Wonder Game - infinite 3

Location: In front of the Auditorium

- Several Minutes Later -

Sora: ~.....♪ (He’s playing a video game on a handheld console.)

Natsume: ~.....♪ (He’s embracing Sora from behind and watching him play.)

Sora: ~ ♪ (After clearing the game, he proudly looks up at Natsume.)

Natsume: ~ ♪ (Looking satisfied, he nods his head a few times.)

Jun: ...Excuse me~, do you have a moment~?

Natsume: WhaT. Do you have a problem with US. We’re on standby while we wait for the other idols who participate in “Wonder Game” to arriVE, which means there shouldn’t be any issuES.

Jun: (Hoh… What a relief. Sakasaki Natsume-san of Switch… He hadn't said a word and has been making scary faces ever since I went to greet him with Ohii-san.)

(But it looks like he’s at least willing to have a conversation with me, since I’m not a former fine member.)

(He’s emanating a strong aura of “Don’t talk to me!”, or rather, it’s like the two of them are in their own little world, though...)

(Because of how “Wonder Game” is set up, we’re gonna have to lock step with a bunch of other idols, so we all really should try to get along at least a little, right~?)

(It’s not like that’s my strong point either, but in order to achieve our goal, I have to compromise a little.)

Natsume: ...So what’s the mattER, if you’ve got something to sAY, say it clearLY, will yOU?

It’s quite unpleasant to be stared at like thAT. BesidES, there was that time when your Lilith made a big spectacle of injuring Ba-Barrier, that our Sora belongs TO.

That’s nothing compared to what the former fine dID, but it doesn’t make you entirely exempt from my hatrED, got IT?

Jun: (Uwah, he’s petty!? Everyone in Eden is so “laid-back” that this kind of resentful attitude is actually kinda refreshing~?)

(I wonder if back then, before I was a “special student”, I was like this, too?)

(How unendearing… It’s pretty amazing of Ohii-san to have picked me up when I was like that~?)

...Haha. Don’t say that, won’t you open your heart just a little bit~?

Especially considering that from now on, as you know, Yumenosaki and CosPro are pursuing collaborative policies?

We’re not enemies, right.

Natsume: ...That’s what’s stuck in my throAT. The collaborative policy was simply decided by other peopLE, it’s not like we were informed about it and consented to IT.

Our student council president's like the ghost of a defeated soldiER, a completely senile geezER -- He's just burning the candle at both ends by doing any reckless nonsense he can get his hands ON.

Jun: ...I don’t really get it, but to me it looks like you’re kinda displeased with the status quo right now?

Natsume: DispleasED? Of course I AM, absolutely every part of this is rubbing me the wrong wAY.

The other dAY, your companion Mr. Saegusa proposed a certain role for us of Switch to plAY… Just another thing I can’t stomaCH.

Jun: (Ah, so this guy’s the type to call others “Mr.”, too. It’s like he’s creating himself a persona~, but that’s typical of Yumenosaki idols.)

(CosPro-affiliated idols, with Eden as the exception, are severely lacking in personality… Feels like this is the difference between factory-made and hand-made.)

...Umm. Did that Ibara guy ask something of you?

Natsume: YeAH. You didn’t hear about IT?

Jun: Hah… Ibara is entirely in charge of strategies, so the rest of us kinda stick to a policy of keeping our mouths shut~.

As a result, we've been successful with barely any problems so far.

That guy is basically in control of our agency… of CosPro~. When I put it like this, I guess he’s kind of our boss.

We're the same age, so we're like friendly colleagues in a sense, but it'd still be bad to disobey him.

Natsume: HmmM. Feels like there’s a strict hierarchy at Cosmic ProductioNS?

Jun: I guess. The restructuring is well underway, but even now, we live in a stratified society that the "Special Student" system influences.

But, it’s not like we’re just begrudgingly abiding by everything Ibara says~, if we have our doubts or complaints, we just say them right off the bat.

For what it’s worth, he does try to take our opinions into account~.

But well, in general he basically just does whatever he pleases. That’s why even now, he still doesn’t get along with the selfish Ohii-san, or rather, they clash a lot.

Natsume: ...Quite straightforward of yOU, to just lay your situation out in the open like thIS.

Jun: No point in trying to hide it, really. I’m repeating myself here, but we’re like comrades now, so I think we should share information with each other~?

If we didn’t open our hearts to you, and then one-sidedly demanded you to “be sociable, get along with us” it'd be ridiculous, don’t you think~?

Did I say something weird?

Natsume: Not realLY. You’re more flexible than the rumours saID, Sazanami Jun of EdEN. I imagined you to be more liKE, a hoodlum who’s just putting on a tough guy aCT.

Jun: Haha. “Hoodlum” is harsh~, but I guess with the kind of life I’ve lived, it’s inevitable.

Natsume: (HmmM. He’s not stirred by my provocatioNS… He really is more mature than what I’ve heard about hIM.)

(NO, it seems more like he gained a lot of experience during “SS” and “Rebirth LiVE”, and matured through thEM.)

(...Compared to thAT, how much have I grown UP?)

Wonder Game - infinite 4

Location: In front of the Auditorium

Hiyori: Ahaha! While I had my back turned for a moment you started getting along so well, let me join in on your little chat, too~♪

Natsume: ……….

Jun: Natsume-san is averting his eyes and blatantly ignoring him, huh. I don’t know the details of the situation, but do you really detest him that much just because he’s a former fine member?

Natsume: Just like you detest our class teacher Sagami Jin-sensei about the same amouNT, or even moRE.

Though it appears that you managed to do a great job in clearing up your resentment towards hIM, so if you have any pointers on how to pull that off so easiLY, I’d very much like to hear thEM.

Jun: …’xcuse me. I have an issue with both this topic and the way you’re talking about it, alright~?

Hiyori: Ahaha. You’re really adept at hitting other people’s nerves, Natsume-kun!

But don’t bully our kid too much, okay?  He’s quite tender-hearted since he is still a pupa, a flower bud in the middle of his growth phase ♪

I do think that it won't be too long that he will turn into a butterfly or flower capable of splendid singing, though?

Natsume: Singing floweRS, hUH. I guess you did your reading in preparation for “Wonder GaME”.

Sora: ? What does that mean?

Natsume: It means that in Alice’s stoRY, those kinds of episodes actually happEN.

It would be good for you to gain some knowledge tOO, SoRA. Waiting around here must be boring for yOU, so why don’t you look over the original book in the meantiME?

Sora: HaHa~♪ As long as he has games, Sora will never be bored!

The “Wonder Game” we’re participating in this time has “game” in its name, and that’s enough reason for Sora to be excited for it! What kind of pleasant game is it going to be?

Natsume: It’s not a gaME, but rathER, woRK. WeLL, I suppose there are some game-like components to it this tiME. 

We were given a detailed explanation of it earliER, so I’ll be repeating a few things from IT.

But I think it’s good to go over it again before we begIN, so let me go over the specifics with you once moRE, with my personal opinion mixed in this tiME.

“Wonder Game” is going to take place over the course of two weeKS, and will be comprised of a series of evenTS. For the entire duratiON, there will be daily live shows and such modeled after “Through the Looking-GlaSS”.

Hiyori: To add to this: There will also be episodes based on “Alice in Wonderland”, though I personally think just the story of “Through the Looking-Glass” would give us plenty of material.

Natsume: Don’t intrude on the conversation like it’s naturAL, ex-fiNE.

...“Looking-Glass” isn’t as well-knoWN, compared to “WonderlaND”.

SO, I’m sure it’s because there’s a chance we’ll be leaving some of our viewers behind if we don’t put in some more popular stuFF.

Sora: Viewers?

Jun: Aah, it looks like all of “Wonder Game” is going to be broadcasted… On television, as well as on web streaming services.

That includes not just the live shows, but the scenes of us getting prepared for them and such, too.

Which is exactly why I’m saying we should try to get along, so the viewers don’t have to see a tense atmosphere between us, right~?

Natsume: As I just saID, could you stop cutting into the conversatiON? BesidES, I plan to behave while I'm in front of the camerAS, so there's no need for your conceRN.

AnywAY. Thanks to certain people interjectiNG, my explanation has gotten out of ordER,but every event during the two-week duration of "Wonder Game" will be recorded and broadcastED.

Sora: Hiyah, then Sora has to be a well-behaved, good boy, right~?

Natsume: Of courSE, the recordings will be editED, so if there’s things we don’t want to be broadcastED, they’re bound to delete those scenES.

We live in a time where it’s important to be cautious with matters of privaCY, so they won’t show anything exposing.

Hiyori: Fufun. I wouldn't have any problems with it if everything I do 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, was recorded on camera and broadcasted, though!

I'd actively want to show myself off, if anything ☆

Jun: Just where is that confidence coming from… You generally have a surprisingly sloppy side to you, so wouldn’t you just be exposing your disgracefulness for everyone to see?

Hiyori: Fufu. It’s an idols’ job to turn even the disgraceful parts of oneself into appeal… Well, physically speaking, even if I were to be filmed 24 hours a day it’d be impossible to broadcast all of it.

There’s such a thing as “time slots”, and some editing will always be necessary. Regrettably so.

Natsume: YeAH. ...Let’s get this conversation back on traCK. During “Wonder GaME”, there will be a leading role known as “Alice” who is chosen anew every dAY.

And that is another distinctive featuRE.

“Alice” is the protagonist of the stoRY, in other words, the “idOL”.

The “Alice” that is chosen once per day in “Wonder Game” is the only one who gets to do lessons and idol activitiES, and is able to sing and dance in the live show held at the end of the dAY.

That’s the privilege they attaIN.

The other idols who weren’t able to become “Alice” will be dressed up as residents of the Wonderland and the Looking-Glass Land and have to mess with hER.

To put it more clearLY. They will act as her producers and manageRS, and have to guide and support “AliCE”.

They will also construct the staGE, work on promotional activitiES, and if “Alice” demands for IT, be her background dancers and suCH.

That means they will simultaneously be the players moving the "Alice" chess piece, and the chess pieces moving according to "Alice's" instructiONS.

This is likely all in order to imitate the chess game from “Through the Looking-Glass” on a meta levEL.

Hiyori: Yep, yep. When you look at “Through the Looking-Glass” from an omniscient perspective, the characters’ movements, including Alice’s, seem like those of chess pieces on a board.

Natsume: SupposedLY. But in realiTY, if you were to prepare a chessboard and move the pieces according to the plot of “Through the Looking-GlaSS”...

All the movements of the pieces would be improbable and rule-defyiNG, so it’s really kind of randOM.

Sora: Muu, you have to stick to the rules~. Otherwise games aren’t fun!

Natsume: FufuFU. A board gaME, just like sporTS, is a “drama without a synopsIS”.

If there are no exciting developmenTS, it’ll be considered a failure as a stoRY.

We should turn a blind eye to trickery and cheating to an exteNT, since those are a necessary evIL. For magicians like US, who defy reasON, you could even say it’s the best decisiON.

Maybe that’s wHY… Mr. Saegusa asked us to do “that thiNG”.

Sora: HiHi~? Shisho~, what exactly did he ask us to do? He was whispering into your ear in secret, so Sora still doesn’t know the details~?