Girls' Wishing Tree

"Okay, Miss Genmaki, you can let me go now! Thank you both for your help. Finally, I'll play a song for everyone. It's Popipa's song. For some reason, Popipa can't go on stage today. Arisaki and I have been communicating about the arrangement, so I have seen Popipa's music..."

Upon hearing her name, Ichigaya Yusaki ran out from the aisle and just happened to see Sakura playing Popipa's song on the stage with the violin.

Her tears flowed down her cheeks, leaving two marks on her made-up face.

Chapter 86 Shrines, Festivals, and Monsters: 44th Noon Ceremony, Do You Like Playing Drums?

In the last program of the school festival, Sakura Takagi helped Tae Hanazono and Popipa to buy fifteen minutes.

A quarter of an hour later, Takashi and Kasumi still hadn't returned, and Takagi Sakura didn't want to steal the show and delay this already successful school festival too much.

When Popipa's vocalist and guitarist arrived at the school festival, where only a few students on duty were left, they both fell silent while holding onto the door frame. It was common knowledge among the Popipa members that Hanazono Tae was going to be the backup guitarist for RAS.

But CHU^2 spoke for a few minutes longer during the opening remarks, performed three more songs after the performance because of the good response, and couldn't get a taxi when the show ended. These were unexpected things.

Several unexpected events combined together caused Popipa to miss a very important performance for them - the school festival performance, which was not only the performance for the first anniversary of Popipa's establishment, but also a preview before Popipa's independent live performance.

Takagi Sakura didn't stay at the school festival to wait for the Popipa members. Whether it was to remind Popipa that Tae might be late for the performance or to help them buy time, she had already done it. If she stayed there, she would only see the rift between the band.

Yes, cracks.

One member made the other members feel frustrated because of his own affairs, which was very damaging to the cohesion of the entire band.

No matter how good their relationship is, Popipa's members will always have questions in their minds: "Who is more important to Dahui, RAS or Popipa?"

Even if their relationship could be repaired later, they definitely didn't want anyone to see them in such a state of disarray. So, Takagi Sakura chose to avoid them. Returning to the shrine and contacting the Popipa members in a couple of days was the most appropriate course of action.

When Sakura was leaving the school festival, Hikawa Sayo took the initiative to greet Sakura. She first expressed her admiration for the magic show, and then expressed her gratitude to her - not because of the dividends from the recording program, but because Sayo had some new understanding of the guitar's tone setting and control through the recording program.

After leaving the festival, Takagi Sakura strolled back to the shrine and found the lights in the training room still on, and the sound of a guitar emanating from inside. Judging by her preference for tone, it seemed that Lena was playing guitar in there.

She pushed open the door and saw Lenai sitting next to her guitar amp, swaying her head to the beat of a metronome while playing a rather difficult guitar piece. Lenai's short hair swayed slowly to the rhythm, making her look like a lazy cat in the sun.

"Runa, didn't you go to watch the school festival at Hanasakigawa today? A girl named Rikka came on stage temporarily and played a guitar solo, and her performance was very good! And Roselia also performed on stage, but it's a pity that Popipa didn't make it to the finale." Sakura took the initiative to talk about the school festival.

"Not interested." Le Na shook her head: "I'm not going to the school festival. I've been practicing guitar for a long time here today. It feels great."

"Lena is still the same. If you want to find your own band members, you should try to get in touch with more people."

"I didn't find any interesting women." Lenai played a few notes, and finally pushed the strings hard, creating a very stereotypical electric guitar sound, then looked up at Ying: "Grandma said, teammates, you must like it."

Ying sat next to Lenai and said, "It's not like we need to form a band right now, but we can pay a little attention. There are a lot of guitarists, but there are very few bands looking for guitarists. Many guitarists form their own bands."

"Okay." Lenai agreed without thinking and continued playing the guitar.

At a time like this, it would be better to pick up the bass and play a duet with her than to talk to her.

Gao Muying could probably guess Le Na's behavior pattern, so she did the same. As the two of them played music together, Le Na's expression became more and more relaxed.

Sayu, who had already returned to her room, heard the noise, walked to the door of the training room, opened the door a crack and watched the two people playing together. No one noticed her, no one invited her in, and no one drove her away.

She saw two girls leaning against each other, playing casual music.

The two people's fingers slid up and down the fingerboard, and their slender and powerful fingers precisely controlled the steel strings fixed to the neck.

They stood back to back, Sakura was slightly taller than Lena, her hair hanging on her and Lena's shoulders. Visually, the two of them gave Sayu the feeling of half-melted strawberry ice cream, and their music also matched the tone of this leisure time in the sun.

"Sakura's bass is interesting." Lenai stopped playing after a section and rubbed Sakura like a kitten.

"You can come anytime. I'll play with you when I'm free." Sakura waved at the door. "Is this Sayu? Come and help us beat the rhythm?"

"...No, I'm a terrible fighter." Sayu, who was discovered, opened the door slightly, her face a little red, and she felt embarrassed about being discovered.

Sakura rushed over to Sayu, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her over to the drum set. "Sayu, just play one drum and one cymbal. As long as the rhythm is right, it's different with or without the drum."

"...Okay." Having said that, Sayu could only agree.

She sat in front of the drum kit somewhat nervously when she suddenly heard Lenai's voice: "BPM 125."

"Oh, okay... wait a minute!" Sayu hurriedly picked up a metronome, quickly adjusted it to a speed of 125, and wound the spring a few times.

"Tada-tada-tada" the mechanical metronome sounded, and Sayu followed suit, beating out the simplest rhythm.

Sakura gave Sayu a thumbs-up and began playing along with her.

The music of the three people echoed in the shrine at night. After playing the guitar to their heart's content, Lenai packed up his equipment and walked into the night dragging the cart loaded with the equipment.

"I just saw you using a mechanical metronome. Girls of your age really need to have a mobile phone. I'll take you to buy one tomorrow." Sakura withdrew her gaze from Lenna's back and said to Sayu.

"No... no need... I didn't bring my phone because I didn't want anyone to find me."

"Let me help you get a card. No one will find you here." Sakura looked at Sayu and sighed, "How do you feel about being at the shrine during this time?"

"Very good. Everyone at the shrine... especially Sakura, took me in and treated me very well." Sayu put down her drumsticks and grabbed Sakura's hand with both hands. Sakura could feel that she was using a little force, as if she was trying to use strength to convey her emotions.

If he didn't take this girl in, she would probably not have a good ending - if the system really listed all the possibilities for Sayu, she should have been on the verge of despair on the night he took Sayu in.

"Don't you like playing drums?" Ying suddenly changed the subject.

"Huh?" Sayu's hands trembled, but she immediately understood why Sakura said that. She lowered her head, bit her lip lightly, and let go of Sakura's hand. Both hands grasped the skirt of her miko costume: "Well... everyone is so powerful, I'm so useless, so..."

"Your sense of rhythm is pretty good." Sakura reached out and placed her hand on Sayu's shoulder. "You have some talent as a drummer. It should be something you can practice. If you encounter anything you don't understand, I can help you contact some band drummers and let you ask them for advice."

"Can...is it okay?"

"I can't keep you here forever." Sakura's eyes grew sharper. "I don't know what happened to you in the past, and I won't ask unless you tell me. But you said you don't want anyone to find you, and you don't want to go back, right? If you can catch the wave of the big girl band era, you can survive in Tokyo on your own with drumsticks and start a new life."

Sayu lowered her head, remained silent, and seemed to be lost in thought.

"Before that, you can be a shrine maiden." Sakura removed her hand from Sayu's shoulder, turned around and walked out of the training room. "It's time to go to bed. I'll take you to buy a cell phone tomorrow. The money will be deducted from your salary."

Chapter 87 Shrines, Festivals, and Monsters: Modification Notes

The modification time is up to February 3, 2025. New readers do not need to refresh. Old readers can return to refresh and read if they feel it is necessary.

The following are the modifications to the Lixiong Line, which are relatively extensive:

2-14、2-15、2-16、2-17、2-18、2-20、2-21、2-22

The synopsis is:

Riki was practicing drums at the shrine, and the system offered the option of "taking out a metronome, winding it up, placing it in front of the girl, and asking her what the difference is between her playing the drums so mechanically and using a metronome." It also stated that if a choice is not made within a certain time, a large number of shining points will be deducted, and the direction of subsequent events is not guaranteed. Sakura chose to put pressure on Riki directly according to the option, but Riki's "inferiority complex" erupted, and she ran out of the shrine directly. With the help of Deng, Hina, Momoka, Ichiri, Maki and others, Riki forgave Sakura to some extent, but suspected that she had a dual personality. Sakura began to feel dissatisfied with the system's guidance of her to help the girls decide major life events, and a rift arose between her and the system.

The following are modifications made to improve the settings. The changes in the chapters are relatively minor, usually just one or two sentences. If you don't find any problems, there is no need to rewind and refresh the chapters:

1-5, the system's explanation for the options has been changed to "If the host allows the girl to choose on her own, it will interfere with the cause and effect itself, causing the situation to develop in an uncontrollable direction."

2-1: Added some explanation of the system's functionality after Takagi Sakura becomes a Great Dryad. It explicitly mentions a small suitcase-sized system space and a new targeted skill extraction function. This consumes more Shining Points, allowing for targeted skill extraction. Each time the range is reduced, the Shining Point requirement doubles.

2-38, made a logical modification based on the previous modification.

2-44, Hikawa Sayo thanks Sakura for her help in shaping the guitar tone.

In the future, the author will conduct more rigorous review before publishing, and 2K will be updated tonight.

Chapter 88 Shrines, Festivals and Monsters: 45, Temporary Change of Requirements

Takagi Sakura's judgment on RAS was completely correct.

Even when I took Sayu to buy a mobile phone the next day, I saw an electronics store playing RAS Live on its sample TVs.

This level of virality, coupled with CHU^2's somewhat aggressive comments, is likely putting pressure on many girl bands. While most girl bands in Tokyo are just "playing for fun," almost every one of them harbors dreams of commercial success.

Since last night, RAS has become a mountain range that stands between all the girl bands in Tokyo. Without climbing over this mountain, it will be difficult for the girls to see the scenery in the distance.

CHU^2 took advantage of the opportunity and arranged RAS's 2NDLive, while Popipa was also preparing for their first Live, one day apart, RAS first and Popipa later.

Sakura didn't see the news about Popipa holding a live performance from the internet, but Kasumi came to see her.

Kasumi first expressed her gratitude to Sakura for the school festival, and then asked her to participate in Popipa's first live performance. Sakura estimated that the pipa she bought would be arriving by then, so she agreed to Kasumi's request.

This was the first time she had acquired advanced playing skills, so she was also thinking about showing off on stage.

Sakura was still browsing RAS-related information in the shrine when her cell phone suddenly rang.

It was a call from the shopping mall. Ying had previously applied for Taoxiang and her friends to perform at the mall's opening ceremony, and had signed an agreement with the mall. The performance fee was not expensive, and it was mainly to allow Taoxiang's band to make an appearance.

"Hello? Hello, I'm Sakura Takagi. What can I do for you?"

The other party's voice was a little hesitant: "Um...our performance agreement...may need to make some changes. Can we discuss it?"

Sakura's first reaction was that the mall wouldn't be able to open on schedule, and the performance would need to be rescheduled. Construction delays were common in Tokyo, and if there were issues like interior renovations, the performance would definitely need to be rescheduled—after all, you couldn't have a girl band perform on a construction site.

"Do you want to adjust the performance date?" Takagi Sakura asked proactively.

"Um... that's not it. I'm very sorry, but the content of the performance may need to be changed."

"Are there any changes to the performance? The show lasts an hour, and there are three audience interactions. We have all the songs ready."

"Yes, I'm very sorry, but there are some temporary needs. We may need to add a commercial song for the Togawa Group, and half of the songs are for a game invested by the group..."

Ying hadn't expected something like this. Normally, promotional material for a performance would be prepared long in advance, so this last-minute publicity stunt seemed odd no matter how one looked at it.

However, this was not something she was concerned about. What she had to do now was to fight for the rights of Taoxiang's band.

"The show is only a few days away, and we're almost ready. To make such a major change to the show at this time, I need to consult with all members. Also, we need to be informed of the jingle and game."

"Of course, the sheet music for the jingle will be sent to you as soon as possible. The game is still in production, and promotional materials will be sent along with it. Due to time constraints, we also allow the use of pre-recording combined with live performance. If you agree to this plan, we can provide an additional 15 yen for the additional work and recording. If changes cannot be made, we are willing to pay liquidated damages equal to half the performance fee and cancel the performance. Please give us a reply by tomorrow morning. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience this has caused you and the musicians."

Takagi Sakura was still frowning when the other party hung up the phone.

"Sayu, look after the shrine. I'm going to go out for a while." Takagi Sakura waved to Sayu who was watching a drum tutorial video.

"Ah... okay." Sayu looked up and found that Sakura had already taken her phone and ran out.

Sakura went straight to the outside of the shrine and found Tomokazu and Rupa in the store.

The two of them were watching over the store while composing music and sometimes practicing their instruments - there weren't many customers coming here to buy things, so they were relatively free.

When Sakura came down, Satoshi was sitting at the counter, poking a finger at the 37-key synthesizer on his lap, looking like he was considering the main melody of a song, while Rupa was arranging the badges and amulets hanging on the wall.

"Chi, Rupa, I need to discuss something with you. The mall has made new demands for the performance in a few days. They want us to give up or modify the performance according to their requirements."

Zhi immediately stopped prodding the synthesizer and looked up quickly. "Why? We're almost ready! It's too late to change the requirements at this point, right?"

"Now is not the time to ask why. We need to decide whether to give up or continue." Rupa placed her hands on Zhi's shoulders, her eyes fixed on Ying: "Tell me, what are the specific changes you are requesting?"

"They asked us to modify half of the tracks to advertise a game, and also to add a jingle for the Togawa Group. The jingle and the game content would be sent to us, and they also asked us to use pre-recorded recordings because of the last-minute changes."

"Isn't this lip-syncing?" Zhi blurted out, "We're not an idol band like PasPale. It's impossible for us to lip-sync during our debut live! Even if we agree, Rencai won't agree!"

Sakura and Chi's eyes met briefly, then quickly separated.

Although she was wondering why Tomo and Nina had such a good relationship, she didn't dwell on the relationship between the team members. Instead, she answered Tomo's question: "Actually, it should be mainly referring to the Togawa Group's commercial song. After all, this kind of song represents the group's image. It's normal that the client doesn't want us to sing too badly."

"Togawa..." Zhi repeated the word and added a name at the end: "Togawa Sakiko (Toyokawa Sakiko)..."

Ying then remembered that Zhi had told her that she had won the silver medal in the children's piano group when she was very young, and the one who snatched the gold medal from her was the eldest daughter Toyokawa Shoko.

Under these circumstances, it was indeed a bit inappropriate for her to perform the Toyokawa Group's jingle. Sakura was still trying to figure out how to explain this to Momoka and the others when Satoshi spoke again, "But the band is everyone's business. If everyone agrees to participate in this performance, I will respect everyone's opinion."

Ying took out her phone. "I'll send you the jingle and game settings. You can take a look at them first—eh?"

Her expression became a little strange, and her fingers were sliding across the screen of her mobile phone. It didn't look like she was forwarding a message at all, but rather like she was browsing something strange.

"Sakura, what's wrong?"

"This game... is a bit weird... Never mind, just watch it for yourselves." Takagi Sakura clicked forward and put away her phone.

In her previous life, Gao Muying, the girl named Gao Mu, was actually very familiar with games. When she saw the game settings sent by Party A, she was completely dumbfounded.

The game's character design must appeal to the core player group. For example, RPG character design should make players feel involved, while shooter character design should create a sense of realism or excitement. Romance games, whether they're GAL or otome games, should also create a sense of excitement for the core player group.

But the design drawings that Party A sent her would look ugly if used as monsters in other games.

How could a large group like Togawa suddenly invest in something that any gamer would think would be a disaster if they just looked at it?

Chapter 89 Shrines, Festivals and Monsters: 46. Why do players like it?

Sakura Takagi was a little curious about Togawa Group's affairs, but she didn't take it seriously - there were many large companies that did weird and "ruthless things".

The key now is how to adjust for the next performance. Rupa and Zhi have made it clear that they don't want their first live to be filled with commercials, nor do they want to lip-sync, but if everyone in the band is willing to do so, they are willing to cooperate.

Miao Meng was in school, so she could only make a phone call. She could actually go to Taoxiang and Rencai's place. Miao Meng's attitude was predictable—she didn't care about advertising or lip-syncing; as long as she could get enough exposure, she would participate.

Sure enough, during the phone conversation, Miao Meng thought this was a good opportunity. With the investment from Togawa Group, they would definitely intensify publicity. As long as the performance was good enough, there would be a chance of becoming an overnight sensation.

Ying and Miao Meng also said that the other four members of the band might have a negative attitude towards the changes to the performance, and asked Miao Meng to be mentally prepared for the cancellation of the performance.

After the call, Sakura also arrived at the place where she had agreed to meet with Momoka and Nina.

It was a coffee shop, and there were almost no customers at this time, so the three of them were able to sit together and chat about the performance.

Ying ordered a cup of coffee for Momoka and Nina, then sat down and began to discuss the performance. "Momoka, Nina, I'm here with you today to discuss the performance. We're planning on performing at the mall in a few days, but the client has a lot of new ideas, so if we want to continue with this performance, we'll have to make some adjustments."

"It's too late to make adjustments now, right? We only have one practice session before rehearsal." Taoxiang looked at Ying: "What adjustments should be made? Are there any requirements for the costumes and equipment?"

Sakura sent the commercial music sheet and game information to Momoka and Nina on her phone. "It's the Togawa Group's temporary investment, and they want us to promote the group and a game they invested in when the mall opens. They want us to modify the lyrics of half of the songs based on the game content, and also sing the Togawa Group's commercial song."