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

Shizi was slightly startled.

She looked up at MASKING's face, then lowered her head and turned around.

"What a shame." She whispered to herself, "I am actually the oldest among everyone, but I have never... fulfilled my responsibility as a senior."

"No." A voice from Masking came from behind, "At least, Yuki-san trusts you. She said so herself."

Shizi turned around. MASKING saw the most sincere smile on her face since he first saw her.

"That's good." She said, and then ran briskly towards Chu?'s room.

...So cute. MASKING suddenly felt this way.

The footsteps are so light.

This is the first time I’ve fought with such a happy mood…even though I didn’t fight.

There is nothing to be afraid of anymore... No, no, what am I doing! Shizi slapped his face and calmed down.

If she wasn't careful, she would be turned around. What a scary world. It seemed that she had to make every effort to keep CHU? in a relatively safe place.

CHU?'s room was not far away. From inside, one could hear the stomping of the floor and PAREO's slightly sad voice of comfort.

She knocked on the door.

The room immediately fell silent. Two seconds later, CHU?'s voice was heard: "Come in."

Shizi pressed the door handle and pushed the door open. PAREO came out to greet him: "Welcome~"

CHU? sat on the bed, looking sulky, holding a goblet filled with beef jerky in one hand. She chewed all the beef jerky into her mouth and swallowed it in two or three bites.

"If you are here to be a lobbyist, Shizi Wu," she glared at Shizi, "No, thanks. I appreciate your help, but our goals are different after all."

"What if we have what you want?" Shizi's eyes gleamed with brilliance.

"Huh?" CHU? showed a little interest.

Shizi took a step forward: "RAISE A SUILEN doesn't have a bassist, guitarist or lead singer yet, right?"

"Now, in reality, due to the impact of the 'Missing Young Girl Case', fewer and fewer people play musical instruments. Without a huge base, it will be much more difficult for you to find suitable team members, right?"

"When I came, the impact of the case had already subsided a lot..." CHU? retorted.

"But what happens after you come?" Shizi interrupted her, "How will the public react to the disappearance case that appears again after such a long time?"

She walked up to CHU? and folded her arms across her chest. “The best way is to find the right team members in this world. And we can help you find such team members.”

CHU? She didn't say anything. But from her expression, it was clear that she was indeed interested.

Shizi continued: "My map shows that there are two newcomers nearby, and they are the bassist and guitarist who meet your requirements." She said it confidently. In fact, she didn't know who the two newcomers were. But since CHU? and the others were here, she could boldly guess that the remaining two were LAYER and LOCK, the bassist and guitarist of RAS. They should not have joined RAS at this time, but as long as they showed their strength, they would definitely satisfy CHU?.

"Are you so sure? Do you have information about them?" Chu asked. Her expression was still full of distrust.

"That's right." Shizi remained calm, "The bassist is Kazuo Ruiyi, and the guitarist is Asahi Rikka."

"Rui-san?!" "Rui. Hezou?!" the two shouted at the same time.

CHU? Expression changes: "If it's her, then it's true... But how can I confirm that what you said is true?"

Shizi finally found another source of the discomfort. LAYER and MASKING were colleagues in music from the beginning, and they should have entered RAS at almost the same time. Now MASKING is here, but LAYER is not. Could it be that the timing of their time travel was so good? And judging from their reactions, there seemed to be another hidden story... Shizi did not show her doubts, and continued to report in a confident tone: "CHU?, real name Tamade Chiyu, parents work overseas, and she has been living alone in Tokyo since high school..."

"Stop!" CHU? yelled, her expression softened a little, "OK, OK, I believe you can really see our intelligence."

But she still refused to give in. She was like a young lion cornered in front of Shizi. Even if she was doomed to fail, she would still use her tender claws to tear a piece of meat from the enemy: "I still need a little guarantee."

Shizi's mouth was almost twisted into a crooked-mouthed dragon king: "Of course~ CHU? Sir~"

"Do you know who played lead guitar in our final band?" she said mysteriously.

CHU? Recalling. In her memory, she was a pink-haired, timid, and non-existent girl named Goto Ichiri. She does seem familiar?

Shizi directly revealed the answer: "Guitar Hero."

"Guitar Hero?!" CHU? repeated the name. As a producer who has been looking for excellent performers for a long time, she naturally followed Guitar Hero's online account, but Guitar Hero had not updated his videos for a while, and the recruitment invitation she sent to him also fell into the sea. Calculating the time, it was around the time when the band ended and the few people disappeared!

"I'll prove it to you later." Shizi didn't give her time to think and continued, "And our bassist is also professional. They have agreed that if the two newcomers fail to become your team members, they can join RAS as supporting performers."

After a while, Shizi returned to the bar humming a song. As soon as she came back, without waiting for others to ask, she walked behind Yili and Liang and picked up one in each hand: "Come, do me a small favor."

"Huh?" The two looked at Shizi with unpleasant expressions.

Shizi smiled unchanged: "Go to the RAS interview!"

The two of them seemed to finally feel relieved.

Chapter 26 Returns that do not belong to Broken Pipa

"Sweet! Excellent! Unstoppable!" CHU? looked at Liang with shining eyes. She didn't expect to see a bassist here who was not inferior to Hezou Ruiyi, no, judging from the bass level, he was even better!

Next to them, Yili was holding a guitar and huddled together with Shizi, not daring to speak.

How did things turn out like this? Yili recalled what happened before -

"...Anyway, that's it. Please go through the process. Anyway, what I said is, 'If LAYER and LOCK don't join, then I will let you perform as supporting actors.' You just have to take an interview and that's it." In the corridor, the three of them pushed a small cart with a drum set and walked towards the recording studio that had been vacant. Shizi confidently explained her plan.

"Wait!" Liang raised his hand. "That's a good point, but what if those two newcomers are not who you thought they were?"

Shizi's eyes were empty: "Dazed——"

Liang turned and left.

The corner of her clothes was gently pulled. When she turned around, she saw Shi Zi's tearful expression: "Really... not going?"

Ryo was undeterred: "Even Pochi wouldn't fall for that."

Ichiri has already held up Shizi's other hand: "I... will try my best!"

“I really fell for it.”

Shizi's expression instantly recovered: "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything. At worst, the two of you can just work together to write a song called "Returns" for the band to end."

"You can't just write something like that." Liang sighed and walked past Shizi. She knew about "Returns" because another Shizi had told them about it. Shizi meant that if they really had to go to RAS, then after returning to reality, RAS and ending the band's activities would conflict, so ending the band should be the priority.

At least Shizi still hasn't forgotten the agreement between her and Yili, which means that Shizi is still the same Shizi. So what else can we do? It's not the first time she has done something stupid, so let's help her.

It's just... She always felt that the two people behind her were doing something she was very interested in. However, when she turned around, everything was normal.

"Welcome, both of you! Do you know everything?" At the entrance of the recording studio, CHU?, PAREO and MASKING have been waiting for a long time. CHU? looks very motivated and walks into the recording studio: "Come, listen to my music first. You will understand after listening, this is the best music!" She presses a certain part of the earphones, and the earphones immediately change shape, leaving her body and forming a DJ booth.

Several people filed in and closed the door. Shizi held up a jade slip to illuminate. CHU? started to operate on the DJ stand.

The music started playing. Shizi immediately recognized it as "RIOT".

Liang and Ichiri's expressions immediately turned serious. Intense melody, powerful rhythm! Was this... really written by the kid in front of him?

CHU? He crossed his arms across his chest and looked at the two people's expressions with a smile.

A song stopped.

Without CHU? asking, Liang raised her hand: "Please let me try." She had already picked up Bess.

"OK, then you——" CHU? looked at Yili.

"Eh...eh? Are we starting now?" Yili instinctively wanted to back off. Although she could already play after listening to it once, Chu?'s attitude was too aggressive and she was a little scared.

"It's okay, go ahead." Shizi patted Yili on the shoulder. With Shizi's encouragement, Yili finally relaxed. The water flowed together, and the guitar appeared in his arms: "I... I will try my best..."

"Then I'll go get the keyboard." Shizi glanced at PAREO and opened the door. She remembered that PAREO usually used a Roland FA-08 and two FA-06s, which should be in stock.

"Don't bother, I've got it!" PAREO pointed to one side, where three keyboards and a power bank were, "Lisa helped get it."

CHU? added: "She went to deliver some comfort items to Hong Xia."

"The gifts were made by MASKING~" PAREO spread out his palms and pointed at MASKING who was trying out the drum set.

Shizi didn't pay attention. She looked left and right, and finally waved her hand. A ladder appeared in front of her. She climbed up and inserted the two jade talismans into the pre-reserved slots, and they became simple light bulbs. Now, they didn't have to worry about the lighting problem.

"Okay." She slowly walked down the ladder, "Then I'll wait outside?"

Yili's whole body stiffened.

"Okay, okay." Shizi looked at her helplessly, then turned to CHU?, "Can I stay here?"

"Safe."

The four of them quickly got into the game.

"Which song do you want to play?" asked Pareo.

"Let's just play the song we just mentioned. I can already play it," Ryo said. "Where's Pochi?"

"Hmm... Hmm." Yili hugged the guitar tightly. CHU? Looking at her guitar, it was indeed the same one as the one in Guitar Hero, which made her look forward to Yili even more.

So, the interview began.

Ichiri exhaled and tried to get into the mood. However, he failed. The atmosphere was completely different from the end of the band. Everyone was trying their best to pursue perfection. There was always a faint pressure in the air... I couldn't hear the keyboard sound of Shiko, the guitar and singing of Xiao Xiduo, or the drums of Hongxia... Even the bass sound of Liang was a little different from usual...

Ichiri was very confused. If it weren't for Shizi looking at her with encouraging eyes and Liang occasionally supporting her with the bass, Ichiri felt that she would have collapsed long ago.

She finished playing smoothly. Yili put down the guitar, and sweat oozed from her forehead. She finished playing, but she knew...

CHU? looked at her with disappointment.

"Sorry, I don't meet the requirements." She said to Yili.

"I can tell that you are indeed the guitar hero. Your playing habits are exactly the same." She leaned her hands on the DJ stand, "But I didn't expect your live performance ability to be so..." At least she didn't say the most harsh comment.

"But Ryo Yamada!" She quickly changed her expression, "Sweet! Excellent! Unstoppable! Join my band! Now!"

"From now on, you are called LEO!" CHU? even picked a name, "Welcome to RAISE A SUILEN!"

PAREO suddenly covered his mouth, but a faint laugh still leaked out from between his fingers.

"Wait." Liang raised his hand to stop CHU? from approaching, "I remember that Shizi said, 'If you can't recruit new people, I will join as a supporting actor', right?"

"Ah." Chu was stunned for a moment, then turned to Shizi. Shizi had already hugged Yili to comfort her. She smiled slyly, "You agreed to this yourself. It's okay, Yili and I will leave first."

Before CHU? could react, the two of them disappeared at the door in an instant.

"Oh, Lord CHU?, it was your own carelessness~" PAREO walked to CHU? and looked at CHU? with amusement at his cute look as he wanted to get angry but was too embarrassed.

CHU? He wanted to kick the door, but he forced himself to hold it back. Looking back, he found that Liang had slipped away without saying a word.

"Ah! Never mind." She sighed, "It's fine this way. Anyway, I can get a good bass player no matter what."

"Master CHU?, are you willing to stay here?" PAREO bent down and looked at CHU?'s face.

CHU? Turning his back, he lowered his voice: "It depends on whether they are willing to accept us."

“Huh——” MASKING breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's not talk about this anymore!" CHU? changed the subject abruptly, "You two! Your level has regressed so much!"

"It's been a while since I played, right?" MASKING habitually put the drumsticks on his shoulders.

At this time, the forest outside the airship.

The black and red filth gathered together and formed a series of strange shadows.

Chapter 27 Reward Level

Except for Hong Xia who was recuperating, everyone gathered in the command room and looked out the window in silence. There were a few dead clouds floating in the gloomy sky, and under them were flashing black shadows. Countless black shadows flashed, like a swarm of locusts. The monsters that had given everyone a headache before, even just one, were now countless, all surrounding the airship.

Normally, they should have been in a desperate situation. But everyone was calm and composed, and Kita was even taking pictures. The airship protected everyone well, making them feel like they were sitting in a room watching the rain. Shizi watched as a few fearless creatures hit the airship's shield, and a flash of fire appeared, but she did not receive any experience feedback, so she thought they all escaped.

"I think it's fine to just rush out like this." Sayo commented, "There's no need to fight."

"But I gained 30 points of [Spiritual Power] when I killed one before." In CHU?'s view, these things flying in the sky are all experience packs.

In that case, there is no need to hesitate.

The airship slowly flew towards the empty space. The shadows were hovering over the airship, flickering like electrons orbiting an atomic nucleus.

The airship landed, and everyone climbed to the top of the airbag under the cover of the shield. Shizi stood on the empty airbag shell, with nothing around him, but the burning shield was above his head, and there was no sense of openness at all.

"Be careful, don't put your hands out," she reminded him. Yazi shyly withdrew her outstretched hand.

Yukina nodded to Saya, "Let's get started."

Saya nodded and began to play. As the melody of "Determination Symphony" sounded, the venue was covered by heavy rain again, the flames were extinguished, and they lost their shelter, but Ryo immediately followed up and used sound waves to build an invisible shield instead, blocking all the rain and attacks in mid-air.

In the rainstorm, the monsters no longer flashed. Without their powers, they were just larger mosquitoes.

"I didn't expect that the monster that I took so much effort to defeat before would be so easy now..." Yazi muttered.