"You've been stuck there for a while already. Anything coming to mind yet?"
Robin's voice was slightly hoarse. She'd pushed her vocal cords too far, hitting those impossibly high notes, leaving behind some unwanted aftereffects. For a singer, this was practically a career-level mistake—but despite this, she still stared hopefully at the person before her.
That person was, of course, Hoshigaki Sora. But right now, he was occupied with a very troublesome issue.
In front of Sora lay a sheet of paper and a pen, but the paper remained completely blank, without even a single word scribbled on it.
This was exactly the problem tormenting him at this moment.
"But even if you make me write it down, I just can't do it!"
After racking his brains for ages, this was the only conclusion he could reach.
"But you clearly could play that song before—even the accompaniment was so clear! So why can't you do it now?"
Robin couldn't help but feel puzzled. Earlier, Sora could clearly play music, even down to a perfect instrumental backing track. So why was he suddenly unable to reproduce even a single verse?
"It's that kind of feeling, you know…" Sora scratched his head, struggling to explain, "When the emotion hits, it just flows out smoothly…"
Huh?!
Robin's mouth twitched slightly. She felt this analogy somehow wasn't quite right.
But very quickly, she shook off the odd feeling, sighing disappointedly as she asked again, "So you're saying that right now, you have no inspiration at all?"
She herself was a part-time producer and composer, so of course she understood how crucial inspiration was.
"Right, right! Exactly!" Sora nodded furiously.
Reproducing something perfectly from memory? How could he possibly do that?
"There really isn't even a tiny bit of a chance?" Robin's voice dropped further, clearly disheartened.
"Hmm… does the sound of shattering glass count? Because that's really all I've got."
"Haaah?!" Robin was speechless. Her expression was so obvious, Sora could practically see the words clearly written on her face:
Are you messing with me?!
Oh no, she's definitely going to take revenge on me later!
The subtle panic hidden behind Sora's calm demeanor did not escape Robin's notice. She quickly realized that perhaps she was being a bit too impatient.
Sighing once more, Robin temporarily gave up on her plans.
Why did things turn out like this?
She had finally found an interesting song, and had even experienced a feeling she'd never felt before. Two joyful things coincided—it should have brought even more happiness, right?
So… why… did things turn out like this?
As her mind wandered, Robin's gaze drifted over to a certain someone happily stuffing himself with food in the corner of the room.
It's all his fault!
Just you wait! Next time you bring up a new song without finishing this one, don't even think about stepping out that door again!
Hmph!
...
The news of Spider's demise quickly spread across the galaxy.
Initially, almost everyone dismissed it as fake news.
After all, Spider had reportedly died in some obscure little corner of the galaxy. Upon learning about the conditions of that particular star system, most people naturally wouldn't believe it.
Come on, Spider was someone who had repeatedly escaped from the IPC's encirclements. Even veteran bounty hunters avoided chasing after Spider—and yet now, it was claimed that Spider had died quietly in an unknown star system?
Who in their right mind would buy that?
But within just a day, various fragmented videos suddenly popped up all over the galaxy's network.
Some were shot from homes, capturing strange scenes in the sky; others came directly from Robin's concert venue; and some even came from pilots who personally flew out to investigate the debris in space…
These clips undeniably showed something terrifyingly familiar: the massive, unmistakable limbs of Spider!
Spider was clearly engaged in battle against a tiny figure. But contrary to everyone's expectations, Spider was being thoroughly beaten!
These videos rapidly climbed the trending charts, drawing in countless curious viewers.
"Who is this person? Which Path are they walking?" someone wondered aloud, curiosity piqued.
Being able to suppress Spider with seemingly a mortal's strength—this individual must surely be a Pathstrider.
Preservation? Destruction? Nihility? Or perhaps Immortality?
The dragon-like appearance was so conspicuous, some quickly connected him with certain unique species in the galaxy.
Yet this debate wasn't even the main focus. What interested everyone more was what had occurred during the brief period when the screen turned to static.
"I think it's another one of Spider's self-directed dramas," someone speculated. "Spider's probably taken advantage of that static to sneak off to another system already."
"But those huge pieces of debris are literally floating in space—could those be fake too?"
Opinions flooded in one after another, speculation buzzing relentlessly. Some believed it was fake, while others swore it was real.
However, at this exact moment, the IPC finally issued an official statement:
[We have dispatched specialists to retrieve and analyze the wreckage. We will release the results publicly once verification is complete.]
Now that the IPC had spoken, all speculation naturally died down.
However, the officials of the planet itself were so furious they began cursing immediately:
"Those bastards! We asked for help a hundred times and they didn't lift a finger, but the moment wreckage appears, suddenly they act so fast?!"
The anger in their hearts was overwhelming, yearning to be vented.
From the moment the video had climbed the trending charts to the IPC's official announcement, barely two system hours had passed.
In other words, the IPC had been closely monitoring the situation all along!
Yet when they had desperately pleaded for aid, they were met with total silence.
Such suffocating indignation made them want to spew out endless strings of profanity.
But sadly, they now had to meet with the man who had defeated Spider.
"When we meet that gentleman, everyone must be extremely careful and respectful."
If they somehow annoyed him, their entire planet might not survive the repercussions.
They soon arrived at the medical center. Under guidance, they quickly found the Children of Starfire.
Yet, after knocking and entering, they received some utterly baffling news.
"What did you just say?!"
They stared in disbelief at the child standing before them.
"That's right! Sora-niisan said he was going on vacation, and he already left!" The child tilted his head curiously. "Did you have something urgent you wanted to talk to him about?"
Perhaps this child had Sora's contact information?
"Yes! We have some very important matters we need to discuss with him!"
The child frowned, puzzled. "But… Sora-niisan stayed with us for a long time after the concert ended. Where were all of you then?"
At this, the adults immediately fell silent, unable to respond.
Where were they? Naturally, they had been among those who fled at the first sign of danger.
Meanwhile, at this very moment, Sora himself was finally setting off eagerly for his long-awaited vacation.
This time, he could finally relax properly.