Chapter 4
“♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”
“Fufun, to all the idols in Tohoku—I bid you a good morning ♪”
“I am Sakasaki Natsume of Switch! I am a magician! I am a fortune teller! And now, I am the god of this new world…!”
What kinda dumb crap’re you spewin’, Nakkun?
“Shut up and listen, Valkyrie.”
“You are the only ones without an idea of what’s going on, since you alone were forced into this—I suppose it’s only natural you have questions.”
Forced…?
Be quiet and listen to him for the time being, Kagehira.
There’s nothing to worry about; the boy is not our enemy.
“Ahaha. I’m happy you have so much faith in me, but are you sure that’s true? Why not think back on the very premise of this SS, Shu-nii-san—”
“This SS is an event to determine the best idols, the strongest idols. You should consider everyone other than yourselves to be your rival—no, your enemy.”
Valkyrie has no intention of going along with such vulgar bedlam. The best idols, the strongest idols… If you wish to call yourselves such, then by all means, be my guest.
The fact that we far surpass all others does not change even if we don’t parade around in such an ostentatious show of pretense.
We have no need for approval from the system or even the world; we only need know the truth for ourselves.
“Yes yes—Spoken like a true artist ♪”
“But is that truly what you believe, Shu-nii-san?”
I beg your pardon…?
“You don’t need to keep up appearances here. After all, this is a dreamland where all your wishes can come true.”
Dreamland…? That’s right—We’re in a dream, aren’t we? Then how could it be that I’m having this conversation with you?
“Ahaha, I apologize if this is all too complicated for you, but for now I need you to hold your tongue. It is within my authority to do so by force if I must.”
“But it would be a grave sin to force someone’s mouth shut and not respect their free will.”
“I would hope you wouldn’t allow your cute little brother to so such an inhumane thing—Nii-san ♪”
……
(Ohh, how crafty. He’s always talkin’ ‘bout how he don’t wanna be treated like a kid, but now that it suits the mood, he’s actin’ like his kid brother. I oughta write that one down, I can use it later ♪)
And just what are you fidgeting about for, Kagehira? Don’t you think you should be listening to that boy to learn more about the current situation?
Ngah, why’re ya only gettin’ mad at me? Don’t go takin’ out all your frustrations on meee?
“Fufu. At any rate, everyone other than Valkyrie has been given the briefing documents beforehand, so you should all have an idea of what to expect—”
“But as I am the god of this world, SHINSEKAI, I shall be so gracious as to explain the laws of the land.”
Hmph. A god? You?
(Ngah? Oshi-san’s bein’ kinda harsh with ‘im, but at the same time he looks like he’s kinda happy? Well, I guess it makes sense if he thinks everything Nakkun does is cute ♪)
(That’s the Five Oddballs for ya. They got a special bond I’ll just never understand.)
“This world known as SHINSEKAI is what you would call virtual reality—a VR world.”
I ain’t got the first idea what he’s talkin’ ‘bout. Oshi-sa—Onii-chan, d’you know what he means?
I don’t. But based on what that boy is saying, I don’t suppose not knowing would kill you.
That boy tends to value such knowledge and goes out of his way to collect more of it.
“Fufu. Let me explain further for those of you who aren’t familiar with the latest in technology. VR tech is that which allows you to dream while you’re awake—so to speak.”
“It allows one to walk around in a fabricated, constructed world—a world of imagination, a world of dreams—all as if it were real.”
“It’s a technological innovation that lets you live inside a fantasy of someone else’s making, even while you’re awake.”
“As if you are Alice lost in Wonderland, you can explore this dreamland with the SSVRS—technology that we have created.”
“Up until recently, this is technology that we have been developing as a hobby. But now, thanks to a sponsorship that has provided us a large amount of capital, we have evolved it dramatically.”
“It is the union of technology from two different origins which has led to such a breakthrough. And that is the true pleasure of cooperating with others.”
Are you by chance criticizing us for working alone, boy?
“I would never! There are many unique species who flourish on the isolated islands of the Galápagos, aren’t there?”
Now he’s talkin’ about the Galapágos or somethin’, Onii-chan.
He’s referring to the Galápagos syndrome—In other words, it’s an insult. Even though it’s just the name of some islands.1
“Fufu. And now, the Tohoku region has been chosen to become the testing grounds for the cutting-edge SSVRS.”
“Unlike the other regions, we’ve already finished our deliberations over which unit will continue on past the Qualifying Rounds.”
“This leaves us ample time to spend on other things.”
Ngah, it’s a done deal here no matter how ya slice it. So’s that why ya wanted to go ahead and get those Qualifiers outta the way, Nakkun?
“You could say that.”
“Now that we’ve perfected this technology, we will present it as an offering—a tribute to the industry as a whole. And then, Switch will be able to participate in SS under a special arrangement.”
Hmph. I did think you conceded your loss far too easily in the winner-takes-all match—But this is how you were intending to make your way into the main battle: through the back door.
“Yes. It does sound just like something we would do ♪”
“It’s not as if we are knights or soldiers—We have no way of playing fair.”
So this is what you turn to. Well, you’re not wrong: It does seem like something you lot would do.
“Ahaha. But it hasn’t yet been decided if we’ll be taking the stage as normal participants, or if we’ll work behind the scenes as mere technicians.”
“Perhaps that will depend on the results of our experiment here in Tohoku.”
“Therefore, for the sake of our futures, I’m asking you all to provide me with the raw data we need to perfect this technology.”
“I’ll make sure you don’t leave here with any regrets. We aren’t trying to save the whole world or anything, but at least for what’s within our reach—”
“We’ll create a utopia without sorrow, without pain or despair. A world where no one is sacrificed in the pursuit of happiness.”
“And one day, we shall repaint the entire world, the real world, in the colors of that ideal.”
The Galápagos Syndrome is a Japanese-origin business term to refer to a phenomenon where products designed specifically for the Japanese domestic market will tend to be unsuccessful and vulnerable overseas because of the high level of specialization in their design. It’s named after the islands because of the isolation in which these products developed. Essentially, when something develops without outside influence, it becomes very specialized for that environment, but as a result will be extremely vulnerable outside of it. This syndrome is also linked to island mentality, where isolated communities will perceive themselves as superior to the rest of the world. So TL;DR, Natsume is owning Valkyrie for (1) being too specialized to appeal to anyone outside their target audience, (2) isolating themselves and not allowing outside influences to develop their art, and (3) thinking they’re superior to everyone else because of their own narrow-mindedness. You go Nacchan tear the bitch apart.