Angels of Delusion

"Manager Wise, I'm terribly sorry! Sumimasen!!"

Inside the Sixth Street video store, Nangong Yu pressed her hands together and bowed deeply to Wise in earnest apology.

"It's fine, it's fine, it's fine! It was all a misunderstanding. As long as it's cleared up, everything's fine!"

Wise hurriedly waved his hands, though he shot an unfriendly glance at Belle by the door—the culprit was already dressed and ready to head out.

Feeling her brother's gaze, Belle nonchalantly blew at her bangs.

What else could he expect from his own little sister?

When it came to setting her big brother up, she showed no mercy whatsoever.

Wise withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, pulled out the check from his pocket, and handed it to Nangong Yu.

"Nangong, you should take this back."

Five million Denny.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't tempted. When he had first stared at all those zeroes, his mind had already begun imagining how many carefree days they could buy him.

But a man still needed some dignity.

"No need, Manager. Just use it to top up my membership!"

Nangong Yu waved it off without a care, as though it were nothing more than a supermarket receipt.

Wise froze. "...Huh?"

Top up a membership?

What kind of membership could possibly cost five million?

Even if his video store went bankrupt, he probably couldn't spend it all.

Wise looked down at the check in his hand, then at Nangong Yu's face, which practically said, I have so much pocket money I don't know where to spend it.

All of a sudden, Wise felt like he was being kept.

Nangong Yu checked the time—six-thirty.

"Oh, Manager Wise, see you later!" She was already heading for the door. "I'll take Manager Belle and Griseo to 404 first!"

"Bye, bro!" Belle followed after her, waving without looking back. Then she added, "Remember to hurry up and finish Nicole's commission!"

"Bye, Brother Wise!"

Griseo held Belle's hand and obediently turned back to wave as well.

Then the three of them disappeared through the doorway, leaving Wise standing there with the five-million-Denny check clutched in his hand.

He looked at the check, then at the box of instant noodles in the corner, and decided to have three more cups of noodles!

Sixth Street, 404 Underground Performance Hall.

The lights flashed wildly, the crowd roared, and the entire venue was packed with frenzied fans!

"Sunna—!!! Aria—!!! Nangong—!!! You have to stay a band forever—!!!"

A guy at the front screamed himself red in the face.

"Teacher Water Bear is awesome!! Long live Little Thunder Sound Temple!!"

Someone shouted from another direction, though all that could be seen was his glow stick whipping through the air in a sea of light.

"Hehehe, Sunna, the bratty little gal with that spicy-girl style; Captain Nangong, the black-hearted, sharp-tongued one; Aria, the pink, sweet, energetic girl; and now there's even Griseo with her innocent little feet!!

Delusional lolis... ptooey! Angels of Delusion!!! I've been your fan for ten years!!!"

In the broadcast room, Belle held a large plate of pastries. She ate her dinner while admiring the fanatical scene in the hall outside.

Tsk, tsk. Who would have thought that Griseo agreeing to make occasional guest appearances would make Angels of Delusion famous in just half a year?

Belle swallowed a bite of cake and mentally ran through Angels of Delusion's rise to fame—

Angels of Delusion had been around for nearly a year. At first, there were three members: Sunna on composition, Aria as lead vocalist, and Nangong as captain.

But during the first half year, they had struggled every step of the way. Sunna and the others even had to venture into the Hollows to earn money and support the band.

If their tiny captain Nangong hadn't had such absurdly good luck, constantly winning five hundred thousand in the lottery to bail them out, they would have disbanded long ago.

When Belle first heard about it, she had been completely stunned.

What kind of insane luck was that?

She won whenever she wanted to win. Anyone who didn't know better would think Nangong's family owned the lottery shop!

But later, Belle learned it had been a harmless lie that Miss Nangong had made up so she would not have to go home and inherit the family business!

Later, when Sunna was collecting song samples, she happened to run into Griseo. They chatted away for a while—Belle had no idea what exactly happened.

Anyway, after Griseo went through an awakening, she agreed to join Angels of Delusion—not as a permanent member, only as an occasional guest performer.

But from that point onward, the band seemed to have activated cheats. The quality of their music shot up until it nearly rivaled songstress Astra Yao's, and their fan count soared in a straight line.

Belle stuffed another piece of cake into her mouth.

Watching the figures onstage, she suddenly felt a little sentimental. These days, cuteness really was justice.

But since when could Griseo play the piano?

"Manager Belle, good evening! Here to watch my little darlings perform?" A familiar, gentle voice came from behind Belle.

With cake still in her mouth, Belle instinctively turned and answered, "Mm-hm, I came to see them, Teacher Cecilia, good even—"

The moment Belle turned around, her entire body stiffened, and the cake lodged in her throat.

"Yao... Yao... Astra?!"

Cecilia stood at the entrance to the broadcast room, smiling as she waved at Belle.

This songstress who had retired years ago, now Angels of Delusion's instructor, wore a simple, elegant casual outfit. Yet her presence was still impossible to look away from.

Two people stood behind her. One of them removed her sunglasses and mask, revealing a face known throughout all of TOPS.

"Good evening, Belle." Astra Yao winked at her. That was right—the current TOPS's Number One Songstress, the songstress herself, had come to 404 as well.

Belle's mind went blank for a full three seconds.

"J-Astra, why are you here? And that person is..." Her gaze shifted to the humanoid Intelligent Construct beside Astra Yao, her tone hesitant.

"..."

Vesper's face instantly turned cold. Sure enough, no one in this world remembered second place.

She gave a cold snort and turned her head away, her voice carrying thirty percent sarcasm and seventy percent grievance.

"Belle, this is my colleague, Vesper..." Astra Yao hurriedly smoothed things over, leaning closer and lowering her voice. "She's also a songstress. She's just... a tiny bit tsundere."

After saying that, she winked at Belle, who immediately got the message.

"Oh—! So you're Sister Vesper!"

Belle immediately put on a look of sudden realization. "Teacher Cecilia mentions you all the time! She says your singing is incredible!"

The corners of Vesper's lips twitched slightly, but she forcibly suppressed the smile.

Meanwhile, Cecilia had already picked up a piece of cake from Belle's plate and placed it in her mouth, tasting it at an unhurried pace.

"Ce..." Vesper paused, then changed her wording. "Cecilia, is that Griseo the genius girl you mentioned before?"

Cecilia nodded, her gaze turning toward the stage.

Tonight, she had specifically invited TOPS's two greatest songstresses. It was not only because she wanted them to see her students with their own eyes.

More importantly, she wanted them to see Griseo—the princess of The Stars whom Sunna had "lured" back.

Setting aside external factors, she would give Sunna, Aria, and Nangong each a score of ninety-five for musical talent.

But for the talent Griseo displayed, she would give a hundred—because a hundred was the highest possible score.

"Astra, Vesper." Cecilia's voice was calm, but it carried a certain conviction. "You may not believe this, but the three of us combined don't have as much musical talent as she does."

Daily update: 8,000 words today. Some snake, stop whining.