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

"These people, could it be that..."

It was because, in his sight, there was a barely perceptible grey-black aura lingering around those people.

"We must find a way to remind Lesson 9 immediately."

Just at this moment, the chorus part ends and the final solo stage of the last person's sentence begins.

"I gently touch your left hand that seems to be waiting for something."

"I want to hold your hand, I want to take you away without saying a word."

Xia Fan kept playing music with his left hand while slowly raising his right hand with his fingertips moving horizontally towards the bottom of the stage. For the first time, he did not rap but sang out loud.

His solo was not full of emotion, and the timbre was not amazing, but the song was still in tune, with no merits or faults.

"Xia Jun, is this an improvisation?"

In the previous line of lyrics, Xia Fan was supposed to rap, and he didn't raise his hands during practice, which confused Horie Tsubasa for a moment.

"In fact, I've already noticed this distance that's within reach. I want to hold your hand, I want to hold your hand and shake it back in one go."

But it was only for a moment, and she responded by raising her hand in the air and finished singing the last sentence.

"Advisor Xia Fan's movements are a bit strange... He's not pointing at the girls, but at those three people..."

Rimu, who was watching from the edge of the stage the whole time, keenly noticed Xia Fan's strange gestures.

"Temporary Command Center, have the identities of the three convenience store employees who just entered the venue been verified?"

Looking in the direction of Xia Fan's finger, he naturally noticed the convenience store clerks who were delivering supplies.

“The three people were wearing masks, so facial recognition could not confirm their identities, but we verified that they were delivery workers from a nearby 71 convenience store who were responsible for delivering the orders.”

"According to the hidden security equipment at the door, the three people did not have any weapons. Since this morning, they have been carrying things into the venue several times, and they just put down the things and left. There is no suspicious behavior at the moment."

"I just checked the employment information registered by the convenience store. All three of them had worked for a company called 'Inamori Catering'. This is a little suspicious. I have put the three of them on the key attention list."

Soon, the temporary command center responded.

"No, Consultant Xia Fan would not make such a meaningless hint. These three people are definitely not that simple..."

"Backstage team, be alert and keep an eye on the three people in the convenience store!"

Seeing the three people entering the backstage through the staff passage, Higurashi quickly followed them.

By the way, I would like to recommend the song "Tokyo Summer Meeting". It is recommended to take it with other medicines.

Chapter 98 Cleaning Plan

2024-07-13

"Thanks to the group 'Broken Wings Down to Earth' for bringing us this sweet chorus!"

When Inspector Higurashi's figure disappeared backstage, Xia Fan and Horie Tsubasa on the stage were taking their final bow amid thunderous applause from the audience.

"Class monitor... Xia Fan... everyone in the group will keep staring at you..."

The classmates from the music department hugged each other and twisted into a ball, as if they were parents watching their own children.

"Next, please wait patiently for the judges to give their scores..."

"The judges thought that the keyboardist 'One Man Army''s' live performance was wonderful, the female lead singer's singing skills and emotions were impeccable, and although the male solo part still had room for improvement, the collaboration between the two perfectly interpreted the emotions of the song..."

“The rating given is 9.5 points!”

"I didn't expect that the high score record just set by the "Cheng Le Band" was broken by the "Broken Wings" who came on stage right after!"

"This is just the auditions, and it's already so exciting. It makes us look forward to the performances of the contestants later!"

After communicating with the judges on site, the host announced in an excited tone that the duo's singing had won the highest score in the audition so far.

"9.5?! How is it possible that two amateur students scored higher than us trainees?!"

"It's just playing a lousy keyboard and singing a little love song. How can it compare to our passionate rock music?! Are those judges who don't know the value of things all love-brained?..."

Makoto Shibata, who was in the audience, looked grimly at Xia Fan, who bowed hastily, pushed the electronic keyboard, and hurriedly walked off the stage.

"Oh, it looks like the competition is going to be fierce this time."

"Not bad, not bad, it's a bit challenging, the elimination rounds later will be interesting!"

The other members of the "Cheng Band" beside him were applauding enthusiastically.

After all, this is an internal school competition, and the other members of "Makoto Band" do not have the same idea of ​​"secretly debuting" as Makoto Shibata, and they are more here for fun.

"Ah Cheng, why don't you continue watching? I heard there are several other groups that are pretty good."

"It's just an audition, what's so interesting about it? The mechanism of the second round of eliminations allows the participating groups to invite a 'guest singer'. When the time comes, I will invite a 'current idol' to sing for us, so we will definitely not lose..."

"What? An active idol is coming to this kind of campus competition to sing for us. Are you kidding me?!"

Shibata Makoto smiled coldly, ignored the surprised looks of his companions, stood up and walked out of the gymnasium.

……

"Everyone in Lesson 9, I'm Xia Fan."

"The three people who were wearing convenience store uniforms and moving things to the backstage just now have 'supernatural reactions'. Please pay close attention!"

As soon as he entered the closed exit passage, Xia Fan immediately took out the in-ear headphones prepared for him by Lesson 9 and called hurriedly into the communication channel.

When the curtain fell, he noticed that Detective Higurashi was no longer at the side of the stage. He must have understood his "hint", but it would be better to confirm it.

"Received. The backstage team has locked onto the target and started the 'cleaning plan'. It may be a bit 'noisy' outside. Consultant Xia Fan, please wait in the exit passage."

The agent's real-time response was heard in the communication channel.

"Captain Horie, let's wait here for a while."

Xia Fan turned around and said to Horie Tsubasa who was following behind him.

"Xia Jun, what happened?"

Xia Fan's "improvisational performance" on the stage, coupled with this abrupt suggestion, made the sensitive Horie Tsubasa instinctively sense a kind of calm before the storm.

"It's okay, there are 'professionals' taking care of it."

Xia Fan shook his head and smiled, indicating that she didn't need to worry.

"Sorry, everyone. According to the competition plan, the auditions will now be on half an hour break."

"During the break, the staff will routinely check the electrical circuits and clean up. Players waiting for the performance are requested to leave the backstage waiting area immediately. Spectators outside can rest in the auditorium."

From the direction of the stage behind him, the host’s “temporary break notice” was heard.

……

One minute ago, backstage area.

"I didn't even notice any plainclothes policemen. I went in and out so many times to test the waters. I was basically scaring myself..."

"Stop talking nonsense, the performance on the stage is over... That kid is about to come out..."

"No problem, he's just a weak college student. We can double-team him from the front and back, and it will only take a second to break his neck."

In the corner backstage, three men in convenience store uniforms seemed to be stacking supplies, but their eyes were fixed on the exit passage.

These three people are the members of the "Akagami Team" sent by the Inagawa Group to deal with Xia Fan.

In recent days, several people have been carefully wandering around the Tokyo University of the Arts campus, but have not been able to find any trace of Xia Fan.

Knowing from the poster that Xia Fan would participate in this competition, several people used their connections to get temporary worker status at a convenience store delivering goods for the competition, and they couldn't wait to "sneak" in on the first day of the auditions.

Just in case, plainclothes police secretly protected Xia Fan. In the morning, they deliberately used moving things as a cover to go in and out of the competition venue in batches, repeatedly to test the situation...

After finding nothing unusual, they boldly stayed backstage.

According to the plan of the "Red God Team", all they had to do next was wait for Xia Fan to come out of the exit passage, wait for him to put down his equipment, change his clothes, and wait for an opportunity to be alone...

They surrounded the person from the front and back, covered his mouth, strangled him, hid the body in a cardboard box, and then walked away as if nothing had happened, just like a professional killer in a movie.

But plans don’t change as quickly as they do.

From the outside, the host announced "half-time break".

"Sorry, the competition is temporarily suspended for routine cleaning and circuit inspection. Please leave the backstage in an orderly manner under the guidance of the staff."

Then, "staff" dressed in various uniforms, such as security guards, cleaners, and electricians, marched into the backstage area in uniform steps.

"Isn't this quite clean? Does it require so many people to clean it?"

"Circuit check? They're still debugging the instrument..."

"There are more staff members than contestants. Labor costs are so high now. The organizing committee must be really rich."

The students who were actively waiting in line to prepare were somewhat dissatisfied, but considering the length of the auditions, it was understandable.

They obediently followed the staff's instructions and left along the passage.

"Break and clear the area?"

"what should we do?"

The three members of the "Akagami Team" looked at each other.

"That guy just finished his performance and is about to leave the backstage."

"Let's wait a moment and take action right away. With the iron body bestowed by the Red God, no matter how many ordinary security guards there are, they can't stop us from leaving..."

They pretended not to hear the notice, deliberately slowed down their actions, and stacked the cartons slowly.

But what the three of them didn't notice was that the "staff" of the organizing committee who entered the backstage had no intention of checking or cleaning the circuits while clearing the area, and they were approaching in a seemingly encircling manner.

Chapter 99 The Fourth Person

2024-07-13

"Three..."

After making sure that most of the students had left the backstage, "Teacher Higurashi", dressed in a suit, stood three meters away from the "Akagami Team".

"Sorry, we will leave right after we move this, it won't affect the inspection."

The three nodded kindly to Higurashi.

"It's okay, you three don't have to leave."

Higurashi took off his glasses and looked at the three people with sharp eyes.

"This is the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Special Operations Section 9."

"We now suspect that the three of you are involved in a supernatural case. Please come back with us to assist in the investigation."

He lifted up his shirt, revealing his ID with the Sakura police badge.

"A cop?! Sure enough, there are plainclothes officers protecting that guy. How did he notice us?"

"It's useless to worry about this now. A mere plainclothes officer can't stop us..."

The three of them looked at each other in panic, picked up a carton filled with mineral water in their left and right hands, and threw it towards Higurashi...

"Get out of the way!"

"careful!"

Inspector Higurashi was prepared and swiftly dodged to the side, avoiding the violent cardboard boxes.

The light steel frame partition wall of the gymnasium was hit by the cardboard boxes, leaving a huge dent and splashing water all over the sky...

"Ugh!!!"

The cardboard box exploded, and two "staff members" were hit on the hands and feet by the flying mineral water bottles, and fell to the ground with a crisp sound of bone breaking.

"How terrifying! This is simply an inhuman force. There is definitely something wrong with these three people!"

Looking back, Rimu felt a chill down his spine.

The violent force of these people throwing the mineral water boxes was no less than the impact of a car.

If he had not been prepared and remained vigilant, he would probably have ended up with broken bones all over his body, or even turned into a meat paste.

"Just rush out and run in different directions!"

"There are students everywhere outside, there's nothing they can do!"