After dealing with Gao Chen, Chen Xiao rested where he was for a while before returning to the venue. But when he got backstage, no one was there. Only after calling did he learn that Ding Jiafang, Nijika, and the others had slipped out through the back door.
"A-Xiao, why did you spend so long in the bathroom?"
Ding Jiafang hurried over as soon as he saw Chen Xiao return.
Nijika Ijichi and the others came out of their hiding spot in the corner, too. They were all wearing hats and masks, looking like celebrities being stalked by paparazzi.
But you didn't even put on jackets to disguise yourselves. With red, pink, yellow, and blue hair all together, anyone could recognize you!
"Why did you come outside?"
Chen Xiao asked.
"Because these four pretty girls made too big a splash! All the audience members who became fans rushed backstage to find them... whew! That was scary! If the organizers' staff hadn't shown us the back door, we might not have gotten out!"
Ding Jiafang wiped the sweat from his forehead as he spoke.
"Haha, looks like you're all big stars now!"
Chen Xiao laughed and looked at Nijika Ijichi and the others.
"But we blew up way too fast! We weren't mentally prepared at all!"
Nijika Ijichi was still shaken by the experience.
The others nodded in agreement. Hitori Gotoh, in particular, wished she could find a trash can to hide in.
If Nijika hadn't told her that Chen Xiao would dislike her for it, she probably would have been cosplaying a trash-can spirit right there.
"This is Magic City. Even an ordinary Comic Exhibition here gets more traffic than events elsewhere."
Back in Japan in his previous life, becoming an overnight sensation from a single performance would have been practically impossible. Most bands started out in tiny live houses, at that.
They could spend their whole lives grinding away without ever making it.
Japan's backward internet infrastructure deserved credit for that, too. It was a country that still used floppy disks, after all. Hilarious.
"We've certainly gotten a firsthand taste of that..."
Ikuyo Kita couldn't help sighing, either.
Her powers as an extrovert were utterly helpless against that overwhelming flood of attention. With fans pursuing them and cutting off their escape routes, she could only flee like a survivor being chased by zombies.
"So let's hurry home, A-Xiao. We played two songs today, and we barely got any rest before we had to run out of the venue. 'Everyone' is exhausted."
Ryo Yamada's words clearly carried a pointed meaning.
Apart from Ding Jiafang, who had no idea what she meant, all four girls looked at Chen Xiao with a hint of concern.
Chen Xiao: Was I being that obvious?
After all, borrowing so much power at once had not only come with a price to pay, but also severely drained his stamina.
Just as he was about to say goodbye to Ding Jiafang and take Nijika Ijichi and the others back to the parking lot, Ding Jiafang stopped him, finding the whole thing increasingly suspicious.
"Wait! A-Xiao, what do you mean by 'going home'? You're taking each of them to her own home, right?"
All the earlier suspicious details had left Ding Jiafang seriously questioning Chen Xiao's relationship with these four pretty girls in the band.
Chen Xiao: ... (Sweat beaded on his forehead.)
"Of course I'm taking them home! What, you want me to make my friends call a Didi themselves?"
Chen Xiao retorted, forcing himself to stay calm.
"..."
Ding Jiafang didn't immediately believe him.
But there wasn't a trace of panic on Chen Xiao's face. Besides, after spending these years together at university and getting to know his personality, Ding Jiafang simply couldn't picture him juggling several girlfriends.
After all, every guy in their group believed in faithful love!
Was I really just being too suspicious?
At that thought, Ding Jiafang couldn't help questioning himself.
Perhaps seeing several pretty girls, each with a different charm, around A-Xiao had let jealousy go to his head, leading him to entertain such a ridiculous idea.
"Fine, I'll let you off this time. But remember, A-Xiao... if you don't make a clean break when you should, you'll only invite trouble."
Chen Xiao froze for a moment at Ding Jiafang's words. Lin Qi's figure surfaced in his mind, and he understood what his friend meant.
Although his relationship with Lin Qi hadn't reached that stage, a bond between childhood friends built over more than a decade wasn't something he could simply cut off.
Besides, even if he wanted to break things off, there was nothing he could do if Lin Qi refused. Not everyone had the courage of a certain Minister of Magic who erased her family's memories, after all.
"I know."
With that brief reply, Chen Xiao left with Nijika Ijichi and the others.
"Ah..."
Ding Jiafang watched Chen Xiao's retreating figure and sighed softly.
Everything else went unspoken.
Yet when he returned to the Comic Exhibition venue, he found something off about the atmosphere. Everyone was gathered in groups, whispering as though discussing some major event.
"What are you all talking about?"
Ding Jiafang went over and asked curiously.
"You haven't heard, Catnip? Today's Flower City Rich Boy just turned himself in at the Magic City Police Station!"
The person spoke to him excitedly.
"Huh?"
Ding Jiafang looked utterly baffled, like the confused-man meme.
"Look! He posted about it on all his social media accounts, along with a video of himself turning himself in!"
"Isn't this some kind of stunt?"
Ding Jiafang's first reaction was disbelief.
"None of us believed it at first, either, but he even put links in his announcement. Just [get around the firewall] and you can watch his scandalous little videos! And true magic... my God! So superpowers aren't the only things that exist-true magic is real, too?!"
Seeing that the person's reaction seemed genuine, Ding Jiafang took out his phone and searched. Sure enough, [Today's Flower City Rich Boy] had posted a video of himself turning himself in across his social media accounts.
Some replies under the announcement came from fans acting as though their parents had died, but most were passersby who, after watching the videos and reading about his crimes, cursed him with a "Good riddance."
As for the videos beyond the firewall, he backed out after a single glance at the thumbnails. They were simply too revolting to watch.
Today's Flower City Rich Boy was finished.
Even if someone tried to suppress the story, it would be useless. With how quickly it was spreading online, there was no stopping it.
It was easy to imagine how lively tomorrow's trending searches would be.
It was just a shame for Nijika Ijichi and the others. The buzz they had worked so hard to build at the Comic Exhibition had been overshadowed by Today's Flower City Rich Boy turning himself in.
"But why would he turn himself in?"
Ding Jiafang couldn't make sense of it.
"Heh, Catnip, look at the video he recorded... look at his eyes... star-shaped eyes! Do normal people have eyes like that?"
The person beside him enlarged the surrender video on their phone, letting Ding Jiafang get a clear look at Gao Chen's eyes.
"Golden stars?"
Are those even fucking human pupils?!
"Someone probably took control of Today's Flower City Rich Boy."
Another staff member offered that guess.
"A superpower like mind control? Yikes... that's kind of scary! Even public figures can fall victim to it and have their reputations completely destroyed."
A young woman who was into photography rubbed her arms uneasily.
"What are you scared of? If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to fear. Maybe they're a hero hidden in the secret world, just like Black Rock Shooter."
After all, the evidence of crimes Today's Flower City Rich Boy had exposed himself was already utterly unforgivable by any ordinary person's standards!
At that moment, however, Ding Jiafang had no attention to spare for the chatter around him.
He had suddenly remembered how, beside the sound equipment whose wiring had been chewed through by rats, Chen Xiao had pointed at Today's Flower City Rich Boy and asked who he was.
Then, not long after the performance ended, Chen Xiao had gone off for an extremely long bathroom break. His complexion had also looked a little off when he returned...
And then there was the "rat-controlling true magic" Today's Flower City Rich Boy had revealed in his announcement, along with the timing of his public surrender.
"Surely... it couldn't be?"
Ding Jiafang lowered his head and held his forehead.
A-Xiao, oh, A-Xiao, you've really been keeping your cards close to your chest!
But...
If you'd awakened a superpower, why would you give up the chance to pursue further studies at Nova Academy?
Before you continue