Since the 1995 broadcast and phenonal success of Neon Genesis Evangelion, the production committee system it promoted not only pushed the industry forward once again, but also drove peripheral industries to begin establishing themselves in Akihabara.
Following the ergence of maid cafes, ani-related shops began to open in clusters, and manga magazines like Shonen Jump started holding events in Akihabara. By 1999, the ACG atmosphere in Akihabara was already very strong, and the term "Holy Land of ACG" began to appear.
Exiting Akihabara Station from the Electric Town Exit and arriving at Electric Town, all sorts of flashy ACG billboards imdiately filled his vision:
Rurouni Kenshin, Cardcaptor Sakura, Inuyasha, Full tal Panic!, Cowboy Bebop...
He admired the sights along the way, following the Original Owner's mories until he reached the shop where the Original Owner worked part-ti.
It was a bookstore that primarily sold new issues of various manga magazines, tankobon, complete manga sets, setting guides, and art books. Beyond that, doujinshi and adult manga were also fully available.
The first thing that caught his eye was a poster stand for Detective Conan: The Last Wizard of the Century.
Detective Conan: The Last Wizard of the Century had been officially released since April 17 and was currently showing to great popularity. Their shop was also coordinating with the movie's promotion, placing the complete set of Detective Conan tankobon in the most prominent position.
As the third Detective Conan movie, the biggest draw of The Last Wizard of the Century was the first theatrical appearance of three highly popular characters from the original work: Haibara Ai, Hattori Heiji, and Kaito Kid.
After its official release, the content of this movie received widespread praise from both fans and casual viewers. Its box office performance was excellent, and it seed likely to go a step further and break the box office record of the second movie, The Fourteenth Target.
"The Last Wizard of the Century..."
Although the Original Owner hadn't seen this movie yet, he, of course, had seen it long ago. Recalling it slightly, the content of the movie and other related information quickly and clearly surfaced in his mind.
He realized with a start:
"Ah, it's this movie."
The Last Wizard of the Century did indeed successfully break the previous movie's box office record. Not only at the ti, but even among the many Conan movies of later generations, it remained one of the top-ranked and highly acclaid entries.
He hadn't expected to arrive just in ti for this movie's release.
He kind of wanted to go to the cinema to watch it.
Akira felt a montary spark of interest, but imdiately after, he thought of his shriveled wallet and let out a long sigh.
A movie ticket cost 1,800 yen. Given his current financial situation, spending 1,800 yen specifically to watch a movie was sowhat extravagant.
1,800 yen was almost enough for him to buy nine copies of Weekly Shonen Jump. Even if he were buying Detective Conan manga volus, it would be enough for three.
Sigh, I still need to make money.
"Mochizuki-kun, are you troubled by sothing?"
Suddenly, a call from inside the bookstore pulled him back to reality. A woman wearing a blue work apron printed with the bookstore's logo, with a lean build and a gentle smile on her face, walked out from the shop.
Seeing her, Akira hurriedly greeted her:
"Manager!"
The woman was nad Sakamoto Kayo. Although she didn't seem to be even thirty yet, she was already the manager of this bookstore and was a very capable person.
She was also the person who had personally interviewed and hired the Original Owner, and she usually took great care of him at work.
"You're here for your shift."
Kayo nodded with a smile, then asked:
"I saw you looking a bit distressed just now, Mochizuki-kun. Are you in so kind of trouble?"
"No, nothing like that."
Akira gave a wry, self-deprecating smile:
"I'm just laughing at how poor I am."
"'Laughing at how poor you are'...?"
Kayo couldn't help but blink, then covered her mouth and chuckled softly:
"That's a very interesting way to put it. It's just that Mochizuki-kun used to have such a serious face every day. I didn't expect you to have such a humorous side."
"Is that so?"
Akira was also taken aback by her words, but he soon realized where the issue lay.
In his mory, the Original Owner didn't actually have the serious personality she described. It was just that after coming to Tokyo, he had been under constant pressure from both financial and creative struggles, which had turned him into the "serious-faced" person she spoke of.
"What? So Mochizuki-kun never realized it?"
Kayo was suddenly caught between laughter and tears. She hadn't expected that while he looked cool and aloof, he was actually the sowhat slow-witted type.
"I'm very sorry for causing you concern."
Although he realized she seed to have misunderstood the reason, Akira couldn't easily explain, so he could only gloss it over with an apology.
"It's no trouble at all. After all, Mochizuki-kun is our shop's ace."
Kayo chuckled, not minding at all.
She attributed Akira's previous seriousness to the unfamiliarity of their relationship, while his behavior just now suggested they were becoming more comfortable with each other.
This type of person wasn't rare; so people's behavior in front of strangers versus acquaintances was like two complete extres, almost as if they had a split personality.
However, she then gave a relieved smile and said:
"Seeing Mochizuki-kun like this, I can finally stop worrying."
"Even though every ti I asked before, your answer was always 'it's nothing,' that look of being troubled by sothing was really worrying."
"But today's Mochizuki-kun feels completely different. It looks like the problem has been successfully resolved?"
The problem hasn't been resolved, but the person has been replaced.
Akira almost broke character for a mont. He was also a bit surprised; he hadn't expected her to care so much about the Original Owner.
"Sorry for making you worry. As for the problem, well... sothing like that. At least I won't be like I was before."
"Is that so? That's good then."
Kayo heard the ambiguity in his words and didn't intend to probe further.
Suddenly, she changed the subject, teasing him with a smile:
"But speaking of which, a serious-faced Mochizuki-kun is actually quite nice too, just like Rukawa Kaede from Slam Dunk."
"Handso guys of that type are very popular with girls right now, you know?"
"Rukawa Kaede?"
Akira mused:
"Well, I do quite like sleeping too."
"That's not the type I ant!"
Kayo gave him a playful, annoyed look, then couldn't help but giggle again, finding it very amusing.
And she had to admit, today's Mochizuki-kun really was very different from before.
Back to the main topic.
The peak hours for foot traffic in Akihabara were from 11:30 AM to around 4:00 PM, but for a bookstore, the busiest period started at 2:00 PM and ended around 5:00 PM.
His shift today started at 12:00 PM. It was precisely because the peak hours hadn't arrived yet that Kayo had ti to stand at the shop entrance and chat with him for a while.
"Anyway, I'm counting on you for today's work, Mochizuki-kun! I'm going to grab so lunch first."
"Yes."
Akira put on the blue work apron, stood behind the checkout counter, watched the manager leave temporarily, and began his day's work.
By the ti Kayo returned from lunch, it was around 1:30 PM. Two other temporary employees, besides him and the manager, arrived at the shop one after another; the busiest ti was about to begin.
"Welco!"
"The total is 1,700 yen. Out of 2,000 yen, your change is 300 yen. Please take it."
"Do you need a bag?"
"Alright!"
"Thank you for your patronage!"
During peak hours, the busiest person was undoubtedly the manager, Kayo. Whether it was custor guidance, restocking shelves, or cashiering, she had to personally oversee every part. She was practically a human spinning top.
He primarily served as the cashier, occasionally helping with so physical labor. Overall, his work intensity was relatively light.
The reason he was assigned easier work, besides Kayo's care, was another important reason she had ntioned before: he was the shop's ace.
As for what kind of ace exactly:
"Thank you for your patronage!"
After checking out two girls who looked like friends, Akira focused on continuing his work. However, the two girls kept looking back every few steps, and as soon as they reached the shop entrance, they began whispering eagerly to each other:
"That cashier guy is really handso!"
"Right? I didn't lie to you...!"
That kind of ace.
According to Kayo, since he started working part-ti at the shop, there had been a noticeable increase in sales, along with a significant rise in female custors. The reason was, of course, self-evident.
There were many bookstores like theirs in Akihabara. Only a small portion of the types and prices of goods sold by each bookstore differed; otherwise, most goods were not much different. For custors, it was the sa no matter where they bought them.
Since they could buy the desired goods here just the sa, and there wasn't much difference in price, why not take the opportunity to look at a handso guy?
Thus, he beca one of the few highlights of their bookstore, which was a major reason why the manager, Kayo, took such good care of him.
Of course, part of the reason was simply because he was a handso guy.
It had to be admitted that good looks were indeed an important resource. When other conditions were similar, handso n and beautiful won were simply more likely to gain an advantage than others.
Especially in this era, where plastic surgery technology was not yet very advanced, the advantage of naturally handso n and beautiful won was even greater.
Speaking of which, since he had these looks now, becoming an idol seed like...
No, that's absolutely out of the question!
He suddenly snapped out of it halfway through his thought. He wasn't in UK right now, but in Japan.
And Japanese idols were a very complicated subject.
The industry's status was low, it was competitive and exhausting, there were extre sasaeng fans, and company requirents were strict to the point of being abnormal. Even the companies themselves were abnormal.
In fact, just this past April, the Japanese entertainnt industry had experienced a major shock.
Weekly Bunshun had published a special titled "Johnny Kitagawa: Allegations of Sexual Assault of Minors" and released two consecutive issues that month, completely exposing the sexual assault scandal of Johnny's founder Kitagawa against his own artists.
Setting aside what far-reaching impacts this event would have in later generations, for the idol industry at the mont, it was definitely a heavy and nearly fatal blow.
Tsk, tsk, tsk...
Thinking of this, Akira silently shook his head, his disdain fully exposed.
Being a Japanese idol these days is sothing even a dog wouldn't do!
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