We've been following the Afterglow-side of the story for a while now (something I think is justifiable as Afterglow is my favorite band of the franchise by a decent margin), but there's another side of the story we can delve into. Let's see how we've left off, shall we~?

I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.

"I will be… in your care… Silver Kite-san…" Rinko whispered to nobody in particular as she took a moment looking at her avatar's stats and potential skills. Much to Rinko's surprise and mild disappointment, not a lot of information was given about her avatar's skill tree which meant that Rinko needed to find out everything on her own.

Rinko then pressed the big 'start' button located on the bottom-right of her screen and watched as her computer lit up in a bright white light.

'What kind of game will this be?' Rinko thought as she waited for her computer to finish loading the game. Rinko was confident her computer would be able to handle the game as it survived running NFO regularly, but depending on the game's internet demands Rinko might be in trouble. Not that the Shirokane household had bad internet or anything, but the router was as far away from Rinko's room as it possibly could be. This meant that, much to her disappointment, the signal strength was the weakest where it mattered most to Rinko.

Despite Rinko's continuous whining over the years, her parents hadn't complied with Rinko's request to install a rerouter in the house. Rinko had a feeling her parents were afraid she'd spent even more time alone in her room, something even Rinko could not deny she would do. The only bright side to Rinko's situation was that she knew she could play NFO with minimal internet problems, so it should be good enough for this game.

Before installing the game, Rinko had done her homework to try and learn as much as she could. She knew she wouldn't be playing it with Ako so there was no fear of her knowing too much about the game and leaving Ako in the dark. With this knowledge in mind, Rinko had searched as much as she could to prepare for the days to come.

The only problem was the fact that there was not a lot of information out there for Rinko to take advantage of. Only the bare minimum that the game would involve fighting mobs and other players and the nature of the avatars.

The avatar creation process in particular was what interested Rinko the most and what ultimately made her give the game a chance. A game that would create a custom avatar that was unique to the player based on what the game knew about the player? Rinko had to push the worrying thoughts as to how the game learned about the player, and once she did she could feel herself brim with excitement. The idea that Silver Kite was made specifically for her interested Rinko a lot, so much so that Rinko might be more interested in learning about her avatar than the game itself.

It was also for this reason that Rinko was already feeling a certain level of a bond with Silver Kite despite only knowing her avatar for a couple of minutes at most. Rinko was ready to play the game and learn more about Silver Kite, and with the loading screen finally disappearing she knew that nothing could stop her—.

"Rin-chan! Dinner is ready, mama is expecting Rin-chan at the table in five minutes!"

Rinko suppressed the urge to groan in annoyance; she knew that her mother didn't do anything wrong and there was no point in getting mad at her. That being said, Rinko's irritation was audible even to herself when she called she would be down soon.

'And right when I was about to start, too…' Rinko thought to herself as she stared at her computer's screen, wanting nothing more than to isolate herself in her room and play her games all day long. Of course, this was an accurate description for Shirokane Rinko on a daily basis, but this feeling was always just a bit stronger when she found a new game to play.

Memories of the last time she tried to defy her parents' wishes to play NFO for a few more hours started to resurface. Rinko did not want a repeat of those dark days, so there was only one path left for her to take.

Letting out the breath she didn't know she was holding, Rinko accepted the fact that she wouldn't be able to play her game right away. She turned off her monitor, assuming she would be able to play right after a quick dinner, and headed downstairs.

'There really should be a rule… against guests arriving unannounced…'

Rinko had been in for a big surprise, and one that she would find all too unpleasant: her parents weren't the only people at the dinner table waiting for her. Mr. Shirokane was in an animated discussion with an old friend of his, confirming Rinko's suspicions that there was an unannounced guest. If nothing else, this at least answered the question as to who that foreign voice belonged to that Rinko heard when she was in the hallway.

To make matters worse, Rinko's mother kept pestering the poor keyboardist throughout dinner over menial issues, from schoolwork to Rinko's progress with her piano. All Rinko could do was grit her teeth and hope her short answers would not be a reason for her mother to dig deeper. The only thing that kept Rinko from losing her composure was the fact that she was looking forward to the reward she would get if she got through this. And, no matter how much her parents pampered her, Rinko knew that she had to stay on their good side if she wanted to have a chance of playing her new game.

What should have been only half an hour quickly turned to two hours, but Rinko was finally able to drag herself up the stairs and into the safety of her room. Her sweet, glorious room where nobody could bother her and she could enjoy her new game in—

"What is it now?" Rinko all but groaned out. At this point, she was about ready to start pulling her hair out in frustration if it wasn't for the fact that Rinko had spent years growing it out. Not to mention that if Rinko were to pull out or otherwise cut her hair, she would be the only member of her band with short hair. Rinko was already shivering at the mere thought of standing out that much.

Rinko had been so deep in her thoughts that she almost forgot she was being called. The fifth ring of her phone managed to snap Rinko out of her train of thoughts and urged her to scramble to reach her phone. Already drained from the extended dinner, Rinko knew she couldn't afford to talk over the phone for very long. Rinko had even been at the point of hanging up immediately. but she changed her mind the moment she read the name on the screen.

"H-Hello? Ako-chan?" Rinko asked the moment she held her phone to her ear. Roselia's keyboardist had no idea what to make of this situation; Ako rarely called her out of the blue, Rinko's aversion to phone calls was a well-known fact to the other members of Roselia. The surprise guest she had to entertain only moments ago was probably not helping Rinko's mental capabilities out very much, if at all.

Rinko was so pre-occupied with her thoughts that she almost missed Ako speaking up and answering the very question that Rinko was struggling with. Rinko was almost too embarrassed to admit her error to her best friend, but she also knew that she had to say something. Not only had Ako been cheering Rinko on to be more confident, but if anyone would be able to pick up if something was wrong with Rinko it would be Ako. Or Lisa, but the bond between Ako and Rinko was something that everybody was aware of.

"Sorry, Ako-chan. Could you… please… say that… again?" Despite her earlier conviction, Rinko couldn't help herself; her voice grew softer with each word to the point it was barely above a whisper by the end of the question. Rinko was relieved to hear that Ako had heard her question, but at the same time, Rinko was left to wonder how Ako could hear her in the first place.

"Ako said that Ako was worried about you, Rinrin!" Ako's voice called out over the phone, making Rinko's breath hitch in her throat in the process. Before Rinko could calm herself down, she could already hear Ako talk again, "And not just Ako! Lisa-nee and Sayo-san have both asked Ako to ask Rinrin how you're doing! Onee-chan even told Ako to tell Rinrin that everybody in Afterglow is worried, too!"

'Everyone… even Afterglow…' Rinko took a shaky breath, grabbed her water bottle, and took a quick gulp of water before Ako could hear her break down. Feeling refreshed and motivated after her drink, Rinko was about to reassure her closest friend that she was all right when she realized that Ako did not mention a certain name. Before she could stop herself, she let her curiosity guide her, "What about… Yukina-san?"

"A-Anyway, so there is this new event announced in NFO for next week, will Rinrin be able to play it with Ako?" Ako tried to hurriedly change the topic, something that Rinko picked up on very quickly. Rinko could even see Ako's flustered face as she attempted to think of something on the spot to try and distract Rinko with. This mental image was enough to lift Rinko's mood back up and put a smile on her face.

Even though Ako's attempt to distract Rinko was as good of a confirmation as Rinko was going to get out of the eccentric drummer. Rinko wouldn't say that and dampen Ako's mood, though; Rinko knew her best friend was only trying to help and she more than appreciated the effort.

"I… will try," Rinko said after a moment of hesitation. She was already looking forward to playing games with her best friend, but at the same time, there was another game calling her name. A game that was still open on her computer, the temptation simply too strong for Rinko to resist, "I'm sorry, Ako-chan… I have to… go now. I will see you… at tomorrow's practice?"

"Okay, take care Rinrin!" Ako said before hanging up the call, not even giving Rinko a chance to properly respond to Ako. This might have been for the best as Rinko had plopped down on her back and was suddenly very fascinated by her bedroom's ceiling.

'I need to improve… to get better… so I don't worry everybody,' Rinko thought to herself, moving her right hand in front of her face and watching the blurred outline of her hand as it turned into a clenched fist.

This was the time Rinko tried to go over a mental list of things she could do, only to scratch them off the same list mere seconds later. Whether it was too ambitious, beyond Rinko's scope, involved talking with too many strangers, or a combination of above, Rinko always found a reason why she couldn't do it. This continued for the next few minutes where Rinko would be trying to give herself a pep talk and figuring out a path to her goal.

Only for that path to reveal itself in the form of her computer's monitor lighting up.

"Ah, Silver Kite-san!" Rinko cried out when she realized she still needed to play her game. With a renewed sense of energy, Rinko scrambled to her feet, almost tripped over her legs, and hurried over to her computer to see that the game was still open. Not only that, her avatar, Silver Kite, was staring back at Rinko with its amber-colored eyes.

Rinko's focus naturally gravitated to those featureless eyes of her avatar; and while they did not give away much information, Rinko immediately knew what her avatar was trying to tell her. Almost as if the two shared a connection that transcended the barrier between the two dimensions.

"That can't be right," Rinko shook her head and even slapped her cheeks a few times, all to wake herself from the trance-like state she was in. The avatar talking to her? Rinko might have liked games, but even Rinko knew that an in-game avatar could do no such thing.

'Anyway, get into the game, figure out the rules, and see what I can do today,' Rinko thought to herself as she sat in front of her computer again. Pushing the other thoughts out of her head as well as she could, Rinko tried to reassure and motivate herself. It was a new game, a new opportunity, and a new chance to let loose and have fun with one of the few things that still gave her happiness in life. With a smile, Rinko sat in front of her computer waiting for the loading screen to go away, 'I got through the early stages of NFO, how hard can this game get?'

'Get away get away get away get away!'

As if to prove to Rinko that the day could get worse, she was quick to learn that NFO wasn't the only broken game that she played. The moment that Silver Kite spawned into the game, Rinko found herself in a quiet, savannah-like area with orange-colored spikes of grass all around her. The only landmark that Rinko could see in her surroundings was a single oak tree towering above her head a few meters to her south.

Unfortunately for Rinko, the area was quiet, but not deserted. A crimson-colored bull had been grazing on the patches of grass when the light that announced Rinko's arrival must have alerted it. Whether it was territorial or just easily angered Rinko did not know, all she knew was that she was being chased by the beast before she even had the chance to appreciate the scenery.

"Silver Kite-san, what can you do to help me?" Rinko thought out loud as the bull's next charge narrowly missed her. Rinko tried to rake her brain for ideas, but the earlier emotionally-draining time spent at the dinner table had bled her dry mentally. The only thing that she was able to think of was the fact that she wouldn't lose a significant amount of experience should she fall here. A not too reassuring thought for the keyboardist of Roselia.

Rinko wasn't about to roll over and die, however. She could already hear her fallen opponents in NFO laugh at her should she die mere moments after starting a game.

'If I am going down, I will at least tell Ako-chan I died fighting,' Rinko thought to herself as she decided on a course of action. She moved Kite so her avatar would sidestep the bull's charge and settled on standing her ground. Rinko had been attacked enough times already that she felt she knew her opponent's attack pattern: charge full steam ahead.

And Rinko was planning on using that to her advantage.

"Just wait until the last moment again… and… now!" Rinko called out when she saw the opening that she needed. With practiced precision and dexterity that came from years of playing games, Rinko guided Kite to dodge to the left at the last second. But Rinko's counterattack was far from over; with the bull flying forward with no way to stop its momentum, Rinko went on the offensive and landed two punches to the bull's side.

The effects of Rinko's attack were immediate. Rinko wasn't expecting to do much more than be a mild inconvenience for her opponent at best as she had just started playing the game. The reality of the situation was completely different: the bull was sent flying, bounced a handful of times on the ground, and then skidded to a halt approximately twenty meters away. Rinko did not see her opponent scramble back to its feet again, but she did receive a pop-up message notifying her of her victory.

"No drops… that's weird," Rinko thought out loud as she went over her rewards for her win. She was still shocked at how easily she managed to beat her opponent and couldn't think of the reason she could one-hit kill the beast… that was until Rinko opened her stats page again and found the answer, "Bonus damage… against demonic opponents… and bulls… would that be enough… to explain… what just happened?"

Unable to figure out the answer to her question by just standing around, Rinko decided to try and find the nearest settlement and ask around there. She was bound to run into NPCs or even other players she could talk to there and figure out her next course of action.

'Other players…' Rinko shuddered at the mere thought of needing to interact with more people after spending so much energy entertaining the surprise guest earlier. That being said, Rinko was already interested in this game, and if it takes interacting with other players to get better, she would make that sacrifice in a heartbeat. Or several heartbeats as Rinko could already feel her heart rate start to skyrocket.

"Calm down… deep breaths…" Rinko told herself as she tried to regulate her breathing. In… out… in… out… it took her a few seconds, but eventually, she managed to calm her heart rate down to a more natural rate, "All right… let's go to the next town… Kite-san…"

This, however, led to the next problem Rinko had to face: she was in the middle of nowhere and had no idea which direction she even had to go to. Should she walk to her right or her left? The only thing Rinko knew for certain was that she could not stay where she was. The mobs were sure to respawn, potentially in larger numbers, and Rinko was not looking forward to another encounter. Let alone having to fight multiple of those beasts.

'Let's see… I was attacked from the left, so going left means I can run into more of those things,' Rinko thought as she weighed her options, already shuddering at the idea of running into a horde of enemies she wouldn't be able to beat easily. If she were using her characters in other games she played, Rinko might have been more confident. Silver Kite, however, was a brand new character that Rinko knew little about, so she didn't want to take that risk yet. No, going left wasn't an option for her, which meant the only other way she could go was…

'If I go right, I either run into stronger enemies or a safe town…' Rinko finished her train of thought, already knowing what she wanted to do. Or, rather, what she knew she had to do; it wasn't something she was thrilled to do, but it was better than the alternative. With a small sigh, Rinko steeled herself and turned to Silver Kite as if hoping her avatar could give her a response, "Let's get going."

Rinko and Kite kept going to the right while wading through the sea of grass, not looking back once in the hopes of preventing herself from second-guessing her decision. This proved effective as Rinko managed to keep going, each step that Kite took to the right reassuring Rinko that she had made the right choice. A right choice, at least: her assumption that the bull's spawn point had been to her left seemed to be true as she hadn't run into more beasts since she started moving.

But ten minutes had already passed since she left the spot she got attacked and Rinko had still been unable to find a town she could ask around. Her menus weren't of much use either, only providing Rinko the bare minimum to make Silver Kite move the way Rinko wanted her avatar to move.

And that was not the only problem that Rinko had to deal with…

Had Rinko waited a few minutes or turned around to look back she would have seen the bright flash of light that lit up the area. With her attention focused on the right where she wanted to go, Rinko was unaware that she was no longer alone…

And that is all for today's chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, please tell me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!