Chapter 82: Chapter 82: It’s Time to Rock and Roll

Elves are a bunch of folks with music wired into their brains.

It doesn’t matter which clan—whether they live deep in the mountains and ancient forests or run rampant underground—they all find it impossible to walk away from a musical instrument.

Music theory is a required course for all Elves.

Their fervor is comparable to Demon Hunters playing cards.

Your mother was kidnapped by Gnolls, but you can play the harp.

Alright then, rescuing her can wait. Let’s play a duet first.

And while they may seem aloof, Elves actually crave a sense of validation. Most intelligent beings are social creatures, after all.

That’s why, even though their Sharp Ears can perceive a different auditory range from other races, they still compose music within the range that most races can hear.

They say they don’t care what other races think, but their actions betray them when it comes time to write songs.

The ultrasonic and infrasonic frequencies that Humans can’t hear are used for transmitting secret messages or in combat.

Recording Magic, a product of intense Human innovation during wartime, was also inherited by the Elves, who continued to refine it with the goal of capturing ever-better musical performances.

To create a timbre similar to an electric guitar or electric bass, one had to start with Recording Magic.

There was no such thing as electromagnetic induction here, so it was obviously impossible to create timbres by altering electrical currents and voltages. A world of magic required magical solutions.

That was why Zog planned to seek out the only Elves he was on relatively good terms with: the Zor and Spider Elves who lived in the Dark Nether Realm.

’I brought them a drum kit last time. I wonder what kind of beat they can lay down with eight legs.’

’Today’s priority is the electric guitar timbre. Whether I can get a bass sound is up to fate.’

’It’s not that no one cares about the bass.’

’Okay, fine, not many people care.’

’If I really can’t get it, a double bass, one size up from a cello, can still go THUMP THUMP THUMP.’

’And with that, the core instruments of a rock band would be assembled.’

’Then I just need to find a lead singer with a bit of a raspy or metallic edge to their voice.’

’Perfect.’

The band name could be The Whotling Stone-Beetles.

Even though Zog had hardly heard any of their songs, just dropping those names would place him at the very top of the snobbery hierarchy.

But the prerequisite for all this was that he first had to get to the Dark Nether Realm.

"Fly there yourself!" Furin rolled her eyes after hearing Zog’s request.

"Geographically speaking, one cannot fly to the Dark Nether Realm."

Zog used Backtalk.

It was super effective!

Furin was enraged.

Furin smacked Zog on his dragon head.

It was not very effective...

Her own hand went numb from the impact.

"You think you can bribe me with a few boxes of tea? Do you have any idea how much Magic Power it costs to teleport you? It takes me days to recover!"

"Actually, it doesn’t take much Magic Power to teleport a clone," Doudou chimed in meekly from the side.

Ever since he learned that the Visible Inscription Workshop was the foundation for making games, he had voluntarily joined the development team.

He didn’t even want a salary. All he wanted was for more games to be developed faster.

You could say he was filled to the brim with the spirit of the internet.

"A clone?"

"That’s right. If you’re not going there to fight, creating a clone that can communicate and teleporting it won’t use much Magic Power at all," Doudou explained.

’Magic really does change your life.’

Controlling the clone felt a lot like playing a VR game. It lacked any sense of touch, but because the clone was actually moving, he didn’t get the intense vertigo common with VR.

Using the Teleportation Technique, Zog’s clone arrived at the Spider Elves’ musical theater.

The moment he arrived, he heard the sound of dense, continuous percussion.

For a dazed moment, he thought a Maxim gun had miraculously appeared.

He looked closer and saw the Spider Elf, Roline, on the drums. She was, in fact, using all eight of her legs.

The tempo was excessively fast, and the beat didn’t seem to be uniform, so even though he knew her technique was incredible, it was very difficult to listen to.

’She’s moved past the stage of making music that sounds good and is heading into experimental territory.’

’Impressive, but useless to me.’

It was a common phenomenon among artists: as their technical skill deepened, they grew more and more detached from the general public.

Eventually, it leads to a situation where the masses think artists are just being pretentious, and the artists think the masses have no taste.

But "Emotional Intelligence" was a required course for any good businessman.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! Zog applauded. "An unprecedented, excellent performance."

"An uninvited Red Dragon," the Spider Elf said, setting down her drumsticks to look at Zog. "A clone, no less? What are you doing here? Have you captured someone from the Church again?"

"Not this time. I’ve come to discuss a musical matter with you—about Recording Magic. I want to be able to adjust the timbre of a recording."

"Adjust it in what way?"

"Toward distortion."

"Distortion... a strange request, indeed. So, what’s the price?"

The Spider Elf crawled upside down toward Zog, moving along a web she had woven.

There weren’t many beings who could negotiate terms with Zog. This Zor leader was barely one of them.

"I hear you’ve started selling toys. So what will you offer in exchange for... what do the surface-dwellers call it... a custom-tailored Magic technique?"

’This group of Zor Elves who never see the light is really out of the loop.’

’Zog could already picture a future where the internet was widespread, with Roline wearing a pair of reading glasses and asking the clan’s youngsters how to use some app.’

’I hope that when live-streaming becomes a thing, she doesn’t get tricked into showering gifts on some male streamer who specializes in charming older women.’

"I can make the music of the Zor Elves heard across the entire Feilin Continent."

’Zor music that I’ve curated, that is.’

"Heh," the Spider Elf Roline chuckled as if she’d heard a ridiculous joke. "And how will you do that? Blast Zor Elf music while you’re pillaging cities across the continent?"

’Such a dry, dark, and aggressive sense of humor. It’s a shame she’s not a stand-up comedian.’

"Of course not. The music of the Zor Elves will be heard by tens of millions as theme songs for serial dramas and soundtracks for the Shadow of Evil. And most importantly, there’s this."

Zog activated his Illusion Mimicry.

Unlike the version users saw, his end had all sorts of unreleased game demos.

He then opened a game called osu!.

A familiar, classic tune started to play.

Circles and lines appeared on the screen, and Zog tapped each circle with the tip of his claw, following the rhythm of the music.

Ratings like "Perfect" and "Good" popped up with each tap.

Roline quickly figured out how the game worked: the ratings judged the accuracy of Zog’s rhythmic tapping.

After watching for just a few seconds, she confirmed that Zog was absolutely terrible at it. His sense of rhythm was awful; he was relying solely on the reaction speed from his high agility to brute-force his way through the circles.

She had to admit, though, that she really wanted to try it herself.

Zog then demonstrated other modes, including one where blocks fell from the top of the screen and another that purely tested rhythm using only two drum sounds.

’An interesting little toy.’

’But there was a problem.’

’Traditional music forms aren’t quite suitable for a game like this. It’s... I don’t know how to describe it. The groove isn’t strong enough, or maybe not distinct enough.’

"So, you need..."

The Spider Elf Roline already had the answer in her mind.

"To use Zor music to enrich the game’s song library," Zog said.

"How many people will be able to play it?"

"Everyone with Magic Power, and in the future, anyone who can use a Magical Device."

"The music of the Zor Elves doesn’t need the approval of so many commoners who don’t understand music."

’Keep up the act.’

Zog watched her eight legs shaking uncontrollably. The sight was making him a little dizzy.

"And it will certainly be more popular than the backward music of the High Elves and Wood Elves."

Her eight legs fidgeted even faster.

"Fine, it’s a deal. Now, tell me what kind of distorted timbre you want."

Zog took out a stack of papers that had been teleported along with him. It was a company tradition: the project proposal.

"These are the detailed requirements. And there’s one more thing."

"What is it?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"How many good singers do you have among your Elves?"