Omni-Anime: I Stand at the Forefront of Popularity

Chapter 298: Chapter 299: Shocking! Virtual Idol Beats the Tar Out of the Audience!

Shocking! Virtual idol beats the tar out of the audience! And hidden behind it all is an unspeakable, wicked deal!

”The Champion really is strong, huh.”

Whether in reaction speed or tactical planning, the Champion Kujo Kyoya could be called first-rate on both counts.

But in the end he was an ordinary human; he was no match for an AI.

Yet the single most crucial point of this match wasn’t to win—it was to lose.

And the key to that first step was to cultivate a sense of menace all her own.

She had to make the audience understand that this black GINN was the BOSS, that it stood in the position of the ”oppressor.”

So Kujo Kyoya had to be placed in the position of the ”rebel.”

After opening up the distance, Kujo Kyoya raised his rifle once again.

A single hit landing would be enough to deal the GINN a heavy blow!

But the black GINN merely, calmly, raised its beam rifle, and then fired a single shot straight down the barrel of Kujo Kyoya’s gun.

Kujo Kyoya: ???

The audience: ???

This AI’s precision was frighteningly high.

It could shoot right into the muzzle itself?!

The rifle was blown apart with a single shot.

”Not good!”

Damage alerts flickered nonstop across the holographic screen. Left leg joint armor shattered, right arm drive shaft overloaded, Shiguru Shield’s protective capacity declining.

For one brief instant, Kujo Kyoya finally realized this wasn’t a battle at all, but a death script whose ending had been spoiled in advance.

”BOOM!”

The cockpit suddenly shuddered violently. This was the black GINN hacking down with its MA-M3 Heavy Blade.

But it wasn’t over yet!

Though one F Funnel had been destroyed, the others remained!

So!

Kujo Kyoya immediately braced the F Funnels against his own back, then charged forward!

He’d turned the F Funnels straight into accelerators!

Kujo Kyoya’s speed was so great that even the GINN under Inori’s control couldn’t keep up with his speed, and could only fire missiles in pursuit.

”The Champion seems to be caught in a hard fight?” Mukai Hinata was a little surprised.

”No—the Champion’s about to win.” But Hiroto had reached his conclusion.

”Isn’t the Champion in a tough spot, though?” The girl didn’t understand.

”He is, but the GINN’s ammo count is limited, and it runs on a battery. The GINN hasn’t used its missiles or beam rifle for a while now!”

The number of missiles the GINN could carry was limited, and after several rounds of attacks it now had little ammunition or energy left.

By contrast, the AGEII Magnum could still keep fighting.

”It’s not over yet...!”

Kyoya finally seized upon that fleeting, fatal gap.

The GINN’s energy supply had run into trouble!

Then he charged in at once.

But just at this moment, the GINN, which a second ago had seemed to stall for an instant due to the energy problem, appeared to recover once more.

”Oh no! It’s a trap!” Hiroto saw through it.

The GINN had faked it on purpose!

The AI had used tactical deception!

”But—I’ve still got this!”

A fierce light suddenly burst from the AGEII Magnum’s hand.

EX Calibur!

At this do-or-die moment, the beam saber abruptly blazed with a brilliant radiance.

The Champion’s ultimate move!

In a head-on clash, victory goes to the braver fighter!

”Aaah!!!”

The blade of light finally cleaved through the black GINN.

After a brief silence, the black GINN slowly turned its head, seeming to look at Kujo Kyoya. And then—

”BOOM!”

The black GINN dissolved into a blaze of fire.

”Champion! Champion! Champion!”

The audience fell into a frenzy.

Then the host resumed speaking: ”Our deepest thanks to Kujo Kyoya for the spectacular exhibition match! After the launch event concludes, everyone can head to the experience zone to go through the entire battle against the black GINN for themselves! You may use your own, uh, model kits, or use the official Strike Gundam Gunpla to fight the decisive duel!”

”Ohh, ohh, ohh!”

Upon hearing there were Strike Gundam model kits, quite a few model-kit fanatics had already worked themselves into a delirium.

They went especially wild when they heard that defeating the black GINN would earn them a first-run Strike model as a gift.

Even Hiroto signed up to take part in the event.

”YOU_LOST!”

”H-how could this be?”

Hiroto was dumbstruck.

After getting familiar with the Strike, Hiroto found that with the innovation of the new AI tech, operating the Gundam had become a lot simpler; the Strike was admittedly somewhat difficult to control, but with AI assistance, it wasn’t so terrible after all.

But what left Hiroto rather deflated was that he’d been taken down by the black GINN right at the very start.

Naturally.

Because it was now audience-interaction time, and there was no reason for Inori to keep throwing the match.

What’s more, this Kuga Hiroto happened to be the male lead of Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE.

All the more reason to utterly crush him on every front!

In any case, the end result was quite good.

Amid a chorus of wails, everyone went home in defeat.

Losing to the champion served as promotion and a showcase.

Losing to an ordinary person would have been utterly pointless.

”Phew, that felt cathartic.”

Only after beating the tar out of a batch of spectators did Inori finally open her eyes.

The viewers’ world didn’t require Inori to go in person. So she only had to close her eyes as instructed and let her consciousness cross over.

After thrashing the audience of the GBN world, Inori was now in a very good mood.

”Mm, here it comes.”

And just at this moment, a prompt came once more from the Stage.

The next episode of the anime had already begun.

[First!]

[Seven years later!]

[I’ve waited forever for this!]

The Chinese server was the same as ever.

But Inori then switched over to the Japanese server.

[Now we finally know just how powerful that GINN is]

[Ut·ter·ly·crushed]

[The GINN’s so awesome wwww]

[I hear that during the offline experience, not a single person cleared the challenge]

[Is it really that terrifying?]

[Aside from the Champion, everyone else lost]

Over on the Japanese server, since they’d gotten to play the game offline, everyone was now discussing what happened inside the game.

Apart from the exhibition match, Inori hadn’t gone easy anywhere else.

”Mm... here it comes.”

And just at this moment, ahead of the Archangel, a mass of wreckage had gradually come into view.

This wreckage drifted silently through space.

The Archangel, too, began to bustle at this point, and the engineering vessels and salvage craft that had been readied all began their preparations.

”Kira.”

Inori found Kira.

”What is it, Inori?”

”I’ve picked up a rescue signal.” Inori spoke softly.

”You found her?!” Kira’s eyes lit up.

But Inori shook her head.

”The rescue signal—it’s coming from Junius Seven...”

Inori said.

”This place...”

Kira, too, looked out the window.

—Could it be that, besides the Archangel, someone else had come to this land of ruins? But why a distress signal?

”I’m going to go check it out!”

No matter what, she had to go take a look at Junius Seven.

Since it wasn’t a battle, Kira boarded the Strike alone and set off just like that.

And Inori, on her end, likewise began setting up the next stage of her arrangements.

”I’ve been waiting for you at last, my dear other Songstress-san~”