Recording the audio herself was one thing, but the reality of the situation didn't truly sink in until now.
As 'Robin' stood to the side, she channeled the dual powers of Harmony and Elation, weaving them into the vocal tracks.
Beside her, Sparkle was intentionally pinching her voice, letting out high-pitched, rhythmic chirps of "Mambo~Mambo~"
An overwhelming sense of the absurd bubbled up within her.
It wasn't that Sparkle herself was ridiculous, but rather the sheer abstraction of it all—taking purely transliterated words that lacked any coherent meaning and pairing them with such a well-composed arrangement.
That kind of nonsensical, avant-garde aesthetic made it far too easy to burst into giggles.
As for the music, 'Robin' had only selected a few melodies she remembered and reproduced them for release.
They were the kind of earworms that had been everywhere at one point; just thinking about this project caused the tunes to float effortlessly to the surface of her mind.
As for how it would be received?
That depended entirely on the capacity for brain-rot within this world's population.
Then again, the galaxy was never short on bored souls looking for a distraction.
Having finished her recording session, Sparkle turned to 'Robin' with a deeply nuanced expression.
A high-quality track paired with utterly meaningless lyrics—when it came to incomprehensible fun, Sparkle felt her companion was leaning into Elation even harder than she was.
After the raw audio was recorded, the production phase began.
They couldn't just release the original vocals as they were.
'Robin' tweaked the pitch and tone, adjusting the voices to match the quirky, eccentric style etched in her memory. Finally, she began crafting a matching music video using the Herta Virtual Idol avatar.
The workflow wasn't overly complex. The final product, however, matched 'Robin's' mental image perfectly.
Hearing the hauntingly familiar "Hachimi~" echoing through her headphones, 'Robin' felt a strange sense of nostalgia. At the same time, a sudden realization struck her.
Infusing the power of Harmony into a song was, at its core, using the medium of sound to connect with the audience's emotions and achieve a state of empathy.
So, here was the problem.
A song like "Hachimi wo nameru to"... what kind of emotion was it actually conveying? Or rather, what emotion was she projecting while recording it?
As 'Robin' pondered this and tried to sense the resonance, she realized exactly what she had injected into these bizarre tracks.
It was a chaotic, inexplicable desire for "the entire world to experience the beauty of the abstract."
When Sparkle caught wind of this, she let out an unceremonious howl of laughter. She eventually collapsed onto the carpet, rolling around in fits:
"Hahaha! Seriously, bestie, it's a tragedy you haven't joined the Tavern yet!"
"Spreading abstract beauty across the galaxy... Hahaha! How is that any different from spreading Elation?! My dear friend, in what world do you not believe in Elation?"
"..."
Watching Sparkle laugh herself into a state of delirium, 'Robin' felt conflicted.
Was she actually a creature of Elation deep down? That couldn't be right; she was a perfectly upright person.
But, truth be told, even she was struggling to keep a straight face.
She hadn't given it much thought before, simply recording the songs with a casual desire to see this "abstract culture" spread.
She had forgotten that wielding the power of Harmony meant her own moods would inevitably be dragged into the mix.
If she tried to re-record with a different emotion... well, a serious tone wouldn't fit such nonsensical songs.
But if she leaned too far into the chaotic and abrupt nature of Elation, it would clash with the essence of Harmony—and 'Robin' herself wasn't particularly fond of Elation's tendency toward total disorder.
There was also a tactical point to consider.
By borrowing the power of Elation, the plan remained relatively covert, avoiding the blatant trail left by something like Mara-struck influence or the Remembrance. Even so, it wouldn't stay hidden forever.
When it was eventually discovered, people might suspect a grand conspiracy or some massive experiment.
But when they dug deeper, they would find something so harmless it bordered on the surreal. That contrast would go a long way in neutralizing any public backlash.
It definitely wasn't because the contrast itself was hilarious. Definitely.
"...I'm uploading it now. Do you want your name on it?" 'Robin' decided to ignore Sparkle's laughter and get back to business.
Sparkle propped herself up on her elbows, sitting casually on the floor, and looked at 'Robin' with a mischievous grin.
"Under what identity? As the singer? Then call me Hanami!"
"What kind of ridiculous name is that? You sound like some little girl trying too hard to be cute," 'Robin' replied, her face twisting into an expression of pure disbelief.
While Sparkle was indeed small and could easily pass for a young girl if she reined in her expressions, her actual personality made such a suggestive, "innocent" name feel like a total scam.
"Oh, come on! Just think of it as a pre-debut teaser for my Virtual Idol career—even if I don't know when I'll actually debut."
"I can tell that working at the IPC has bored you to tears." 'Robin' found the whole thing hard to put into words.
Was being a Virtual Idol really that entertaining?
The puppets' "Herta Virtual Idol Project" was essentially a platform to praise their creator, Madam Herta, in various ways.
And considering the sheer number of users on the interstellar web, with countless civilizations, races, and conflicting Pathstrider beliefs, the online environment was a chaotic mess.
Trying to launch a Virtual Idol project in a place like that... that was certainly an ambitious pursuit.
"Heehee~ I'm just looking for a bit of fun! Think about it—who am I? I'm a Vice-Director of the Strategic Investment Department! If I start livestreaming, I'm going in as an empress! Who'd dare complain? I'll have my subordinates park IPC warships right outside their front doors!"
"..."
'Robin' had only one evaluation for a plan that was clearly ill-intentioned from the start: she just wanted to watch the world burn.
"Fine. So you're settled on the name Hanami, then?"
"Mhm~ But let me design the character model carefully. For now, just the name will do." Sparkle's gaze suddenly turned playful.
"Hey, since the mood is right, why don't you make a virtual avatar too? We can debut together as a duo—our popularity would skyrocket!"
Confronted with Sparkle's "brilliant" idea, 'Robin' felt nothing but a direct assault on her sense of shame.
Did this girl even realize what they were about to post?
"A duo? The 'Founders of Brain-rot' duo? Our nicknames will be Hachimi and Mambo, and as soon as we show up, the comments section will look like a digital invasion... we'd be 'skyrocketing' straight into oblivion."
'Robin' rejected the instigation with righteous indignation.
However, the idea of creating a virtual persona did spark a thought.
Not for herself, of course, but a character that bore a striking resemblance to the real Robin. A little Easter egg of sorts.
Perhaps in ten or twenty years, when the real Robin had grown up, the audience might notice that her voice and image were eerily similar to a certain abstract meme and virtual idol from the past.
Then, once Robin noticed it, she could take over the account—a "legacy" passed down to the real her.
Well... Robin was such a serious person.
'Robin' wondered what kind of face she would make when she saw the account's content.
Maybe she could even get the real one to do a cover of "Sway to My Hachimi in Cosmos" or something similar. That sounded like quite a bit of fun.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL