66. Cosplay Promotion?

Author Note: Sorry guys. I had to find materials for Yu★Gi★Oh duel for the next few chapter.

________

Ryūhei brought out an alternative rock song, which was kinda new to the audience. Yet, he could bring the audience together to enjoy the music that made them shake and move their bodies excitedly while following the rhythm of the song.

The moment Ryūhei and his group finished the song, the audience cheered loudly.

The song that was sung by him brought a new atmosphere to Liyue Harbor. The audience couldn't help but head-banged their heads to follow the rhythm. Even the judges, Keqing, Ningguang, and Ganyu, couldn't stay still the moment they heard the song.

Xinyan was so satisfied seeing the hyped audience. Normally, only a handful of people liked the rock songs she brought in her solo performance. But now…

"See! Rock is amazing." She exclaimed inwardly. This was the first time she saw this sight. No doubt, performing with a lot of musical instruments or a band was so different from when she performed by herself with just an instrument to play. She was glad to accept Ryūhei's offer to join him to perform.

Needless to say, those who enjoyed the rock song performed by Ryūhei and his group were mostly youngsters and those who were below their 40s. After all, the old fogies always chirped that rock and roll was a bad influence. In fact, it was their inability to accept anything new.

Still, their opinion didn't matter to Ryūhei at all. If they couldn't accept, then so be it. As simple as that.

Well, perhaps the only exceptions were Zhongli and Madame Ping who decided to see the show, albeit from afar.

Zhongli didn't think introducing a new kind of music was a bad idea. On the contrary, it could exalt music further. Through the music, everyone can feel sentiments, such as sadness, joy, pain, happiness, etc.

Just like how Ryūhei brought his music a while ago. To leave negativity behind and let go of negative experiences. To get a positive future by letting go of all the negativity that has occurred in the past. It's rather simple. It's a sort of numeration of negative experiences, whether it is a betrayal, a loss by death, or even simply a test one failed at school or academy. One can get a positive future by letting go of the negativity.

"I can't believe he can be this good at music." Madame Ping exclaimed.

Zhongli looked at her, then asked.

"Although his music wasn't imbued with Adeptal energy or like, it was almost on par with yours who used the energy. Without such energy, he could even captivate many people, what do you think if he uses it?"

"That could be interesting."

— — — —

Meanwhile, Keqing saw a person walk on the front line of the epoch and create a new path with his own hands, which was none other than Ryūhei. Surely, Ryūhei's song was too noisy by traditional standards. But, good music is good music. And good music should reach the widest possible audience. With this, she concluded that Ryūhei is a crucial part of her dreams for the new Liyue.

Someone who isn't afraid of change, that's what she's always been looking for.

In fact, she always felt that due to Rex Lapis having watched over Liyue for millennia, people were too afraid to change.

However, she noticed that Ryūhei's appearance which brought a new thing to Liyue Harbor started to change the citizens. Just like how martial arts families and clans started weight training due to Dragon Ball, people sailed toward the sea for adventures thanks to One Piece, and cooking battles caused by Food Wars: Shokugeki no Sōma. All of those were caused by one person as if he indirectly controlled the citizens of Liyue like a marionette. Perhaps, he was even more talented than Ningguang. That's her thoughts.

"I should visit him next time." Keqing exclaimed inwardly.

— — — —

The competition continued. After Ryūhei's performance, the other contestants seemed to be bland when they performed. Except Kazuha who showed the audience by performing amazing music with just a leaf. Most of them were dumbfounded by this. But still, the contestants in the final round went to Yun Jin and Ryūhei who were unquestionably capable of performing exceptional songs with their group.

Ryūhei was somewhat disappointed by this as no one was able to perform solos, but could perform several types of instruments with just one instrument. Just like a guy who played an acoustic guitar but was capable of bringing bass and drum sounds into his play in Ryuhei's previous life. Even his guitar play strummed like he was singing a song even though he didn't open his mouth at all. Hell, even Ryūhei's couldn't come close to his level.

Putting aside that thing, a day had passed.

Since the final round starts in the evening, Ryūhei decided to enjoy the festival through and through. There's an event called Moonchase Seeker. All participants are required to find the Moonchase Charm in the wild. And for every participant who finds 50 Moonchase Charms, that person will get a reward from the Adventurers' Guild.

Since this event was organized by the Adventurers' Guild, it was relatively safe and even children could participate although they had to be supervised by a guardian.

It seems fun.

But, if he participated, it would be unfair to others since he could feel the energy contained within the Moonchase Charm.

In a puzzle game, he could think faster than anyone else. So, within a few seconds, the puzzle was finished by him.

Shooting range, with just one catapult shot, he could gather all the necessary data to hit the target the next time he fired.

"Sigh. I guess only a music competition could give me a little bit of fun."

In the end, he just went back to his shop to print the TCG cards.

Speaking of the shop, it's closed until the final round ends tonight. He gave Atsuko the days off and told her to have fun at this festival since yesterday. Meanwhile, Nibi and Eni brought Jiu to the festival to teach her how to have fun.

— — — —

In the evening.

"Welcome, everyone, to the music competition final. At the appointment of the organizing committee, I am back once again as your host and officiator, Yanfei!" A young woman with salmon-colored hair that goes past her shoulders announced the final round of the competition.

"And now, let's welcome the two contestants in this final round. Come up, finalists!

"To my left, a competition favorite from the Yun-Han Opera Troupe, a renowned Liyue opera singer who is skilled in both playwriting and singing. Her style is one-of-a-kind, exquisite and delicate, much like the person herself. Yun Jin!"

Then, a young woman with her gothic dress walked toward the stage gracefully, followed by her opera group.

"To my right, the unexpected in this competition who delivers an aggressive song, yet brings people together, the renowned mangaka who drew One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Food Wars. Niwa Ryūhei!"

Then, Ryūhei, Nibi, Eni, and Xinyan walked to the stage together.

"We saw many contestants from all over Liyue in the selection process, and all of them were outstanding musicians in their own right. Of those, the two strongest participants were put through to today's finals. In just a few short moments, the finals will take place right here, before your very eyes!"

Suddenly, one of the people below the stage pointed toward the short-haired orange hair.

"Oi, that's Nami, right?"

"Isn't that obvious? Look, even the shop owner became Monkey D. Luffy!"

"And there's Alvida after eating the Devil Fruit."

"But who's the other one?"

"No idea!"

"A new heroine, perhaps?"

People started to discuss them because Ryūhei and the others' appearances were different from the previous day. Yanfei naturally noticed this as well. So, she decided to ask.

"Contestant Ryūhei, may I ask why you and your group are dressed like the characters in your manga?"

"You can say it's a fashion style. Wouldn't it be interesting to pose as a character in a manga you like? And thanks to Young Master Xingqiu who provided these costumes for us, we can imitate characters in the manga which is called cosplay. Hehe, maybe there will be a cosplay festival next year, who knows?"

Yanfei widened her eyes. She didn't expect that Ryūhei would take this chance to promote Xingqiu who provided their costumes.

"Wonderful. Too bad Young Master Xingqiu isn't here. Otherwise, I would like to ask if there will be such a festival. Then, what do you think about your opponent in this final round?" Yanfei asked again. Then, Ryūhei turned to Yun Jin.

"No doubt, Miss Yun Jin has such a beautiful voice. If I were to compete with her in singing, I would definitely lose. However, this is a music competition, so it's not just beautiful voices that are relied on here. After all, music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. And again, everyone has their own musical reference. So, I'm not going to justify someone if they don't like my music."