Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: The Idol Beyond (8)
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"What? Cancel the contract? You're going to another agency? Fine. I'll expose right away that idol Riko was rolling in the brothels."
"........."
The girl was terrified.
More than their threats, it was the sense of betrayal her fans—who had loved her—would feel.
Having streamed for so long, she knew it all too well.
This kind of scandal was fatal to any broadcaster, explanations be damned.
Indiscriminate hate would come flooding in, and some of her subscribers were sure to point fingers at her.
But the fans' support was the one pillar Riko could lean on in this world.
If they all turned on her in contempt, abandoning her in an instant...
She was utterly terrified of sinking back into being a penniless orphan with nothing to her name.
So the girl forced herself to sign the unfair contract.
Only then did she realize Prism Studio was actually a money-laundering front set up by a violent downtown gang.
Their main gig was washing dirty cash through the donation systems of online streams.
Given their line of work, it was probably par for the course that they'd dig up dirt on their streamers and squeeze them dry.
After that, Prism Studio didn't keep Riko under obvious house arrest.
The invisible leash was always firmly in their grip anyway.
Still, she could bear it. As long as she had her fans, Riko told herself she could hold on.
She didn't want to disappoint the people who cared for her by admitting how hard things were.
So she pushed herself to put on her old bright persona during streams and endured for the past few years.
But now, it felt like she just couldn't anymore.
"Wh-what do you mean?! A stadium?!"
The incident blew up out of nowhere. The agency had booked her a solo concert at a massive stadium without her consent.
And for that colossal show, they offered zero support. They pretty much left her to rot as the date loomed, starting only with ticket sales.
Once Riko found out, she was dumbfounded.
'This is insane...!'
A concert that size was a make-or-break moment for her streaming career. It demanded meticulous prep, backing, and planning.
Even starting right now, time was razor-thin.
Yet the company still refused to provide any real help.
By then, Riko had pieced together the truth bit by bit.
The violent gang behind the agency urgently needed a mountain of cash.
So they'd decided to throw her to the wolves.
Trading her credibility and shelf life as an idol for quick ticket bucks.
To the company, their talents were just livestock. Sure, you could shear the wool and milk them forever—but if the owner was starving, you'd slaughter and toss 'em.
If her hunch was right, Riko was next on the chopping block because of their mess.
This path led straight to ruin.
A stadium gig with no prep whatsoever.
It wouldn't be a stage—it'd be a public execution in front of millions of fans.
One day, drowning in despair, she let a sliver of her true feelings slip during a stream.
Broadcast ban hit immediately.
"Don't pull any stunts. Stay put until showtime. Or you'll see something ugly—listen up."
They were genuine thugs from "headquarters," faces like carved stone, desperate for cash yesterday.
Frozen in fear, Riko could only nod.
With even her last lifeline—chatting with fans—cut off,
she felt like she was truly suffocating. Like she wasn't even alive anymore.
'Can things get any worse from here...?'
They could.
There's always a deeper hell in the pit of despair.
'Eve.'
A friend she'd met just once, but who clicked perfectly.
A connection she'd instinctively known could turn into real friendship.
And now she'd dragged her straight into this quagmire—with her own two hands.
'Why? How could I...'
Back at the café, watching Manager Barnes pitch the contract to Eve with that sleazy grin, Riko's spine had turned to ice.
It was the exact same playbook they'd run on her.
Praise the talent, dangle sweet promises, and in the end...
'No...'
Despair crashed over her again.
It all felt like her fault—a gut-wrenching guilt clawed at her chest.
Then a thought struck her out of nowhere.
She might be doomed, but that girl still had time.
Time to dig up dirt, threaten, and lock her into an exploitative contract.
Before they could,
she had to get Eve out somehow.
The innocent friend she'd lured here by mistake.
That's why Riko now stood on the company rooftop.
Cold night wind whipped her pink hair.
Perched on the railing's edge at that stomach-dropping height, she gazed down at the city lights with hollow eyes.
"........."
A five-story building—not towering, which made the drop feel all too real and terrifying.
Her legs shook uncontrollably.
This was the final warning she could send her friend.
To spot the red flags and bail before it was too late.
'No studio could cover up a mess this big.'
But that wasn't the whole story.
Truth was... she was exhausted. Beyond exhausted.
Riko hadn't seen a proper payout in years.
Crashing in the agency's dingy single room, forcing smiles for the viewers.
She didn't even know if her perky "Riko" act was still a character—or if it had become her.
She just didn't want to smile anymore.
'I just... want to rest.'
And with that, Riko took the step off the roof.
That's when she spotted someone exiting the building.
".....!"
But her foot had already left the rail. No turning back.
In that heart-stopping freefall, she squeezed her eyes shut on reflex.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ As I stepped out of Prism Studio, I couldn't hide my tangled emotions.
The terms they offered and the contract's surface looked solid enough.
But everything I'd seen there screamed something's off.
'What is it? Where's the catch?'
Deep in thought as I exited the building—
something caught my eye in the corner of my vision. Something plummeting.
"......!"
I nearly yelped.
Before I could even scream, Esty beside me launched like a bolt.
A heavy thud echoed as she caught the falling figure midair.
A face I knew well—Riko, from just minutes ago.
"....!"
Even caught, the impact had knocked her out cold for a moment.
I rushed over and hit the fallen Riko with my power.
Shaa—
As the brief glow of light faded, Riko finally cracked her eyes open cautiously.
Staring blankly at me, she mumbled in a daze.
"Angel...? Is this... heaven...?"
I rubbed my still-thundering chest and gripped her shoulders.
"What the hell were you thinking...!"
My shout startled her.
Then, like snapping out of a dream, she scanned around and muttered,
"Huh... I'm... alive?"
Once Riko came around, we got the full story.
I replayed it with a distant look.
"So... Riko, you've been exploited for years by a crime syndicate's agency, and to warn me—to tank the deal you got me into—you jumped on purpose?"
She nodded limply.
"I... I wasn't really trying to die... Just figured a fall and a broken leg might cancel the concert..."
I could only sigh at that.
What do you even do with this? Was Riko always like this?
"Haa... You thought I'd fall for it that easily? Hell, who throws themselves under the bus like this just to help someone out with one tip? You're way too damn nice for your own good..."
"........."
For some reason, Esty beside me was staring right at me.
I tilted my head at her gaze.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"....."
Anyway, no need to dig deeper at this point.
"Riko."
"...Yeah."
"Don't ever pull something like this again. I'll fix it all."
"Huh...?"
She just blinked at me, baffled.
But I'd already decided.
Rescuing every random person I bump into might look pointless on the surface.
But those detours had somehow gotten me this far.
I'd built the church. Recruited hordes of followers.
If I'd ignored those chance encounters back then, I'd never have found this shortcut.
My endgame's still getting back to my original world... but staring only at that might be too distant a road.
So on the way home, if I spot someone suffering—and I've got the bandwidth to help—why not lend a hand? Isn't that part of the trip too?
I met Riko's eyes dead-on.
"We'll take care of it for you, Riko."
Those words snapped her alert. Trembling, she waved her hands frantically.
"W-wait! No way! Prism was built by the Black Dog Gang! They're terrifying! Eve... I'm fine, really... You just get out quick while you can..."
That name put me on instant alert.
Not 'cause I knew it—quite the opposite. Total unknown.
This real-world shift had blind spots my game knowledge couldn't cover.
So maybe... the Black Dog Gang was way bigger than I'd guess.
"......"
As I steeled myself for what was coming,
Esty's golden eyes gleamed. Jacking into the net for intel, no doubt.
Moments later, she compiled and murmured her report.
"Black Dog crew... Standard downtown local gang profile. Around 250 members. Decent size locally. Main racket: illegal gambling."
"........."
I waited for more, but she stopped there.
Flustered, I prodded.
"That's it? No big corp ties?"
"None confirmed. Scale and manpower don't match corporate cleanup crew material."
"City hall or ODPD connections?"
"......."
"Not even cartel-backed by multiple big gangs...?"
"......."
"H-how many elite mercs do they have on payroll...? What, zero?"
The parade of curveballs left me gaping back, dumbfounded.
"For real...?"