Joker's Band Game Story

At that moment, Ren Amamiya's cell phone suddenly rang; it was a text message.

He casually opened it and started looking at it, but his eyes quickly narrowed.

"Oh, Lian, you're leaving already?"

"Something came up, so I have to go now."

Ren Amamiya left in a hurry, which made the others feel strange.

Has something urgent happened to Amamiya? Why is she running so fast?

Ren Amamiya didn't have time to explain the situation to the others; he was currently on his phone, quickly making a call to the other party.

But it was clear that the other party had no intention of responding.

So he immediately called another person, and the call was answered very quickly.

"What happened? What's wrong with you all?"

Ren Amamiya immediately inquired about the situation, and the person on the other end of the phone seemed anxious, unsure how to respond to what was happening.

"Momoka...Momoka ran away. Nana is chasing her, but she probably won't catch up..."

"Then what's the deal with Diamond Dust disbanding?"

That's right, the message Ren Amamiya just received was about Diamond Dust disbanding. Since Diamond Dust was originally scheduled to perform at the Shujin Academy school festival, they would naturally send a message to Ren Amamiya if there was a problem.

"I don't know, I really don't know... what's going on..."

The other person was even more emotionally distraught than he was, so Ren Amamiya quickly comforted them, "Wait a minute, where are you now? I'll come find you."

"In Shinjuku, we were supposed to be discussing the band's future today, and then... and then..."

"Hey? Amamiya, why don't you come to Shinjuku first? We can talk about the details after we meet."

The other person seemed very upset, so when the other person took the phone and saw that it was Ren Amamiya calling, they immediately hoped that Ren Amamiya could come and help.

It's obvious that Momoka isn't willing to listen to anyone in the team right now, so it would be more appropriate to let Ren Amamiya, who has some inside knowledge, help her.

Ren Amamiya has performed with Diamond Dust before, so he's not a complete outsider. Having him help talk to Momoka might be a good option.

It takes less than 20 minutes by train from Shimokitazawa to Shinjuku, so Ren Amamiya ran towards Shinjuku at top speed.

He didn't know what conflict Momoka and the other members had caused that was so big as to disband the band, but he still ran quickly toward that direction.

He didn't want Diamond Dust to disband. He had been involved in many bands, and he could sense that some of them were on the verge of disbanding or were showing signs of disbanding. But he had never felt that way about Diamond Dust. The four of them were so united and loving, so what could have caused the band, which had been together for three years, to choose to disband now?

Moreover, rather than saying it's a disbandment, it's more like Momoka wanted to leave the Reiyuu band!

But Tao Xiang is the band's leader and also its lyricist and composer. If she leaves the band, it's not that different from the band disbanding.

Her departure is similar to Xiangzi leaving Crychic in terms of Diamond Stardust's impact, which explains why everyone wants to know where Momoka went.

After Ren Amamiya finally arrived at Shinjuku Station, he made another call, this time to Nana.

"Has Taoxiang caught up yet?"

“She didn’t want us to follow her, so I stopped chasing her.”

Panting heavily, Nana was explaining the situation to Amamiya. It seemed that she had also discussed the situation with the other team members in the past twenty minutes.

"She's at an izakaya right now, so it's not convenient for me to go in. Maybe you can have a good talk with her."

"So what exactly caused your conflict? I need to find out that first."

This is the most important thing compared to other things; if you don't know why a conflict occurred, there's no point in going over it.

So he quickly understood why they were arguing.

The reason for the dispute was simple—Diamond Dust was about to give up.

This was certainly true during the era of big girl bands, but with so many bands in one category, it's true that even the best wine needs advertising.

That's how diamond dust is; instead of rising with the tide, it becomes a grain of sand, swept away by the sea.

They are not without talent; on the contrary, they are talented, which is why agencies have approached them hoping to collaborate.

However, as part of the contract, they had to change their style to one that appealed to the masses.

Originally, they were a traditional, classic band, but their agency made them change and debut as an idol-type girl band.

Admittedly, the agency's approach in this environment wasn't wrong. Catering to and pleasing the masses is the reason and method for many bands to develop smoothly. However, Momoka refused this change. She stubbornly denied it, especially when the other three members of the band were about to agree with the agency's approach, she completely broke down.

She ran away; after countless arguments with the band, she chose to run away.

She had no intention of returning to Diamond Dust; she went into hiding on her own.

Indeed, she was a loser, an 'old-fashioned' person, and she wanted to just wallow in her own style and sink into oblivion.

But Ren Amamiya felt that what she did was not wrong. Indeed, as a musician, he felt that what she did was correct.

The other band members weren't wrong either; their actions stemmed from a clash between ideals and reality.

Other band members felt they lacked fame, so they planned to adapt to the market first before making a change, intending to first feign innocence and feign weakness. However, this approach was unlikely to succeed because while they would attract many fans when they became famous, those fans preferred idol girls rather than traditional, genuine characters. Their approach might bring them money and fame, but they couldn't find their true selves.

Tao Xiang stubbornly adhered to her true self. She was unwilling to change, unwilling to become a cute young girl singing and dancing on stage. She felt that the fame gained from such behavior was fake and disgusting to her.

"It's impossible for Taoxiang to go back."

Ren Amamiya gave the answer directly: the conflict between Momoka and others is an unchangeable reality, and no one can change that.

“We know that, but... we just hope that Momoka won’t be upset because of this.”

Momoka will definitely be very sad, and she might even fall into depravity because of this.

They didn't want to see this side of things, so they wanted to talk to Momoka, but Momoka clearly didn't want to talk to them.

"I understand, then I know what to do next... I wish you all the best in your endeavors."

Ren Amamiya hung up the phone and did not communicate with them again.

As a musician, he wouldn't naively assume the other person's actions were wrong. That's just reality; playing in a band is never that simple.

So he gave the other party plenty of face, but abandoning his principles for money made him not intend to say anything more to those girls.

So he simply adjusted his mindset and went straight into the izakaya they had mentioned.

"Welcome... Minors are not allowed in~"

Because Ren Amamiya was wearing a school uniform, the izakaya owner immediately decided to kick him out.

Coming to a place like this at this time is not a good thing. You might run into some troublesome gangsters here, so the boss letting him leave is also a way of protecting him.

Ren Amamiya simply bowed to the other party and said, "I'm not here to order drinks, I'm here to find someone. The other person didn't bring any money with them, and I don't think you'd want to encounter a customer who drinks but doesn't pay, right? Besides, I know Kinjo, so you can rest assured about that."

Ren Amamiya's two sentences made the shop owner lose his desire to continue lecturing. He simply looked at the customers in his shop. There weren't many customers at this time, so he quickly noticed a customer who seemed to be Ren Amamiya looking for—a woman in the corner who had ordered an unknown number of beers and was already somewhat drunk.

Chapter Forty: The Pig with a Backbone Returns Home

This was the first time Ren Amamiya had ever seen someone drink so many bottles of beer that they were almost unconscious.

Although he has never drunk alcohol in this life, he drank quite a lot in his past life. After each live performance, he liked to go out for drinks and barbecue with his brothers. That period can be said to be the happiest time in his heart.

So in his opinion, beer sometimes really is no different from horse piss, especially those inferior, low-quality brands; the taste is just like horse piss.

Well, it's hard to say. Some big brands also like to add a little something extra. Anyway, when it comes to drinking, he tends to choose something better.

As for the current situation... he casually picked up an empty bottle and examined the alcohol content on it.

Three degrees, tsk, how come it's failing at such a low level?

"Ah...how did you...come here..."

Just as the shop owner had guessed, Ren Amamiya had come to find the young woman who was quietly drinking alone in the corner.

He did confirm the woman's age before giving her the wine, since she looked like a child. As it turned out, he was right; she was exactly 20 years old, a perfect age.

Although there are rumors that the drinking age will be lowered from 20 to 18 recently, it hasn't been officially changed yet. However, since the other person was exactly 20 years old, he didn't bother with her anymore and just sold her the alcohol.

"I came here to pick up the body, I didn't expect you to have drunk so little."

That's right, not a lot, but a little; Ren Amamiya had some doubts about her alcohol tolerance.

Upon hearing Ren Amamiya's words, she couldn't help but scoff, "What nonsense are you talking about? I haven't drunk a single drop."

"Yes, yes, you didn't drink a drop, the dog drank it all."

Ren Amamiya didn't intend to say anything nice to the drunkard, so he was quickly punched by him.

But she was already a little weakling, so when she was sitting down, her punch could only land on Amamiya's leg.

"I...don't need your help."

"Where's the money? You didn't bring your wallet with you, did you?"

Amamiya wasn't wrong. When Momoka got into an argument with her teammates and fled the scene, she didn't take her bag with her, and her revealing clothes didn't look like she could carry money.

Of course, it's fortunate that this place isn't a nightclub, otherwise who knows how many men would have come looking for fun with Tao Xiang. A woman who's drunk and quite attractive is bound to attract unwanted attention.

“I…then I will, I will, I will…”

"Trying to dine and dash? Be careful, you might get arrested and taken to the police station."

As Ren Amamiya spoke, he casually kicked the trash can next to him, then grabbed Momoka by the back of the neck with his right hand and forced her mouth toward the trash can. The next second, the sound of vomiting could be heard.

In his past life, he had a high alcohol tolerance, but there was another guy in the band who couldn't hold his liquor but always insisted on drinking. So he had long since learned how to read people's moods. Once someone showed signs of wanting to vomit, he would tell them to aim for the trash can or a trash bag and dispose of it precisely.

After all, cleaning up afterwards is a hassle, and he didn't want to cause trouble for others just because the other person had a drink.

"Could I have a glass of water without ice, please? And could you also pay the bill? Could you also give me a few plastic bags? Oh, and do you have any hangover remedies? Yes, please, thank you."

Preparing plastic bags was, of course, in case she vomited on the way back. In her condition, she definitely wouldn't be able to take the tram and would have to take a taxi home.

He felt it wouldn't be appropriate for Tao Xiang to vomit in the taxi, so he prepared some plastic bags to avoid getting himself covered in vomit.

Oh, there's one thing he has to clarify: the vomit of a pretty girl doesn't smell good; it smells just like the vomit of an old man. Don't romanticize anything about pretty girls.

While patting Momoka's back and listening to her unpleasant vomiting sounds, Ren Amamiya thought that she probably needed to throw up everything in her stomach.

To be honest, drinking to this extent is quite dangerous; it's easy to get into trouble. You'll only realize your mistake when you're taken to the hospital by ambulance and given an IV drip.

But Tao Xiang might simply be unable to drink alcohol? If she doesn't drink that much, there's no need to worry too much; taking some medicine should be enough.

As for the rest... I'll fix it for her when we get home.