Chapter 11
“…Shall I proceed with the explanation?”
“Within a set period of time, the Red and White Teams will choose representatives for each group.”
“The selection can be done via group discussion, lottery, first come, first serve, or what have you.”
“The process to determine which unit will act as representative and which order they will perform in is up to each team’s own discretion.”
“This process is the crux of our strategy! Just like playing cards, knowing which cards to cut and when to cut them can make or break the game!”
“Be careful, though—If a representative is not chosen within the time limit, that team forfeits the game.”
“Let’s have a test run. The representative of the Red Team will be the ‘Super Butler ★ Yuzuru-kun and the Dove Corps’ ♪”
Have you finally lost the last shred of your sanity?
“It’s a fitting name. Come on, Yuzuru. I’d like to see you on stage in a unit with such an interesting name.”
It’s not very interesting… but if I must.
“…Hm. Is that what we’re doing? In that case, we’ll send the ‘Super Soldier ★ Ibanyans’ up.”
Your Excellency?! Please don’t allow them to drag you down to their level!
…It’s a general principle to match pace with those at the lowest rungs.
Urgh? Well, I am glad to see you’re feeling so much better as to be cracking jokes, but—wait, am I being set up as the comic relief?!
…It seems we’re both in dire straits, Ibara.
Just what do you mean by that? I’m perfectly happy being in this position, you know?!
“Fufu. This is a simplification by having them come up one by one, but during the real event, all members of the unit will be standing on stage.”
“…There will be some cases that the match will be unfair with regards to the number of participants, such as five members versus two.”
“…However, the number of people in a unit does not equal the unit’s strength.”
“Precisely. The units chosen as representatives will then perform as they wish during the allotted timeframe.”
“…Go on, give them a demonstration. Dance for us, Ibara ♪”
“Yayyy! Is everyone aaaaall fired up?! BANG! BANG!”
“Now everyone, your attention please! What a surprise! A dove has appeared from this silk hat~ ♪”
Amazing! Simply wonderful! You two are utter pros at this!
Yes yes ♪ It was quite the tall order, but they’re pulling it off splendidly!
Wow… I–I feel bad for ‘em.
……
“Fufu. Then, each of the representatives from each team will perform until the end of the allotted time period. Once time runs out, there will be a vote.”
“During a typical live showdown, only the audience gathered at the venue will be able to cast their votes.”
“However, this is the largest festival in the idol industry—and therefore, the amount of voters will also be the largest in history.”
“To put it simply, every citizen in the country is entitled to cast their vote.”
“With the assistance of the Japanese government, all citizens will be provided free of charge the equipment necessary to vote.”
“Allow me to show you an example! This here is called a penlight, and each time you press the button on it, it will light up first red, then white! If you press it a third time, the light will go out!”
“If you want to vote for the Red Team representative, then switch the penlight to red, and if you want to vote for the White Team representative, switch it to white!”
“If you don’t want to vote for either representative, then press the button three times to turn off the light! Or, you can decide not to press the button at all!”
“Fufu, since every citizen has the right to vote, would that mean our upper limit of possible votes cast would be around one hundred million?”
“Of course, if you’re not particularly interested in SS, you can just throw the voting equipment into the trash without ever opening it—”
“If you don’t produce a red or white light, then your vote is voided!”
“Yes. Everyone has their own preferences, so I’m sure the votes will be split between the two.”
“So afterward, the number of votes each representative earned will be compared—and the one with more votes will be declared the winner of that round.”