Chapter 152 Another World Side Story - The Nameless Traveler

The European-born rock band "Nameless Travellers" is a performance group that fits the public's impression of "singers with superpowers" and has considerable popularity.

The Nameless Travelers managed to stand out among numerous bands, and their biggest advantage lies in their unique selling point—"ageless idols."

All members of the band are singers with the special ability of "immortality". They attracted a large number of interested people with the central idea of ​​"idols who will not change no matter how much time passes" and gained a lot of regular fans with their first-class performances.

The group consists of Romain Rolland, the lead vocalist, often referred to as the "perfect idol," who is famous for his special ability, "The Legend of the Celebrity," which allows him to fulfill any fantasy regarding tone and appearance. He is a top-tier idol, excelling in singing, dancing, and acting, and a pillar of the group.

Guitarist James Barry, despite his youthful appearance, possesses a wild style and top-notch mastery of his instrument. However, his popularity is currently quite fluctuating after someone unearthed an old photograph from fifty years ago.

Antoine Exupéry, the bassist, is portrayed as a "golden, taciturn little prince." He has left a deep impression on everyone with his top-notch looks, even within the group. His personality is also a selling point that can evoke feelings of pity. He is an excellent type that is quite easy to package.

Assistant guitarist Vladimir Nabokov, to be honest, is someone who's famous entirely for his numerous "scandals" rather than his singing skills or looks. He's actually a long-term partner of the group, not a member. However, because he's been performing with the group since their debut, he's now generally considered a member.

Using "can be both male and female" as a selling point, it's completely baffling that he has a large number of fans—his fame is probably just because he's handsome and cute.

Drummer Mary Shelley, the only female member of the group (Vladimir is androgynous), is simply a typical "energetic" character. However, her terrifying strength and mature, older-sister-like abilities create a certain endearing contrast, making her a character that is somewhat memorable.

Finally, there's the team's mascot, Dante. Every time he appears, his only role is to provide the flying ash effect on the field. The powerful behind-the-scenes team has worked hard to package him into a bizarre character who is "a cute uncle who is not good at talking." Surprisingly, he is very popular and also belongs to the category of "fame based entirely on looks."

However, Dante is currently in a similar precarious position regarding popularity, for reasons largely similar to Barry's, but also different—Dante has been pointed out for his striking resemblance to a character active in paintings from hundreds of years ago…

In conclusion, as a rock band, they are already quite well-known worldwide.

"That's what they say, but apart from Roland, who is the mainstay of the band, it's basically a group of child stars."

In the backstage meeting room, Miss Christie, the "Nameless Traveler," who is also the actual owner and agent, sighed.

"Even Dante, who was just brought in to fill a spot, is portrayed as a 'decadent old man,' someone only fit for a mascot. Although Dante is indeed just a mascot, that's for sure..."

Dante was originally a guy who wandered the world pulling a coffin. Once, when the Nameless Traveler's special effects machine broke down, he volunteered to provide a flying ash effect. After that, because of the excellent response, he was hired by the Nameless Traveler for a long time. Later, after learning about Dante's abilities and characteristics, he directly signed an artist contract.

Christie felt that she was sighing more and more often since she left the orchestra "Clock Tower Attendants" to start her own business.

When I first started this business, teaming up with Jules Verne and Roland went quite smoothly, so why did the members I recruited later become increasingly strange...?

"While 'ageless' is a great selling point for child stars, it's really not a good thing in terms of audience reach."

“Yes, that’s true.” Verne, the head of logistics for the Nameless Travelers, agreed with the agent’s opinion. “Although they have accumulated some fame, it’s only spread within a niche circle.”

Meanwhile, Defoe, Verne's assistant and apprentice, could only silently refill the tea for the three of them, unable to get a word in edgewise.

Yes, three people. Romain Rolland, who was both an icon (on stage) and one of the founders, also attended the meeting.

"What other options are there? With the market basically monopolized by established brands, all you can recruit are a bunch of weirdos. The fact that they can even come up with a 'dream of eternal youth' for promotion is already quite impressive..."

Established bands like "Clock Tower Attendants," "A&S&A," "Crying Smile," and "The Group" have essentially monopolized the European and North American markets. In Asia, Russia is dominated by the "Five Signs of Decay" (a derogatory term for a band), while in China, classical arts like "Quxiangyuan" (a traditional Chinese music studio) and "Pinshutang" (a traditional Chinese library) flourish, making it impossible for rock bands like these to penetrate the market...

"Pu Songling was clearly very good at rock music, but he couldn't sell many albums in China..."

"Pu Songling probably only emerged because there was no suitable environment for development in China..."

Pu Songling, the arranger of the band Nameless Travelers, comes from a society where old-fashioned arts such as opera, storytelling, and crosstalk are prevalent, but he has a heart that yearns for rock and roll. That's why he came to Europe at an advanced age to look for opportunities, and happened to stumble upon Nameless Travelers, which was recruiting, and that's how he joined.

Her composing ability is quite outstanding. To be honest, the fact that she was picked up by the nameless traveler is entirely due to Christie and Roland's excellent motivational abilities.

It is said that Roland and Christie spent a whole night feeding Pu Songling "chicken soup for the soul" to persuade him to stay (laughs).

Romain Rolland and Christie were discussing some strange things, while Verne ran to his luggage and started rummaging through it, pulling out a globe.

"If we're talking about digging, I think this is the only place we can start."

Verne returned, holding a globe in his hand, and spun it around, pointing to a certain spot on the map—not to a country, but to a cherry blossom pattern on the globe that was more of a decoration.

"We have a good audience base, and the local bands are just barely at the first-class level. Although there are some problems, it's much better than the situation where other places are monopolized."

Christie nodded with an expression of agreement; Roland, on the other hand, stared blankly at the globe in Verne's hand, feeling utterly speechless.

"No, why did you bring such a childish globe, Verne?"

The globe in Verne's hand wasn't a normal one. Instead, it was covered with various cartoon-style symbols, animals, or landmarks, except for national borders, making it look more like a kindergarten-level educational globe.

“This was transformed by Vladimir before, and then Stevens took it away.” Stevens was Mary Shelley’s guardian and agent, and it seems that he was Shelley who was previously adopted by Stevenson.

The rather dramatic twist is that Shelley had amnesia before, which is why she acted like a child and was adopted by the kind-hearted Stevenson. Now that she has regained her memory, Shelley is no longer a problem. After all, the two get along quite well, mainly because Percy came looking for her after reconnecting with Shelley…

For Percy, who introduced himself as Shelley's husband from the very beginning, Stevens, who identified himself as Shelley's parents, was utterly dumbfounded. Especially since Shelley still looked like a child, which caused a stir in The Nameless Traveller.

The three entrepreneurs couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the chaos within their team each time.

To forget the chaotic scene, Romain Rolland suggested looking at the intelligence.

The remaining two nodded in agreement, and then Romain Rolland pulled out a huge stack of intelligence from somewhere.

—She's clearly an idol, yet she's so good at being a paparazzi.

If this gets out, I'll definitely lose followers.

Christie, showing no sign of what she had been thinking, picked up a stack of papers, which happened to be a pre-cut piece of tabloid news. Christie simply read it aloud:

"Following Dazai Osamu's move from the Port Band's Double Black duo to 'Twilight Detective' a few years ago, another rising star, Izumi Kyoka, who was favored and nurtured by Port Band, has also moved to 'Twilight Detective,' and the suspected reason is a romantic entanglement with 'Twilight Detective's' newcomer, Nakajima Atsushi?"

"Yes, this Izumi Kyoka was previously rumored to be the illegitimate daughter of Ozaki Kouyou, a leading figure in the Port Mascot band. Although her parents later came forward to deny the rumors, it seems that the rumors still persist."

“Hmm…” Romain Rolland carefully examined Izumi Kyoka’s file, then looked at Ozaki Kouyou’s. “I have to say, their abilities are really similar; both are ‘Yasha’.”

"Indeed, they look very similar."

“But didn’t Atsushi Nakajima just have a rumored relationship with Ryunosuke Akutagawa of the Port Band… Come to think of it, didn’t we also hear that Twilight Detective and the current leader of the Port Band are from the same company?” Verne looked up from a pile of documents, staring at the ceiling: “The two companies are even planning to collaborate again to launch the ‘Double Black’ duo, and there seems to be quite a bit of gossip about that… This is really a messy relationship.”

These two companies are less like rivals and more like two separate groups from the same band.

I always feel that those with close relationships and those who marry into other families are just as good (just kidding), especially those who marry into two generations (just kidding).

Christie sighed, "That's nothing. The gossip and scandals between 'Twilight Detectives' and 'Harbor Band' never stop. The rumors and gossip alone feed half the country's gossip magazines and newspapers. They create scandals at a rate that's like a platoon of Sherlock Holmes..."

“Uh…” Roland looked up when he heard the familiar name again. “Christie, you’re really obsessed with Sherlock Holmes… Are you that concerned about determining a winner?”

Christie replied matter-of-factly, "Definitely."

Although it was unclear how the independent composer (Holmes) and the agent (Christie) would determine the winner, Romain Rolland decided to support his friend.

And so, the three entrepreneurs didn't finish their discussion until midnight, and in the early hours of the morning, they finalized the future course of action for "The Nameless Traveler".

The first step was to head towards Asia.

Our first destination was Yokohama, the city where idol culture is most prevalent.

And so, the nameless travelers embarked on their journey once again.