Why Play in a Band If Not for a Lifetime

Until the very last moment before the screen completely went dark.

"Miss Niiki..." Kita was hunched over the screen, trying to find some switch to turn it back on. Nijika held onto the nearby control console. Ichiri and Ryo stood frozen in place, not moving at all.

This was the first time they had witnessed the sacrifice of someone they knew with their own eyes.

Kita's search yielded no results. She slammed her fist onto the screen, shattering it. The glass cut her skin, and blood flowed out. Pathetic, she thought. This is the worst injury I've sustained since I transmigrated!

She turned to the others and shouted, "We will avenge her!" The hoarseness of her voice surprised even herself.

"That's right," Nijika said, regaining her balance. "But first, we need to listen to her last words! Prepare for battle, and evacuate if necessary."

"It might not come this way. But we need to be prepared for anything. Defense is useless; for the time being, let's focus on disguising CiRCLE."

Compared to the others, Nijika was the calmest as she assigned tasks, as if Miss Niiki's death hadn't affected her at all.

Even though Ichiri noticed her eyes were filled with tears.

"Shiko, think about whether there's any fast transportation we can use in the Gobi Desert."

Shiko didn't hear what she said. "It's all my fault..." She crouched down. "Because of my transmigration, all of this happened..."

Nijika clenched her fist and suddenly lunged forward, forcibly lifting her up. "Who can prove your transmigration is connected to all of this? Don't try to take all the blame on yourself! Now! You're our comrade! Pull yourself together!"

The others were startled by Nijika's completely uncharacteristic behavior.

She took a deep breath, put Shiko down, and surveyed everyone again. She issued an order: "Gather on the roof. I'll go find Miss Marina." Then she left.

Kita raised her palm. Sometime before, the wound had already healed.

Ichiri walked towards Shiko. Shiko still had her head bowed. Ichiri approached her, wanting to take her hand.

Suddenly, Shiko raised her right hand and slapped herself hard!

"Shiko!"

Shiko looked up, her confused eyes now calm. She called out to the rest of them, "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

When the group arrived in the lobby, Nijika and Marina were arguing about something.

Seeing everyone, the two immediately stopped. Marina seemed to have returned to her usual demeanor. "Let's go to the roof."

As Nijika walked past Shiko, Shiko quietly asked, "What is it?"

Nijika shook her head and didn't say anything.

Chapter 32: CiRCLE

The sky was still clear, unchanged by the life or death of one person. The five members of CiRCLE were now gathered on the roof, their hearts tethered to the distant horizon.

"Let's put a pile of rubble here... no, make the stones bigger, more irregular..." Nijika was directing the camouflage work for CiRCLE. They were going to disguise CiRCLE as a natural stone pile. Shiko was responsible for creating the rocks, Ryo simulated the wind erosion, Kita and Ichiri handled the exposed outer walls of CiRCLE, and Nijika herself was in charge of command and support. Marina, on the other hand, stood behind a telescope that Shiko had rushed to make, constantly monitoring the movements in the distance.

The advantage of the roof was its wide field of vision and ease of escape. CiRCLE's two-story height wasn't much for them now, and with the slowly accumulating pile of rubble, they could escape from any direction at any time.

But Shiko thought of a better method of transportation than ground movement.

"A hot air balloon?"

"That's right, a hot air balloon." Shiko took the water bottle Nijika handed her and took a sip.

"Ground transportation is very slow in this terrain, but it might not be the case in the sky. The aerial vehicles I can create right now are hot air balloons and paragliders. Compared to the two, the hot air balloon is more reliable. And that thing doesn't seem to have any long-range attack capabilities. As long as it's in the air, it poses no threat."

"Can its safety be guaranteed?" Due to past incidents, Nijika still had some concerns.

"No," Shiko admitted frankly. "My understanding of hot air balloons comes entirely from basic physics and magazines in the lounge. However, we do have experience with emergency landings in the air." She looked at Ryo. Ryo's face twitched slightly, and she finally nodded.

Nijika rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Fine, there's no better option."

A hot air balloon capable of carrying everyone was quickly assembled on the platform. The flames were lit early, and the basket was tightly secured by the weight and ropes, ready to take off at any moment.

While the group was making these preparations, Marina remained focused.

There was no moon that night, but the stars still shifted. The movement of the galaxy was reflected in Marina's telescope. Amidst the eternal dance of starlight, the horizon remained unchanged.

All possible preparations had been made. Everyone stood behind Marina.

"Maybe it won't come this way," Ichiri reassured herself.

No one answered her. This was their first sleepless night. The night was so long, time flowed at a steady pace, and there was no sign of the sun appearing.

"Maybe it won't come this way," Kita clenched her fist.

No one answered her. All they could hear was the sound of the wind fanning the flames. This single point of light was their only hope before sunrise.

"Maybe it won't come this way!" Nijika prayed fervently.

The sun was about to rise. The morning star hung in the sky, and a hint of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon.

The darkness gradually transitioned to milky white, then to golden yellow.

"The sun is rising!" A burst of golden light erupted! Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After a night of grief and exhaustion, joy finally appeared on Nijika's face for the first time.

"Well, at least we can rest for a while for now. But it's not safe around here anymore. We should prepare to move in the next couple of days and go find Roselia..." She turned to the others. "Shiko, aren't you a fan of Roselia?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a piece of rubble rolled off the platform.

Nijika's smile froze. All eyes focused on the distance, in the direction of the canyon.

From the mountaintop, a moving black mountain approached.

The black mountain awoke from its slumber. An ant was beside it, and it paid no mind. However, the ant injured it, something that had never happened in its infinitely long life. Its shallow consciousness couldn't grasp the reason, but it needed food to repair itself—even an ant would do. It had already devoured some of its own kind, but it wasn't enough. So, it headed towards a nearby place that greatly attracted it—a place with many ants.

"It's coming for us," Marina quickly concluded. "Evacuate."

There was no other way. Shiko looked down at the building beneath her feet. This was her first home in this world, where she had spent countless brilliant, shining days—and CiRCLE meant even more to her than that. This was supposed to be the place where dreams were realized, and now it was to be destroyed by an earthquake or a stampede?

Shiko forced herself not to think about it. Everyone boarded the gondolas one after another. Nijika and Marina remained on the ground.

"Miss Marina, Ijichi-senpai, hurry and get on," Kita extended her hand to the two. Neither of them moved.

"Hurry." In the distance, the mountainside was already beginning to emerge from the horizon.

Nijika lowered her head and stepped into the gondola without a word. Marina remained motionless.

"Miss Marina?"

"She can't get on," Nijika said, however.

"What do you mean?"

"Actually, I haven't been able to leave CiRCLE since the beginning," Marina explained calmly.

For everyone who first entered this world, their [Shine], or ability cap, was 150. Therefore, no one's ability cap was overly overpowered. But Marina's CiRCLE seemed to have no such limit, providing a perfect sanctuary. It could also grant various powerful and rare buffs regardless of distance, covering functions like stat increases, long-range support, damage mitigation, and even a tech tree. Such power did not come without a price.

CiRCLE used their growth resources as fuel. Shiko once thought this price was fair enough.

She recalled every moment since arriving at CiRCLE. No matter the circumstances, Marina had never left CiRCLE's side, not even when the nearby monsters were scattering and the environment was absolutely safe.

She had once thought it was just Marina's caution.

But now, no matter how hard everyone tried, Marina's feet seemed to be fused to the ground, completely unable to lift even an inch.

"You guys go ahead. It might not necessarily destroy this place." The calmest person among them was Marina herself.

Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe such a lie. But Marina's expression was so natural, showing no fear at all.

Shiko looked up into the distance. The peak was getting closer and closer. Gritting her teeth, she leaped out of the gondola and ran towards the ground from the pile of rubble she had previously stacked.

"What are you doing?!" Nijika reacted too late and couldn't grab her.

"I'll lure it away!" Shiko absolutely could not accept leaving anyone behind. If Miss Niiki could heavily injure the black mountain by sacrificing herself, then she just had to fight desperately to lure it away!

An invisible sound wall rose before her, trying to block her. Water currents approached rapidly. She threw her hand back, and a jade slip emitted a blinding light, temporarily blinding everyone. The rope snapped, and the hot air balloon carrying the four members of Kessoku Band began to ascend.

The jade slip originally contained Nijika's starlight, but Shiko had concentrated all its power into a single moment to create a flashbang!

By the time the four regained their sight, the hot air balloon had floated into mid-air.

"Ryo-senpai, push the hot air balloon that way!" Kita pointed in the direction Shiko was running.

Propelled by sound waves, the hot air balloon quickly approached the two-legged Shiko. Kita controlled the flames, and the hot air balloon gradually descended towards the ground.

Seeing them, Shiko took out another jade slip. Before she could throw it, Hitori reached out to her: "The hot air balloon is faster. Let's go lure it away together."

Shiko was slightly stunned. Then, she gave a self-deprecating laugh and grabbed Hitori's hand.

The hot air balloon soon reached a distance far enough from CiRCLE. They hovered in mid-air, and the giant peak appeared completely before them. Its condition was poor: its entire body was covered in solidified basalt, there were broken limbs everywhere, and the path it walked was stained blood red. Yet, it continued to advance towards CiRCLE.

"Want to fire one?" Kita raised her palm towards the mountain.

"No, your ultimate skill consumes too much energy, and you need to control the hot air balloon. I'll do it." Shiko took out a crimson jade slip. She had made it when Kita first unleashed [Dawn of Atonement], and now was the perfect time to use it.

She locked onto the mountainside, then snapped the jade slip.

A destruction identical to the last descended from the sky, melting the black mountain's newly solidified shell once more. Lava flowed from the mountain body; it was its blood.

"Success!" Shiko noticed it had already begun to change direction and was moving towards the hot air balloon. "Quick! Fly up!"

The damage, similar to before, had clearly enraged the black mountain. It abandoned the prey within its grasp and turned towards the tiny flying insects. The insects were faster than it had anticipated. Even with all its strength, the distance between them showed no signs of closing, and it was moving further away from its previous prey.

So, it stopped in place. The basalt shell peeled off layer by layer, and a huge fragment flew towards the distant hot air balloon!

"Ascend, ascend, ascend—" The few people's faces turned pale with fright, not expecting that thing could attack from a distance! The previous recordings hadn't shown it, simply because it hadn't had the chance to counterattack then!

The hot air balloon ascended at a dangerous speed. The giant rock narrowly grazed the bottom of the gondola and fell below. Shiko looked back at the "black mountain": a twisted giant arm extended from where the shell had covered it. At its root was a huge gray human face, constantly shifting. Both the arm and the face were severely burned, but at this moment, its massive mouth opened, and a torrent of energy was gathering!

It's over. Shiko completely gave up. Who could have imagined that beneath the rock shell, there was a human face capable of firing a light cannon? The hot air balloon's evasion capabilities had limits; they absolutely couldn't dodge this attack.

But they still had to struggle. Ryo wrapped the hot air balloon in layers of sound walls, and the miracles from the [Book of Daniel] descended once more, filling the space with starlight. Shiko came back to her senses; the sound walls were filled with hard alloy.

Only Hitori was helpless. What use was the gentle water at this moment? Normally, water provided much convenience, but it couldn't block anything now.

No! Hitori refused to think that way!

She strummed her guitar. Water currents gathered in the air, but it wasn't enough! It needed to be harder!

As if hearing her inner desire, a bit of ice crystal gradually appeared in the water. This was not Shiko's doing. In despair, Hitori's ability changed!

Hitori Goto

Ability: [Guitar Hero!] Can be as gentle as water or as strong as ice!

An ice wall, no less sturdy than Shiko's, appeared before them!

"(It must hold!)" Hitori exhausted all her strength and collapsed on the ground.

At that very instant, the black beam of light from the giant mouth tore through heaven and earth. It first easily tore through the invisible sound wall, and the subsequent bronze wall and iron barrier didn't last even a single second. The light beam's momentum didn't decrease; the ice wall Hitori had desperately erected scattered into fragments. Before this black light that devoured space, flames and starlight were like mayflies trying to shake a tree.

Is it over?

Darkness expanded before them.

At this moment, the phantom image of CiRCLE enveloped everyone, and the black light halted there.

"Miss Marina!" Shiko saw Miss Marina's phantom image standing among them. She didn't look at anyone, just raised her hand, and the wind stopped, the water stilled.

The hot air balloon flew backward like a bullet. Just before losing consciousness, Shiko thought she heard Marina sigh.

There was regret, and there was satisfaction.

The next moment, the basket crashed into a cliff. After the smoke and dust cleared, a new cave had appeared on the cliff face. Five people lay inside, none of them injured.

The five had returned to where CiRCLE was. The black mountain had disappeared somewhere. CiRCLE was no longer here.

There was only a ruin, and a corpse buried within it.

Chapter 33: Aether, Stars

Miss Marina lay quietly on the floor, with no external injuries, her eyes tightly closed, just as she looked when asleep.

The morning sun's glow shone on Miss Marina's face, but she didn't open her eyes as she usually would. Soaring starlight was poured into her body, but she didn't react.

Shiko's world blurred. Something had been noisy in her ears for a long time. She listened for a while and finally understood. Everyone was crying, calling Miss Marina's name.

She turned her head. Kita was sobbing uncontrollably, slumped over Miss Marina. Ichiri sat on the floor. Nijika, while crying, covered Ichiri's eyes. Ryo stood to the side, head bowed, fists clenched, trembling all over.

Impossible.

How could Miss Marina die? This was impossible. This was a girl band project; how could something like this happen?

So this must be a dream. Even if it's a nightmare, it's too much, right?