Chapter 3: The Busking Tour Group – translated by PR! (1/2)
“You want me to be a singer, and have a concert?” I began to feel slightly dizzy. What on earth is everyone thinking? Aren’t I the Lord of the city? How did I turn into a singer?
“Yeah, just take a look at yourself.” Lolidragon shoved a mirror at me. “Look at that invincible, super-duper handsome face and tall, perfectly proportioned body. Look at that cool and elegant poise (as long as you don’t open your mouth), plus those power vocals! If you don’t sell your bo— I mean, records, isn’t that a heinous waste of natural resources?”
I glanced at Lolidragon, wondering if I had heard her beginning to say ‘body’. “But, this is an online game. Who becomes a singer in a game, and actually holds concerts?”
“And has a photo-shoot,” Lolidragon added, and whereupon catching me paling at an alarming rate, quickly quipped, “Don’t worry, we won’t have you bear it all; at most just a little, little bit…”
“A little, little bit?” I asked with a hint of suspicion. “Really just a little, little bit?”
“Yeah, a little, little bit!” Lolidragon laughed with deep sincerity. I later found out that Lolidragon’s ‘a little, little bit’ had two ‘little’s in it, so in her mind that defined two particular little bits…1 Lolidragon, who on earth taught you your Chinese?
“Wait a minute, this isn’t the point! How am I supposed to become a singer? I’m not even a bard,” I retorted.
Lolidragon lifted an eyebrow. “When did you start being concerned over what we can and can’t do in the game? Do what you feel like doing—isn’t that your style? The crux is in whether you want to do it or not.”
That gave me some pause. Before… Yeah, I think I really did whatever I wanted to do. A singer… I tilted my head to the side. Sounds rather interesting! In the end I laughed aloud. “Alright, being a singer seems rather tempting.”
“Great, now let me think… First off, you guys will have to tour through the three cities of Sun, Moon, and Star in order to publicize and make a name for yourselves. —And earn some money while you’re at that,” Lolidragon added hurriedly upon catching Yu Lian-dàsăo’s brilliant smile. Seeing that her smile had warmed a little, Lolidragon heaved a sigh of relief and continued, “Lastly, after you gain popularity, come back to Infinite City to hold a concert. This is because, one, we can earn money from that and, two, it can help us boost Infinite City’s population. It’s definitely killing two birds with one stone.”
I thought for a while, before asking, “So do I have to bring Gui along as my musical accompaniment?”
Hearing this, Gui’s eyes lighted up immediately. “Can I follow His Highness Prince, please?”
“Not only Gui—I think we have to look for a few other people and form a band,” Lolidragon said. “After all, Second Life has no audio tracks that we can make use of.” She hesitated. “I don’t know if Second Life’s craftsmen can make things like instruments, though…”
“I don’t know about drums, but they can make guitars,” Fairsky suddenly blurted out. She stuck a hand into her bag and drew out a guitar. “I have one.”
“You know how to play the guitar?” Lolidragon’s eyes shone.
Fairsky nodded regally. “Of course. I’ve been learning for ten years; I play really well.”
“Great, we’ve got one more member!” Lolidragon noted down happily.
I chowed down on my meat floss2 on rice mixed with scrambled egg soup, slightly dubious over whether people could mix guitars and guqins together. Whatever. Anyway, I’m only responsible for singing, so I’ll leave the rest up to Lolidragon! Hmm…meat floss scrambled egg porridge doesn’t taste bad!
“I want to go too,” Wicked said coldly, glaring at Gui. “I won’t let Gui have the chance to be alone with Prince.”
“You—!” Gui clenched his fists in anger.
“Can you play any instruments?” Lolidragon asked with great interest. Her eagerness for more chaos was written across her face.
“The Chinese flute3,” Wicked answered simply.
Wow, that’s just great. Guqin, guitar, and the Chinese flute? That’s a mix comparable to the bowl of messy things in my hand.
“And me!” Phoenix said hurriedly, seeing that three of the four admirers of Prince had already joined.
“And what can you play?”
“I can play the drums, and have been at it for ten years too,” Phoenix boasted, irking Fairsky who was at her side. “I’ll look for craftsmen to make a drum set for me immediately. They can definitely do it!”
“Okay, Gui plays the guqin, Wicked the Chinese flute, Fairsky the guitar, and Phoenix the drums.” Lolidragon noted that down before wrinkling her brows. “We’ll split into two groups then, with the guys being in charge of the more sentimental songs, and the girls the rock songs.”
I sighed heartily and looked into the distance. “Times have really changed. The guys are all choosing to be more sensitive, while the girls all like rock music – it seems like I’m getting old.”
Lolidragon whacked me soundly on the head and PMed to me, “That’s why you, neither female nor male, have to sing both kinds of songs!”
Ouch! With tears threatening to spill over, I pouted and muttered sullenly, “I said I’ll sing already! Why did you have to hit me on the head? I’ll become stupid!”
“Heh heh heh, so the members of Infinite Band are decided,” Lolidragon said. “Gui, get to work on the lyrics and the tunes of the songs. Wicked, get started on choreography. Prince, start memorizing the lyrics. Fairsky and Phoenix, let’s go prepare the performing costumes.” Lolidragon’s eyes shone as she grabbed the two girls and left so fast that they seemed to have teleported away.
“Gui… Do you know how to write songs?” Why didn’t I know that Gui knew how to compose music and lyrics?
Gui’s expression was extremely troubled. “Me? I’ve never written a song before.”
We sunk in silence for a moment, then I turned to Wicked harboring a tiny glint of hope. “You know how to dance?”
“Yeah,” Wicked replied, and my hope blossomed. “I’ve folk-danced before.”
My heart chilled abruptly, turning as cold and hard as a frozen fish that could be used as a murder weapon.
Lolidragon suddenly stuck her head back into the room, “If you guys don’t do well, you’ll be kicked out of Infinite Band. Prince is the exception, but if he doesn’t do well, he can only eat plain rice for all his meals.” After saying that, she drew her head back to wherever she had come from.
Two bulging veins throbbed on my forehead. If my heart was as cold as a frozen fish before, it was a volcano now. Damn that Lolidragon, always using food to threaten me! Don’t let me find any of your weaknesses, or I’ll @#^&%!* you! (Due to excessive violence, this phrase was censored so that the author would not be banned by the writing community!)
In the days following this event, a particular literature professor was seen determinedly reading elementary school music textbooks while giving lectures on the history of literature. What was more ridiculous was that he actually managed to make sense in his teaching. Hey! Genius shouldn’t be used like that! Besides that, another particular icy hunk would suddenly break into dance hip-hop, waltz, and even Taiwanese opera while conducting experiments in his post-graduate class, leading people to suspect that the experiments had somehow messed with his brain. It had even instigated an ongoing investigation.
As for me, because the songs were not done yet, I was forced to train my vocals, singing ‘Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti’ continuously. Lolidragon, Fairsky, and Phoenix also kept hauling me away for measurements, or for impromptu fashion shows in which I was the model. Originally, as a girl, I quite liked picking out clothes, but every time I changed into a new suit, I had to face the lecherous eyes of three female perverts. That’s not fun at all, especially when I realized that the amount of cloth was rapidly declining… I ran away in panic.
However, after I ran away, and when they failed in getting Wicked to participate in their ‘fashion shows’, they eventually got hold of defenseless Gui and were making him wear swimming trunks… What? How would I know? What rubbish; how could I miss out on such eye-candy?
All in all, Infinite Band had thus come into existence, and the first song, dance-steps, and costumes were soon ready.
The first rehearsal made its debut in the square of Infinite City.
I wore a black and red themed, skin-tight suit that exposed half of my shoulder plus arm and long boots, oozing sex appeal while looking cool. Behind me were two sexy beauties dressed in the same theme, with one wearing a mini-skirt and the other hot-pants. In her short boots, Fairsky was as feisty and pretty as a dancing fire, while in high heels, Phoenix was as sophisticated and cool as cold ice. With both of them trailing behind me, we stepped onto the makeshift stage.
Looking at the pairs of longing eyes below the stage, I felt a sudden urge to sing my heart out, to satisfy both the audience’s and my own desires. I closed my eyes, thought about the first song Gui had written and submerged myself in the lyrics of the song. It was highly emotional, and I began to sing in a high and powerful voice bearing a tinge of sorrow, like how the moth is attracted to flame.
You laugh, you cry, your every action is my Bible that I recite with care.
I’m happy, I’m sad, I give up my freedom in life for you, I want to be directed by you.
You are fire, you are wind, you are a devil weaving a web, a temptation from the angels.
From: Swallowtail Butterfly
Lyric and song by: Ah Xin (a singer in the famous Chinese band, May Day).
I sung, accompanied by Phoenix’s strong drum-beats and Fairsky’s wild guitar chords, dancing Wicked’s sensually choreographed dance, just as if I were the moth that was flying to the flame, singing out my swan song, surrendering my body to passionate love without a care.
When the song was done, the people under the stage looked intoxicated. It seems like I really can sing rather well! I thought happily.
“This song doesn’t seem as well-sung as Dreams Want to Fly!” Lolidragon said with a frown.
Her comment hit me on the head like a giant iron hammer; I looked at Lolidragon tearfully, wailing, “How can that be? I’ve practiced this song for a long time!”
“Maybe you’re lacking in emotion.” Lolidragon glanced at Gui. “It’s very obvious that you’ve never been in love, especially the one-sided, bitter-sweet sort.”
As Lolidragon spoke, Gui’s expression darkened. In the end, he opened his mouth and sang the same song. (To avoid the suspicion that I’m filling in the words for more money, the lyrics have been removed…)4
Even though we had sung the same song, the depth of emotions conveyed had such a huge difference. I understood what Lolidragon had said about ‘lacking in emotion’ – I didn’t know how complicated Gui’s voice could be, so sad yet determined, so hurt yet sweet, especially when he was staring at me. I almost, almost did not dare look in his eyes; I was afraid that if I did, if I was not careful, I might…anger Wicked further, whose glare had gone beyond freezing point. If Gui had made a single movement, Wicked would have started making human meat buns.
Especially with those two women behind me, who were equally eager to make human meat buns… You’ve got to be joking! Only I can thrash Gui, other people don’t even need to think about it!
Thinking about that, it seemed like a long time since I had last beaten Gui up… I summoned a warm smile, and spoke in my warmest tone, “Gui, teach me how to sing.”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Gui ran toward me with a touched expression, and I too watched him run toward me with happiness, before carrying him up with a single hand. Leaving behind a “I’m off to practice”, I dragged Gui into a random room and— Heh heh heh!
“In any case, we’d best up the pace of our practice. We’re going to kick you off to the three cities to for your tour within a week, maximum. Remember not to ruin the reputation of Infinite City,” Lolidragon nagged at the remaining members of the Infinite Band.
“Yes!”
One day, after finishing singing practice, I suddenly had the feeling that I had been ignoring a certain four people that I had brought to the city. I wonder what’re they up to? Feeling a little guilty, I PM-ed them.
“Jing, Yun? Where are you guys?” I asked with a bit of worry.
Yun replied immediately in high spirits, “We’re picking out a house!”
“Picking out a house?” I paused.
“Yeah, as a citizen of Infinite City, Gui said we can buy property for half-price here!” Yun said excitedly.
“After selling the ship ticket that we didn’t use, plus a bit of our savings, we can buy a rather nice place!” Jing couldn’t hold in her excitement either. “That’s why we went to choose a house now; if we wait until Infinite City opens its gates officially, we’ll be competing for houses with a lot of people.”