Why Not Play in a Band for a Lifetime

Thank you all for accompanying me!

As per tradition, three updates tomorrow.

Chapter 1: A Letter to the Future

Third day after departure. Sunny. Sea of Nice.

"Sea of Nice" is the name we gave to the sea we're sailing on. After you fell asleep, Nijika suggested naming the regions we pass through, probably to help everyone adjust their mood. It worked well. The river we passed earlier was named New Qiantang by me, and the name Sea of Nice came from a monster that looked like the Loch Ness Monster, which we passed by when the naming was happening. Speaking of monsters, the ones in the sea are generally larger than those on land, and there's also the risk of hitting reefs in the nearshore waters, so we haven't been on a boat these past few days. Instead, we've been traveling along the coastline. The hot air balloon is slow, but there's nothing we can do. Ako said she wants to research advanced teleportation magic; I hope she succeeds. I'm also designing a new airship. Today, Lisa used local ingredients to make sea salt flavored cookies, which were a bit crispier than usual. We found wild coconuts, and Kita seemed to really like them, especially the part where she decorated them with stylish accessories. I hope this cheers her up a little, as things have been a bit awkward between her and me lately because of Ichiri. It's hard to judge domestic disputes, and I don't know how to solve this either. We'll just take it one step at a time.

P.S. The sight of Rinko playing her instrument in the sea breeze was truly ephemeral. With her permission, I took a few photos and have attached them to this paper.

P.S. The map shows that Poppin'Party is a hundred thousand miles away from here, but luckily, we're not going in the wrong direction... Actually, we're a little off. But with the map, we definitely have a lot more confidence.

"P.S..." Sitting at a wooden table in the shade, Shiko bit the end of her pen, lost in thought for a moment, then thought of something else to write and put her head down to write it.

She was on a cape, with the sea at the bottom of the cliff, and a rocky shore that appeared and disappeared in the waves. The shade didn't extend to the top of the cliff. To escape the scorching sun, Shiko built a small wooden house at the edge of the woods and placed a barrel of ice inside to cool down. There was indirect sunlight, fresh air from the woods, and a cool breeze cooled by the ice bucket, perfect for thinking.

If there was any benefit to her sleeping other self for Shiko, it was that she finally had some alone time. Ever since they set up camp today, she had been here, recording the day's events.

"What are you writing?" A shadow blocked the light. It was Nijika's voice. "Can I see? Ah, I can't read it."

Shiko turned her head. "Since it's for her, I'm writing in my native language, of course."

"Writing to her... Oh, I see." Nijika realized. "You're writing down the scenery you see on the road and things like that, so she won't miss our journey, right?"

"Something like that," Shiko said. "Do you want to write something too? Our perspectives are different, so the words we write should be different too."

"But I don't know Chinese..." Nijika scratched her face.

Shiko chuckled. "You can write in Japanese. She can understand that, of course."

"Ah, I'm such an idiot." Nijika smacked her own head. "Then give me a pen. I'll write now."

With the rustling sound of footsteps, Yukina and Rinko also walked over. There was some sweat on their faces. The weather was gradually getting hotter, and for city kids accustomed to air conditioning, it wasn't necessarily cool even in the shade, so they came to find Shiko. At least, Shiko always had ice nearby.

"Then let me write something too," Yukina said, knowing what they were doing. "I missed the chance to say goodbye to Wu-san before. At least let me write her a few letters." For some reason, she picked a quill pen from the table. Shiko blinked. That pen was actually for Ako.

"Then I'll also... Ah... Photos..." Rinko saw the photos of Rinko on the table. She picked one up. Technically, it was flawless, but the fact that her own photo was attached to a letter was enough to make her blush. Shiko's face also turned a little red. She pulled out another one. "Actually... there are not only Rinko's photos, but also Ichiri's..."

Rinko's face turned even redder. "Could it be... Wu-san... likes this type..."

Long hair, social anxiety, and also very...

"Uh!" Shiko panicked. "N-no... not really... I like all types. If I had to say, I prefer energetic types, or those who are a bit smaller in all aspects, like... like..." Her voice gradually became fainter. Because she saw Kita's red hair flash by the window.

"Ah." Seeing that figure, her expression changed for a moment. But she immediately resumed her flustered demeanor, as if nothing had happened. This momentary change was not noticed by anyone.

Shiko quickly seemed unable to bear their teasing and fled from the wooden house. She went around to the back of the house, and Kita was indeed still there.

The corners of her eyes relaxed slightly. "Kita..."

Kita turned her face away, interrupting Shiko. "I just... came to call you for dinner."

"Ah..." After a brief disappointment, Shiko put on a smile again. "Well, what's for dinner today?"

Kita, with her extensive social experience, also quickly returned to normal.

"Seafood rice," her voice was a little flustered. "And..."

She took out a few pages of paper from behind her.

"These past two days, Gotou-san has also been writing letters to Wu-san. That..." She seemed to be just relaying the words of a stranger. "I wrote too. For you." She gently placed the papers in her hand into Shiko's hand and turned to leave.

[Erosion Level... 60%]

"Th-thanks?" Shiko's thanks weren't finished before Kita had disappeared behind a tree trunk. Shiko forced a smile that vanished instantly. She didn't take the letters back to the table to place them with her own, but secretly stuffed them into her pocket. When she returned to the wooden house, everyone saw the same Shiko, flustered because her preferences had been discovered. There seemed to be a blue-haired person by the table. That blue-haired person was looking at Shiko with a look of amusement, which annoyed her greatly.

"Aren't we eating?" she said to Ryo, not bothering to hide her irritation.

"Not hungry yet. I smelled the scent of fun here."

Just as Shiko was about to retort, Ryo waved the letter in her hand: she was also writing to another Shiko. Shiko's words were forcibly choked back.

"Th-thanks..." she managed to squeeze out a few words. Ryo looked at her and was even more amused. "This is good. I'm going to write it in." She actually started writing on the paper.

"Ah-- I'm going to go die in a corner. See you all later." Shiko turned and ran. Cheerful laughter came from behind her.

At the dinner table, the evening breeze brushed their faces, and the firelight illuminated everyone's faces. Laughter mingled with the sound of the waves, and a warm atmosphere surrounded the dining table. Shiko naturally became the target of everyone's teasing. Lisa patted Shiko's shoulder, handed her a few sheets of paper, gave her a thumbs-up with an unclear meaning, and walked away covering her mouth; Ako proudly displayed mysterious text written on parchment, wondering if the other Wu-san could understand it, and then ran back saying things like "Rinrin said to be careful of Shiko-san," which were hurtful words.

Shiko finally couldn't take it anymore. She jumped directly to Rinko's side and suddenly held out a bouquet of flowers. "Rinko, I've actually had a special feeling for you for a long time..."

"Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm?!!!" Everyone exclaimed in unison. Half of Rinko's body froze. Ako was more direct, directly blocking between the two, waving her hands in a panic, but unable to say anything. Ichiri's face turned pale, as if her soul was flying out of her body. Only Kita reacted with no change, continuing to stuff half a spoonful of rice into her mouth.

In the center of everyone's gaze, Shiko triumphantly tossed the bouquet into the air. "Hoo--hahahaha! Of course, it was all a lie! Rinko, don't worry, my liking for you is definitely not that kind of liking!" She struck an exaggerated pose, and the bouquet thrown into the air turned into a rain of flowers, falling right over her head.

Rinko, Ako, and Ichiri all silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Revenge successful, Shiko walked away from the crowd with a triumphant stride and sat on a large rock by the beach. A smile still lingered on her face. She took out the letters she had just received from her pocket. She didn't really want to pry into what others were writing to another version of herself, but... in her hand now was Kita's letter.

Kita's letter to her other self...

Shiko's fingers stiffened unconsciously. Her expression changed several times, and finally, she put the letter back.

A slip of paper slid out from the remaining letters. Shiko picked it up, intending to tuck it back in, but found only one word on it.

"Keep going." There was a cute little emoji next to it.

It was Lisa's handwriting.

Shiko offered a wry smile.

Chapter 2: Unknown Five

Shiko put the letter back in her pocket but didn't immediately return it to the wooden cabin. She lay down where she was, then sat up, observing her surroundings. After confirming there was no danger, her gaze gradually unfocused. It had become a habit to think about the song commissioned by her other self whenever she was alone.

She sat there for a long time until Yukina walked over.

"Sorry to disturb you, Wu-san," she said, sitting beside Shiko. "I wanted to confirm our exact location."

Shiko pulled her thoughts back and returned to work mode. She shifted over, making space between them, and concentrated. Mountains and rivers began to rise and fall in the clearing, gradually forming a sand table. The sand table was roughly divided into four regions: plateau, plain, mountains, and desert. A small wooden pole stood in the center, marking the location of the Sky-Piercing Tower.

"We are currently at..." Shiko found a spot on the sand table with a thumbtack and pressed it down. "Here. We've only advanced this much since we set out three days ago." She used another thumbtack to mark their starting point not far away.

"Poppin'Party's location hasn't changed much, they're still here." Shiko's hand stretched across nearly half the sand table, marking a spot in the western mountainous region near the coast. The map the giraffe gave them was excellent; it not only provided an outline of the entire world but could also scan adjacent areas for more detailed terrain maps and update everyone's current location in real-time across the wilderness. There were still nine people in the northern desert region; Shiko estimated that was Seisho's Nine-Nine group, but that was just an estimate, as there was no more detailed information.

When she had nothing else to do, she often let her imagination roam, crossing mountains and enjoying the gentle breeze of another coast. Others might be living in caves or have already built a few small wooden cabins, but with five people together, it would never feel difficult. A turn of the head, and one could be deep in the desert, living among the oases with other excellent and shining individuals.

Yukina, however, didn't think that far ahead. "Knowing the map makes me realize how slow we were before," she said, though her voice held little annoyance. In fact, she rarely revealed her emotions through her voice.

She asked Shiko, "Any progress on the new airship you were commissioned to design?"

"Mm." Shiko pulled out a design drawing and spread it out beside the sand table. "There are still some difficulties with material strength, but the overall structure is almost complete, thanks to my experience building hot air balloons." She took out two jade slips, one transparent and one the original jade color. "Regarding the power source, I found inspiration from these a few days ago."

"I remember, the transparent one came from Yamada-san."

"Yes." Shiko explained, "Before, using jade slips required breaking them. But with recent further analysis of their structure, I found a way to activate them without damaging them. So, this is how it works—" She held a jade slip in each hand. From the transparent one in her left hand, ripples began to emanate, and they heard a low bass sound. As the ripples spread, the transparent jade slip gradually returned to its original jade color, while the slip in Shiko's right hand began to glow transparently.

Yukina understood Shiko's meaning. "When the one in your left hand is used up, the one in your right has completely replicated its effect. This way, the two jade slips can be used back and forth, providing continuous power, right?"

"Exactly." Shiko put away the two jade slips. "Previously, Ryo had to power it herself, which was discontinuous and consumed a lot of energy. Most of my jade slip consumption was in crafting them; the consumption for replication and activation is negligible. With Nijika's help, we can achieve 24-hour non-stop navigation—as long as there's no danger in the air at night."

"But to handle both propulsion and steering, we'll need to install this structure on both wings of the airship. Will there be enough jade slips?" Yukina remembered that Shiko's limit for crafting jade slips was determined by her Mental Strength. Since a portion of it was taken by her second personality, Shiko's Mental Strength was currently the lowest among everyone, not even matching Lisa and Nijika, who were leveling up slowly because they couldn't kill enemies.

"The more I understand jade slips, the lower the crafting cost, so don't worry," Shiko said. "The current quantity is fine. Perhaps one day, crafting jade slips will be as easy as making a small cake for me."

Yukina nodded. "Ako is responsible for the materials. She's researching enchantment magic, and I've asked her to try enhancing material strength." She pointed to a location on the sand table closer to them. "Also, regarding the five people in this area..."

Besides Poppin'Party gathered together and the nine people suspected to be Shokatsu's Nine-Nine group, there were five people in the plain area. These five were spread out: three were together, and the other two acted alone, far from the group of three. They were all nomadic, constantly moving within a certain area, with no signs of meeting. Although their information couldn't be seen, Shiko didn't think they were Poppin'Party, because Poppin'Party would never intentionally separate, and even if they did, they would reunite quickly.

Shiko had many guesses about the identities of these five: based on her experiences here, the group of three might be SICK HACK from the Bocchi the Rock! world. But if that were the case, it would be hard to say who the other two were. Could it be... Some memes floated through Shiko's mind. She recalled a band jokingly called "the soul of the group is cumin"—MYGO!!!!! Could time have passed so quickly in the real world that MYGO!!!!! had already formed? No, no, memes aside, MYGO!!!!! wouldn't separate so often, let alone have things like "the soul of the group is cumin" which had nothing to do with the anime band... And considering Miss Niiki's situation, they might not be people she knew.

"We're definitely going to bring them along, right?" Shiko asked.

"Of course," Yukina replied. "In this world, one more person means one more chance at survival. Even if their primary objective isn't the same as ours."

Shiko thought about this and felt a headache coming on. The primary objective of the ten-person team was still to avenge Miss Marina, and only then to go to the Sky-Piercing Tower to fight the boss. The objective of those five people was likely different from theirs. Moreover, if they were strangers to Shiko... Just thinking about it made her feel the familiar discomfort of social anxiety, which she hadn't felt in a long time.

She tapped her forehead, forcing herself to focus on the present.

"Ako's material issue, when will it be resolved?" she asked. She was eager to turn her design into reality.

"I'll go ask," Yukina said, standing up and walking over to Ako. Shiko followed.

Ako was buried in a pile of parchment, not looking up. "Hoo hoo hoo... The supreme enchantment magic will be born tomorrow, runes inherited from the primordial darkness will... will... Ah, save me, Rinrin!"

Shiko didn't wait for Rinrin to arrive. "Tomorrow, right? Then I'll bring the materials tomorrow to try it out. Thanks for your hard work~"

Shiko walked away, not wanting to disturb Ako's research. She shook her arms. Everything that could be done for work was done, and she felt light. Next...

Shiko heard faint guitar music coming from the direction of the wooden cabin. She tiptoed over and heard Kita and Ryo's voices from inside. Kita was asking Ryo to give her guitar pointers.

Shiko's expression darkened, and she turned away.

Chapter 3: Isn't This Good?

"Thank you all for your hard work~" Lisa arrived beside Shiko with snacks. More accurately, she arrived at the airship construction site.

"Ah, thank you very much." Shiko reached out to take one. Lisa whispered, "Hands, hands." Shiko then noticed her hands were covered in dust. She gave an embarrassed smile, and a basin of clean water appeared beside her. After washing her hands, she picked up a cookie again.

"Delicious," she said, her eyes narrowing.

After the materials were approved, the construction of the new airship officially began. Unlike the makeshift rafts and hot air balloons of the past, the airship would serve as their floating fortress for a long time. The lift system, power system, defense system, and even the habitability of the interior environment all required careful design. Everyone already knew how inefficient their previous means of transportation were after seeing the map; since they had found their destination, the best course of action was to prepare well and move forward with all their might.

"The airship will be approximately 213m long, 82m wide, and 52m high, with a passenger capacity of 40 people and a maximum speed of 114,514 kilometers per hour. Its exterior will resemble a whale. The entire vessel will be constructed from enchanted materials produced by Udagawa Magical Materials Co., Ltd., powered by the 'Yamada-Wu 'Step-on-step to the Sky' Engine Group,' with 100% coverage by the 'Daniel Intelligent Shield.' Additionally, it will be equipped with a set of 'Red Moon-01' magic cannons and two sets of 'Shine' series light machine guns, with a lighting system consisting of two main searchlights and..."

Shiko patted Ryo on the shoulder from behind. "Okay, stop spouting nonsense. I didn't create magic cannons or machine guns. Please excuse me, I need to work."

"Oh, okay." Ryo moved aside, allowing Shiko to approach the half-finished airship keel. Shiko walked over, then took a few steps back. "Also, please give the engine group a nicer name."

Shiko and Ako worked together, building and enchanting. The airship was too large, and Ako's enchantment magic had a limited coverage area per use, so they could only proceed bit by bit. Furthermore, to maintain the enchantment effect for a longer duration, each enchantment was a significant drain on Ako. Shiko, Ako, and Nijika worked all day and only completed half of the exterior. Once they officially moved in, there would still be much to do. Since everyone else except the three of them had nothing else to do, they were all free to pursue their own activities, leaving only one or two people to act as guards for the three.

"Did you come alone?" Ryo asked Lisa while happily eating snacks. Lisa had no combat ability, so she wouldn't normally act alone.

"Ah, I came with Ichiri," Lisa said, looking behind her. Ichiri's half-head peeked out from behind a tree trunk.

"Ichiri, if you don't come out soon, what you brought will melt!" she called to Ichiri. Hearing this, Ichiri timidly emerged from her hiding spot, her hands clasped behind her back, hiding something. Only when she reached the table did she bring out the basket from behind her and open it. Inside were three bowls of shaved ice, made with nearby wild fruits and coconut milk.

"Oh, thank you..." Ryo reached out to take one. Lisa grabbed her hand. "This is for the three of them, made by Ichiri. If Ryo wants one too, I can make another."

Ichiri quickly waved her hands. "Actually, if Ryo-san wants to eat one, I can make another. This one..." She pointed to a bowl with a particularly high concentration of wild fruit.

"Is that one saved for Shiko?" Lisa asked deliberately.

Ichiri lowered her head, blushing furiously. "...Yes."

Seeing Ichiri's reaction, Lisa knew she shouldn't tease her any further. "Do you want to deliver it yourself?" she asked. Ichiri shook her head frantically. "Can't do it, can't do it, can't do it..." So she picked up the basket and brought it over to the three of them. "Sorry to bother you right at the beginning. This is what Ichiri made herself."

"Little Bocchi?" Nijika sounded surprised. She had never seen Ichiri make desserts before, let alone for others. She looked at the shaved ice in the basket; it already looked very good. For some reason, she felt a little touched. "You've grown, Little Bocchi..."

"Ah... don't cry..." Lisa pointed to Shiko's bowl. "Shiko, this bowl is one Ichiri specifically asked to give to you."

Shiko looked at the obvious difference between this bowl and the other two and understood.

Ako blinked. "It looks like a wife bringing lunch to her husband and his coworkers on a construction site." Nijika couldn't stop her in time; the hand she had started to raise to warn her could only be hidden behind her back again.

Shiko, however, seemed not to have heard. She just stared at the shaved ice in front of her.

On the other side, Ryo turned around and yawned. "It's time for my shift to end anyway. Bocchi, I'm leaving it to you now."

"Oh... oh!"

As Ryo was about to walk away, she heard Ichiri's words, as if to herself, "I made several bowls for Kita too... I only asked her to help look at the finished product, it shouldn't be too sudden... Why doesn't she look very happy..."

Ryo paused for a moment and continued walking forward. In the dense woods, Kita was already waiting for her.

"Ikuyo, where should we start today?" Sitting down in the wooden cabin, they each picked up their guitars.

"Let's... start from that part during our last practice. I always mess up that part."

Today, Ryo's private lesson for Kita continued.

"Ah." The pick flew out of Kita's hand and fell to the ground.

Ryo put down her guitar. "Ikuyo, you're a bit distracted."

Kita picked up the pick and clenched it in her hand. "Sorry, I'll try harder."

[Erosion Level... 80%]

"But you really haven't been trying as hard as before lately." Ryo put her guitar back in its bag. "Let's call it a day. Your condition isn't good, and forcing practice won't help." She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked to the door. Turning back, she saw Kita still sitting in her seat, clutching the pick.