Chapter 27: Gatō Enter The Simulation
After the guitarist made that comment, Gotoh Hitori became fascinated with the guitar.
"After learning bass, if you don't like someone, you can smash their head with the bass."
After the expressionless bassist finished speaking, Narumi became interested in the bass—although the next second, the scene cut back to the host, who was forcing a smile and trying to cover it up.
Originally avoiding communication, Gotoh gradually opened up to Narumi because of their shared love of music. Although she had changed from running to her room on the second floor whenever she saw Narumi and being dragged out by her mother, she now timidly peeked out from behind her mother and waved her finger at him.
As they spent more time getting to know each other, the extremely shy Gotoh Hitori gradually began to look at the boy with an unguarded and adorable smile. Their conversations increasingly revolved around music, and the two teenagers, both in their early teens, used their shared interests to bridge the gap between them.
"When I grow up, I'll definitely become someone as dazzling as that guitarist...!"
For the first time, Gotoh, who always just talked to herself while holding her doll, tried to express her thoughts to another living, breathing human being.
"Okay. Let's perform together then."
Narumi also showed a sincere smile, and the two made a promise to form a band together in the future.
But everything came to an abrupt end when the two of them went to different junior high schools and the Narumi family moved away.
One morning, with the help of a moving company, the Narumi family packed up all their belongings and quietly disappeared into the morning sunlight.
Narumi never saw Gotoh Hitori again after that.
Five years passed in the blink of an eye, and their promise seemed to have been forgotten in the corner of time. When they met again, it was on the same stage.
Still afraid of interacting with people, Gotoh Hitori chose to hide in a mango box and play the guitar. Narumi, who was staring blankly at her from the audience, gradually came to his senses.
When you reunite with a childhood friend after a long separation, you should feel joy and surprise.
Narumi, his brows furrowing, remained silent and picked up his bass.
The emotion lingering in his mind was unhappiness.
While Gotoh Hitori's performance wasn't perfect due to nervousness and other factors and had a few minor flaws, her overall rhythmic control was just right. Her appropriate transitions and small alterations added a delightful surprise to the performance.
The more she did this, the more unhappy he became.
Why should I feel unhappy...?
Narumi was not usually sensitive to his own emotions, but at this moment he could clearly feel how strong the unpleasant feeling lingering in his chest was.
Even if you're not like this in real life, the emotional traits you randomly select will certainly influence your thoughts and actions in the simulation—otherwise, how could it be called a "simulation"?
Sure enough, the system only responded to his question at times like this.
"Am I unhappy... because of that pink caterpillar?"
Even when performing on stage, Narumi was troubled by this problem.
Logically speaking, it's perfectly normal to feel unhappy.
You lost contact with your old friend, with whom you promised to form a band, for five years. During this time, you both continued to improve your guitar and bass skills, but you ended up forming your own bands.
"What's there to be angry about... You didn't even get to see them again before you rushed to form a band with your friends."
Narumi internally berated himself in this way—more of an attempt to convince this simulated "self."
But when he was playing the bass with all his might along with his partner's music and looked at the audience below who were not interested and were even starting to yawn, he suddenly realized what was going on.
What angered him was not just the fact that the two of them had failed to keep their promise.
There was also the fact that Gotoh Hitori's current performance skills and stage presence had surpassed his.
"..."
The curly-haired boy lowered his head and plucked the last chord of the song with his fingers.
So this is what it feels like when your heart is overflowing with a mixture of jealousy and longing.
As his memories gradually returned, Narumi Toru became even more convinced that he was a very troublesome brat in this "future."
He had the most sincere and passionate love for rock and roll, and he never slacked off in his practice, but his mediocre talent always made him fall behind those geniuses who could grasp things instantly.
Even so, the boy would grit his teeth and stay up all night to continue practicing. Even if it was twice as difficult and took almost twice as long to catch up with the progress of the gifted geniuses, he was happy to do it.
He sounds like a very ambitious and hardworking child, but the tension he felt brought him not only complete concentration when studying, but also a void that needed to be filled after he relaxed.
Unfortunately, Narumi Toru, who in this future saw academic studies as a "burden," didn't have a good way to manage stress—moreover, no one taught him how, and by the time he realized it, he had already developed many less-than-ideal habits.
For example, smoking, drinking, going to internet cafes, staying up all night, and eating one or two fast-food meals a day.
What's worse is that he's the kind of person who, no matter how intense his emotions are, is unwilling to reveal his true feelings to others.
"While it's not incomprehensible that 'I' would become like this, sensitive boys in their adolescence, coupled with the 'craving for approval' and 'insecurity,' easily feel that handing over their true feelings to others is equivalent to exposing their vulnerabilities—and it's not cool at all."
Over time, this awkward and complex emotion gradually led him to develop a habit of saying one thing and meaning another, and he repeatedly pushed others away to test the strength of their relationships. Even though doing so could easily hurt others.
In conclusion, the future "Narumi Toru" is actually a bratty kid who, without anyone to guide him, runs wild in society, desperately lacking love but pretending to be indifferent to everything.
The road to growth is long and arduous, you rascal.
[So you're already analyzing the reasons behind your personality? You really are a born role-player.]
The system's approving voice sounded at just the right moment, pulling Narumi back from his reverie somewhat.
"I don't benefit from flattery. As long as there's a customer review channel, I'll still deduct points from your crappy simulation."
Narumi rolled his eyes and mentally glared at the system. After the performance, he picked up his bass and walked off the stage.
He formed a band with Hachiman Hikigaya, Hayato Hayama, and Saika Totsuka about three months ago. They were all classmates Narumi had met at the high school he attended.
Despite the mixed reactions from students after Narumi made the perplexing statement that "studying can't save Japan" and dropped out of school, the three of them still managed to get together with Narumi and form a boys' high school band based on their friendship and shared love of music.
Keyboardist Hayato Hayama, a top-tier, popular, and handsome guy at school with great potential in his career, accepted the invitation to form a band from Narumi simply because he enjoyed playing the piano.
Contrary to his slender and petite physique that evoked a protective instinct, drummer Saika Totsuka was an exceptionally skilled drummer. Many male fans who mistook him for a girl would sneak off to watch his performances, but most left disappointed upon learning that he was a boy.
Of course, a small number of homosexuals became even more excited after learning his gender.
In response, guitarist and backup vocalist Hachiman Hikigaya said—"A divine product."
He was one of the people who was attracted by Narumi's band invitation and joined the band. Especially after hearing that some fans liked to explore the chemistry between the guitarist and drummer in the band, he became even more convinced that joining was the right choice.
Currently just a third-rate, unknown band, they mostly perform as opening acts in small livehouse venues or as special guests for medley performances with very low ticket prices, and the audience response is generally lukewarm.
Four high school boys like this, when they get together, are indeed not very competitive compared to other bands in the same category. They don't have the popularity of bands featuring cute high school girls, nor can they compete with other bands that can be considered veterans.
Incidentally, the "pretty girl band" mentioned here refers to the "Kessoku Band" that just performed at the same livehouse venue.
"Damn it, why is it that no matter what a pretty girl does, there are always people who support her?"
Hachiman Hikigaya wiped the sweat from his face after downing a bottle of mineral water in one gulp. His already sharp, dead-fish eyes now looked even more aggressive.
The same audience members reacted very differently to their performance and to the End of the Band's performance.
"Haha, because beautiful girls are pleasing to the eye no matter what they do."
Hayama, who didn't care about winning or losing at all, simply smiled and calmed Hikigaya down as he finished most of the mineral water in the bottle with a dashing and handsome air.
"Damn it, why am I not a beautiful girl... I also want to have the kind of treatment where even if I mess everything up, everyone will still praise me for being cute."
Hikigaya clenched his fists indignantly, while Totsuka Saika just smiled and said something like "Thank you for your hard work, everyone~", tilting his head as he handed the clean towels he had prepared in advance to his three companions.
"Hmm... Saika, Saika is much better than those pretty girls...!"
Narumi subconsciously nodded in agreement with Hachiman Hikigaya's insightful remarks—only to realize a moment later that his idea was somewhat dangerous, and quickly shook his head to dismiss it.
Speaking of which, the Hachiman in this "simulation" is no different from the real one at all... it's incredibly lifelike.
"It's best not to say anything about the End of the Band. I think Ms. Ijichi said she's going to treat both of our bands to dinner later."
Hayama spoke up in time to change the direction of the topic. He couldn't deny how cute Totsuka Saika was—he was just worried that it would be difficult to handle if a romance developed within the group.
"Uh... am I really going to eat at this hour? I probably need to go home and rest quickly, otherwise my mom will worry..."
"Me too, my sister has been urging me to buy her something to eat on my way home since just now."
Both Totsuka and Hikigaya explained why they couldn't get away, not to mention Hayama, whose strict upbringing meant that being allowed to join the band was already an exception, and if he didn't go home soon, he might be grounded.
"…Then I will go to the banquet as your representative."
Narumi shrugged helplessly, looking at his unreliable companions and not knowing what to do.
The group tidied up their belongings and turned off the lounge lights. Narumi also planned to go to the front desk to meet up with Seika Ijichi.
"Hmm."
"Waaaaaah...!"
He was walking at the front when he was bumped solidly by something pink just as he pushed open the door.
The curly-haired boy was only slightly pushed away, but the pink, unidentified creature staggered back several steps and almost fell to the ground.
"It hurts... Ouch?"
Stumbling, Gotoh Hitori looked up—and the moment their eyes met, it seemed as if time itself slowed down.
"What's wrong, Narumi-kun?"
At this moment, Totsuka Saika, who had just caught up, peeked out and looked at the pink-haired girl who was barely able to stand, his big, blinking eyes full of curiosity.
"Hmm... is it someone you know?"
He had never seen the actual mango box that had just performed on stage.
"…"
Gotoh Hitori seemed to want to say something, but the panic and tension that followed her surprise made her unable to speak no matter what.
After a long silence, Narumi, having received no response, casually turned his head away.
He strode off in the opposite direction, seemingly oblivious to the expression on the face of the pink-haired girl behind him, who was slightly opening her mouth but hesitated to speak.
No, I don't know him.
The reason Gotoh Hitori got involved in this "future simulation" was something she herself hadn't even noticed. If this were some kind of word game, then after completing the game and wanting to revisit the events to see where the story could have been changed, this would be a specially marked key point.
That was taking the courage to send a private message to the author of the short story that inspired her fan-made song, "A Shooting Star Crossing the Daylight"—to express her gratitude.
Her real identity is the YouTuber "Guitar Hero" who uploaded the viral hit song mentioned above, and whose video has been viewed over 300,000 times.
With just over 30,000 subscribers, she simply uploaded guitar cover videos and transcribed sheet music for her favorite songs to this account where no one knew her real identity. A stable 1,000 or 2,000 views a day was considered good; she never dreamed of becoming an overnight sensation.
However, after seeing the manga written by Eri Kashiwagi and tracing back to the original novel published on the writing forum, she could no longer suppress her desire to create. The song "Facing the Shooting Star in the Daylight," which she wrote while locking herself in her room for several days, easily surpassed 50,000 plays in one night.
Then came 100,000, 200,000, and 300,000.
Locked in the narrow but reassuring closet, Gotō rubbed her eyes to make sure she hadn't misread the number 3 and could see how many digits followed it.
"What could this be... Am I really that hot?"
She was very glad that she hadn't spoken those feelings aloud, otherwise she would have been so embarrassed that she bit her tongue.
After much hesitation and deliberation, Gotoh Hitori decided to explain the situation to the original author and express her gratitude of course, by sending a message online.
"After all, my videos already have so many views. If the original creator sees that I've done derivative work without prior authorization, they'll definitely come to my channel and demand an explanation... If we can't reach an agreement, I might even have to bear legal responsibility and pay compensation... I don't want to be burdened with huge debts at such a young age...!"
Gotō, who had a lot of inner monologues, cautiously clicked on the featured post on the forum. After carefully considering her words for a long time, she finally clicked on the poster's private message button.
Then, outrageous phenomena began to emerge.
The word "private message" was originally displayed, but it changed to "simulation" when her mouse cursor hovered over it, about to click on it.
"Huh?"
Before Gotoh Ichiri could react, pressing her index finger executed the command her brain had just issued.
What followed was a strange sound that abruptly echoed in her brain.
Thank you for choosing to play this game. This product aims to provide you with a novel, fun, and realistic future simulation.
"Wait... what did I just order? Mom...!"
[Please note that once you start this simulation, you cannot exit it midway—you will not be able to exit until the simulation ends.]
"Wait, what's going on? Am I being transported to another world? Am I going to become an unlucky hero who embarks on a journey to rescue a princess only to be manipulated by the Demon King...? At least—"
Unfortunately, the above scenarios are not included in this simulation. Please enjoy!
"At least—let me go to the bathroom first…!"
End Of Chapter.