Chapter 2

A–anyway! Can you take a look at your colliers for a sec?

Colly—Oh, these watches? Yes, I saw them~ ♪

…… (imitating Hajime)

Thanks. Fufu, I like that you guys in Ra*bits are so cooperative ♪

Ehehe, it’s because we’re sure you’d never lie or do anything bad to us, Tori-kun.

Eichi-onii-chan sometimes makes jokes I really don’t like, though.

…You probably shouldn’t trust us too much, but…

Oh no, I trust you as an individual, Tori-kun—I’m not talking about fine~ You're such an important person, but you’re still always so kind to me… ♪

……

…Everyone, I would like for you to direct your attention to the screen on the collier.

Ngh~? Oh cool! The watch looks like a phone screen!

Yes. I’m terribly sorry that we’re doing things out of order, but this is like a dry run—or an experiment, you could say?

Typically, you will receive a collier in lieu of an admissions ticket upon entering SANCTUARY.

And everyone who wears these colliers will be registered as an idol.

And so, for the duration of your visit to the amusement park, you will be treated as an idol.

Umm…? I’m sorry, I don’t really get it! So it’s like… everyone who comes to SANCTUARY will turn into an idol?

? But I’ve been an idol since way before this!

I’m aware. No matter what your background or attributes may be, though, you will be treated as if you were an idol within SANCTUARY.

Your occupation, position in society, or anything else does not matter inside the bounds of the park. Once you purchase a ticket and pass through the gates, you become an idol.

Yep. I feel like we said it before too: SANCTUARY is an amusement park where anyone can become an idol.

I guess that makes sense…?

Look at your collier, Hajime.

Okay. Oh—It looks like a social media platform. It’s not HoldHands… It looks like it was made for the general public. What’s it called?

You can choose from a lot of different layouts, but it looks like what you’ve got up is Twitter.

Oh, I recognize that name.

It’s ES policy to let the agency manage our public social media accounts, so I’ve never used it.

Sometimes they ask me for comments, though, so I do my best to write them down and send them in.

I also check the backstage photos the cameraman takes.

And then the social media manager from my agency posts everything at the best times.

That’s for the best, honestly. Like sure, there are some people who manage their own accounts without any trouble, but it’s not recommended ‘cause you don’t wanna get canceled.

Fufu. There are also those such as Crazy:B or Valkyrie who deliberately call attention to themselves through that online discourse.

I don’t think Valkyrie is doing it on purpose though…?

Well, either way. There’s a lot of people who want to be famous and feel validated by generating a buzz on social media—

And SANCTUARY helps to kinda-sorta fulfill those desires.

So you mean to say…?

Look—When you first entered SANCTUARY, your account was opened, right? And now you can start using it.

Oh, you’re right. An account named “Shino Hajime” is on the display. I don’t remember making this account, though.

Yeah, don’t worry. It’s not a real Twitter account; it’s just how it looks on your collier.

Oh, okay. You’re right, I wouldn’t want to have a social media account opened without my permission.

Yep! It’s just a game you can play around with, really.