In the music room, six students stood in the middle of the stage, bathed in a convergence of light, while the rest of the room remained shrouded in darkness, twinkling lights flickering from ti to ti under the revolving colored lamps, resembling an audience at a concert.
The sound of music and singing soon rose, and the overhead lights also moved in ti, synchronizing with the rhythm of the music.
Minutes later, a song had been played to the end, and the few standing on stage were slightly sweating, feeling a bit tired.
The blonde girl in the center raised her hand and waved, "Turn on the lights."
As her voice fell, the other sources of light in the room turned on, restoring the brightness, and the central spotlight dimd, revealing the silhouette of a girl sitting in the dark with silver-blue hair and a calm expression.
After a short intermission, the people on stage took deep breaths to relax the tension they had just felt, and then sat down to rest.
"It's completely different from our usual training," soone said.
"That tension and intense focus, it's completely different from how we normally play."
"Minutes felt like hours, my heart was always in my throat."
They each shared their feelings about the mock stage performance, realizing it was quite different from what they were used to.
"Efnie didn't even break a sweat," soone noticed that the blonde girl, who was the lead singer, seed unaffected by the performance.
"I guess she's used to it," Efnie replied casually, twirling a strand of her hair, before her gaze returned to the expressionless silver-blue girl sitting opposite her.
Today was the first ti she had t the girl nad 'Geyin,' and at first, she thought it was just a simple environntal simulation, but it turned out to be far from simple.
In the mock performance, it wasn't just the stick-like glows that shook beneath the stage, or the low-frequency and almost-real environntal sounds of white noise and voices, which although low, were overlooked by her teammates, but actually affected everyone with their realism, causing tension to rise.
The level of practice was far from enough, this was only the preliminary simulated environnt, if it were to use a fully imrsive simulation like in movies, the team mbers' performance on stage might drop down a level.
It was also true that Edith Academy's overall atmosphere was rather conservative; there had hardly been any concerts held on campus, and few had the experience of performing on a large stage. This confrontation carried a lot of weight, adding to the team mbers' pressure and lacking the usual composure.
While these thoughts passed through her mind, Efnie let go of the hair in front of her and turned to look at her teammates, her gaze drifting to the quiet girl with black hair sitting in front of the sheet music.
Tilan was also involved in today's rehearsal, holding her violin while her other role as the backup lead singer, and as the ace of this face-off, was known only to Efnie within the band.
"Tilan..." she walked over and whispered a few words to the black-haired girl, who then nodded and stood up, walking off the stage.
The second rehearsal began, but this ti, there were only five on the brightly lit stage.
The ethereal harmony rose again, and within this silence, the solitary violin played, complinting the singing voice, gradually drawing one into a distant world.
This ti the rehearsal was clearly much better than before, perhaps because in the darkness, the sound of the violin was more uninhibited and resonant.
Indeed, having Tilan sit under the spotlight was not the best choice, keeping a certain level of mystery may have its effects, Efnie thought to herself.
Afterward, they practiced several more tis until everyone gradually grew accustod to the stage environnt, and their muscles and senses beca more adept.
"That's good, let's stop here for the morning," Efnie said, clapping her hands gently to end the morning session.
"Phew, I feel like we could keep going," said one.
"The more we practice, the more familiar it becos, not as nerve-wracking as in the beginning," said another.
"Where should we go for lunch, let's all go together~"
"Let's choose the Tower Restaurant nearby, the view there is really nice."
"Let's go together~"
The lively band mbers chatted as they put down their instrunts and walked out of the room together.
"Geyin, do you want to co with us?" Tilan asked, standing beside the silver-blue haired girl.
"Hmm." She replied briefly and then followed Tilan out of the room.
Up front, the band mbers were chatterboxes, discussing all sorts of fun and interesting things, with Efnie wrapped up in their midst. At the very back were Tilan and Geyin.
Walking together, Geyin remained almost entirely silent throughout, which seed to be in her character, while Tilan, though wanting to say sothing, was not the type to easily make conversation.
"What flavors do you like, Geyin?"
"Slightly sweet, vegetables, at, rice."
"Surprisingly simple and earthy."
"Yes." After speaking, Geyin continued to be silent, which made Tilan feel a bit awkward. This kid spoke even less than she did.
"Do you like this type of al for any particular reason? I'm not saying it's bad, but most people are generally more interested in elaborate als." She could only continue to search for topics of conversation.
"Because it's nutritionally complete, simple to make, and takes the least ti."
Well, even when Tilan had lived a life of scarcity, she thought about occasionally buying so favorite fruits to eat, but this person really carried it through to the end, not doing a single unnecessary thing.
"What does Geyin usually do?"
"Surf the internet." His reply was incredibly brief.
"Uh, besides surfing the internet?"
"Eat, sleep."
"This…" Isn't that a bit extre?
The group arrived at the restaurant on top of the high tower, found a corner, and the seven of them sat down and began to order.
"Would you like so tangerine fruit?"
"I'll have chilled raspberry juice."
"Give a grapefruit juice."
"Tilan?" Efnie asked.
"Two portions of waterlon juice, for and Geyin."
"Alright."
After that ca the main courses. Everyone ordered according to their own preferences, and then it was a patient wait.
It was midday, with quite a few students in the restaurant, each talking about their own things. Occasionally, soone would notice Tilan's group in the corner and steal a few glances at them.
Efnie's orange-red dress was very eye-catching. Paired with those dazzling golden locks, she was undeniably noticeable. And after seeing her, many also took note of Tilan sitting by her side.
"The president is here too, and she's not wearing glasses today. She feels like a different person."
"Indeed, but let's not disturb her."
"The president is sitting with them. Is she also participating in the upcoming competition?"
"That's possible. Now I'm even more excited."
"If they win, it will certainly boost morale."
"If they lose, that wouldn't be good, and I've heard that the opponent is the famous 'Fla Sugar' Prin Coco."
"It's a bit risky, you're making worried now."
Upon hearing this, so people started using their personal terminals to search for information about 'Fla Sugar' Prin Coco, browsing her introduction and background. One student accidentally triggered the projection button while opening a video, causing a burst of light and shadow to appear on the ceiling of the restaurant.
In the three-dinsional light and shadow, Prin Coco and her band mbers stood on a slanted stage, lights converging, music soaring, while countless people in the audience raised their glow sticks and waved them. The neat chorus of cheers, like a large-scale cult gathering, was incredibly moving.
"Prin Coco!"
"Prin Coco!"
"Prin Coco!"
"Prin Coco!"
The voices were like waves, crashing over and over again, echoing continuously.
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