Unknown Past (End of Volume Two)
Jilan didn't expect that just two days later, she would be back at Satomi Ishihara's house. Her house wasn't big, but it was decorated very warmly.
At this moment, Jilan was sitting on the sofa in front of the TV, watching the concert clips playing on the screen, looking speechless.
Looking at Jilan's calm, expressionless face, Satomi Ishihara carefully handed him a cup of coffee and asked curiously, "Jilan, is it because of your performance at this concert that the team leader asked me for your contact information?"
She didn't go out today because it was her holiday. Her usual weekend routine consisted of reading detective novels and watching comedy variety shows, as well as searching online for trending news and gossip. She had heard of this concert, but since it was an underground band's performance, she didn't pay attention to it, as it didn't seem to have the potential to become a hot topic.
Her judgment was correct. Before Jilan sang "Killereen", although the UL Band's performance level was very high, it was only circulated among a small group of people. But once they rode the wave of the Sports Festival and the U.A. High School students' popularity, it was only a matter of time before it spread to the whole Internet.
"This should be it." Jilan nodded. He couldn't say he regretted it; he knew before going on stage that he might attract some attention and had taken precautions.
However, he did not expect that Camie Utsushimi's actions would be so swift, actually using him as a publicity stunt to sell the concert recording to a TV station.
However, there was one thing she did that pleased Jilan: she blurred her face in all the shots. Although some people could easily tell what Mirko looked like by comparing the footage from the Sports Festival, such people were relatively few.
Pro Hero receive attention, appear on various television interviews, and many people quickly recognize them because of their distinctive combat suits, but they don't pay much attention to them—because they have nothing to talk about.
However, Hero Course students like Jilan and Bakugo, who gain attention due to certain events, are more likely to have their stories talked about. People are only familiar with their names; they're not familiar with the students themselves, who don't possess any special characteristics. For example, if you let Bakugo walk around the street, not everyone might recognize him; in fact, more people would probably avoid him.
During a casual chat with Diduo others these past two days, Jilan learned that Camie Utsushimi is now the organizer of this concert, and she is personally responsible for all the funding. Naturally, she will take the lion's share of the ticket revenue. Moreover, she said that photographers will be stationed in several locations during the performance, and as soon as the concert ends, she will contact relevant manufacturers to press Blu-ray discs, preparing to make another fortune by selling them.
Originally, neither the UL Band nor Jilan thought the CD would sell for much money, but it was better than nothing, so they let it go. But now it seems they absolutely must ask her for a larger share of the profits.
With a sigh of relief, Ishihara said apologetically, "Jilan, I'm so sorry. I called you over right after your concert. I hope I didn't bother you?"
"No, I'm glad you're alright." Jilan shook her head.
After the concert, Jilan chatted with Asui and briefly explained why she was at the concert. She said she was a fan of the Kyoka Makoto band, and because they didn't have specific information about the setlist for their performance, they asked her, a die-hard fan, for help. As a token of gratitude, she was allowed to appear at their concert.
Jilan's half-truthful lie didn't arouse any suspicion from Asui. Asui also explained why they were there, dispelling Jilan's doubts. After the Mirko, the two didn't speak again, but just walked along the beach.
Then, just as Asui her head and mustered the courage to say something, Jilan Jiyu's phone suddenly Vibrate.
I don't know what Asui wanted to say, but it shouldn't be anything urgent, right?
Jilan didn't touch the coffee. She stood up from the sofa. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now. Also, next time you'd better find out the facts before calling for help. I don't really care, but your team leader is pretty good to you, isn't he?"
Thankfully, she hadn't said anything inexplicable to the team leader... Ishihara's face flushed slightly. Looking at Jilan Jiyu, she suddenly said, "Jilan, it's getting late. Why don't you stay?"
"No, aren't you afraid I'm a hand fetishist killer?" Jilan Jiyu went to the entrance and changed into leather shoes. "Besides, I have class tomorrow, and I need to rush to the band to change back into my clothes."
Jilan is still wearing that light green suit.
Ishihara had no reason to stop her. After hearing the door click shut, she sighed, picked up the cup of coffee she had just had, and went to the computer to open the concert video.
"I'm not going to sleep until I finish watching this concert tonight!" Ishihara said confidently, taking a sip of coffee.
When Jilan arrived at the bar in the alley, it was already past midnight, but Jilan still didn't feel sleepy at all, as if her biological clock didn't exist.
It's like the saying goes, "A night of staying up late is fun for a while, and staying up late all the time is even more fun."
Because Hitomi Mishima was a student, Kyoka Makoto ignored Camie Utsushimi, and sent her straight home.
Camie Utsushimi left while making a phone call, saying she was going to contact the relevant people.
So when Jilan Jiyu entered the bar, all they could see Diduo Chengjie carrying the last few things back and forth.
"Jilan, you're here!" Diduo greeted Jilan excitedly, hurriedly carried his things to the basement, and then rushed back, panting.
He bowed deeply to Jilan, who was sitting at the bar. "Jilan, thank you so much. Our concert has never been so popular!"
In fact, Diduo Chengjie's singing and instrumental skills are top-notch. Their lack of popularity is simply because the path they insist on is too niche.
However, thanks to this concert and the trending topic of "Jilan Jiyu," will the term "rock and roll" gradually be rekindled in the public's memory?
"Are you aware of the situation between All Might and Kyoka Makoto?" Jilan Jiyu asked suddenly, pointing at the table. After the J incident, Kyoka Makoto and All Might had a brief meeting. In Kyoka Makoto's presence, Jilan Jiyu intuitively felt that All Might seemed to feel ashamed.
"All Might!?" Diduo Chengjie was startled and instinctively shook his head in denial, "How could Brother Zhen have anything to do with All Might? He stopped being Pro Hero five years ago."
"Five years ago? If you could, could you tell me why Kyoka Makoto stopped being Pro Hero?" Jilan Jiyu felt that asking this was a bit inappropriate, so she continued, "As you know, my goal is to become Pro Hero, and I want to know some of the deeds of former heroes for reference."
"I see," Diduo Chengjie thought for a moment and slowly said, "Actually, I'm not too sure about why he stopped being a hero. During that time, because the lead singer in our team was Pro Hero, our team received a lot of attention. Jiancao, Dave, and I practiced every day, and we would have a performance about every two weeks. Sometimes Brother Zhen couldn't make it, I would take over as the lead singer."
Diduo Chengjie fell into reminiscence. "Later, for a period of time, all the Pro Hero were urgently called up, including Brother Zhen. We were busy with training during that time and didn't pay much attention. But when Brother Zhen came back, he made a decision to stop being a hero, and I left the band for that reason as well."
Diduo gave a wry smile, seemingly mocking his own past immaturity. His eyes clouded over as he continued, "I don't know much about that matter either, only from snippets of conversation I gleaned from Brother Zhen's occasional drunken ramblings. It was a brutal battle the government concealed—nearly half the heroes were seriously injured, and several perished. And the leader of that battle was All Might." (Note: The last sentence, "11 Readers, you can search 'blue' to find this site immediately," appears to be an unrelated comment and has been omitted from the translation.)