The gentle sound of a piano gradually filled the room.
Tsuzuki Shifune listened attentively, and little by little, a hint of surprise appeared in her eyes.
Rach 3?
This concerto was anything but simple.
After listening for about five minutes, Tsuzuki Shifune’s expression gradually became more serious.
There were a few imperfections overall, but at this age, this level of piano skill was truly remarkable.
Mm.
Passed.
She silently reached that conclusion.
It should be ending soon, right?
A single performance of Rach 3 usually took around fifty minutes.
Combined with its extreme technical difficulty, the physical exertion was said to be equivalent to shoveling ten tons of coal.
Very few people could endure it all the way through.
Yet when twenty minutes had passed and the piano showed no sign of stopping, Tsuzuki Shifune could no longer remain composed.
She looked at the blue-haired girl before her, who continued playing with complete concentration and not the slightest trace of fatigue, and couldn’t help but wonder: Is this even possible?
Touma knew that with either Sakiko’s stamina or his own alone, they wouldn’t be able to finish this piano concerto.
But he was currently performing under the system’s piano buff.
For these two hours, his stamina at the piano was effectively unlimited.
Touma didn’t feel tired in the slightest.
In fact, the more he played, the more absorbed he became.
Only another thirty minutes later did he finally lift his hands from the keys.
Sakiko had long since stopped finding it strange.
This guy was just that abnormal.
He could play the piano continuously for an hour without even breathing heavily.
Just then, a few light claps broke the silence.
Ms.
Matsugi had gone back to work halfway through, so the only one applauding could be Tsuzuki Shifune.
“Very impressive.
Far beyond my expectations.” Tsuzuki Shifune praised him with genuine admiration.
With piano skills like these, why should Sakiko limit herself to small bands?
The stage she belonged on was something much greater.
“Would you be interested in performing at RiNG’s café?
Eight thousand yen per hour, two hours a day, and you can take leave whenever you need.” Tsuzuki Shifune extended the invitation.
“Of course.” Touma stood up and accepted.
“As for the revenue share from selling your compositions to RiNG, let’s lower it to three percent.
I’ll inform Matsugi.” It was lowered again?
Touma froze for a moment before thanking her.
After chatting for a little while longer, Tsuzuki Shifune left to attend to other matters.
Touma remained in the piano room for over another hour of practice before heading to the front desk to discuss the details of the contract with Ms.
Matsugi.
In the end, the contract was successfully signed.
Starting tomorrow, he would officially begin working there.
Aside from that, whenever other good opportunities arose, Ms.
Matsugi would help connect him with them immediately.
Her role was essentially no different from that of an agency manager.
Touma walked out of RiNG feeling refreshed.
Sakiko also let out a long sigh of relief.
“Everything’s finally done.
These past few days have been even more exhausting than working part-time from morning until night.” “We should finally be able to relax for a while, right?” Her voice was filled with longing for a peaceful future.
“Relax?
Do you want to make money or relax?” Touma shot back.
Sakiko answered without the slightest hesitation.
“Of course I want to make money!” “Then stay focused.
Keep composing and stop thinking about relaxing.” Touma lectured her.
Hearing that, Sakiko had nothing she could say.
The hellish schedule of the past two weeks had already left her psychologically scarred.
Surely taking it a little easier would be better…
“Do you want to learn composition?
I can teach you.” She made a suggestion.
“No thanks.” Touma refused without hesitation.
She was obviously trying to turn him into free labor.
She really had quite a few little schemes.
Sakiko felt somewhat disappointed before voicing another question that had been bothering her.
“Is signing a contract with RiNG really that beneficial?
Wouldn’t joining a talent agency be more suitable?” Touma explained, “RiNG’s influence is only going to keep growing, and they’re willing to direct all of their resources toward us.
Other agencies can’t do that.” “More importantly, we’ve earned Manager Tsuzuki’s recognition.” He then gave a brief account of Tsuzuki Shifune’s impressive accomplishments, leaving Sakiko listening in stunned silence.
Only then did she fully realize just how valuable that recognition was.
The two of them really hadn’t come this far easily.
After returning to the apartment, Touma first sent the two songs to Matsugi Ririko, who would handle coordinating with the bands.
A reply came back very quickly.
Both bands had given the songs extremely high praise.
Soon afterward, 270,000 yen was deposited into his account.
Although he had experienced this before, Touma still couldn’t help but sigh.
The students at Tsukinomori really were rich.
[Reward Settled: ¥540,000 has been deposited into the system and can be withdrawn or stored at any time.] [Part-Time Job Bonus Lv.2 (645/500)] [Lv.2 → Lv.3] [Part-Time Job Bonus Lv.3 (145/2000)] Under the multiplier from the Part-Time Job Bonus, the original 270,000 yen became 540,000 yen.
Then the Part-Time Job Bonus leveled up to Lv.3.
Looking at the steadily growing balance in the system wallet, Touma felt thoroughly satisfied.
Meanwhile, in an office high up in a skyscraper, Togawa Sadaharu sat back in his chair with a relaxed expression.
“Why hasn’t Sakiko contacted me yet?
How has she been doing recently?” Hearing the question, his secretary handed over a report.
As Togawa Sadaharu quickly skimmed through the document, his expression became increasingly grim.
His brows drew tightly together before he slammed his hand onto the desk hard enough to make it hum.
“Hmph!
This is absolutely ridiculous!” He had originally thought Sakiko had left that man because she intended to return to the Togawa family.
Instead, she had gone off to sell compositions and play the piano.
Worse still, things actually seemed to be going well for her.
For a moment, Togawa Sadaharu found it difficult to accept the outcome.
After stroking his chin in thought for a while, his emotions gradually settled.
“We’ll continue observing for a while longer.
If Sakiko still refuses to come back, then it’s time she learns about the darkness that exists outside the Togawa family.” Meanwhile, following the information Ms.
Matsugi had sent him, Touma created a YouTube account.
The account would be jointly managed by him and Matsugi Ririko under RiNG.
Its purpose was to upload the songs composed by Sakiko, naturally with the permission of the bands performing them.
Touma was wondering what to name the channel when Sakiko suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
“Let’s call it Oblivionis.” Where did that random string of ‘ob…’ letters come from?
The corner of Touma’s mouth twitched.
“So, ‘I fear no oblivion,’ huh?” When Sakiko heard that, she felt strangely embarrassed rather than proud.
How does Touma know about that too?!
“Um…
y-you…
uh…
n-no…
that’s not…” Sakiko stammered, completely at a loss for how to respond.