Ch.40 Concert Main Event : "Futaba Ouka's 1st LIVE"

ーThe day of the concert.

That feels like some kind of bad episodes, but anyway, it was the day of the concert.

I was able to log in to Virtual Connect from the morning.

When I moved through a portal from My Room, I was greeted by a futuristic exterior and a majestic stadium far larger than the Tokyo Dome.

Above the stadium there were illuminated letters that read "Virtual Stadium."

Admission to the stadium begins at 7pm.

There is a red light running horizontally at the entrance with the words "KEEP OUT" written inside.

That will be automatically released at 6pm.

So what are available in the morning?

In front of the stadium is the merchandise area, where a wide range of goods related to the "Autumn, Summer, Spring, and Winter", centered around Futaba Ouka, are on sale.

Like can badges and straps.

All the standard products were lined up, including acrylic accessories, tapestries, towels, T-shirts, and hoodies.

The highlight would be the figures.

Ball joints are necessary to move real-life figures, but in VR space figures can be posed freely even without ball joints.

It is a bit pricey, but there's no doubt it will be a coveted item for fans.

Naturally, it's impossible to bring it back to the real world, but it is possible to bring it back to your own room.

Also, because it is an electronic product, there is no need to worry about inventory limit.

A win-win situation was created for both producers, who did not have to worry about unsold products, and consumers, who did not have to worry about products selling out.

So lawless.

This would no doubt make real-life producers furious, asking, "Is there even any instructions for this?!"

Looking around the stadium, there were a variety of amusement facilities.

A flying roller coaster with no rails.

A UFO floating gracefully in mid-air.

A merry-go-round races around the racetrack at a speed of 70km per hour.

Thyrassic World is a recreation of the forest where ancient dinosaurs lived.

Aero racing whete it's a speed competition using flying cars and bikes.

A haunted house filled with fake famous horror characters for now.

A survival horror game in which you aim to escape by repairing a generator.

And so the developer, some sort of TS reincarnated person, finally said, "If this project is well-received, I'll get married," ー The Horror! Shark Shark Shark Amusement Shark!!! (TL note : a bunch of wordplays, I'll explain at the end of the chapter)

Although, according to a pre-opening that was limited to Prisma Ark live streamers, those attractions were poorly received.

Aside from those rubbish at the end, there were plenty of other play equipment on offer, and the place was designed so that people could have fun right up until the time for the live show.

Moreover, there are 100 servers for each play equipment, so there is almost no waiting time.

So lawless.

Real amusement park operators are also left wondering, "Where is the instructions...?"

Inevitably, this is also priced high like the figurines, but if you consider the fact that you can enjoy a futuristic playground equipment, it's definitely worth the money. ーExcept for the shark. You, sit back down.

The idea is for people to have fun to their heart's content here and then have that excitement carry them into the main event.

At 7pm the entrance will be unlocked and you will be able to enter.

As the spectators file in and open the doors to the auditorium, they will be overwhelmed by the vast seating, stacked in multiple tiers and stretching out to the fullest.

A stadium that can accommodate an unprecedented number of people, hundreds of thousands.

At concerts, there are always seats with poor views ーThe very back or on the top row, but in a VR space, you can freely change your viewpoint.

While zooming out is expected, it is also possible to share viewpoints with cameras set up in various locations.

Although it is not as good as the winning seats, this should give some relief to customers who ended up with bad seats.

◇◆◇

ー Virtual Stadium, Backstage. 8pm.

"Hasu, hasu, hasu...!"

Hmm, I wonder what went wrong.

Shark.

Shark is good, isn't it?

"Hasu, hasu, hasu...!"

Everyone loves shark movies, right?

A shark in a tornado attacking a person.

A shark that appears in a hot spring.

A shark leaps out from the riverbank like a missile.

Mecha Mecha Shark.

Shark's magic combo. Wow!

Izanagi Shark is said to have created Japan.

The Akashic Shark created the universe by causing the Big Bang with a single bite from its powerful jaws and fangs.

The Horror! Shark Man.

 ...What went wrong?

"Stop joking around and hug me!"

As I acted like I was seriously worried, Ouka, with tears in the corners of her eyes and rolling her eyes, shook me and attacked me. Lol.

"Oh, a rare dere side."

Ouka, who wants attention but can't say it, finally reaches a lovey-dovey stage.

"Did you not notice something was wrong with me?"

"Could that 'hasu, hasu' just now have been you trying to show that you were nervous?"

"So you do notice!"

Because it was such a creepy breath.

"I can understand you being nervous though."

If I pop my head out from the backstage it'd be easily spotted, so I flick a window open to show the view of the audience.

"Phew."

People. People. People. Cats. Purple men. People. People. People. Beastmen. Monsters.

The reason there's something strange mixed in is because it's a VR space.

Avatars can be anything afterall.

Hundreds of thousands of people were seated in the hundreds of thousands of seats prepared for the event, eagerly awaiting the start of the concert.

Occasionally, you can hear screams of "Sakutan!"

"A-after seeing that, now my stomach hurts."

Hmm. So you're still saying that.

"Let's think about what would happen if we run away from here."

"Huh? What if...?"

Ouka, who had flown into the world of imagination, returned with a pale face.

"Beheading, execution...!"

"No, what's in your imagination?"

It's sure to cause a huge uproar.

Not only Ouka, but Prisma Ark too could be reduced to ashes.

This just goes to show how much attention the Virtual Stadium is receiving.

Well, if she's really unwell then I'll go out instead.

"Beheading is too delusional, but you'll certainly receive a heavy punishment. It's unclear whether you will be able to continue your activities as a Vtuber after that. So there's no way Mitsuki will let this slide."

"ーDon't use such strong words. I'll cry! I'll actually cry!"

"Is this a collage image?"

I've never seen Ai〇-sama like that.

"Compared to that, a concert is nothing, right? If you don't believe in yourself, then you can believe in me, who gave you the go sign."

"Uuu. I'll do my best..."

This kid really does take three steps forward and two steps back.

Even I had no choice but to change jobs to a protagonist who keeps saying "yare yare". Yare yare yare yare.

I hope that this concert will help her gain some confidence.

"…………"

"? what's wrong?"

"Well, that would probably be annoying."

"What do you mean?!"

This girl is a gloomy introvert at heart, so if she gains confidence, I think she'll evolve into a pretty annoying person. Or maybe even worse than that.

"As always, it's always fun when there's Alpheria around."

Momiji-senpai came to the backstage, complaining like this.

Next to her was Kikyo-senpai and Suisen-senpai, and the four seasons were all gathered together.

"Uuu. The people increased a lot."

"Is that what you want to say to your genmates who came to support you?"

"Yeees, consistent Ouka-chan quality."

"Even if we collaborate, all you're doing is mumbling things, so it can't be helped."

"Fuguu."

By the way, as can be seen from Momiji-senpai's tone, she is currently under hypnosis.

Or should I say she's putting it on?

It's no wonder, since if she was sober she would've definitely decided to kill Ouka.

"No matter how hard you try, it won't change the fact that you're a complete idiot. I wish you'd at least stop making that unbearable noise."

Saying something like that.

By the way, what she is trying to say is "I've seen your efforts. I can't flatter you and say you're good, but there's nothing to be ashamed of about your path. Do your best!" Yep, I don't get it!

"You seem extremely nervous. Is that okay?"

"M- mui."

"Mui?"

"Oh, I think it was a mixture of reflexively saying 'yes' and wanting to honestly say 'no way'." (TL note : 'hai' and 'muri')

It's common for introverts to reply "yes" before understanding the content.

"Oh, as expected of Alpheria. You know more than we do."

"Dont explain it like that!"

Suisen-senpai tugged on Ouka's sleeve as she huffed.

"Ouka. When I'm nervous, I just eat three people nano."

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

"Suisen-chan, it's not eating three people, but write the character for "person" three times on your palm and then eat it."

"I was wrong. It was an error nano."

"That's fatal. Look, Ouka-chan's frozen too. Hey, come back."

Sakura is rebooted when a hand is waved in front of her.

One reason was that Suisen-senpai's remarks were outlandish, but another factor might be caused by the increased number of people.

"By the way, why are you three here?"

"I told you before. We're here to support you. We have no other intentions."

"Yes, yes. That's really all. We have no other intentions."

"Hummu, we have no other intentions nano."

"……Really?"

"Really, really."

"(glance)"

Why are you looking at me?

She's surprisingly sharp.

I brushed it off and brought up another topic.

After that, the five of us just chatted away the time, trying to somehow ease Ouka's tension, but...

"ーIt's almost time for the show to begin. Ouka, are you ready?"

Those were my words as I glanced at the time.

At the same time, I turned off the lights in the venue.

Pitch darkness spreads.

The audience let out a short but thunderous cheer, signalling that it was finally about to begin.

Ouka jumps in panic

"Nyui?! Setsu, have piano lessons now."

"My first person pronoun was taken nano."

"'Ware' is mine, after all. Should I change it to 'Shousei' or 'Sessha'?"

"It's hard to throw away 'Gonzales' either."

"Let's throw that one, okay???"

Kikyo-senpai's retorts are brilliant as always.

"Ouka, I won't say, "Have fun!" because you probably won't have the time for that. At first, you just need to concentrate on singing with all your heart. I'll handle the MC duties perfectly."

As i said, being the MC is also my job.

Unfortunately, being an MC is still too much of a hurdle for Sakura.

I gave her a confident smile, and Sakura took several slow, deep breaths.

She closes her eyes deeply.

The next moment, her resolve was completely made up - although it didn't turn out to be a cool development, there was still a determination in her eyes.

"-- I, I'm... I'm going...!"

""""Take care.""""

As we wave at her, Sakura takes one step at a time and makes her way onto the stage.

I spoke to the three of them, lowering my voice so Ouka couldn't hear.

"Well then, seniors, get ready. Once you've put on your 'make-up', it'll be your turn right away."

The three of them nodded and turned on their heels, and I began playing the intro.

The familiar intro once again raised the excitement in the venue.

After all, it's the theme song for an idol-raising game that was hugely popular among otaku communities.

Many Vtubers have released cover songs, and their popularity never fades, even after ten or twenty years.

"--------"

She's still trembling.

But her earnest singing voice soared.

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TL note:

So about the wordplay, here's the explanation.

"Shark" In Japanese is "same"/「さめ」, It's supposed to be "dame"/「だめ」 Instead which means "no".

Now i feel bad for explaining a joke. I'm sorry

On a side note, Momiji is conceptually a noja-loli, so she's speaking like one when she's in hypnotized state.

If you have any advice on how to incorporate accents into english, please do let me know and I'll try to implement it in the future.

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