The reverb slowly stretched out the final note until it faded into nothingness.
The stage lights came on.
Four young girls stood onstage, chests heaving. Sweat had soaked through their shirts and jackets. Masami set her guitar down and led her teammates to the front of the stage, where they gave a deep bow.
Still, there was no applause. The judges kept their heads down, flipping through the materials in their hands.
"Number sixteen, exit the stage," the floor assistant's voice came through their earpieces.
They walked through a dim corridor and returned to their private waiting room. The heavy walnut door shut behind them.
Yuki tossed her drumsticks onto the coffee table and collapsed into the leather sofa like all the strength had left her body. She gasped for air, her chest still heaving. "It's so hot... My wrists are about to break."
Rie leaned against the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the carpet. She hugged her knees tightly, her fingertips still trembling, but her eyes were bright. "I... I didn't mess up. Masami, I kept up with everything in the second half."
"You did great, Rie." Masami carefully placed her guitar back into its soft case and zipped it up. She walked to the coffee table, unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, and took a large gulp. The cold liquid slid down her throat, soothing the burn in her vocal cords.
Maki took off her baseball cap and absentmindedly ran a hand through her sweat-soaked hair. She squatted silently in the corner and began coiling her effects pedal cables, loop by loop.
The adrenaline drained away in the minutes after the performance. In its place came muscle aches and a wave of exhaustion.
The waiting room fell silent. Only the wall clock ticked on, monotonous.
Ten minutes passed. Half an hour. An hour. No one came to knock. There was no dream scenario where a talent scout burst through the door with a contract.
Occasional heavy footsteps from other bands echoed in the hallway, along with faint cheers or frustrated curses. The torment of the unknown wore down their willpower like a dull saw.
"Why haven't they told us anything yet?" Yuki sat up from the sofa, clawing at her hair in frustration. "Just give us a straight answer. Yes or no."
Rie held her lukewarm water bottle, her face turning pale again. "Did we... did we do badly? Did the judges not like us at all?"
Masami sat on the edge of the sofa, calmly watching the monitor that was still playing silent footage.
"Be patient," she said, her voice gentle but firm. "The judges need to evaluate everyone before they decide. All we can do is wait."
They waited nearly two full hours.
Click.
The sound of the door lock was jarringly loud in the deathly silent room.
The door opened slowly. A male assistant with an S.A. Entertainment ID badge stood in the doorway. He wore a tailored dark suit, his hands folded in front of him.
"Excuse me. Sorry to have kept you waiting." The assistant smiled and bowed with perfect etiquette. "Please gather your belongings and follow me."
He stepped back and to the side, making a "please" gesture.
The four of them stood up abruptly. Yuki and Rie exchanged looks and grabbed their instrument bags, their movements almost frantic.
This was it. He didn't say "go home and wait for a call," so there had to be a chance, right?
Masami slung her guitar bag over her shoulder and adjusted the collar of her trench coat.
"Let's go."
...
Second floor, Meeting Room 3.
The assistant pushed open the glass doors. Masami walked in first, followed closely by Yuki, Rie, and Maki.
The second-floor meeting room was massive, and a blast of cold air hit them. Masami walked to the far side of the long, lacquered glass table, pulled out a black leather chair, and sat down calmly.
Rie glanced at the cold, reflective tabletop and pulled her chair out awkwardly. The legs scraped the floor with a dull sound. Yuki and Maki sat down on either side of her.
Sato, a producer from the Planning Department, sat at the head of the long table. He wore a strict dark suit, and the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses glinted under the overhead lights. Seeing the four of them seated, he stopped spinning his ballpoint pen and closed the thick file in front of him. A photo of "Blue Echo" was clipped on top.
"Good work, everyone." Sato folded his hands on the file and gave a perfect business smile. "Your stage performance was exciting. Adjusting under the pressure of final selection and delivering that level of coordination was impressive. Please have some water and rest."
He gestured toward the bottled water on the table. Then his smile vanished. He leaned forward slightly, pushed up his glasses, and looked at each of the four girls in turn.
"Based on the judging panel's scores," Sato said, his pace slowing, "your technique is above the passing line, your live appeal is excellent, and your physical appearance has strong potential. After a comprehensive evaluation, S.A. Entertainment believes you have extremely high commercial potential."
He tapped his index finger twice on the edge of the file. "The company can offer you an exclusive rookie contract."
Hearing "contract," Yuki almost jumped up. Rie covered her mouth, eyes wide.
Sato raised an index finger, cutting off their excitement. "Don't celebrate yet. Listen to the company's conditions first."
He slid a Letter of Intent with a red cover across the smooth glass table to Masami.
"Your technique and appeal are impeccable," Sato said, hands folded, his pace steady. "But you saw it in the waiting area. Team fifteen's technique was just as solid. Right now, the Japanese rock scene is crowded with long-haired, hardcore male bands. In that sweat-drenched red ocean, it's incredibly hard for newcomers to stand out."
He tapped the photo of the four of them on top of the file.
"S.A. won't dump resources into a market that's already saturated. More than technique, the company values the rarity of your all-female lineup and the... visual contrast. The plan is to put you in custom uniforms and push you onto prime-time variety shows on major TV stations."
The air in the meeting room froze. Yuki and Rie's eyes went wide.
"Use the authentic rock explosiveness you just showed to crush those traditional idol groups who only lip-sync. At the same time, use the approachability of young girls to attract viewers who don't even listen to underground rock." Sato's eyes sharpened. "The money from rock fans and the money from idol otakus. S.A. wants both."
He tapped the Letter of Intent twice. Tap, tap.
"Drop your lofty attitudes from the basement. Accept the commercial positioning of a 'Female Idol Band.'" Sato looked at Masami and delivered the ultimatum. "That's the baseline for the company to invest resources in you."
Yuki froze, the excitement draining from her face. "I... Idol?" She looked down at the calluses on her hands from years of drumsticks. "Wearing skirts... acting cute on TV?"
Rie bit her lip hard, resistance flashing in her eyes.
This was the opposite of everything they'd bled for in basements chasing independent music.
Maki lowered the brim of her cap and crossed her arms.
She snorted. "Idol music is shallow." Maki's voice was flat. "Playing instruments in flimsy skirts goes against the soul of rock. I refuse."
Sato didn't get angry at Maki's resistance. He just sat there quietly, waiting for their final decision.
In the face of capital, even "soul" has a price tag.
And he'd done his research. That lead singer knew the weight of capital.
Masami sat quietly. She reached out and pulled the red-covered Letter of Intent toward her. She flipped it open, her eyes scanning the dense clauses.
The rustle of paper was the only sound in the cold meeting room.
After a full ten minutes, she looked up, her gaze moving across her bandmates one by one.
"Yuki," Masami said slowly, her voice soft. "You still don't have next month's rent, do you? If you can't pay, the landlord's going to throw your drum kit out on the street."
Yuki stiffened. "Then... I can pick up a few more night shifts at the convenience store..."
"Rie." Masami ignored Yuki's excuse and turned to the bassist. "Your night shifts have kept you from sleeping for a week. Those cheap stomach meds you bought ran out yesterday."
Rie gripped the hem of her shirt, her eyes reddening.
Masami's gaze finally landed on Maki, arms crossed and aloof.
"Maki." Masami's tone was steady, carrying the tolerance of an older sister. "The twenty thousand yen you borrowed from me last month for that second-hand distortion pedal... you still haven't paid it back."
Maki's jaw twitched, and her grip on her arms tightened.
Masami tapped her fingers twice on the edge of the Letter of Intent.
"We sold out three hundred tickets for last month's solo show. We have a name in the underground scene," Masami said, looking at them. "But after venue rental and equipment costs, the money we split makes us hesitate to buy better strings. That's our fame. Wearing out our fingers in basements with no ventilation, then going back to discounted convenience store bento after the show."
She paused.
"Do you think that's what chasing a dream looks like?"
She pushed the Letter of Intent to the center of the table.
"Put on their custom stage outfits. Stand in a stadium with tens of thousands of people. Use top-tier speakers like we just had to play our own songs," Masami's voice was still soft, but it held undeniable power. "As long as we survive, as long as we still have instruments in our hands, we can get our voices out to all of Japan. That's what we really want, right?"
"By the way." Masami slowly flipped to the last page, her eyes resting on Maki's tense face. "The producer added a clause. The moment we sign, the company equips the band with a full set of custom-grade vintage speakers tomorrow, plus that out-of-print effects pedal matrix you've been eyeing."
Maki swallowed hard.
Masami looked at Yuki and Rie, who were gulping too. "No one needs part-time jobs anymore. The company provides a base salary of three hundred thousand yen. And the A5 Wagyu set meals in the company cafeteria, specially supplied by Hokkaido farms, are free for signed artists all day."
The meeting room went dead silent for a full second.
Maki suddenly looked up and snatched the black pen from the table. She uncapped it.
"Rock is dead."
Maki said it without expression. She pressed her wrist down and signed her name in the "Party B" section without hesitation.
After signing, she looked up at Producer Sato across from her.
"Are there black stage outfits?" Maki asked seriously. "If not, I can dye my soul pink right now. As long as that out-of-print effects pedal matrix gets to the rehearsal room tomorrow."
Yuki and Rie exchanged a look. The massive stage Masami had painted let them finally see a way for their dream to continue. And Maki's instant defection shattered the last of their pride about being "underground."
The two of them scrambled to grab the pen from Maki. The tip scratched across the paper. The blank spaces on the Letter of Intent were quickly filled with the girls' names.
The dream had crashed into reality.