Chapter 2
Fufu. I was able to swipe Hakaze-senpai’s Desert Coin from his pocket without a problem, so it’d be just as easy for me to slip one back in, right?
To make up for conning him, I made my own decision and snuck a single Desert Coin back into Hakaze-senpai’s pocket.
And as per the rules—UNDEAD survived!
You really just go off and do whatever you want, Hinata-kun.
It’s ‘cause you totally looked like you wanted me to, Yuuta-kun.
“Gyahahahaha ☆ UNDEAD’s back, baby…!”
“Yes, we are UNDEAD. Though we are dead, we shall never truly die—And we will rise again and again.”
(whispering) …But I never earnestly thought, even in my wildest dreams, that I would die at the hands of my adowable wittle 2wink.
“We are UNDEAD! Sorry to keep ya waitin’—Or I guess, sorry to make ya worry ‘bout us, you ignorant fools!”
“I feel bad that we’ve been outta commission for so long, but we had a little run-in with a couple of cunning foxes!”
That’s us, Yuuta-kun ♪
Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding… ♪ But isn’t it embarrassing for the demons to be the ones getting bewitched, Senpais?1
Shut the hell up! You bastards really had it out for us, huh?!
It was pretty sick~ ♪ You were leadin’ both us and the Administration around by the nose, and you managed to get us the hell outta wherever the hell that hotel was?!
Yes, and the Administration, in thinking that we had fallen exactly as planned, announced the end of the game in the desert—that SDS, I believe.
As a result, we were all released and set free. And once more, we were transported by helicopter to this place—to the Chuugoku region.
Yep. I don’t even know where that desert and hotel were, or even if we were still in Japan, but on official records, we were in Chuugoku the whole time, right?
Since there’s the rule that during the Qualifiers, we’re not allowed to travel to other regions—On paper, at least.
I get the feeling that the Hokkaido Jungle we heard about was the same kinda thing.
There ain’t even a jungle in Hokkaido… That mean the Administration trapped a buncha other guys like us in other regions or somethin’ too?
Just what kinda plot are these guys hatchin’ at SS this year?
Regardless of that, it is unlikely that the Administration will unreasonably bend the rules that they, themselves, have created.
Should they continue to engage in foul play, they will lose their greatest weapon—their authority.
Therefore, even if another outlandish incident arises, they can simply say that it is within the scope of their rules, and it will be written off as consistent.
We have been in an unknown location within the Chuugoku region this entire time, and now that we’re midway through the Qualifying Rounds, we’ve finally scurried off to the stage.
That is how it will be seen.
ES is operating SS judiciously, through and through. So long as they maintain that appearance, that legitimacy, we cannot bare our fangs at them. If we do, we will be viewed as the culprits.
That ain’t got nothin’ to do with us! We’re sick of this shit—We’ll crush ya!
…Perhaps a unit like Crazy:B or Trickstar would shout such a rallying cry, but we have been carefully bound and gagged to prevent us from following in their footsteps.
You became quite unruly so suddenly—It startled me.
Sooorries ♪ No need to be scawed~ Rei-chan is eeeveryone’s kind ol’ grampy-dampy… ☆
No, it’s fine. Speaking of that, though, that’s how you used to speak, Sakuma-senpai. It feels so nostalgic.
I’ve always wondered why you changed your manner of speech so suddenly.
But you’re still you—That hasn’t changed. I came to understand that it’s the same as you changing your clothes.
Oh, what a good boy you are! Here, let me give you a gift for the new year… ♪
Isn’t it a little early for that?
But anyway, yeah—Did the Administration think UNDEAD was going to have an all-out rebellion against them or something?
‘Cause they were seriously going all out trying to keep us down.
Hm. Based on my experiences, I have reason to suspect Tenshouin-kun. But it could very well have been a broader reason such as that.
They thought we were troublemakers who would dare defy them, and so they tried to expel us.
I don’t know the truth, though, and as you can tell, the scale of these events is far too large for even me to see the full story.
No—It’s as if they’re attempting to distract me, to stop me from understanding everything and acting against their wishes. Though I wouldn't do anything like that.
To most people, someone who’s too strong is scary just because of their strength, and so they’ll try to get rid of anyone like that on that basis alone.
Do they think I’m a monster or something? Why are they so afraid of me? Do they not see how I act like a pitiful, frail old man?
It’s because you’re just acting. And the people who have an eye for this kinda thing probably took notice of that.
Wait, actually. Rei-kun, you haven’t been able to talk to any of us this whole time, right? Is it okay for us to be talking like this now?
Yes. Yuuta-kun has lifted the order to not talk to you.
My secret order was to obey what 2wink told me to do—not to keep quiet.
So now, I can speak and move about freely ♪
Well, we kinda need you to do a good job, so I went ahead and got rid of your restraints. So rake in the cash for us, please~
Yes, yes. I understand—Master ♪
What are you talking about…?
Kukuku. We, UNDEAD and 2wink, shall form an alliance and work together throughout the Qualifying Rounds. We’ll take every single job imaginable—It’ll be easy money ♪
And this stage is one of those very jobs. We will begin by giving a spectacular performance to show off that we are alive and well to the fans who had worried for us.
Hmm. Well, thanks to the Administration messing around with us, we’re pretty late to the party. We should at least do our best.
Indeed. Even in fair weather, the Chuugoku region is filled with strong idols. But we lost a hefty amount of time to the desert sands.
We are at a serious disadvantage where we stand.
Still, there is no sun that doesn’t set. So long as we can stand and fight, there is nothing in this world that is impossible for us.
Those strong idols will likely be careless, assured by our substantially late start…
It is those haughty, arrogant people who will become our prey.
Let us creep up behind them, sink our claws into their flesh, and devour them whole.
Sometimes you get a little bit extreme, you know that, Rei-kun?
Yeah uhhh, I can’t say I’m super good at keeping up with all your sudden personality changes? What do you even want me to say to that?!
Yuuta mimics a fox here. So to translate this I had to ask myself the age-old question… what does the fox say?
Rei uses the 俺 (ore) pronoun for himself here, which is the same pronoun he used during his second year (the War Era, Crossroad).