Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [168]

"Soyo, are you ready?"

"I… I don’t know."

"It’s just a song. You sang it really well just now, didn’t you?"

Tsuzuki Chihiro sighed. She couldn’t understand how the girl who had no problem singing in front of her or even Soyo’s mom was suddenly nervous now that they were recording for real.

It was just one song. Was it really worth getting this worked up over?

"…It’s not the same," Soyo murmured, shaking her head.

She knew there was no turning back now. Whether she took a step forward or backed out, it would feel just as painful either way. If she bailed now, Chihiro would never let her hear the end of it.

At least her online alias was "Wagahai Is Not A Cat." Nobody would ever know that behind that name was Nagasaki Soyo.

Thinking of it that way… the pressure didn’t seem quite as bad.

And honestly, singing was an interesting experience. She had always been more of a supporting player in bands, whether on double bass or electric bass. Those instruments weren’t exactly the centerpiece.

Of course, no one would ever say bass wasn’t important. If they did, they were either clueless or just joking.

But when it came down to it, was there ever an instrument that wasn’t important? Anyone truly insignificant would have been kicked out by the leader already.

"By the way…" Soyo cradled the microphone in her hands, curiosity flashing across her face. "Who wrote these lyrics?"

"That doesn’t matter."

"…Fine."

Soyo had her suspicions. She seriously doubted there was even a real oblivionis.

More likely than not, it was just Chihiro pretending to be someone else.

But now wasn’t the time to think about pointless things. She took a deep breath and gave Chihiro an "OK" sign.

The instrumental track, produced by Ebizuka Tomo in a rush, began playing in her headphones.

But due to inexperience, Soyo messed up several takes in a row.

Not that anyone really expected perfection. Even though she wasn’t completely satisfied with her own performance, Chihiro, sitting in front of her, smiled and nodded.

"Is this really okay?"

"It’s fine. These days, nobody cares about vocal skill."

Chihiro shook her head, glancing at the brightly colored thumbnails on her computer screen with a self-mocking expression.

"Why is it that some musicians pour their hearts into their work, but the audience just doesn’t care?"

"Why do throwaway pop songs become inescapable earworms, blasting everywhere?"

"And why is it that some bands, despite terrible vocals, can make it to the biggest stages—just because their fans hype them up?"

"Meanwhile, other small bands scrape by in underground live houses, earning genuine, die-hard fans… but the moment they step outside, nobody knows who they are?"

"…"

"And anyway, you weren’t bad, Soyo." Chihiro suddenly grinned. "Do you know why I kept making you re-record?"

"Why? Wasn’t it because I kept messing up?"

"Nope. I just wanted to hear it again."

"…Huh?"

Soyo felt her face heat up.

The way the atmosphere was heading… If this conversation dragged on any longer, it would start feeling way too intimate.

"It’s been a while… since I last played music with someone."

"Wait, no it hasn’t. Didn’t you play guitar with Raana when you went home?"

"That doesn’t count. Raana and I were both just doing our own thing—it was more of a battle than a performance. No set rhythm, no structure. If you asked us to recreate that session note for note, we couldn’t."

"That’s what you call free style~"

"You really are just like a cat…"

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing!" Soyo quickly swallowed back her muttered remark, afraid of provoking Chihiro’s wrath. "So, when are we releasing the song?"

"Probably in a few days… but we should let everyone know first."

Even though they hadn’t been working together long, Chihiro felt like the Benishouga group was full of interesting people.

Soyo’s singing wasn’t amazing, but it was definitely better than Anon’s. More importantly, the other three members had really surprised her.

Sakiko, in particular—who would’ve thought she had a talent for songwriting? And not just any songwriting. The lyrics she wrote were… actually good.

That said, Chihiro wasn’t particularly fond of them.

Or rather, she felt that "forgetting" wasn’t the way to change reality.

True healing didn’t come from ignoring your pain—it came from being able to face it and laugh.

Then again, that was a very idealistic way of thinking.

Most people couldn’t even dream of smiling through their suffering. Letting go was already hard enough.

The final production wasn’t something Chihiro had to handle alone, but she wasn’t totally clueless about it either.

Besides, this was the first song she, Soyo, and Sakiko had made together. She wanted to be involved in its release.

But first, she had to let everyone else know.

Chihiro opened LINE, scrolled to the Red Ginger group chat, and sent a message:

[I Have Three Cats]: Wagahai’s finished recording. I’ll take care of the next steps. That okay with everyone?

[beni]: …No objections from me.

[beni]: But wait—why did Wagahai change their username?

[Wagahai Is Not a Cat]: That’s not important!

[shouga]: In that case, I’ll put up a teaser post. Between your part and the simple MV I’ll make once I get the final track, it should take about six days in total.

[I Have Three Cats]: A teaser? You mean like taking a screenshot from the last video and adding “144h” on it?

[beni]: Huh? What kind of cryptic nonsense is that?
[beni]: Oh wait… 144h… Oh, I get it. 6 x 24 hours. Clever.

[oblivionis has left the group chat.]

[beni]: ???

[beni]: Hey! Three Cats—no, wait… Tsuzuki Chihiro! What’s up with your friend?! Why’d they leave the group?!

[I Have Three Cats]: I have no idea…

[shouga]: Did they get scared off by Chihiro’s marketing gimmick?

"…Hey, that idea was brilliant, okay?"

But more importantly…

She knew something that the others didn’t.

There was no way oblivionis would just leave the group chat like that.

Because oblivionis was Sakiko.

And Sakiko was the last person who would just walk away.

…Wait.

That wasn’t entirely true.

Hadn’t someone else thought the same thing once?

Someone who also believed that a certain girl would never just disappear?

Someone named… Nagasaki Soyo.

"Chihiro, what’s going on?" Soyo frowned. She couldn’t understand why Chihiro’s friend would suddenly quit the group.

"I…"

"Wait… don’t tell me—did you toy with their feelings, and now they found out?!"

"No! I barely even lied to her!"

If anything, out of all her relationships, the way she treated Sakiko was probably the most genuine.

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This is a fan translation of 素世同学，恭喜你被我优化了 by 杰克喵. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!