Inside the simulator, as the practice sessions piled up, Nijika began to feel more and more powerless.
With the growing number of fans for Kessoku Band, everyone's enthusiasm had been ignited, and Ryo's recent arrangements were drifting toward increasingly difficult levels.
Songs that both Hitori and Ryo could play flawlessly became harder and harder for Nijika to keep up with.
Even Kita-chan's guitar skills had improved dramatically after more than a year of practice.
By comparison, Nijika had been stuck at Level 3 on the drums, completely unable to match the others' progress…
High school graduation was approaching, but she had made little progress compared to a year ago. The next level still seemed far out of reach. Along the way, Nijika had thought of many solutions, even seeking advice from her sister Seika's former bandmate and her own drum teacher, Sally. Yet her growth remained painfully slow.
[You have exited full-immersion mode…]
On the sofa in reality, Nijika slowly opened her eyes. She had spent months inside the simulation, but only a dozen minutes had passed in the real world.
She glanced at her sister dozing off at the desk beside her and said in a small, dejected voice, "Sis, am I useless?"
She rarely felt negative emotions, and even when she did, she buried them deep inside, unwilling to vent them on the people close to her.
Hearing this, Seika, still drowsy from her nap, asked, "Nijika, who said that to you?"
As a super protective older sister, she hated hearing anyone insult her sibling.
Damn it, who had the nerve to badmouth my sister?
"You've got it wrong, Sis." Nijika shook her head.
"I was just thinking… In Kessoku Band, Ryo and Bocchi are both so skilled. Compared to them, I'm just average. I've practiced for so many years, but I've barely improved."
Nijika knew perfectly well that Hitori Gotoh had only been practicing guitar for three years, while she herself had started drums at age nine, two whole years more than Bocchi!
"You're afraid of becoming a burden to them?" Seika quickly picked up on what she really meant.
No one knows a little sister like her older sister. Dropping her usual tsundere attitude, Seika decided to comfort her. "Nijika, when you form a band, isn't the most important thing to have fun? Whether your dream comes true or not doesn't matter. All you need to do is enjoy the scenery along the way."
Nijika wanted to agree with her.
But Kessoku Band wasn't just a band for fun. Practicing and goofing around with the others was definitely enjoyable, but… happiness alone wasn't enough. A band without skill simply wouldn't make it. The rock world was harsh; it wasn't an amusement park.
If you formed a band with a playful mindset, the ending would be bleak.
"You're overthinking it. Just focus on making your first live show a success." Seika had no idea her sister had a simulator that could predict the future; she simply thought Nijika was getting stuck in her own head.
Like a rookie adventurer who hasn't even cleared the tutorial but is already worrying about how to defeat the Demon King, wasn't she getting ahead of herself?
Before you challenge the Demon King, you've got to grind levels and gear up first.
This was only the first playthrough.
"Got it."
Nijika buried her frustration deep inside and said nothing more.
She understood the principle well enough; aiming too high was a musician's greatest taboo.
Still, watching the people around her constantly improve wasn't an easy feeling to endure.
Nijika felt like a runner on the track who'd been overtaken by teammates from the same starting line, lapped completely.
"Keep going, don't rush, take your time…"
The words of people standing at the finish line encouraging those who'd fallen behind felt more like a blade coated in honey.
Even knowing such comfort came from kindness, the pain of the laggard's heart was inevitable. The only difference was how deep the wound cut, and how quickly it healed.
Thankfully, Nijika's mental defenses were strong. She wouldn't sink into negativity over something like this.
She leaned back on the sofa again and reopened the simulator, this time selecting a text-with-visuals mode, something like a galgame interface.
The simulator's text began scrolling slowly.
[In the final summer vacation of high school, the members of Kessoku Band are planning a training camp at Ryo's seaside villa.]
[It's worth noting that during casual conversation, Ryo suggested inviting Toru to come along. Hitori agreed at first, but in the end, everyone decided against inviting a boy due to Kita's concerns.]
Kita didn't want him?
Well, that made sense. She and Toru weren't particularly close. Sharing a roof with an unfamiliar guy would feel uncomfortable, right?
Nijika, on the other hand, wouldn't have minded Toru joining them. She actually got along with him pretty well.
After all… in the simulator so far, Kessoku Band's academic performance was nothing to boast about.
Bocchi and Ryo, along with Nijika, had all been relying on Toru's tutoring to stay afloat. Without that crash course the week before finals last term, forget summer trips... remedial exams alone would have eaten up half their break.
In short, Kessoku Band's grades were less than ideal.
[At the beach, when everyone's changed into swimsuits and is playing in the water, you unexpectedly notice that Bocchi's chest size is actually quite large, a hefty D cup!]
[This dampens your cheerful mood. Since elementary school, your own chest has been perfectly petite, small and cute.]
Ugh, Bocchi, you traitor!
[What comforts you is that Ikuyo Kita is also small, cute as well…]
Skip, skip.
Stop broadcasting these weird messages.
Nijika felt herself getting a little "broken." She had thought Bocchi was her comrade-in-flatness, but never expected Hitori Gotoh to be secretly busty…
Let's keep reading.
[During the entire beach training camp, everyone slacked off. The training results were poor, and from constantly eating sweets, you even gained a few pounds.]
Nijika: "O△O"
Too lazy! What about our dream of playing at Saitama Super Arena, even the Budokan or the Kouhaku Uta Gassen?
Oh, right, everyone's a genius. They can succeed without trying.
Well then. Fine.
…Nijika herself probably didn't realize it, but after recognizing the gap in talent, her mindset had started to wobble a little.
[In the second month of summer vacation, you're invited to perform live at Shinjuku's FOLT Hall.]
[As the performance draws near, the band members have no motivation to practice. Ryo spends time at Toru's house playing games, Bocchi stays home teaching her little sister guitar, and Ikuyo Kita tags along with her socialite friends shopping around town…]
No, no, at this rate the live will fail.
[You do your best to rally everyone to practice. Ikuyo Kita quickly agrees, but the other two…]
Nijika: "O▽O"
Huh? Why do Ryo and Bocchi need special invitations?
A few seconds later~
[Ryo Yamada agrees.]
A few more seconds~
[Hitori Gotoh agrees.]
[With Kessoku Band reunited, you dive headfirst into training. Ryo brings a new song she's written.]
[After a round of practice, things don't go smoothly. You can't keep up with the rhythm of her sheet music. It's messy and chaotic. You try to force yourself to play it, but the result is disappointing... you manage to scrape by at Ryo's minimum requirements but can't reach perfection.]
[Everyone comforts you, saying it's okay, don't worry. We still have two weeks. If it doesn't work out, we can play one of our old songs.]
[You then repeat training on the new song dozens of times, until night falls.]
[No result.]
Reading the simulator's messages,
Nijika's heart sank like a stone into a lake. She didn't want to become a burden.