Chapter 68: Truth Is, I'm an Otaku
Christmas in Akihabara felt like a gift box wrapped in dazzling tinsel, with the towering buildings on both sides of the avenues completely dressed up for the holidays. Red-and-white Christmas banners and LED fairy lights were practically everywhere, stretching from pedestrian bridges to street corners, while electronic billboards rolled through various Christmas special events.
In Japan, Christmas isn't actually a public holiday, so the daytime foot traffic along the streets wasn't overly congested. Most working adults wouldn't go out on dates until the evening, which meant many of the holiday-themed events were scheduled for later at night. Even so, there was still a decent crowd outside, comprised of freelancers and foreign tourists who had come to check out the tech and anime capital.
Two fairly ordinary-looking young people blended right into the crowd, following the flow of pedestrians without drawing a single eye.
Hikaru wore a black knit cap with a dark wig peeking out from beneath the brim, creating a sharp contrast against his natural blonde hair. A pair of black colored contacts masked his signature sea-blue eyes, and sunglasses further obscured more than half of his face. Dressed in a deep blue down jacket, black jeans, and black gloves, he looked exactly like an average college student.
The girl walking right beside him had put just as much effort into her disguise. Her naturally striking purple hair had been dyed a deep brown, her locks catching a warm amber glow under the winter sun. She wore a beige wool coat over a white turtleneck sweater, paired with dark, slim-fit trousers and brown ankle boots. Ai had also put on a pair of round, gold-rimmed glasses, adding a touch of intellectual charm that made it near impossible to connect her to the brilliant idol.
The tedious disguise process had eaten up a massive chunk of their time, meaning the morning was already half gone by the time they finally left the apartment. The silver lining, however, was that their appearances had changed so drastically that no one would ever recognize them at a glance.
"I've never actually been to Akihabara before," Ai said, adjusting the frame of her glasses, still feeling a bit unused to them. "I don't really watch anime."
Hikaru replied casually, "I actually used to watch a ton of it." Before transmigrating, he had spent a lot of time on it. But since arriving in this world, he had been constantly swamped with work; even whenever he did catch a rare break, he would usually fill his schedule with learning tasks, like practicing music production software, so his anime consumption had naturally taken a back seat.
Pulling out his phone, he pulled up his saved Akihabara travel guide to make a decision. "Let's check out a manga shop first."
With that, the two pulled up in front of Animate Akihabara. All sorts of anime character standees were lined up outside; Hikaru found them vaguely familiar, though he couldn't quite put a name to any of them.
Pushing through the glass doors, a wave of warm air hit them instantly, carrying the faint, crisp scent of freshly printed paper. The layout inside was orderly yet incredibly packed, with merchandise categorized flawlessly from the first floor all the way up to the seventh. The light novel section featured bookshelves lined with vibrant, colorful covers, while the weekly magazine section had the latest issues arranged in neat rows. The dedicated manga area was by far the most crowded, filled with the constant rustle of turning pages and low, whispered discussions.
The shop was relatively quiet, with the customer count being fairly low. A few young guys who looked like college students were discussing the new seasonal anime lineup, a middle-aged man was seriously browsing the light novel shelves, and two or three foreign tourists were holding up their phones to snap photos of the merchandise.
Hikaru had a keen interest in both light novels and manga, so he guided Ai along as they started browsing from the ground floor up. He lingered in the light novel section for a while, flipping through a few volumes with eye-catching covers, then browsed the weekly section for the newest magazine issues. Ai followed closely behind him, occasionally picking up a magazine to leaf through it, looking genuinely intrigued.
To her, this was an entirely foreign world, and humans naturally enjoy exploring the unknown—even if the end result turns out to be a total waste of time, the process remains thoroughly entertaining.
After completing a lap around the floor, Hikaru arrived at the monthly magazine section, his eyes scanning across the manga covers lining the shelf. "What's this one?" He picked up a freshly released magazine. Printed across the cover was the title *Sweet Today*, with the author's name credited underneath as Yoriko Kichijou.
Hikaru actually had a slight impression of this manga, mostly because in the original timeline, Aqua had landed a role in the live-action drama adaptation of this exact series, playing a total creep.
"Oh, it just started serialization," he murmured, flipping through a few pages before quickly losing interest.
Hikaru also discovered a few other peculiar manga titles on the shelves, like *Nine Dragon Balls*, *Captain Pirate*, and *Rain Ninja*. He skimmed through them and found some of the concepts incredibly familiar, though the vast majority of the plotlines were completely different from what he remembered.
*What a strange world timeline,* Hikaru thought. But having been transmigrated for so long, he was already close to getting fully used to it.
"Buy, buy, buy," he muttered under his breath, grabbing the volumes to bundle them all together. To him, these were brand-new, unread stories that he could enjoy all over again. Or rather, the vast majority of the entertainment media in this world was entirely foreign to him, giving him enough material to read for decades to come.
When they reached the checkout counter, Hikaru's shopping cart was piled high. The cashier was a young man wearing glasses.
"Would you like to use our delivery service?" the cashier inquired efficiently.
"Yes, please. Deliver to Chiyoda Ward," Hikaru said, filling out his address on the delivery slip. In the signature line, he cheekily penned down: *Director of the Cosmic Science and Technology Bureau.*
Seeing the obvious joke signature, the cashier's expression didn't shift in the slightest, clearly having seen plenty of eccentric customers in his time. "The shipping fee will be fifteen hundred yen. It can be delivered by tomorrow afternoon."
After settling the bill, Hikaru and Ai walked back out through the storefront.
"Do you really like manga that much, Hikaru?" Ai asked curiously.
"Not just manga—I watch anime and read light novels too," Hikaru nodded. "Truth is, I'm actually a total closet otaku."
"You don't look like one at all," Ai teased.
"I agree," Hikaru smiled. "After all, I have such a cute girlfriend now. I should qualify as a total normie, right?"
"Calling me cute..." Ai smiled happily. "Well, I guess you're not wrong."
She possessed that level of self-awareness.
Hikaru extended his hand toward Ai, and she naturally rested hers into his palm, their fingers weaving together.
"Was there anything you wanted to buy, Ai?" Hikaru asked.
"I don't really read manga. Whenever I have free time, I usually watch variety shows," Ai thought about it. "I don't really know much about this stuff, so can you recommend some good ones to me, Hikaru?"
"Of course," Hikaru said with mock seriousness. "We can watch them together."
He pulled out his phone again, pulling back up his travel guide.
"Next stop is... Kotobukiya Akihabara Store. Oh ho, it's a figurine shop."
The two walked south for a few minutes and quickly arrived near the shop. Stepping inside, they were instantly greeted by a figurine collector's paradise. Crystal-clear glass display cases housed all sorts of exquisitely crafted figures, ranging from classic anime characters to the newest video game protagonists.
The customer demographic inside was overwhelmingly male, ranging from teenagers to men in their forties. The exact moment Hikaru and Ai walked in—clearly looking like a couple—the atmosphere inside the shop hit a subtle, brief lull. Quite a few otaku sneakily glanced over at them, their eyes flashing with a mix of pure envy and utter confusion.
"That guy actually dared to bring his girlfriend here..."
"An absolute warrior."
Faint whispers rippled through the shop, but Hikaru couldn't care less. He took a lap around the display cases, discovering that he didn't recognize the vast majority of the characters. Walking further inside, his eyes suddenly lit up as he stepped into the teal-colored VOCALOID zone. All sorts of Hatsune Miku figures dominated an entire display section, ranging from her classic teal twin-tail look to various limited-edition variants.
"This is Miku, right?" Ai stood beside him, looking on with curiosity. "She's a virtual singer, if I remember right?"
"Yeah. Honestly, I actually considered using a virtual engine to produce music before," Hikaru nodded. "A lot of famous vocalists actually started out writing Vocaloid tracks before slowly transitioning into mainstream artists. But considering my own vocal tone is pretty decent and I can just sing myself, I ultimately dropped the idea."
Ai's gaze landed on a specific figurine right in front of Hikaru, a faint flush creeping onto her cheeks. "Do you like outfits like that, Hikaru?"
Following her line of sight, Hikaru realized the figurine in front of them was wearing nothing but lingerie, posed in a kneeling position on the display stand.
A sudden wave of suffocation washed over him, feeling exactly like a kid getting busted by his mom while buying adult merchandise—even though he had been an orphan in his past life.
"Uh, not particularly," he waved his hands frantically. "I mean, it's just a casual artistic interest."
"Then what about those?" Ai pointed to a section further away, which displayed statues of mature women in latex suits, bunny girls, maid outfits, and high school girls in black tights.
Hikaru stayed silent for a solid few seconds before finally giving an honest answer. "...I guess I like them a little bit."
Ai gave a slight huff, turning her back to him playfully.
A moment later, she turned back around, her face slightly flushed.
Ai leaned in close to Hikaru's ear, whispering softly, "You know... I could always dress up like that for you."
Feeling the warmth of her breath against his ear, Hikaru felt himself completely enveloped by an unprecedented wave of absolute bliss.
*Man, I really envy Ai's boyfriend right now,* he thought to himself. *Thank goodness that guy is me.*
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LanLi: Bastard...
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