Chapter 98 World H: 1 "To become a qualified ID..."

"To become a qualified idol! That's our requirement!"

The people in front of them spoke with great enthusiasm, and even struck a pose, waving their hands at them: "I believe you can do it."

“…Excuse me.” Turner tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear, his face displaying a flawless, polite smile. “What did you just say? Excuse me, could you repeat that? I think I misheard?”

“Become an idol.” Reena leaned lazily against the sofa, a little restless from her nicotine cravings, but she was trying to calm herself down. She casually blew bubbles: “You, all of you, must become a qualified idol.”

Ethan pulled up his hood as if avoiding reality, turned his back and pretended not to hear, cosplaying as an unnoticed blade of grass.

Nadia's expression was conflicted, her face changing several times before finally settling on a somewhat distorted expression, and she remained silent.

As for Tenas, he slowly closed his eyes and did not open them again for a long time, as if he had been a sculpture from the very beginning.

In stark contrast to their deathly silence, the group on the sofa over there, all dressed to the nines, were laughing and joking, creating a lively atmosphere.

Why did things turn out this way? Let's rewind the progress bar to two hours ago.

They had just passed through the portal when they were met with a monster attack on the city. As guardians, they instinctively began to fight the monsters and try to defeat them.

Just as they were getting into battle mode and preparing to fly close to the monster to attack it, Nadia stopped.

"Shh—" She made a shushing gesture, signaling the two to stop: "Listen, can you hear something?"

bite--

Once they stopped focusing on the monster, Tenas and Ethan, who were listening intently, quickly noticed the sound, which was so faint it was almost inaudible.

Ding-ding-ding

The sound seemed to come from afar and gradually approach. At first, it was barely audible, but gradually some indistinct sounds became clearer, a rhythmic tinkling sound.

After listening for about five or six seconds, before the three of them could figure out what was going on with the music that had appeared out of nowhere, the previously simple ding sound suddenly changed, and the music became exciting.

Because he had sensed the sound moving from a distance, Tenas seemed to realize something. He looked up and gazed above the monster in the distance, where dozens of small black dots were floating—the guardians of this world.

Seeing him look up, Nadia and Ethan also looked up. Ethan's expression was somewhat uncertain: "Why...why are they just standing there?"

Both Tenas and Nadia's guardian powers were added to their bodies, resulting in astonishing enhancements in all aspects, allowing them to see clearly even across almost an entire city.

Because part of Ethan's body was replaced by alchemy, he essentially fused with a bit of alchemical puppetry, and his eyesight was exceptionally good, allowing him to see the battle situation clearly.

Everyone had a smile on their face, a confident smile, as if they had the situation completely under control. They pulled out a few bills from somewhere.

Ethan and his group were still unaware of the seriousness of the situation, assuming that the guardians of this world fought in a different way, and curiously watched the battle from their spot.

Reena's expression turned impatient for a moment, then returned to calm, maintaining her usual icy demeanor, and she said sharply, "Card activation!"

"Card activation!" Everyone except her shouted in unison, their voices rising to the beat of the music, as if they were filming some kind of action movie.

Ethan stared in disbelief, his mouth agape, completely bewildered.

Turnas sensed something was wrong and gasped, "Wait, what's that feeling..."

Nadia scratched her head, looking at the guardians of this world with a puzzled expression, completely bewildered.

Before they could even begin to guess, an unidentified object with several card slots appeared before the guardians of this world. With unwavering gazes, the guardians placed the cards one by one into the slots.

The device in front of them burst into a blinding light, enveloping them one by one, and the background music became less rousing and more cheerful.

"Um, Turnas, what do you think... what are they doing?" Ethan, watching the Guardians' swaying movements, also sensed something was amiss, and stammered, "Are they... are they dancing?"

“I don’t think so.” Turnas’s eyes were blank as he stared straight ahead. “...They’re posing.”

As the white light gradually faded, everyone's ordinary clothes transformed into magnificent attire, with their ornaments swaying in the wind.

Turner felt like he was about to collapse.

He watched in agony as the figures began to dance, singing as they danced. Attacks followed their movements; orbs of light slowly gathered around him before being launched at the monster. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he covered his face.

How terrifying... Just as terrifying as Ethan, who stole the will of Starfall City, making him equally terrified.

Did he really time travel? Was he not frozen in place, or perhaps trapped in some strange dream? Is this really information received by his eyes? Has his ability weakened? He can't see clearly anymore.

Why should he see this? It's more frustrating than knowing that if Nadia or Reina were a little older, their teenage sisters would date without telling them.

He'll confess, he'll confess everything, please, stop jumping! He'll tell you everything. He might even tell you his payment password, all the stupid things he did during his teenage years, secrets he wouldn't even tell Renadia. Like when he was a little kid, he stole his sisters' makeup, painted himself into a big mess, and ruined their favorite cosmetics, which they still think he did to this day… Please stop jumping, okay?

Is he playing an idol role here? What is he then? A Hoshimiya O?

Ethan's body trembled slightly at first, but as he saw them begin to dance in their new clothes, the trembling intensified, and his voice became a shaky mess, filled with disbelief: "This, uh, what is this? Lord Starfall... what am I seeing? Ughhhhh—"

Ethan covered his head, screamed softly, and looked as if he was experiencing some terrible torture, almost crying.

Even though his mental health issues have improved a lot and he's not as socially anxious as before, he still feels suffocated when he sees this kind of scene.

I can't imagine myself like them, in front of so many people, above the city, with drones filming in the distance... wait, is that a helicopter? ...Are those reporters? And there are reporters broadcasting this live...

Just thinking about it makes Ethan feel like his hands and feet would get so cold he could shove them up the back of someone's neck to give them a shiver, then yell, find a hole, and bury himself alive.

It's so embarrassing... dancing in front of so many people, it's even more painful than his mother forgetting him... well, his mother not remembering him is still more painful for him.

How embarrassing! Why are the moves so shameful? How cringeworthy! How can the guardians of this world dance with such conviction? Don't they feel socially awkward at all? Don't they find these moves shameful?

And you, his counterpart, why can you also have such a big smile on your face? Although it looks quite forced, you can still smile! You were clearly wearing a cloak just now! Covering your face just like he did at the beginning, only half of your face could be seen.

The movements of the person in the same position were a bit choppy compared to the smooth and flowing dance moves of others, but they were still quite smooth.

Hey, hey, hey, you look like you're about to cry too, so why are you still moving so fast? Are you that dedicated? He felt they were more suited to hug each other and cry, complaining about this fighting behavior for a long time.

Ethan wanted to scream, he was so ashamed he was about to cry, and his body was still trembling, but he felt that his counterpart must have gone through all of this as well.

Please don't treat them like that. Be kinder to people with social anxiety. Even if you're not socially anxious, you'll still experience social anxiety. It's so awkward. If it were a stranger dancing there, you might at least appreciate it.

Exquisite costumes, gorgeous or energetic dances, and impeccable smiles—they're practically an idol group you've ever seen.

It would be great if my own counterpart wasn't on top, and even better if the counterparts of my acquaintances weren't on top either.

Ethan felt embarrassed not only for himself, but also for Tenas and Nadia. He felt suffocated and wished he could escape this world right now.

But no, if I leave this world just for this reason, I haven't even understood the situation here yet. Just looking at the way these battles are fought, it feels like the world is so much more friendly than the last century. I can't waste the resources I've used to travel through time.

Unlike Tenas, who was so embarrassed he wanted to run away, and Ethan, who was trembling with shame along with the others, Nadia seemed relatively calm.

Although it was her own counterpart, Nadia felt that even counterparts had differences, and even the same person might not have the same personality in other worlds. For example, when she first got along with Reena in the previous world, she didn't spend much effort to separate her from Reena in her own world, even though she later learned that Reena's personality was different because she hadn't been affected by amnesia.

Nadia felt that dancing wouldn't hurt her; it was just dancing, and even if the movements were a bit exaggerated, it was still within her acceptable range.

So she looked at Reena, who was in the center, with a pure gaze, devoid of any other negative emotions.

She danced so well! Even though she was clearly unwilling and had to go through her daily work, she still managed to give off a feeling of wanting to get off work as soon as possible.

She needed to take a few more glances; such opportunities were rare. In her world, Reina wouldn't dance like this. All she knew were the elegant and glamorous dances they learned together as children. She even learned some street dance later, but Reina hadn't learned any dances at all.

It's so good! I wonder if I can take the live recordings with me? Showing them to Reina might make her angry and she'll delete the videos, so she can just watch them herself.

Nadia was mesmerized by Reena, admiring her every move, completely ignoring her incredibly awkward companions.

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Author's Note: Turner/Ethan: I'm going to hang myself.

Nadia: So beautiful... [heart]

*Aikatsu!, the inspiration for this world, is an anime I watched as a child. I really liked Ichigo [and I even rewatched a few episodes because of it].

Ethan, who rarely suffers from social anxiety,

Then there's the scene where there's battle music playing simultaneously. I even considered writing a fanfic about this, but I've been too lazy and haven't written a single word in a year.

I watched "I Love Amy" today and was completely captivated by the art style; the story was also wonderful.