September 8th.
A week had passed since Tsuchigumo Hotaru bought the electronic keyboard.
This also meant that Tsuchigumo Hotaru had spent a week at this school.
During this week, Tsuchigumo Hotaru had not yet actively sought out Gotou Hitori or Kita Ikuyo.
Mainly, there wasn't a good opportunity.
Moreover, in his memory, the main storyline of End Band wouldn't start that quickly.
Additionally, it was the beginning of the school year, so everyone was relatively busy.
However, Tsuchigumo Hotaru noticed that he encountered Kita Ikuyo quite frequently on campus.
After all, she was a popular, sunny girl, kind to others, and extremely well-liked.
Her reputation had gradually spread.
She was usually found in popular places, where girls gathered.
Her fiery red hair always stood out.
...
Besides this, it didn't mean that Tsuchigumo Hotaru had done nothing this week.
On the contrary, Tsuchigumo Hotaru had a very fulfilling week.
First, he had sorted out some non-essential information.
For example, Kita Ikuyo was in Class 1.
Akiyama Mio, Tainaka Ritsu, and Kotobuki Tsumugi were in Class 2.
He and Hirazawa Yui were in Class 3.
Gotou Hitori was in Class 5, at the very end of the corridor, and her seat was also in the last row.
Also, Tsuchigumo Hotaru had learned some information about the system.
For instance, the System Shop could be refreshed, but refreshing required musical notes.
The first refresh needed 100 musical notes.
Musical notes were hard to come by, and Tsuchigumo Hotaru didn't have any particularly urgent items he needed at the moment.
So he didn't refresh.
Then, an Lv1 skill was equivalent to beginner-level strength.
Lv2 corresponded to amateur level, Lv3 to professional level, Lv4 to master level, and Lv5 might be the level of a once-in-a-century or once-in-a-millennium prodigy.
Furthermore, the strength granted by the system at each level could be said to be top-tier within that level.
The most important thing was this: Tsuchigumo Hotaru discovered that as long as he listened to the songs Gotou Hitori uploaded to her "Guitar Hero" account, he could gain a few musical notes; pure AFK wouldn't yield any.
Sometimes he only got two or three musical notes, other times seven or eight, and in rare cases, a dozen.
It seemed to be related to the video's quality and popularity.
Each video could only grant a reward once.
Although it was a small amount, the sheer volume made up for it!
When he first discovered this, Tsuchigumo Hotaru was very excited, filled with enthusiasm and passion.
Guitar Hero, my hero.
Bocchi-chan, my perfect score-farming tool.
So, for the past few days, Tsuchigumo Hotaru stayed up day and night, without rest...
Until this morning, Tsuchigumo Hotaru finally finished watching and listening to all of Bocchi-chan's more than a thousand videos uploaded over three years.
Bocchi-chan, you are truly diligent!
I've already become shaped by you...
Heh...heh...hehe...
Tsuchigumo Hotaru now had two panda eyes, a bloodless face, and a faint black aura emanating from behind him.
This made the students who had just entered the classroom instinctively avoid him.
Tsuchigumo Hotaru felt that if he were given an electric guitar now, he could probably show off a bit.
Probably...
"Oh, Tsuchigumo, your smile is so creepy!"
Hirazawa Yui, who had just entered the classroom and sat down, clearly didn't have as many reservations as others.
Her small mouth slightly agape, she feigned fear as she spoke.
"Ah...is it...?"
Tsuchigumo Hotaru looked at Hirazawa Yui in confusion, apparently not yet realizing that his state was a bit off.
"Mhm mhm!"
Hirazawa Yui nodded with a serious expression, then suddenly giggled:
"And your eyes are really cute now, they're panda eyes!"
Saying this, Hirazawa Yui even formed circles with her thumb and forefinger around her eyes.
Even Takamatsu Tomori, who was originally studying pebbles, had her attention drawn by the two.
Looking at Tsuchigumo Hotaru's half-closed eyes, Takamatsu Tomori felt he could fall asleep at any moment.
"Tsuchigumo-san...has very dark circles under his eyes..."
Hirazawa Yui: "Right, right, Takamatsu also thinks so."
These words startled Tsuchigumo Hotaru, and he vigorously shook his head to clear his mind.
If even Takamatsu-san said so, then it must be true.
It seemed he hadn't gotten enough sleep, which even slowed down his thinking.
Tsuchigumo Hotaru showed a gentle smile, not wanting to scare Takamatsu Tomori.
"There were a lot of mosquitoes last night, so I didn't sleep well..." Tsuchigumo Hotaru explained to the two.
"Hahaha, Tsuchigumo, you definitely stayed up late playing games, and you told me you weren't going to slack off anymore."
Hirazawa Yui clearly didn't believe him, looking at Tsuchigumo Hotaru with a hint of teasing.
...
Fortunately, class started soon after.
This was Tsuchigumo Hotaru's time to catch up on sleep.
Looking at Tsuchigumo Hotaru, who fell asleep even faster than herself, Hirazawa Yui chuckled to herself, even more convinced of her inner thoughts.
If it weren't for the sound of taking out her phone to sneak a photo, Hirazawa Yui would definitely have taken a picture as evidence.
Then, Hirazawa Yui also started to catch up on sleep.
And Takamatsu Tomori looked at the two who had slumped onto their desks as soon as class started, stunned for a moment, blinked cutely.
Then she continued to observe the small pebbles on the desk.