Chapter 6

Ngah, I dunno what’s goin’ on, but Fake-Maddie and her friend just up and left as soon as they finished talkin’.

Fufu. Even though I knew there was some weird old guy in here, he looked pretty dang cute like that, didn’t he?

Looks sure are everything, huh. I gotta mind my own appearance too~ I’m always just leavin’ it all to the makeup artist or you, Onii-chan.

……

Onii-chan? Can’t you hear me? Don’t tell me ya muted me, too…?

Noooo!!! Anythin’ but that!!! Oshi-san, y’can’t ignore meeeee!!! If I ain’t in your line of sight then I—I’ll—?!

Would you be quiet?! I can hear you just fine! I won’t overlook your presence ever again, so calm down!

O–Oshi-san… ♪

Non! That’s two times now! In this exchange alone, you’ve violated your orders two times! Be more careful!

Ngah, sorry? I just kinda forget stuff when I stop thinkin’ ‘bout it?

Hmph. Humans are designed to forget things that don’t interest them or hold value for them.

Might that mean you’re a cold-hearted person with little regard for anything and everything?

Ngaaah—? That ain’t what I meant! Why’re y’making me out to be some kinda evil bad guy? I’m just stupid, that’s all!

I know that. It was a joke. You’re supposed to laugh.

Huh?! How’m I s’posed to understand your jokes, Oshi… Oniichan?! I can’t laugh at that!

Fufu. But truly, I feel like we don’t actually have to worry about the orders we’ve been given. It looks as if the Administration isn’t very interested in us.

Ngah, y’think so? How d’ya figure?

That man called Gatekeeper who appeared before us in Mademoiselle’s image didn’t seem like he wanted anything to do with us.

He also said it himself: He couldn’t care less about us.

It seems as if he’s the head of the SS Administration Committee and the wire puller behind SS itself. I’ve heard from Kanata and a few others, since they’ve kept in contact with me from their own regions—

This so-called Gatekeeper is meddling with the other regions’ idols in various ways.

And yet he was more or less unconcerned with us. Although that in itself irritates me just as well.

Are they looking down on us, assuming that we’ll cause our own ruin just because we haven’t been able to adapt to this SHINSEKAI place?

Or perhaps someone who can’t be so easily influenced by Gatekeeper has warned him not to toy around with us?

Someone? Who’s that someone?

If I had to guess, I would say it’s Hidaka Seiya. In the beginning, I believed it was the Administration—Gatekeeper himself—sticking his nose into our business.

But based on that exchange from before, it seems to have been Hidaka Seiya clinging to our sides.

I don’t know what his aim is, though. We’ve had no contact with that person, so I wonder at what point his gaze narrowed on us.

Ngah… It’s prolly not us, I think it’s just me he has his sights on.

You? But why?

It’s like…? He said he wanted me to be his successor or somethin’?

Hmm. Isn’t that an honor? He’s a big name in the entertainment industry—and the last of the superidols.

It would do us no harm to do some networking.

Aha, networkin’? That ain’t like you at all, Onii-chan.

Hmph. I’ve learned a lot overseas, you know. It turns out that no matter how much of a genius you are, you still can’t do whatever you please.

Art only becomes art once someone finds value in it.

Even if you create a masterpiece that supersedes all others, it will only be buried within the earth without someone to recognize it.

If it were just me, I would be content to indulge myself, but now my body is not mine alone.

Huh? Oshi-san, you pregnant or somethin’?

Do you actually have a brain, or is it just worms wriggling around up there?

Good god. I’ve known you for so long, and yet I still have no idea what goes on in that head of yours.

Just what was Hidaka Seiya thinking when he named you his successor—?

Ngahh? That’s right, he’s got a kid in the same industry as him, so why’d he pick me instead?

Blood lines are nothing more than an illusion, one that has lost all value in the modern era.

In any case. Before they left, Hidaka Seiya explained to us how to escape from this insane SHINSEKAI world.

Yup. He said we could go to one of them escape points they got all around town and just follow the directions there, right?

Mhm. It also appears possible to force an escape by contacting the Administration, but it can be dangerous if we don’t follow the official procedures, as it puts heavy strain on the mind.

Looks like it… Brains an’ stuff are scary…

What was the escape point in this area, anyway? A samurai house with a pond in the garden?

Yes. This world is supposed to be in a fantasy setting, so why is it that this town is purely Japanese, or specifically that of modern Japan?

The area surrounding the town is entirely different; it’s concerning.

Ain’t it that they’re tryna make it look like Tohoku? I like it’s somethin’ I’m familiar with~ I don’t take too kindly to bein’ thrown into some parallel world filled with dragons and goblins all the sudden.

I like that kinda thing, but I have fun with it ‘cause I know it’s all made up. Havin’ to actually live it is just a plain ol’ nightmare.

But there’s lotsa weird-lookin’ NPCs here, and they don’t stare at me ‘cause I got different-colored eyes.

I kinda like that about this place.

Hmph. It does seem that this SHINSEKAI is a utopia crafted by that boy. I suppose it would be welcoming toward the marginalized.

I guess. But it just hit me—If this really is some utopia without any bad feelings or discrimination or nothin’...

I dunno if this is a place where idols can survive.

…What do you mean?

Nngh, I can’t figure out how to say it.

It’s ‘cause there’s sadness an’ other bad things in the world that people flock to idols for comfort an’ entertainment.

They can’t make those happy feelings themselves, so they wanna get ‘em from someone else.

I used to have this whole complex ‘bout my eyes, but now people see ‘em as part of who I am, even if they’re a little curious about ‘em.

They like it ‘cause it’s somethin’ nobody but me has.

But like. In a perfect world where sad or terrible things don’t exist—

Would I even be wanted or loved as an idol, as who I am right now?

Is there any place for idols in a utopia where everyone’s just as happy as the next guy?

……