I, the spiritual mentor of beautiful girls from all over the world

She turned around, clutched her weapon tightly, and took trembling but determined steps toward the door.

Outside the door was the guillotine she once feared most, the one called "the stage."

No.

She said it to herself clearly and forcefully in her heart.

That's not a guillotine.

That's... my stage.

Chapter 115: The School Festival Comes to a Perfect End (End of Volume 1)

The moment Lynn helped Goto Doku back into the backstage dressing room, the frozen air in the space seemed to begin to move again.

"Pochi-chan!"

Kita Ikuyo was the first to rush over, her beautiful face, which always wore an energetic smile, now streaked with tears. She hugged the still swaying Goto Doku tightly, laughing and crying at the same time, gently pounding her back with her fists.

"Where did you run off to, you idiot! You idiot! You idiot!"

Nijika Ichichi's eyes were red, but as the team leader, she held back her tears.

He rushed over and grabbed Goto Doku's shoulders tightly, checking her over carefully to make sure she wasn't injured. Only then did he let out a long sigh of relief, his voice trembling with lingering fear: "It's good that you're back...it's good that you're back..."

Ryo Yamada remained leaning against the wall, his cool expression unchanged, but the hand that had been tightly gripping the bass strap finally loosened.

She glanced at it indifferently, then let out a soft hum in a voice only she could hear.

In another corner backstage, the man who had been forcibly maintaining order with cold rationality finally raised his signature dead fish eyes.

Hachiman Hikigaya saw Lynn.

He also saw behind Lynn the pink-haired girl, who, though disheveled, no longer had eyes filled with pure fear.

His face, which always seemed to scream "I wish the world would just end already," miraculously softened at this moment, even forming a barely perceptible arc that mixed weariness and relief.

Lynn's gaze passed over the crying girls and landed on Hachiman Hikigaya.

He glanced at the back office, which, though chaotic, had returned to basic operational order, and at the staff who had been mobilized by Hachiman Hikigaya with clumsy yet effective lies.

Then, he nodded slightly to the awkward-looking boy.

"You solved the problem of turning 'trouble' into 'order' even more beautifully than I expected."

This seemingly light sentence struck Hachiman Hikigaya's heart with the weight of a thousand-ton medal.

He understood instantly.

He handed in his answer to the silent test question that had come from the second-floor window.

Now, the teacher who set the question has given him a "perfect score".

An indescribable feeling, a mixture of pride and exhaustion, welled up from the bottom of my heart.

Hachiman Hikigaya subconsciously avoided Lynn's gaze, scratched the back of his head, and muttered something under his breath in his usual lazy, indifferent tone.

"...877 is such a pain in the neck."

……

Just then, the door to the lounge was pushed open, and Yukino Yukinoshita strode in, her high heels clicking. A faint blush rose to her cool cheeks, and her breathing was slightly unsteady, but her icy blue eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

“Ms. Lynn, it’s all done.” Her voice was crisp and decisive.

"I've already spoken with the stage director, and the Unity Band's performance will be delayed by twenty minutes."

She didn't say how she persuaded the stubborn director, but Lynn could guess that it must have been a fierce clash between logic and interests.

Time is running out.

Lynn patted Goto Doku on the shoulder.

"Go."

"hero."

……

The spotlights, like beams of sacred light, suddenly shone brightly, illuminating the enormous stage in a pure white light.

The four girls of the Unity Band, each carrying their own instruments, stepped onto this battlefield that belonged to them.

“Waaaaaaaaa——!!!”

Below the stage was a sea of ​​tens of thousands of people, a dark, dense ocean. The deafening cheers, like tangible sound waves, assaulted Goto's fragile nerves wave after wave.

Her body began to tremble instinctively.

The fears she had forcibly suppressed, the nightmares about being looked at, about failure, about being disliked, were like a persistent, insidious disease, growing wildly from the depths of her heart once again.

Her face turned deathly pale instantly, and her fingers holding the guitar were as cold as iron.

(No...it still doesn't work...)

(So ​​many people...they're watching me...they're going to laugh at me...)

(I'm going to mess it up... I'm going to mess everything up like I always have...)

Just as she was about to be completely overwhelmed by the panic and wanted to turn around and run away immediately, her gaze unconsciously drifted to the side of the stage.

There, in the shadows where the light didn't reach, Lynn stood quietly.

He didn't speak or make any unnecessary movements; he simply looked at her calmly with his eyes, which always carried a hint of languor.

That look seemed to say:

"Your fear is your medal."

"Your struggle is proof of your heroism."

boom!

That calm gaze, like a stabilizing force, instantly pierced through all the chaos and turmoil in her mind.

Goto took a deep breath, his chest filled with the sweet smell of dry ice from the stage.

She slowly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, all the fear in her bloodshot eyes had subsided, leaving only a resolute determination.

She placed her fingers on the strings.

When the first note ripped through the night sky with a massive sound system, the whole world fell silent.

Hidden within Kita Ikuyo's energetic singing voice is a silent cry: "Little Pochi, look! This is the empire we've built for you!"

Nijika Ijichi's precise and powerful drumbeats are the most steadfast heartbeat of the entire team, with each accented note proclaiming: "Don't be afraid, we will support you through everything!"

Ryo Yamada's deep and gorgeous bass lines are the most arrogant invitation from a genius to another genius: "Hey, the stage is ready, don't let us down."

Three distinct beliefs, three soundtracks embodying all expectations, intertwined perfectly, forming a vast net that drew all eyes and anticipation toward their one and only secret weapon, poised to ignite the entire arena.

Until it was Goto's turn to do his guitar solo.

She closed her eyes.

In an instant, the cheers of tens of thousands of people below the stage, the burning anticipation of teammates, the sweet smell of dry ice in the air... everything disappeared.

In her world, only three things remained:

The storage room was filled with a chilling fear.

In the darkness, a figure as dazzling as a god.

And, the whisper in her ear that was enough to reshape her soul—

"You are far more deserving of the title of hero than I am."

She suddenly opened her eyes, pouring all her emotions into her fingertips!

Her solo performance did not begin with a magnificent melody.

Instead, it was a series of broken and sharp noises from scraping the strings—the desperate scratching of fingernails against a wooden door when trapped in a storage room.

Immediately following, a bright, warm, almost unreal overtone.

It tore through the chaos like a divine revelation, long and steady—it was him standing against the light at the doorway, like a god descending.

Then, the entire melody erupted!

It is no longer a regular musical phrase, but a scale that climbs wildly from the low register to the high register, almost out of control!

Every note is a trembling breath, every bend of the string is a suppressed shout!

This is not music; it is her entire process of being saved, her most devout battle song dedicated to the one and only "god" who created the hero in the audience!

The audience was completely awestruck by the guitar music that seemed to burn with life!

The students who were still laughing and playing stopped what they were doing.

The media reporters carrying cameras forgot to press the shutter.

Even those industry veterans who considered themselves well-informed stood up in disbelief, staring intently at the crazy pink-haired girl on stage who seemed to be one with the guitar!

"What...what is this?! Is this something a high school student could produce?!"

"This is insane... This is absolutely insane! This isn't skill, this is playing with fire!"

"She...she's telling a story! She's telling a story about a 'miracle' with her guitar!"

In the live stream, the chat had completely disappeared. Everyone was stunned into silence by the primal, violent, and vibrant sound!

Just as this crazy solo was about to reach its climax, Goto Doku prepared to use all his strength to complete an extremely difficult string-pushing technique that could be considered divine!

—To give her "battle song" the most perfect ending!

She strained her fingers, pushing the strings to their limit—

Snapped! ! !

A piercing, sharp cracking sound, transmitted through the highest-powered speakers, ripped through everyone's eardrums like a sharp blade!

The music abruptly stopped!

On stage, the guitar that was screaming wildly suddenly went silent!

The entire venue fell into a deathly silence!

The eyes of tens of thousands of people, like ten thousand spotlights, instantly focused on the pink-haired girl who stood frozen in place.

On stage, Kita Ikuyo and Iji Tomoka's faces turned deathly pale in an instant.

It’s over.

They know better than anyone else.

For a guitarist, especially one with severe social anxiety.

Breaking a string in front of tens of thousands of people is the most fatal stage accident, enough to destroy her entire career and even her entire life!

An overwhelming sense of panic and boundless shame gripped Goto Doku's heart like a cold, icy hand.

Her mind was blank.

The "hero" crown, which had just been bestowed upon him by Teacher Lynn, shattered into dust at this moment.

The light that was called "Hero" has gone out.

The stage has turned back into a guillotine;

The deafening cheers turned into the silence of the trial.

She was no hero; she was just a ridiculous sacrifice who had botched the ritual before the gods.

She let him down.

This thought made her feel even more desperate than being ridiculed by the whole world.

Run!

Run away quickly...

Just as her legs went weak, and she was about to collapse and disappear from the world, her life came to an abrupt end.

That gentle yet firm voice echoed in her mind once again.

"A hero is someone who, though terrified, still trembles and takes that step forward."