Chapter 239 – Chapter 18 – If You Borrowed It, It’s Time to Pay It Back (3)
“Suddenly…? Is there a reason?”
“Dah, it’s not really like that. It’s just that I’m a little concerned.”
Jung-ah shut her mouth tightly, but didn’t give a particularly plausible reason.
However, rather than because of some kind of joke or greed, it seemed to have a clear reason itself.
I answered her with a nod of her head.
“Well, okay. This is not a matter for me to decide alone, so let’s talk about it together. If possible, start with you.”
“Go, thank you.”
“If this operation goes well, it’s all thanks to you, so of course you have to do it.”
I was constantly thinking about who should reach level 0 first to be more efficient.
However, right now it was difficult to predict, so it was difficult to draw conclusions because it was ambiguous who to choose.
At least, I was going to proceed with the princess, who had conceded once before, but if there is someone who needs it right away, it would be okay to proceed from that side.
“Manager.”
“Huh?”
“Does the manager want me to live a good life?”
“Isn’t that so? Well, but even if I don’t have to say it, Jung-a is doing well these days.”
“You used to be a bad kid.”
“Yes, but what has changed?”
It reminds me of the days when Jung-ah used to bully Seol-ah.
Even Seol-ah wasn’t normal back then, so she didn’t get hurt by it.
Aside from that, she seems to have had kids who bullied her separately during her school days…
It’s true that I don’t like that kind of behavior very much.
“Perhaps. If I had been a good kid, wouldn’t the manager have raped me?”
“…Maybe that’s the case? I’m sure he’s touched other bad-tempered kids first.”
“That’s a little fortunate.”
“…What?”
“I think it’s fortunate that I met the manager.”
I gave an additional admonition that it’s not very nice to justify bad things like that.
Jung-a laughed bashfully, but she joked that she would still be a bad kid if she went back to the past.
Junga is playing pranks well lately.
If she wasn’t just right before the contest, she would have been bullying her…
“Darling, you need to prepare soon.”
“Okay, I’ll go.”
As she talked with Jung-ah about her various aspects, she had reached the starting time of the contest before she knew it.
She handed over her song and production settings that she prepared in advance to the organizers, and she was certified for participation by a place that checked for any awakened people.
She was able to pass this without difficulty because she only had to use ‘I am a socially underprivileged’ to cancel the awakening.
“Because she wears full makeup and a dress like this, she really looks like a boyish female idol.”
“Be quiet. I’m not doing this because I want to.”
“It’s a pure compliment. To be honest, since Darling is a handsome man, I’m treating him as close to a beauty.”
“It is, but…”
All of the children who went beyond the preliminaries stage were beautiful.
She probably chose her appearance very carefully, as she is the body she will change.
Since I was selected there, my appearance was evaluated as being able to fit into that category.
“Still, even if I hear that a man is pretty, I’m not very happy. Did I hate the nickname Fallen Angel for no reason?”
“Yeah, even if you don’t like it, it’s already too late. He said that today’s name will be Lucifer anyway.”
“…Since it’s all made up by Jung-a, I just accepted it calmly.”
Junga is too sincere about this matter to tackle such a detail…
And it also helped that I didn’t have time to care about that.
Because there was not enough time to practice until the competition right now, even if she devoted all her time to practice, it was not enough.
“I’ll be back. In the end, Jung-a decided to take her decision, right?”
“Yeah. Even the princess said there’s no need to rush.”
“Okay.”
I briefly greeted Ah-young and walked slowly out onto the stage where my turn was called.
As much as she practiced and created a similar environment using her characteristics, she wasn’t in a situation where she was very nervous.
As she had practiced, she focused on presenting the stage perfectly.
‘It’s that guy.’
Amidst the loud applause after the stage, a cute concept idol smiling through the screen catches the eye.
An idol with the name Maiko, but that’s the name of her original owner.
Actually, the thing she is moving that body is, she is a hawk named ‘Miko’ who should have died a long time ago.
On the outside, she seems to enjoy and evaluate the buds who will become the idols of the next generation.
She may actually be judging and looking forward to the new body she will have.
When she imagined that disgusting attitude in her mind, she felt like vomiting.
“Do you have any questions for me?”
“No. It’s an honor to see the esteemed Maiko up close.”
“Huh, it was a really cool stage. Of course, I liked it, so I passed the preliminaries, but as you know, the final competition is decided only by voting. It’s just a pity that I don’t have my authority.”
“It’s an honor just to say the word.”
Even if she said it like that, she must have actually said it while recognizing the weight of her own words.
Perhaps, by making her remarks only on the stage of her particularly favorite ‘body’, she is trying to reduce the odds of her outcome.
It is the vote of those who have been brainwashed to only listen to her songs and love only her.
Of course, her opinion will have a huge impact.
‘I’ll probably regret this choice greatly now.’
I laughed at her for choosing me without knowing anything, and she slowly left her stage and returned to her waiting room.
There, the ‘preliminary scapegoats’ who performed like me until now were laughing and talking.
Unfortunately, they must have lived their lives thinking only of dedicating themselves to this tournament.
“Did you say Lucifer? It was a great stage! If I wasn’t a contestant, I would have voted for you!”
“…Yes? I’m sure you’re a contestant too, so isn’t it normal for you to be filmed?”
“Ehehe… I thought that too before I came. I’ve been watching the stage all the time from here, so there’s only really amazing people. Just like Lucifer.”
Perhaps this guy was downcast watching the other people’s performances.
Well, since it’s a tournament where only people who have dedicated their lives to idols come from all over the world, I can’t help but think that way.
Even in my case, with the help of the physical advantage of being an Awakener and the secretly used traits, I have pulled out my skills this far.
It was a competition that could never have been won if they had competed on equal terms.
“Then shouldn’t you be sad because you couldn’t become an idol?”
“…That’s sad, but just passing through the preliminaries here is amazing, isn’t it? It’s a happy thing to be sold as a pet cat at a high price based on the voting ranking. If I’m sad, what will happen to those who didn’t even make it to the tournament? “
Seeing that there were a few people who sympathized with that statement, I realized all over again that this world was broken.
Becoming a pet of the elves and being teased by them for the rest of my life, I thought it was a happy thing.
That in itself has become everyone’s dream and goal.
Of course, the intensity of such brainwashing will vary from person to person, but if you think about it, there will be no children with as strong brainwashing as these children here.
Since they are kids who want to become idols more than anyone else, they must have listened to existing idol songs a lot.
The brainwashing effect of the song must have developed strongly.
“I have no intention of being sold as a pet cat.”
“Yes?”
“I will become an idol by winning unconditionally. I am standing here with that thought in mind.”
To be honest, I didn’t like what I was doing.
It was something I had to do to protect humanity, so I practiced because I couldn’t help it, and I decided to stand here.
If you ask an ordinary guy to dress up as a girl and become an idol, who the hell will say he likes it?
But now, little by little, I felt that my thoughts were changing.
I have a slightly more fundamental feeling that I don’t want to see the children here sacrificed in this way anymore.
I longed to see a world where these good kids could live out their dreams more normally.
“Must…”
“I have a song that I want everyone to hear while standing there.”
Miko’s characteristics had been analyzed to some extent, so she was now confident enough to copy them using mirroring.
So I have the power to take her Miko’s place and give these idiots a proper idea.
Then I wanted to save these guys with that power.
“Wow…”
I don’t know how she understood what I was saying, but the Miao girl started looking at me with a moved look.
The moment I cleared my throat because I felt embarrassed by that strange gaze, a broadcast came on in the waiting room.
The broadcast said that the voting time was over and all the participants gathered on the stage.
‘As expected, I reached the top level smoothly.’
The results were presented in the form of announcements starting from the ranking below.
Those who were eliminated had to watch the price set based on the number of votes and sold in real time.
I feel bad because this looks more like an auction than a competition.
It makes me even more upset to think that I’m on the spot for sale at that auction.
“And the long-awaited next idol…”
And at the same time as the auction, the results of the final vote came out.
As expected, the result ended with my victory.
What was unexpected was that the second-placed girl was the Miao girl I was talking to earlier.
Everyone said that it would be difficult for them to win because they were so competitive, but if I hadn’t been there, that guy would have won.
“Thank you.”
“There’s no need to be rude like that. We’re all idols anyway, and now after I take over, this position is yours.”
It was disgusting to see him acting like that on a broadcast.
I suppressed her emotions and responded to her with her smile.
The tournament broadcast ended in a warm atmosphere.
After that, the auction of participants except for the winner started against the elves.
I was led by Miko’s hand into a strangely high-security room.
Her manpower protecting her also disappears, and a space that appears to be completely isolated inside and outside of her…
‘You rummaged, bitch.’
This was a place completely isolated from the outside world for her to work on taking my body.
Conversely, it also meant that I was the perfect place to dispose of her behind her back.
