A gentle piano melody slowly filled the room.
Tsuzuki Shifune listened intently. Gradually, a hint of surprise surfaced in her eyes.
Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3?
This concerto was anything but simple.
After about five minutes, Tsuzuki Shifune's expression grew increasingly grave. There were flaws here and there, but at this age, to reach this level on the piano was genuinely remarkable.
Alright. She passes.
Tsuzuki Shifune reached her conclusion silently.
It should be ending soon. After all, a full performance of "Rach 3" took close to fifty minutes, and with such extreme difficulty, the physical exertion was comparable to shoveling ten tons of coal. Hardly anyone could keep going that long.
And yet—when twenty minutes had passed and the piano's sound still flowed unbroken, Tsuzuki Shifune could no longer stay seated.
She looked at the blue-haired girl before her, completely focused on the performance, showing not the slightest sign of fatigue, and couldn't help but fall into doubt.
Is this… right?
Asai Yu knew very well that relying solely on Togawa Sakiko's—or even his own—physical stamina, it would be impossible to finish this concerto.
But he was currently playing under the system's piano buff.
For these two hours, his stamina at the piano was effectively infinite.
Asai Yu felt no fatigue at all. In fact, the more he played, the deeper he sank into the music.
Only after another thirty minutes did he finally lift his hands from the keys.
Togawa Sakiko, by contrast, wasn't surprised in the slightest.
This guy was just that abnormal—someone who could play the piano for an hour straight without even catching his breath.
At that moment, a few soft claps echoed through the room.
Matsugi Ririko had already gone back to work midway through, so the applause could only belong to Tsuzuki Shifune.
"Very good. Far beyond my expectations," Tsuzuki Shifune praised, her tone full of appreciation.
With this level of piano skill, why should Togawa Sakiko confine herself to small bands? The stage she belonged on was far larger.
"Would you be interested in performing at RiNG's café?" Tsuzuki Shifune invited. "8,000 yen per hour, two hours a day. You can take days off whenever you like."
"Of course." Asai Yu stood up and replied.
"As for the revenue split on selling songs to RiNG, let's lower it to 3%. I'll inform Matsugi," Tsuzuki Shifune added.
Lowered again?
Asai Yu froze for a moment, then offered his thanks.
After exchanging a few more words, Tsuzuki Shifune left due to other matters.
Asai Yu stayed behind in the piano room, practicing for over another hour before heading to the front desk to discuss the finer details of the contract with Matsugi Ririko.
In the end, the contract was successfully signed. Starting tomorrow, he would officially begin working there.
Beyond that, if any other good resources came up, Matsugi would immediately connect them for him—her role was essentially that of an agency manager.
Asai Yu walked out of RiNG, feeling refreshed both mentally and physically.
Togawa Sakiko also let out a long breath, relaxing.
"It's finally all done… These past few days were more exhausting than working nonstop from morning till night."
"We should be able to relax for a while now, right?"
Her tone brimmed with longing for a brighter future.
"Relax?" Asai Yu shot back. "Do you want to make money, or do you want to relax?"
Without hesitation, Togawa Sakiko replied, "Of course I want to make money!"
"Then stay tense. Work hard on composing and don't think about relaxing," Asai Yu lectured.
Hearing that, Togawa Sakiko felt a bitterness she couldn't put into words. The hellish schedule of the past two weeks had already left her with a bit of "psychological trauma."
Maybe taking it a little easier really was better.
"Want to learn composition? I can teach you," she proposed.
"No need, thanks," Asai Yu rejected decisively.
Trying to turn me into free labor, huh? Pretty crafty, he thought.
Togawa Sakiko felt a twinge of regret, then voiced the doubt that had been bothering her.
"Is signing with RiNG really that beneficial? Wouldn't joining an agency be more appropriate?"
Asai Yu explained, "RiNG's influence is only going to keep growing. And they're willing to pour all their resources into us—that's something other agencies simply can't do."
"Most importantly, we've earned Manager Tsuzuki's recognition."
He then briefly recounted Tsuzuki Shifune's past achievements. Sakiko listened, stunned again and again.
Only then did she truly understand how valuable that recognition was—and how hard it had been for the two of them to reach this point.
After returning to the apartment, Asai Yu immediately sent the two songs to Matsugi Ririko, who would handle coordination with the bands.
A reply came quickly: both bands had given extremely high praise.
Shortly after that, 270,000 yen was deposited into his account.
Even though he'd experienced it before, Asai Yu couldn't help but marvel again.
The students at Tsukinomori really are rich.
[Payment Settled: 540,000 yen added to the system. Available for withdrawal at any time]
[Part-time Job Buff Lv.2 (645/500)]
[Lv.2 → Lv.3]
[Part-time Job Buff Lv.3 (145/2000)]
Of the 270,000 yen, half went into the system, directly pushing the part-time buff to Lv.3.
Looking at the steadily swelling system wallet, Asai Yu felt deeply satisfied.
—
Meanwhile, in an office high up in a skyscraper, Togawa Sadaharu sat back in his chair, his expression relaxed.
"Why hasn't there been any news about Sakiko yet? How has she been doing lately?"
Hearing this, the secretary handed over a file.
After quickly scanning its contents, Togawa Sadaharu's face grew increasingly stern. His brows knitted together tightly before his right hand slammed down on the desk, making it hum with the impact.
"Hmph! This is ridiculous!"
He had thought Sakiko left that man because she intended to return to the family. He never imagined she'd run off to sell compositions and play piano—and was even showing signs of steady growth.
For a moment, Togawa Sadaharu found it hard to accept this outcome.
After stroking his chin in thought, his emotions gradually settled.
"Observe her for a while longer. If Sakiko still refuses to come back, then it's time she learns what the world outside the Togawa family is really like."
—
On another front, following the information sent by Matsugi, Asai Yu created a YouTube account.
The account would be jointly operated by Matsugi Ririko and himself, officially under RiNG.
It would be used to upload the songs composed by Togawa Sakiko—naturally, only with the bands' consent.
Asai Yu was pondering what to name the channel when Togawa Sakiko suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Let's call it Oblivionis."
Where did this 'ob-something alphabet girl' come from?
Asai Yu's mouth twitched.
"So… 'I fear no oblivion,' huh."
Hearing that, Togawa Sakiko felt no pride at all—only intense embarrassment.
How does Yu even know about something like that so clearly?!
"Uh… y-you… um… th-that's not… I mean…"
She stammered, completely at a loss for words.