LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 9_ Broken Idol Concert
“Who the hell is that boy…?”
“Oh, are you talking about Subject Zero~?”
“Subject Zero?”
“Aha, we haven’t given him a name yet~. Well, there’s not really much point. We’re going to dispose of him soon enough anyways.”
“He’s perfect, isn’t he? W-why are you disposing of him?”
“Kurosawa-kun, I don’t think you understand the point of this project. We’re not here to make the perfect human. We’re here to make useful people.”
“Wouldn’t he be the most useful?”
“He’s just an uncontrollable monster created by Atkinson-san. He’s the least useful of all the children here.”
“B-bu—”
“Hey hey now, come take a look at some of the other children we’ve got.”
***
The last of the three participants was just getting to the final stage. Yoshikawa-sensei hadn’t returned, so I figured that I’d just continue watching the show from the small television in the room. Karin-san’s concert wasn’t for another hour, so I had plenty of time to waste.
This boy was doing much better than the last one.
With 7/30 girls remaining, he was given the freedom to walk onto the stage and press some buttons. Miyazaki-san had already pressed her button, as I expected—she didn’t seem to be showing interest in anyone else. She was probably still taking what the director said to her to heart.
I would be meeting with her again at Karin-san’s concert, I assumed.
A few moments later, the boy finally reached the point where he was going to ask out a girl.
「Will Kanzaki-kun be the first boy to take home a girl today? Let’s find out! Kanzaki-kun, who will you ask out?」
There was a short moment of silence as he walked forwards.
「”Airi-chan… will you go out with me?”」
The girl took his hand.
「”Y-yes, I will!”」
How cute.
For the first time today, I heard the tune of victory… or whatever it was. The two of them walked down the stage, hand in hand.
Well, I guess that was it then.
I suppose I should tell Yoshikawa-sensei about the concert that I was going to.
• ───────────────── •
The light breeze brushed against my arms. The atmosphere was quite nice… if it wasn’t for the hundreds of people gathered in front of the concert hall. Staff members walked back and forth, trying to keep order within the line.
“I have to go home. I’ll contact you again another time, Mizutaka-kun.”
“That’s fine.”
After dropping me off at the venue, Yoshikawa-sensei left, hurrying somewhere.
Looking around, it seemed that most of Karin-san’s audience were middle-aged men. It felt somewhat off-putting to see so many working-age men wearing merchandise with a high-school girl’s face on it, but that was the nature of idol culture, I guess. There were also girls and younger boys scattered around the crowd, but their numbers were few in comparison.
As the staff member made their way toward me, I took out my ticket.
Her face lit up in shock.
“Wait, you’ve got a Gold VIP ticket?!”
I looked down at it.
“Yeah, it seems so.”
She suddenly gestured toward the front of the line.
“You should’ve said something earlier! Those are the tickets that only the members of Larenza can give out, right?! Aah, I’m so jealous. Those seats are so close to the front~! I’ve always wanted to see them up close. Even us staff don’t get to sit that close.”
“Is that so.”
“Anyways, come in! I’ll take you to the VIP Lounge. Are you friends with any of the girls? I’ve only seen those tickets a few times in the past few years. Who did you get it from?”
The staff member stood awkwardly close to me, carefully examining the ticket as the two of us made our way to the front of the line.
“Come on~ who gave it to you?”
“Karin-san.”
“Karin-sama!?”
Was it that surprising?
Also, I guess people did call her ‘Karin-sama’ in public—even the staff members.
She suddenly turned toward me, looking up and down my body.
“Um… what’s the matter?”
“Don’t tell me… are you her boyfriend…? No… that can’t be…” she muttered.
“Don’t worry, I’m not.”
“Thank goodness. It’s just that Karin-sama has never given out her tickets before… Like whilst it’s been rare, the other girls have given them out a few times… you’re Karin-sama’s… first!”
A lot of people turned their heads.
“Don’t say something like that in such a misunderstandable way. I might get jumped by these people around us.”
Who knows what could happen in the middle of a mosh of Karin-san’s fans. I was already getting some awkward glares, although most people probably assumed that they’d just misheard. The two of us stood still a moment as the staff member just stared at me.
“S-sorry. But, who really are you? If you’re not her boyfriend, then I don’t understand why she’d give her ticket to you.”
“To be honest, I’m not too sure either.”
“What do you mean?”
“Can we keep moving? We’ve been standing still for a while.”
“Ah, yes, yes, sorry.”
Squeezing through the entrance, she led me through the concert hall. There were a large number of stores around the place, selling all different foods, from chips to popcorn, which was a bit of a weird addition. Though, I’d never gone to an idol concert before.
The interior of the building was incredibly modern. It reminded me of the facilities I used to stay at, albeit much more colourful. There were posters hung up around the place, with comforting geometric architecture, something that pleased my eyes.
“Here’s the VIP Lounge. Feel free to eat anything you like. Another staff member will take you to your seats once the performance starts.”
“Thank you.”
“Y-you’re Karin-sama’s first…”
“Can you please stop saying that?”
“Sorry, I’m just surprised. What did you do for her to give you that ticket… Anyways, sorry for bothering you so much. I hope you enjoy the show!”
She hurried away.
…
Looking around the inside of the lounge, it seemed that there was a man standing near the back, pouring himself some coffee.
He was wearing a dark suit, like a businessman, or maybe a director? I wasn’t sure.
As I went to take a seat, he looked over at me.
“Who are you?” he asked.
He looked vaguely familiar.
“Me? I’m no one, really.”