(Wh-What are they doing here...?!
They don't seem like the gaming type...!)

(Th-This might get awkward...
I'd prefer it if they didn't recognize me...)

Hm? Hey, they seem really familiar...

Oh, it's Tsukasa's friends!
Right, Nene?

Huh? E-Emu, wait!
Not so loud...

Hey, wait...
Aren't you in Tsukasa and Rui's troupe? Don't you guys do shows together...?

Kusanagi...?

H-Hi...

Hello!
You're Tsukasa's friends, right?

I'm Emu Otori!
It's really nice to meet you☆

I wouldn't call us friends.

Nice to meet you. My name is Toya Aoyagi. I've had the pleasure of knowing Tsukasa since we were both very little.

Nice to meet you. I'm Akito Shinonome.

Akito and Toya. Got it☆

Hm? Something seems different. I could've sworn that you were smiling while greeting us just now, Akito...

That's sorta just the way he is...

Still, Kusanagi, I wasn't expecting to see you at this tournament. Do you like playing video games as well?

Y-Yeah, there's that...
But I also want to win the tickets that are included as the prize.

Interesting.
As it so happens, we're also after those tickets.

Wait, you guys too...?

Yes, because there's a famous team performing at that event, and it's always very hard to get tickets to see them. They'll be performing on the main stage it seems.

They're top-line performers, so we want to see what kind of show they put on.

Right...
Because you and your team also sing and perform.

However, this means we'll have to compete against each other for those tickets...

That makes us rivals...

Yes, it does. Let's both do our very best.

Yeah...

Okay, that's all of our participants!
Next, allow me to explain the rules for this tournament!

Yes, here we go!

Good luck, everyone!

The other teams look pretty weak.
Just what you'd expect from an arcade that no one goes to.

Yeah, and we probably won't have to do “the thing”...

Hm...?

(They're We're The Best, right?)

(What did they mean by “the thing”...?)

We've prepared three games for this tournament and your team will earn points based on where it ranks for each one.

The team with the most amount of points in the end will be declared the winner!

That makes sense.
Simply put, winning is the best way to earn points.

Yeah. We still don't know which games they're gonna throw at us, but we just gotta do what we can to win.

It's all about to begin, Nene!

Yeah, we gotta do our best...!

(Also, three games...
The question's gonna be which ones...)

(But this is a gaming tournament, so I've gotta think they'll have us play something that involves PvP. That means we have a decent shot at winning, especially if fighting games or shooters are chosen...)

We will now be announcing the games that will be played during this tournament! Our first title is...

“Print Stickers”!!

What...?

Print Stickers...?

Wait, why...?

Yay, this is gonna be great!
And super fun!

Um, excuse me...
Can I ask a question?

You just said, “Print Stickers”...
Are you talking about those booths where you take pictures and draw all over them?

Yes, exactly! They're all the rage primarily amongst high school girls because of how you're able to edit your own pictures by giving yourselves larger eyes and such!

Does this mean there's also some sort of player-versus-player function built in...?

Dude, there's no way...
At least, I don't think so...

H-How are we supposed to compete using pictures...?

It's not even a video game!

(They're right...
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this one...)

Oh, Print Stickers.
I remember those. We used to do them all the time.

Same here. I remember customizing my student ID holder and trading stickers with my friends. Back then, you didn't have many background options...

Th-They're not bothered by this at all...?!

I'm sure many of you are surprised, but I'd like all of you to try out as many different things in this arcade as possible during this tournament!

Furthermore, this arcade has booths where even male patrons can feel right at home, so please be sure to check them out!

Now I get it. It's a way to promote the arcade as a whole albeit a bit crude...

Thank you for giving us a full rundown. Now, how exactly are we supposed to compete against one another?

The team that takes the picture with the most “likes” from the judges will be declared the winner.

The judges include three members ranging from a high school girl to a homemaker with seemingly different tastes.

It will be your job as participants to take pictures that make them think, “Oh, I like that!”
Again, the team with the most points will be the winner.

So, let's begin!

Whoa, wait... Right now?!

Woohoo! Print Stickers! It's been ages!
Let's go, Nene♪

E-Emu, wait!

Look at that!
The Wonderhoy Button Mashers are already headed towards one of the booths!

*Sigh*
This isn't exactly my thing, but I guess we don't have a choice...

Hey, what's wrong?

The thing is... I've never made any Print Stickers before...
Do you think we still stand a chance...?

Dude, don't let that bother you...

I don't have much experience with this stuff either. I mean, I don't know anything about editing pictures or making them more buzz-worthy...

Right...
Then, winning the first round may be difficult for us.

...

(I know it's just a game, but Toya's been looking forward to this tournament because we'd get a chance to play a bunch of different stuff...)

(So, on top of wanting those tickets, I want him to win.)

Alright, let's just give it our best shot...

Wow! Look at all the lights!
Everything's so bright and sparkly!

Ugh... So bright...
They're brighter than stage lights...

<Wow, you're right!
You get to take pictures in here?!>

M-Miku?!

<Hehe. I couldn't help it. This looks like so much fun☆ Plus, no one will see me here!>

<You're gonna take some pictures in here, right? Have you decided on a pose and stuff?>

Hmm... How about something like this☆

What? I don't think I can get myself to do that.

But we don't get many chances to do stuff like this. We should just go all out and strike a really fun pose!

<What she said!
I bet everyone will pick you guys' picture if you decide to be bold and do something really cute☆>

<It might even help later on when you need to strike a cute pose during a show!>

Grr... Y-You're right...

(This is gonna be really embarrassing, but I should probably do as they say...!)

Alright, Nene, ready☆

R-Ready...

Wow!
The lights made our eyes so sparkly!

<You both look so adorable!>

N-No, this is way too embarrassing...!

<Don't say that!
You're totally gonna win with this picture☆>

<Oh, I wanna show this to everybody in SEKAI♪>

What?!

Yeah, we should show it to Tsukasa and the others too! I wanna give a copy to everyone☆

N-No, that won't be necessary!

Also, you're really okay with this kind of picture? I mean, this is a competition. Should we think about how the judges are gonna react?

Oh, I completely forgot!

<Then, what kind of picture should you take?>

Hmm... Some way that'll make everyone who sees our picture smile...

<Oh, what about that thing you guys always do when you want everybody to smile?>

Wait, you don't mean...

Alright, that should be enough doodling. Hm? Toya, something wrong...?

I'm just impressed with you is all, Akito. You seem to have some talent for choosing poses and pasting stickers onto these pictures.

All I could come up with was writing my own name on it. If we went with that, it's likely that it would've ended up looking like some sort of student ID.

Yeah, I really don't think I did anything praiseworthy... I mean, this isn't something I want to be proud of being good at...

So, don't tell anyone about this.

Why not?
It turned out very well, so I think we should show...

Hm...?

What's up?

It's nothing...
I thought I heard some people shouting together just now.

It's probably just one of the other teams taking their picture, right?

Anyway, it's done printing.
I still have no idea if this is what the judges are looking for...

I wouldn't worry. At the very least, I believe this is the best photo we could've taken, so let's just turn in what we have.

Yeah, I guess you're right...