Although work on the fourth album had already begun before the conference, it accelerated after that. Half of the team focused on it, while the other half focused on the rest of the projects.

 

Two developers were hired to start working with the people in charge of the QTubers project—Aya and Tomokazu—and with Jun, who was the designer. The developers could also work on other projects related to the QNet or even Humas, if GIMA ever decided to make them.

 

Prior to opening our studios to other artists, GIMA invested a considerable amount of money in renovating the buildings on the street where HQ was located, while keeping their antique architecture. However, we didn't expect the government to acknowledge our actions and even commit to allocating more resources to the Trading District over the following years.

 

In the middle of work, a TV channel invited Blostars to act in a TV drama that hadn't even come out yet. Despite the unique opportunity, the pay was quite low for a show with an unknown reception by the public, so we asked for a little more money and they accepted.

Only I accompanied the girls since I was their manager and needed to make sure they were comfortable. Not only that, but I was also going to be in the scene.

We met some of the most popular actors and actresses as soon as we stepped into the studio, which was built to replicate a fancy restaurant. All of them kindly greeted us and even chatted with the girls for a couple of minutes.

Then, we were led to our dressing room. There was no need to change clothes because the show producers had asked us to come dressed in something we would wear to a fancy restaurant, so we chose something not too formal. Instead, the makeup artists started doing their work.

The girls reviewed the few lines each of them had in the meantime. Since I didn't have any lines, I just chatted.

It was time for the shoot. We were led into the fake restaurant, passing between a few cameras and several people, to get to our table. We sat down and the director approached us to carefully describe the scene, probably using concepts that professionals like him wouldn't use. He even answered our questions patiently.

Finally, the cameras began to roll.

The protagonist, an aspiring musician, stepped into the restaurant and looked for someone in all directions. His brow furrowed when he didn't find the person he was looking for, but his eyes sparkled when he saw Blostars eating at one of the tables.

The receptionist tried to stop him, but he ignored her and approached us. We needed to act surprised yet not shocked, so the six of us stared at him with our eyes wide open.

"You're Blostars!" the protagonist burst in excitement. "I'm sorry for my bad manners but, could you give me a tip on how to be a successful musician?"

We frowned in confusion when he asked that, instead of asking for a picture or a signature.

A waiter approached him from behind.

"Excuse me, sir, but we'll kindly ask you to refrain from bothering the guests."

"It's alright," replied Sanae. "What do you think a good tip will be?"

Risa answered, "Work hard."

"Practice every day," said Astra.

Aki smiled, "Don't aim high from the beginning. Start at the bottom to gain experience."

"Have talent," added Umi.

"All of them are good," Sanae said, "but you should focus on surrounding yourself with good people. That'll be a good start."

The protagonist opened his eyes wide as if he just had a huge revelation.

"Thank you!"

Then he sprinted out of the restaurant.

The director cut the scene and everyone in the studio clapped. I thought we had done a good job, and the director said that as well, but he believed the scene could be better. So, we recorded the same scene another eight times before going back home.

Overall, it was a fun and interesting experience, and it was nice to see the acting lessons coming to fruition, but the next experience was nothing short of interesting as well.

 

Three of the songs in the album had an orchestra. We could've cheaply used a computer-generated one as we had done for the past albums, but we had money this time.

We rented an orchestra hall in another country for a day to record the three songs, since it was offensively expensive. There was no need for anyone else other than Miki and the producer to come, but I flew the girls and myself out on a whim.

The girls and I watched how Miki and the producer discussed the songs with the orchestra conductor before starting to record. Even I noticed how perfectly the sound bounced off the walls of the hall.

Computer-generated orchestras could replicate real ones perfectly, even the imperfections, but there still was something missing from them, and it was a feeling I couldn't describe.

The recording session lasted eight hours. I was tired despite not doing anything, I couldn't imagine how the one hundred people in the orchestra felt. It wasn't necessary, but the eight of us thanked them for their hard work.

We returned home and the album was practically done, but there was one thing left to do. The producer wanted a deeper voice to sing the background choir of Galaxy Horizons along with the girls. We could've easily hired a professional singer to do so, but Aki suggested that I sing out of nowhere.

Although she had been teaching me how to sing better for several months, I never expected her to suggest such a big thing. To my surprise, everyone agreed with the idea despite them not knowing that I had been practicing.

The recording session was planned to last thirty minutes. I stepped into the recording booth for the first time since it had been built, put the headphones on, and looked at Miki and the producer through the window. To make matters worse, the girls were in the studio too.

I listened to the girls' recordings a few times first, then it was time to sing. The fact that only Aki had heard me sing sent shivers down my spine, so I closed my eyes and sang from memory.

Even though I had to sing for less than ten seconds, it felt like an eternity. When I finished and opened my eyes, everyone stared at me with their eyes wide open. I was expecting them to say something, but they merely glanced at each other. I thought my singing was horrible.

Miki and the producer exchanged a few words I couldn't hear, then Miki looked at me as if he was finally going to say something. However, Aki interrupted him. They talked for a moment before Miki told me that the recording was perfect, but they wanted a few more takes just in case.

So, I kept singing for another twenty-five minutes. No one laughed and no one left the studio after hearing me sing, making me feel good about myself. The girls even praised me after the session. Only then did I confess that I had been practicing.

With that, the fourth album was done.

Day After Night, the song the kid had named, set the mood for it, and even though it didn't fit the album's theme, it was the perfect bonus track.

The opening track of the album was called It All Ends, a song about the death of the stars, and how it eventually arrived for all of them despite how long their lives were. Every journey had an end, which was never forgotten.

Stellae Novae lifted the mood a little by remarking on the fact that new stars were born every second, and they all had their moment to shine.

Momentum Of A Singularity, the third song of the album, started to dig into the main theme of the album by referencing bands from a thousand years ago and how their decisions were able to create eternal momentum.

The next song, Virtuality, completely changed the mood with its energetic rhythm. It was different enough to make people think that the song didn't belong on this album at first, but that changed thanks to the references made to the first-ever real and virtual idols, and also thanks to some parts of the song that were made to match the sound of the rest of the album.

Everybody's Rhythm had a similar energy to Virtuality. However, more than half of the song didn't have lyrics as the focus was on the choreography.

Then, the mood was shattered by The Darkness Of Light, which talked about many stars in the past that seemed innocent and to have good intentions but ended up doing horrible things.

We decided to put Day After Night, the bonus track, seventh on the list.

Unique, the eighth song, prepared the listener for the last section of the album. It explained that, even if we could be replaced on some things, our mark would stay forever, just as people kept listening to bands a thousand years after they were gone.

Although it wasn't the last song, the next one was the title track of the album: Dreams Of Yesterday. It was made to tell Blostars' story, and how our dreams became a reality with hard work, perseverance, and luck.

Finally, Galaxy Horizons finished the album with a cliffhanger. Blostars had already lit one galaxy, but infinite galaxies awaited on the horizon.

The last step was to design the new costume. After going through several versions, we agreed on a design with a similar concept, but it was the most colorful and detailed one we'd had so far in order to pay homage to the first era of idols.

We were ready to officially announce the album, but there was a short trip we needed to make before that.

A private intergalactic ship waited for us and other business people at the spaceport. The flight was also a test since there were going to be dedicated ships on the four planets to take the spectators to the Galaktix Stadium every time there was a show.

We landed on the biggest spaceport I had ever seen. It had to be since it needed to fit the forty colossal ships dispersed through the four planets. It could've easily been the beginning of the first space city.

All of GIMA and TOTOT were invited to the first tour through the stadium. It wasn't as big as the spaceport next to it and it was incomplete, but it still was massive.

I couldn't help but stare out of the transparent walls of the spaceport as we walked into the stadium.

We arrived at the field and I couldn't believe my eyes. The walls were so far away from us when we stood in the center, making me feel insignificant like never before, but in a good way. I could only imagine how Aeryx and the girls felt, knowing they were going to be the focus of a hundred thousand spectators, plus the viewers from the live stream.

Despite that, we couldn't wait for the tour to begin and to perform in a venue destined to become legendary, but we also didn't want the journey to end.