"I've thought it over and I think it works. The album can be free, but we should still release an EP. Besides, it'll be in Japanese."
"My suggestion's the same as Miss Niu's. The album's free, but an EP isn't a full album. More importantly, Jiu-ge is going into music now. He can't debut without a single physical disc, right?"
"Leaving the Japanese fans' money on the table would just be wasting resources."
"A-Jiu's 'Butter-Fly' and 'I Once Thought of Ending It All' are both great tracks. Good music deserves to be heard. A Japanese EP is a must."
It was already late at night when the team got pulled into a spontaneous video call, sparked by a sincere suggestion from Koguchi Yoshihiro. To Chu Zhi, it was surprisingly tempting.
During the meeting, Niu Jiangxue, Brother Fei, Lao Qian, and Wang Yuan each gave their take.
As always, Brother Fei got straight to the point. Right—digital singles and albums are fine, but a singer needs at least one physical release.
"What if something massive happens and the servers go down? Only physical copies would survive," added Niu Jiangxue.
Uh... hopefully it won't come to that. Chu Zhi had no plans to die early.
"Butter-Fly," "Lemon," "I Once Thought of Ending It All"—that's three so far. Let's see if I get inspired and pull together five tracks for an EP," Chu Zhi said.
"Take care of your health, A-Jiu," Wang Yuan chimed in. She remembered Chu Zhi had mentioned he wrote songs when he couldn't sleep.
"I will," Chu Zhi nodded.
Wang Yuan suddenly felt the nutritionist and massage therapist she had hired were doing only half the job. The massage helped with fatigue, sure, but the nutritionist… not so much.
After the call ended, Chu Zhi stretched and mulled over the idea of a Japanese EP. Lao Qian's words might've been crude, but the logic was sound. If Japanese fans were like wild-growing leeks, not harvesting them would be a shame.
There are two reasons for releasing an EP. One, to share a breakthrough in your music, even if it's not enough to make a full album. Two, to make a quick buck.
From a capitalist standpoint, Chu Zhi figured the first reason was a bit of a lie.
"You don't need a fully fleshed-out concept for an EP," he thought. "Just a general direction is enough."
His account still had twelve Personality coins left. He was in the zone. Time to spin the gacha wheel.
"Alright, system bro, show me my amazing prize pool."
The reward pool that popped up far exceeded his expectations.
[Fluency in Sinitic Languages]
[Voice of the First Emperor]
[Deluxe Pack: 'The Only Flower in the World']
[Deluxe Pack: 'Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni']
[Album: Naruto Original Soundtrack]
[Album: Detective Conan Original Soundtrack]
China's vastness made for a huge diversity in regional dialects. The "Sinitic Fluency" reward included every dialect across the land, plus the minority languages too. Instantly, he would become a true linguistic master.
"If I pull this box, I might get Korean for free," Chu Zhi mused. After all, there are Korean-Chinese people in China, and while Korean, North Korean, and Korean-Chinese dialects differ, they're essentially one language.
"Right now, I only know Hokkien and Cantonese."
He learned Hokkien from the album Poetry of Post-Adolescence—specifically the track "Chhut-thâu-thinn" . Cantonese came from JJ Lu's concert bonus, a Cantonese version of "Small Dimples."
After unlocking 'Angelic Voice' and 'Despair's Sound,' Chu Zhi saw another voice attribute: 'Voice of the First Emperor,' rumored to be even stronger than the Earth Emperor's Voice, famously used by the powerful singer Han Lei.
"Is that 'Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni' by Misora Hibari?"
If you're ranking historical Japanese singers, Misora Hibari would be number one, no question.
Reading the prize descriptions, Chu Zhi learned that Japan had three unofficial "second national anthems": "Don't Give Up," "Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni," and "The Only Flower in the World." The last one, by the way, was the best-selling single of the Heisei era. No contest.
"System bro, I just wanted to drop an EP and harvest some Japanese fans. No need to go this hard."
The last two prizes were anime soundtracks. Chu Zhi made his draw. All six boxes looked good.
Open, open, open—
Prize: Detective Conan Original Soundtrack
"The little grim reaper in a school uniform… I remember a few of the songs were iconic. Let me check what's in the OST—wait, what?!"
"System bro, this is fate. Today is clearly a lucky day. Let's just burn incense, slaughter a chicken, and swear brotherhood."
His reaction was justified. The soundtrack included over 180 tracks: dozens of opening and ending themes, and songs from the movies. It was basically winning the lottery.
Sure, the quality varied. Some were just short instrumentals or remixes of the same lyrics, but there were certified classics too: "Turning the Wheel of Fate" by Izumi Sakai, "Secret of My Heart" by Mai Kuraki, "Mystery" by Miho Komatsu, "Sign of Love" by B'z, "Thrill, Shock, Suspense" by Rina Aiuchi, and "Unsteady Heart" by THE HIGH-LOWS. These were childhood staples for anyone who grew up in the '90s.
"This isn't just enough for an EP. I could release two albums and still have leftovers."
Chu Zhi felt a little uneasy. With a prize this generous, there had to be a hidden cost.
But he shook it off. "If the system had anything shady in mind, it wouldn't wait until now."
His EP lineup would be:
I Once Thought of Ending It All
Butter-Fly
Lemon
Mystery
Unsteady Heart
Turning the Wheel of Fate
Theme: Because I Haven't Met You Yet
Title: "世界に少し期待するよ"Translation: Just a Little Hope for the World
"Lemon" and "Ending It All" are about moving on from pain. "Mystery" and "Turning the Wheel" are about self-reflection. The last two tracks remind us that we still have courage.
"This is a solid EP. Three all-time hits, and three chart-topping singles. In this parallel world, who holds the Japanese EP sales record?"
"Oh, it's an old friend. GZ Group's Gorgeous Dance, which sold 167,000 copies on release day."
"Well, I know them well. Breaking their record should be no big deal."
Chu Zhi wrote everything down—his concepts, the tracklist, the sheet music. He laid it all out in a clean chart, matching each song to the EP's theme. Emperor Beast was great at making tables.
He had his notebook with him, so sending the email was easy. He scheduled it to hit Niu Jiangxue's inbox around 2 a.m.
He titled it: [Japanese EP Planning Overview].
It wasn't even 1 a.m. yet. Still early.
Before bed, he flipped through The Tale of Genji, a cornerstone of Japanese literature. Some call it the origin of mono no aware, but Chu Zhi still thought it didn't hold a candle to Dream of the Red Chamber.
"Once my poetry gains more popularity in Japan, I'll release my Japanese translation of Selected Plays of Bai Pu. Time to boost cultural exports."
There were just too many Chinese classics. Even with skilled translators, not everything could be shared.
Chu Zhi figured he could lend a hand. He'd already finished the Japanese and English versions of Selected Plays of Bai Pu. He was two-thirds done translating Flowers in the Mirror.
That one would definitely hit in Japan. Wild imagination, sharp satire—especially the scene where the main cast visits a nation with no intestines. The upper class eats food, the next tier eats waste, and so on until dogs eat the rest…
"If only my career as a celebrity weren't getting in the way. Otherwise, I'd be a great poet. A world-renowned translator," he said, then went to sleep.