Lead Singer

Jilan Jiyu were somewhat bewildered. Kyoka Makoto's tough attitude was a bit unexpected. They used to be quite familiar with each other, and Xiang Tang had even given them special advice, but now he was acting as if he were a stranger.

Camie Utsushimi waving her hands in a flustered manner, she awkwardly laughed and spoke up for Jilan, "Hey, things haven't gotten to that point yet. Jilan was just expressing his opinion."

"Da, da"

A rhythmic snap of fingers suddenly rang out, echoing through the empty basement. Everyone looked up and saw Jilan Jiyu swaying and snapping their fingers.

This was a rhythmic melody. The Soul Band members, who already knew the score by heart, exchanged glances. It was Queen's famous single, "Ridio."

The prelude to "ga"!

"Jilan, you..." Camie Utsushimi Jilan in disbelief, as if she were seeing him for the first time.

Kyoka Makoto frowned, remaining silent as he watched Jilan intently. What was he planning to do?

I'd sit alone and watch your light.

"Yonlyfriendthmeatteenagenights" (Lonely boy's night, you are my only companion)

As Jilan Jiyu sang, they walked around. When they passed a corner where a bunch of musical instruments were piled up, they reached out and pulled out a microphone stand.

"And everything I knew at that time"

ihearditonyradio (all heard from the radio)

Is he trying to sing this song softly? But it won't work without accompaniment!

Diduo Chengjie and Jiancao Erren exchanged a glance, and the sounds of bass and guitar rang out simultaneously. As if by telepathy, Dave also started playing the drums in the same rhythm.

"Give the all those old stars (from the radio drama)"

The Wars of Worlds Vaded by Ars (This refers to the World Wars and the Martian invasion)

Jilan swayed over to Diduo and held the microphone to his lips. "Is he trying to make me sing along?" Diduo chuckled wryly, tilting his head towards the microphone.

"Temptation ade'eugh indulgence ade'ecry (You give them laughter and tears)"

"You let us fly free"

Jilan took the microphone and said, "So don't be so back noise."

After finishing the song, Jilan Jiyu spun around gracefully, striking Jotaro's classic platinum finger dagger pose, and handed the microphone stand horizontally to Jiancao Erren.

Jiancao Erren smiled and leaned closer to the microphone.

"A backdrop for the girls and boys" (You may be just a backdrop for the children's play)

They don't know or they don't care.

andjtpwhen 'renotthere' (But they'll complain when you're not there)

Dave already had a microphone clipped to his shelf; he pressed his face close to it and sang in a hoarse, screaming voice...

"Tempted had tempted rti, tempted had the power (You once had time, you once had power)"

You deserve to have your most glorious hour.

Next came the performance segment. Jilan stood in the middle of the three, turned around, and forcefully slammed the microphone stand on the ground, looking at him as if in defiance.

Radio

allwehearisradiogaga (All we can hear is the crackling of the radio).

radiogoogoo (The radio is making a cooing sound)

radiogaga (radio clattering)

As the song ended, Jilan lowered the microphone stand he had held high, walked to the opposite side of Kyoka Makoto, and calmly said, as if he hadn't been the one singing so passionately just moments before, "Mr. Kyoka, do you still think I'm here to cause trouble?"

"Jilan, you're amazing!" Camie Utsushimi rushed towards Jilan, but missed as Jilan dodged. She still turned around, her eyes sparkling, and said, "I never expected you could sing like this! From today onwards, Camie Utsushimi is your number one fan!"

Jilan knew that her singing wasn't actually that good. To the lead singer of a band like Kyoka Makoto, it was at best just listenable, with very obvious flaws: unstable breath control, poor pitch, low vocal clarity, and disjointed lyrics.

But--

Kyoka Makoto finally asked, "Why does your singing feel different from mine?"

Jilan was clearly an outsider, but he brought a unique feeling to him. When he cooperated with Diduo, it was like a real rock concert. However, he himself was like a powerless narrator.

"Although I'm not good at saying this, I still have to say it," Jilan said, looking directly at him. "Your singing lacks appeal and fails to bring out the passion that the Queen Band should have."

Jilan could understand his way of singing while standing still, since most singers sing like that, at most they would walk around the stage a few times, but always stay in the center of the stage. But Queen was different; the kind of live performance that Queen had was something that he could not feel by just studying recordings with a broken voice.

Freddie Mercury, also known as Uncle Teeth Freddie, is like a king when he performs live. It's as if the entire stage is his performance venue. He can appear anywhere, but the audience can always find him immediately, and their eyes are always focused on him.

Furthermore, "Queen is a group, and every member is indispensable. Each member has their own hit song, and they are all in the spotlight, each a lead singer. In short, Queen doesn't have a lead singer, or rather, everyone in Queen is a lead singer."

Is that so? Kyoka Makoto remembered their previous performance. Although everyone was doing their part and filling in the gaps in the song, there was always a slight sense of disharmony in some places. But now he understands, it turns out that everyone was also acting as the lead singer.

"One last question: how did you learn about these things? You're not just making this up, are you?"

Once again, Kyoka Makoto questioned Jilan Jiyu. Despite his painstaking efforts, he had only managed to obtain a few Queen singles, some of which were even unavailable. How could Jilan know this, let alone be familiar with Queen Band's live performances?

Jilan suddenly fell silent. How could she explain? In her past life, although she had never heard Queen Band perform live, she had obtained a CD of the concert and was very familiar with Queen Band's various habits?

But now all rock songs are banned, they can't possibly believe I've seen those contraband items.

Seeing Jilan Jiyu remain silent, Kyoka Makoto understood somewhat. Perhaps Ji Lan had some unspeakable difficulties. However, regardless of the reason, it was an established fact that he understood Queen better than the Soul Band.

Kyoka Makoto glanced at his teammates, who were still excited about their brief collaboration, and sighed. "Well," he thought, "It's for their sake. I should let go of this pointless persistence."

"Jilan, may I invite you to be the lead singer of our band?" Kyoka Makoto asked.

"Huh, does that mean I'm going to become Jilan's manager?" Camie Utsushimi blinked, somewhat incredulous.

The person who reacted the most strongly to this wasn't Jilan, but Diduo Chengjie. He threw down his guitar, stood up, and shouted, "Brother Zhen, wasn't this performance something you'd been planning for a long time? Why did you let Jilan join?! Even if he's my benefactor, it's still the same!"

Kyoka Makoto looked at him calmly and said, "There's only one day left until the performance, but we still have shortcomings. Do you want the audience to see our imperfections?"

I've told you many times already, this isn't a stage for self-performance, but rather a place to bring these classic songs back to life in their entirety. Isn't that what we're striving for?

Diduo Chengjie opened his mouth but didn't say anything, then slumped down on the stool.

Kyoka Makoto turned his gaze to Jilan Jiyu. "Jilan, what do you think? Let me make this clear beforehand: although you are the lead singer, you cannot make any changes to the lyrics or the melody."

Jilan shook her head. "I cannot agree."

"Why?" Kyoka Makoto surprised. Wasn't Jilan's performance just now meant to make him acknowledge his shortcomings? Why would he refuse to become Soul?

The lead singer's chance. "Is it because of my dissatisfaction with you just now? I apologize."

"Because this is your band." Jilan looked up and smiled. "Your teamwork is perfect, but the stage effects are a little lacking. If you'd like, I can be your stage effects supervisor."

Jilan knew that once she, an outsider, intervened, the queen would no longer be the queen. Although their coordination was perfect just now, it was only due to the contagion of emotions. If they were performing on stage, their coordination might not be so good. Besides, there was only one day left.

"Kyoka Makoto gave Jilan a deep look and slowly nodded."