We were chosen to be Tenshouin's lab rats this time.

......?

It pisses me off. I know being like small animals is our selling point, but we ain't literal rabbits for testin' on, y'know?

'Course, we're not the only ones being used. All of the idols here in Kanto were brought into this amusement park for the experiment.

None of them were particularly strong, and fine's guaranteed to be the winner. As a result, everyone lost motivation and thought it was useless to even try.

But not us. We kept on persevering until the very end. The other guys didn't even bother.

Yes... From what I understood, Kanto's qualifying rounds weren't very exciting.

What? Are you saying that it's our fault for always winning and not reading the mood?

Nah. The people who just gave up without even trying are to blame. It's not a crime to win or have strength.

But that doesn't mean we should get dragged down and crushed.

......♪

But, y'know, doesn't this remind y'all of something?

Hehehe. The younger ones probably won't understand, but Yumenosaki was like this before the War started. Or rather, the idol industry as a whole.

Bingo. Everyone lost all their will and the industry slowly declined. It took a great deal of miracles to revitalize everything.

But we're all lazy at our cores. You'll never know when you're gonna lose motivation and fall into decline again.

Tenshouin made this SANCTUARY in case it—no, to prevent it from ever happening.

Correct. Although one could simply fool around here, they would have already been conditioned to believe that "being an idol would bring them happiness."

In their minds, in their subconscious, that would be the "truth" to them.

As such, those who are convinced that idols are "good" will eventually aspire to become one. They'll be certain to treat them in an amicable manner.

Those who are already idols will rediscover the beauty of their work.

To be an idol is to be happy. Once you've learned that, you will want to experience it countless times!1

That is how humans work! That is how our brains are wired! Aah, we are all slaves to pleasure!

Ahaha... Actually, it seems like all the idols that were supposed to be demotivated got their willpower back.

Not all of them, of course.

You can't just ignore all of those idols that rushed out in order to get what they got in SANCTUARY in real life.

Hehe. We stayed behind because we wanted to join up with Tomoya-kun, but everyone else left and went back to doing proper jobs.

Mhm. That's good, but the "happiness" you feel in SANCTUARY is only a dream.

If you really want it, you'd have to go out and become an actual idol.

Thanks to everybody gettin' all motivated, Kanto's really hyped up now!

I wanna join them already! You took too long, Tomo-chan!

Why are you mad?! Sorry, I guess?! I didn't mean to!

But even though the whole thing felt, like, really sketchy, it was actually a good thing in the end?

Obviously. See, all you guys kept criticizing him, but Eichi-sama really is changing the world for the better in the end.

Hehe. I believe it's only natural for them to criticize him for all the sins he's done in the process.

Of course. I'm not a saint by any means.

However, I can proudly say that my decision was the correct one to make.

I will give rise to an idol renaissance.

To do this, I must increase the overall amount of idols, improve their abilities, and keep their energy levels high.

That is what Ensemble Square and SANCTUARY are for.

This is true for SS as well. It would be such a shame for this historic, nationwide festival to end with a simple "that was fun," don't you think?

I would say that's fine, though? That's what entertainment is all about...⁠☆

I agree... But you'd probably have to plan ahead and deal with complicated matters if you wanna keep this place running long-term.

My, I never expected you to think SANCTUARY is a good thing.

You sound fake as hell... For one, there was that place I was at earlier—the Dark Side or whatever. It's pretty much a fate worse than death.

It's a world where idols ceased to exist. A dull, lonely, terrifying, silent world where happiness is nowhere to be found.

If that's really the future that awaits us, then it'd be a thousand times better for me to suffer now as an idol instead of facing that type of fate.

That's the whole idea behind Dark Side.

In this part of SANCTUARY, you're conditioned to believe "to be an idol is to be happy."

In the Dark Side, you're conditioned to believe "a world without idols is a living hell."

Bad behavior is punished, perhaps by whipping or scolding them.

It reinforces the notion that taking idols away from this world is a "bad thing." It's the same as training a dog.2

...Won't corporal punishment, like hitting a dog, just backfire on you?

They do. That's precisely why the Dark Side is still in development. I don't think it would be very effective.

Like back in Yumenosaki, where the student council's rule received backlash. A reign of terror would never make the people happy.

However, we already spent a lot of money just developing it.

So I thought, rather than demolishing everything, why not let someone go through it and tell us if it had any effect?