Chapter 1

Phew—

We’re doing all right so far, but just as expected, it’s exhausting.

Yeah, for real… We’ve been following our policy of not resting at the Oasis too often to save up our Desert Coins…

But I’m not sure if that’s the right answer or not.

Our exhaustion just keeps piling up. We may be getting by right now, but at this rate we’re gonna collapse completely in just a few more days.

Yeah. Is this really what we should be doing?

You’re asking me that now?

Better late than never? But it just feels like things are going a little too well, you know? Makes me nervous.

In order to win SDS, we’ve been saving as many Desert Coins as we can, and we’ve fought a ton of battles and won most of them.

So we’re really making it big here.

Yup yup! You and I are like a power duo, Hakaze-senpai! Glad to see you’ve figured out how to keep up with someone as awesome at variety as me!

You’re pretty full of yourself… Well, it is true. You guys are great at this.

But for whatever reason, the world hasn’t figured that out yet.

We’re trying our best though! It’s just that we like, can’t go past a certain level of fame. We just land on a plateau halfway up, y’know?

Like we’re being made light of… That’s why I wanted us to get some good results at SS and make everyone finally recognize how cool we are.

Or at least, that’s what Yuuta-kun wanted to do. He did so much singing and dancing practice for this too.

But when you actually get here, it turns out SS doesn’t even put much emphasis on live performances.

But it’s not like those efforts are totally wasted, right? Actually, just take those videos they keep posting—Yuuta-kun really stands out, doesn’t he?

Nn… It feels more like he’s being forced into a position where he stands out, and that doesn’t sit right with me.

Sakuma-senpai and Otogari-senpai are one thing, but Oogami-senpai really tends to take over the stage. So why’s he just letting that happen?

…?

Anyway. Posting videos gets them SSL$, which they can convert to Desert Coins—

And they send us some every now and then, so we don’t have to worry too much now that we’ve got a steady income.

Yeah, but it’s a pretty dinky income. It’s still better to battle the other idols to earn more Coins.

Their videos have gotten a lotta buzz to the point that they’re crazy popular now. And even though they’re converting all of their own money into Desert Coins, we’re barely getting anything.

You think it’s a problem with the exchange rate? Or maybe the Administration is skimping on us when they hand over our Coins?

If that’s not what it is, then I guess I should be worried about Yuuta-kun.

…?

Well whatever it is, that’s how we’ve been earning Desert Coins and getting by, but is this really enough?

There isn’t anything else we can do, though. Our only option is just to keep killing it in this SDS game.

Yeah, yeah… But man, I still feel like I’m dancing in the palm of someone else’s hand. I don’t like it one bit.

Ah, 2wink tries to adapt to whatever our situation is, but that’s not really the case for UNDEAD, is it?

You guys are more like, snap back at anyone and everyone—or something.

Huh? Does it really look like that? We’ve actually come pretty far with the power of friendship and stuff.

So that’s why our catchphrases like “extreme and immoral” don’t actually fit the reality of things anymore.

Which is exactly what Koga-kun is so pissed about. He complains about it all the time. That whole savage, extreme act that everyone’s expecting from us when they see our visuals and hear our songs—

Crazy:B is the embodiment of that, so it feels like our fans have drifted over to them.