Why play in a band if you don't form one for life?

Chapter 31 August st

On the platform built above the clouds, Shizi and the giraffe stood at the two ends of the platform, facing each other.

"For some reason, I'm not surprised at all," said Shizi.

The giraffe lowered its head slightly, and its gaze met Shizi's for an unchanging moment.

Its shadow was elongated and overlapped with Shizi's shadow like a whisper.

"I have always been here." It did not open its mouth, but the voice echoed in Shizi's mind. It was a voice that could not hide its joy in the midst of peace.

"Is that so?" Shizi's mouth widened slightly, "I was careless."

Strong winds blowing.

"So, 'The Fantasy Is Shattered' is..."

"Literally." The giraffe remained motionless, like a specimen. "Reality is no longer reality, so it no longer exists. Look."

Shi Zi looked into the distance and at the end of the void, he seemed to be able to see the waves of the sea coming from the outside world.

“What will happen to me when all is gone?”

Shizi lowered his head and searched for CiRCLE, Starry, Xiuhua High School, Seihō, Hanaoka, Hanasakigawa, and Tsuki no Mori on the ground. He found some of them, but not others.

"See what another sees, that's all."

Starry fell into the void. Shizi remembered that she had not seen the store manager and the others for the last time.

"So, why are you here, here?" She didn't look back, but walked slowly, waiting for the next landmark to disappear.

The next one should be Xiuhua.

Giraffe's voice came from behind, equally unhurried: "The Wi(l)d-Screen Baroque actors failed to arrive on time."

After hearing the news, Shizi turned around and said, “I didn’t expect that the audience would travel thousands of miles just to drag the actors back to the set.”

"That's right. The continuation of the performance performed by the stage girl. The audience is waiting for it."

Shizi smiled: "I understand."

"They're not on the stage now. They're in the wilderness," the giraffe continued. "There's no audience there. I can't get there."

"But this place is different." The giraffe lowered his head, almost in front of Shizi, "It was originally part of the 'wilderness', but because of you it has acquired some of the attributes of a 'stage'."

"Because of my other self's ability?"

"And you. Because of you, I bought a standing ticket that violated the rules." The giraffe retracted its head and looked down at Shizi in its original posture again, "But now, I'm going to be discovered. It's also because of you."

Shizi was also a little speechless: "Why didn't you show up earlier... Forget it, if you can stay here with me, can you take the stage girl back with you?"

“It just takes a little bit of opportunity.”

"Where are the others?"

"Of course. Although they did not belong to the same stage, they also put on an extremely brilliant and colorful performance."

Shizi smiled carefreely: "Then there is no need to hesitate."

Surrounded by the crowd, Shizi woke up.

"Shizi!" Yili, who was always passive in the past, was the first to hug her. Shizi's PTSD almost broke out. But judging from Yili's eyes, she didn't seem to have any signs of breaking out again.

"Which classmate Wu is it?" You Xina asked.

Shi Zi stretched out his left hand and a talisman appeared.

"Don't worry, she's fine." Shizi stood up, "I should be able to find a way to prevent her from causing any trouble or getting hurt soon."

"Um, Yili..." She turned to Yili. In the crowd, Shizi was too embarrassed to bring up what happened before, but Yili seemed to have realized what was happening, and her face changed. Before Shizi could stop her, she slipped through the crowd and quickly fled the scene. Shizi looked at the people around him, hesitated for a moment, and finally took a half step to catch up.

Several people made way for her.

At this moment, Shizi's expression suddenly changed.

The top of the clouds.

Shizi stopped behind Shizi.

"What are you going to do?"

Shi Zi turned around.

"If this continues, the world will collapse, and it," she pointed to the giraffe behind her son, "will not be able to stay here. And only by letting it stay here can it help us return to reality."

"So, I will fall asleep, let my consciousness stagnate, and maintain the existence of this world."

Shizi was about to say something, but Shizi waved her hand to stop her: "This is necessary. If we rely solely on our own strength, what is the difference between us and those predecessors who failed? We can only fail again. The power of the giraffe is necessary."

Shizi looked back in confusion, looked at the motionless giraffe, and then looked at the calm Shizi.

"So, how long will it take?"

"Until we return to reality."

"Does that mean I may never see you again?" Shizi shook his head, "No."

"So, there's nothing to say?"

"That's all."

The two stood back to back. At the same time, the starlight in their hands gathered and merged into a long sword. A shawl appeared on their bodies, tied to their shoulders with a rope and buttons, one red and one blue.

At the same time, they turned around. Shizi held the sword across his chest and sang his own lines:

"The most brilliant starry sky is ever-changing,"

"I will protect every moment of shining light."

The long sword drew a pink and white trail in the air, outlining the shape of a constellation.

"Xiuhua High School Drama Department, Wu Shizi."

"I can give anything for the stars!"

Shizi shook out a sword flower and responded immediately:

"The brightest starry sky will not lack any stars,"

"I will protect every glimmer of light."

Black gas emerged from the long sword, and was blown towards Shi Zi by the strong wind, forming a straight road.

"End the band, Wu Shizi."

"If you want to sacrifice yourself, I will stop you."

"Because, you are a star too!"

There was no exaggerated iron rain, no earth-shaking. There was only the clash of swords. In midair, there was only a button flying.

The shawl slipped off her body, was blown up into the blue sky by the strong wind, and flew away like a bird.

"Position 0." Shizi taunted, "You were clearly fighting the whole time, but you were defeated by me in one move?"

Shizi tried to hold up the rope that was sliding down, but the rope flew through her fingers.

She laughed helplessly: "I have always been giving in to you."

"Is that so?" Shizi took a step forward and leaned on Shizi's shoulder, "Then let me have another chance."

Shizi gently stroked her head.

Shizi closed his eyes and enjoyed it quietly.

"Summer vacation is about to end," she said regretfully.

"Then wait until the next summer vacation comes." Shizi whispered in her ear, assuring her, "It's not far away, next summer vacation. When the time comes, you can have fun as much as you want, there's no time limit."

"Yeah." Shizi's lips curled up with nostalgia, "This summer vacation is really fun."

“…That would be great.”

"Are you going to school tomorrow? Please tell them something for me... As for how to say it, you can do it yourself. You are mine anyway."

"……Um."

"What else... Oh, I have a song that I've only written halfway. Please help me finish it." Shizi took out a notebook from his arms and handed it to Shizi.

Shizi took the notebook and said, "Then I will only write half of a song and let you finish it."

"Okay... we've made an appointment..." Shizi's voice became weaker and weaker, "When the time comes... you come out during the day and I come out at night, we take turns..."

"But, you have to give it to me when Kazuichi returns home. I made the appointment with her."

"Haha... shady... I'm not you anymore?"

"Then let's hear what Yili has to say then."

"Okay...anything else..." Shizi found that she seemed to have a lot more to say, but she hadn't said it yet. She used up her last bit of energy to think and recall in her mind, and said everything she found out.

"Oh yeah... I suddenly remembered that I don't need to break the fantasy... I just need to say that I have a second personality..."

"...Heh. Then why did you say that?"

"It's just... just going with the flow. The atmosphere is right... never mind, it's boring."

"And...the giraffe gave me a map...this is for you." Shizi tapped Shizi's forehead weakly, and the map of the entire wilderness, including the location of everyone in the wilderness, appeared in Shizi's mind.

"Thank you," Shizi said. The map was a great help.

"Say thank you to yourself..."

"And... it seems, that's all..." Shizi's words were close to a dream, "To myself, there's really nothing much to say... If it's to them... there should be a lot more to say..."

"I'll help you tell it." Shizi controlled the choking in her voice. She knew the time was almost up.

"Then... ah, I figured it out." Shizi's lips curled up into a smile, "I ferried... them. I ferried my beloved girls to the future of this planet..."

Shizi's nose was sore: "It's already this time, are you still thinking about playing tricks?"

"It's acting...acting...I...am..."

Shizi's last words were drowned in the sound of the wind. Her breathing was steady and peaceful.

She slept soundly.

(End of Volume 2)

ps: I will post the final remarks at the evening update time. I am too lazy to prepare the data tables like the first volume, since no one will read them anyway (

Remarks at the end of Volume

First of all, thank you for reading until now!

Thank you for your recommendation votes, monthly votes, and blades! Thank you to Suifengpiaoluo, Commander, Wumingwuwei, Shuke1973412, Shuke37877538688, Baijunlang, Xiye, Ai~??, Zhuqueguimanlong, Fondant Toast, Ying's Justice Partner, Hongjian-12, Yug Williams, Dear, Shuke×333, Shuke64205251755, and the passing UFO! Your support really gave me a lot of encouragement! Thank you!

The title of this volume comes from the lyrics of "Avant-garde HISTORY". "Carrying the pain and singing", I think it fits the state of everyone after losing Ms. Marina.

When I reflected on the first volume, I felt that it lacked a clear plot line, so in the second volume, while advancing the main plot, I tried to add a small plot line belonging to the second volume. It happened that I was obsessed with "Summer Pockets" when I was writing it, so I tried to imitate it and wrote a plot like "spending a brilliant and colorful daily life with friends, and then facing the tragedy that will come with a smile." Looking back from my current perspective, this volume still has many problems, but at least it is much better than the first volume, I am confident of this.

But the ending was a bit too high, with too many SP elements. Although I tried my best to change it later, I was afraid that it would affect the understanding of the plot for readers who have not played SP... But no matter what, there will be no such thing in the future qwq

Regarding the ending of Shizi’s second personality, I borrowed the ending of "Star’s End". After I finished writing it, I sent it to a friend to read. He only read this chapter and said it smelled like squid... Hehe, I was very happy for a long time when I heard this evaluation. Although his evaluation of my book has always been a bit too high... Anyway, I am still quite satisfied with it. I wonder what you think?

In this volume, the triangle relationship between Ichiri, Kita, and Shiko, which I spent the most effort to create in the whole book, finally started. I can guarantee the twists and sweetness of this relationship. Kita's Foot Pinch and Shiko's Blade are the two most enjoyable chapters I wrote in the whole volume. Although Shiko's Blade is still 1000 words less than the legendary phone porridge Shimamura's Blade, I think the effect I wanted to achieve has been achieved. As for other CPs, such as the twins, Shiko and Yukina, etc., they are also taken into consideration.

At the end, the members of the Girls' Opera finally made an appearance, although they were not stage girls...

I have mentioned a few points that I am quite satisfied with, and now I will talk about a few points that are still insufficient.

Each chapter is too short. This directly led to the number of words in this volume being about the same as the first volume, and it couldn't go any higher. It wasn't until the last chapter that I suddenly got the hang of it and learned to control (kai) the rhythm (guan) and, thanks to this, the number of words in the third volume is almost twice that of the second volume.

Moreover, the connections between the small chapters were not strong enough, and the structure became similar to a unit drama. The third volume also improved on this problem. Although it is still a unit drama, the different chapters are much more coherent.

As for the performance… I can only say “Alas”. Now I may not be able to add a few favorites a day, and there are still not many people who read it. I tried to promote it on Tieba, but the status of female protagonists in Tieba… those who understand will understand. There is no hope for it to be published, forget it, just keep writing like this, anyway, as long as there is a comment occasionally, I will be satisfied. (By the way, there should be no reader group to build with only 20 readers…)

To sum up, although the second volume has some problems, it also contains the single chapter that I am most satisfied with so far, so it is generally okay.

The third volume, "Singing the Twisted Oath with Hope in Our Arms", contains the small chapter and the big chapter that I am most satisfied with so far, so stay tuned.

By the way, a little off-topic:

The day after uploading the song "Shizi Zhiblade", I happened to watch the 12th episode of GBC. I woke up in the morning and saw that the song "Shizi Zhiblade" that I wrote with great effort had no response, no comments, votes, favorites, or clicks. It was a big blow to me at the time, just like Nina saw that the song they wrote with so much effort only had 103 views. However, after a few hours, I saw the comments, the recommended votes, and the monthly votes. I felt saved. It turned out that it was not that people were not interested, but that they hadn't watched it yet... Great... I hope that when the 13th episode is broadcast, Nina will also realize that she was just too impatient.

When I released this volume, I just finished promoting "Summer Pockets". I started promoting it in the winter, but put it aside for a long time. I finished it in the summer. I have to say it is really an excellent work that is worth playing. Not only this volume, but also my subsequent writing has been greatly influenced by it. It just so happens that Summer Pockets is going to be animated, and the PV may be released on the 29th. If it can really meet the production of a god, I believe that with the quality of its script, it will definitely become the annual hegemony next year. By then, I also want to write a fan fiction specifically for it, and I already have the idea.