Chapter 3

What a nice little chat ya got goin’ on here. Youse brats feelin’ all fulla yourselves, playin’ mastermind? Huh?

Ah—Gatekeeper-san! Good to see you~ Thanks for always helping us out ♪

…Who are you?

Wait, didn’t I introduce you two just the other day? This is the chairman of the SS Administration Committee~ Why do you forget about him every time he comes around, Sora-kun?

Nn~ Sora can’t see him very well… Is there even anyone there?

…?

Hmph. I don’t understand all too well, but I’m not gonna throw no fuss over every little thing that kid does, so don’t worry ‘bout it.

You guys sure are cute and obedient, at least compared to doze idols in all the other regions.

Yes! Sora-kun and Natsume-kun are adorable! The absolute cutest in the universe! Our tastes and opinions both match up perfectly, don’t they Gatekeeper-san? ♪

Senpai, you’re laying it on so thick it’s disgusting.

Nah, that’s how you oughtta act around your superiors. Smile and play nice, and always have the words they want to hear on the tip of your tongue.

Should be easier than playin’ a-whole-nother person in a movie or drama. Why can’t all of ‘em conduct themselves in a way better suited for workin’ adults?

Somethin’ ‘bout them protectin’ their individuality as idols? Fuckin’ bastards, amirite?

They sure are~! I feel the exact same way! As expected of you, Gatekeeper-san! I ought to take notes from you!

You really are being way too conspicuous… It’s going to have the opposite effect and make people think you’re in a bad mood.

More importantly, do you need something from us, SS Administration Committee Chairman-san?

‘Course I do. I wouldn’t have come all the way out here if I didn’t have to. Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.

Unlike youse, I don’t got much longer to live, so don’t go wastin’ my time.

—I got three things for ya.

There it is! Gatekeeper-san’s signature line! How wonderful, what a phenomenal display!

…First off, one: I wanna check out the current situation here in the Tohoku region.

It’s here that the fictional VR world and reality are blendin’ together and movin’ forward at the same time. It’s a bit of a unique environment, so we gotta keep an eye on it from time to time.

I don’t know if ya don’t trust me or if you’re just incompetent, but you’ve been movin’ around on your own and hidin’ important things from me.

So it’s a real hassle to gotta fly out here to check things out myself.

That must be difficult work to have all this producer-like business to attend to. And it’s a job that’s often ridiculed as simply moving money from one hand to another.

But it’s no small matter to move something, right? I think Anzu-chan actually does a great job of it.

Hm. You don’t gotta feel me out like that, y’know. I’ll tell you if you just ask me nicely. Anzu is doing just fine, workin’ as my lackey.

For a buncha reasons, I can’t let her outta ES, though. It’s like a hostage situation for youse idols, and if I let her move around and she got free, it’d be real bad.

But if I keep her inside of ES, she can’t get herself involved in any of these SS tournaments happenin’ all across the country.

She got some strong influence over all youse active idols at ES, so if I let her do what she wanted, she’d just get in my way.

Just to be sure, you didn’t hurt her, did you? It’s already bad enough that you’re infringing on her freedom.

If by chance anything happened to her, all of us children will get very angry—and destroy your adult empire.

Heh. What can a kid even do?

Maybe you misunderstood somethin’ since you’re spoiled rotten, but adults got more numbers and authority and everythin’ than all youse brats, ya got that?

But besides that point, I don’t wanna waste any more of my time on worthless crap until I’ve made the Boss’s dyin’ wish a reality.

I wanna get all these games over and done with so I can get back to my own country and my own job.

You’re not in any position to be selling oil in a place like this, are you?

Right. But I got a duty to the Boss, so it’s up to me to pay him back.

Anyway. Two: You’re gonna let me use that SSVRS. I got things to try and stuff to do in SHINSEKAI.

? Of course we don’t mind. You are our most influential investor in the development of the SSVRS, so we’ll let you do that as a token of gratitude.

However. What do you intend to do in SHINSEKAI?

I don’t owe you no explanation. It’s none of your business, so stay out of it.

…?

And lastly, three: Have ya noticed?

Noticed what…?

There’s someone out there usin’ the SSVRS without permission to bust inta SHINSEKAI. We don’t know what they’re after—But well, we can’t just let him be now, can we?

We gotta find ‘em fast and take care of ‘em. That’s the job of management—our duty.