After dropping out of school, I chose to join a girls' band.

She turned to look at Aine, her eyes still filled with doubt and helplessness: "Tsk... Is it really possible?"

Lixi's voice still sounded hesitant, clearly indicating that he wasn't very optimistic about the proposal.

Xiao Deng, who had been silent all along, suddenly nodded and said softly, "Xiao... Xiao Ai is very cute, everyone should like her..."

"Little Light!" Chihaya Aine's eyes lit up instantly. She looked up happily and, seeing that someone had agreed with her suggestion, a smile of excitement immediately appeared on her face: "Finally, someone agreed with me!"

At that moment, Hinasaki suddenly remembered something, turned her gaze to Ritsuki, and said with a hint of expectation in her eyes: "By the way, since we're talking about PVs, Ritsuki, could you bring out the demo for everyone to listen to?"

Upon hearing this, Li hope paused for a moment, then nodded: "Ah... just a moment."

She bent down and rummaged through her backpack for a tablet, her fingers nimbly swiping across the screen.

A few seconds later, she connected the tablet to the speaker equipment in the recording studio, and with a light tap of her finger, the familiar melody instantly came from the speaker.

Climax Stage: Chapter 95, "Duancheng Mountain" (Part 2)

"Rikki! It feels...super super super amazing!" After listening to the song, Chihaya Aine was incredibly excited and rushed to Shiina Tatsuki's side, her eyes sparkling.

Standing to the side, Nagasaki Motoyo also showed a rare smile, with a hint of surprise and appreciation in her eyes.

After listening to the demo of Li hope's composition, she couldn't help but exclaim, "It seems that encouragement really does make a difference."

As she said this, Su Shi's gaze swept meaningfully toward Hinasaki beside her with a hint of teasing.

However, Yue was focused on feeding Lena and didn't notice Su Shi's gaze at all.

"Nonsense...so long-winded." Li hope turned her head away with a haughty air, but her slightly flushed cheeks betrayed her inner joy and pride.

"Lixi's music... is fantastic!" Gao Songdeng gave Lixi high praise.

Upon hearing Akari's evaluation, Shiina Tatsuki gently raised her head and secretly glanced at Akari's expression.

That earnest, undisguised expression made Lixi's heart beat a little faster.

Her cheeks flushed slightly, her eyes held a hint of disbelief, and her voice became shy and hesitant: "Really...really?" Her tone was a mixture of surprise and doubt.

"Mm." Little Lamp nodded.

Lixi bit her lip, lowered her head, and tried to calm her excitement and joy.

Then, she raised her head, her voice trembling slightly: "I'm glad you like Xiaodeng."

Just as the atmosphere was becoming warm and cozy, Chihaya Aine suddenly stepped forward and started teasing them, not wanting to miss out on any trouble.

She grinned and leaned closer, saying, "Ah, Rikki's shy~"

Upon hearing this, Li hope blushed to the roots of her ears, her initial shyness instantly turning into anger and embarrassment.

Her eyes widened, and she lunged at Aine, her voice filled with resentment and anger: "You bastard!"

Before she could finish speaking, she pounced on him. Ai Yin didn't have time to dodge, and the two instantly started fighting.

"Huh?" Yue, who had just finished feeding the beloved Renai the matcha chocolate snails she got from Yamabuki Bakery, turned around and saw the two of them fighting. She tilted her head in confusion, her mind full of question marks.

"What's wrong?" Yue asked, casting a questioning glance at Nagasaki Motoyo.

Su Shi watched this scene with a faint smile on her face, standing calmly to the side.

"Just smile," Su Shi said, uttering a line that could never possibly exist in her script.

So much so that Yue felt something was off today, wondering if she was still on stage and hadn't left yet.

————————————————————

Fortunately, Chihaya Aine and Shiina Tatsuki both knew their limits. After a few moments of playful bickering, they stopped tacitly, gently straightened their disheveled clothes, and returned to their normal interactions.

Lixi took a short breath and quickly brought her attention back to the main topic. While fixing her hair, she said, "Let's start rehearsals as soon as possible. I want to finish this piece before the joint performance."

Her tone was firm, clearly indicating that she had already set goals for the next phase of her plan.

Upon hearing this, Nagasaki Motoyo frowned, looking somewhat worried. A thoughtful look flashed in her eyes as she asked, puzzled, "So rushed? Isn't it too much work? We still have a few performances in the next few days, don't we?"

"Li hope probably wants to finish our promotional video before the joint performance, so that maybe we can get some more votes if we fail at the joint live performance."

Yue had a pretty good grasp of Li hope's thinking now, and after thinking about it for a moment, she figured out why Li hope did what he did.

“But we’re currently in 23rd place. If we maintain this, we should be able to secure a spot in the knockout stage, right? Do we really need that many votes?” Ai’s voice carried a hint of confusion and hesitation.

Ai Yin scratched her head and added, "Of course... I'm not saying a higher ranking is bad, but wouldn't that put too much pressure on our time?"

Su Shi glanced at Li hope and Yue, then said, "Ai Yin is right. If time is squeezed so tightly, neither the mind nor the body can withstand it."

“…” Li hope did not answer immediately.

She understood Su Shi and Aine's concerns, and knew that the whole plan would be easier if the schedule for "Duan Cheng Shan" was arranged after the joint performance.

That way, everyone will have plenty of time to rehearse, and there will be no physical or mental pressure.

But from a public perspective, this is a golden opportunity for them to surpass some of the bands mentioned above. Promotional videos and new songs can bring them more exposure and supporters, and also get them a lot of votes.

Personally, she wanted to let everyone hear this song as soon as possible.

Just as she was hesitating, Hinasaki seemed to see through her thoughts.

She gently reached out and tenderly took Lixi's hand in hers.

Lixi felt the warmth of Yue's hand and involuntarily turned to look at her, only to find Yue looking at her with a smile.

"Give it a try," Yue said, turning to everyone.

"Please practice your instrumental parts when you have free time at home these next few days. I will work with Lixi to finish the piece as soon as possible, and try not to make too many changes."

"Um...please!" Li hope echoed Yue's words to everyone.

"Since you've already said that," Su Shi sighed. Although she still had some concerns, since Yue and Li hope had made such a request, she didn't say anything more.

"Could you add a solo part for me so I can show it off?" Aine raised her hand, her face full of confidence and her voice full of anticipation.

Li hope was speechless for a moment, and the expression on his face became complicated.

Faced with Aine's expectations, Lixi didn't want to directly dampen her enthusiasm, nor did she want the structure of the piece to become disharmonious because of this suggestion.

In particular, although Aine made a somewhat exaggerated request, she was actually supporting Riki's work.

Li Xi pondered silently for a while, feeling that she couldn't completely refuse, yet didn't want to completely agree either, so she could only give a vague response: "...We'll see."

"Matcha parfait! Two cups!" Lena's small voice came from the side.

Yue turned her head, smiled, and patted Lena's hair, her tone full of affection: "Okay~ I'll order takeout for Lena-chan later."

"Lixi... I'll do my best!" Xiaodeng said earnestly to Lixi.

Lixi looked at the lamp in front of her, which was looking extremely serious, and nodded slightly to express her gratitude: "Um... thank you, lamp!"

Climax Stage: Chapter 96 Promotional Video (Part 1)

Two days later, on Monday, July 16, there were 3 days left until the joint performance and 15 days left until the end of the auditions.

The new week had just begun, and the members of Mygo had just finished their performance for the day. Amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the audience, they walked backstage, exhausted but also full of a sense of accomplishment.

Even after the performance ended, the atmosphere backstage remained lively, with each member still immersed in the afterglow of the show. Despite physical exhaustion, they were clearly relaxed.

Hinasaki wiped the sweat from her forehead, breathing slightly heavily. The performance that had just ended was more intense than usual, but the audience's enthusiasm made her feel incredibly satisfied.

Chihaya Aine had already moved closer to Rikki, asking expectantly, "Hey! Rikki, how many votes did we get today?"

"Let me see..." Upon hearing this, Li hope took out her phone to check the voting results.

Her fingers slid lightly across the screen, but her calm expression froze the moment she saw the numbers.

"How much?" Seeing Riki's reaction, Nagasaki Motoyo, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but feel curious. She couldn't resist leaning over with Aine and peeking at her phone.

"4...458?!" Ai Yin's exclamation instantly resounded throughout the backstage area, her voice filled with unbelievable surprise.

Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open, as if she hadn't yet recovered from the shock.

"Hey... Su Shishi, pinch me, am I dreaming?" Ai Yin looked at Su Shishi with a suspicious expression, her eyes full of disbelief.

She had no idea that today's vote count would exceed expectations, considering that their usual performances only draw around 500 people.

Su Shi frowned slightly, but still pinched Ai Yin's arm hard without any mercy.

Aine immediately cried out in pain, "It hurts!"

Chihaya Aine suddenly snapped out of her pain, and the shock on her face was quickly replaced by excitement and joy.

Her eyes sparkled, as if she had just discovered some treasure, and she was filled with irrepressible excitement.

"But that means!" Ai Yin shouted, her voice filled with excitement and disbelief, "We really do have 458 votes!"

"Xiaodeng, Lena, did you hear that? Our votes are getting higher and higher!" Aiyin ran over to tell Xiaodeng and Lena the good news.

"Moon...you don't seem particularly surprised?" Li hope had calmed down and noticed that Moon's expression didn't seem to have changed much.

Takamatsu was slightly taken aback: "Hmm...that's great."

Lena looked up at Aine and nodded slightly. Although she didn't say much, the fact that she was able to perform made her happier than winning votes.

At the same time, Shiina Tatsuki gradually calmed down from her excitement and realized that Tsuki didn't seem particularly surprised from the beginning.

"Moon...you don't seem very surprised?" Li hope couldn't help but ask, her tone tinged with curiosity.

"Hmm... that was about what I expected, but I didn't expect there to be so many," Yue nodded and said.

After the previous two weeks of live performances, Mygo has accumulated a considerable following. Now, they can get around 450 tickets per show, which has almost filled up the small performance hall in Ring.

Of course, compared to the legendary bands Ras and Roselia, who can garner nearly a thousand votes per show, they are still far behind, but this also means...

Their core fanbase is pretty much established, and they can now try to compete with bigger stages and stronger bands for audiences.

Yue asked Lixi, "Should we try other stages later? Like Dub, I remember it can hold more than 1000 people."

Lixi was stunned when she heard the suggestion.

She knew that Dub was much larger than their current performance venue, and most importantly, Dub was Raise A Suilen's home turf.

If they go there, it means they'll be going to clash with Ras head-on.

A sense of tension and hesitation welled up inside Lixi. Although she was confident in Mygo's abilities, she still felt somewhat uncertain about facing Ras, a band that far surpassed her in both fame and skill.

Should I raise a suilen? Really? Will I win? Can I even win?

It's not silver anymore... wait, it seems like it's actually silver?