The nightlife in Shangjing City always arrived earlier and was more vibrant than elsewhere. Inside the open-air stadium, a lively concert was in full swing.
Tens of thousands of fans below the stage held up cheering sticks, singing along loudly and swaying their bodies to the music.
After singing the last line of the lyrics, the lead singer of the band turned to look at the guitarist beside him, who was dressed in a red leather outfit and had a rebellious style. He spoke into the microphone:
"Let's once again welcome back the guitarist of the Deep Blue band – Qi Zhi!"
"Welcome back!"
"Qi Zhi, welcome back!"
"Qi Zhi! Qi Zhi! Qi Zhi!"
With the lead singer's loud shout, the fans below the stage welcomed the return of the Deep Blue band's guitarist with soul-piercing screams.
The rebellious and fiery-looking guitarist, Qi Zhi, raised his eyes to gaze across the venue. He could see his name on glowing fan signs and the flickering red glow sticks, all lit up for him.
The guitarist, who was originally anxious and apprehensive, suddenly quieted down. He glanced at his six fingers, which were different from ordinary people, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Thank you."
The guitarist, who appeared rebellious on the surface but was sensitive at heart, lightly plucked the strings with his fingertips. Subtle guitar notes were transmitted throughout the venue through Bluetooth speakers. He bowed and said, "Thank you for waiting."
The fans' shouts were deafening once again, threatening to turn the Shangjing Stadium upside down, as if to protest the ill-fated Deep Blue band guitarist's misfortunes.
Two years ago, the guitarist Qi Zhi had a car accident.
His body was fine, but he injured his hand bones. After the surgery, Qi Zhi's hands became sluggish. No matter how much he practiced, he couldn't complete a barre chord, and even a fingerstyle mini-barre was unbearably painful.
Overnight, he was stripped of his talent as a guitarist.
For two whole years, the Deep Blue band's concerts were forced to stop. Qi Zhi saw many famous doctors, until today when he appeared in front of the audience again.
Everyone was waiting for him.
Waiting for their once rebellious, eccentric and bad-tempered guitarist to rise from the ashes.
Now it was the guitarist Qi Zhi's solo segment, the fingerstyle prelude to their debut song Deep Sea Drowning.
The moment the first note sounded, the once roaring and passionate venue instantly fell silent. Everyone's eyes turned to their guitarist, and even their breathing became shallow and prolonged, for fear of disturbing the person on stage.
Suddenly, the barre chord in the second eight-beat sounded jarring. The guitarist in red paused, and the seemingly strong rebellious edge in his eyes dimmed for a moment.
His shoulders slumped slightly, and his aura weakened...
"Come on! Qi Zhi, come on!" The fans below the stage shouted again.
The guitarist's fingertips flew quickly, plucking the strings again.
Harmonics—
A beautiful note that should have been clear and ethereal failed to emerge.
Two crucial notes missed in a row—the soul of Deep Sea Drowning’s intro was lost.
The dull guitar sound spread throughout the venue through the electronic equipment, and it was like a sharp blade piercing the guitarist, causing him to collapse.
The corners of the guitarist's eyes were tinged with red. His beautiful and well-proportioned six fingers clenched into fists, and the bulging veins on his forearms showed that a storm was brewing in his heart.
Since that car accident, he could no longer play the guitar well.
Suddenly, the guitarist slumped weakly on the stage, his raven-like eyelashes concealing the pain in his eyes. The cold black guitar fell to the ground, making a painful sound along with its owner.
The atmosphere of the once-heated concert froze. Many fans had tears in their eyes, shouting encouragement in choked voices:
"Qi Zhi, you're already great." His hands had suffered comminuted fractures, and being able to pick up an instrument again was already great.
The cheers from the fans below the stage grew louder and louder, all cheering for this ill-fated guitarist.
Qi Zhi’s eyes turned red and teary, his body trembling slightly. The next moment, the lead singer hugged the devastated guitarist. The rest of the band joined, forming a group embrace around the two.
"Xiao Qi, you were great today. You're better than anyone else here." The lead singer said.
"Your hands will definitely recover better in a few days. There's no need to rush." The teammate took off his microphone and comforted him in a low voice.
Qi Zhi's voice was slightly hoarse. "I'm sorry, I still messed it up at such an important moment."
Deep Blue band's comeback after two years ended up being his own sad departure as a guitarist.
"It's okay, it's okay." The lead singer patted the guitarist's back with a sad expression.
As a band that came from the same school, they had supported each other until now. No one wanted to see the band's guitarist unable to play the guitar anymore.
Seeing that the atmosphere was not good, the MC quickly smoothed things over and told the guitarist to go and rest.
Temporarily leaving the stage and returning to the backstage, the guitarist thought with dim eyes: Born with six fingers, having suffered the strange gazes of others, what is the point of living if I can't play the guitar?
【God above, as long as I can restore my previous guitar talent, I am willing to do anything.】
*
In a short while, the guitarist, who had a rebellious appearance but was at a low point in his life, opened his eyes again. His originally dim and decadent eyes flashed with sharpness.
Qi Zhi's eyes darted around, scanning his surroundings. His brain quickly matched the time node of this mission world.
Entering this mission world was a bit late.
The original owner's family was considered to be quite well-off, but God seemed to have played a small joke on him. He was born with one more finger than ordinary people, with six fingers on both hands.
Because of his six fingers, the original owner, who had suffered strange gazes from the world, was taken to a music store by his parents when he was young and recognized the guitar with six strings.
The music store teacher smiled and said, "Being born with six fingers is something many guitarists dream of. This child is destined to learn the guitar."
"Teacher, is that true?"
"Yes."
The music store teacher's words deeply influenced the original owner. After entering university, the original owner formed a band with several friends and became a guitarist nicknamed 'Six-Fingered Guitar Demon'.
As a result, two years ago, a car accident caused the original owner to no longer be able to play the guitar well.
So the original owner prayed, wanting to restore his previous guitar talent.
His prayer was captured by the Star Rescue System, but the target that Qi Zhi really wanted to save was not just the original owner.
There were also many geniuses who, like the original owner, had lost their original talents due to 'accidents'.
This was an entertainment industry novel world.
Wen Tianyu, who had a beautiful appearance and outstanding musical talent, was originally the destined person of fortune. She would have entered the music industry two years ago and become a once-in-a-century creative genius in the music industry.
However, a sudden disaster struck. Wen Tianyu's parents suddenly passed away, leaving her only a small flower shop. In order to protect the flower shop, Wen Tianyu gave up pursuing her musical dreams and gave up participating in the national singer selection competition.
At the same time, Wen Tianyu's best friend, Gu Pan, accidentally bound herself to a favorability rating strategy system.
The system told her that as long as she made others feel favorable towards her and then verbally tricked them into making promises, Gu Pan could plunder the talents and skills of others.
Moreover, not only could she plunder the talents of her strategy targets, but the higher Gu Pan's points were, the more she could plunder the talents of others.
Gu Pan, who had just bound the system, did not dare to directly attack her best friend. So she used her best friend's favorability towards her to exchange for points and plagiarized Wen Tianyu's works to participate in the competition with the help of the system.
Then, after using the system to kill Wen Tianyu's parents, she hypocritically helped Wen Tianyu in her time of need, causing Wen Tianyu to miss the singer audition and become a florist for the rest of her life.
Gu Pan gradually became addicted after tasting the sweetness given by the system.
Two years ago, Gu Pan, who debuted and became popular by plagiarizing Wen Tianyu's works, met the Deep Blue band at the Golden Melody Awards ceremony.
Gu Pan glanced at the original owner's six fingers. The original owner, who had a rebellious appearance but was irritable and sensitive, looked back at Gu Pan expressionlessly.
The two clearly had no communication throughout the entire process, but Gu Pan felt that the original owner looked down on her, who came from a small place, because of his good family background.
In addition, the Deep Blue band surpassed Gu Pan at the Golden Melody Awards and won the championship, so the original owner was resented by Gu Pan.
Therefore, Gu Pan used the points she exchanged for using her best friend's favorability towards her to plunder the original owner's guitar talent.
Unfortunately, the original owner did not understand until his death why he had a car accident that resulted in comminuted fractures in both hands.
And the target that Qi Zhi wanted to save this time was Wen Tianyu, the original destined person who had her works plagiarized by Gu Pan.
What he had to do was – fight the system.
Qi Zhi looked at his six fingers and the time. The current situation was not good. Gu Pan, who relied on plundering the talents and skills of others, had become a popular queen, while Wen Tianyu was already a gentle florist who had been running a flower shop for two years.
Living in a corner of Shangjing City, no one knew that she was best friends with the current popular queen. Even fewer people knew that her debut hit song was her work.
【The Star Rescue System reminds host 3104 again that the difficulty of this small world mission is high. Please be careful, host.】
【Mm, understood.】 Qi Zhi's eyes flickered slightly as he began to analyze the plot.
After a long time, Qi Zhi asked a few key questions in his sea of consciousness:【System, does Wen Tianyu know that her work was plagiarized?】
【Wen Tianyu does not know. Her memories of that plagiarized work have been deleted and modified by the strategy system.】The Star Rescue System replied in a timely manner.
【Can her memories be restored?】Qi Zhi asked again.
Qi Zhi wanted to defeat Gu Pan and the system behind her. Wen Tianyu, as the original person of fortune, was the key. Wen Tianyu was currently the only person whose talents and skills had not been plundered by Gu Pan.
Perhaps it was because Wen Tianyu was blessed with fortune, or perhaps it was because Wen Tianyu, who was now a florist, was not as valuable in Gu Pan's eyes as the superstar singers.
【Yes, but it will consume Star Value.】Star Value was the point name of the Star Rescue System.
【Mm.】Qi Zhi's eyes darkened for a moment, and he responded softly.
Qi Zhi and the system fell into a brief silence. The system said again:【Gu Pan has now become a 'powerful' queen by relying on strategizing and plundering the talents of many musicians. Please complete the mission as soon as possible and protect the Star Wen Tianyu.】
【Alright, I got it.】
Qi Zhi checked Gu Pan's recent situation. This woman was not satisfied after plundering the musicians. Now she was reaching out to the film and television industry, trying to strategize the movie emperor Qu Jiuhui.
After figuring out all the situations, Qi Zhi sneered. His laughter echoed in the silent and empty backstage, sending chills down the spines of those who heard it.
It's over, the guitarist has gone crazy.
#DeepBlueBandGuitaristLosesControlOnStage# shot up the trending charts within half an hour.
The backstage staff who saw the hot search were afraid of offending this irritable, easily angered, and sensitive guitarist, so they all bypassed Qi Zhi's dressing room.
Suddenly, there were constant footsteps outside Qi Zhi's dressing room. Qi Zhi's ears twitched slightly. Through the door, he could hear rustling voices.
"Hello, is Mr. Qi here?"
"What are you doing?" The staff questioned the identity of the person in front of them. Under normal circumstances, strangers were not allowed to enter the backstage of the concert.
"These are flowers from a fan. Can I give them to him?" A gentle female voice said.
The staff, who were afraid of angering the guitarist, confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the flowers and said in a stiff tone, "Okay, then take them in."
The next second, the door was opened with a 'creak'. A woman in a floral dress smiled and said gently, "Mr. Qi, your flowers."