tents, food, and furniture here are all brought to us by her."

"Sounds like the same position as mine..." Shizi muttered.

Maya took a sip of tea to moisten her throat: "Her ability is very powerful. Her two swords can touch the underlying rules of this world."

"...What?" This sentence was too abstract and Yazi couldn't understand it quickly.

"For example, she can even create a small rift from reality to here, and use that rift to bring in items from reality. That's how we get our daily necessities."

"Really?" Yazi screamed, "Doesn't that mean you can return to reality like this?!"

Maya shook her head: "It's just a one-way passage, that's already her limit. And there are also size restrictions on the items that can be transported."

"That's also outrageous..." Shizi's eyes twitched. She could guess that Brother Jiao's strength must be so strong that it seemed like he was cheating, but this was already cheating, right?

"I don't know if I can tell you this..." Maya hesitated, "Since you are here with Aishiro-san and Kagura-san, I will tell you. Her status is different from ours."

"What kind of game setting is this?" CHU? couldn't help but complain.

Maya ignored her and said, "She showed us her panel. Her panel has one more column than ours, and it clearly states that her soul status is a demigod. As for the reason, I think it's because of something that happened two years ago."

"Demigod..." Yazi trembled with excitement.

"If she is a demigod, then there is another god living in my brain now." Shizi reminded her, "But, demigod...ah."

In Wild Screen Baroque, Jiaoge's position is obviously different from others. She is both an actor on the stage and a director behind the stage, and her relationship with the giraffe is almost equal. If beings like giraffes and wolves are gods, then it is no problem to say that she is a demigod. As for the reason, it is probably the influence of her countless re-enactments of the 99th Seizo Festival.

Shizi accepted this new setting for the time being and continued to ask: "Then why can't we leave?"

"Well, let me say this myself." A cold voice came from the door.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and found Nana Ohba leaning against the pillar used for reinforcement by the door, looking at everyone inside. Her aura was completely different from before, cold, majestic, and expressionless. She had changed into a stage girl uniform similar to Karen and the others, with two swords on her waist, which was very conspicuous.

Maya stood up and looked at her without fear: "Okay, then you say it." She stepped aside to make room for Nana.

"What's going on..." Yazi shrank back, "It feels like he's two completely different people from before... Does he also have a split personality?" She looked at Shizi.

Shizi shook her head: "Not really. She's just more complicated." She also looked into Nana's eyes without avoiding.

"?" Yazi didn't understand what Shizi's basis for being so sure was.

Nana walked to the table and didn't sit down. Instead, she looked down at everyone and said, "I want you to join me on stage."

Yukina and Chu? frowned and wanted to speak, but Shiko raised her hand and stopped them: "What kind of stage?"

“Just live here, an eternal stage without the need for separation or death,” Nana declared.

"Why?" Shizi asked.

Nana crossed her arms, "From Xiaohualian's death, I learned one thing. This world is no joke."

"We have experienced another fantastic stage before. There, we also fought each other with extraordinary skills and strength, but it was just a performance, just a limited audition. This place is completely different."

"This world is run with the goal of 'completely killing us'. If we continue to fight, there will be nothing but death as the outcome."

Nana turned around and opened the door curtain. Along with the hot wind came the distorted light and shadows cast by the thin film in the sky.

"I created that barrier in one night by breaking the original rules of space one by one." She looked up at the barrier and said, "Only I can open it."

CHU? stood up slowly. "Crazy. But, we have reasons to go back. Those reasons make us willing to risk our lives. If you want to stand in our way, even if you are a demigod, I will defeat you completely!"

“CHU?…” Shizi looked at her, a little worried.

"It's not 'I', it's 'we'." Yukina stood up, "Our will is definitely not weaker than yours, Ooba Nana."

"Yuukina..." Shiko turned to Yuukina.

"Really?" Nana turned her head, her eyes calm, "Then let's give it a try."

"Twenty-nine people, against me, one person."

Her lonely footsteps faded away.

Chapter 11 "わちゃ?もちゃ?ぺったん March"

The evening breeze blew across the sand dunes, making a humming sound. The starlight shone through the film, slightly distorted, and sprinkled on the mirror-like lake surface.

Shizi sat by the lake, holding a grass root in his mouth and wearing it in his pocket. In his hand he held a bamboo pole with a thin line hanging from the tip, hanging down into the water.

It has been some time since I came here.

After declaring war on Nana, their lives were as if nothing had happened. The 99 Group welcomed their arrival normally, and Nana was as gentle and amiable as usual. There was still a lot of open space on the lakeshore, and it was no problem for 21 people to live there. Nana gave them tents, but Hina, Ako, and Hongxia worked together to build a bunch of square, thick-walled, small-windowed, desert-style permanent buildings - and they even took artistic elements into consideration. The 99 Group was very envious, so soon after, all the tents here were replaced with brick houses.

They settled down like this and never mentioned leaving when they gathered together.

Of course, this is only a superficial peace.

After several internal discussions and Maya's matchmaking, they have confirmed the situation: all the band girls support leaving; on the stage girls' side, Maya, Crow, Futaba, Kaori, and Junna are all in the same boat; Mahiru was neutral at first, but after Karen and Hikari learned about the barrier, Hikari chose to be in the opposition. Karen was a little hesitant at first, but after seeing the attitudes of the others, she still leaned towards them, so Mahiru came with them.

Now, it really became a twenty-nine to one situation just as Nana said.

However, there was no overt struggle. At the beginning, the girls in the band had a bad impression of Nana, and there were conflicts from time to time, but fortunately there were people who mediated among them, and the 99 group also tried to ease the situation. After a long time, they had to admit that Nana Ohba's arbitrary nature was real, and her concern for everyone was also real. She unknowingly grasped the temperament of everyone, and always appeared when everyone needed them to help them. Whether she was cold at that time or easy-going at ordinary times, it was her true self. From then on, everyone became harmonious.