The Red Dragon Lord is OP, but Insists on a Pop Culture Invasion!

Chapter 262: Chapter 216: Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

She didn’t know the composer of this piece, nor the performer, but through the melody, she seemed to feel what they had felt.

It was magnificent.

Astrid’s gaze grew determined. She wanted to create a work like this, too.

She had to choose this mentor.

Even if this mentor was the legendary Spider Elf, the most brutal hunter of the Dark Nether Realm.

She believed that an Elf capable of playing such a melody couldn’t be an unpardonable villain.

Of course, this was just wishful thinking on her part. Artistic talent was never tied to one’s character.

History was full of great artists who were scum with rock-bottom morals.

Besides, Roline had a grudge against the Church.

The Skeleton Soldier Corps performed the ensemble part flawlessly. It wasn’t as emotionally rich as the solo, but it was seamless and so precise that it barely seemed like a performance. Their coordination was so tight it was as if only a single musician had been playing the entire time.

Astrid had guessed this part correctly.

The entire orchestra didn’t actually have the ability to play; it was all just a series of magical steps set up by Roline.

In a sense, it was not much different from playing a backing track.

It just looked as though the Skeleton Soldiers were performing live. In reality, every performance was identical—they were basically carbon-based machines.

When the piece ended, the snow also stopped.

No snow accumulated on the beach; it all melted into water. The Skeleton Soldiers left the stage, and the temperature rose with their departure.

It felt as if the whole thing had been a dream.

Roline rose from the piano and walked to the front of the stage. The infamous Legendary figure gave a standard curtain call bow.

But there was no applause to answer her, only silence.

The audience hadn’t yet broken free from the atmosphere of the performance.

The silence stretched for nearly half a minute, and Zog almost couldn’t stop himself from getting up to be the shill who started the applause.

He was afraid this Queen Zor would hold a grudge against the audience and send the Zor to knock on their doors in the middle of the night.

’So you listened to the whole thing and didn’t clap, huh?’

That was, after all, the Zor’s specialty.

Just as the awkwardness in the air was about to reach a critical point, Astrid stood up.

With tears welling in her eyes, she clapped with all her might.

Immediately, others came to their senses, and the beach was instantly drowned in applause.

Astrid had made up her mind. If the Spider Elf didn’t choose her, she would rather withdraw from the competition.

The applause lasted for nearly ten minutes before gradually beginning to die down.

A rare smile appeared on Roline’s face. No performer could do without the approval of others.

In her excitement, Roline even wanted to perform a short encore, but a look from Zog stopped her.

’If she summons that gang of skeletons again, with the temperature jumping up and down, the whole audience will catch a cold.’

Afterward, the other three mentors took the stage together with the other musicians for the concert’s final bow.

They also did a little promotion for the show.

On her way out, Astrid opened the program. She wanted to find the name of the piece and download it to her player from the Zog music platform.

Then, every night when she felt down, she could hide under the covers and listen to it in secret.

After learning about things like music platforms and players, she had immediately subscribed to the service.

It was the first impulse buy of her life.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence? And it’s a Holy Song?"

The Church also had a Christmas Day—the day the Magic Goddess was born. It was a very solemn holiday, and of course, there were Holy Songs with that theme, but they sounded very different from the one she heard today.

"I really want to study with the composer of this piece," Astrid said with emotion.

She wanted to compose a Holy Song like this, too.

"Oh dear, you can’t do that, young lady! Didn’t you see the one playing the piano had eight legs? It must be from playing this song. What if there’s something wrong with it? What will you do if it turns you bad?"

A middle-aged woman’s voice suddenly came from behind her.

Astrid turned to look but didn’t recognize her.

Next to the woman was a young girl, probably her daughter, who was desperately trying to cover her mother’s mouth.

"Hey, stop talking! You should read less of that nonsense on the forums. I’m sorry, my mom’s just like this. She doesn’t mean any harm," the daughter apologized profusely.

The mother frantically showed off her social butterfly skills. "What’s wrong with talking? What kind of daughter doesn’t let her mother speak? This is my girl, Elsa Stone. She holds an important position at the Zog Group."

"I do not hold an important position."

Elsa regretted bragging about herself in her letters to her mom. Now, her mother took every chance she got to praise her daughter to anyone who would listen.

Her mom wasn’t embarrassed, but she was.

"I see you’ve come to Twin Tower City from out of town, too. We should keep in touch."

"Mom!"

"I’m expanding your network for you, and you’re not even grateful!"

"Okay," Astrid agreed readily. She really liked such enthusiastic people.

"No, oh my, I’m so sorry to trouble you."

Elsa pushed her chattering mother away as they walked off.

She had originally brought her parents to Twin Tower City for a vacation. The first day was harmonious, the second day saw the first signs of conflict, and by the third day, they were starting to get on each other’s nerves.

"Look at you, you have no social grace at all. How are you going to find a partner like this? When I was your age, I already had your brother," her mother continued her barrage.

"I’m not in a hurry. Besides, my brother isn’t married yet either."

"You’re not in a hurry, but I am for you! His head is full of nothing but books; you can’t be like him. How about this: if I do something big, you’ll go meet your Aunt Daisi’s youngest son."

"What does one have to do with the other?" Elsa was stunned. She couldn’t follow her mother’s logic at all.

"It’s a deal, then. I’ll enter that... what’s it called... Feilin’s Best Songs. If I make it through a round, you’ll go..."

"Fine, fine, whatever, just stop nagging," Elsa chose to compromise.

’It’s impossible to reason with Mom.’

In her eyes, anyway, it was impossible for her mother to advance in the competition.

And that meant she wouldn’t have to go meet what’s-his-name.

Her mom usually just sang mountain folk songs at most. She couldn’t play any instruments and couldn’t even read sheet music.

Elsa herself could now read a bit of music, thanks to Zog’s training.

’And she thinks she can advance in Feilin’s Best Songs, a show with such a high elimination rate?’

’Impossible. Absolutely impossible.’

Although she felt a little uneasy, Elsa still managed to convince herself.