Everyone Reaches Level 7

At 2 p.m., everyone in the mansion, including Aoi Kujou and Erina, had gathered inside the music hall.

Prior to this, the banquet preparations were nearly complete. The moment the time came, dinner could begin immediately.

The music hall was vast, covering more than a thousand square meters.

At its center stood a circular stage ten meters in diameter. Surrounding the stage were twenty neat rows of seats, arranged in a semi-circle that enclosed the performance area.

Even with over a hundred attendees, only a small portion of the seats were occupied.

A magnificent piano made from amethyst stood silently at the heart of the stage.

Seated in the front row, directly facing the piano, Eriri relaxed with Rena nestled in her arms.

Beside her sat Miss Sayuri, Arifureta, and Shinobu.

"Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of our lady, I welcome you all."

On stage, dressed in a black-and-white maid outfit, Aoi Kujou addressed the audience with a blank expression.

Despite not using a microphone or sound system, her voice rang out clearly across the entire music hall.

This concert wouldn't be limited to just Eriri's piano performance. Anyone with musical talent or those who simply wanted to perform could take the stage.

Singing, guitar, or any other form of music-related performance was welcome.

Following a brief opening statement, Aoi Kujou officially announced the start of the concert.

"Of course, my lady's performance will be the finale. Until then, anyone who wishes to go first may step up to the stage. Whatever instrument you need, I have it prepared."

With those words, Aoi left the stage, her hosting duties essentially concluded.

After all, this wasn't a formal concert. There was no prearranged lineup—everything was free-form.

Her only remaining task was to provide the instruments requested by each performer. Her storage ring contained every instrument in existence.

As her voice faded, the audience quickly broke into murmurs and lively chatter.

Many were joking with one another about who would go up first to sing—like over on Eriri's side.

"Yue-chan, want to go sing a song?" Eriri asked with a grin as she gently played with Rena's soft fox ears.

Arifureta shyly waved her hand. "Maybe not. Honestly, I'm not that good at singing."

But before she could finish, Shea, sitting behind her, chimed in.

"That's not true. I remember your singing was actually quite good. You definitely didn't sound unskilled."

Before Arifureta could retort, Eriri struck with another jab.

"Come on now, nobody's buying that excuse. You were the most enthusiastic when we were singing at home. Don't try to claim you're not good at it."

Still grinning, Eriri gave Arifureta's cheek a playful pinch. "I know you too well. It's not that you're bad at singing—it's just that you're shy."

"Fine, you caught me," Arifureta pouted and hugged Eriri's arm. In a sweet voice, she said, "I admit, I'm a little embarrassed. But since you want me to sing, I guess I'll go up and do one number."

"Yup yup, do your best~"

But just as Arifureta was about to stand and head to the stage, Miss Sayuri stopped her.

"Wait a moment, Yue-chan. Could you let me be the first one to perform instead?" Miss Sayuri leaned forward with an eager smile as she made her request.

Arifureta immediately halted her attempt to stand and nodded without hesitation.

"Of course! Honestly, I'm relieved that Aunt Sayuri is going first—it's a big help!"

Eriri, on the other hand, looked a bit surprised. "Eh? Mom, you want to perform?"

"Yes!" Miss Sayuri nodded, then gave Eriri a pitiful look. "What, Eriri-chan, you don't want your mom to perform? I was doing this for you, you know."

"No, not at all! Why would I ever? I'm thrilled!" Eriri quickly shook her head.

"That's more like it. That's my precious daughter!"

Miss Sayuri happily nuzzled Eriri's cheek, then stood and gracefully walked toward the stage.

As she made her way to the center stage, the chatter in the audience gradually subsided. Within seconds, the music hall returned to silence.

Once on stage, Miss Sayuri didn't immediately begin her performance. Instead, she turned to address the audience.

"Ahem. Good afternoon, everyone. Most of you already know me quite well, so I won't say much. Since Eriri's performance is the grand finale, as her mother, I'd like to open the concert with a piano piece."

Although she didn't reside in the newly built mansion most of the time, Miss Sayuri's status in the house was undisputed due to being Eriri's biological mother.

Nearly every group member who visited the Saekano world made a point to pay her a visit, so she was well-acquainted with most of them.

Aside from a few group members who had rarely visited this world, almost everyone was on familiar terms with Miss Sayuri.

Following her words, the audience broke into enthusiastic applause.

As she took her seat at the amethyst piano, the applause quickly faded.

With a light press of her fingers, graceful, dynamic notes began to flow from the instrument, washing over the audience.

As a former heiress and now head of a conglomerate, Miss Sayuri naturally possessed remarkable piano skills.

One only had to glance at the rapt expressions of the audience to see how enchanted they were.

Even those unfamiliar with music found themselves soothed by the elegance of her performance.

Before long, another round of thunderous applause erupted as her performance came to an end.

Her opening act sparked enthusiasm throughout the room, and more and more people stepped up to perform.

Following Miss Sayuri, Arifureta went up second. Her sweet voice earned unanimous praise from the audience.

Chika Fujiwara and Yukino Yukinoshita each took turns performing piano pieces. Even Akino, who had just recently started learning, mustered up the courage to play a piece on stage.

Although her playing was rather poor, no one minded—instead, they cheered her bravery with warm applause.

Finally, when Eriri herself walked onto the stage, the concert reached its climax.

...

Twenty minutes later, Eriri's piano performance came to a close. Yet this time, instead of thunderous applause, the hall fell into complete silence.

Just like that impromptu solo a few days ago in the To LOVE-Ru world karaoke room, everyone present was completely captivated by the music Eriri played.

Cosmic energy within the music hall became extraordinarily active.

More astonishingly, under the guidance of Eriri's piano melody, this cosmic energy began to flow voluntarily into the bodies of everyone in the audience.

Though the energy didn't remain within them, it left behind unimaginable benefits.

Those group members who had been stuck at Level 7, Stage 1 for several months all advanced to Level 7, Stage 2 with the help of cosmic energy.

Although Lala had already been at Level 7, Stage 2, the baptism of cosmic energy pushed her progress bar significantly forward—she was now not far from reaching Stage 3.

As for the members who were still striving at Levels 4, 5, and 6, and even the family members who hadn't joined the chat group, all of them crossed into the Level 7 realm thanks to the cosmic energy.

Thus, centered around Eriri, the entire extended family officially achieved the milestone of everyone reaching Level 7 or above.

...

A few minutes after Eriri's performance ended, the audience finally began to snap out of their trance.

But the moment they came to, they immediately noticed changes in their bodies, and each of them was stunned.

This was especially true for those whose base strength had been lower—the difference was more apparent to them.

They couldn't tell exactly what level they'd reached, but they could clearly feel that their power had skyrocketed. It was like they had taken a single step and ascended to heaven.

Those happiest of all were the ones brought along by group members—people like Haruhime, Tiona, Tione, Lefiya, members of the Blue Rose squad, and others like Hisa Takei and Rizu Ogata...

Most of them had very little interaction with Eriri. In fact, for Haruhime, this was her first time meeting her.

Strictly speaking, they weren't even considered officially acknowledged family members by Eriri.

To her, they were simply guests brought along by others—people whose presence didn't really affect the gathering either way.

So the fact that they experienced a miraculous boost in power was a complete windfall, which made them even more ecstatic than the group members and lolis.

Of course, Eriri didn't mind this kind of trivial detail at all.

If she did, she could have easily adjusted the cosmic energy to bypass them—but she simply chose not to.

Eriri stepped to the front of the stage, smiling as she looked at the delighted crowd below.

"I'm sure you've all felt the changes in your bodies. Congratulations—every one of you has stepped into the Level 7 realm!"

With Eriri's declaration, the crowd erupted.

Group members could confirm their power levels via the Multiverse Same-Sex ♀ Friendship Group, while the others learned their level through Eriri's words, deepening their shock several times over.

"This is unbelievable. I knew my strength had jumped, but I didn't expect to be Level 7 already—I was only Level 4 before."

"You were at Level 4? I was still a regular person! I never imagined I'd become a transcendent being someday… I'm so grateful to Eriri."

"A single piano piece, just twenty minutes, and she effortlessly created over a hundred Level 7 powerhouses. All I can say is: Eriri is truly divine!"

...

One excited comment after another rose from the crowd. Though jumbled together into a noisy din, Eriri could clearly pick out each one.

They soon discovered another delightful surprise—the sudden surge in strength brought no physical burden.

No one had trouble controlling the energy inside them. Even Rizu Ogata and others who had jumped from being normal humans to Galaxy-level beings could still manage their internal energy.

They would still need time and practice to fully master its use, of course.

...

The concert schedule had been carefully managed, so there was no delay in the end time.

Eriri's piano piece concluded precisely at 5:00 PM.

Though the power-up surprise caused a bit of a stir, it didn't drag things out too long.

Despite everyone's lingering excitement over their power increases, it didn't interfere with the evening banquet.

So, as planned, the formal banquet began at 5:30 PM.

This time, the banquet took a different format. In the past, banquets were sit-down meals around a dining table—even with many attendees, they just added more tables.

This time, however, it was a buffet-style event held in a specially designated banquet hall.

Clearly, tonight's feast was more formal than usual.

Delicious dishes prepared by Aoi Kujou, Erina, and others filled the long rows of dining tables.

Each category had its own section—meat dishes, vegetarian dishes, staple foods, beverages and alcohol, desserts, and more…

For food lovers, this was heaven.

Having anticipated this all day, Artoria had already transformed into a food-devouring machine, weaving endlessly through the banquet hall. She paused at every station for quite a while.

Even though her stomach was like a bottomless pit absorbing the banquet's delicacies, it still wasn't enough to make a dent in the mountain of food prepared for the evening.

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