CH 1149

I asked Blossom-san about the general outline of the singing battle.

It seems like the overarching rule really is that the contestants fight while singing, but of course, there are some other rules.

First of all, instead of the contestants being able to sing any song they like, each match is assigned a specific theme of a song to sing, which they will play in the performance area of the venue.

Participants are notified in advance which songs will be played in which matches, and if they’re unfamiliar with a song corresponding to the match’s theme, they can practice it in the waiting room.

The contestants will sing while they’re fighting, and the judges, including Blossom-san, will evaluate their singing skills and give them points, which will determine the winner.

The course of the battle has no direct correlation with the outcome of the singing battle, but of course, taking damage heavy enough that you’re unable to sing, or concentrating on attack or defense and neglecting your singing will lower your points.

If you are able to defeat your opponent in battle, you get extra points…… Well, those extra points really are just a bonus.

Also, the songs aren’t sung in full, but are generally just a simplified form comprising the 1st stanza and the last chorus, so each song takes about 2 minutes at the most.

When the song ends, the match ends and the score is given. In other words, a match lasts at most 2 minutes, so it’s impossible to defeat an opponent within that time frame unless the difference in their combat power is that great.

So, in essence, the contestants will sing a song and compete for points while sabotaging each other.

[……Just from hearing about it, that kinda sounds interesting.]

[Well, indeed……]

I agreed with the words Aoi-chan muttered. Of course, it’s totally different from the singing battles we had in mind, but it sounded surprisingly interesting.

If you can aggressively attack and interrupt your opponent’s singing, you may be able to win against an opponent who is a better singer than you, but concentrating too much on attacking may make you neglect your own singing, so there seems to be quite a bit of strategy involved.

It seems that people can just jump into the stage, but there’s a limit to the number of participants, and registration for the nearest singing battle has already closed. If we were to participate, we would have to sign up for the next time slot.

Incidentally, if the number of general participants is less than the regulated number, Blossom-san’s subordinates may participate themselves.

Well, since there was no one in our group who particularly wanted to participate, we decided to enjoy ourselves as audience this time, and moved to the venue’s audience seats.

[……Oya, it seems like they’re taking bets too.]

[Ahh, you’re right.]

When I turned my gaze at Luna-san’s words, I saw a booth marked “Betting Reception”. It seems like bets are being placed on who would be the winner. However, it looks like, including the general participants, this match would be in a 14-player tournament format.

Well, since I had no intention of participating in the betting, I started walking towards the audience area without approaching the betting reception, but I could see a large sign with the leverage rates even from where we were.

[……Isn’t that strange? That leverage rates, I mean.]

[Indeed, it’s unusual, isn’t it? It looked really one-sided……]

[The chance of victory for No. 9 is just too overwhelming.]

While talking with Luna-san, I looked at the big sign. Since most of the participants were from the general public, there was no indication of names, only their entry numbers and leverage rates, but the leverage for this match was just abnormal.

This is because No. 9 is so overwhelmingly popular that the leverage had become completely lower than 1.0, a level at which betting on it would result in a loss.

Well, it seems there are multiple forms of betting, such as predicting who will be 1st to 3rd place, or who will be the best four in no particular order…… As for bets for the single winner, No. 9 was so extremely overwhelming that the second most popular contestant had a leverage that was easily over 100 times.

[……Does that mean they’re already a candidate for overall victory?]

[What should we do? If we go to the betting reception, I think we can find out the names of the participants……]

[Hmmm, it’s pretty crowded over there, so let’s not. Besides, it looks like the first match will be a battle between No. 4 and No. 9, so we’ll find out what their ability is like soon enough.]

Even if we went to the betting reception right now, we may not make it back before the start of the tournament. So, even though I’m curious about this overwhelmingly popular No. 9, I think we’ll find out about them soon enough.

Even so, for them to be so overwhelmingly popular, are they some sort of famous singer or something?

“Everyone in the audience, thank you for waiting! The first round of the singing battle tournament, the first match…… is about to begin!”

A person who seemed to be the emcee announced through Loudspeaker Magic, and the singing battle finally began.

“The first to enter is No. 4! Boasting great confidence in her singing ability————“

The first to enter, participant #4 looked like a Spirit, a species known for their singing ability…… However, I don’t know if it was just my imagination or not, but her face was pale, and how should I say this…… As if she was going into a battle that was clearly unwinnable, a sense of hopelessness was evident from her.

Eh? Is the level of difference between them so great that it makes her give up before they even start fighting? Seriously, who the heck is No. 9……

“Next to enter is No. 9! The leading contender for this tournament! Not only for his singing ability, but above all, his overwhelming combat abilities! Many are convinced that he will be the winner of this tournament! It’s “War King, Megiddo Argetes Borgneeeeeeeees”!!!”

……It’s freaking you!?

I was surprised, but at the same time, I was deeply convinced now. That’s why the leverage rates are like that huh…… I mean, in the first place, according to the rules of this singing battle, if you can’t hold out for almost 2 minutes against Megiddo-san, you won’t even be able to finish your song……

That being the case, Megiddo-san could knock them all out without singing, just by fighting…… but he himself was also a great singer. Seriously, I don’t see a future where the other participants can win this tournament.

? ? ? : [The Ballad Gorilla!? Isn’t that the Ballad Gorilla!!!?]

Serious-senpai : [……It really is extremely convincing how they ended up becoming the leading contender for that tournament…… The other participants are just too pitiful though.]