'Maybe I really am in an anime world' Ren thought, picking up his pace as he spotted a second-hand electronics shop down the street.
It looked pretty run-down with posters on the wall and dust clinging to the corners. Behind the counter stood a gentle-looking middle-aged man.
The man spotting a fragile boy walking into his shop asked kindly,
"Hello! Do you need anything?"
"Yes, I'm looking for a laptop and phone, my budget is about 100 000¥" Ren responded quickly not quite like a normal teenager would.
"So we have a little adult here!" The man laughed while he started looking through laptops and phones that he had on display.
"My name is Nagai Katashi, Nice to meet you" Nagai Katashi said
"I'm Arata Ren. Pleased to meet you Nagai-san" Ren responded with a polite bow
A minute passed and Nagai Katashi came back to the counter with few options for both laptops and phones.
"Here, your budget is honestly pretty big. You could buy new ones if you wanted, though they wouldn't be anything fancy" Nagai Katashi said, placing the items on the counter
"Which of these laptops has the best configuration? I need a laptop with 16GB of RAM. As for the phone, I don't really care" Ren asked
Nagai-san raised an eyebrow, then nodded and pointed at a sleek black laptop from Lenovo and a mid-range phone from Xiaomi.
"These are probably your best options" Nagai-san said
Ren looked at the configuration of the laptop thought that this configuration would be enough for him for now. He could always upgrade it later when he has enough money. The phone looked decent enough, too. Both were in a good condition, so there wasn't much to think about.
"How much are they Nagai-san?" Ren asked
"90 000¥" Nagai-san responded
"I will take them ten" Ren said
Nagai-san gave a small nod and started packing everything neatly.
Ren was about to give the men the money. When something caught his eye... a poster. It looked oddly familiar.
"Excuse me, Nagai-san" Ren said " Who's the person in that poster behind you"
The man turned glanced at it. A bittersweet smile crept onto his face.
"Her... she's my star idol, Her name was Hoshino Ai sadly she died 12 years ago" Nagai-san responded softly, his eyes lost in thought.
'Hoshino AI...'
'No way, I'm in the Oshi no Ko world.'
'But I didn't watch it. I only know the person in the poster and some synopsis... Fuck!'
Still, even though he was raging inside Ren kept his composure.
"Sorry for your loss Nagai-san, here's the money" He said, while handing over the 90 000¥ from his pocket
"It's okay boy, I's been 12 years already." Nagai-san replied softly
"Thank you for the purchase"
Ren walked out of the store now that he knew that he is in an anime world. He didn't find it strange to see so many oddly dressed or unique looking people. With his newly bought laptop and phone in hand he decided to head back to the apartment.
It took him nearly an hour to get there. His frail body simply didn't have enough stamina. Once he arrived, Ren unpacked the things he bought. Now that he had a laptop he could finally start researching the world and figuring out how to become popular.
Fortunately, the apartment had internet, as the landlord shared his Wi-Fi for a fee.
Opening his new laptop he started looking for the most popular social media platforms in this world. From what he saw, they were basically the same as in his previous life.
But what mattered most to Ren was one question: Did Vocaloid exist in this world?
That's right his plan was to use his specialised gacha coupon on a vocaloid song.
So, what is a Vocaloid? It's a singing voice synthesizer software developed by Yamaha, with voice banks known as Vocaloids — essentially, virtual idols. It was the perfect tool for him, since he couldn't use his own voice.
Later once his vocal cords will be fully healed he can transition from being a vocaloid song producer into a full fledged artist. Just like Kenshi Yonezu or Ayase from Yoasobi had done.
From the information he gathered. Vocaloid did exist in this world but It wasn't as popular as it was in his previous life. Likely because it had only been released around six years ago. The most viewed Vocaloid song here had only 20 million views across all platforms.
As for the voice banks they were basically the same as in his previous life.
That's right the queen herself, Hatsune Miku, was here too.
The low popularity of vocaloid in this world worried Ren a bit. But he believed that he could pull off a miracle. With all the fantastic Vocaloid songs from his previous life at his disposal, he was sure he could attract a whole new wave of fans.
The goal was clear. It was time for Ren to use his specialised gacha coupon.
'System use the specialised gacha coupon!'
'Roll with vocaloid as the base genre!' Ren shouted in his mind
[Specialised gacha coupon used]
[Genre: Vocaloid]
[Beginning to roll...]
Ren stared intently at the system window as thousands of song titles began flashing by in a blur of colors and names.
[DECO*27: Rabbit hole]
[Kenshi Yonezu/ HACHI: MATORYOSHKA]
[Orangestar: DAYBREAK FRONTLINE]
[32ki: Mesmerizer]
[Neru: Lost One's Weeping]
[Kenshi Yonezu/ HACHI: Donut Hole]
[Ryo: World is Mine]
[Kanaria: KING]
[DECO*27: Ghost Rule]
[Kikuo: Aishite Aishite Aishite]
'Please something good' Ren prayed with his hands
'System stop' Ren shouted in his mind
The rolling began to slow down, like a digital slot machine teasing with a jackpot. It ticked past classics like World is Mine, Speedrunners like Mesmerizer...
And then it stopped.
Ren's eyes widened, as he saw the title glowing in front of him.
It was...
[Congratulations, Host!]
[You have received an A-Rank song]
[Orangestar: Asu no Yozora Shoukaihan]
He stared, frozen in place.
"...No way," he whispered.
It was a song he didn't expect to get, the biggest classic from one of the biggest Vocaloid producers Orangestar.
A track that had inspired millions… a shining light during dark days. In his old life, it had racked up over 50 million views across platforms.
Now it was his.
His first song.
His first shot at the title of a Music King.