Returning Transcendent Opens an Idol Agency

[Play: boba date - stream cafe]

Miya shuffled her cards and then said, "Now the next big question. Drum roll please!"

On cue, a drum roll echoed from off the side.

Rhea blinked and then started looking around the room. "Wait, where's that coming from? There aren't any speakers here, are-" She paused and then stared at someone off to the side. "You can play drums?! No, where did you even grab that from? Was that always here?"

[] Who is it?

[] The new mystery manager?

[] A live drum roll just for this? That's so extra.

[] Rhea. You're an idol, of *course* there's instruments near by.

[] I don't think that's how this works.

[] Knowing John, I bet every room has everything you could ever need.

Kuromi laughed and then stuck her thumb up to the person off camera. "Great job, Manager Rose!"

The drum roll ended and Miya smiled. "Thanks! And now... Which Senpai is your favorite? Mine's Hana Senpai, by the way. Her positive attitude helps a lot."

[Hana Homura Ch. <M>] Aw~ I like you too Miya!

[ohana_dayo] Yep! Imouto's streams are always happy!

[hanas_oniichan] Except when she's grinding for loot.

[hanafan_101] 100%!

[] Not Alfi?

[] Alfi's streams are positive too though.

[Alfis_Knight] Understandable. The grace of Alfi-sama can be too intense for some people.

[] @Alfis_Knight more like you're all too extreme...

[] ^

[] Bruh. All of Alfi's fans are either models, star athletes, or star executives in fortune 500 companies...

[] Makes sense. Intense people need intense support.

"Ooh!" Kuromi stuck her hand up and said, "I like Hana Senpai too! She's the first streamer I watched!"

[] Whoa! Really?

[] I forget that Kuromi was a normie before this.

[] Wait. Doesn't that mean Prodigy is all ex-normies except for Rhea?

[] No wonder there's a weird tension.

[] Yeah. It's hard for a cultured person to get along with normies.

[Hana Homura Ch. <M>] :O <3 Thank you, Kuro-chan!

[Aoko Ryuusei Ch. <M>] What am I, chopped liver?

[Alfi Titor Ch. <M>] @Aoko Ryuusei Ch. Well, you debuted last, Aoko...

[Aoko Ryuusei Ch. <M>] Oh. Right. I-I remembered that!

[StraightGarbage] Queen's jealous~

[FailureFox] Aw. Do you want your cute kouhais to like you, Queen?

[GoldenOrca <M>] Queen is an acquired taste, remember.

[StraightGarbage] Wait! What the hell?! @GoldenOrca since when are you a mod for the official Project MirAIs channel?!

[GoldenOrca <M>] Since John told you to check your DMs and reminded me to check mine.

[StraightGarbage] [email protected]!#!#[email protected]

[FalureFox <M>] OMG. OMGOMGOMG! KYAAAAAAAAAAA

[StraightGarbage] W-Wait! I don't have anything messages!

[] YO! The Three Musketeers are official?!

[] Wait! I wanna be a mod too!

[ragingeagle] Nepotism! Coersion! Cheats!

[] @ragingeagle Bruh. You're saying that like Alfi isn't John's daughter.

Miya tilted her head and said, "Really? I thought you watched a lot of UTube, Kuro-chan."

Kuromi nodded. "I do. But I usually watch those old martial arts movies or clips from the newer ones. Like Yip Man!" She stood up and then took a stance, throwing out a few chain punches. "It's fun copying the moves."

Rhea stared at Kuromi and sighed. "I forget just how much of a normie you all are..."

Kuromi sat back down and frowned. "What's a normie?"

[] Yep. Kuro-chan's definitely a normie.

[] So Kuro-chan was a functioning member of society to start with... and became an idol?

[anime4laifu] Cringe. What kind of person calls another a normie?

[hi_jack] @anime4laifu Not as cringe as the guy saying that's cringe.

[jetstreamsamuel] @hi_jack You'll never be based, jack.

Rhea shook her head. After that, she leaned back and stared at the camera. "Well, I guess I'll go next. Hana Senpai's nice, and I really like Alfi Senpai's streams. They're always good material. But obvious winner for me would be Aoko Senpai."

Aoko's faint voice echoed in the background. "Buttering up to me now won't work, you brat!"

"Aoko!" Alfi's voice. "Be quiet!"

Rhea flinched and then said, "W-What? It's true!"

[] wwwwww

[] XD

[] lol

[] Of course Aoko would be Rhea's favorite.

[] A cultured woman appreciates culture. :nodnod:

[] I wonder if Rhea would get along with Kiiro sensei?

[StraightGarbage] I'm stupid. I had messages turned off because I kept getting spammed with death threats. T_T

[FailureFox <M>] lol. I just ignore those. I'm strapped, so they can come at me all they want.

[GoldenOrca <M>] @FailureFox Phrasing.

[FailureFox <M>] Ooh. They can do that too if they throw money at me. I don't have any shame strutting the goods.

[] These are the new mods...?

[] I thought Project MirAIs was an idol company.

[] Isn't this the exact reason there's new management?

[John Smith <V><M>] Nope. I just don't have enough time on my hands.

[] @John Smith Nope that it's an idol company or for new management?

[John Smith <V><M>] Yes.

[loreowl] T_T

[] @loreowl Get some sleep, man. Isn't it like early morning where you are?

Miya laughed and then said, "Can't walk back what's been said, Rere."

Rhea's eye twitched. "Don't call me that."

"What?" Miya smiled and tilted her head. "Is there something wrong with it? I think it's kind of cute."

Kuromi gasped, her mouth turning into a perfect 'o' shape.

Tsubame laughed and then looked at Rhea. "Turnabout is fair play, Rere."

Rhea pouted.

[] Ooh. The Prodigy girls are *spicy.* I like it.

[] I'm getting teenaged sister vibes from the group. Love it.

[] Male members of Project MirAIs when? I want a night out with the boys.

Tsubame smiled and said, "I suppose it's my turn next." She tilted her head to think and said, "...Mm. I do enjoy Hana Senpai's streams. And Aoko Senpai's streams are fun too. But if I had to choose, I would say that my favorite senpai is Alfi Senpai."

Kuromi nodded. "I can see that. You're just as calm and cute as Alfi Senpai."

Tsubame's smile widened and she said, "I do not know about being as cute... but I do look to her as an example of how to stay calm. Though it has been a bit trying in recent times..."

[Alfi Titor Ch. <M>] Don't worry Tsubame! You'll get used to it! (^_^)

[FilmHypos <V>] Get used to-? Wait, I need answers, Alfi!

[] @FilmHypos lmao. Even you guys got sucked into the rabbithole, huh?

[] Tsubame really does give chill vibes like Alfi though.

[] I just want to sit and be pampered by Tsubame every day. :melt:

[] They both really give cute girlfriend vibes.

[] Miya is definitely more GF material though.

[] Yeah, but Miya isn't *waifu* material.

[sandwichlover] I dunno. I love a gal who can cook.

[oldcrow] @sandwichlover Sexist.

[sandwichlover] @oldcrow Don't get me started on abortion.

Tsubame shook her head and said, "Still." She smiled and adjusted her sleeves before looking back at the camera. "I greatly admire Alfi Senpai."

Rhea crossed her legs and said, "So we've got you two for Hana Senpai, me for Aoko Senpai, and Tsubame for Alfi Senpai... I didn't think Hana Senpai was that popular though?"

Miya set her notecards off to the side and picked up her phone. "That's because her fans are what you'd call 'normies' and don't spend their entire day online."

[ohana_dayo] I don't know about normie, but I *do* work a 9-5.

[hanas_oniichan] Gotta work hard to support our cute little sister.

[hanafan202] Archive gang represent! haha...

[alfis_knight] Normal is an acceptable way of life, but far from the ideal.

[alfis_cocoa] Normality means it will be impossible to meet Alfi-sama!

[alfis_chair] Why be normal when you can be exceptional?

[StraightGarbage] Facts.

Rhea waved her hand. "Who needs normies anyway."

Miya started scrolling through her phone and said, "And this is why we're going on a trip to the park tomorrow."

Rhea pouted and said, "But I don't wanna touch grass~ And the sun's going to burn my skin! Plus it's cold."

[] Yeah! Who needs to go outside!?

[] lol. What are you, Rhea? A vampire?

[] Rhea's a big mood. :melt:

[] Prodigy girls? Trip to the park? :thinking:

[] So what you're saying is that we should be on the lookout tomorrow for a group of four girls in the parks?

[] Doxxing is bad!

[] Yeah. You don't wanna be like loreowl's source who got memory wiped.

[] lmao. As if.

"Anyway..." Miya glanced off to the side and said, "Manager-san says we should do some questions from the chat now before we show 'that.'"

Rhea flinched and said, "Do we *have* to show that?"

Tsubame frowned and said, "'That' part won't be shown, right?"

Miya nodded. "Don't worry." She glared at Rhea and said, "Since *one* of us wasn't caught up in that mess, we'll wait until she experiences it first hand."

Rhea blinked and said, "What?"

Kuromi shuddered and said, "You'll see when you go through it."

[] Oh come on. Not another story I need membership to hear...

[] UTUBE TAKE MY MONEY AND OPEN MEMBERSHIPS ALREADY!

[] Clippers plz. Don't leave poor gang out.

[John Smith <V><M>] Not to shill or anything, but you can earn free memberships if you watch through the MIRAIZ app long enough. It's like Twotch channel points.

[] ??!?!?

[ryuuG] For real?!

[aKiller_Joker] Think it through... Be mindful...

"So..." Miya scrolled through the chat on her phone and said, "What's a good question...?"

[Frieya] Tell us about the /art/artist that had the most impact in your life?

[] What's your favorite doujin? ;)

[SeraphimIrafil] What's your favorite anime? That seems safe, right?

[] Balls or no balls?

[giggityGrant] Crust or no crust?

[seadawgVA] @giggityGrant Oh hell no. We are *not* doing this bloody thing again.

"This one's probably more for you, Rhea. But what , art, artist..." Miya frowned and said, "...I guess basically just what had the most impact in your life?"

"Easy." Rhea smiled and said, "Obviously ShintoL."

Miya blinked. "Who's ShintoL?"

Rhea looked at the chat and winked. "I'm sure Chat knows."

[] I don't?

[] Oh god.

[] 177013... Those cursed numbers...

[] Bruh.

[] :sweat:

[John Smith <V><M>] Huh. So that exists here too? I guess some things are universal constants.

Rhea laughed and then looked over at Kuromi and Tsubame. "What about you two?"

Kuromi punched her fist in the air and said, "That's easy too! Bruce Li!"

Miya's eyes lit up and she said, "Ooh! That's right. I used to watch his videos a lot too. Grandpa liked them. I think he even has a fake knife hand like that one guy too from Into the Dragon too."

"Really?!" Kuromi gasped and said, "Mimi! You've gotta show me sometime!"

Rhea looked between Miya and Kuromi and said, "He's not an artist though?"

Kuromi tilted her head. "What do you mean? He was the best martial artist in the world!"

Miya nodded. "Yeah. And have you watched his movies?"

"That's not..." Rhea paused and said, "...Sure. I... guess that counts. What about you, Tsubame?"

Tsubame paused to think about it and said, "An impactful artist... No. Novel and art are included as well, correct?"

Miya glanced at her phone and said, "Yeah. Books, art, or artists."

"Well... I do not know any artists or art, but I did read a story a long time ago that had a large impact on my life." She closed her eyes and said, "A story about a young man with terrible karma that lived each day evading death. By chance, he encountered a young girl so beautiful she was cursed to die by a jealous goddess. Saving her, the two eventually lived together and fell in love. But then one day that goddess forcibly pulled the girl away into another world and stole her body, and after that..." Tsubame paused and shook her head. "It was a complicated story that would take too long to recount. But it was very good."

[] Anyone got the source for that story?

[] 100% would read that isekai

[neol_won] Meh. I've read it. It's not that good.

[rena] Yeah. It had a good concept, but the execution was a bit sloppy.

[grays_myth] If you think that's sloppy, read his work where he has the protagonist save a woman at the end of her life, fall in love, and then watch her die in his arms.

[John Smith <V><M>] @grays_myth Wait a minute...

[] @John Smith Aren't you a bit too active in chat today, John?

[John Smith <V><M>] The new baby's sleeping, so all I can do is chat anyway.

[] New baby?! Wait, Alfi never mentioned that!

Rhea blinked. "That's an interesting isekai..."

Tsubame tilted her head. "What does another world have to do with a story?"

"No, isekai is... Never mind." Rhea sighed and muttered, "Bunch of normies. Need to go watch anime together or something..."

[] lol

[] We've got normies repping the epitome of weeb culture. the irony.

[] Come to think of it, do any of the other girls read manga or watch anime?

Miya glanced at the chat and frowned. "Favorite manga and anime? I think we basically answered that, right? I don't really watch or read any of that." She paused and said, "Well, I guess Ichi's works are alright."

Rhea tilted her head. "Ichi?"

Miya nodded. "Yeah. Ichi Torabu. I got kind of sick of reading them since he always made me check his drafts though."

Rhea's eyes widened and she said, "You know Torabu Sensei?!"

Miya tilted her head and said, "You do too, you know? He's the artist working with Miss Beta on her game. Plus he's-"

Sudden static, covering up what Miya was saying.

Rhea gasped and said something in response, but it was covered up by static too.

[] Wow. Manager-san's quick.

[] LMAO. Miya casually doxxing people here.

[] Anyone able to read lips? We need to know!

[] The lips aren't matching up to any real words. >.>

Miya glanced offscreen and blushed. After that, the static faded and she cleared her throat. "S-Sorry about that. Um... Technical difficulties?"

[] Suuuure.

[] Tech difficulties? With Titor's god-tier setup?

[jetstream_samuel] It's because they're not rocking that [email protected]$$ windose 99 pewter.

"A-Anyway!" Miya looked at Kuromi and Tsubame. "What about you two?"

Kuromi shrugged. "The only anime I've watched is the one we're making... so that?"

Tsubame nodded. "The same with me. I will also choose our anime."

"Great. That's done, so let's move on." Miya fanned her red face for a bit and then started swiping through chat again on her phone.

[] Aw. Miya's embarrassed.

[] More like she just realized she almost doxxed someone live.

[] And this is why we have managers for the livestreams.

[] I'm surprised that they caught that though.

[Droni <M>] beep.

[] lmao, wut?

[] You're trolling.

[] Don't tell me... Droni was the manager the whole time?!

[Droni <M>] beep beep.

[] Beep once for yes! Twice for no!

[Droni <M>] I refuse to oblige by your idiotic human idiosyncrasies.

[] ...Wut?

[loreowl] THE LOOOOOOOOOOOORE!

[FilmHypos<V>] @loreowl So we're looking for a new intern...

Miya kept swiping and then shook her head. "Um... Argh, this is supposed to be lightning round- Oh." She let out a sigh of relief and looked off-screen. "Thanks Manager-san." She looked back at the front and said, "Okay. This time we'll fly through these for real." She looked up at the other girls and said, "Ready?"

Rhea snorted. "Obviously."

Kuromi stuck her thumb up. "Yep!"

Tsubame let out a calm smile. "Of course."

"Alright. Now... Favorite food? Mine is ramen."

Rhea nodded. "Same here."

Kuromi mimed frying food and said, "Gotta be Korean BBQ for me!"

Tsubame tilted her head to think and then said, "Chinese food."

Miya blinked. "You like Chinese food? But- No. I'll ask later." She looked back at her phone and said, "What's your type? ...Type?" Miya frowned. "Type of what?"

Rhea laughed and said, "I like using grass CapsuMon."

Miya tilted her head. "They're asking about that?"

Kuromi threw a punch in the air and said, "It's gotta be fighting for me!"

Tsubame shook her head and said, "Dragon is the best."

"Um..." Miya looked confused and said, "I guess... normal for me then...?"

Rhea gave Miya a blank look.

Miya coughed and said, "L-Let's just keep going..."

[] Miya *would* choose normal.

[foxy] I wasn't talking about CapsuMon...

[] Aw. We're not getting the fun questions.

A quick lightning round. After Miya got into the groove of things, the questions quickly passed by.

And then it was time for the end of the stream.

Miya stretched and said, "Alright! With that, we're done!"

Rhea rolled her neck and said, "Finally. It's been hard carrying this show."

Tsubame covered her mouth with her sleeve and said, "I suppose it would be considering that you do not suffer backpain like the rest of us."

Kuromi nodded. "I *know*, right?" She massaged her back and said, "I use wraps and everything, but it still hurts. Especially when I do a bunch of fast moves that makes them flop all over."

Rhea gave Tsubame and Kuromi a blank stare.

Miya laughed and looked back at the front. "Take care everyone! And don't forget to watch Alfi Senpai's stream! Now, to finish this off..." She waved her hand and said, "Take it away, Manager-san!"

"Wait!" Rhea spoke up and said, "I want to-"

The sound cut out and the screen blinked, like a television being shut off. But then after that...

[Play: FORGOTTEN LAND - Tunetank]

Dramatic music that sounded straight out of a movie trailer.

"Warning. World Line Protocol initiated."

A cold and synthetic voice.

A close up of Rhea's panicked face. "H-Hold on! I can fix this-"

A flash of white light followed by screams from the girls.

After that, Miya stood in front of an office window showing a ruined city, swinging her arm. "Stop joking around!"

The camera panned around to show who she was talking to and revealed John, standing there with a serious face. "I'm not. This is a <Death Game>. I *did* warn you. ...Though I guess it's a once in a lifetime opportunity?"

A quick jumpcut, showing the girls standing around with a timer over their heads.

Kuromi let out a nervous laugh and said, "Um. We're... We're fine, right?"

Miya crossed her arms and looked over at Rhea. "I guess there's one way to test it out."

A sudden cut.

Miya charging at Rhea and throwing a roundhouse kick.

A splash of golden light, and then shattering glass as Rhea flew out the window.

A close up on Miya's face showing a dark smile. "*God* I've wanted to do that for a while now."

An explosion. A cut to Kuromi dangling from a broken window. "Help, Tsubame!"

Tsubame leaned over to reach out and started to say something. But then there was another explosion, followed by a burst of debris.

After that, Rhea showed up, her hair frazzled and her clothes covered in gray dust. Six high-tech drones floated around her, along with chunks of rubble wrapped in blue lightning.

The screen cut to show Miya laughing as she rested a hand on the sword sheathed at her side. "What? Throwing a temper tantrum now? Weren't you the one saying that I had a bad temper?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Miya laughed again and then swung her sword, shattering the screen and turning it dark.

But the video wasn't over yet.

"MIYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Rhea's strangled scream echoed.

After that, the camera showed a scene of Rhea floating in the air above a ruined city, the sky filled with glowing circles.

Standing on the ground, staring right back up Rhea, Miya smiled, still resting her hand on her sword.

And then the video ended, leaving a timer left on the screen.

[23:59:59]

It counted down for a few seconds before the stream cut off. But as it did, a suggestion for a premiere popped up in the middle of the screen.

[MiraMe] What do you mean it's a Death Game!?

[] OMFG

[] Yo! Prodigy is going *crazy* with all these projects!

[] XD Prodigy is so freaking extra.

[] I am *so* going to be broke this year...

[] BlueRaze extra 8K deluxe release edition with behind the scenes when?

[] So... are we gonna get a chill slice of life anime with Prototypes too then?

[rational_rabbit] Okay. I can dig this.

[loreowl] @rational_rabbit Stop. Get out now before it's too late. Don't be like Alice...

_________