Joker's Band Game Story

Hoshika said nonchalantly, and her words made Amamiya shrug slightly; what she said was indeed true.

Livehouse is a very competitive industry, especially given that so many people in the world love music, it's naturally very competitive.

If the income of Fanxing's shop were at a normal level, the owner might have to consider closing down. But Xingge opened the shop for her sister, not to make money, so she would continue to run it even if it wasn't profitable.

She's actually quite satisfied with the current situation, but the industry is about to undergo a major reshuffle, and facing a completely new field in the game, she's unsure if Fanxing can continue to persevere.

She didn't say it aloud, but Ren Amamiya could see the worry in her heart.

So he simply stood behind Xingge, with his hands on her shoulders: "It's okay, Xingge. If there really isn't much traffic in the game, I'll help you attract more players."

"Ha, no need for that."

Although that's what Xingge said, she closed her eyes, rested her head on Amamiya Ren's forearm, and quietly relaxed with a cigarette dangling from her mouth.

Actually, Hongxia wasn't wrong sometimes. Xingge is indeed arrogant with a touch of coquettishness, which makes her extra interesting.

Chapter Seven: Goddess Band Recording, Initiated!

"Then keep up the good work here. I'm leaving now."

"Yes, thank you very much."

After saying goodbye to Toyokawa Shoko, who was selling tickets, Amamiya Ren left the Starry Night with his hands in his pockets.

He had finished everything he needed to do on Fanxing, so naturally he had nothing else to do.

"I might as well go back and take a look at the game. Oh, right."

Ren Amamiya remembered that he was playing the game "Ryuu Ba Shi O" and wanted to take a closer look. If the game was really interesting, he thought he might as well give it a try.

However, compared to these things, there was something he cared about more, so he opened Line and looked at the messages inside.

He doesn't have many friends on LINE; most of his contacts are bands he might collaborate with later. Opinions about these bands are mixed. Some are undeniably talented but picky, which is why they haven't found suitable bandmates yet, and Amamiya would sometimes offer to recommend them if he knows anyone. Others are more of a hobby, but since they're all wealthy, they're not that particular. Still others are talented but haven't had much luck, and Amamiya would occasionally help connect them with.

Now he's more like a middleman.

After scrolling through some unread messages that he didn't think were important, he opened someone's Line and looked at the message.

Did you send me my gaming pod? (Read)

I've read your message but I'm not replying.

Amamiya smiled helplessly. He already had the answer in his heart. He turned off his phone, boarded the train alone, and started heading home.

She would have replied if it weren't for her sending it; it was because she sent it that she felt embarrassed to reply.

Having lived in Japan for so long, Amamiya sometimes struggles to understand the inner thoughts of many Japanese people, like his childhood friend, who is incredibly introverted.

Despite being wealthy enough to be a social butterfly, she's introverted and too shy to go out, spending all her time practicing with her bass guitar.

I learned to play the drums alongside her. In my previous life, I mainly played guitar and bass, but in this life, I've learned drums and keyboard. As for other less common instruments? I learned those in my previous life when I had nothing else to do. Once you're good at one thing, you're good at everything. My talent in playing instruments in my previous life wasn't too bad. After all, being able to make a living with this skill means I'm not just an ordinary person.

On the contrary, this body and brain of his are more talented, which makes Ren Amamiya extremely satisfied. As expected, this body is more powerful.

"Let me see the instruction manual..."

A person carried the game pod to an empty room on the second floor. After unpacking it, Amamiya looked at the game pod, which was about the size of a single bed, and couldn't help but wonder why a female high school student working part-time as a deliveryman would deliver this thing. It was really disrespectful to people.

Oh right, that's generally how it is in logistics: women are treated like men, and men are treated like livestock.

However, compared to a bed, this game pod is lighter. The main problem is its size. If the Amamiya house weren't so big, he really wouldn't know what to do.

"Plug in the power... then adjust the cushion. Place the nutrient solution into the nutrient tank to assist with intake. Each nutrient solution can only be used for three days; any solutions exceeding this period need to be cleaned..."

A person was reading the instruction manual, which had a phone number attached at the end, suggesting that if they couldn't install it themselves, they could call someone to help.

Amamiya felt there was no need for it; he could handle this himself, so he started tinkering with it by himself.

After all, the various installation methods are not difficult, and they are all designed to prevent mistakes but not fools. As long as you don't try to force things, you can always get everything done.

When the Amamiya family bought this house, they had considered the possibility of having a second child. However, they didn't expect that they would be too busy to have a second child. The room that was originally planned for Ren Amamiya's younger brother or sister was left empty and is now being used to house the game pod.

The game pod would actually feel a bit cramped in his room, since he has quite a few musical instruments there. Ren Amamiya usually uses this room specifically for creating music, so... having a game pod in there won't affect his creative process.

After getting everything set up, Ren Amamiya turned on the game pod and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the indicator light was green instead of red.

Green indicates that the installation is normal and usable, while red indicates that the installation is abnormal and unusable.

"Finally, you need to take off all your clothes before entering the game pod, and then attach the excrement device to your body... Oh, so after using this thing, you won't need to go to the toilet after entering the game? I don't know whether to call it abstract or scientific progress."

As we all know, many people would rather play games with a catheter in their bladder than waste time going to the toilet. This is especially true for those playing games in their dorms who have to use public restrooms outside, which takes a lot of time, and in winter, they feel freezing cold after going out and coming back.

The game has even prepared for this aspect; I don't know if it's a bit too customer-centric.

The size of the game pod is just right for a person who is two meters tall to lie down in. If someone is taller than two meters... then Amamiya doesn't know what to do. They would probably need to customize a game pod.

The nutrient solution vaporizes inside the game pod to maintain the health of the human body. However, prolonged exposure to such a confined environment can indeed have certain effects on the body, and the nutrient solution is designed to address this issue.

Both the size and comfort are quite good, so in a way, you can even take a nap in the gaming pod... But would anyone really choose to sleep here instead of going to bed?

Amamiya sometimes still couldn't understand the Japanese way of thinking, but he felt he could give it a try... If it didn't work, he could just find a way to return it and get a helmet instead.

After adjusting my sleeping position inside the game pod and finding no discomfort, I pressed the switch and watched the game pod slowly close.

As soon as the door was closed, the screen in front of me lit up.

"Would you like me to set an alarm to wake you up? YES/NO"

After pressing YES, Amamiya adjusted the game time, setting it to... 11:00.

In other words, he would be woken up in four hours, and he still planned to say he would sleep in bed rather than in the game pod.

Next time, we could try doing this in a game pod, for example, on a Friday when there's no school the next day, which would be perfect for conducting this kind of test.

"Setup complete. Start the game? YES/NO"

Pressing the game button again, this time the screen displayed new content: "The current game is Goddess Band Recording by default. You can change the game you log in to when other games become available. We wish you a pleasant gaming experience."

So this gaming pod and the previous gaming helmet are both new innovations? No wonder the government supports it.

Ren Amamiya's mind was actively engaged in thought, but he didn't even realize that he was starting to feel drowsy.

Soon, he fell asleep. The game pod, using technology that the author's shallow scientific knowledge couldn't decipher, connected Ren Amamiya to the game and put him into the game world.

With a blink of an eye, Ren Amamiya found himself inside the game.

Looking down at his own body, everything was blurry, and he could not see anything clearly.

"Please select your login identity—Musician/Guest. (?)"

Next to the two identities was a small question mark, which Ren Amamiya clicked on to see the difference between the musician and the tourist.

Looking at the densely packed description above, Ren Amamiya understood the difference between the two.

Most people don't need to think twice; just choose to be a guest. Once you become a guest, you can enjoy the game without any goals or objectives. After a simple tutorial, you can play normally.

However, if you want to perform in the game, you need to enter the game as a musician, which is more demanding and requires a certain level of musical skill.

It feels more like the difference between ranked and casual matches; one is a choice with a purpose and goal, while the other is just for fun.

Naturally, Ren Amamiya chose the musician option. He's a serious musician, so naturally he'd want to play music in this kind of music game too!

"Please enter a nickname (nicknames are limited to English letters, katakana characters, and some symbols)."

No registration is required?

Ren Amamiya found it rather strange; normally, you need to register to log into a game, right?

This is something that Ren Amamiya didn't fully understand. When logging into the helmet or game pod, the game automatically confirmed the user's identity, one account per person, so there was no need to consider the possibility of accidental login.

But when it comes to nicknames, what should you enter?

For a moment, Ren Amamiya, who had some difficulty coming up with a name, was caught in a dilemma.

How about calling him...Joker?

For no reason at all, this thought suddenly popped into my head: Joker, ace, it's fitting for my identity, isn't it?

In this world, "Joker" is translated more as "ace" than "clown," so that was Amamiya's first thought. Coupled with his slight pride as a musician, he wasn't ashamed at all about using that term.

"Hello, Joker player, please select your initial outfit. (More outfit types can be purchased later in the game using in-game currency.)"

Why does it feel a bit like Love Nikki?

Amamiya hadn't played many games; he simply felt that this game had a certain sense of déjà vu.

But why is this initial outfit a jumble of pixels?

Amamiya silently clicked the small question mark next to it, looking at the description of this step.

"The initial clothing is completely free, and you can make any outfit you like according to your ideas. If you don't have any ideas, you can freely choose from the templates next to it."

Make anything? Does that mean any clothes will do?

That's true. In games, these are all just strings of code. What's so difficult about generating code?

Ren Amamiya looked at the mosaic in front of him, and gradually the mosaic became clearer.

A black trench coat, a gray shirt, Cuban high heels, and red fingerless gloves.

He originally planned not to show his fingers, but that would make playing the guitar very uncomfortable, so he finally chose fingerless gloves.

Finally, choose a mask shaped like a white bird, and color the area around the eyes black.

Yo-shi, that's it!

"Entering the game. Please complete the tutorial. You will then receive a newbie gift pack. Please blink after the environment has completely darkened."

As darkness gradually fell, Ren Amamiya blinked unconsciously when it became pitch black.

And just like that, he seemed to have just woken up from a dream, and saw his surroundings.

It seems to be... a hotel?

"Welcome to the Goddess Band Recording, Mr. Joker."

There was no one in the room, but the voices sounded like someone was talking right next to your ear.

"Next, please get out of bed and walk around the room as you normally would. Try walking around the room as you normally would."

This step in the game poses no difficulty for an average player; it is more intended for players who are not yet accustomed to the game and for players with physical disabilities.

In reality, they may be disabled, but in the game, they are healthy, normal people, and naturally they need to readjust to their 'new bodies'.