Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

After taking a quick glance at the dark teaching building, Xia Fan wrapped his coat tightly around him and prepared to leave quickly.

"Ok?"

However, he suddenly noticed that a faint black gas was floating out from the corridor outside a room on the third floor.

"Although it's very faint, it's definitely foul air... and the timing also conforms to the law of 'Demon Time'..."

"In other words, that strange story is not groundless?!"

Xia Fan carefully identified the faint foul smell under the moonlight, his expression somewhat conflicted.

According to Onmyoji legend, Omochi is a unique period of time at dusk, dawn, and midnight when humans and ghosts coexist.

It is dusk now, which is the "time of external demons", so it is normal for some supernatural beings to come out and move around.

"Judging from the quantity and concentration, it shouldn't be a terrifying existence like the Wild God."

"Just think of it as purifying the learning environment for the students. Let's go and take a look. If necessary, report it to Lesson 9 for intervention..."

After hesitating for a moment, Xia Fan returned to the practical teaching building through the side door of the corridor.

As a person possessed by an evil spirit, he has no need to be afraid of these "campus ghost stories".

Walking cautiously in the deserted, gloomy and dark practical teaching building, Xia Fan followed the intermittent music.

"There's no movement. So, did you notice my arrival?"

The moment I stepped onto the third floor, the music suddenly stopped.

"Looking at the location of the foul air, it should be in this room."

Xia Fan continued along the corridor and came to a room at the end.

"Is this room being used as a warehouse?"

Xia Fan pulled open the dark door with force, and what appeared before his eyes along with a damp smell were musical instruments piled up in a mess.

“This is simply a graveyard for musical instruments.”

"Could it be that there are evil spirits operating these instruments? However, in this state, they should not be able to produce normal sounds."

Covering his nose, Xia Fan used his mobile phone to illuminate and carefully observed the situation in the room.

Guitar, drums, keyboard, saxophone, trumpet, shamisen, biwa...

These various musical instruments, which were once used for teaching or practice, were eventually abandoned in this small room due to excessive wear and tear and were beyond repair.

"Found it, foul air!"

A wisp of faint black smoke quietly floated out from the depths of the pile of musical instruments.

Xia Fan rolled up his sleeves and moved the musical instruments that were blocking the outside.

"Got you."

A worn-out electronic keyboard lay quietly deep in the pile of musical instruments.

"From the looks of it, this electronic keyboard is probably a model from at least 20 years ago."

Xia Fan carefully observed the old-fashioned and severely damaged electronic keyboard in front of him.

The electronic keyboard, also known as the electronic organ, was born in the 1950s. It is an electronic musical instrument with a wide range of tones, rich chorus, and freely adjustable volume.

Different from traditional musical instruments and electro-acoustic instruments, the electronic keyboard is a new-age musical instrument that uses large-scale integrated circuits and is equipped with sound memory storage. It can imitate the timbre of a variety of musical instruments and arbitrarily match percussion beats to produce sounds that conventional instruments cannot produce. It can also be equipped with reverberation, echo, sustain, vibrato wheel, modulation wheel and other effect devices. A single machine can produce the effect of an entire orchestra.

"It didn't attack me actively, and no other supernatural phenomena occurred. Is this thing afraid of me?"

Xia Fan observed silently for a while and confirmed that this electronic keyboard had no abnormalities except for the imperceptible foul smell that occasionally emanated from between the yellowed black and white keys, and it did not make any strange sounds.

"Logically, if there's no power, the battery would have died a long time ago, so there shouldn't be any sound, right?"

"No, it's a 'supernatural phenomenon', how can we explain it rationally..."

Xia Fan hesitated for a moment, then tentatively pressed his hands lightly on the black and white keys.

As he expected, no sound was made.

"Wait, this feels like..."

The next second, a faint consciousness flowed into Xia Fan's mind from the piano keys through his fingertips.

It's Tuesday again, let's devote some time to reading, young man!

Chapter 79: The electronic god of mourning also dreams of the dead girl

2024-07-13

"Is this the electronic keyboard, a new musical instrument that is said to be groundbreaking?"

In the spacious and bright practice room, a thin girl in white was looking at a brand new electronic keyboard with curiosity.

"Why do everyone in school think that 'electronic keyboards' are just toys and are not as good as traditional musical instruments..."

"I must practice hard and create seriously to become an electronic musician who breaks traditions like 808STAE and the Chemical Brothers!"

Spring, summer, autumn and winter pass by like light and shadow, and the gradually aging electronic keyboard bears witness to the traces of the girl's hard practice.

"The doctor said I don't have much time left."

"So, I should hurry up and finish that song so that I can perform at the school festival..."

"At least, at least let me, through music, leave a trace of my existence in this world."

The girl's figure became thinner and thinner, until it became difficult for her to move the piano keys.

But she still chose to spend her limited time in front of this electronic keyboard.

"I'm sorry, I still couldn't hold on to the end."

Until one day, she fell down on the black and white piano keys and closed her eyes forever.

"What just happened is the memory of this electronic keyboard?"

When Xia Fan came to his senses, he was back in the musty, dark warehouse, his face full of tears.

"So, that girl who worked hard to practice and compose songs, didn't get to perform on stage in the end?"

As a brain tumor patient who has suffered in despair for several years with not much time left, Xia Fan can deeply understand that kind of regret.

[The gods have sent down an oracle: Use the 'Fusangjin' as a tool to play the elegy of death. After completing it, you will receive the gods' blessing.]

Deep in my heart, a new oracle quietly emerged.

"Even the great 'Amagami' cannot tolerate such regrets, right?"

Xia Fan wiped away his tears and lowered his head to speak to his shadow.

Naturally, there was no response.

……

After one hour.

The front, back and exit entrances of the practical teaching building were all sealed with "Gas Inspection" warning strips and guarded by men in gas company uniforms.

"Tsukusangjin, also known as the Ninety-Nine Gods or the Ninety-Nine Gods, refers to old objects that have been left there for a hundred years, accumulating obsessions and absorbing foul air to become monsters."

"Although this electronic keyboard is less than a hundred years old, it may have become a 'Fusangshen' because it condensed the obsessions of many old musical instruments in the warehouse and absorbed the foul air of the teaching building at night."

Under the moonlight, in the bright corridor, Aoi Jinguji, wearing a black dress, was carefully examining the worn-out electronic keyboard.

Detective Higurashi was silently taking photos and recording the information she described.

"This type of electronic device was invented in the last century, so there is no record of related things becoming tsukumogami in the records of Section 9 and the Psychic Association. This should be the first case of an 'electronic tsukumogami'."

"But based on my experience, I have initially determined that this electronic keyboard, apart from the fact that it can automatically make sounds without power in the dead of night, has no other abnormal signs that need further observation. The initial risk rating is 'low'."

"Mr. Xia Fan really has 'fiery eyes and golden pupils'. There are actually many 'Tsukumogami' hiding in the corners in the world. Usually, they are very difficult to find because there are not many abnormal signs."

After completing the inspection, Jinguji Aoi looked at Xia Fan who was waiting on the side and came to a conclusion.

"Then it should be okay for me to keep you with me for a while, right?"

Xia Fan confirmed with the two of them.

"In addition to creating 'supernatural phenomena', the usual properties of 'Tsukumogami' are mainly that their structure is strong and it is difficult to destroy their physical form by conventional means, so they are usually sent to temples or shrines to be sealed by psychics."

"With Lord Xia Fan's ability, it is no problem for you to temporarily keep this 'Fusangshen'. Just register it."

Officer Higurashi nodded.

The reason why the ninth lesson appears here is naturally because Xia Fan "called the police".

He was not clear about the situation of the electronic keyboard, so he decided to ask a "professional" to help check it out. After eliminating all "supernatural dangerous factors", he would consider completing the oracle.

"Sir Xia Fan, do you want to personally convert this dead god's obsession, or are you still the goody-goody as always?"

As smart as Jinguji Aoi is, she probably guessed Xia Fan's intention.

"That's understandable."

"But the appearance of this electronic keyboard is so damaged, and the internal components are probably all broken. I guess it can't be used even if it is plugged in."

Xia Fan picked up the rusty and broken plug behind the electronic keyboard and smiled bitterly.

"How about having Lesson 9 take this Tsukumogami back for further testing? We can also ask a musical instrument expert to repair and debug this Tsukumogami until it can be used normally, and then return it to Master Xia Fan for supervision."

"After all, this is a serious case concerning the 'purification of supernatural objects' and it cannot be taken lightly."

Aoi Jinguji paced along the corridor with her hands behind her back, turning back to give him a fox-like smile.

……

"If something is left for a long time, it can actually turn into a monster. This is really a messed up mythological theory."

"Lesson 9 can help with the repairs, saving a lot of repair costs and time...hiccups..."

Because of the electronic keyboard Fusangshen, Xia Fan missed the cafeteria's opening hours and could only have a bowl of fried noodles at the night market downstairs.

After returning to the student dormitory and taking a short rest, he received a call from Director Nakano.

"Mr. Xia, thank you so much. Not only did you save us from the gas, but the commercial was also shot thanks to you and your girlfriend, so it was delivered on time!"

"Female friends, not girlfriends."

"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue. Anyway, thanks to you, the manufacturer is very satisfied with the advertising effect. It has received rave reviews on TV and the Internet. The mask is also sold out! By the way, I specially grabbed a box for you. It has been sent out. Please use it as much as you and your 'female friend' want!"

"Director Nakano, you are so polite. You have already thanked me before. You don't have to send a whole box of facial masks at a time..."

On the other end of the phone, Director Nakano's sincere and lengthy thanks gave Xia Fan goosebumps.

"In public and private, Xia Jun has saved my life in many ways. I owe you a big favor this time..."

"It just so happens that I received a big job with a good payout a few days ago, so I wanted to ask Mr. Xia if he was interested in participating."

After the greetings, Director Nakano mentioned the purpose of the call.

"A big job with good pay... How big, how good?"

Xia Fan's eyes suddenly turned into flashlights that dispelled the darkness.

"It's like this. I took over a web TV series adapted from a comic book midway through, and there was a vacancy for the role of the super villain. I thought an actor like Xia Jun, who has a big body and good acting skills, would be a good fit..."

Director Nakano introduced it enthusiastically.

Chapter 80: The Withered Chrysanthemum and the Knife

2024-07-13

"A webtoon-adapted comic book series... a super villain..."

"Although I appreciate your support, it's a professional TV series, especially an important villain role. With my rookie acting skills, it's not possible, right?"

After hearing Nakano say that this was a web drama adapted from a comic, and thinking of his own rookie acting skills, Xia Fan became a little hesitant.

Unlike commercials, online dramas have been booming for several years and have become a popular new track in the entertainment industry. The professionalism and strict standards of filming are quite close to those of traditional TV dramas and even movies.

"Don't worry, with Xia Jun's swordsmanship and experience in playing a samurai, there will be absolutely no problem."

"How about this, we'll discuss the details tomorrow and audition for you. I'll send you the address later!"

As if afraid that Xia Fan would refuse immediately, Nakano quickly made an appointment with him for the time and place, then hung up the phone.

"Online TV series? Anyway, I have nothing to do tomorrow, so I'll go find out the situation first and then ask Uncle Dongye for his opinion."