Do I really have a thing for female voice actors?

Perhaps sensing that Tazaki Toru was a beginner guitarist and too shy to admit it, she smiled and said, "If you keep at it, the guitar will become more and more fun. Keep it up!"

As a musician who has performed on the world stage many times, I was encouraged by a girl who could only play chords.

This feeling is truly wonderful.

Tazaki Toru didn't bother to explain anything; he simply said thank you.

"Wait a moment."

"Eh?"

Tazaki Toru stepped out from behind the cashier, bent down and picked up a pale yellow resin pick. He gently rubbed it between his fingers; it was 1.2mm thick and had a name and the words "Happy Birthday" printed on it.

"You dropped your pick."

"Um, thank you..."

After taking the pick, the girl smiled sweetly again, turned around and walked up the stairs leading to the ground.

……

……

During tonight's live performance, Toru Tazaki sat behind the drinks counter, and female customers would come in to buy drinks from time to time.

The store manager instructed that if Tazaki Toru was willing to smile at female customers every time, his hourly wage would be increased by an additional 200 yen.

Although relying on his looks wasn't Tazaki Toru's intention, he really needed money. If it weren't for Takagi Mika vouching for him, Tazaki Toru probably still wouldn't be able to get into his house tonight.

So he could only offer a smile.

The flashing lights around him made his face look very handsome, or rather, it was because of his face that the flashing neon lights were not so dazzling.

Upon seeing Tazaki's smile, the female customer in front of her trembled, nearly dropping the cup she had just picked up. Not daring to look at his captivatingly handsome face any longer, she blushed and quickly turned to leave.

Before he could relax, he heard the voice of a young girl again.

"Hello, I'd like to place your order."

Tazaki Toru instinctively put on a smile: "Hello, what can I do for you?"

My gaze swept past the bar and fell upon a short figure; it was the girl who had come to borrow the stage that afternoon.

She handed over a drink voucher. Her left fingernails were neatly trimmed, and her right hand was adorned with manicured nails—a characteristic unique to young girls who play guitar.

"A Coke."

Please wait...

"Here's your Coke."

The other person was an acquaintance of the store manager, and seemed to have worked here before. Just as Tazaki Toru was hesitating whether to use his smiling skill.

The girl in front of him smiled and said, "Thank you."

The girl in front of me must have been told the same thing by the store manager: if she smiled at male customers, she would get an extra 200 yen per hour.

For some reason, he had this kind of confidence.

After the live performance ended, Tazaki Toru cleaned up the venue and was about to say goodbye and leave when the store manager came over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Tazaki-kun, are you busy tonight?"

"At night? Not at all."

Tazaki Toru answered truthfully.

"We're going to grab something to eat next, how about we come together?"

Besides the store manager, the sound engineer and another employee were also present, suggesting it was a staff dinner or something similar.

Tazaki Toru thought for a moment, then asked very bluntly, "Is the manager treating us?"

"Hey! Do you think I'd let someone like you who's just an employee pay? Of course, it's my treat."

Tazaki Toru immediately became respectful: "Please be sure to take me with you."

I got another free dinner.

"That's fine."

The store manager nodded, went into the backstage lounge, and said to the people inside, "Oshima-chan, it's time to leave. You can leave your guitar at the store and come back to get it later."

Okay, I understand.

6. Die, then turn into a flower. (Please read during the new book period)

Inside the izakaya.

Everyone was clinking glasses and drinking, but Toru Tazaki seemed out of place, only eating non-stop.

At first, everyone thought the newcomer was introverted, but later they found out that he was simply hungry.

Although Tazaki Toru didn't speak, his ears didn't stop; he didn't miss a single word of their conversation and pieced together relevant information from snippets of conversation.

For example, Ms. Kuroki, a 35-year-old sound engineer, is divorced and has a child. After drinking too much, she started complaining that her ex-husband came to her door to borrow money, and got into a lively conversation with another part-time employee.

Fortunately, these people were all easy to get along with and did not force Tazaki Toru to drink.

To Tazaki Toru's surprise, the girl, who seemed cute and innocent, was surprisingly hearty when it came to drinking.

From their conversation, Tazaki Toru learned that her name was Hina, a name that suited her perfectly.

Since the other person drinks alcohol, it means they are over twenty years old. Judging solely by their appearance and height, it is indeed easy to misunderstand.

Obviously, judging people by their appearance is not a good habit.

After a few rounds of drinks, the shop manager next to Tazaki Toru gradually turned red with alcohol. He slammed his glass on the table with a "thud," and a mysterious smile appeared on his unshaven face.

"Tazaki-kun, I heard you're learning guitar? You should have told me sooner, I could have taught you."

Tazaki Toru glanced at Oshima Haruna, who was sitting diagonally opposite him. Haruna had her hands clasped together in apology.

It turns out that being cute really can make people feel happy; she must have used this trick a lot.

However, this level of activity is not enough to disrupt Tazaki Toru's rhythm.

"I haven't played in a long time."

"Eh...give up?"

"Not at all."

Tazaki Toru doesn't like to lie, nor does he like to hide things; it's just that some things are hard to explain.

"I'll probably play it in the future," he replied with a hint of helplessness.

"Feel free to ask me anything you don't understand."

"……it is good."

Having received a satisfactory answer from Tazaki, Manager Yoshimura stood up unsteadily and walked towards the izakaya's restroom.

"Sorry, I thought the manager knew," Oshima Haruna said to Tazaki Toru after Yoshimura left the table.

"It's alright."

Tazaki Toru never intended to hide it; he just hadn't found the right way yet.

Ms. Kuroki, standing nearby, filled his glass with wine: "Don't blame him for talking too much. Don't be fooled by Mr. Yoshimura's calm demeanor; he's actually under a lot of pressure and is quite worried."

"worry?"

Tazaki Toru and Oshima Haruna both looked at Ms. Kuroki.

"Well... none of the people here are outsiders. We had a joint event with several live houses in Shimokitazawa and around Shinjuku."

"I think I've heard about that before. What happened? Is something not going well?"

Tazaki Toru remained quiet, but his ears were perked up very seriously.

Many mainstream bands started out as underground bands, and this was inseparable from the support of live houses.

Many live houses also create their own music, compile it into CDs (either exclusive or compilation), and then sell them under their own live house name within the industry.

This event was initiated by Yicun, with multiple live houses collaborating to produce a CD. All proceeds will be used to support emerging bands in the future.

The original intention was to provide basic support for bands that have talent but have to disband due to practical reasons.

These people, who started making music decades ago, understand better than anyone else how difficult this industry is. Therefore, when Yicun launched this event, many well-known live houses expressed their support.

This matter was started six months ago, and everything was going very smoothly.

Just a few days ago, the composer commissioned by Yicun was tricked into signing a shady contract by an unscrupulous company, which has resulted in him being unable to use any of his works, including the songs he composed for this event.

This directly resulted in the three completed pieces being unusable due to copyright issues.

At this point, there was less than a month left until the release date. With the addition of processes such as burning CDs and making packaging, the actual time was even less.

To complete three original songs from scratch in such a short time is an incredible feat that could only be achieved in a world dominated by girl bands.

No wonder he's been drinking alone all night.

“Then…why not just find a new composer?” said Haruna Oshima.

Ms. Kuroki shook her head: "It's not that easy. This CD is of extraordinary significance. How can we just hand it over to someone else to work on? If we just shoddy the music, who will still believe in SHELTER in the future?"

That's not wrong.

Oshima Haruna fell silent upon hearing this, but saw Tazaki Toru looking deep in thought with a furrowed brow.

"Mr. Tazaki, haven't you heard Manager Yoshimura mention this before?"

"This is my second day at work."

"I see."

Ms. Kuroki took a big gulp of beer and sighed, "The composer is currently in a lawsuit with the company. He feels very bad about it and has even returned the 50 yen he was paid to compose the music."

Tazaki Toru's hand, which was holding food, froze in mid-air, and he silently put down his chopsticks.

"Has the store manager not found a composer yet?"

Ms. Kuroki slowly shook her head: "Good composers aren't so easy to find."

In a daze, Tazaki Toru seemed to see it.