Cyberpunk: Nirvana of Shoko Toyokawa

Everyone was waiting.

58 seconds.

59 seconds.

8 points.

The conference room flickered.

then.

The meeting started on time.

……

In the picture, a scene emerges.

It is a room surrounded by thick crimson soundproof curtains.

It was very dark in the room.

There was no spotlighting. Or even general lighting.

Even if the audience adjusts the visual exposure of the artificial eye to the maximum, they can only vaguely see a shadow...

"!"

In front, there were three figures standing there.

The shadows from behind look like drums and keyboards.

There were people behind that, too.

There are five people in total...

No.

There are five dolls.

The puppets hold musical instruments.

In the front is the lead singer holding a guitar.

On the left and right sides are the bassist and another guitarist.

In the back are the keyboardist and drummer.

As citizens of the City of Music, everyone reacted immediately:

This is a band.

next second.

The sound of piano rang out.

Leading in, using disturbing chords.

Offscreen, white light flickers, intermittently illuminating the depths.

That’s a band.

Band of puppets.

They began to play.

The white light turned into a bright red like blood.

The drums come in, the bass hums, the guitar repeats the melody -

"—"

The music titled "Black Birthday" began its debut in front of tens of thousands of people.

The lead singer spoke up.

[Invasion of this area]

[Yes, going back and forth between the stages]

A thrilling song.

[A new record of my birth date]

【Tonight, depressed, burning】

Fast drum beats, bass vibrating in the low notes, guitar ringing in the high notes.

The sound of the electronic piano glides through it.

【Na bright and dazzling mad day】

【Secret ruler loo-la cool cool】

No one expected to see a performance like this.

"Ghosts playing music".

"A murderous puppet that plays music".

What people expect is nothing more than a stage effect that can only appear on gossip news.

But now it seems.

"—"

what is this?

It's definitely not just the chips that are used.

Deep in the song, there is a certain impact that can shake people's hearts.

I started playing this music just to express myself.

Frenetic.

Psychedelic.

Dazzling.

As if to invade everything, conquer everything, and take away the listeners' bodies and minds——

Like that, music.

[Declare "Welcome" and "Come here"]

[At the beginning]

Why would a band of this level perform in this format?

This is simply, not inferior to any debut band——

No.

Even above that—

Not inferior to [Seven Bands]——

music.

……

【black birthday】

As the last line of the song fell, the conference room was cut off cleanly.

The audience was not given any time to express surprise or exclamation. On the dark screen, only the set standby screen remained.

Just like at the beginning, it was all black...

No.

【With words! 】

Many viewers reacted!

On the seemingly pitch-black screen, there are crimson words hidden.

There are five words in total.

[Life and Death] in the upper left corner.

[France] in the upper right corner.

[Rebirth in Philosophy] in the lower left corner.

[Vision] in the lower right corner.

There is also the [year of birth] in the middle.

These……

What is it?

Puzzle?

Is this a hint?

[Could it be related to the box that can't be opened? ]

An audience member pointed this out immediately.

【Does it mean one person? 】

[The year of birth is the answer...? ]

[Just use the exhaustive method to open it! ]

[Are you stupid? Why are you doing this to such an interesting thing? I'll check the keywords!]

The audience gathered in Xiao Ai's channel and immediately got involved.

Some people are still immersed in shock.

[The performance just now...eh, that band, wasn't it too exaggerated? ]

【Raw performance without chip? 】

[No, it feels like a chip is still used. However, this kind of combination of chip and emotion is the first time I have seen it...]

“It was so wrong, so weird, like I took a whole tablet of fluoxetine and amitriptyline—fuck, you know? That show was like a fucking thyroid hormone-flavored firework going off in my head!”

[Me too... Oh my god, is that a performance by the Seven Bands? ]

[How is it possible! [Seven bands] don’t have this style! ]

[Isn't it a bit like Roselia and RAS? 】

【A little bit! But, this is so obvious-ugh! I don't know how to explain it! It's just that this band makes my electromechanical pacemaker beat!】

[Me too! Hey, it doesn't need all these gimmicks, are you kidding me... What kind of quality is this? ]

[You are under the influence of suggestion! You think it sounds good because it has impact! ]

【Don’t you think it sounds nice? 】

[No... I still prefer Roselia's style! ]

[What? Roselia's gang is here to spoil the fun? I'm going to hack him——]

[Hey, what are you doing! Okay, this ID post, aren't you a member of Afterglow? Ha, you don't support your own band, but support new bands. Sure enough, there is only that way——]

[What did you say? I just said good things are good! Unlike you, you are deceiving yourselves, a bunch of maggots in the picture tube——]

【You XX curse again? 】

The audience seemed to be in an uproar.

【well!】

Someone is fanning the flames.

[…Being able to be compared to [Seven Bands] means that you are already successful as a band, right?]

Some people also say so.

[It’s hard to say. As you know, [Seven Bands] is not just a question of quality…]

[Is it because they are contagious? I think this is also quite contagious...]