Joker's Band Game Story

The staff member who was adjusting the sound system noticed Ren Amamiya and greeted him.

"Oh, Saeko-nee, I brought a new person over. I'll have Hoshika-nee see if she can pass the test. If she does, you'll have another colleague."

Ren Amamiya responded.

(P.S.: Sound engineer PA doesn't have a specific name in the solo rock scene, so this article refers to her as 'Saeko Iwai'.)

Chapter Six: Xiangzi Working at Fanxing? I Knock on the Masked Maid!

Saeko Iwai wasn't particularly interested in her soon-to-be new colleague. She glanced at Shoko Toyokawa standing behind Ren Amamiya, nodded, and continued with her work.

However, compared to her, a girl with a yellow ponytail skipped and hopped over.

"Huh? Is there another new job applicant? Will my sister agree to it?"

"Ichi Nijika, Hoshika's younger sister, is currently a second-year high school student."

Ren Amamiya introduced Nijika to Shoko Toyokawa, and then introduced Shoko to Nijika: "Shoko Toyokawa, she's a little short on money lately, so she's looking for a job."

After the two introduced themselves to each other, he stepped aside and waited for Xingge to arrive.

As for how Hongxia kept harassing Xiangzi during this time, he couldn't be bothered to care.

Anyway, Hongxia wouldn't do anything to Xiangzi. She's just an energetic young girl, and it's normal for her to want to chat more with someone her own age.

Xiangzi, on the other hand, kept smiling and chatting with Hongxia. She mostly responded to the girl who was talking to her about this and that, and only occasionally expressed her own opinions.

She seems to care a lot about the things that these girls care about.

"But Xiangzi, how did you get to know Brother Lian?"

"Lian...Brother?"

Shoko Toyokawa was bewildered by this statement. She glanced at Ren Amamiya, who was still wearing his school uniform: "He seems to be a high school student too, right?"

Calling someone your own age "big brother" directly seems a bit...

"Oh dear, don't you think Brother Lian always looks so old-fashioned? If you didn't see his school uniform, I think he'd be older than my sister... Ouch!"

Before Hongxia could finish speaking, she was tapped on the head. She turned around and saw her older sister standing next to her, looking at her with displeasure.

"What do you mean by being older than me? Don't talk like your sister is that old now."

Xingge clicked her tongue twice, then looked at Xiangzi next to her: "Fengchuan Xiangzi, right? Come over for the interview. And you, Lian, you come over too. You brought him, so come and take a look together."

She had learned about Toyokawa Shoko from Amamiya Ren; she was a high school girl from a poor family who had to work part-time on weekdays.

So the two weren't very close, and Hoshika knew about Amamiya's intentions in introducing her. Coincidentally, Hoshika also needed someone to do odd jobs, so she decided to first assess this person's skills and see if she had any ulterior motives.

If she's too petty, she's not suitable for this job. I should remind Amamiya to be careful of this girl.

"Did you bring all your identification documents?"

"Yes, please take a look."

Xingge picked up the document, glanced at it briefly, and tossed it onto the table. At least there wasn't anything seriously wrong with the document.

"I need a waiter/waitress. The shift is from 4:30 PM to 10:00 PM, a total of five and a half hours. The daily wage is 10,000 yen. Ticket sales start at 5:00 PM, and audiences start entering at 6:00 PM, so you need to clean the entire shop before 5:00 PM. From 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM, you'll be responsible for selling tickets. From 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM, you'll be responsible for observing whether any audience members are causing trouble. From 9:30 PM to 10:00 PM, you'll be responsible for cleaning up the venue. These are just approximate working hours. If you can clean the shop before 5:00 PM, you can come at 4:55 PM. Any other questions?"

Ten thousand yen for a five-and-a-half-hour shift isn't low, and she had a general understanding of the job duties. Amamiya nodded slightly, knowing the core pressure of the job was during ticket sales; as for cleaning up the site…

A livehouse isn't a bar; regular cleaning is just mopping the floor, and instrument maintenance is definitely not Xiangzi's responsibility. Although the shop is a restaurant, there aren't even seats or tables in the audience area, so cleaning isn't too difficult.

Because the shop doesn't sell alcohol, the chances of the audience causing trouble are not high. At most, they just prevent customers from accidentally walking into the back area or going to other places they shouldn't go, or help them find the restrooms when they ask. To be honest, the two hours from 6:30 to 9:30 are quite relaxed.

Seeing that Toyokawa Shoko had no objections, Hoshigo took out a women's cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth: "If there are no objections, you can start working now. It's a three-day trial period. If you pass the trial, you'll get paid for the three days as usual. If you don't pass, you'll get paid the base salary based on the trial period. If you pass the trial, you'll be a three-month internship. If there are no problems, you'll be officially hired and get a raise. The shop is closed on Mondays, but you'll have to come here to work at other times, including weekends. If you have any questions about the working hours, job duties, or salary, please let me know."

"Nothing."

Toyokawa Shoko had a general idea of ​​what to expect. In her opinion, this job was pretty good; the salary was decent, and more importantly, it wasn't too tiring.

This job won't interfere with her studies, which is really good.

More importantly, the job didn't ask about my family situation, which is the best thing.

Wait a moment……

"that……"

Toyokawa Shoko suddenly had another question. After seeing Hoshika's impatient "Hmm?", she asked somewhat embarrassedly, "Excuse me, is it necessary to show your face to work here?"

Previously, she had been concerned about how close the job was to her home. Since it was close to home, she could consider finding a part-time job after the job was finished. But now she is more concerned about something else – it is close to Shinjuku and Shibuya, and she might run into her former classmates here.

After all, Shimokitazawa is located in Setagaya Ward, next to Shibuya. North of Shibuya are Shinjuku and Toshima (RiNG is located in Higashi-Ikebukuro in Toshima Ward). These are places that young people like to visit, so it's perfectly normal to run into old acquaintances.

Her question made Xingge exclaim "Huh?" She crossed her arms and looked Xiangzi up and down: "We don't accept people in debt as employees here."

"Sister Xingge means she hopes you can explain why you don't want to show your face."

Ren Amamiya immediately explained what Hoshika meant, and glanced at Hoshika in the process.

Xingge knew that Xiangzi owed money, so her words were, in a strict sense, that she didn't want to use Xiangzi, since her creditors were right there.

"I'm worried about running into old classmates, so..."

"whispering sound."

Shoko Toyokawa lowered her head slightly and expressed her thoughts. She was actually quite reluctant to run into her former classmates, especially the ones she was relatively close to.

Xingge scoffed at Xiangzi's meddlesome behavior, somewhat displeased, while Yugong patted her on the shoulder. He roughly understood Fengchuan Xiangzi's situation; her posture and manners suggested a good upbringing, but the fact that she had to work on her own indicated that her family had fallen on hard times.

While it's common for high school students to look for part-time jobs, it's not so normal for a girl to work as a courier. Usually, people look for easier part-time jobs.

Moreover, Ren Amamiya had already seen that personal information document. The one she wrote to her parents was very vague, as if she could cover it up. As a minor, she lacked experience in this area, and an experienced person could tell at a glance where she had been evasive in her personal information.

"Wait, I'll go look for it in the warehouse."

After being patted on the shoulder twice by Ren Amamiya, Hoshika reluctantly went to the warehouse to look for something.

At this moment, only Ren Amamiya and Shoko Toyokawa remained in the small room, and Ren Amamiya sat down in the spot where Hoshika had been sitting.

"Don't be so reserved. Sister Xingge just seems unapproachable at first. Any problems you have can be solved by talking to her."

Despite Hoshino's constant tsk-tsks and criticisms, she had indeed resolved all of these issues. Therefore, in Amamiya Ren's view, if Toyokawa Shoko had any problems, she should just tell her directly, and she would do everything she could to resolve them.

"Thank you..."

Xiangzi bowed to Amamiya again to express her gratitude; she hadn't expected Amamiya to be so willing to help her so much.

"If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask Nijika and Ryo... Yamada Ryo, Nijika's friend, this guy..."

When Yamada Ryo was mentioned, Amamiya Ren fell silent for a moment, but sometimes silence can also mean something. Shoko bowed slightly to indicate that he understood.

"And there's Saeko-nee. She looks like a rocker, but she's actually a very gentle person. If you have a problem and you're too scared to talk to Hoshika-nee, go find Saeko-nee."

Amamiya spoke to Shoko about the precautions for their workplace, one sentence at a time. Looking at Shoko's somewhat introverted demeanor, he couldn't help but recall the incident when he saw her that morning.

He felt that the child was not in much danger, but was sometimes too concerned with etiquette and a bit introverted.

But everything will be alright once you get used to it.

Xingge returned quickly, holding a dark gold mask in her hand: "You'll have to make do with this."

"Sister Xingge, what's that in your hand?"

Ren Amamiya's face showed a hint of amusement. Besides the mask, Hoshika had also brought a maid outfit with her.

Although this maid outfit looks like a cosplay outfit, it is indeed a proper maid outfit.

"Her work clothes, mask, and outfit are a set. Since you don't want to show your face, you might as well wear this to work."

The mask and maid outfit are cosplay outfits for a certain anime character. Ren Amamiya doesn't watch anime much, so he only has a vague impression of it.

"Okay, thank you, store manager."

"Go ahead, go ahead. I also told Hongxia to show you the general process. The audience will be entering soon, so come early tomorrow to learn about the process."

After kicking Toyokawa Shoko out, Hoshigo picked up Shoko's personal file again and looked at it.

This time, she didn't just skim through it; instead, she looked at it carefully from beginning to end, and even read it a second time before finishing the first.

It was just a thin piece of paper, but she looked at it over and over again as if it were something important.

"Did you notice?"

"Notice anything?"

"Her fingers."

Although it sounded like a riddle, Amamiya understood what Hoshika meant.

Shoko Toyokawa has thin calluses on her fingers.

The cocoon refers to her abdomen, and judging from its thickness, it suggests she may have been practicing a musical instrument.

However, it's a bit strange that someone who comes to work at a livehouse doesn't mention at all that they can play an instrument.

Considering her desire to wear a mask... it's likely that her family's fortunes declined, leading her to stop playing musical instruments. Her desire to cover her face was also a last vestige of stubbornness, a way of not wanting to be seen and gossiped about by her former classmates.

"Don't be such a pushover in the future."

Hoshika reached out and lifted Amamiya Ren up, then sat back down in the only chair in the room. She looked at Amamiya Ren standing beside her, her face still expressionless as always: "I'll only help you this once. The Livehouse won't need so many employees in the future."

Is it because of the game?

Ren Amamiya didn't expect that Seika would mention the future of Livehouses. It seems that this Goddess Band recording will have a big impact on the physical world.

"Yes, following this trend, as long as the game is as good as it claims, there will be no more customers coming to physical stores in the future. Although I have already applied for the operation of the virtual store, the number of employees required for the virtual store will be even less."

Opening a virtual store also has its advantages. There's no need to clean the environment or have as many people watching over customers to prevent them from damaging the store. In Xingge's opinion, the manpower for physical stores is gradually becoming saturated.

That's why she told Amamiya not to bring any more people to her shop; she didn't need that many people.

"But if it actually appears in the game, wouldn't the number of visitors to Starry Night Park increase?"

Although Fanxing is located in Shimokitazawa, its location isn't particularly advantageous, and it doesn't usually attract many ordinary music lovers to listen to band performances. It's mostly band fans or their friends who come to watch the shows. If it were in the game, wouldn't more enthusiasts be drawn to the shop?

"Therefore, the strength of the band in the game is even more important. Compared with other livehouses, I don't have any resident bands that I can be proud of."