Piano X and X the Invisible Notes

Qi Zhou walked slowly onward, lost in thought. When he reached the area where the orange and yellow seas of flowers met, he saw another pianist arranged by the venue playing there.

Qi Zhou spent nearly five hours making a complete circuit of the rainbow-colored sea of flowers.

There were tour vehicles, but they showed no sign of stopping as they passed through the junctions. There were also too many people around for him to recklessly use Nen to enhance his body and speed up dramatically. He used only a little, bringing his walking speed up to about a running pace, and accelerated significantly only where there were fewer people.

Along the way, he figured out what his Four Seasons Badge could do for him. He had been motionless in the box before, so he hadn't felt its effects clearly, but when he could move freely, the badge boosted his physical abilities by about fifty percent. Better yet, there was no cooldown when he used it on himself. The only drawback was that carrying the badge made him consume Nen faster than usual.

With his current Nen reserves, if he used the boosts continuously one at a time, each would last an hour. Using all four together would last about fifteen minutes, and would also improve his senses, including hearing, smell, and sight.

After making his way around the entire sea of flowers, Qi Zhou found a deserted spot and silently opened his book.

The first chapter of Imaginary Musician was called Song of the Four Seasons, followed by four musical scores. The incomplete movement should have come after those, but it had disappeared. In its place was a name that felt ominous at a glance: Sonata of Darkness (Erroneous Fragment) - Piano.

The table of contents was followed by three movements. None of the three could be connected to one another, and each had between three and six blank sections.

No wonder it's called an "erroneous fragment," Qi Zhou thought.

When Qi Zhou placed his hand on Imaginary Musician, he frowned. The piece gave him a terrible feeling, as though his soul had been immersed in filthy water, or as though he had seen something so terrifying that his mind was no longer quite right.

If I listen to this piece or play it, something utterly terrifying will happen.

He could sense that message as well when he placed his hand on the book. The feeling was faint, almost negligible compared with the desperate craving to hear the rest after listening to a single section, even if listening once would cost him his life.

Qi Zhou put the book away, concentrated Nen in his eyes, and walked into the sea of snow-white flowers beneath the red mist. Among the flowers, he saw "marks" invisible to the naked eye. Following them with his gaze, he looked up and saw a short stretch of musical staff flickering in and out of sight where the red and yellow rainbows met.

The moment he saw it, the hand gripping Imaginary Musician in his pocket paused slightly.

It was recorded in the book, Qi Zhou said silently to himself. Unwilling to waste any more time, he immediately used an acceleration technique and began running around the inner edge of the flower sea. This time, it took him only an hour to circle the entire area and collect six passages of music.

Qi Zhou found another deserted spot and opened the book. To his surprise, however, the six passages had not been recorded as a complete movement. Instead, they had been added to the earlier portions, filling in some of the missing blanks in the three movements.

But... there were only three fewer blanks than before, which meant that three of the passages he had seen in the flower sea hadn't been recorded in the book.

In that case, Qi Zhou thought, sitting down on the ground amid the flowers, the three missing passages should also have something serving as their carriers, but they didn't appear in my book.

That last circuit was a little rushed. I did notice then that there were two pianists playing the same passage, but I didn't pay it any mind.

So how is the assessment for "special visitors" supposed to work?

Qi Zhou lowered his head in thought. The simplest way would be to play back what they heard from the pianists. But that wouldn't distinguish people who have Nen from those who don't at all.

Qi Zhou shook his head, rejecting the possibility. What if they're looking for Nen users?

First possibility: A Nen user with nothing better to do uses Gyo and sees the music floating by the mixed-color rainbow, then copies it down and gives it to a pianist, who seems to be the only person connected to the assessment.

Second possibility: What if a musician notices the missing parts while listening? Every pianist is playing a version with errors and omissions, so after listening a few times, they might notice?

Based on that, they could point out the missing parts, or take the initiative to find them, complete the movement, and submit it to a pianist.

Thinking about it that way, the people they're looking for are either musicians who can hear the omissions or Nen users-or perhaps both are indispensable.

Either way, I should go somewhere with a piano and see what's happening. Besides, what I've collected isn't complete either.

"Hmm..." Qi Zhou stood up. Now that he had a lead, his body relaxed, and he heard a rumble. Only then did he realize he was hungry.

He had arrived at eight in the morning, spent five hours on his first investigation, and another hour collecting the music. It should now be past two in the afternoon.

Qi Zhou touched his stomach helplessly. "Let's head back to that red-orange rest area first. I need to find something to eat while I'm at it."