Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

There was good news, and there was bad news. Both were delivered by Yamazaki when they were going back home. The former was that Yamazaki had managed to negotiate a higher salary for himself, which worked in everyone’s favor. The latter, however, was so bad that it overrode the happiness of the first news. Tanaka had played a powerful card, and there was no way to counteract it right now.

“The Coalition needed to believe that Sakai Entertainment had been appropriately punished, so this was the smallest punishment they could give.” Yamazaki claimed that that was how Sakai had explained it: “The agency will not be allowed to participate in the competition this week. This ensures that we, in their words, do not let it get to our heads.”

It was the perfect way to keep them in check. Ruby Passion Jr. would now get a free pass to get to Rank 4, while they would be stuck at Rank 3. If they did not do something drastic next to next week, Tanaka’s plan would be successful. If Kana had to guess, though, Lilac Shower would give their second group a few weeks in Rank 4 before moving them to 5. Otherwise, it would be too suspicious.

She closed her eyes and rested her head, yawning. Her plan for the week, which Jina had agreed to after a thorough explanation, was effectively destroyed. If they could not enter the Monster Dimension, then it could not be carried out. And since they were not participating, they could not enter.

Right?

She shook her head. Surely, it could not be that simple. Or rather, it could not be that complicated. Kana had never seen Yamazaki leaving them before they went to the dimensional travel doors. The key he used wasn’t a regular key, either. There was something different about it. Also, if there were a limited number that were being passed around every day, the logistical headache would not be worth it.

“Yamazaki-san?” Her head started to race as the pieces fell together. Maybe it wasn’t going to be that difficult after all. She would just need to convince Sanada to make a difficult decision, “Those keys you use to open the doors. How exactly do they work? Who gives them to you every day?”

“Nobody.”

“Nobody?”

“I always have them on me.” As he explained, Kana’s face lit up, “They open all the doors, so there’s no reason to change them over and over again.”

With that, a frown replaced the enthusiasm. Not because this was a bad development, but because it was the ideal answer to the question. She felt a little embarrassed about not arriving at it herself. The Coalition was not going to put so much effort into making keys, especially when a man as pathetic as Tanaka was its brains.

Ignoring that, however, at least this meant they could get in. She had the rest of the information already, but she could use a couple of days to update it all. At the same time, her original plan would also have to be tweaked. That was easy. Jina could handle most of it, and she could smooth out any issues.

Tanaka had played a dirty move, but it wasn’t going to derail her. There was, once more, no point in wondering about the competition at this point. They could not participate, so Nobuko could have this week. Sanada first, and then they could go back to Ruby Passion Jr.

One death at a time.

_____________

The most painful part of the next two days was the dancing sessions. Emi still refused to talk to Kana normally, which confirmed that it was Sakai’s ploy. He might have partnered up with her for his benefit, but that hatred hadn’t vanished. The fat bastard had finally caught on to her true self. At least it allowed her to stop acting in front of him.

With this plan, which she had helped Sanada catch up to, she would effectively lock her position in this agency. Sakai would have no option other than to rely on her, so maybe even Emi’s situation could be fixed with some negotiations. That was the only thing that allowed Kana to keep going. Being ignored was fine if it was only going to be for a few more days.

The second issue was Sanada’s constant worrying. Kelsey had disappeared from the agency. She did not show up on either Monday or Tuesday, and nobody had any idea where she went. Yamada had tried everything he could to no avail. For now, they were trying to keep themselves calm and continue their work.

“She’s probably sulking at home.” Sanada claimed, “That’s the kind of person she is, after all. I’m sure she does not want to see your face, so she’s doing her best not to.”

“Very encouraging. Thank you.”

Kana had tried to figure things out on her own, too, but reached nowhere. The blonde girl really had vanished off the face of the earth. Virtually, at least. Obviously, if they used all of their resources to track her down, it would be quite easy. But apparently, Sakai had decided to give her some time off to sort out her feelings. It was, according to him, a completely natural thing for her to want some space.

For once, his deduction there wasn’t outrageous. If she had taken that break last weekend, then she would at least have her ankles intact. Now, she was depressed and injured and all alone. A little bit of thought, and she could have been out of that self-imposed prison. It was a shame.

Without her presence, though, work got easier. Sanada did not need to put on an act of defiance and could discuss the plans easily. Kana had been making great progress on tracking the current movements of the teams and the doors they had been assigned. The Coalition had made no changes to the schedule, which meant she didn’t need to update her data at all.

They had just decided to keep Sakai Entertainment’s door…empty. Nobody had replaced them or taken over the door. The Coalition had decided not to interact with it at all. While a sad mess of an idea, it was a net positive for them and what they needed to do. So, Kana did not complain about it. Wednesday night and Thursday morning would be a breeze to get through.

When the time finally did come, she found herself mentally prepared. She wasn’t sure if doing any of it would actually help her in the long term. Maybe going through with Sanada’s plan meant Sakai would remove Kana out of spite. But she needed to do it anyway. For once, not plainly because it would help her progress. She needed to do it as a token of apology to the dead RiRi.

She hated being in debt, and this would clear her. In her own eyes, if not anyone else’s.

_____________

Wednesday night, Yamazaki drove them to the door that should have been reserved for them. With Sanada and Jina ready in the car, there were very few things that could derail the plan. Things were going well, and there wasn’t a hint of a doubt in Kana’s mind. This was going to be better than last time. They were ready for every possibility.

Until they reached their destination, that was.

Until they opened the doors and noticed a figure leaning against the construction building in which the door was housed. With a hood pulled over her face, she had been hiding her bright hair from standing out too much. Yamazaki stayed in the car, but noted her appearance. As he pulled away, he already had his phone out to report it to the others.

Kelsey quietly followed them into the building. On both of her feet. Without any crutches or external support. From the outside, nothing had changed about this girl at all. She had somehow fully recovered. But that wasn’t the case when she started moving. Every time she took a step, her legs let out a strange electronic hum. Once they got inside, Sanada finally took a long breath.

Pulling her into a hug, she cried, “Kelsey! What happened? Where have you been? What’s with the…sound?”

Kelsey clicked her tongue, pushing the girl away, “It’s some new tech. They were advertising, and I applied in secret.”

The blonde girl moved back a little and pulled her full black track pants up. Below, where her leg should have been, was a machine. It was slightly thicker than her actual leg, and slightly taller as well. Her other shoe had some sort of metal plate attached to the sole, probably to keep her height consistent. She held the new machine leg up and moved it around a bit.

“You…” Sanada gasped, kneeling down and touching the metal.

Kelsey pulled it back instantly, putting the pants back down, “I didn’t. My actual leg’s still in there. It’s held in some kind of…solution. It’s like a gel. The outside is mechanical and works independently.”

“You wanted the mobility of a robotic leg without cutting your own off, huh?” Kana chuckled, “Suits you. Half-assed the recovery as well.”

“Don’t think I’m being nice, Sanada.” Kelsey ignored the remark and kept her eyes on her group member, “I’m only helping you cause that’s what RiRi would’ve wanted. Get out of here and do whatever you want to do, got it?”

“Hm. I know.”

“Don’t know it, you fucking idiot!” She pushed past the vocalist and snatched the keys from Jina’s hands. Walking straight to the lone door standing in the middle of the empty building, she started to unlock it. As she did, she continued to speak, “You didn’t want to be here in the first place, so you should have said it out loud. Nobody was forcing you to dance with us.”

“But your voices are so bad.” Sanada laughed, giving her a pat on the back as the door opened, “We wouldn’t have gotten here if I decided to quit, you know.”

“What’s so bad about that?” Kelsey gulped, pushing the door open. The cool breeze blew in. Beyond the girl, that familiar red landscape was waiting for their plan. She took the first step in, “It’s so easy to make decisions when it’s already too late, isn’t it? RiRi would still be alive.”

Kana groaned as she followed her. Even now, despite trying to do something good for once, she was a pain. Even now, she refused to accept even the smallest responsibility. Three days ago, Kana had been the sole person responsible for RiRi’s death. Now, Sanada was to blame as well. How many more hoops would she need to dive through, just to make herself feel better?

“She would also be alive if you hadn’t made her stand there that day, Kelsey.” Sanada was the one who brought it up once all of them were standing inside the Monster Dimension. The door closed behind them, but her sharp words continued to flow, “Don’t you think so?”

“What’s the plan?”

That was the only reply she got. Jina scoffed and took out the knife in her boots. They could not open their inventories without accessing their system, and doing that would alert the Coalition. If they wanted to get through this without any issues, they could not use their actual weapons in any way. What they brought with them would be their only tools.

Sanada had a small bag with her, out of which she pulled one of her performance dresses. With some work, she had managed to tear it up and put some blood on it. Her own blood, too. She had been collecting it by pricking her finger over and over, and finally had enough for some scraps. Once it took it out and passed it to Kana, she continued her soft, silent attack on Kelsey.

“Ignoring it won’t solve your problem, Kelsey. You are to blame, too, and it is about time you accepted that fact.”

“We are not here to discuss what happened that day. Give me that dress, and we’ll get to work.”

“That’s what I would say too, but you are the one who started this.” Sanada started following Kelsey, who had already started blindly walking in a random direction, “Run away now, and you will have nobody to blame but yourself. Again, that is.”

“So what?” She stopped, sighing, “I did it, alright? She died because of me. There, I said it. Are you happy? Now, give me that thing.”

Kelsey tried to take the dress from Kana, but she held on tight. Keeping it close to her, she changed the direction they were taking. As she walked, Jina and Sanada started following her at once. Left behind, Kelsey tried to keep up.

“If you don’t know the plan, then don’t act as if you do. Stay back and don’t interfere with our work.”

“Yeah, shut up, lackey. I’m surprised you can speak without your overlord allowing you to.”

“Kelsey, you control yourself, too. I thought we were not here to fight. You’re the one who just said it, right?”

“Oh, fuck you, Sanada. I shouldn’t have come here in the first place. I try to help someone once, and this is how they pay it back.”

“Then don’t help someone. Nobody asked you to, you blonde bitch.”

“Minami, I’m not interested in talking to you, alright? Just shut up and keep walking. I don’t exist for you, and you don’t exist for me!”

By the time they finally reached the cave, Kana was done with this little ragtag group. It would have been so much better if Kelsey hadn’t decided to join them, but here they were. She would have to deal with this all night.

That was what the plan called for, after all. To make the Coalition believe that Sanada had died, and to let her get out of the industry once and for all. The story was that she had come into the Monster Dimension for revenge against the three remaining special demons. She would then get killed by one of them, and her body dragged away.

Her system could come online only once, and that was in the morning. If it happened before that, the Coalition would be ready to interfere. In the morning, however, it would catch them off guard. The girls would have more than enough time to plant all of their clues and get away without any issues.

For now, they decided to halt in the same cave. Kelsey kept her bickering up once in a while, and Sanada tried to maintain a semblance of peace. Jina, hoping not to get caught up in the argument, did her best to stay sane. All Kana could do was count down the hours till the sun rose. But since that was taking too long, and the others didn’t show any sign of changing their personalities, she decided to step out for some time.

It was close to three in the morning, so the groups had already left. The Coalition, however, would still be nearby. Their work did not end until four or so. Kana stretched and let her body relax in the chill of this world. She looked up at the reddish sky and wondered what the universe looked like for these monsters.

The thought hadn’t entered her mind much, but she still remembered what she had seen. There had been two different groups of monsters fighting with each other. If nothing else, it would be a great card to play against Tanaka if she found out the truth first. In a place as mysterious as this, even the smallest bit of information had the potential to be revolutionary.

She yawned and sat down on the ground, wishing the time would pass more quickly. Then, she heard whispering. Kana stood up and took her own knife out. It was not whispering, no. The voices were just far away. She pushed herself against a rock and leaned to look into the distance.

The sounds became distinct, even though she saw nothing. Three of them in total. Sometimes, they were quietly discussing. Other times, they were laughing. One of those voices was painfully familiar. So much so that she found herself hoping it wasn’t true, even as the silhouettes of the girls became obvious.

A second after that, her worst fears were realized. They had been given free rein this week and were still trying more than necessary. How greedy could you get? Kana seethed and got on her knees, crawling back into the cave. As she took a deep breath, the others looked at her with confusion.

“Ruby Passion Jr.’s here. All three of them.”