Crossover Anime: The Heroine is in Trouble? I Take Advantage of the Situation

Chapter 100: A Skill That Amazed Everyone (1/2)

This piece is known for its complex arpeggios, rapid octave leaps, and extreme demands on the coordination of the left and right hands. Even professional music students dare not attempt it in front of others.

And this seemingly novice piano student actually treated it as an appetizer?

This is too arrogant!

However, this arrogance seemed perfectly justified in the face of the boy's impeccable skills!

However, what happened next completely overturned everyone's understanding.

Seiji Fujiwara leaned forward slightly, his entire being seemingly becoming one with the black piano. His hands moved across the black and white keys, creating two afterimages almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Flowing clouds and flowing water.

This was the only word that came to mind for everyone present.

Those high-difficulty techniques that seem like insurmountable barriers to ordinary performers become, in his hands, the simplest breaths and heartbeats.

The rapid fingering in the fast tempo section is crisp and clean, like a sudden rain pounding on a stone slab, full of power and texture.

The lyrical melody in the slow section was handled with a plaintive quality, full of the fatalistic sorrow and grief hidden beneath the unrestrained exterior of the Gypsy people.

The technique, the rhythm, the emotion... everything was breathtakingly perfect.

This is no longer a simple "playing", but a real "performance".

He is not merely replicating the notes on the score, but rather reinterpreting the piece with his own understanding.

The performance of "Gypsy Rondo" was wilder, freer, and more... full of life than the original!

It was a resolute yet magnificent passion that seemed to burn away the very soul!

This passion was transmitted through the piano keys, infecting everyone present and making their heartbeats involuntarily accelerate with the wild rhythm!

Manager Tanaka's forehead was unknowingly covered with fine beads of sweat.

In his 30 years in the industry, he has hosted countless world-class piano masters, but he has never seen a performance as full of contradictions and impact as the one before him.

The contrast between the young man's seemingly calm demeanor and the violent power that could erupt from his fingertips is striking!

The noblewoman had long forgotten about "vulgarity." She covered her chest with both hands, completely immersed in the captivating melody, her eyes sparkling with wonder.

At that moment, she even had an absurd thought: she would be willing to pay any price to have this boy play a song for her alone.

Even Touma Yoko's usually cold and indifferent face showed an expression of shock.

She stared intently at Seiji Fujiwara's hands, trying to find even the slightest flaw in his movements.

but.

Absolutely not!

His shoulders were completely relaxed, his wrists moved as smoothly as if they were on a level, and all the power came from his incredibly nimble fingers.

This combination of ultimate relaxation and ultimate explosive power in performance is a realm that all pianists dream of, but most people can never reach in their lifetime.

But this boy seemed to have been born this way.

Seiji Fujiwara's finger technique was even more precise, more relaxed, and more... illogical than any master she had ever seen known for his skill!

Some extremely difficult octave jumps require the assistance of wrist swings for most people to complete, but he easily leaps over them using only the independent movement of his fingers, as if his fingers were naturally longer than others.

Her brain was frantically analyzing, but her body swayed gently involuntarily to the stirring melody.

She knew she was witnessing the birth of a "monster".

No one spoke again in the exhibition hall.

Everyone stopped to listen, even their breathing became careful, for fear of disturbing this sudden and magnificent auditory feast.

The Chopin Nocturne that was originally playing in the store had been completely drowned out by this wild Gypsy melody.

Time seemed to have lost its meaning at this moment.

Until the very last note, like burning ashes, it slowly dissipated into the air.

The song is over.

The entire exhibition hall remained deathly silent.

Everyone was still immersed in the incredible musical storm they had just experienced, unable to come back to their senses for a long time.

Seiji Fujiwara slowly withdrew his hands.

His face showed no sign of fatigue, and even his breathing was perfectly steady.

His nonchalant demeanor made it seem as if the difficult piece he had just played—a challenging rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"—was nothing more than a casual performance.

"My God..."

Someone uttered a dreamlike sigh, completely shattering the silence of the scene.

"That's...that's amazing..."

"Who...who is this person?!"

"Such a high level of piano skill! Why have I never heard of him before?"

Surprise, admiration, doubt...

A cacophony of voices erupted in the exhibition hall like a tidal wave.

Manager Tanaka looked at Seiji Fujiwara, his eyes now completely changed.

That was no longer the way she looked at an ordinary customer, but the way she looked at a "master" of the same or even higher level as Touma Yoko!

He was filled with regret. He had actually tried to lead him to the Yamaha area. He was so blind to his own abilities!

Touma Yoko stared intently at Fujiwara Seiji's retreating figure, her heart pounding with emotion.

She was certain that, based on the level of skill demonstrated in that piece, this young man possessed the ability to easily win any top international piano competition!

but why?

Why had she never seen or heard of this person in any competition, concert, or news report?!

This boy seemed to have appeared out of thin air!

This unknown sparked Touma Yoko's curiosity.

Just as people were about to step forward to get to know this mysterious "master," Seiji Fujiwara suddenly frowned slightly.

He reached out again and gently tapped a few single notes in the high register of the piano.

The crisp sound of the piano echoed throughout the exhibition hall.

To outsiders, the tone of voice still sounds perfect and beautiful.

But Seiji Fujiwara's brow furrowed even deeper.

The feeling was like a top wine connoisseur detecting a faint, extremely mildewy smell from the cork in a bottle of top-quality red wine worth millions.

He could clearly sense that there was something subtly off about the sound of the piano.

It was an extremely subtle noise from the vibration of the strings, and a slight delay of a fraction of a second when the hammers struck.

This seemingly perfect work of art appears to have... some kind of subtle damage inside.

Seiji Fujiwara suddenly stood up, bent down, grabbed the edge of the heavy outer shell of the grand piano with both hands, and with a sudden force, he pried open the huge piano lid!

"boom--"

He casually tossed the heavy roof aside.

The complex action mechanism, the golden cast iron string bridge, and the densely packed steel strings... the "heart" of this piano, as precise as a Swiss watch, was thus exposed to everyone without reservation.

"Sir! What are you doing?!"

Manager Tanaka was the first to react. He practically scrambled to grab it, his face filled with panic.

His feelings at this moment were extremely complicated. On the one hand, he was in awe of Seiji Fujiwara's piano skills, and on the other hand, he was worried about protecting the expensive instrument out of his professional instinct.

This is Fazioli!

It's the store's prized possession!

If it gets damaged, the losses will be incalculable!

"This piano seems to have internal damage," Seiji Fujiwara said calmly without turning his head.

As he spoke, he began to inspect the items without even waiting for the manager's response.

His fingers brushed across the strings, gently tapping each hammer.

His movements were professional and decisive, without the slightest hesitation, as if the internal structure diagram of the piano was already imprinted in his mind.

"What? There's damage?!"

"No way! This is the Okuda Piano Studio!"

"That's right. Every piano in their store undergoes the strictest inspection before leaving the factory and entering the warehouse."

Upon hearing Seiji Fujiwara's words, the surrounding customers began to murmur in surprise.

Subconsciously, they were still more willing to trust the reputation of this century-old store.

After all, the idea of ​​detecting internal damage to a piano by ear is too far-fetched; it sounds like something out of a martial arts novel.

"Sir, are you... mistaken?"

While wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Manager Tanaka tried to subtly stop Seiji Fujiwara, saying, "All the pianos in our store are absolutely guaranteed in quality. Especially top brands like Fazioli, they undergo dozens of tests at the Italian headquarters before leaving the factory, so there's no way there could be any problems..."

"This is it."

Seiji Fujiwara interrupted him directly.

He pointed to an inconspicuous corner in the high-pitched section of the action and said:

"The hammer felt on key 85 has hardened slightly due to moisture. The damper next to it is also slow to rebound by about 0.3 seconds for the same reason."

He looked up and glanced at the thermometer and hygrometer hanging on the wall of the exhibition hall.

"The humidity in Tokyo has been fluctuating a lot lately, which is probably due to the seasonal change causing short-term, rapid damage. Since it's not yet your regular maintenance cycle, it's normal that it hasn't been detected."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word struck Tanaka and everyone present like a heavy hammer blow.

Everyone was shocked.

They all crowded around, craning their necks to look in the direction Fujiwara Seiji was pointing.

Manager Tanaka, his hands trembling, pulled a portable magnifying glass from his pocket, leaned forward, and examined it closely.

A moment later, his face turned deathly pale.

Really...

It's exactly as that boy said!

The felt on the hammer did indeed have a small patch at the tip that was darker in color and harder in texture than the rest!

And the damper next to it does indeed have a slight abnormal deformation!

"My God! There really was damage!"

"How did he discover it? Just by playing the instrument? This...this is simply divine hearing!"

"Not only can he play the piano, but he can also accurately determine the location and cause of the damage... This... this is no longer a pianist, this is simply the top piano maker!"

The look in everyone's eyes as they looked at Seiji Fujiwara had turned to horror!

If they were impressed by his piano skills just now, they are now awestruck by his superhuman insight!

"I'm so... so sorry!"

Manager Tanaka, covered in cold sweat, bowed deeply to Seiji Fujiwara at a ninety-degree angle.

At this moment, he had no more doubts in his heart, only endless awe and lingering fear.

He knew very well that if it weren't for this young man discovering the problem today, but instead it had been bought by another discerning customer, the reputation that Okuda Piano House had built up over decades could very well be ruined!

"There was a major oversight in our work! Thank you so much, sir, for identifying the problem so quickly!" He apologized while praising repeatedly, "Your hearing is simply the most terrifying! No! The most amazing!"

Immediately, he straightened up and said in a fawning and eager tone, "To express our apology, we're willing to give you a 30% discount on any piano you buy from our store! No! A 40% discount!"

“No need,” Fujiwara Seiji interrupted him again.

“I really like the tone of this piano, so this is the one,” he said casually. “Just replace the broken hammer and damper.”