The dream should have ended.
And so, the dream ended.
Shiko saw Miss Marina open her eyes. She slowly sat up and smiled in relief.
See? Miss Marina really is fine.
Shiko helped up Miss Marina's cold remains, and Kita found a letter beneath them.
There were four letters in all.
Trembling, she unfolded the first letter. The four gathered together and began to read.
Shiko leaned close to Miss Marina's lips and listened carefully.
Marina spoke:
"To Kessoku Band and Shiko-san: I'm sorry, but I may not be able to continue the journey with you. Roselia is the strongest band in BanG Dream! in terms of overall ability, and they can become your new companions. I also sensed that another band, Poppin'Party, is in this world. They are the band that can represent CiRCLE, so you can look for them if you get the chance. Don't grieve for me. CiRCLE is my ability, and the place to which I devoted my life. I accepted both its strengths and its flaws."
"After my band failed back then, I realized my limits. I may not have had the talent to perform, but I didn't want to give up music. So I became the person in charge of CiRCLE. The girls who came and went through the livehouse carried my failed dreams, and those who chased their dreams were my light."
"Thank you for letting me protect that light."
Tears fell onto the writing and blurred the ink. Not wanting to defile Marina's final words, Kita carefully folded the paper and solemnly slipped it back into the envelope.
The second and third letters had been left for Roselia and Poppin'Party.
The last was a hastily written note.
"I finally understood a few things. Look underground. I left one last gift for you, Roselia, and Poppin'Party. It should be impossible to find."
Marina stood up and moved aside several stone slabs, revealing a passage supported by fallen pillars, just wide enough for one person to pass through. Shiko went inside. After a while, the four saw her carry out fifteen golden spheres of light, each about the size of an egg.
Marina and Niiki's funerals began three days later.
A clearing was made in the middle of the original CiRCLE's ruins, and two crude gravestones were erected. They looked rough because Shiko had not created them directly. Instead, the five had found suitable rocks and carved them by hand, strike by strike. Marina's urn had also been made by hand. Since Niiki had no remains, they gathered the belongings she had left behind and made a cenotaph.
Buried with Marina were her guitar and the stone carving Kessoku Band had given her. Shiko emerged from the underground passage again. Without wiping the limestone dust from her face, she placed a stack of photographs beside the guitar and stone carving. They were group photos of Marina with the girls from the other bands, including the one taken with them.
She stepped back, then produced two artificial flowers and placed them before the gravestones.
"There are no real flowers here, so these will have to do." She approached Niiki's grave. "I originally wanted to do things the way we did back home—use bombs in place of firecrackers and burn paper offerings. But I thought I'd do it your way, since it's what you're familiar with. Still, I don't think you'd mind something livelier. If you liked firecrackers, let me know in a dream, and I'll make it up to you."
She moved closer to Marina's grave. "I'll take revenge. I will. No matter what I become—even if I go insane, lose an arm or a leg, or die."
Her eyes were pitch-black. "I'll take revenge."
She stepped back, and Ryo went forward. She set down two outfits, made from fabric she had asked Shiko for and cut herself.
Next came Kita. She offered several boxes of paper cosmetics.
"Miss Marina said before that she liked these brands. I didn't know what Miss Niiki liked, so I got her the same ones."
The fire was lit, and paper ash rose into the sky.
Nijika had brought more things than the others. She set down a cardboard box filled with biscuits and other delicious snacks that could be stored for a long time.
"I dug several generators out of the warehouse, and the oven in the kitchen still worked, so I baked some extra snacks. We probably won't have a chance to come back here, so I brought plenty for them."
Finally, Ichiri stepped forward.
"I don't have anything to give." She raised her guitar and prepared to play a song, one whose lyrics and melody she had written herself. This was not something normally heard at a funeral, and she had never composed a song before. But it was the only thing she could do.
The two gravestones stood solemnly before her. Ichiri seemed to see the two women standing there, just as they had at their first live performance. Something seemed ready to surge into her eyes again. Ichiri raised her hand and began.
A sorrowful song rang out. Ichiri brought all her skill to bear, then opened her mouth and began to sing. At first, her nervousness was obvious, but she kept singing, striving to do it well. Her grief seeped from the strings and her voice, mingled with tears, and fell before the two rough gravestones.
The final strum. A string snapped. Ichiri said nothing. With a sweep of her hand, she restored it. Then she stepped back and joined the five people already in position. Shiko sat beside the keyboard, Nijika beside the drums, Ryo carried her bass, Ichiri carried her guitar, and Kita carried her guitar while adjusting the microphone.
Kita inhaled, then exhaled, taking slightly longer than before.
"This song was restored by Wu-san. It is our 'original' song."
"Yesterday Once More!"
Memories of CiRCLE had always lingered around the five, accompanying them as they grew.
So—
"This song was written and composed by Wu-san, and performed together by the five of us."
"Please listen to Light of Aether!"
Marina and Niiki had both sacrificed themselves to protect others. They were like the pitch-black expanse of space. The night sky glittered with stars, but only against the backdrop of profound darkness could the starlight appear so dazzling.
So they would become stars—the brightest stars! The five played and sang through their tears. They would become stars, then send this message to wherever the two women were.
When the world fell silent again, the sun was about to set. Half the sky had turned crimson, and the first star had appeared.
Everyone took a sphere of light. The four members of Kessoku Band stuffed theirs into their bodies. There were no flashy effects. They simply saw the change on their status panels: the [Radiance] stat permanently rose by 20, the most precious of all CiRCLE's previous bonuses.
Shiko examined the sphere of light in her hand. Like CiRCLE's other bonuses, it could display its full effect only after she officially became a band girl.
On the first night after Miss Niiki arrived, she had said to Shiko, "I don't know what troubles you have, but joining a band is something no one ever regrets."
Looking at the papers in her hand, Shiko made one last check to ensure everything was in order, then entered Starry's lounge. Everyone called her over. Ichiri happened to discover that she could play the keyboard and recommended that she join Kessoku Band. Of course, she had no objections. As a die-hard Kessoku Band fan, she had dreamed of this day. To make it official, she had even written an application.
She handed over the application. It emitted a faint glow.
"Please... accept me as Kessoku Band's newest member!"
(End of Volume One)
Volume One Afterword and Summary
First of all, thank you to every reader who has made it this far, and to all the wonderful readers who voted to support me: Shuke 37877538688, цветной Xia, ?Elysia~, Shuke 17569241181, Daily Slacker, With You Sweeping Fallen Leaves, Sky Oilfish, Shuke 790703, and Single-push cdd Is Also d. Special thanks to Buharin Molecular—brother, you gave me the only monthly ticket I've received so far. Thank you so much for picking up this newcomer's book and even voting for it! (Though it would be even better if more of you left comments, qwq.)
Regarding this book, I originally wanted to write something like Dao Gui Yi Xian, with two worlds developing in parallel. But considering that I didn't yet have the ability to do that, I revised it again and again until it became what it is now. (The first volume still wasn't written very well...) However, the characters appearing in each volume and the final ending have already been decided. By the time I posted this volume, my manuscript had nearly reached 330,000 characters, and the third volume was already in its final stages. I can write 4,000 characters a day now, roughly matching the update speed, so you can follow it without worry. I won't abandon it.
And it will definitely have a happy ending—an HE—so rest assured.
I also won't casually torture the original characters anymore, so rest assured.
While posting, I noticed that many readers seemed concerned about whether this book was pure yuri or mixed yuri. To be honest, I originally planned to deliberately obscure Shiko's previous-life gender to broaden the audience. But that no longer seemed workable, so after reconsidering, I decided that Shiko's previous life was female. This is pure yuri. Thus, when Shiko's past life is mentioned in Chapter 27, the pronoun used is also "she."
Shiko's official pairing is obviously Ichiri. But how could a cdd idol otaku love only one person? Shiko will have some ambiguous interactions with others later, and the relationships among the other characters will also follow Bang Dream!'s mixed-stew style, though a few pairings are locked in very firmly.
As for Wu Shiko's name, "Wu" comes from the "Wu-san" joke involving Bocchi-chan, while "Shiko" may be recognizable after Chapter 27: it was split from the "Na" in "Nana Ohba," with "zi" added afterward.
Naturally, those aren't the only references in this volume. For example, Kita's nickname "Pico" comes from the game Kirakira Shining Stage, while Shiko's ability name comes from the song Close Your Eyes, I Touch the Boundary of Fantasy, and so on. (No one pointed any of them out. I'm so sad, qwq.)
The title of Volume One comes from the lyrics of Toward the Light: "A moment of brilliance." It refers to the beautiful early period when Shiko and Kessoku Band were under the protection of adults. After that, they would have to struggle to survive on their own.
As for the plot structure of the whole volume... Looking back, it really was rather clumsy, jumping randomly from one thing to another. But the main objective has been established, as has the direction of forming a band while surviving in the wilderness, and it also laid the groundwork for the twisted yuri plot to come. From that perspective, Volume One at least completed its basic mission... probably.
The slice-of-life sections early on were light and lively, forming a sharp contrast with the heavy tone of the sudden turn at the end. I also deleted one slice-of-life chapter and one setting chapter to make the plot smoother and more readable.
In many respects, I learned from many excellent works in this volume. For example, the major twist in Chapter Three was inspired by The Human Emperor and Revue Starlight. But it turns out that it may have failed somewhat. Those two works succeeded because their quality after the major twists was excellent. When I wrote the first volume, I wanted to do the same, but I didn't immediately follow the twist with sufficiently exciting content. Instead, I slowly wrote a stretch of daily life and an ordinary battle, only igniting the plot after a long buildup. I personally like this slow-burn style, but it seems not to be very popular. What do you all think?
In the chapters to come, I will continue writing this way, imitating excellent works—possibly anime, galgames, or web novels. But in the process, I will also hone my abilities step by step and eventually find my own writing style.
I currently plan for this book to have around six volumes, though I can't rule out adding more later. Each volume's title will be a lyric from a newly appearing band, chosen to fit that volume's theme as closely as possible.
Volume Two, "Sing While Bearing the Pain." I feel that this volume will be "gradually getting better." Both the twisted plot and the plot arrangement will be far better than in Volume One. It begins posting tomorrow, with three updates on the first day. Please look forward to it.
Finally, since the system maintenance probably won't be fixed for several days, but I want to see everyone's opinions on Volume One, how about expressing them with recommendation tickets? If you liked Volume One, vote two; if you didn't, vote one... Never mind, I know my little scheme is rather obvious...
Still, once the system maintenance is fixed, could you come here and share your overall opinions on Volume One? Arigato~
As a side note, let me complain about my luck. I chose May 19 to publish the book because it was Saaya's birthday, but that day was a Sunday, so the reviewers weren't working, and it wasn't approved until May 20. I originally wanted the end of Volume One to align with the release of the Bocchi the Rock! theatrical film, but it ended up missing by the exact number of chapters I deleted, so the timing didn't line up. Then the system maintenance happened right at the end of the volume, making comments impossible... Ouch...
Volume One Ending Character Data
Nijika Ijichi
Body: 100
Reaction: 100
Intelligence: 100
Radiance: 170
Mental Strength: 100
Ability: [Stars]: Emits healing starlight
Bonus: [The Later Ones]: Unaffected by the special environment while moving inside [Changyang Earth · Xingtian]
Skills: Jazz Drum Technique Lv7, Baking Technique Lv7, [Stardust] Lv2, [Star's Blessing] Lv2
Ikuyo Kita
Body: 100
Reaction: 100
Intelligence: 100
Radiance: 170
Mental Strength: 100
Ability: [Kita~]: Manipulates flames as blazing as the sun
Bonus: [The Later Ones]: Unaffected by the special environment while moving inside [Changyang Earth · Xingtian]
Skills: SNS Account Operation Lv10, Electric Guitar Technique Lv2, Vocal Technique Lv6, [Dawn of Atonement] Lv10, [Miracle Manifestation: Prayer of the Burning] Lv2
Wu Shiko
Body: 100
Reaction: 100
Intelligence: 100
Radiance: 170
Mental Strength: 100
Ability: [Fantasy Boundary]: Makes imagined things real
Bonus: [The Later Ones]: Unaffected by the special environment while moving inside [Changyang Earth · Xingtian]
Skills: Music Production Lv6, Keyboard Technique Lv6, Performance Technique Lv7, [Tianhe Tongxuan Fumo Baolu] Lv10
Hitori Goto
Body: 100
Reaction: 100
Intelligence: 100
Radiance: 170
Mental Strength: 100
Ability: [Guitar Hero!]: Can be as soft as water, and as strong as ice!
Bonus: [The Later Ones]: Unaffected by the special environment while moving inside [Changyang Earth · Xingtian]
Skills: Electric Guitar Technique Lv10, [Yomi Ferry] Lv3
Ryo Yamada
Body: 100
Reaction: 100
Intelligence: 100
Radiance: 170
Before you continue