Arimura Kasumi could not believe the sequence of events unfolding before her eyes.
A global superstar was standing right in front of her, and that same superstar was pointing a camera at her... For her, what was happening now defied all common sense.
"You want... us to sing?"
The girl spoke to the superstar with a trembling voice. The reason for her shock was the task at hand. She had to sing a song that would be uploaded to Enfants Terribles' channel—a platform that generated millions of views across the globe with every single upload.
"If I sing, it'll just look like an ad for a music academy, right? So obviously, the kids who actually study here have to be the ones to do it."
The track they were about to record was a promotional song for Somnium Music Academy. If he made the advertisement all about himself, wouldn't that be a classic case of the tail wagging the dog?
While Hide was lost in these thoughts, a rough-looking man with blonde hair and black sunglasses approached the girl.
"Hey, it's just a simple commercial. No need to be so tense."
"Saito, don't you think the kid's going to get even more nervous if someone with a face like yours says that?"
Watching the scene unfold, Hide wore a sly, mischievous smirk.
"I'd really appreciate it if this damn star would just shut his mouth for once."
The rough-looking blonde man, who seemed extremely close with Hide, flashed a smile that didn't quite match his aging features and gestured for Arimura Kasumi to take a deep breath.
"Listen, kid. Do you know what all the superstars I've seen have in common? It's that they perform better than anyone once the stage is set. This damn star here might have pushed this on you out of nowhere, but Ichigo Production always strives to keep its word. So don't worry too much."
"Ah...? Yes... Thank you...?"
Despite his intimidating appearance, Arimura Kasumi felt that Saito Ichigo might actually be a good person. Seeing him joke around and trade barbs with Hide—the industry's most notorious troublemaker—was enough to confirm her suspicion.
The only issue was the sheer lack of reality. It was a miracle sparked by a single sentence.
Wait, is this actually real?
She had simply been worried about the academy that had raised her as a vocalist. She had summoned her courage to speak to Hide, who claimed he had only come to visit his old mentor.
Honestly, she thought it would be a miracle if Hide even mentioned the academy's name. But for Hide, who operated on a global scale, every action was massive.
"Is this... one of those opportunities that only comes a few times in a lifetime?"
Arimura Kasumi and the other students had essentially stumbled upon an unimaginable chance that others would kill for. They were going to be the main features in the academy's commercial.
"Can you all read sheet music?"
Setting aside the bewilderment of his mentor's students, Hide began handing out the scores to everyone.
"Alright, I'm going to do a demonstration now. Use this time to wrap your heads around the song."
Hide took the microphone in front of everyone. His mentor, the white-haired old man, grabbed an acoustic guitar and sat on a prepared stool.
As the song began, a mournful melody accompanied by the resonant strumming of the acoustic guitar began to flow into Arimura Kasumi's ears. But what shocked her most was Hide's vocals—raw, yet remarkably clear.
She had heard enough news to have it practically etched into her brain that he had put down the guitar recently to focus on his singing, but this was the first time Kasumi had ever heard his voice without any other distractions.
Was it because of the gentle acoustic backdrop compared to the usual electric distortion? As a fellow vocalist, his sheer volume and crystalline clarity sent shivers through her; it was a sound she had never experienced before.
"Wow...."
As the song reached its climax, his vocals sounded as if they were ready to punch through the studio walls and roar out into the world. It was a soaring, heavy high-register that cleared the senses, contrasted against the calm ripples of the acoustic guitar.
Honestly, the song was far too good to be wasted as a mere commercial jingle for an academy. However, regardless of the song's quality, there was one glaring problem.
He wants us to sing this?
Setting the quality aside, how on earth was she supposed to sing a song like this? When the two finished their performance, a thunderous round of applause broke out, but everyone's expressions were grim.
The reason for their dark looks was surely the same as hers. They had to perform this monstrosity. Unaware—or perhaps indifferent—to their plight, Hide walked toward the recording booth with a serene expression.
He was going in to record the guide vocal. Watching Hide's back, the students of Somnium Academy let out collective sighs.
"Holy... you know how much harder songs like this are, right? If we sing it, it's going to be a total disaster."
"Wow... can't they just use the version he just sang for the ad...?"
How could they possibly express such a monstrous song? They could hit the notes if they had to, but singing a song and expressing it were two entirely different realms.
"We just have to practice until we die, I guess...."
Thinking back to the performance by Hide and their mentor, the students stared at their sheet music with trembling hands.
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