Solnus 19. Failed Caesura, Lost Soul, Coming Kouhai (Junior); The Mensuna Bicorpus Rites Will Be a Success!

987 days, or 2 years, 8 months, and approximately 17 days before The Circumadversum Omatsuri, one morning.

It had been approximately three years and a few months since Minato Nakamura invited the X duo, also known as Bành Đức Hải and Guruh Dwi Cahyo, to visit the Path of White Shells in Wakkanai.

Since then, Minato has produced two novel manuscripts, both of which were self-published. Minato is quite satisfied with this achievement. However, he still wants to improve his writing career. He wants to be more productive and wants at least one of his works to be published by a major publisher or achieve explosive popularity.

Gaining popularity is not Minato's only dream. The X duo, Hải and Guruh, also dream of becoming famous. However, they have two fundamental differences: first, they want to become famous not through writing but through music; second, Minato already has a list of works, while the X duo has never composed a single piece of music.

Today is the first day of the crew of the Minato Nakamura having a few days off, and Hải and Guruh discuss their journeys toward achieving their musical goals.

Guruh says, "Honestly, I feel stuck."

Hải agrees, "That's right. I used to think I could choose a 'caesura.' But in reality, it's so difficult to get back into music."

Guruh certainly knows what Hải means by "caesura," a sign in musical notation that indicates a musician to take an abrupt pause, indicating a brief silence, and then abruptly return to it. The sign is symbolized by two dashes "||," hence the name "railroad track."

Guruh commented, "That's right. We planned to stop for a while at a station called "Work" and then quickly get back on the "Music" train."

Hải described their situation: "But it seems like we're having a hard time getting back on that music train."

In contrast to Minato Nakamura, the X duo has become increasingly distant from the world of art. They're playing their instruments less and less.

Hải commented, "I don't want to say it's because of work pressure. You'll agree that Sacho is a kind person who never puts too much pressure on us."

Guruh confirmed Hai's sentiment, "Yes. Maybe the soul of music is no longer in our hearts."

The dialogue paused for a moment until Guruh spoke again, "I wonder if our kouhai, Daniel, will still have the soul of a Wetube content creator."

Hải responded, "Ah, yes. Daniel. He's been out since early morning, making content for his YouTube channel, right?"

The Daniel that Hai and Guntur are talking about is Daniel Lumanbatu. Daniel is Hai and Guntur's junior. Daniel has only been with Minato's fishing company for a few months. He is a gaijin with the same citizenship status as Guntur.

Outside of sailing, Daniel often uses his free time to create video content on YouTube. The content he creates mostly consists of videos of him traveling around the rented house where he works. Some content, such as videos about his work, is less common because Minato restricts Daniel from recording videos while they work.

Daniel's videos average around 4,000 views each. However, he has also had one hit video with millions of views. The video is titled "Buying Cigarettes in a Sleepy Japanese Coastal Village," with a thumbnail caption: "Why You Shouldn't Smoke in Japan."

Today, Daniel certainly hopes that one of his uploaded videos will experience another surge in popularity. However, he's also realistic that it's unlikely he'll ever become a professional YouTuber, earning a steady income from YouTube.

Today, Daniel cycled around his neighborhood again. He strapped his camera to a chest strap. The camera's POV nearly mirrors Daniel's.

As he pedaled, Daniel talked to ensure the videos he took weren't just quiet videos that only captured the sounds of his surroundings. Daniel discussed many topics, including answering comments and questions from viewers.

At this point, Daniel said, "Okay, guys. Back to the Triple D channel, Daniel Daily Desu. This is Daniel Daily! This morning, I want to invite all my online friends to enjoy the views of a Japanese village by the coast."

"While I'm around, I'll answer your comments and questions on my previous videos, but I'll just remember the ones I didn't bring your question list... Uh, honestly, I haven't made that list yet. Hahahaha... Sorry, guys, I've been busy with work too."

"Okay. First question, have I quit smoking? Not completely. But I've cut back a lot, so I've saved enough money to buy other cigarettes."

"Second question, or encouragement, many people have told me to keep up the good work. Yes, I'm still enthusiastic, guys. Just so you know, if my video views are high, I'm happy. But my main goal in creating content is to document it. Because one day I'll leave this job. So with my YouTube videos, I have documentation. If I store them all on a hard drive, it's expensive, guys, if I have to buy multiple hard drives. It's better to upload them here, so if I miss this video or that video, I can just watch it. That's it."

"Third question, my workplace has the most foreign workers from Indonesia, right? Yes. There are other nationalities, like my seniors from Vietnam and Nepal. My workplace has the most Indonesian nationals. Just so you know, as far as I know, in the fisheries sector as a whole, most people hired are Indonesian gaijin. Our ancestors were sailors, guys; they used to go to Madagascar, and now they go to Wakkanai. Hahahaha..."

At that moment, a woman passed by from the opposite direction. Daniel rang his bicycle bell and waved his right hand. The woman did the same.

After the woman disappeared from Daniel's video footage, Daniel explained, "That Filipina girl passed by, guys. Her name is Sinamar. She works at the fish market. But she already has a boyfriend, guys. Hahahaha..."

Then Daniel returned to the original topic: responding to viewers of his videos. "The third, er, fourth question, or perhaps a request, is more accurate. The request is to go again to that Sakura Park on the high ground, which is said to also serve as a rescue gathering point in case of a tsunami. Don't worry, guys, I'll go there or pass by often. It's a really beautiful place in this quiet area."

"And then there's one more request. Someone asked me to play soccer again in that empty schoolyard. Hmm... It depends on my friends, though. I'm enthusiastic, but many of my friends are lazy, tired, or have chosen other activities. For example, my two seniors, Guruh and Hải, who apparently prefer playing music. But now I rarely see them play music. I still listen to and talk about music often. It's like someone who used to be an active soccer player is now a soccer pundit. Hahaha..."

Daniel suddenly stopped his bike. He changed the subject slightly. He offered some information: "Hey, guys. While you're passing by, let me tell you a little bit. If you turn down this road, they say it's a wealthy neighborhood. They say there's also a guest house for officials there."

Daniel pedaled his bike again. "Next question: Have you ever been to the Path of White Shells? The answer is no. If I ever go, I'll definitely upload a video."

"Next question, what else do I remember..." Daniel seemed to be racking his memory.

After six seconds, Daniel remembered something. "Oh, yeah, another question: have you ever done anything strange or experienced anything strange here?"

Daniel replied, "What do you mean by doing weird things? Peeping at girls? Never, never! We're here to work, guys, not to be sex offenders. Don't think the real world is a world of hentai, hahaha..."

"Or weird things like infiltrating an army base? Just so you know, guys, they say there's a military base here, with radars. The place looks nice, guys, but of course, I wouldn't dare infiltrate it to shoot content. Even if I wanted permission to shoot content there, it doesn't seem like I'm allowed. I might shoot there sometime, but only from a distance, okay?"

Then Daniel stopped pedaling. He raised his camera and pointed the lens at his face. He said, "Have you ever experienced anything weird here?" Daniel didn't answer immediately. He was silent for four seconds before finally replying, "No, never. I've never experienced anything weird here. We've never experienced anything weird."

(000)

987 days, or 2 years, 8 months, and approximately 17 days before The Circumadversum Omatsuri, one morning.

In a space beneath the surface, several entities were speaking about an experiment they had conducted. One of them said confidently, “This time it won’t go wrong! After so many failures, like the biggest one that happened on the ship four years ago, this time I’m certain the Mensuna Bicorpus Rites will be successful!”