Queen

The door wasn't locked, and as Jilan Jiyu, and Camie Utsushimi entered the room, a dazzling and exhilarating guitar solo instantly captured their attention. (Mirko)

The basement didn't feel damp. The floor was wooden, giving it a school gymnasium feel. Various musical instruments, such as saxophones, cellos, violins, and pianos, were placed in the corners without being conspicuous. What was most eye-catching were the four people on the other side of the room, directly opposite the door.

Diduo Chengjie's fingers moved swiftly across the guitar like Magician, producing a burst of exhilarating sound that seemed to possess an infectious magic, making people move involuntarily.

No one paid any attention to the two guests, Jilan and Utsushimi. Everyone was focused on listening to the solo. The moment the guitar finished its last note, the bass and drums came on and joined the rhythm, bursting into a powerful sound!

Kyoka Makoto held the microphone, stood still, nodded, and sang along with the rhythm.

After listening for a few sentences, Jilan Jiyu's eyes widened. It was Queen Band's "I Will Rock You"!

Jilan Jiyu couldn't help but ask the Camie Utsushimi, who was nodding and swaying her body, "What songs will the Soul Band perform at the concert?"

"Didn't it say on the ticket?" Camie Utsushimi glanced at him and twisted her body, saying, "This performance is a special by the Queen Band from the late 20th century."

Jilan carefully examined the ticket last night. Apart from the time and location, the rest of the ticket contained ambiguous descriptions of instruments such as drums and guitars, without mentioning anything about the Queen Band. However, if it was a Queen concert, then the instruments on the ticket would make perfect sense.

The year is 2099. A century ago, there was a legendary band, Queen. They only had four members throughout their career: a vocalist, a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer. They once set a record by using all the singing styles of the time to create a song that no one could match, "Bohemian Rhapsody." In addition, Queen had many other classic songs that were still being sung and talked about in the early 21st century.

"Weren't all the songs from the last century destroyed?" Jilan Jiyu couldn't help but ask.

In his previous life, Jilan Jiyu Yu were office workers in the early 21st century. Their favorite songs were by the Queen Band. However, in the hero society they now live in, all rock music audio-visual products became contraband in the early 21st century. Lyrics, sheet music, and tapes were all burned, and songs on the internet disappeared. Only a small number of songs stored on USB drives survived. But once connected to the internet, the system would automatically check the songs on your USB drive and delete all the contraband songs.

This is a law promulgated by the United Nations. Even the United States, which is usually free, strictly enforces this rule, forcibly searching through people's homes to find relevant items.

The reason is unknown.

It is said that the impact of this "burning of music" incident was comparable to the "burning of books and burying of scholars" incident during the Qin Dynasty. Countless music lovers around the world took to the streets to launch several vigorous demonstrations. In the United States, someone even stormed the White House and held a gun to the president's temple, forcing him to retract his order.

Even so, the final result was still—forgotten by everyone. Mirko

Under the government's strict censorship, if anyone mentions even a single word related to banned music, the water meter inspectors will knock on your door that very night, take you away, and keep you silent about it until you never speak of it again.

Until the first "baby glowing case" appeared in Qingqing City, this oppressive and terrifying atmosphere lasted for two years. After that, governments around the world were busy dealing with various evil incidents caused by Quirk and relaxed their supervision. However, any original, cover, or even plagiarized songs with similar melodies would be taken down from the entire network immediately.

From then on, heavy metal rock faded from the music scene, and electronic music, spearheaded by Hatsune Miku, the virtual singer known as "the world's number one princess," became the mainstream.

Even now, although this law is no longer in effect and reinterpretations go unpunished, heavy metal songs have been largely forgotten. Now, whether popular or niche, most songs are electronic, and songs like these, which remain in the memories of the past, can only be heard in the underground black market.

For Jilan, who had already accepted this reality, being able to hear Queen's songs again was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise.

Could it be that the saying is true—that Stand User are attracted to each other?

"Jilan, you must understand, there's always a way around it," Camie Utsushimi said smugly. "Even if this is an order from the United Nations, are there no people among those carrying out the order who like this style of music? Would they really be willing to destroy these treasures?"

"You mean, some people are deliberately hoarding contraband?"

"Correct answer!" Camie Utsushimi snapped his fingers. "Perhaps it should be said that any classical music you can hear on the black market now comes from there."

Jilan quickly understood that "although such a policy exists, it doesn't mean it has to be implemented. After all, even with a tiered system in place, the pursuit of higher levels will not disappear."

"For example, boys your age, like Jilan, always manage to get their hands on porn magazines, right?"

Seeing that Jilan didn't answer, Camie Utsushimi even bolder, speaking more bluntly, "Hey, Jilan, don't be shy. We've slept together before, so it's not too much to ask me about your fetishes, is it?"

Listen to this! Is this something a normal girl would say?

I like figurines.

Jilan simply said one sentence, and Camie Utsushimi could react, she walked towards the Soul Band, which had stopped playing.

Jilan likes figurines? But Yoarashi said Jilan doesn't usually watch anime, and there aren't any cute girl figurines in his house. Could it be that when he says he likes something, he actually likes robot models like Gundam?

Camie Utsushimi's doubts, she followed behind Jilan Jiyu.

Diduo Chengjie held a guitar in his hand, quietly familiarizing himself with the melody from the sheet music; Jiancao Erren did not use a pick, but instead touched the bass strings with his fingers; Dave sat on the bench behind the drum kit, holding drumsticks in his hands, covering his head, seemingly lost in thought.

Kyoka Makoto frowned, then suddenly said, "Something's not right. The transitions between them don't feel quite right."

Jiancao Erren said, "But Brother Zhen, we composed the score based on the original song, so there shouldn't be any mistakes."

"No, it's not your problem, it's mine." Kyoka Makoto shook his head and frowned. "I feel like I missed something in my performance."

Jiancao Erren shrugged and said nothing more.

"Why don't you try moving your body?" a voice suddenly came from over.

Get your body moving!

Kyoka Makoto turned his head and saw that the words were spoken by Jilan Jiyu. He felt a little dissatisfied and said indifferently, "Jilan, I only allowed you to visit our performance venue, not to interfere with our performance. As an audience member, you should just sit in your seat and listen carefully."

Listen carefully? For some reason, hearing that sentence ignited a nameless anger in Jilan. Since when did Queen's songs require sitting on a bench and listening obediently?

He suppressed his anger and calmly asked, "Mr. Kyoka Makoto, are you familiar with the Queen Band?"

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Diduo preemptively said, "Of course, we got the information from records and some websites. Queen Band was one of the most popular bands of the 20th century, and its members were Freddie, Brian, Roger, and John."

Listening to the description, which sounded like a Baidu Encyclopedia entry from a past life, Jilan laughed. "Is that all?"

"Isn't that enough?" Kyoka Makoto acknowledged that what Diduo said was all they knew. He frowned and said, "Because you helped Xiaojie, we welcome you to watch our performance, but if you just want to cause trouble, you can leave now."

Kyoka Makoto turned his gaze to Camie Utsushimi and said coldly, "Ms. Utsushimi, we appreciate your help, but could you please take your friend with you? He's interfering with our practice."