Joker's Band Game Story

Amamiya didn't notice Rinrin's shock. He simply looked Hailin up and down before continuing to drink his coffee milk: "Which show is your performance?"

"The third match."

"It's not too late, I should watch the show before I leave."

"Well, I'll try my best."

The two spoke as if they were longtime friends. Hearing this answer, Amamiya simply nodded calmly and said nothing more.

Dick dick~

Hailing's phone suddenly rang. She took it out of her pocket and glanced at it. It was the band members who had invited her over, hoping she could talk about the upcoming performance. So she said goodbye to Amamiya, "I'm going down to rehearse now."

"Ah."

Ren Amamiya nodded, offering no congratulations. Perhaps in his view, Hailin's performance was a foregone conclusion.

After Hailin left, Rinrinko looked at Amamiya with a slightly flushed face and asked, "Ren, what's your relationship with Hailin?"

She asked curiously, as if she had discovered a new couple, her blush not so much from shyness but from excitement.

She seemed to want to see Ren Amamiya embarrassed by the question, showing a shy expression that was different from his usual self.

But Ren Amamiya simply smiled slightly: "We're just friends."

"Huh? Just friends?"

"Or rather, colleagues?"

This word is even worse than the one we just used!

Seeing Ren Amamiya's seemingly dense answer, Rinrinko reached out and tapped him on the head.

"Ouch, that hurts."

She seemed to want to pry open Ren Amamiya's head to see what was going on in his mind.

What kind of opposite-sex friend could answer "Do I look good?" while under such an aggressive gaze from you? Don't you understand the saying "A woman dresses up for her confidant"?

"Seriously, Ah Lian, no girl will like you like this~"

"But... I think I'm pretty popular with women."

Ren Amamiya couldn't help but smile again, and this sunny smile made Rinko cover her face.

No, I can't watch it, I absolutely can't watch it.

Ah Lian is like this sometimes; his sunny disposition is almost unbearable to look at. His face is just too irresistible.

It's obvious that a child like him will definitely grow up to be a femme fatale.

"Ah Lian, don't go astray in the future! Deceiving girls' feelings is a bad thing to do!"

"But shouldn't rock musicians smoke, drink, and play around with women?"

Ren Amamiya's next words left Rinko speechless; she never expected him to say something like that.

For a moment, an image of Ren Amamiya shirtless, holding a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other, flashed into her mind.

"Ah Lian, minors can't drink alcohol..."

"Yeah, that's why I don't smoke or drink, so I can have three times as many women!"

"Ah Lian, you're always joking!"

It was only then that Rinko realized what Ren Amamiya meant. She reached out and tapped Ren Amamiya's head again, and hearing him say "It hurts" made her feel much better.

On the contrary, Riki, who had just come out of the kitchen, clicked her tongue after hearing what Amamiya Ren had just said.

"The worst."

Chapter Three: So annoying, so exhilarating!

After staying in the coffee shop for a while, he saw that it was almost time, so he went to the basement through the outside passage.

In Japan, it's not easy to open a livehouse like this because it's quite difficult to obtain a venue permit due to policy reasons. Therefore, many businesses take advantage of loopholes and choose to apply for a permit as a 'restaurant'.

After all, it's quite normal for bands to perform in restaurants, isn't it? Selling meal sets instead of tickets has successfully allowed many livehouses to operate smoothly. RiNG is one such example, and Starry Night, which is not far from here, is another.

Livehouses also appear in that Goddess Band Recording. Not only livehouses, but you can also participate in various activities in the game, and even have the opportunity to visit the Budokan.

However, the game has only just launched, and these elements have not yet been fully integrated into the game. For example, band performances are still being conducted live. But as the advantages of the game become more apparent in the future, live performances will naturally decrease.

Perhaps in the future, there will be fierce competition among Livehouses in the game, but that has nothing to do with Ren Amamiya. He doesn't run a shop; as a band mercenary, he only cares about whether anyone pays him to work.

"Hello everyone! We are Hallo Cat~ Thank you for coming to watch our performance. Now, let me introduce the members of our team!"

Soon the third performance began, and Ren Amamiya leaned against the wall, admiring the beautiful band on stage from afar.

At this moment, the lead singer is introducing the other members on stage.

"Hello everyone, I'm Ayaka Sakai, the rhythm guitarist for the band. Nice to meet you."

A brown-haired girl greeted everyone nervously, and the lead singer handed the microphone to Hachiman Kairin after she finished introducing herself.

"I am Hachiman Kairin, the bassist temporarily filling in for the band member who is sick and unable to come to the event. Nice to meet you."

As Hachiman Kairin spoke, her gaze, which had been fixed on the audience, involuntarily drifted to Amamiya Ren, who was leaning against the wall. She didn't react much, only glancing at him a few times before standing there to continue her performance.

"Next up is our band's cover song—Light High! We hope everyone can rock out with us!"

As the lead singer finished speaking, the lights were immediately adjusted, and the entire livehouse was instantly ready to listen to the band's performance.

Perhaps I am just a firefly, shining a faint light in the night.

Ren Amamiya also closed his eyes, listening to the lead singer's performance.

Not professional enough, a bit amateurish. Breathing was unsteady, and the rhythm was a bit too fast.

He could detect two problems from just one sentence.

Perhaps I am just a dying candle, placed on the table, waiting to burn out.

The voice couldn't be low either. This piece is supposed to have a suppressed main melody and a high-pitched secondary melody, but the main melody couldn't be suppressed. To be honest, this piece is really not suitable for the third performance.

Ren Amamiya was critical of the performance in his mind, and in his opinion, it was quite inadequate.

His idea was not wrong, and the gradually cooling atmosphere at the scene proved that his guess was correct; this song was indeed not suitable to be sung at this time.

But it doesn't matter, as long as the chorus is energetic, the awkward silences beforehand can be easily overlooked.

So Ren Amamiya listened quietly to the rest of the performance.

But I am the light! Radiating light like hope!

The chorus was indeed upbeat, but Ren Amamiya couldn't help but frown.

Compared to the original, this band's handling of the rhythm in this part is not as refined, and the transition from low to high in the atmosphere should be smoother rather than so abrupt.

However, people aren't that picky about music. For the general public, liking music doesn't necessarily mean they have high musical literacy. So, when faced with this band, everyone still got up and started dancing.

My heart is pounding! My joy is palpable! This is the perfect moment to shine!

Among the performers on stage, Hai Ling undoubtedly played the best. She is a professional musician and is quite skilled in this area.

Unfortunately, she didn't quite fit in with the others. Their musical skills were far inferior to hers; if it weren't for the fact that she played bass, the performance would have been even worse. The band's coordination was also quite poor; everyone seemed to be doing their own thing. Luckily, they chose a cover song, which wasn't particularly difficult to cover, otherwise they would have been completely lost.

But Ren Amamiya had already guessed the band's future: the band would not be remembered by the audience. At most, they would only remember that there was a band that performed a cover of 'Light High' today, and that was it.

There's no way around it, but that's the harsh truth. If they were just a group of entertaining musicians, they wouldn't be bothered by this, but if they want to achieve something...

The song ended quickly, and the band performed two more songs afterward. Unfortunately, whether due to overconfidence or something else, the band pulled out their own original song for the last song.

Naturally, the atmosphere that had just warmed up cooled down again, and an awkward situation ensued.

"Ah Lian, Ah Lian!"

At that moment, Ren Amamiya heard someone calling him from behind. He turned around and saw that it was the shop manager, Rinrinko.

"What's wrong, store manager?"

Ren Amamiya walked over and looked at Rinko, wondering why she had called him at this moment.

Rinrinko pointed to the back row of the audience. Several audience members had already left, and some of the others seemed undecided, as if they had lost interest in the rest of the performance.

"I'm so sorry, but I really need your help right now."

Rinrinko quickly clasped her hands together and pleaded with Ren Amamiya: "The band that was supposed to perform in the fourth show still has some members who are late, but the atmosphere in the venue is already quite cold. If no one can go on stage to liven things up, then..."

Rinrinko looked like she was about to cry, and Ren Amamiya sighed, "I understand."

Without a doubt, Rinrinko hoped that Ren Amamiya would perform on stage to warm up the atmosphere.

"How much longer will that band need?"

"Five minutes! That teammate seems to be stuck in traffic, but he's almost at the store now. Please help!"

The band had already awkwardly left the stage by then. If the atmosphere remained awkward for a while, it would be terrible. Rinrinko didn't want any more guests to leave during the intermission.

Since that's the case, Ren Amamiya didn't say anything more. He just nodded and tossed the bass guitar he was carrying to Rinrinko: "Then you can help look after this bass guitar for a while, and the money will be paid the usual amount."

"Don't worry, it's okay with the adhesive tape."

Upon hearing Ren Amamiya say he wanted to go on stage, Rinrinko immediately said that there was no problem with it.

Compared to preventing the business from becoming too quiet and affecting the shop's reputation, the amount of money that Ren Amamiya needs is a small sum.

Ren Amamiya has always been like this; he always charges for these kinds of jobs. If he helped someone for free just because they were a friend, it would only lead to more trouble later. Even close brothers should keep clear accounts, let alone friends. Ren Amamiya doesn't want to get entangled in feelings or favors, so he always accepts payment.

"Cough cough."

With her guitar on her back, Ren Amamiya immediately ran backstage and quickly prepared to go on stage during the two or three minutes of blackout time when the bands changed.

He usually carries a guitar and a bass, which are usually the only two things the band needs most.

The drum kit can't be moved around easily, and a keyboardist isn't essential for some bands, so he usually carries the guitar and bass on his back. He couldn't possibly play the bass alone on stage this time, so he brought the guitar with him.

Just as Hailin stepped off the stage, she noticed that Ren Amamiya was about to go on stage, so she reached out and asked, "What's wrong, Ren?"

"The next band's performance is still a few minutes away, so I'm going on stage to catch up."

"So what do you plan to play?"