Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Chapter 162 Because I Haven’t Met You Yet (4 words)

“No, no!!!”

"It would be too easy for those who defrauded me of my money to end it like this..."

In an apartment somewhere in Tokyo, the song of Yayoi Tsuki was echoing on the radio. A middle-aged man with his neck hanging on a hemp rope struggled in mid-air and fell heavily to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Ms. Yayoi, you are the same as me... But it's just repeating five times, it's not worth it at all..."

In a cram school in Nagoya, a girl was sitting on the toilet, listening to Yayoi Tsuki singing at her best on her cell phone, and dropped the utility knife in her hand.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it... It's just work..."

"I can't find it, so I started my own business!!!"

In Osaka's commercial district, a young man in a suit stood on the edge of the rooftop of the 173-meter Umeda Building. He stared at Yayoi Tsukishima singing in the darkness on the giant advertising screen on the building opposite, then retreated back to the rooftop with a roar.

"Are you idiots? You actually did such a thing..."

In an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Kyoto, a young man with blurred consciousness struggled to break the window beside him.

Sunlight and oxygen poured in along with the broken glass.

"However, I am even more of an idiot than you for signing up for this 'suicide club'..."

"The reason why humans have not become extinct until now is not because we persist in our belief in survival no matter how harsh the environment is, right?"

Looking at the charcoal basins all over the floor and the unconscious men and women lying around him, he sat weakly on the ground with a self-deprecating smile.

A mobile phone next to him was broadcasting live the new song release conference of Yayoi Tsuki.

NHK, NTV, Fuji, Asahi, TBS, Tokyo, from the six major TV stations in the eleven districts, to local TV stations, to various live streaming platforms...

Even radio stations of all sizes, advertising screens in the streets and alleys...

Driven by some kind of "mysterious official power", everyone was broadcasting Yayoi Tsuki's singing in unison, spreading her moving singing to every corner of District 11.

In unknown places, countless people who have thoughts of suicide, or are already doing so, have had unknown power injected into their souls by the song "I Once Thought of Ending It All", awakening the most primitive survival instinct in their bodies...

Those "Complete Suicide Manual" that were difficult for ordinary people to see and appeared mysteriously, also gradually burned to ashes in the singing.

……

In the center of the dark stage, standing under the only ray of light, Yayoi Tsukishima was still singing sincerely and powerfully.

"I once thought about ending it all because I was considered a cold-hearted person."

"I cry because I want to be loved, because I understand the warmth between people."

"I once thought about ending it all because of your brilliant smile."

"If you keep thinking about death, it must be because you take life too seriously."

Even if my voice is hoarse from exerting too much effort...

Even if my long hair is messy because of the big movements...

Even if the makeup is smudged because of the tears that can't be stopped...

Even if my expression is out of control due to excitement...

Yayoi Tsuki continued to sing with all her might, as if she was burning her life away.

At the end of the song, the image of a young man on a messy rooftop with snot and tears streaming down his face, yet holding onto his own hands tightly, flashed through her mind.

"I once thought about ending it all..."

She suddenly turned her head and looked at the "keyboard player" in the darkness beside her with deep affection: "...It's because I haven't met you yet."

The power in her voice faded, becoming lighter, gentler and more hopeful than ever before...

"The existence of people like you in this world makes me like this world a little bit."

"Because there are people like you in this world, I have some hope for this world."

It was as if I saw the light that broke through the darkness and saved myself.

"..."

After the song was over, Yayoi Tsuki walked forward barefoot and bowed deeply to the camera.

There was silence all around, no applause, no cheers, no fancy lights or sound effects...

The only "narration" was the sound of benches scraping against the ground as the dozen or so listeners who were determined to survive were taken away by the agents of Section 9.

“The above is my new song, “I Once Thought of Ending It All.”

"I hope this song can give you the strength to find the light when you are in the darkness."

While the audience watching the live broadcast were still lingering on the touching aftertaste of the new song...

"Next, I have one more thing to announce to everyone..."

"Due to personal health reasons, I have decided to suspend my music activities indefinitely."

Yayoi Tsuki stood up straight, with tears on her face, and faced the camera, and without any warning, she said something that surprised the entire District 11.

"Yes, the previous rumors are true."

"In fact, I can hardly hear any sound from the outside world now."

"I was originally planning to retire, but I suddenly came across this song "I Once Thought of Ending It All" by producer Xia Fan."

"After listening to it, I felt that this song was really about me and people who are in the same darkness as me."

“At that time, I was thinking, even if I can’t hear it anymore, at least I have to sing this song to everyone before I leave the stage.”

She told the story in a calm and optimistic tone.

"However, I stopped my music activities not to give up, but to seek treatment options and find a glimmer of hope..."

“So, please support this new song and join me in looking forward to seeing you again in the future.”

Having said that, Yayoi Tsukishiro bowed again to express his gratitude.

"Today's new song release conference ends here."

"Goodbye, everyone."

The live broadcast signal of the new song release conference was immediately interrupted.

……

Chiyoda, J-Sha Building.

"Yayoi Tsuki's new song release conference only lasted more than ten minutes, and it's already over?"

"Did I hear it wrong? She just admitted that she is deaf and announced that she will retire indefinitely?"

"Company Bethesda made a big fuss about organizing an 'all-channel broadcast', but it ended in such a short time. The singer also announced his retirement. This is really unconventional." Members of the "Tetsudo AK Production Committee" headed by Manjiro Akimoto stared at the dark live screen with a look of confusion.

When a first-line singer's new song release conference comes around, they always want to tout the singer's previous achievements a hundred times, then go on to wax wildly sentimental about the difficulty of creating a song and the years of struggle, then sing a few classic hits to warm up the audience, find a few artists from the same company to stand on the stage, and even have a sponsor-sponsored segment before finally making the long-awaited appearance to sing the new song.

But on Yayoi Tsuki's side, there was no choreography, no guests, no warm-up songs, and even the live accompaniment only had one keyboard player...

Although she had unprecedented "omni-channel broadcasting" resources, she was so eccentric that she didn't even have an opening statement and just sang the new song directly without any foreplay.

Then, he also announced negative news such as "indefinite termination of activities".

It felt like spending a large sum of money to book all the bubble bath shops in Yoshiwara and booking the best group of masseurs, only to find that the battle was over in three minutes.

"By the way, what stage is the new song release conference of Tiedao AK at?"

After being stunned for a while, one of the representatives asked in an obscure voice.

"Currently, the sixth member's personal introduction PV is still being played... According to the process, it is expected to be another hour before the new song starts..."

Glancing at another screen, which was showing the live broadcast of "铁道AK"'s new song release conference, the staff member next to him answered with a stutter.

"Director Akimoto, should we ask them to speed up the process..."

The representative carefully asked Manjiro Akimoto for advice.

"Director Akimoto?!"

But it was discovered that this serious "girl group founder" had already burst into tears without her noticing.

"It's okay, it just made me emotional."

"There's no need to speed up the process. Let them proceed as usual. Slowing down and staggering the competition period may be a good thing."

Manjiro Akimoto wiped away his tears with paper and shook his head helplessly.

“This song, “I Once Thought of Ending It All,” is indeed an excellent piece of work, and Yayoi Tsuki’s passionate singing is also very touching.”

As a senior lyricist, Manjiro Akimoto gave a fair evaluation.

"This 'Xia Fan's' music production level doesn't seem like a newcomer at all. Has the company investigated? If he is really a newcomer, with such a high level of production and such high productivity, why don't they find a way to poach him?"

He leaned close to the ear of a familiar representative and whispered a question.

"Company B is keeping the information about 'Down to Earth' very secret. Our informant is not from the music department and his rank is not high enough, so we haven't gained anything yet."

"I heard that the company here is already looking for 'professionals' to find a way to investigate."

The representative shrugged.

"In short, whether it's the popularity of this press conference or the quality of the song, 'You Are My Favorite' has completely lost."

"Yayoi Tsuki's announcement of an indefinite suspension of activities may be negative news for her, but not for this song."

"It would be best if her hearing could be cured. Otherwise, this song 'I Once Thought of Ending It All' might become an unsurpassed masterpiece..."

Akimoto Manjiro quickly calmed down and returned to his meticulous self.

The song "I Once Thought About Ending It All" has impeccable production standards. Although the overall tone is somewhat "sad", it carries the powerful spiritual core of "living towards death" from beginning to end. When sung by top singer Yayoi Tsuki, who has similar experiences, it reaches a height that is difficult to surpass.

What is even more surprising is that the live performance at this song release conference itself was the best weapon to fight back against the "deaf" public opinion...

But at the end of the press conference, Yayoi Tsuki frankly admitted the fact that she had "hearing loss" and announced the breaking news that she would "suspend her music activities indefinitely."

This is equivalent to sacrificing one's own career to elevate this song to the next level.

Manjiro Akimoto could imagine that the headlines of major media outlets would soon be flooded with reports about the song "I Once Thought About Ending It All" and the news that Yayoi Moon would be suspending her activities.

This reminded him of the painful memory of the summer when he was seventeen years old, when he had just put the coin in the fighting machine and just as he grasped the joystick, his opponent knocked him out with three ultimate moves.

"However, we didn't intend to compete with her in terms of song quality. The huge sales brought by the fan base is the basis for the establishment of the "Railway AK" project."

"The ultimate winner or loser does not come from this press conference, but from the subsequent sales."

Although his song was not as good as others, Manjiro Akimoto did not intend to admit defeat and continued to watch the new song release conference of "Tetsudo AK" quietly.

……

"How was it? My performance just now must have moved you to the point of tears. You didn't even dare to take off your sunglasses."

On the stage after the new song release conference, Yayoi Yue had tears on her face, but she looked completely relaxed and playfully took off Xia Fan's sunglasses.

"This live version feels better than the recorded version. However, if there was one thing that made me cry, it was definitely because of you stepping on me."

Xia Fan, with red eyes, smiled bitterly as he looked at his even redder instep.

"It's your honor to be stepped on by me. I can understand if you don't wash your feet for a week and lick them every day when you go back."

Yayoi Tsuki gave him a charming look.

During the performance just now, the two of them maintained a state of sensory sharing throughout the entire process. Not only did the accompaniment and the singing blend perfectly, but they also produced a kind of mysterious resonance in emotions.

While she was singing, she already sensed that Xia Fan was crying along with her.

"Thank you for your hard work, you two."

"This song will be officially released online in one hour. Starting tomorrow, it will be played continuously in all possible channels, time periods and places, striving to completely clear the curse of the manual."

Aoi Jinguji and Inspector Higurashi walked onto the stage and nodded in thanks to the two.

"This time, we must completely purify the curse of the manual."

Looking at the "live audience" who had completely regained their consciousness to survive because of the effectiveness of the "sacrificial song", Xia Fan clenched his fists excitedly.

"No need to thank me, after all, I almost fell victim to that curse. I can do my part and use official resources to promote my song, so why not?"

Yayoi Tsuki put on her hearing aid, took out her makeup mirror, and started to touch up her makeup which was a mess from crying.

"Ms. Yayoi, regarding your 'deafness', our class 9 also helped to do some research."

"According to the registration information, your half-demon bloodline should be from the 'white fox' clan. It is said that the white fox was once the retainer and messenger of the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. There may be a method left by the white fox clan to control the blood talent..."

"This is the business card of the chief priest Wang Ren of Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto. We have already informed him. You can go there on your own when you have time. Perhaps you will gain something."

Aoi Jinguji walked up to Yayoi Tsuki and handed her a business card.

"Fushimi Inari Taisha..."

"Got it. I'll find time to visit you."

Taking it with both hands, looking at the business card in her hand, Yayoi Tsuki's pupils trembled slightly, and she nodded to Jinguji Aoi in thanks.

"That's great, Miss Yayoi."

Xia Fan next to him also smiled with relief.

If there is a way to control this pair of fox ears made of demonic power, it means that Yayoi Tsuki's hearing may be restored to normal and her career can be reborn.

(End of this chapter)