120 Saka's Idol Is a Legend

Ilsen felt utterly panicked. He had originally been a happy and ordinary scavenger, living a life of hunting mutated fish for three days and robbing passersby for two. Due to his ethnicity, his appearance was rather delicate and feminine, making him look more like a woman to most humanoid species.

In a place like this, someone like him should have struggled to survive, but thanks to his sharp mind and cunning methods, he had carved out a small patch of territory and secured enough supplies to keep himself alive. However, while he and his underlings were out hunting—or rather, hunting people—they had encountered a man with tentacles growing from his body.

Well, in a godforsaken place like Sakaar, a man with tentacles was nothing special; he had even seen creatures made entirely of tentacles. The real problem was that this man had managed to beat him and all his underlings to the ground. They were, after all, a local gang; everyone possessed armor crafted from scrap steel and was equipped with rare, rust-free weapons. Their gear was nearly on par with low-level gladiators! Yet, all of that meant nothing to that man. He had defeated them all with nothing but four blades in his hands, and now, Ilsen found himself a captive.

So far, the man had only demanded that Ilsen guide him to the city sector and had done nothing else, which made Ilsen breathe a slight sigh of relief. Although he had no idea what the man meant by his strange muttering about "idols" or "having to become an idol to save the Earth," Ilsen wasn't interested in the slightest. He just wanted to get rid of this jinx and go back to being his own boss.

"By the way, you said your name is Ilsen, right? Are you interested in becoming an idol?" Suddenly, that devilish voice rang in Ilsen's ears...

...

Jos had thought of the idol project on a whim, but after giving it some thought, he realized that it actually had real potential. What was the most lacking thing on Sakaar? For commoners, it was clean food and water; for the Grandmaster, it was entertaining amusements. The man was so bored that he could watch two hulking brutes fight with genuine... no, with rapt interest. It was easy to imagine just how hollow his spiritual life must be.

It was a pity that mobile games weren't advanced in this world, and Jos didn't have the spare time to develop such things. Otherwise, he would definitely turn people like the Collector and the Grandmaster—who were bored, had time, and possessed immense wealth—into "whales" addicted to microtransactions.

"Wait! That idea actually sounds pretty good, doesn't it? No matter how much the Collector loves to collect, could he ever collect all the SSRs and max-level heroes?" Judging by his complexion, the Collector's luck with gacha pulls couldn't be very good. Thinking about it this way, didn't he have a path to profit even more lucrative than nuclear batteries?

"Hmm, I can start working on that once I return to Earth. For now, I need to get things settled here first."

The "whale" plan was difficult to execute for the moment, but developing an idol group on Sakaar was relatively easy. After all, all kinds of people were gathered here. Their formidable physical constitutions ensured that learning specific songs and dances wouldn't be difficult. Plus, given the unique conditions of Sakaar, many could be lured with just a couple of steamed buns. For the Grandmaster, whose standard of entertainment was still stuck in the Middle Ages, the impact of a wave of modern information was something to look forward to.

Ever since he decided on the idol plan, Jos had set his sights on Ilsen. Though the man looked dirty, his features were undoubtedly striking. With a little grooming, he would definitely make a top-tier cross-dresser. Well, it was normal for cross-dressers to be idols now, wasn't it? Absolutely no problem there. Since even zombies could be idols, anything else would surely be fine. As long as they were cute, that was enough. This planet—no, this world—had no concept of "idols," so the definition was whatever Jos said it was.

Furthermore, clothing, equipment, and recruiting all required a massive amount of energy. A local snake like Ilsen surely knew the ins and outs of Sakaar better than Jos did. Instead of fumbling around himself, this would save him quite a bit of time. From the moment Jos decided on this plan, he had never intended to let Ilsen go!

"M-Master? This 'idol' project you speak of... what exactly is it?" Feeling Jos's cold, piercing gaze, Ilsen’s heart tightened. Was this guy planning something against him?

Jos pondered for a moment and said concisely, "Well... in short, it’s an activity where you sing and dance, and then wait for others to give you money."

"Huh?"

Ilsen looked at Jos with a ghost-seeing expression. Although there was no singing and dancing on Sakaar, he had seen similar things among the trash dumped here and had some vague concept of it. But that kind of stuff could make money? Was this tentacle-man's brain broken? What was money? It was food, clean water, and weapons to ensure one's survival. Who would give you money just because you sang and danced? Ilsen would swear that even the most foolish group of idiots on Sakaar, those who lived by the radioactive lakes and had their brains fried by the water, wouldn't believe such a joke.

However, it had nothing to do with him what others wanted to do, and he had no obligation to warn them. So, he decisively shook his head and said, "No, Master. I still want to go back to my..."

*Swish!*

A brilliant blade of light flashed through the air. Ilsen realized that his messy bangs had been transformed into a perfectly straight fringe in an instant. The icy chill of the blade grazing his brow bone had yet to fade from his skin, and those locks of hair were already falling to the ground.

"Did you say something just now? I don't think I heard you clearly," Jos looked at Ilsen with a beaming smile.

"I said, Master, your idea is brilliant! It will surely take all of Sakaar by storm! Please, you must let me join!"

"Mm-hmm, that's good. This is something you're joining of your own volition, absolutely not something I'm forcing you into, right?" Jos happily put away his blade and patted Ilsen on the shoulder. "Anyway, as for the specific things we need to do... let's find a place to stay first, and I'll explain the rest to you slowly. If we succeed, we will possess the wealth of all of Sakaar—no, perhaps even the wealth of other planets will be within our grasp!"