Plans rarely kept pace with reality. The girls had prepared a whole arsenal of witty remarks to press their advantage, only to choke on them when Shu completely capitulated without a fight.
But no one was going to complain about a miscalculation when the result was a 200% perfect ending.
It was just a shame they wouldn't get to see Shu blush furiously and shout, "That is absolutely unacceptable!" or cross his arms in front of his chest and yell, "Muri muri! Zettai muri!"
What a pity.
You despicable trolls. One day, I will eradicate all amusement from this world and force you to keep a straight face for an entire day!
The moment Shu saw their surprised expressions, he realized he had agreed far too easily. Their actual bottom line was clearly much, much lower than the strict demands he had just made.
It seemed they had left him plenty of room to negotiate. He probably could have capitalized on the moment to make a few genuinely outrageous demands...
Ah... whatever. What's done is done. Trying to walk it back now would just be embarrassing.
"Since everyone is in agreement, it's settled." Mei immediately clapped her hands, decisively terminating the topic and redirecting everyone's attention to "other matters."
"The band is formed. Now we need to solve the logistical issues.
"Rehearsal space and instruments are easy. There are plenty of abandoned buildings on Level -10 that we can easily convert into a studio. Instruments aren't an issue either; we can either scavenge them or make them ourselves. But—"
Mei turned to look at Theresa.
"The performance venue and promotional channels. Those aren't small problems we can solve on our own. I assume we don't want to just play for ourselves in an empty room, right?"
"Of course not!" Kiana nodded in agreement. "If we're forming a band, we can't just play pretend."
"Therefore, we need a good stage to perform on. But it shouldn't be too high-profile... It needs to be accessible to the general public, so performing as fans at the meet-and-greet event is out of the question...
"The only person who can arrange something like this is the Principal."
Mei looked at Theresa with utmost sincerity.
Theresa planted her hands on her hips and nodded confidently.
"Leave the general direction to the Principal! A minor issue like this can be resolved with a flick of Grandpa's finger. Besides, an event like this will boost morale and aid Arc City's recovery, so we're really just contributing to society!"
"Auntie Theresa is truly amazing..." Kiana gave her a thumbs-up in sheer awe. "To speak of such things so casually."
"The sky over the Fire Moth has gone dark," Bronya sighed dramatically, foreseeing a bleak and corrupt future for the organization.
With their goal set, there was no time to waste. The group immediately turned around and headed back.
It was still too early to "hang out" in Arc City. They needed to wait another month or two for the essential infrastructure to be rebuilt before the restoration of entertainment and luxury venues could even be put on the schedule.
Right now, it's Band Time!
"By the way, Shu. You said you were going to use a different avatar on stage. Have you thought about what you want to look like?"
"...Why do you care?" Shu eyed Kiana warily, his instincts screaming at him. The way she was squinting her eyes and rubbing her hands together did not look like the behavior of an honest person.
"Oh, nothing! Just asking!" Kiana puffed her cheeks out, averting her gaze and hiding her hands behind her back.
She looked even less honest now.
"Bronya is also very curious about what kind of VTuber model Shu will sculpt for his debut." Without Shu's hand weighing down on her head, Bronya felt invincible.
If there was anything I shouldn't say, Shu would have manually muted me. Since he hasn't, it means I am free to speak and interrogate.
Bronya's phrasing made Shu's expression falter. Honestly, he hadn't realized that changing his physical appearance could be equated to using a VTuber model.
Is there a difference?
There really doesn't seem to be.
"Um... is Sister Bronya talking about those virtual streamer avatars on the Intranet? But aren't those mostly 2D? Seeing one in real life would be..."
Bronya chuckled and raised a finger. "Indeed, a Live2D avatar manifesting in physical reality would be quite bizarre. And the selling point of our band is not 'Virtual Idols.'"
Seele nodded, half-understanding. "Then why did Sister Bronya phrase it like that?"
"Because in reality, that kind of appearance can be achieved through cosplay. And based on Bronya's observation of Shu's numerous disguises... if Shu makes it, it will be a masterpiece!"
Shu: "?"
"What are you talking about?" Shu's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"Ah, speaking of which, that is true. The figurines Shu makes are incredibly detailed and beautiful from head to toe... If an image like that were scaled up to life-size, it would certainly be stunning." Right then, Mei remembered something and chimed in earnestly.
"Those are figurines. How can you compare them to a real person?!" Shu felt his eyelid twitching.
"Are they really that different?" Mei asked, slightly surprised. "Unless I'm mistaken, wasn't Shu's 'Stelle' persona at the video store based on a similar visual design concept?
"And didn't she look incredibly beautiful?"
"Hiss..." Shu sucked in a sharp breath, his face scrunching up.
Mei was absolutely right. The Stelle persona was literally a highly detailed, realistic rendering of a 3D model. She had interacted with countless people, and the unanimous consensus was that she was beautiful. There were absolutely no uncanny valley issues.
With Mei's supplementary explanation, Seele finally understood.
Then, Seele's mind took a slight detour, arriving at a very specific conclusion.
"Then... doesn't the avatar Big Brother Shu sculpts for himself represent his personal preferences?" Seele looked at Shu, hesitated for a moment, and added, "Big Brother Shu... wouldn't sculpt a perfectly average, boring avatar, right?"
"Shu definitely wouldn't do that, right?" Kiana finally broke into a wide grin, dropping the innocent act entirely. "Shu will definitely follow his heart and sculpt the absolute most beautiful image he can imagine, right?"
"..." Ah. Now I see what you're doing.
Shu calmly raised his eyes. In a single instant, the combined gaze of every girl present locked onto him with laser precision.
Everyone was eager to hear his answer. Everyone wanted to see exactly how he would respond.
Would he shyly try to hide it, or would he openly admit it?
Heh...
Shu let out a cold chuckle. He looked around, taking in the incredibly amateurish "tea art" maneuvers of the girls surrounding him.
Your purity levels are simply too low.
"Well, an avatar like that needs to be universally appealing, doesn't it?" Shu smiled, perfectly mimicking a certain someone's tone. "How about this: I shouldn't be the sole judge. Why don't you guys take a vote on who is the prettiest, and I'll use that as a reference?"
The atmosphere in the group instantly froze.