Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

The boundaries stopped working. The moment that the clock hit one, the rest of the world opened up to them. For the first time, they stepped beyond the boundaries of the map, which no longer existed since nobody was maintaining it.

The Monster Dimension did not have a day-night cycle. The darkness persisted even as the hours passed, and they took down the demons they came across one by one. Jina’s stored watch was the only thing that was helping them keep up with the time back in the real world.

“We really do forget about the inventory, huh?” Atlas was going through her own screen of empty boxes with a frown, “Ugh, this could be so useful if we actually took advantage of it. Why did we forget?!”

“The Coalition never mentions it. Isn’t that it?” Kana answered, keeping in mind that she herself had forgotten about it as the weeks passed. It contained something so important to her, and yet, she had forgotten it, “I’m guessing you found it out the same way as me. The first night with the system, you were a bit too excited and spent the entire time checking every corner.”

“Well, well…who cares! Now we know, and we’ve got all the food we could ever need! Not that I know if it’ll taste good, though, hehe!” Jina smiled, taking out a single strawberry out of nowhere, “Do you wanna try it?”

“Try it yourself. Why are you passing it to me first?” Saturn scowled, “You want me to be your sacrifice to that blocky clone, do you?”

“Ah, haha!” She put it back in the inventory, “No! I was just…just…not hungry! Haha. Yeah, that’s it. I would never do something like that to you, Saturn-chan. If I really had to force someone to be a guinea pig, it would probably be Atlas-chan! Or RiRi-chan!”

RiRi ignored the comment and kept to herself. She had remained detached from the group ever since they came together and rarely spoken up unless acknowledged directly. All she was doing was fulfilling her side of the deal to get her team out of hot water. Kana didn’t have any plans to actually do any of it, of course, but for her plan to succeed and let her get away with it, she would need the Pink Beats member to change.

For now, she decided maybe talking was enough. Perhaps about the wasteland itself would be a good starting point. The points were not racking up quite as fast anymore, but Kana was guessing that was because of the time. The monsters thought all of them had left at one in the night, so they weren’t coming out to attack anymore. Most of them were probably asleep.

“Quiet, isn’t it?” Kana stepped up to RiRi, and started.

“What do you want?”

“I’m just trying to talk, that’s it. It didn’t sit right with me that you were just kinda walking all alone, so…”

“It sits perfectly right with me, Kana-san. You can go back to your group.”

“I really don’t have anything against you all, believe it or not.” Kana sighed, shaking her head, “You’re just in the way, that’s all.”

“In the way?” RiRi laughed, “You think that makes it better? It really doesn’t, so keep it to yourself. You have no idea what it took me to get things working when we were just starting out. But, eh, nothing’s going to change either way. Sanada’s too naïve, and Kelsey’s too much of a hothead. You’ve already won them over in different ways.”

“I certainly did, didn’t I? Kelsey, especially. Won over her body, mind, and soul, in their entirety. I bet she can’t stop seething over how much of a bitch I am. Honestly, I feel just a little bad, but it’s not like she’s an angel. Sanada…I like not to think about. She’s not really made for this industry.”

RiRi slowed down as she looked at Kana and contemplated something. A bit later, she replied with a reserved voice, “She said the same thing, actually. When we first came together, Sanada wanted to quit. I somehow made her stay, because she’s just that talented. But by all means, both of you are right. She is not using all of her skills over here. She’s just…singing.”

“My, my. The leader does realize it, then. You’re proud of what you make, even then?”

“You’re not going to stop whatever it is you’re doing, are you?”

Kana wasn’t sure how she was supposed to respond to that, so she just smiled and emphasized with a long blink, “Nope! But you’re still here. What happened? Did you go through all five stages of grief walking all alone?”

RiRi responded with a smile, too. But it was one so honest that Kana would have almost fallen for her if things weren’t going so well with Emi already. Now, she just felt pity for this woman. To think that Rie Rin had even held dreams and ideals once upon a time. Held them, but never acted on them.

“It’s not like we think we make amazing music. We don’t even think our dances are that good. But there’s still someone listening to them, so we keep going. Sanada wasn’t meant to make music like this, though. Anyone who hears her can tell that. But going independent and releasing your own music is not something just anyone can do. Even if she did, there’s no telling if her current fans will follow.”

“And? I’m just saving you some time, but telling me about how sad things are won’t make me change my plans. You’re going down. All three of you. There’s nothing to stop it anymore.”

“I know.” The response was quick, almost as if rehearsed. As if she had gone through this conversation already, because she knew it was coming, “I’ve already seen Pink Beats fall apart the last few days. I guess that’s why I answered your call.”

“Most of it is your own fault, though. That’s what you just told me with that Sanada story.”

“That too, I know. We tried as much as we could, and we aimed as high as we could. We did what the audience wanted, so there’s not much else to complain about. Hopefully, at the very least, you’re considering taking Sanada into your group. Kelsey and I will be alright, I think. Her spite will take her far. But Sanada really needs a platform that can help her be who she wants.”

RiRi wasn’t wrong. Anyone who had ever heard Jenga could tell you that nobody had seen this version of Sanada’s voice before. The difference between the painfully average and corporate songs she had been putting out and what she was doing here was night and day. Kana hadn’t really thought too hard about getting her into Velvet Choker, though. It would be a bit too annoying with Sanada’s personality.

“It’s still your fault, though.” Kana replied with the one thing that came to mind the moment she RiRi said her part, “I don’t get why you need to blame it on the audience, or lie about it.”

“Lie? I didn’t lie.”

“You did, though.”

The group came to a halt all at once. More than five hours after their way out had been closed, there was sign of life. And it was in the best form possible. It was audible. A loud, deafening, almost shriek-like horn blared through the entire land, causing their entire bodies to vibrate. As all the girls looked at each other in confusion, the ground began to shake.

In the distance, from where the horn had been blown, the unmistakable sound of thousands of feet marching echoed through the land. The area was covered with hills of the familiar red rock, so they started running. Concerned that she wouldn’t get to finish her thoughts, though, Kana balanced her excitement of finding something new with the excitement of being able to tell RiRi exactly why she had failed.

“You lied…about aiming as high as you could!” Kana replied, taking quick breaths as she ran, “You clearly didn’t, and that’s why you’re here. I am sorry, Rin. But that’s how this works. If you’re going to let the audience dictate your choice, and if you’re gonna bend down to what other people want, then I was bound to crush you. Your dream is too small to stand up against mine, after all.”

Joy filled her heart as she got closer to the sounds of marching. She wasn’t sure what it was. The novelty of finding something new in this world? Or just the confirmation that she had won. And not in the way she had won last Friday with the performance. No. RiRi had confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kana had squashed Pink Beats out of existence. Her declaration to Jina all that time ago had come true!

“What the…” Atlas’ voice trailed off as she reached the edge of the rocks first and looked down at the scene. By the time Kana got there, the others had already been surprised by it, too. And she understood why immediately.

In front of them was a massive open field that stretched on till the horizon. On that field, were large groups of demons distinctly divided into two sides. Armies of demons, to be precise. Kana gasped. There weren’t just thousands, like she had predicted. There were hundreds of thousands. At the far ends of the armies were two larger demons. One propped up on each side, being held on a chair by the smaller ones.

“They’re fighting.” Neptune whispered, looking back at the rest of them, “They’re fighting amongst themselves.”

“Fuck that. They’re sentient!” Jina almost laughed, getting her sword out and ready for any possibility, “Is this why you’re not supposed to be here during the day?”

“Of course not.” Atlas shook her head, “Think about it for a second. If they’re fighting each other, then they can’t afford to be fighting us, too. I mean, isn’t that how it usually works? Enemies come together to face the larger alien threat. So…why? Why are they attacking us?”

Kana laughed, pulling her grenade launcher out, “Why are you here, Atlas?”

“Huh?” She looked back as the girl started loading the launcher one piece at a time.

“You’re here to get more points. We’re also here to get more points. You want fourth place. We also want fourth place. Yet, we’re here at the same time…because of fucking Lilac Shower. Isn’t that right?”

“Kana, quieter! We can’t let them see us.” Neptune tried to get her to calm down, but she wasn’t sure how they could possibly be sitting here and watching as this entire field of possibility blossomed beneath their feet.

“Why?” Kana stood up instead, letting her skirt flutter in the wind as she took a long breath and prepared her mind, “I thought you were far too worried about who they are, and what they are doing here. Why, Atlas? I am right, aren’t I?”

“Kana, we’ve never seen them like this before, and you’ve already given us reason to doubt the Coalition. We cannot be sure what these things even are, at this point. They’re in a war!”

Right as she said that, the generals of each army blew a horn. The sound filled the battlefield once more, and the two sides screeched and ran towards each other with their teeth and claws out. Dirt, rocks, blood flew in the sky as the armies collided, and chaos took over the scene. Every demon picked another and started scratching, biting, tearing, and stabbing.

“But we can be sure, Atlas.” Kana hid the grenade launcher behind her skirt and turned her attention to the demons closest to their location, “I’ll even be nice and hide the weapon, alright?”

Jina laughed and stood up too, catching on to the plan almost instantly. It was nice to see her be responsive and active.

With a smile, Kana raised her palm, held her breath, and let it all out in a single scream filled with as much friendly passion and joy that she could conjure up, “Hello! How do you do!?”

The voice didn’t reach very far, but the demons closest to her did turn and look. Kana and Jina waved at them with smiles, hoping for a response. But the only thing they managed to do was stop the infighting. The moment the demons’ eyes landed on them, they looked at each other, and then back at the girls.

The very next second, all of them were rushing towards them with their tongues out and arms ready to attack. It was like her presence had caused them to change their entire ideologies. This sentience, Kana thought, was clearly not worth much. If neither had attacked, she would have withdrawn. If one side had attacked, she would have helped the other. Unfortunately, this was what they had ended up with.

“That enough of an answer, Atlas?”

Kana pulled the grenade launcher out from behind her skirt and let the projectile fly. The moment it hit the ground and blew up, the rest of the battlefield took notice. Jina hopped off the rock to instantly lop off the head of a demon who had gotten too close. That much forced the other girls to stand up and ready their weapons too. Because the demons had responded in the same manner.

The generals blew the horn once more, and the skirmish came to an end. Every eye in the vicinity turned to them and started to run inwards. They could decide what to do with this world-breaking information later. Right now, as she shot another grenade, all Kana saw was the number on her gun go up, and a large pool of monsters, which would help it go up even more.