I Became the Manager of the First Galactical Idols novel Chapter 6

The girls queueing up looked at me as I climbed the stairs. A few of them seemed eager and nervous. Others were accompanied by older people, probably their parents. And some even were deadpan.

They must be one of those people that show no expression when they are nervous.

I walked into the building, where a few more girls stood in line before the door of Sanae's and Risa's room. Butcher stood still with his arms crossed next to the stairs leading to the second floor.

"Hey, Butcher. How's it going?"

"Good morning, young man. I'm keeping an eye on the queue in case someone tries something."

"Did anything happen?"

"No."

"Great. Thanks for taking care of it. I'll check on Sanae and Risa."

He nodded.

I should hire him as a bodyguard.

I stepped into the room and closed the door. Risa kneeled down on the corner, whilst Sanae was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Sanae?" I asked.

When Risa turned around, I noticed something yellow behind her. Sanae was sitting curled up on the floor with her face buried between her arms. I approached them.

"Is something wrong?"

"She's having a panic attack," Risa answered.

Sanae trembled and breathed heavily with short breaths. Even though it wasn't the first time I had seen a panic attack, I felt uneasy.

Now's not the time to worry.

I crouched down. "Sanae, I'm here with you. Tell me what you need."

"I… can't… breathe…"

It sounded like her breathing was getting faster and faster.

"Okay, I'll breathe and you'll breathe with me. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale."

Slowly, her breathing matched my rhythm. I stopped talking but kept inhaling and exhaling with her. Soon, her breathing remained steady without me needing to lead her. She leaned back against the wall. Her face was covered in sweat.

"I'm better," she said, looking at the ceiling.

"Great. Has this happened before?" I asked Risa.

She nodded. "A couple of times, years ago."

I guess we should have medicine for her, just in case.

"Let's review everything before the audition starts," I said.

With our glasses, we reviewed the key points we had prepared during the past week. Sanae slowly joined us and her panic attack was left behind. As much as I wanted to ask her about the cause, I preferred to wait until after the audition.

We weren't looking for many characteristics in specific. The only requirements were to be a girl, be good at dancing and singing, and have a charming personality—quite an ambiguous requirement, but we were going to use it as a determining factor depending on their answers.

It was time to begin. I asked Butcher to count the girls queueing up; twenty-two. Not many, but a lot more than I had expected. I told him to let them in one by one. Sanae, Risa, and I sat on the chairs we had bought during the week.

The first girl came in. Her hair was incredibly long, almost reaching the floor. She was tall and thin and her smile was soothing. It reminded me of Professor Fuku.

Sanae, Risa, and I took notes on our glasses.

"Before we begin, I need to see your public ID," I said.

"Is it necessary?" she giggled.

"It's just to confirm you're old enough—"

My glasses suddenly warned me about her using HoloForm, a technology capable of transforming anything into a completely different thing using optics. I never understood it completely, only that it used reflective panels projected from glasses and that it was far from cheap.

"Excuse me, are you using HoloForm?"

She seemed nervous. Her eyes moved around and she wouldn't say anything. Swiftly, her HoloForm deactivated. The panels turned off one by one until the real person behind them was revealed.

A kid. He doesn't even look fourteen. HoloForm will never cease to surprise me.

"I'm sorry!" he apologized. "My friends challenged me, please don't call the police!"

"We won't. Just leave."

"Thank you!"