Chapter 145 – Question (4)

[… It is number 1527. The rating was Silver.]
“Aha…”

To say that she is only silver in the 1000th, when Esther was a magical girl, she was not even able to enter live broadcasts.
Wouldn’t there be no right to vote in the voting within the fan club?
In comparison, I was a special member with a golden badge given only to 500 people and the highest membership level.

The reason why I am surprised by the number 100 is because it is great if it is great and not a big deal if it is not a big deal.
Esther’s fan club number is the same as before she became a magical girl and when she was active as an idol.
I was interested in the fact that a rookie idol appeared even though it was a chaotic world where negative things attacked Esther, who did not receive much attention at the time, and had joined the fan club.

After that, Esther awakened as a magical girl and the number of her fan club members increased, but among the first 500 members, regardless of membership level, they received special treatment.
Among the initial 500 members, I am one of the elite members who steadily maintained her VIP membership after Esther became a magical girl and gradually raised her rank.
She didn’t maintain her VIP rank with pure affection for Esther like No. 1 or No. 88, but on the surface, it could be said that she was no different from them.

“Now, wait… Were you a real fan?”
[At that level, I’m not a fan… It’s more like a stalker.]

After listening to it from the side, Grape, who was surprised, said the words, and the drone replied with disgust on its own.
Stalker, after all, it’s only silver rank, so it’s rude.
How can you say such stupid things about a crappy grade subject that is not even true?
If he said something like that in the fan club chat, he would have immediately asked the manager to stop it.

[What kind of problem did you pay? Can you tell me at least what you remember? Personally, I’m making an answer manual…]
“Answer manual? Why?”
[… They say that if you solve all the questions correctly, you will be saved. I got two questions wrong and both legs were amputated. As promised, I kept the other monsters from attacking and saved them, but… I think it will be helpful to others if you write down all the answers.]

Are you saying you’re going to make a cheat sheet for the quiz for other people who will meet Esther…
It sounds like a good idea, but there is a big mistake.
Even if Esther gets all the questions right, she won’t be saved.

“Ah… I can tell you, but getting all the questions right won’t save you.”
[Yes? But Esther will never fulfill her promise to her fans…]
“You know the saying that meteor showers are forever together? They say that if you get all the questions right, it will be recognized as a real meteor shower and will turn you into a tentacle monster.”
[This, how could it be… So, the victim and survivor who became a tentacle monster are separated…]

I took a quiz because I was a fan, but when I couldn’t get a single question right and it was determined that it was a lie, I took off my limbs one by one.
If you take the test and answer all the questions correctly, you will be made into a tentacle monster and take it with you.
It’s Esther-like behavior that hates lies and wants to be with her fans.
It looks cold and cruel, but it’s a bit strange to conclude that way.

If you get even one of the five questions right, the limb will be cut off, but you will be spared.
He even controls the monsters so that they don’t kill him.
Anyone interested in you at all… All he said was that he wouldn’t let me die.
Thanks to True Vision’s technology, severed limbs can be replaced with prosthetic limbs that operate close to perfection, like a telecommunications soldier beyond the drone.

“What… That sounds like a good idea, but the problem is… To give you a rough idea of ​​what you can remember, what food you hate the most, when is your birthday, what the name Esther means…”
[Birthday issues and dislikes… Did you get it right? Even if you answer according to the records in the fan club archive, it will be treated as an incorrect answer.]
“Oh, it’s because my birthday is on December 4th, not August 8th. The food I hate is shrimp.”
“Uh? Uh, how… I know? Esther hates shrimp…”
“My birthday was on December 4th… ?”

In order to show a more cooperative attitude and build trust with the communications officer beyond the drone, he was calmly telling the problem and answer, and then Grape and Rapid intervened from the side.
From her reaction, it seems that when she was a magical girl, she didn’t even know the two closest to her.

“I don’t eat shrimp chips, and I don’t eat food with shrimp in it… She doesn’t even touch her, and when she eats food with seafood, she checks what’s in it, so she’s probably allergic to shrimp…”
[Now, wait… Did she actually know Esther when she was a magical girl? How the hell does she know that?]
“No, it’s like that sometimes when you watch live videos, right? Ah… You couldn’t watch the video because it’s a silver level.”
[It doesn’t seem like she could tell just by watching the live broadcast…]
“You can’t tell just by looking, you have to look a little harder.”

If you’re the same level as me, you might be able to get it right, but it might have been a little difficult for a silver level.
I was answering calmly, but suddenly the sleeve of my clothes was pulled and I turned my head back.
Grape looks at me with a puzzled expression.

“Gee, really… Were you a fan? Were you a fan?”
“Uh… Not a fan, just a fan club member…”
“My, my, my, elimination?! Did you subscribe to my video channel? What grade is it?”

Why are you suddenly asking this?
Rapid’s channel disappeared after not being able to withstand the strange gazes of various men during a fan meeting, and Esther’s is maintained, but all videos on the official channel are down due to censorship by the National Guard.
And Grape… There is a channel, but the videos are not uploaded well and the uploading is lazy, so the fan-run channels are more active than the official channels.

“… Ian.”

The iron level is the level you can get when you just subscribe to a video channel without signing up for a fan club.
It’s even lower than the bronze level you get after joining the fan club.
There are restrictions on viewing archive videos, and you cannot watch real-time broadcasts, and you can only check a little of the released videos.

I’m sorry, but I didn’t even look at Grape’s channel… Paying the monthly subscription fee was already a burden for Esther, so I didn’t join anyone’s fan club except for Esther.
If I had known in advance that Grape was the team leader of the same company, I might have been interested and signed up, but that’s not the case…
Still, I follow a secret account that uploads masturbation videos.

“Oh… Ah… Eww…”

Upon hearing the honest answer, Grape’s expression twisted.
He shakes his eyes as if in shock, then shuts his mouth tightly and turns his head away.
Grape walked back beside me, then turned around and walked towards the drone that was clearing the area.

“I-I… Wait, help, help… I’ll come…”
“Uh? Grape?”

Grape jumped out before Rapid stopped him and ran into a dark place.
Grape disappeared from sight in an instant, leaving only the drone, me, and Rapid in the bright light.
Why are you doing that all of a sudden… I don’t understand, but I’m a little concerned.

[It’s a lot easier if Grape-sama helps, but there are places where drones are a little weak… Can you tell me more?]
“Ah yes.”

I looked in the direction where Grape had disappeared, then turned his head again after hearing what the drone said.
The urgent thing right now is to talk to the opponent beyond the drone.
Let’s focus on the talk.

“Birthday… I need some old information, but I need information on my birthday before magical girl awakening, when I was an idol.”
[No… At that time, information was when the Internet and Vision Net were mixed…]
“Yes, the data loss period overlaps… ?”

The data loss period refers to the period during which all data was censored, deleted, and lost by True Vision while the server was moved from the Internet, which is vulnerable to the monster’s magic wave, to VisionNet, which is much more resistant and preserves.
Through this process, most of the information was filtered once, and only the information that was censored and permitted by True Vision and the National Defense Force was allowed to circulate on the network.
The information that Esther’s original birthday was December 4 belongs to this lost information.

“The other thing… I can’t remember a little bit.”

It is not necessary to give all the answers, as it contradicts the aforementioned statement that I do not remember well.
Still, I think this is a pretty good question and answer.
It is enough information to gain trust from the other person.

[… Thank you, why have I had so much trouble gathering quiz answers so far… Got it… Everyone who knows the right answer has become a tentacle monster…]
“I’ll tell you all about it when I remember more, but strangely, my head…”
[Probably the effect of being exposed to a powerful magic wave. Some of the general public have such a thing.]
“You lose your memory when you’re exposed to magic?”
[… More than this is limited information. I know that memory loss is very rare.

I feel that the signalman’s attitude towards me has improved a lot.
When you read the voice, it is closer to admiration and surprise than hostility or suspicion.
If it was in business, you would be able to buy at least one item the moment you present it right now.

… What was I thinking?
Sales?
… Come to think of it, I’ve been thinking about it since before, but why do you think I was a salesperson?
I’ve never done anything like sales.

“If… Does exposure to strong magical power cause strange memories?”
[… It’s the initial reaction when you’re encroached on by an infection. Can I make a small incision in your body tissue?]
“No! It’s not that I… He says he loses his memory, so I was just curious.”
[Hmm…]

I feel a sense of incongruity in my current state, and I feel that my vigilance and doubts, which I had lowered to a question, suddenly rise.
If you go into a close examination that cuts body tissues, you may find not only the hypnosis application but also the tentacles on your left hand.
If it is mistakenly treated as an infectious agent, it may be amputated and observed in confinement or even incinerated according to the judgment of the National Guard.

“It’s not an infectious agent, I can’t even feel it at all. And this one from Esther… He even saved me.”
[You saved me? You mean magical girl?]
“Because if it’s an infectious agent, it will harbor hostility toward magical girls… Isn’t that an impossibility?”
[… You are right. That you saved me… A magical girl… ?]
“I just jumped at Esther and stopped her from swinging her sword.”

Just when I was about to get a little nervous, Rapid jumped into the conversation and defended me.
Rapid’s remarks help, lowering the signalman’s suspicions again.
I was relieved to think that it was fortunate, and I smiled at Rapid and silently nodded my head as a sign of gratitude.

However, the initial reaction when encroached on by an infection… Then, could the memory of me being a salesperson be the memory of the left-handed tentacle monster?
Oddly enough… I don’t think so.
The sense of unity and kinship mixed in between the messed up memories makes me feel that I am the owner of these memories.
… I have many questions about my current state, but now is not the time to think and this is not the time to ask questions.

[That’s great… Hmm… Okay, an accident due to the magical girl’s inexperience, and accidentally contacting Esther… As a fan, it’s a level that goes beyond a considerable level, so it’s alive and well… But the question still remains.]

Once I put my messy mind behind and focused on the conversation with the signalman, the drone again showed me the picture it showed me a moment ago.
I see a photo of Esther doing something of her as I approach me on her knees.

[… After all, what was this situation?]

It’s a natural question, and a natural question.
All the doubts and doubts before this situation and before getting into this situation were all satisfied.
But I haven’t figured out what the heck it’s doing.

Esther, shining golden enough to be seen even in a photo full of noise, planted tentacles in me… I remember planting something else.
I don’t know what it is, so I want to know what it is, but… Don’t say
I have no intention of becoming a test subject for the National Guard.

Some have tentacles planted… It’s a difficult question to be honest about everything.
But you don’t have to tell me everything.
I blushed to make him more visible to the drones, glanced at the rapids, and murmured softly.

“Look… Suck, suck… It is.”
[Yes?]