Why play in a band if not for life?

Kita looked surprised. "Huh? Wu-san can compose music?"

A thin beam of light answered for Shiko.

The light beam enveloped Shiko, but it was much fainter than before, flickering as if to say, "You barely passed."

After the light beam dissipated, the group saw Shiko burying her head deep in her hands.

This was the idol otaku Fan, Wu Shiko!

"Average." Her extremely flat voice was enough to bring tears to their eyes.

Wu Shiko

Shine: 160 (150 + 10) Mental Strength: 110 (100 + 10)

Well, the buffs were unceremoniously cut in half. And her other stats remained completely unchanged.

"Click." The power flickered back on. Light returned to the hall. Shiko was curled up, a desolate wasteland behind her. The five of them surrounded Shiko, except for one person who was holding back laughter, the others felt a strange sense of guilt.

Nijika couldn't stand it. "Why don't you learn the keyboard, Shiko-chan, and join Kessoku Band? Kita just started learning guitar!"

The calm Shiko showed a flicker of hesitation.

"Thank you for the offer. But..." Shiko still shook her head.

The group was deeply moved by the stubbornness in her voice.

"Actually, I learned piano when I was little. Back then, I had a very close friend who was the only one who could understand my music. After she died in a car accident, I gave up the piano and vowed never to play again..." Shiko wiped the corners of her eyes, seemingly lost in sad memories.

"Isn't that the story of Bo Ya Breaks His Strings?" Nijika's eyes narrowed like a cat's.

"Is that so?" Shiko's expression changed instantly. "Actually, I joined the Light Music Club in middle school..."

"Stop!" Nijika stopped Shiko's nonsensical rambling in time. A faint sense of unease arose in her heart. Little Shiko was joking with them naturally. She felt... Little Shiko looked completely different now from when she first met her, even different from how she was just a few hours ago.

"Huh? I actually wanted to hear it." Kita blinked, not yet realizing Shiko's lie.

"She's definitely just making it up," Nijika suppressed the feeling of unease for the moment.

"Not necessarily. According to the usual tropes in manga, what people say at times like these is usually the truth," Ryo had a different opinion.

Just as the group was about to start a big discussion about trust, Marina chimed in at the opportune moment. "It's getting late, let's show you your rooms first."

Since it was a livehouse, there naturally wouldn't be anything like a presidential suite. The group simply laid out sleeping bags on the floor in front of the underground stage. Since there was no shortage of electricity or water, there was nothing to complain about.

At night, Shiko was taking a walk alone in the corridor. The members of Kessoku Band were approaching from the direction of the hall.

"The recording studio here feels much bigger than Starry's..." their conversation drifted over. As musicians, they would naturally check out the recording studio first. It seemed that even after crossing over, they wouldn't give up their band activities. That was good. Shiko's mood lightened a bit.

Shiko quietly hid in a corner, so she wouldn't have to meet them.

Ichiri was trailing behind the group. She sensed a familiar aura from the corner and unconsciously stopped.

"Bocchi-chan?" Nijika turned her head.

The muscles in Ichiri's face stiffened. "Um... um... I think I forgot something..."

"Oh. See you later then." Nijika saw through her excuse immediately. But since she had something to do, she would indulge her.

After the three of them left, Ichiri felt her body return to normal. She sighed, wiped away the cold sweat on her forehead, and walked towards the corner.

"Oh, Ichiri." From the corner, Shiko greeted her without surprise.

"Why... are you hiding here?"

Didn't Shiko get along well with everyone before?

Shiko spread her hands. "Kind of by instinct?"

Ichiri felt a little disappointed. "So... all the fun we had before... was..."

"A part of it was an act," Shiko admitted frankly. "If there was another person with social anxiety besides Ichiri, wouldn't that be redundant for my character?" She deliberately made a playful remark, but Ichiri didn't smile.

"Could it be... that becoming friends with me was also..." She suddenly felt a bit estranged from the Shiko in front of her.

Shiko's smile froze for a moment. On impulse, she reached out and put her right hand on Ichiri's head, ruffling her long hair. "I've always been 100% sincere with Ichiri, I swear."

"Then... with them..."

"That was just 'part' of the act. As we get to know each other better, I won't need to act anymore. Maybe on that day, I'll be able to usher in a change," Shiko said with conviction.

Brilliant starlight covered the wilderness, covered CiRCLE, covered the sea that suddenly teemed with monsters at night.

Within a radius of ten miles, this was the only trace of humanity.

"The monsters have indeed increased," Marina climbed down from the roof and returned indoors.

During the day, they could only occasionally see one on the roof; at night, they could see two or three at a glance, and their sizes varied.

Fortunately, they still hadn't discovered CiRCLE's abilities.

Marina was about to go back to wash up when she saw another figure in the corridor.

"Wu-san? Still not sleeping?"

"Ah, Marina-san. I couldn't sleep well, so I came out for a walk." The person turned around, it was Shiko.

"I see, then go back early," Marina nodded and left.

Shiko lingered in place for a moment before heading to the rooftop. On her way back, she passed the restroom and heard some noise from inside.

When she opened the door, it was Ryo.

"Ikuyo said she wanted to have a pillow fight," Ryo suddenly said something nonsensical.

"How long have you been in the bathroom?" Shiko asked equally nonsensically.

"20 minutes."

"After all, CiRCLE is quite easy to get lost in if you look closely," Shiko said with an understanding expression.

The restroom was filled with an inexplicable sense of camaraderie.

"Wait." Shiko suddenly dropped her smile. "Is Ichiri still trapped in there?"

Receiving an affirmative answer, Shiko turned and rushed towards the underground stage. The distance from the restroom to the stage was less than half a minute.

"Namu." Ryo offered a devout blessing for the fallen warrior.

Ichiri was quietly hiding in a corner.

The idea of a pillow fight was too full of youthful energy for her to participate in. If she got hit by a pillow, she would inevitably ruin the cheerful atmosphere by hesitating whether to throw it back, and then be declared guilty. If she ran away like Ryo when a few people were already fighting, it would draw too much attention...

So when Shiko suddenly pushed open the door, she saw salvation.

Light streamed in from the doorway. It was the holy light of heaven!

A pillow hit the gatekeeper of heaven in the face.

Shiko joined the fray.

The trio became a quartet.

Ichiri shrunk even deeper into her corner.

(By the way, why is Miss Marina having so much fun too?)

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

Chapter 6 Eccentric Outfits

When they woke up the next day, the clock hands were already pointing to eight or nine.

Kita was the first to wake up. She quietly crawled out of her futo, careful not to disturb anyone else, stepped over the sprawled limbs, and tiptoed towards the restroom.

(Speaking of which, Senior Ryo never came back last night...)

The restroom was here, open the door...

Ah, it's the Thinker.

"Senior Ryo died in the restroom—" The others were woken up by Kita's wails. Everyone was pulled out of their futons and, half-asleep, crowded into the restroom.

Opening the restroom door. Ryo was sitting soundly on the toilet, fast asleep. Hearing the commotion, she slowly woke up.

"Who first awakens from a long dream? I know myself in life. A spring nap in my thatched cottage is sufficient, and the sun outside lingers."

Ryo opened her eyes and faced everyone. "I fell asleep because I sat for too long."

"After all... last night was really tiring," Marina chuckled.

After breakfast, the first day of the hunt would begin.

"Miss Marina, you said you'd provide energy for CiRCLE, but how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Nijika asked at the dinner table.

Marina tapped her chin, her eyes rolling around, unable to think of anything. "Well, you guys just try your best?"

Nijika immediately regretted accepting the task so casually.

"So careless..."

After eating, Marina began to clear the table. Nijika, on the other hand, had already emerged from the changing room and was doing a final check of her preparations before leaving. She had changed into light clothing, slung a small shoulder bag over her back, and packed a few compressed biscuits and water.

Kita and Ryo came out together. Hearing the sound, Nijika looked up, her eyes instantly widening like a cat's. "Are you two going on a school trip?" They were wearing flamboyant, fashionable dresses, straw hats, sunglasses, bags, everything! Even necklaces!

"Where did you get all these things?" Nijika pointed at the various accessories they were wearing.

"We asked Shiko for them," Ryo replied.

"Classmate Shiko is really..." Marina covered her mouth and chuckled.

Another person's footsteps echoed from the hallway. The four of them looked over in unison. When the person appeared, the four of them widened their eyes in unison: Ichiri was wearing a camouflage uniform, a steel helmet, a possibly useless assault rifle on her back, a possibly useless night-vision goggle on her head, looking like she came from the Marines. Unfortunately, judging by her skin, which lacked sunlight, she'd probably be the first to be weeded out if she joined the military.

Without Nijika asking, Ichiri explained the source of her equipment: "I... I asked Shiko for them..." Seeing that everyone else's clothes were different from hers, Ichiri hesitated about whether she should go back and change.

"Ahaha..." Marina didn't know what to say anymore.

Nijika, however, began to look forward to it. As the culprit, in what guise would Shiko appear?

Everyone looked towards the depths of the hallway.

After a long pause, footsteps echoed in the hallway again.

"She's here!" Kita said excitedly.

From the shadows emerged a girl with long black hair, wearing a pale purple gothic dress, with an ice queen demeanor.

"Let's go." Her voice was incredibly cold. But it definitely wasn't Shiko's usual voice.

"No, who are you?" everyone asked in unison.

To this question, the girl's expression remained unchanged, she merely moved her lips: "Homura Akemi."

"It's... Shiko, right?" Ichiri recognized her from her egg-yolk-colored pupils and facial features.

"...Probably?" The others gradually recognized the girl too.

Seeing that she couldn't keep up the pretense, Shiko helplessly took off the wig, revealing her gray hair underneath, and her voice returned to normal: "It's cosplay."

"Cos..." Kita didn't quite understand.

"It means dressing up as another character," Ryo explained. "This is Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I didn't expect Shiko to be able to imitate her voice too."

"So, why are you dressed like this?" Nijika asked.

"By dressing up as a high-tier character, maybe I can become stronger," Shiko said as if it were obvious.

"Where did your logic come from..."

And so, a team in eccentric outfits set off from CiRCLE. Nijika strode ahead, turning a blind eye to the costume party behind her. A chatter came from behind. Kita was completely in it for the fun and was the most boisterous, holding a camera and stopping to take pictures from time to time.

(Where did the camera come from anyway? Don't tell me Shiko did that too?)

Ichiri tried to minimize her presence as much as possible. Because she didn't dare to speak, she couldn't find an opportunity to change back into her regular clothes and could only endure this mismatched style of dress with everyone else, staying with Ryo, who had also unconsciously drifted away from the group. Another misfit... she looked at Shiko. Shiko was still wearing the cosplay outfit, but she was no longer imitating her voice or deliberately mimicking Homura Akemi's mannerisms. She was naturally chatting and laughing with Kita. Actually, Ichiri knew that the current Shiko was just wearing another mask. She couldn't help but feel a little envious of Shiko's performance ability. If she could do that, she wouldn't have to worry about socializing.

Most of the monsters they encountered were weak, easily dealt with by one person. The five of them together was a complete crush. After each monster was killed, it left a colored orb similar to a bowling ball in its place. This was probably the "fuel" Ms. Marina mentioned. Nijika carried an extra cloth bag to collect them.

It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that they encountered the first opponent that could be called "strong."

First, they smelled a foul odor, then they saw the main body—it was a bloated mass of minced meat piled up on the ground. It was hard to say if it was alive, as it was impossible to tell how it survived: shattered brain matter was buried among the maggot-infested minced meat, with bright red blood and thick yellow pus constantly seeping from the sulci. Several large holes, big enough to fit a person, opened in the meat mountain, leading to the darkness within. A few blue nylon cloths were draped over the meat mountain. Were these the remnants of victims?