Chapter 1

(……)

(I’m feeling a little down…)

(After he decided we’d participate in those live showdown Dream Fests… Oshi-san turned into a demon. He’s been more strict than ever before.)

(He’s been entirely uncompromising, to both himself and others.)

(A live showdown means that other units will perform with us.)

(If it were just Valkyrie up there, everything would be right in the palms of Oshi-san’s hands.)

(Anything and everything would be constructed exactly to his will.)

(But with other units involved, there’ll be things we can’t plan for. No one can predict how things will turn out.)

(But Oshi-san is going to make absolutely sure he wins. For the sake of his pride as the Sovereign of Yumenosaki.)

(For the sake of proving that we are the greatest works of art.)

(He’s fine-tuned and adjusted every last thing with extraordinary care, from the stage to the costumes to even ourselves. He’s gone completely insane.)

(This is too much information for one person to handle, too much for one person to do.)

(But we can’t even ask to help—He won’t let us take some weight off his shoulders.)

(If we do anything unnecessary, it’ll just increase Oshi-san’s burden. It’ll just make Oshi-san suffer.)

(That time when Mika-chin couldn’t just watch him and dared to touch the costumes…)

(Oshi-san flew into a fit of hysteria, yelling that dolls should only act according to his wishes.)

(The three of us laughing together as we handed out tickets…)

(It feels like those happy memories are just a dream, or an illusion. Now everything is so miserable and suffocating.)

(Do we really have to go this far in order for us to win?)

(Do we really have to toss aside our humanity and become nothing but a cog in the wheel…? Do we have to be made into the materials for Oshi-san’s art?)

(All to prove we still stand at the top of Yumenosaki… Is there nothing more important to him than satisfying his pride?)

(What about me, or Mika-chin? What about our lives?)

(…There’s no point in just thinking about it over and over. The only thing I can do is dance upon Oshi-san’s strings.

(That’s always been the right choice. But… That’s not good enough anymore, is it?)

(Maybe we… Maybe we’ve already passed the point of no return.)

~… ♪

That was amazing, Hajime! I told you it was worth it to come take a look! And I wanted you to come see it with me~ ♪

Hajime? Hey, you okay? You’re just staring off into space.

Oh, um. Yes, I’m fine~… ♪

(Ngh… The performance that came just before ours must be done.)

(The audience is coming out of the auditorium. There’s so many of them~ It must’ve been a huge hit.)

(Ummm let’s see, I’m pretty sure it was a play put on by one of the Five Oddballs…)

(Is he like us—someone who never follows the crowd, someone who just performs in plays instead of Dream Fests?)

(Not only does he put pros to shame, but his performances are better than most theater companies…)

(It looks like he’s even more impressive than the rumors claim.)

(Every single member of the audience was smiling—They looked so happy. But in Yumenosaki right now… if you don’t win Dream Fests, you don’t get any official results.)

(No matter how many amazing plays that Oddball performs in… it’ll go entirely unrecognized. People will just think of him as an unusual person.)

(The Oddballs attract plenty of guests with their overwhelming talent, and they all celebrate them and cheer for them, but… that’s it.)

(Oshi-san can’t stand for that—It’s not enough for him.)

(He wants to be valued as an idol, to be recognized, to stand at the top of Yumenosaki.)

(To be the Sovereign once more… Once you’ve tasted the pleasure of standing above everyone, the mere thought of toppling down is unbearable.)

(And we have no choice but to go along with Oshi-san’s pursuit of self-satisfaction.)

(It’d be nice to pour our hearts into whatever we wanted to do…)

(But we can’t do that. Oshi-san has lost sight of his goals, and he’s going on a rampage. I can’t stop him anymore.)

(Oshi-san, you don’t have to be the Sovereign; you don’t have to be the best.)

(Didn’t we become idols to make people smile?)

(Can’t we be satisfied with that kind of modest reward?)