Chapter 30: They are also pretty good, aren't they?

In fact, after Bocchi agreed to teach him guitar, Minami decided not to take things further.

Today's progress was enough.

If he pushed further, it might seem too eager.

As someone from the Great Eastern country, Minami knew the principle of "haste makes waste." You can't rush to eat hot tofu.

After saying goodbye to the members of the "Kessoku Band," Minami got the LINE contact information of the three members of the band.

But what surprised Minami was that among the three members of the "Kessoku Band," the silent and taciturn Yamada Ryo was the first to actively take out her phone and add him as a friend on LINE.

This left Minami a little puzzled.

After all, this wasn't in the simulation. The girl with short blue hair and a tear mole should have little interest in him.

Why was Yamada Ryo so proactive?

Could it be that he really was her natural nemesis?

Minami couldn't make sense of it.

He thought about it for a while and came up with the conclusion: "Maybe she just wanted to ask me about studies, which is why she's being so proactive."

After all, in the third round, he and Yamada Ryo had become friends due to studies.

This girl, with a decent talent for bass playing, had always had a dream—getting into the University of Tokyo.

Although she also had a good talent for studying, Yamada Ryo had a certain flaw.

It seemed her brain had a limited capacity.

When she learned something, she would forget something else.

She'd forget bass when learning, and forget studying when practicing bass.

During the simulation, Minami had invested countless efforts to help Yamada Ryo balance both.

And it was during this process that this quiet, occasionally quirky person began to develop feelings for him...

Looking at it from this angle, it seemed quite normal.

But now, he wasn't in the simulation—

"After all, outstanding people are never short of encounters."

Back in his rental apartment, Minami sighed, a bit troubled.

Being too outstanding wasn't his fault.

After sorting out his emotions briefly, Minami took out the "Regret of Life" guitar from under his bed.

The wooden-colored surface of the guitar glistened with its strings.

Practice guitar.

This was the second task Minami had set for himself, aside from studying.

He took a deep breath and began practicing the various guitar techniques in his mind.

With the LV2 music talent, his understanding of the guitar had progressed compared to when he was at LV1.

Though he was still a beginner, Minami didn't mind.

Everything requires practice to master, and guitar was no different.

He didn't dislike this feeling of gradually mastering a skill.

The talents given by the system were great, but his own practice wasn't bad either.

Minami continued practicing. After about half an hour of pressing and plucking the strings, he stopped.

His fingers pressed the strings lightly, and the finger and hand movements were much smoother compared to yesterday.

But compared to Gotou Ichiri, the "Guitar Hero," his movements still seemed a bit awkward.

But Minami was already very satisfied.

With only LV2 music talent, reaching this level was quite good. Asking for more would be greedy.

And more importantly—

Minami opened his inventory and looked at the card that popped up.

[Do you want to use the 'Love Stops Here, Gotoh Hitori (Rock Queen) Learning Card'?]

That's right.

Minami still had a Rock Queen Learning Card that he hadn't used.

Would using it upgrade his guitar skills to LV3?

Minami was quite interested and immediately selected "Yes."

But this time, the love simulator didn't immediately execute the command but displayed another pop-up window.

[Performing (stage performances, street performances, etc. all qualify), when used with the Rock Queen Learning Card, will grant an additional 150% learning bonus. Confirm to use now?]

Uh—

Minami stopped his finger.

An extra learning bonus?

As someone who focused on learning, this note was something he absolutely couldn't ignore.

But why would there be such a special effect?

Minami tugged at his sideburns, thought for a moment, and soon figured it out.

In the second round, Gotou Ichiri, as the national Rock Queen, had overcome countless obstacles and difficulties on stage.

For her, the experience and pressure from the stage might have been what was truly worth learning.

Therefore, in order to gain more experience and benefits from the learning card, one had to have real on-stage experience.

It made sense for the Rock Queen's character.

Minami figured it out.

But performing...

Minami glanced at his pitiful LV2 level.

With this level, even if he pressed the strings and destroyed his fingers, no one would stop to listen to him perform, right?

Besides, he didn't have any performance equipment such as microphones.

He doesn't have the basic qualifications for even the simplest street performance.

But if I just give up and use it directly, Minami would feel that it would be a bit of a waste of this hard-earned learning card.

After careful and unambiguous contemplation, Minami ultimately made a decision—

"Looks like I still have to do a roadshow."

Minami made up his mind.

What does being at LV2 really matter? Even if no one is willing to stop and listen to him play, the worst case scenario would be just a little embarrassment. In exchange for a 150% learning efficiency, the latter is certainly the better option.

And it's not necessarily true that no one would want to listen to him play.

After all, in the third round of the simulation, he had become a somewhat well-known roadshow guitarist—much more famous than the "Kessoku Band" when they were just starting out.

As for not having essential equipment like a pickup?

After the second round of simulation, Minami was well aware that several sets of pickups and other sound output equipment were placed among the stars.

Minami was always someone who took immediate action as soon as he had an idea.

With a rough plan in his mind, Minami immediately contacted Nijika on LINE.

As he had predicted, Nijika was the type of person who was easy to talk to.

The message from Minami had barely been sent when she replied with an "OK, I'll go tell my sister," along with a cute emoji.

At that moment, Minami felt that the label of 'angel' that Gotou Ichiri had given him should actually be attributed to this golden-haired girl, who was always willing to help others.

Sigh. I don't know why the version of me in the simulation only considered Gotoh Ichiri, even going as far as to sacrifice myself for her.

Now that I think about it... Nijika and the others aren't so bad either?

Forget it...

Pushing all distractions aside, Minami glanced at the time and made his decision.

It's time to begin the fourth simulation.