Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

11:28

Netsolnia

Akiko Hara Enters Netsolnia with 22 Accompanying Idols

The girls who got paired with Ruby Passion were, possibly, the happiest people to step into the Monster Dimension. All three of them, trying their best to talk to Akiko and share their excitement, stuck as close to their two seniors as possible. For a group like them, who did not even get to see an audience of more than a couple hundred on a good day, Ruby Passion was nothing less than their absolute dream.

Kana found it all revolting. Just seeing them hop around Akiko as if she were some god to be revered made her grit her teeth. It took all of her willpower to contain the frustrated tides within her and focus on the job. She was here to understand what Akiko wanted, and nothing else. Jina reminded her of that with a smile. They were here for a reason.

Nobuko Kimura had been sure that something was going to go down. Something that was so dangerous, according to her, that she had decided it would be safest for Kana to stay home for the day. The only issue was that things like those were out of Kana’s comprehension. No matter how hard she tried, she could not think of a single thing that scared her.

A month or so ago, Akiko Hara would have been that person. She would have gotten on her nerves and made her stop in her tracks. But today was different. That ringing in her ear was gone once more, and she had someone to prove wrong. The spite alone could drive her to the very end of this tale.

“Cold~” Jina moaned, shivering and rubbing her body. Atlas laughed and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

The Monster Dimension did seem colder than before. Even Kana could feel that, even though she had been here quite recently. She just couldn’t decide if that drop in temperature was real or psychological.

Either way, the Fluorescent Angels were well-equipped to deal with it. Instead of their usual flashy clothes, they had decided to go with plain black tracksuits that could provide ease of movement, along with some thin body armor on top. Their individual colors were still maintained by the accents on the seams, though. That made Kana think that these might be their practice outfits.

Everyone had come here wearing casual clothes, after all. The Nozoki Neko girls had gone with jeans and t-shirts, which Marie claimed were more than comfortable. Something to do with the material. Kana and Jina had followed the same design philosophy since they had come from the same building this morning.

Ruby Passion Jr., meanwhile, had decided to wear shorts of all things. Denim shorts paired with long cotton dusters and t-shirts underneath. It was their seniors who had decided to break the rules. Akiko Hara and Yuko Suzuki, for some reason, were wearing their regular competition and performance outfits.

Flashy, loud, grand. Their long skirts trailed behind them as they walked through the Monster Dimension’s wasteland with that signature haughtiness. Akiko still had no weapon, while Yuko had already started checking the surroundings for any enemies. Both of them wore the same light purple that they circled to once every few weeks. Ruby Passion never repeated the same colors in a week. If possible, not even in a month.

Eventually, Akiko stopped and turned to take a look at everyone. With a grin on her face, she raised her hand and gave them a thumbs up.

“We can split up now. See you all back here in two hours. Please make sure that you don’t go in the same direction as one of the other three groups!”

And with that, Akiko Hara’s friendly competition had begun.

_____________

Kana had to try her best not to punch Atlas in the face.

The monsters had come in hordes, but they were easier than usual this time around. Probably because they had been out of practice. The same went for the girls, by all means, but their constant dance practices meant there was a certain level of flexibility and energy that was still not lost.

In all that time, as they kept blasting and slicing the monsters rushing towards them, the leader of Fluorescent Angles insisted on sticking close to Kana. She had sent Jina to Neptune and Saturn, since they would also require melee support. Atlas herself was doing her utmost to ensure that Kana was not attacked by any enemies while she blasted them into smithereens from afar or used her Portable Landmine to set up traps.

Why was she angry, then? There was a nostalgic high in seeing the demons splatter across the floor as they died, and the number on her weapons went up. But instead of reveling in it like usual, all she really wanted to do was find a way out. If she let herself be consumed by the fighting, she would never be able to find where Ruby Passion went and what they were doing. And the number one obstacle in her way of finding out that answer was not the demons. It was Atlas.

Aya Sumimori, as she was governmentally known. It had been a surprise to realize that she had such a simple, normal name when she usually went by a performer name so heavy. Her grace did not quite fit the mythological, epic name she had picked, but that was besides the point.

What Kana needed to do was find a way out of the circle of protection Atlas had created and find Akiko Hara. She would need Jina’s support for that, too. But the idiot with the wolf cut was enjoying herself far too much while gossiping with the other girls. It was a shame that Kana had been placed with a bunch of idiots. This would have been much easier with any other team.

All the Fluorescent Angels really knew how to do was quit, after all.

“Mind’s not in the game?” Atlas asked, stepping closer as she switched to her axe and lodged it in the ground for support. The current wave had been wiped out, so they had some time to rest. “Something happened?”

“No. Nothing. Don’t worry.” Kana placed a couple of landmines and waited for the approaching demons to write their deaths with their own feet. “Or, no. Screw that. Don’t you feel like it’s a bit boring to just stay here and kill them as they come?”

“Minami, your entire strategy during the competition was to stay here and kill them as they come.” She clapped back. “Clearly something is wrong if you’re not entertained by your own usual tricks.”

“First of all, it’s not even close to the same.” Kana sighed, wondering why the others just couldn’t use their brains. “And second…I just mean that if we’re here to celebrate what we used to do, maybe we shouldn’t be operating like this is just another one of our training ranges.”

It was still fine for them to be dumb, though. Others being dumb helped her out in more ways than one. Like manipulating them with lies, so that they would follow her wherever, for instance.

“Guys, Minami’s bored. Suggests we roam around a little.” Atlas gave her a pat on the back and screamed at the other three.

“Yes! Yes!” Jina turned first and jumped up and down in excitement. Kana was grateful for the support, but she didn’t know if it was fine to be happy. After all, it was entirely possible that she was jumping out of actual joy and not just trying to help her out.

The other two girls, Neptune and Saturn, also nodded and killed off the few monsters who were still nearby. As they were dealt with, the horde approaching from the horizon hit the barrier of landmines Kana had put up and caused a cacophony of explosions. The mines flew into the air and blasted in their faces, giving off enough energy to shred them all.

Using the cover of smoke, blood, and fire that followed, the five girls made their way out of the monsters’ visual range. Leading them was Kana, as she walked in the general direction where Akiko and Yuko had headed with the other three girls.

It was fun to remember that she did not need to be violent all the time. In fact, this was how it had all started way back then. Just her and her words pushed to their limits, tricking the Fluorescent Angels into helping Kana fulfill her plans. It made her even more nostalgic than the weapons in her hand.

Eventually, as they covered distance, the tall, looming rocks that had been a part of the horizon just moments ago came into focus. They had already moved past the boundary of the original competition’s map and were making their way into uncharted territory. For them, at least. The soldiers and their patrols had probably already reached even deeper than this.

If she were to show this scenery to Yamazaki, the chances of his recognizing it were high. The man had turned into an absolute force of nature when it came to his information-collecting abilities. He had even told them about all of those cities that this place apparently had. She wondered if Akiko knew about them. She probably did. She had to have known.

“It’s dangerous, you know?” Neptune noted, getting closer to Kana. “Our president told us this morning before we left. She was giving us warnings about how these areas have only gotten more dangerous. Told us that it would be wiser if we stayed away and did not get involved further.”

“Classic scare tactics,” Saturn whispered. She was a woman of few words.

Atlas nodded and added on, “She said that they had only recently found out about it, and she was worried about us. But realistically, it’s just because Kenji Tanaka is pissed off about Akiko doing this.”

“You know about their fighting?” Jina asked.

“Who doesn’t?” Atlas laughed at the very idea of the question. “Everyone in the industry knows that Akiko and Kenji are always locking horns. It’s just that they usually end up making up on good terms. Both of them respect each other a lot.”

“I don’t know about that…” The goth girl shook her head.

That got some attention from the other girls, but she waved it off and kept walking. The density of monsters had decreased a lot as they got closer to Akiko’s potential location. Because they all but disappeared some time after dying, there wasn’t even any physical proof of their culling.

It wasn’t until they had reached far enough ahead to be extremely confused that Kana finally saw some bodies on the ground. Next to a massive, towering red boulder were the completely lifeless corpses of some monsters. They had made it here faster than they could disappear, which meant that Ruby Passion were probably not far.

“You know, I always did wonder why they just disappear like that,” Saturn said as the bodies got closer. “It’s kind of creep…y…”

Her words trailed off at the same moment as Kana felt a chill run down her spine. Atlas put her weapons away, and so did Jina. Both of them ran forward together, rushing to check on the bodies that they had thought were demons just moments ago. Kana put her own weapon away, but looked from afar.

Even from this distance, she could make out the faces of the girls who had been so excited to be with Akiko and Yuko about an hour ago. She gulped and looked away as her eyes moistened. Not out of sadness or agony or sympathy, but out of rage. Her body shook as she walked closer to the boulder, still maintaining some distance from the girls.

“Demons.” Atlas looked at them and shook her head. “No pulse.”

12:47

Velvet Beats and Fluorescent Angels find three corpses

Dead. All three, dead.

“How the fuck is that possible? They were with Yuko.” Neptune stated with both anger and despair. “They had fucking Akiko Hara on their side!”

As she walked to the bodies, leaving an emotionless Saturn behind, Kana looked away from all of them. In the distance, she spotted six more girls getting closer. Even from here, she could make out the beret of Nobuko Kimura.

Looking at them, two of the girls waved and started running to get closer. Hiromi Kitani and Hanae Miura reached Kana with a grin, but soon found it impossible to keep them on. By the time Marie and the members of Ruby Passion Jr. reached the scene of the deaths, the two girls had already walked away and were vomiting somewhere far away.

“Told you…” Nobuko mumbled as she got closer. “I told you, Minami. I told you not to come here!”

With that final line, she shifted to a scream. Pushing Kana into the rock behind her, she hastily made her way to the dead girls to check on them. Atlas made way for the girl as she crouched and checked the bodies for signs of damage. Kana pushed herself up with no anger for Kimura in her mind. Instead, she took a deep breath and finally went up to the bodies.

“Akiko…” Shoko looked on in horror at the bodies, shaking as much as Kana had been.

“If they’re dead, then something must have happened to her, too,” Atlas claimed, looking at her to see if any answers could be found.

“That’s not what she means.” Nobuko scowled and stood up. As she walked away from the rock and turned with her weapon drawn, every one of their eyes was on her. “That bitch has a sword she collected from one of the monsters in her room at all times. Not that difficult to hide it in your inventory, is it?”

Marie shook her head. “I am sorry, Kimura-san. What are you trying to suggest?”

“Oh, shut up.” She put her hand on the trigger and aimed at the rock. “She fucking killed them. Akiko killed them. Don’t act like you don’t understand what I’m trying to suggest! And get away from that damn rock. Every single one of you!”

Kana walked with the others as they moved out of the gun’s range and stood behind Nobuko Kimura. All ten of them waited behind the girl as she adjusted her shaking hand and finally shot.

“I found this video on her laptop when I went to call her for practice a few days ago,” Nobuko explained. “And in it…was that.”

The boulder next to the dead bodies had exploded. Not all of it, but a sizable chunk. Nobuko’s Theoretical Class had done considerable damage to it and revealed what hid behind.

A doorway that opened to a corridor of stairs leading downwards.

12:53

Eleven idols follow Akiko Hara and Yuko Suzuki into the Netsolnian facility