Hongxia was actually already pretty good.
"Shouldn't she join a better band?"
Hongxia's voice was somewhat low, and her gaze dimmed.
"She won't. She'll be staying with Bond Band from now on."
Luo Zhen said. That was his arrangement, but he also knew that Hitori would definitely make the same choice.
"Joining a band was already difficult enough for her. She finally managed to get along with all of you."
"If she suddenly had to jump to another band, she'd probably 'die.'"
Luo Zhen made an exploding gesture with his hands. Saying she would die was merely an exaggeration.
No, for Hitori, she might really die.
After thinking it over, only Bond Band suited Hitori perfectly.
Hitori's Reward
"The band may still be immature, and the lineup may not even be complete, but I think growing alongside the band is also very important."
"A group of people going through all sorts of things together, moving forward together, becoming better together—that's incredibly meaningful."
"You may have your shortcomings, but Hitori has plenty of flaws too. Everyone needs to work together and look after one another. That's what makes things whole. That's the meaning of a band."
"One person can run fast, but a group can go farther. You'll have to take good care of Hitori from now on."
Luo Zhen fed Hongxia some chicken soup, then reached out and rubbed her head.
At that very moment, the Golden Finger activated, and Luo Zhen obtained a Drumming Skill from her.
Naturally, his physique improved as well. His entire aura became even more fiery, and girls would probably become even more obsessed with him.
This transformation was incredibly powerful. It seemed that quantitative accumulation had reached its limit and was beginning to reveal a "qualitative change."
He vaguely sensed that some kind of restraint had been broken through. He knew his physique had become even more heaven-defying, and he had even gained some "new functions."
Yet he had no idea what those functions were.
"Mom..."
Hongxia enjoyed Luo Zhen stroking her head. Her face reddened slightly as she softly called out.
"Huh?"
No, why did she suddenly call him Mom?
Was she going to say something incomprehensible next, like "I'm going to block the bridge"?
"Little Zhen feels very gentle, just like Mom. I really hope Mom wakes up soon."
A trace of bitterness and sorrow appeared in Hongxia's smile.
But when Luo Zhen heard that, he felt that something was off.
Because according to the original setting, her mother should have been... dead.
But perhaps this world was simply too strange, resulting in some unbelievable changes.
The Female Supremacy world had affected the so-called plotline and allowed her mother to survive.
However, judging from Hongxia's words, she was alive but had not awakened. She was probably lying in a hospital, perhaps in a vegetative state.
Luo Zhen glanced at her and felt that his relationship with Hongxia was still not quite there yet.
Once they became more familiar with each other, he would ask about the specifics.
"By the way, to celebrate our first performance being a failure, let's go eat barbecue."
Luo Zhen made the suggestion, intending to cheer everyone up.
"What kind of celebration is that? Seriously."
Hongxia pursed her lips, feeling that the phrasing was strange, but having dinner together was completely fine.
However, Yamada Ryo silently raised her hand. No words were needed; Miss Liang Beggar's meaning was already perfectly clear.
"Haha, I'm treating. Don't worry, Senior Liang."
Luo Zhen was quite generous. He had a fair amount of savings in his little treasury.
Although he had kept writing novels only for them to get axed early and flop, he had still accumulated quite a bit of money in the end.
It was only one meal, so it would not cost much. Besides, his writing skill had already leveled up, and it was foreseeable that he would earn a large sum afterward.
Nothing particularly special happened during the meal.
Liang swept through the entire table like a storm wind scattering clouds, which truly shocked Luo Zhen.
"This... you're not eating this? Then I'll take it."
Liang pointed at the bowl in front of Luo Zhen. He was already full and had planned to slowly finish the rest.
But since Liang suggested it, Luo Zhen directly handed her the bowl.
"As long as Senior Liang doesn't mind, I'm fine with it."
The moment they exchanged the bowl, their fingers touched.
"You don't need to call me Senior. It feels too distant. This meal should have been split equally. I'll pay you back later."
For an instant, Liang's pupils sharply contracted and trembled, and her breathing became somewhat unsteady.
However, she suppressed that surge of emotion well and lowered her head to continue eating.
Hongxia was looking after Hitori, because even now, Hitori was still in an extremely abstract state.
It seemed that this performance had left her deeply unsettled.
"Little Bocchi, what should we do now? You still haven't recovered."
"Hey, Little Zhen, do you have any good ideas?"
Hongxia turned her head toward him. She had not seen the interaction between Luo Zhen and Liang just then.
"Leave it to me. I'm the one who understands Hitori best."
Luo Zhen rinsed his mouth, walked over to Hitori, hooked an arm around her neck, and held her face in both hands.
Without the slightest hesitation, Luo Zhen pressed his face directly against hers.
"Huh? This..."
Hongxia was stunned, her eyes widening. These two were really intimate; they had actually kissed just like that.
Although it was only a meeting of lips, without any contact inside their mouths.
Still, doing something like that in public meant Little Zhen was far too bold.
"Huh? Little Zhen?"
Hitori really did recover. She looked at Luo Zhen's face and savored the sensation of their earlier touch.
Her face quickly turned red. No longer distorted and abstract, she lowered her head in embarrassment.
She had switched into shy mode.
"Don't lower your head. You bear responsibility for today's performance."
"You ignored the two seniors in the band and played on your own, without any coordination at all."
"What should you say to them?"
Luo Zhen clenched his fist and lightly knocked Hitori on the head.
"Sorry, Liang, Hongxia. I got too excited during the performance and didn't coordinate properly."
Little Ichiri immediately cowered. Right, she still had not apologized.
"Wuwu, don't kick me out. Let me stay in Bond Band."
Although they had not known one another for long, she had already developed a sense of dependence on the band.
"Haha, I'm dying. We didn't have any chemistry to begin with, so there was no way we could coordinate. We'll slowly build it up afterward."
"Your playing has a lot of personality. I like it."
Liang gave a thumbs-up, but her gaze secretly examined Luo Zhen as she stared at his lips.
Mm, I wonder what this pure Little Vixen's mouth would feel like to kiss?
I really want him to use his hands all over me while kissing me.
Liang felt that tonight's side dish was already in the bag.
"We won't kick you out. On the contrary, we want you, the Guitar Immortal, to stay. Little Bocchi, you hid it too well. Why didn't you ever tell us or show us your guitar skills?"
Hongxia had thought Hitori was, at most, the type with two and a half years of practice—someone with enough foundation to play, but still inexperienced.
Now it seemed they had directly recruited a master into the band.
"That's enough for today. Everyone, head home."
After eating and drinking their fill, it was time to return home. They said their goodbyes and left.
Luo Zhen naturally took Hitori's hand.
"You did really well today. Joining a band was more fun than you imagined, right?"
Luo Zhen smiled, then leaned close to Hitori's ear.
"Did you like that reward just now? If it wasn't enough, we can continue after we get back."
Luo Zhen's voice trembled faintly, and its slight magnetism made Hitori's soul shudder.
The warm breath tickled her ear. She was probably red all over by now.
She said nothing, only pulling Luo Zhen into her arms. She panted, her gaze filled with desire.
"We'll talk when we get back~"
Luo Zhen chuckled. Thank goodness, she had finally become a little more proactive.
Hitori's Quick Battle
Luo Zhen and Hitori returned home. Futari had been hungry for a long time and was lying on the sofa watching television.
They had brought back packed food, so Futari could simply eat it.
The little girl wrapped her arms around Luo Zhen's leg, gently rubbing her head against his thigh like a kitten.
Hitori revealed a strange expression when she saw that.
Hm? At the live venue, I already saw a "blonde delinquent girl" and a big-breasted fat woman. Now there's another "little girl"?
It's over. Am I going to see a dark-skinned gyaru soon too?
Hitori was instantly terrified and immediately grabbed Futari.
"Eat properly!"
She put on her big sister's authority, but Futari merely shrugged and spread her hands.
"Seriously, Sis. You're not scary at all when you get angry. You're even kind of cute."
Futari did not care in the slightest. She grabbed the packed food and began eating.
"Michiyo has to work overtime. She might not be back until very late."
"You should go take a bath first. I have something I need to try too."
Luo Zhen told Hitori to hurry into the bathroom and stop wasting time.
Futari ate slowly while Luo Zhen took out his computer, tapped on the keyboard, and tried to write a brand-new story.
Over the past period of time, the works he wrote had not sold very well. After all, he had only casually come up with some rather ordinary ideas. His works had mostly been attempts to test the waters and see how the market would respond.
He had written works such as Otherworld Blade Draw and Urban Supernatural Ring.
The Golden Finger was Blade Draw, growing stronger the more it was used, while the supernatural ring was merely a casual setup.
Even such extremely "ordinary" settings could be published. Of course, his writing ability really was somewhat lacking, and he did not have enough experience. His later developments could not keep up, and he failed to control the pacing well, so he had no choice but to cut them short.
Before you continue