My daily life is getting weird because I am caught between being in a band and being an idol.

...Hmm...it's a bit embarrassing for someone with a system, but it's still quite a lot. It's roughly equivalent to what you'd earn working at a major Japanese company until you're 30. I guess I still need to complete that side quest...

"...Manager...Manager!"

Xiangzi's calls pulled Chaoyang back from his reverie. He turned around and saw Xiangzi standing at the kitchen door with a serious expression.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Chaoyang paused for a moment, then quickly regained his composure and continued with his work.

"...Ms. Fujita is here...and behind her is another one...that...well, a very memorable guest is here too."

As soon as Xiangzi finished speaking, before Chaoyang could fully understand, he saw Fujita Kotone, dressed in casual clothes, walk into the kitchen doorway with an unhappy expression.

"Store manager!"

Qin Yin's voice sounded somewhat irritated, and her tone revealed dissatisfaction; clearly, she wasn't there to eat barbecue skewers.

Xiangzi coldly stepped aside, said nothing, and returned to her post to continue working, while Qinyin walked up to Chaoyang, crossed her arms, and glared at him.

"Oh, Qinyin, what brings you here today? Didn't I tell you to get some rest?"

Chaoyang wiped his hands and smiled, trying to appear relaxed.

Although he didn't know what had happened, the fact that the world's cutest Pikachu was so angry made him realize that something was wrong.

"Rest? Rest my ass!"

Qin Yin frowned, pointed to her dark circles under her eyes, and said angrily.

"Huh? What happened?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Hua Hai D Ji walked in from behind with her usual confident smile and waved innocently.

"Haha, I didn't expect this place to be so popular at night. You can't judge a book by its cover."

"This guy's sleeping posture is terrible! He woke me up several times in the middle of the night!"

The piano music sounded like a low, accusing voice.

"Oh dear... how pitiful."

Although Chaoyang was also quite interested in experiencing how bad it was, she thought about how the place was full of girls, and if she said it out loud, everyone might leave. So she decided against it.

“D-Ji, then you shouldn’t stay with her tonight. That would be putting the cart before the horse.”

"Well... after all, she can't possibly go out to work in the middle of the night. It's a pity I wanted to encourage her to get some rest."

"Sleeping next to you at night is just like standing next to this oven right now. If you weren't so energetic, I would definitely take you to the hospital."

However... I'm also very grateful to this guy... He's clearly the most outstanding among the new students, yet he made a special trip to take care of me... He even said... I have the talent to be an idol, which is the first time I've been told that by anyone other than the store manager.

Listening to the surface and inner thoughts of the piano music, it seemed that she and Hua Hai D Ji had become like close friends, which made Chao Yang very gratified.

"Since you're all here, why don't you have dinner here? It's a rare opportunity."

Flower Sea D Season, however, just smiled indifferently.

"Since the store manager says so, then I won't stand on ceremony."

"We're about to close, could you stay a little longer? I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"What?! Do you want me, the future biggest idol, to give you an autograph?"

Just as Chaoyang and the others were talking like this, Taoxiang, who was quietly chopping vegetables at another workbench, heard the shouts of "idol" behind her and her face darkened.

Deep-seated resentment, regret, and guilt surged into her heart, but no one knew her pain at that moment.

It was nearly 10 o'clock, and the customers in the shop gradually dispersed. After a busy day, Chaoyang finally had a moment to catch his breath. Just after the last table of customers left, the trio seemed to have mustered up their courage, and with their heads down and a hint of shame and unease in their eyes, they walked up to Fujita Kotone.

"what happened?"

Qin Yin asked with some confusion.

The trio stood in front of Qin Yin, hesitated for a moment, and finally Sha spoke first.

Her voice trembled slightly, and her eyes flickered uncertainly, after a struggle within her.

"...Every time I saw you with such bad grades, you always had such a cheerful smile, as if you didn't care about anything...I don't know why, but I just wanted to bully you...to see you look pained."

Her voice gradually lowered, as if she were somewhat ashamed to admit the dark side of her heart.

"So this time, we've seized the opportunity and want to give you a good beating."

Sha gave a wry smile and continued...

"But after these two days of work, I realized that you actually work much harder than us. I'm sorry... I really shouldn't have laughed at you."

Qin Yin smiled.

"It's all in the past, and you've already paid me. Actually, I feel it's fine. If you paid me more, I wouldn't mind being your maid."

Upon hearing this, Chaoyang almost wanted to rush to the cash register, give the money inside to Qinyin, then carry her home and make her his maid.

"There's no need to say it again... Since the store manager and the others know they were wrong, perhaps..."

"No... I know, I know, and punishment is punishment. Besides, I also want to show them that it's wrong to say you're not qualified to be an idol. You three listen up, in five days this guy will... By the way, D season, what are you best at?"

"She's good at everything... but her best skill is definitely dancing. ...Hmm? Are you perhaps planning to have her dance against me?"

"Yoshi, Kotone, please have a dance contest with D-ki and beat her."

Upon hearing this, Hua Hai D Ji, who had maintained a confident smile, immediately looked as if she had been insulted.

Qin Yin looked utterly horrified.

Store manager!!! How much do you like me?! Do you even see me through rose-tinted glasses?! Wake up, I'm just a bottom-of-the-class student!!! I clearly told you my grades are terrible! And I'm not just referring to my academic scores!

"I can't pretend I didn't hear that! There's a limit to looking down on me. I admit this girl is talented, but that's only in terms of her looks and figure... Are you serious? You think I'd lose to this girl?"

His voice carried a suppressed anger and was no longer lighthearted.

Although she praised Qinyin's potential, it was merely "encouragement" from the perspective of a superior. Deep down, she never truly regarded Qinyin as a rival.

In terms of dance and real idol skills, she is not even in the same league as herself.

"Yes…"

After swallowing hard, Chaoyang gave a resolute answer.

I'm so sorry... Little Charmander, but I have to increase Koto's strength right now.

"Isn't this interesting? I've decided on the outcome of this match. ... But I can't forgive you so easily. As my number one fan, how dare you betray me. I have to raise the stakes."

"...From now on, I'm buying 100 copies of all sorts of merchandise and handshake coupons related to Flower Sea D-Ji!!!"

"Hey! Manager, that's exactly what you told me before!"

Qin Yin immediately grabbed Chao Yang's arm, feeling that her only fan might be taken away.

The trio was also speechless. First of all, they didn't believe that Qinyin could win, and secondly... it looked more like a romantic comedy where two girls were fighting over a man than an idol showdown.

"...Let's go first."

"Uh-huh."

Xiangzi had left even before them.

Only Tao Xiang remained, drinking a canned beer she bought from the convenience store.

"I wonder how they are doing."

Although Taoxiang was looking at Chaoyang and the others, she was thinking of someone else.

"Manager...do you just want to become a fan of Hana-kai's Gachi?"

"how come?"

Because of this duel, Hua Hai D Ji no longer traveled with Qin Yin. After glaring at her, he took a taxi straight back.

Chaoyang wanted to talk to Qinyin for a while longer, so he used the excuse of safety to send her back to her school dormitory.

At the same time, we need to prepare to make grand promises.

If it really fails, there's nothing you can do but try your best to run the store.

"...Does the store manager really think I can win?"

"of course."

Chaoyang replied instantly.

As expected, this person has lost their judgment because they like me so much...

"You're amazing! And you're my first signed artist!!!"

Chaoyang naturally didn't know Qinyin's true strength as an idol; he only knew that Huahai D-ji was known as a "hexagonal warrior" by everyone.

But since the system had given him this task and set a time limit, he felt that unless it was deliberately making things difficult for him, there was definitely a chance.

If someone is deliberately making things difficult for themselves, then there's nothing they can do about it.

Of course, if Hua Hai D Ji had said that her specialty was singing, Chao Yang definitely wouldn't have agreed.

He had heard of Fujita Kotone's singing skills before, and Kotone's singing reminded him of a performance he had attended in his past life.

The singer at that concert seemed to be an idol voice actress named Shindo Amane.

He was actually dragged there by a rich second-generation friend. Because his friend didn't understand Japanese and was worried about something going wrong, he also bought a ticket for Asahi and asked Asahi to take him there.

...It has to be said that the concert left a deep impression on Chaoyang, otherwise he wouldn't still remember it after reincarnation.

He once thought the organizers were deliberately leading the child down a controversial path.

He also wanted to know if the people around him were hearing the same thing, since everyone around him was excitedly cheering.

During the second half of the concert, Chaoyang secretly put earphones in his ears when no one was looking.

Chaoyang personally thinks that Qinyin's singing level is even worse than this Tianyin-chan's...

Speaking of which, has Tianyin-chan's singing improved recently?

"Hey hey hey hey hey!"

Qin Yin was so startled by Chao Yang's sudden suggestion that her voice rose several decibels, and she was completely panicked.

"Store manager..."

How much do you like me?! ...Maybe if I say one word, the shop manager will transfer the whole shop to me... Hmm...I really want to try... Oh well, never mind.

Qin Yin's heartfelt words were heard by Chaoyang without missing a single one. Although the favorability rating displayed on the interface in his mind had not increased, he was already very satisfied that he could hear her without feeling disgusted.

Qin Yin took a deep breath and then spoke.

Let's forget about the accounts... I don't want to see the store manager go bankrupt and end up on the streets because of me... all his savings of many years wiped out.

"...You still lack self-confidence..."

Honestly, I don't think I can succeed, but I'm already in a bind! I'll give it my all; at worst, I'll make her earn money to support me from now on!

"You're confident in your looks, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Yin's eyes brightened, and she smiled with boundless energy.

"Hmm! I might be the cutest one at First Star Academy."

"I agree. Although it's a little embarrassing to talk about D-Ji behind her back, I think you're cuter than her!"

Qin Yin became shy and fidgety after hearing this.

"Hehehe~ Not that cute~~ Hana-kai is not bad either~ But she does seem a little worse than me. ~~~ Hehehehehe?~~~~~ Shopkeeper~~~?~"

Praise them more!

"I think your beauty and dancing could attract the attention of every living being in the universe!"

"Aww~~ I'm so happy?~~~~~~~ Store manager?~~~~ So good, so great~~~~?~"

The music was so praised that the player completely lost herself in the moment.

Upon hearing the confession, Chaoyang fell into deep thought.

Speaking of which, it's better to have a few Pichus.

Chapter 32 Cheer up, don't die in my computer!

After resisting the urge to go to a love hotel, I took Pikachu back to my dorm.