The idol dressed in a bright pink dress with white frills looked straight into the camera and waved her hand, dimpling with a smile that showed off her pearly-white teeth and distinct tongue-out cheekiness.

  “Kana Minami, Ward F. Please state your motivations and specialties for the audience!”

  She stopped waving, gave them a cute laugh, and started, “I am Kana Minami from Ward F! I want to join an idol group, and get the most, most money possible. I want to live in the biggest apartment in Neo-Edo and sip on some wine in comfort.”

  The cameraman laughed, “That’s a bit materialistic, isn’t it? What about your fans and your singing?”

  “Huh?” She put a hand on her chin, and then stuck her tongue out again, “I am already the greatest singer who ever lived, so of course my fans will be happy! But I am so, so poor, and need some cash, and need it quick. My mom will kick me out of my house because I quit school, too. Hehe.”

  “Hehe? That sounds radically difficult.”

  “I only do things that are hard. In more ways than one, hehe! Plus, I’ve got my bombs with me, so I’m about to put on the greatest fireworks show you have ever seen in your lives. Hold on to your seats, won’t you? Vote for me; gimme a contract!”

  “That was Kana Minami from Ward F. Please keep her in mind if you intend to sign her.”

  With that, the cameraman moved on to the next girl in line, and she put on a smile next, listing out her dreams to become the most beloved idol and give people hope. Such naivete. As if she was going to save the world or something. The only thing that could be saved was yourself.

  And the only thing that could save someone was a shit ton of cash, and the most lavish lifestyle of all time.

  Kana took one glance at all the girls who had given their introductions before her. Seven of them. After her, there were ten more girls. Seventeen competitors in total, and all of them had some or the other power given to them. She put her hand up to look at the purple customized screen which popped.

  A cute baby panda in the corner of the screen was chomping on some sugarcane. He looked up and waved at her, and she waved back. Then, she swiped through the weapons which were currently available to her. The Bomber class started with a simple grenade launcher, and she had already levelled that up to 5 in the training course.

  The other weapon she had was a railgun, but that was still at Level 1 and could shoot only once. Using it tonight might get it to Level 2 and help her more later. She put the screen down and checked once more. About five minutes for the gate to open.

  “Kana-chan?”

  “Yesh?” She immediately held on to her right ponytail and turned to the girl on her left.

  “I love your hair, Kana-chan! The twin ponytails are very cute.” She said, totally not flexing her pink wolf cut, “What class are you?”

  “Bomber! What about you? What’s your name?”

  “I am Jina! Jina Ohara.” She smiled in her full-length black dress. “I am a Melee class! All the best, alright?”

  “You too, Ohara-san.”

  “You can call me Jina, it’s no worries.”

  “Alright…Ohara-san.”

  The girl looked down with disappointment and turned away. Kana had seen girls like these a dime a dozen in her time at the training center. Now that she was representing her own center and looking at the seventeen other representatives of their own wards, she was realizing just how similar they all were.

  Jina would probably try to team up with her once the monsters started attacking, and then stab her in the back to claim all her points. One benefit the Melee class had was that they could not be tracked down. A slash could have been from either their sword or a monster’s sword. Nobody would find out if the cameras weren’t pointed at them.

  But, well, even the Bomber class had advantages. She could blast this bitch into a million pieces, push her tongue out, and then claim it was a teeny tiny mistake. Which it would be, of course. Kana wouldn’t dream of killing someone else. Not in reality. Her dreams and imagination were fine, though. She had killed a million people in them already.

  Jack the Ripper of the Land of Dreams, if you will.

  The lights, which had been adjusted to the broken columns in the ruins, all moved to one girl each. The announcer with the camera rushed to the middle of the pack and took a wide shot covering them all.

  “All right, agency recruiters! The fight begins now. The girls will step into the alternate dimension and put on a show! You can watch them all as our professional crew follows along in a helicopter, and pick who you want at the end!”

  The dark red wooden gate that stood imposing over them in a part of the ruins slowly started to open. Kana held her breath and checked her weapons once more. The grenade launcher had infinite ammo. The railgun had a single shot. All she needed, really. Creaking to reveal the barren red lands of the dimension hidden behind it, the gate finally fully opened, and the girls started to walk.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  In a file, one by one, they entered the gate and ran further in. Above them, multiple helicopters adjusted their positions to also slowly enter the other world with their camera crews.

  “Just as a reminder, the gate will be closed once they all step in, and the girls will be left all alone for two hours. The cameras will try to capture every single one of them for at least fifteen minutes each! Now, let the auditions begin!”

  Kana stepped inside, and the atmosphere immediately changed. The chill of the monster dimension hit her at once. And even though she had experience from the specialized simulation rooms in the training centers, the actual thing was like nothing else. It was like the air was not just covering her body with the coldness, but biting into it.

  She took a deep breath, shuddered, and looked at the screen in her hand once more. With a single click, Kana brought herself back to a more familiar position and territory.

  Weapon Selected

  Grenade Launcher

  Level 5

  The massive weapon slowly materialized in her hands out of the void. Purple, glitchy blocks created every inch – from the trigger to the handle to the massive barrel. Once she was grabbing it with both of her hands, a smile spread across Kana’s face. Even as the door closed behind her, she knew that she could handle this. Just holding things put such confidence in her. Whether it be guns or mics.

  A shrill cry ran through the red sky and pierced through their ears the moments the doors fully shut. The helicopters lost some control, but managed to stay aloft. The pilots were used to this by now. Kana looked up in the sky and noticed a massive flying demon heading towards them.

  It looked very much like a pterosaur, but with a poison-yellow body and a wingspan that could cover the entire length of the Dome at once. It locked onto the nearest helicopter, blaring its sirenous screams as a warning on multiple fronts. But the cameras were way too focused on their reactions. The other girls had run off to find more easy-to-kill monsters that gave higher points.

  Kana ran forward, waving her hand and jumping up in the air, doing tricks to attract attention. With a cutesy jump, putting both of her legs in the air, she finally got the camera on her and pointed at the flying demon with her tongue out again. The cameraman moved to cover it in the shot.

  Right then, switching her expression back to normal, she aimed her launcher at the enemy and shot. Perfect aim, perfect angle, perfect…everything.

  “Grenade…Blast!” She timed the announcer voice perfectly with the projectile hitting the monster’s wing. Kana went tumbling backwards due to the recoil, skidding against the ground to maintain her balance. The resulting orange blast sent waves through the air as the helicopter reversed, and the camera turned back to her.

  Putting her fingers in a horizontal V and close to her eyes, she posed and then turned away, starting to run towards the falling demon.

  Flying Hit +25

  Moving Enemy +25

  Wing Shot +15

  Wing shot? Kana did not even know there were extra points for a wing shot. That changed things! She aimed the launcher up once more and sent another blast towards the second wing. It blew up and redirected the half-dead demon a bit to the left. Kana changed her position and ran for the new drop area.

  Moving Enemy +25

  Wing Shot +15

  105 points already! This is what life was about. Money, money, points, cash!

  She laughed and aimed her launcher once more. But then, out of nowhere, a black blur with a pink hue appeared from the size and jumped into the air. At once, the falling demon was cut into four pieces and fell to the ground, dead. The figure landed on the floor with the black blood all over her and waved to Kana.

  “Thank you, Kana-chan! Teamwork is the best, isn’t it!?”

  Jina laughed.

  Kana internally groaned and shifted her expression to a silent, calculating one. The camera was still not on her, so she took the advantage to bluntly ask, “How many points was it?”

  “Ah? Just 300! Funny how we get fewer points when we are working together, but it's so, so fun. Right!?”

  The camera moved to Kana, and she immediately put on a wide grin, “Yes, Jina! Thank you so much! Good luck for the rest.”

  Then, she turned and started running away to find a different enemy. Fucking kill-stealing bitch. She had looked so cool, too. Jumping straight into a monster like that and slashing it like she was some action-shonen protagonist. The black blood also blended with her dress and made her hair look like it matched her dress.

  Kana groaned and kept running. Fine. She didn’t need the points anyway. This little demo was not for the points. It was for selling herself as a girl who could both perform and charm audiences, and fight the demon-monster-alien threat. Whatever these creatures were supposed to be.

  So, she decided to change things up a bit. Putting the gun back into the void, she looked at the screen on her hand and clicked on the small cardboard box next to the tiny panda. The inventory screen opened up, and she looked at the only two things in there. One, a letter from her sister. Two, a speaker she could wear on her neck.

  She selected the second one, and it appeared in her hands. Slinging it over her neck, she brought the grenade launcher out once more. Turning the speaker on, she put on her favorite playlist, and a pop idol song started to blare through the entire dimension. A few girls around her looked in her direction, confused. Kana kept running.

  Then, once the camera finally got back to her antics, she looked at it, pulled her grenade launcher up, and shot another approaching rhino-like demon. At the same time, she harmonized with the song and kicked her legs up in a little dance. Far away, the rhino blew up into a thousand pieces, and the flesh and blood hit her too, covering her pink dress with black splotches.

  Monster Kill +30

  Explosion +15

  Take all the points you wanted from her. She didn’t care. Kana was going to become an idol. She was going to live in the greatest apartment in Neo-Edo with the most luxurious of amenities. And she was going to put on a stylish show while doing it all. Covered in blood and smiling for the camera, she started her journey.