Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Parallel Worlds and Idols (4)
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Click—. Just as the broadcast had announced, the stairwell door that hadn't budged at all swung open effortlessly.
I followed the spacious stairs, where my footsteps echoed loudly, up to the third floor.
"Pretty normal, huh...?"
Unlike the second floor, which had been utterly deserted yet carried a dreamlike haze, the third floor felt like a proper dormitory, buzzing faintly with signs of human presence.
As soon as I stepped onto the third floor, the door leading back to the stairs locked behind me, of course.
Guess I have to unravel the mysteries here too.
...
Recalling the trainee rules I'd seen on the second floor, I began exploring the third.
Unlike the second floor, where room 208 had been open, every dorm room door on this floor was locked tight.
Instead, the women's communal restroom, bathroom, and changing room were unlocked.
And, for some odd reason, there was a water purifier plunked down at the end.
"...Rules 3 and 4, right?"
"Record your weight in the changing room..., and red water comes from the purifier...?"
I headed to the changing room first to check my weight.
"...Found it!"
A digital scale, like the ones in bathhouses, sat in the corner. I stepped on it right away.
"...Is this good enough?"
Surprised by how light I was, I looked around for a log sheet or something.
"Guess I write it here."
There was a form right next to the scale. I scribbled in my name and weight.
[Iru-a. 25kg]
Holding the pen in my hand made my handwriting a total mess.
...But I'd used my hand instead of my tail, just like Mi-ra Owner taught me, so it was fine.
Anyway.
Weight logged. Nothing more to do here.
Even with a deadline, someone as light as me wouldn't trip it up.
"Next up... drink some water?"
I approached the hulking water purifier nearby and pressed the dispense button.
Glug-glug—. Clear water flowed out.
Just normal water for now...
"...Meeng."
I held the button for another 30 seconds, but no red water—just more clear stuff. Same with the hot water button.
"Always...?"
Wondering if there was another way, I took another bite of the convenience store burger I'd just started on.
The factory-fresh burger scent refreshed my mind, filling my mouth.
Maybe it's probability-based? I pondered while tapping the button with my tail.
Bam—!
Suddenly, something thudded against one of the closed dorm doors.
"Weng...?"
What was that sound?
Someone inside making noise?
Or an illusion from an anomaly?
No solid info yet. I pocketed my burger and crouched low.
Whatever it was, if it got in my way, I'd just eliminate it.
"I'm so hungry..."
As I tensed for battle, a weary human voice drifted from beyond the door.
"I just want something to eat... for real..."
"...Meeng?"
A voice I'd never heard before.
Not Mi-ra Owner, and definitely not any MooD:iN member.
"Hello...?"
I knocked lightly on the door to make my presence known.
Someone being here could be a new clue.
"...Yeah. Are you... the new recruit...?"
Ten seconds of silence, then a weak reply.
Me, a recruit?
"Yeah... I'm the new recruit."
Fibbing seemed the way to keep the conversation going.
"Really...? Uh... got any food?"
"Food?"
Food, huh.
I did have that convenience store burger I'd swiped from Grandpa for hungry times.
"I do... kinda."
Handing over my burger felt iffy, but her voice was so drained, I told the truth.
Click—.
The door cracked open suddenly, and a skeletal arm poked out.
"Could you... give it to me?"
The arm, bones practically visible, waved around demanding food.
...
I knew it for sure.
That wasn't a human hand.
"Please... I've been on nothing but water and bananas for the end-of-month eval... I feel like I'm dying..."
Even so, the pitiful arm stirred my sympathy, anomaly or not.
...What kind of end-of-month eval starves people this bad?
"...Even if it's half-eaten?"
"Anything... If I don't eat now, I'm really gonna die..."
I reluctantly handed over the half burger, swallowing my regret.
For escape, it was a necessary sacrifice—but it still hurt like hell.
...Farewell, burger. I'll miss you...
"Thanks... really, thank you...!"
The hand snatched the burger and vanished inside. I heard frantic munching sounds.
Then silence. I tilted my head and knocked again.
"Hello? ...Huh?"
She didn't collapse from the burger, did she?
"Uh, Owner...?"
As I puzzled, another door at the hall's end opened, and a young Mi-ra Owner stepped out.
"Haa... Making us live on water and bananas for end-of-month evals is too much..."
Unlike her usual pep, she was irritable, biting her lower lip.
"Gotta slip some nutrients into the purifier... What if everyone collapses...?"
I approached her, but she walked right past me like I was invisible and fiddled with the purifier.
"...Like this? Heave-ho..."
She dismantled it and pulled out the water tank.
"Dump the nutrients in here...?"
She poured in all her powdered high-concentrate nutrients.
...
I watched silently as she stirred to keep it from clumping.
I'd pegged the red water as blood from the rules...
Turns out it was just Mi-ra Owner secretly spiking it with nutrients.
Stressed from evals herself, yet caring for the others without fanfare...
Young Mi-ra Owner was like a superhuman—unbreakable spirit and mindset.
"Miss Luna... Until we meet again, don't give up. Keep pushing!"
She reassembled the purifier, steeled herself, and headed back to her room.
"...Luna."
Luna again.
Impossible to ignore now.
Mi-ra Owner's little sister's name was Luna.
"Why keep showing the past...?"
This anomaly trapping me here was flashing back through her history.
What was Mi-ra Owner's sister Luna trying to show me?
"...First, drink the water."
With the red water's secret confirmed, I quickly followed rule 5.
Glug-glug—. Pressing the button dispensed the nutrient-tinted red water. I cupped some in my hands and took a sip.
"Pfft! Bleh! Ptoo!"
Unable to stomach even water without burgers, my body rejected the nutrient water too.
"Keh... What's left on the third floor?"
I wiped my mouth and slowly looked up.
Second floor: Mi-ra Owner's interview.
Third: A glimpse of her trainee days.
...
Putting it together, the rules on the second-floor bulletin might be Mi-ra Owner's past.
...Which meant rules 5 through 8 weren't simple.
"Rule 5... was about the stalker..."
With 1 through 4 done, next was stalker rule 5.
"A stalker for a trainee...?"
.
.
The question of how a pre-debut trainee gets a stalker cleared up fast.
"Uh, excuse me... Mi-ra...? Could you open the door?"
A shady guy appeared out of nowhere, knocking on Mi-ra Owner's dorm door.
He matched the rules: hat, mask, black coat.
...Topped off with a massive mouth for a face—grotesque.
"I've been a fan since you joined the agency... Can't we talk just once...? Please?"
His masked mouth twisted weirdly.
He kept knocking until she responded.
"I already made a banner to cheer you on... Even started a fan cafe...!"
No answer. He knocked harder.
"Mi-ra! I'm your first fan! Yeah! Just one autograph! No...! Let me see your face, please!! When you debut, I'll buy hundreds of albums!! Go to fansigns! Airport! Even home visits!"
"Get lost!"
Bam-bam—! As he persisted, her exhausted voice finally rang out.
"I-I'm calling security...! Why come all the way here?! Huh?!"
"Security...!? Why? I'm just here as a fan..."
"Fan...? Sneaking into the building makes you a stalker...! Not a fan!"
Her pushback made his huge mouth twitch.
"Me... a stalker? No way...! I know the day you joined the agency...! That you top end-of-month evals...! Even your broadcast test! How am I a stalker? Huh?!"
He rambled like the idea was absurd.
"Just talk once...! Where else you got fans like me?!"
"I don't need fans like you!!"
Thud—!
She kicked the door from inside. Silence followed the boom.
"Wha-what...?"
"Scram. Or I'll tell the police... no, the boss. Sue you legally for everything."
At her limit, she threatened. The stalker didn't flee—instead, he laughed hollowly.
"Fuck what?! Me! Not a fan?! You bitch!! How much money have I spent on you!! How many EM Entertainment shares did I buy because of you!!"
He yanked the handle like he'd break it, mouth gaping wide as he spewed curses.
"So hard to meet once, huh?! Talking to a talentless whore hard for a blind retard like me?! I dump cash 'cause I'm crazy—consumer like that's a retard?!"
Sounded logical at first glance.
But missed the key point.
"Hey."
"Wh-who're you...?"
"Who are you to harass our boss?"
Healthy idol-fan relations respect boundaries.
Idols are human too—real fans don't stalk every move.
"You! Who are you interrupting me and Mi-ra?!"
"Me? Building security."
Follow the rule: security handles stalkers.
Or tweak it—I'm security now.
"Gack...!"
I wrapped my tail around his throat as his gaping maw lunged, hoisting him up.
"No one needs fans like you, not a hundred, not a thousand."
"Guh... grrrk!!"
"So die."
He flailed grotesquely to loosen my tail, but it only tightened.
I felt his spine crunching through my tail.
Whoosh—.
I blasted him with hellfire, reducing him to ash in an instant.
"Pathetic pest..."
I shook the dust off my tail and spat.
Mi-ra Owner suffered stalkers like that in the past... It tore at my heart.
"Um..."
"...Meeng?"
The door creaked open cautiously as things settled. Mi-ra Owner peeked out.
"Thank you, security sir... You saved me..."
She bowed deeply, sincere.
...This time, she saw me as security.
"Heh heh... No problem, boss... er, trainee?"
"I'm fine... That guy's hounded me for a month... Finally rid of the headache..."
"We'll handle the rest. Rest up."
"Yes... Thank you..."
I legally patted her head and watched her return to her room.
...Trainee rule 5 complete.
Just 6 through 9 left...
All third-floor trainee rules done, it seemed—the lights went out shortly after the announcement.
"...Owner."
Following her past grew heavier in my chest. I moved on to the next rule.