Twenty minutes later.
A karaoke venue named "BIG ECHO."
The private room was a bit dim, with a rotating disco ball scattering tiny light dots across the ceiling. Multicolored lights flowed like swimming fish, sweeping across the transparent tea table full of fruit platters, giving off a sense of drunken luxury and extravagance.
Kaito had never been to a place like this before. His impression of karaoke was still stuck at the stereotypical ideas of "noisy," "boisterous," and "tone-deaf guests screaming like ghosts."
But after experiencing it today, he realized it wasn't that noisy at all. In fact, everything was orderly. Each private room was an independent space, and once the door was closed, privacy and soundproofing were excellent. It was a great place to relax and relieve stress.
Karuta Mashiro and Kirigaya Touka were clearly regulars here. Familiar with the process, they had already picked up the song-selection tablet and started browsing for what to sing later.
Actually, there wasn't much to choose from. People who frequented karaoke usually had their go-to songs. To avoid embarrassment, they'd definitely choose the songs they were best at.
Karuta Mashiro ended up picking "美しきもの" (Utsukushiki Mono, "Beautiful Things"), an old song with over ten years of history. A true classic, but extremely difficult, especially for beginners.
Kirigaya Touka chose "好きだから" (Suki Dakara, "Because I Like You"), a cute little love song. A girl's confession to the boy she likes. It perfectly suited her love-struck fake gyaru persona.
Surprisingly, the final song picker, Yashio Rui, who dressed like a refined lady, chose "One Last Kiss," the theme song of an old anime movie. Its most famous lyrics were:
初めてのルーブルは (Hajimete no Rūburu wa)
なんてことはなかったわ (Nante koto wa nakatta wa)
私だけのモナリザ (Watashi dake no Monariza)
もうとっくに出会ってたから (Mō tokku ni deatteta kara)
("My first visit to the Louvre / didn't feel special / because I'd already met / the Mona Lisa who belongs to me alone")
"President, it's your turn with your boyfriend!"
After choosing, Karuta Mashiro pushed the tablet over and said with a cheerful smile, "Since you're a couple, it has to be a duet love song, right? So, what do you think, wanna give it a try?"
'A love song duet?', Anon was slightly tempted.
She didn't actually mind singing a song with Kaito. It's just that whenever she came to karaoke with friends, it was always solo performances. She'd never sung a duet and was worried she'd mess it up.
But if she refused now, would Rui find it suspicious? They'd already come this far in the act, if it got exposed because of one tiny detail, that would be too unjust.
Thinking of this, Anon couldn't help glancing at her "boyfriend" beside her, "Kaito, what do you think?"
Everyone knows, when a girlfriend asks, "Do you want milk tea?" she's actually saying she wants it.
So the correct answer here was—
"I'm good with anything," Kaito responded simply.
"Then it's decided!", Anon immediately smiled happily, and eagerly browsed the tablet until she finally settled on a song: "また君と" (Mata Kimi To, "Once Again, With You").
Preparations complete, it should've been a relaxing karaoke time, but before the backing track started, Karuta Mashiro suddenly held the mic and said seriously, "Just singing normally is easy to get bored of. Since we rarely gather like this, why not spice it up with a challenge?"
"Challenge?", Yashio Rui tilted her head, "Like what?"
"Simple."
Karuta Mashiro pointed to the screen, "This karaoke has a scoring system. After each song, the highest scorer can make the lowest scorer do a punishment, either perform a task or answer a question. No backing out, and no excuses."
"Of course, the person making the request should stay reasonable. Nothing over-the-top, it still has to follow social norms."
"But…", Yashio Rui raised her hand and asked, "If President Chihaya and her boyfriend are singing a duet, how do we score that?"
"I know, I know!"
Kirigaya Touka placed her hands on her hips and said confidently, "Since they're a couple, obviously they count as one unit. Share joy and sorrow together."
Karuta Mashiro nodded in agreement and looked at Anon, "What do you think, President Chihaya?"
'I think… not good at all…', The pink-haired girl made a bitter face.
She just wanted to sing a simple song, she really didn't want things to escalate.
But seeing her three friends so excited, she sighed and nodded in resignation.
"I have no objections."
With the vote at four to one, Kaito didn't ruin the mood. He also gave a quiet "Mm," indicating agreement.
Consensus reached, Karuta Mashiro showed a sly "everything's going according to plan" grin and started the backing track.
She wasn't malicious, she simply wanted to make the game more fun. She was pretty confident in her own singing. Maybe not at a professional level, but good enough to dominate karaoke.
And it turned out she really was. "美しきもの" ran over six minutes, its melody was catchy, but it demanded high vocal control and fluency. Most people couldn't even pronounce the lyrics properly.
But Karuta Mashiro sang it smoothly from beginning to end and scored a remarkable 91.
Next was Kirigaya Touka. Her voice was nice enough, but her technique wasn't quite up to par. She finished with a score of 84.
Then came Yashio Rui, normally quiet and elegant, but when she sang "One Last Kiss," she revealed surprising skill, hinting she might secretly be an otaku. She ended with 89, just behind Karuta Mashiro.
'So, so strong!'
Anon's throat moved as she swallowed hard. Suddenly regretting she'd agreed so hastily to this game.
She had a very realistic grasp of her own vocal abilities. Her highest score ever was 85, and that was solo. This time it was a duet with Kaito. She didn't know how well he could sing, but considering it was his first time in a karaoke box…
'Will we even make the passing mark?'
Looking bad was one thing, what if Rui and the others gave some super embarrassing punishment? Would she go through with it or not?
But at this point, it was too late to back out. Gritting her teeth, she picked up the mic and started the track.
"Mata Kimi To" opened with the male part. Anon was worried that Kaito might be tone-deaf or go off-key, but what happened completely defied expectations.
"最後の電車を逃して並んでる"
"うつむいた横顔に君の気持ちを探す"
("We missed the last train, and stood side by side."
"I looked at your lowered profile, trying to guess your thoughts.")
As the soft background music flowed, the boy's voice rang out. Clear and pure as a spring. His pitch was spot on, rhythm perfect, and that gorgeous voice was enough to make any voice-lover swoon. It was a true auditory feast.
With this level of singing skill, debuting on the spot wouldn't be a problem.
Actually, Kaito hadn't studied singing at all. But for a cultivator, "not studying" didn't matter.
For a cultivator, ordinary skills were like teaching basic math to a kindergartener, just one glance and it could be mastered with ease.
But poor Anon was so shocked she didn't recover in time. When her part came, she missed her cue, throwing off the timing. The whole song turned out choppy and disjointed, dragging the score down a lot.
The final result was unfortunate: 83 points, the lowest of the group.
Kaito got the MVP, Anon scored 3.0 (metaphorically), totally unable to carry the performance.
"Whew… that was close!", Kirigaya Touka patted her well-developed chest and let out a long breath.
Her final score was 84. Just one point from last place. Thank goodness Chihaya helped pull her out of the dark, even if it meant falling into it herself. Was this… the kindness of a true president? She was seriously crying.
Anon's pretty face was flushed red.
Realizing she had dragged her boyfriend down, she wished she could bury her head in her chest. She'd thought Kaito was the newbie who needed her guidance, but looking back...
'The burden turns out to be me?'
But the real trouble wasn't over yet.
"Ahem, since the results are in, now it's punishment time."
Karuta Mashiro cleared her throat, flashing a "prank succeeded" smile, "President Chihaya, my request is simple, just answer one question."
"—You and your boyfriend, what kind of cheese do you two like to use the most?"
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