Chapter 77: What A Risky Move From Akari Hojo

The clear, almost sorrowful singing echoed like a sound from heaven, cleansing the soul, as if to lead everyone’s spirit to a place of extreme holiness.

Nozomi Sakura stared blankly at the girl on the stage.

No matter how much jealousy or unwillingness she felt before, at this moment, her soul was completely conquered.

The beautiful singing filled her with a sense of sorrow, and tears unconsciously welled up in her eyes.

She seemed to return to the time when she first adored Akari Hojo... In contrast, Alan didn’t have as many special emotions in his heart.

He stroked his chin, thoughtfully observing the sparkling girl on stage.

She has improved.

Speaking of which, she really should have improved, after all, more than half a year has passed.

If there was really no improvement at all, then he would have to reflect on whether Hojo wasn’t working hard enough before, or if the system’s S-rank talent evaluation was wrong.

Sure enough, separating was good for both of them.

Although they were different styles of songs, Akari Hojo was now clearly able to skillfully change her vocal cords between cheerful and deep songs.

This improvement could be said to be very significant.

Moreover, not only that, her control over details and the rise and fall of emotions were also very well executed.

The arrangement of the songs today was also very interesting.

Was she planning to put two new songs at the beginning and end...?

The fact was as he expected, the second song was a track that had been released before.

As he listened, he suddenly felt someone tugging at the sleeve of his left arm. He instinctively turned his head to look at Akari Honne, and found her staring at him with eager eyes.

"What’s wrong?"

Seeing his questioning mouth shape, Honne lifted her small bottom and leaned close to his ear, saying.

"Alan, I want to be like Big Sister too..."

After speaking, she returned to her seat, her eyes filled with anticipation as she looked at Alan.

Alan squinted and smiled, saying.

"Don’t worry, with Honne’s talent, as long as she perseveres, she can definitely do it."

I mean, when will you write a song for me?

If you wrote for me, I definitely wouldn’t be worse than her...

Akari Honne opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to explain more clearly, but Alan had already turned his head back to the center of the stage, so she had no choice but to give up.

She lowered her head and thought for a moment, then felt that Alan was so smart that he must have known what she meant.

This way of speaking clearly amounted to a refusal.

Her slender eyebrows furrowed, and listening to her Big Sister’s song on stage, Akari Honne also felt like crying for a moment.

In the stage technical room, Yasukawa Akio, the manager of the artist company, finally relaxed after Akari Hojo’s four songs.

Akari Hojo was simply too young, both in actual age and the time since her debut.

He was initially worried that she might experience problems due to inexperience and excessive nervousness during her first performance, but now it seemed he had worried too much.

Generally speaking, if there are no problems after the first three songs, it means the singer has entered the zone, and the rest will basically be smooth sailing.

He let out a long sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face, and turned to Kaguya, the manager, exclaiming.

"It seems that after this, Miss Akari is really going to be famous. I never expected her to have such strong on-the-spot control at such a young age..."

Halfway through his sentence, he saw tears welling up in Kaguya’s eyes. She let out a heavy breath and said.

"Actually, Miss Akari has always worked very hard. Ever since Friend A decided to stop writing, she has been under a lot of pressure. She..." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

As Kaguya spoke, she seemed to think of something, and her throat felt choked, making her unable to speak for a moment.

Seeing this, Yasukawa Akio patted her arm comfortingly, then looked at Aoki, who was sent by the record company, and asked with a smile.

"Miss Aoki, do you think Miss Akari’s album has a chance to be in the top ten of this year’s sales chart?"

Compared to Kaguya, Aoki was clearly much calmer. Although she also felt some emotion, upon hearing the other party’s words, she adjusted her glasses and thought for a moment, then said.

"There should be no problem. Based on the current popularity, there are already 100,000 pre-orders. If we add the subsequent promotion..."

"Manager! It seems Miss akari has a problem!"

Aoki Yayoi’s words were suddenly interrupted by the urgent voice of a staff member, followed by a series of extremely harsh sounds from the monitoring system.

’Pant! Pant! Squeak!!’

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat.

The smile on Yasukawa Akio’s face disappeared, and he immediately turned his head to look at the monitor screen.

However, the next moment, he unconsciously opened his mouth wide, his eyes wide and round like a dead fish.

"How is that possible..."

Aoki Yayoi was the first to react, and quickly said.

"Logistics, security..."

...After the intermission, the sudden melody on stage was somewhat unexpected for Alan.

He had thought that his final written song for Akari Hojo would be placed as the finale, but he didn’t expect it to start right after the intermission.

Was it to re-energize the audience after the intermission?

Listening to the overwhelming cheers from the audience, Alan felt a sense of doubt.

However, when Akari Hojo sang the first line, his heart tightened, and his brows unconsciously furrowed.

Something is wrong.

Others might not have heard this song, but he knew its melodic curve.

From the very first line, Akari Hojo was off-key.

Moreover, it wasn’t just a problem with the melody. He could clearly hear an uncontrolled tremor in Akari Hojo’s voice.

If it was a heavenly sound before, now it was like sand rubbing against leaves.

Her voice was off-key, her vocal cords became hoarse...

Nozomi Sakura and Akari Honne next to him also clearly noticed that something was wrong.

The three of them exchanged glances, their eyes showing expressions of doubt.

At first, the audience didn’t notice any problems, only thinking that this song might just be like this.

However, as the song’s melody continued to rise, and the singer’s voice couldn’t match the melody, everyone finally realized something was amiss.

The venue first fell silent, followed by faint murmurs.

Suddenly, during the chorus, a strange sound pierced through the microphone, emanating from the speakers all around the venue.

A ’huff huff’ sound, like a bellows, permeated their eardrums.

On stage, Akari Hojo’s slender body trembled continuously.

She seemed to be trying desperately to produce a sound from her throat, bending her waist forcefully.

’Pant! Pant! Squeak!!’

A crow-like shriek echoed above the venue.

Finally, she seemed to have exhausted her last bit of strength, kneeling on one knee with her head bowed, her lips moving, but no sound came from her throat.

Only the thin chorus and the soaring melody played on.

Suddenly, she lifted her face, her tear-filled eyes looking in a certain direction.

Alan, I want you to watch me carefully...