[What's the point of life, just live as you go]
[What's the point of life, just live as you go]
Nendoroid. A type of figure made by deforming a character. They are much smaller than regular figures and give off a very cute vibe. If a figure is a dog, a Nendoroid can be compared to a puppy.
Anyway, there's a saying that there are people who have never bought even one Nendoroid, but there's no one who has only bought one. If you leave them alone, they sacrifice your wallet to multiply their companions.
"First, I'll buy all the Vocaloid-related ones."
"Even the derivative characters?"
"You bet your ass!"
First, the most famous Miku, Rin, Len, and... ah, there's Yuzuki Yukari too. Isn't she a Voiceroid? Whatever. Even if the boat goes up the mountain, as long as it gets to Seoul, it's fine. Wait, the boat shouldn't go to Seoul, though.
Ah, a Kizuna AI figure!
I slipped it into the shopping cart.
".......As expected, a flat-chest fan."
"Shut up. I like big breasts too. If I have to choose between big or flat, I just choose flat."
"A normal man would choose the big ones."
"I'm abnormal, so I chose the small one. Happy?"
"Since you chose me, I'll let it slide even if you're abnormal."
"You're not flat-chested, you're a loli."
"Since there's no growth potential, I'm flat-chested."
You can't even get a knife in here. Such a cunning girl.
Sion and my shopping cart were already piled high with several figures. Just looking at it, it seemed like it would be a hassle to carry. No, weight wasn't the problem, but the volume was just... Even if we bundled and packed them properly, it looked like it would make two or three boxes.
"Don't worry. Places like this usually offer international shipping."
My worries were blown away in one shot.
We picked out everything that caught our eye, and Sion handed over her cool Black Card at the checkout counter.
"How would you like to pay?"
"One lump sum, please."
"Yes, thank you for your purchase!"
We bought all those figures with a single card swipe. That black card is amazing. No, you could do it with a regular credit card too, but the weight of it feels different.
"Let me see the receipt. How much was it?"
"It came out to just under 300,000 yen."
"3 million won in one shopping trip. Quite a start."
"This is the most expensive item anyway. There's no way doujinshi or things like that would cost over 300,000 yen."
"You never know. If we buy electronics, it might exceed that."
"Our computer at home is a full-spec build I put together myself, so is there any need to buy one?"
"Oh, really? No wonder it runs so well without any lag."
I was curious about what brand it was because even when I installed and ran games with decent graphics, there wasn't a hint of lag, but if Sion built it herself, that makes sense. It was built by an alien, so it would be weirder if it lagged on Earth games.
We asked the shop to send the figures via international shipping, and as we walked out, my steps felt light. Where should we go next?
"Next is doujinshi."
"Ah, don't tell me the next destination is Toranoana?"
"Commonly known as the Tiger's Den. But we're going somewhere else. These days, Toranoana has more female-oriented stuff than male-oriented, so it's not great."
"You're a girl... Then Melonbooks?"
"I want to see the authentic Melon Stacking."
If you were to look for a few famous brands in this scene, Melonbooks is one of them. It might be a bit lacking compared to Toranoana, but in terms of the number of stores across Japan, this one is on top.
However, the Akihabara store is small. Other regional branches are actually bigger. Well, Akihabara land prices are expensive, after all.
A small store for such a famous brand. But because of that, my gaze is drawn to the huge something that welcomes us inside.
"This is that very Melon Stacking!"
"It feels a bit like looking at the Dabotap Pagoda."
Melon Stacking is a display method where popular works at Melonbooks are stacked in a spiral formation until they reach the ceiling. Anything big and tall is a sight to behold, but as a nerd, seeing this makes me feel even more moved.
Think about it. If you stack money into a tower, doesn't that alone make you exclaim in awe? It's similar to that.
"This is a new release. Would you like to buy one?"
"It's in Japanese. It'll be officially released in Korea, so why not buy it then?"
"It's a souvenir. A souvenir."
"Yeah, yeah. You want to try pulling the one on the very top, right?"
I roughly guessed it, so I put my hands under Sion's armpits and lifted her up. Sion, having pulled out a book from the very top where it was almost touching the ceiling, triumphantly spread her arms and struck a Y-shaped pose.
"Long live otaku culture!"
"Aren't you embarrassed doing that out in the open?"
"If a normal adult man did it, he'd be treated like an idiot, but if a beautiful girl does it, it can be seen as cute."
"Ugh, I should become a beautiful girl next time too!"
"Then in your next life, will you be able to have intense slug lesbian sex?"
Let's save that conversation for right before I die. Anyway, we bought various doujin works here too, so my hands got heavy. Things like books have small volume, so even if we buy dozens, we can carry them ourselves, so only I have to suffer a bit.
Simply put, my physical strength is fine even without using my ability; lifting tons is no problem. If I use my ability? With a little exaggeration, I could even lift a star. Although, that's not really something to be judged by physical strength anyway.
After stopping by the figure shop and the doujin shop, the morning had already passed. Since it was time for lunch, I remembered the Maid Cafe I thought of earlier.
"Want to go to a Maid Cafe and eat?"
"Do you want to eat omurice with a heart drawn in ketchup with love? I can do that for you at home, can't I?"
"You want to go see the maids, so why are you acting like that?"
"No, how did you know!"
She's a girl on the outside, but her inner tastes are no different from a man's, so why is she pretending otherwise?
We have about two sets of nurse outfits and maid outfits at home. It's just a pain to wash them once used, but we do use them occasionally.
.........Taking them to a laundry shop? How could I take that to a store, it's embarrassing. And who knows what's on them. It's just more comfortable for me to wash them myself.
And a maid outfit, by definition, isn't just about wearing it; no matter if it's a part-time job or a profession, the meaning lies in 'serving' while wearing those clothes, so it's meaningless unless you're just trying to cosplay.
"Actually, this is my first time at a Maid Cafe. No matter what, I've never been because I'm self-conscious about other people's gazes when going alone."
"Why? Isn't it a place that people who are into otaku culture or are well-versed in that scene go to often?"
"Even so, I'd be alone. You're the only person I can go with."
"Coo, this feels like a proper honeymoon. It's fun to go to new places that stir up emotions."
"Setting aside the fact that the place is a Maid Cafe."
There are many Maid Cafes in Akihabara. They are all different, tailored to their own attributes, so it's good to go to the one you like.
There are butler cafes that women might like, vampire maid cafes, and even cross-dressing male (hmm) maid cafes.
"You just made a face like you wouldn't mind dating a pretty boy."
"Wait a minute, can you tell the difference?"
"How long have we been together, how could I not tell that much? And I'm in favor of a boy who looks like a girl, too."
"A boy who looks like a girl, or a girl who looks like a boy."
"Both are good."
Sion was holding up both thumbs with a triumphant expression, like "The best! Bisexual!"
"Welcome, Master!"
As we entered the Maid Cafe, maids wearing modified maid outfits that emphasized mobility with short skirts greeted and welcomed us.
Ah, that maid outfit is secretly shorter than the ones Sion wore at home a few times... I guess it reflects the sad reality that exposure and sales are inversely proportional. Excellent, excellent, you capitalists!
"What are you glancing at?"
"Ah, sorry. Did it bother you?"
"Instead of peeking like a coward, look at it confidently."
"You were bothered by that!"
In reality, the only thought in my head is an image of what Sion would look like wearing a maid outfit like that.
Hmm, the cuteness is -30 points, but the sexiness is +80 points. I want to try putting it on her... Ah, places like this have a service where you can try them on yourself, but if they have adult female sizes, Sion can't wear them.
"It would be cheaper to just make it yourself or have it custom-made."
"Why not wear it in your Growth Form?"
"If you knew how much energy it consumes to maintain the Growth Form for a day, you'd take that back. I don't transform often for no reason."
"I can just give you that energy."
"I hope that energy isn't protein... though I do like it."
Thinking about it, we're a great match in bed too. I have infinite energy production. Sion has infinite energy storage. We're a match made in heaven.
"May I help you with your order? Master?"
"Ah, this omurice and... hmm, how about a parfait for dessert?"
"I think it would be good to order one and share it."
"Then two omurice and one parfait, please."
"Yes! Thank you!"
A while later, the ordered menu arrived. The maid staff, who brought a ketchup bottle along with the omurice, asked what to write on the delicious-looking yellow egg omelet.
"How should I write it?"
"I'll just have a heart shape."
"Please draw it in a cute star shape for me."
It's not like she asked to cut it, but asking to draw a star shape, what's up with that.
Anyway, the important thing is the taste, so I took a bite. Since the food at Maid Cafes isn't the main focus, the quality often drops, but this place was just okay and edible. That's why I deliberately ordered omurice. Omurice is a dish that's hard to make taste bad no matter who makes it.
Sion seemed to find it acceptable, as she was eating without complaint.
"Why are you scooping it up in a star shape like you're breaking a dalgona shape?"
"It's respect. Please respect my taste."
"Isn't that backwards?"
Once we finished our meal, the parfait we ordered also came out. It was a parfait in a wine glass that wasn't very big, but it was enough for two people who had already eaten to share.
I thought the price was a bit expensive, but seeing as they put a macaron on top, even if it's a cheap one, it's acceptable. If you calculate the unit cost, it would be a bit lower, though.
"Would you like a macaron?"
"I'm not really into cheap ones with flour mixed in the dough."
"True, there's a big difference in taste between those with flour mixed in and those without."
Macarons are distinguished as cheap or not depending on whether flour is mixed into the dough. The ones with flour are much cheaper and easier to make, but you can definitely tell the difference when you eat them.
The ones with flour are crumbly, whereas the ones without have that distinct macaron texture—crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. If you look around for places that sell macarons, you might find some for around 1,000 won, but a significant number of them are mass-produced items with flour mixed in.
Considering labor and material costs, it's not an item that can be cheap... Even if you try to run it through a factory, it's a tricky item to make. It has to be expensive.
While eating dessert, we leisurely watched the maids and the people. The fact that there were quite a few people who looked like they were into otaku culture really made me feel like I was in Akihabara. I feel a sense of camaraderie.
"Where shall we go next?"
"Hmm, shall we go to the Electronics District? I saw one right next to the station earlier."
"Is there anything you need to buy in electronics?"
"Just looking, and if it's that big, it probably won't just sell electronics. It'll probably feel more like a complex store than an electronics district."
After deciding on the next destination and finishing the lunch bill, we walked lightly to the Electronics District next to Akihabara Station to help with digestion. Vehicle traffic was restricted, so being able to walk on the road felt open and refreshing, which put me in a good mood.
"But when we go to Comiket, are we just going to buy doujinshi and watch cosplay?"
"Is there something else you want to do? Ah, like trying cosplay yourself?"
"That's not bad, but is there anything you and I can cosplay?"
"If you look, there's everything. Besides, I can accommodate all characters, so there's no problem."
I've thought about this for a long time; when you see dragons polymorph into humans in mass-produced fantasy novels, there's always one thing I've thought about.
That it would be awesome to cosplay with that. You know that saying, right? If I had a Ditto, I'd transform it into a super pretty girl and... ahem.
"For hair, we can just use a wig. All we need to prepare are props. Hmm... come to think of it, there is a cosplay we can try."
"What are we going to do?"
"That's a secret. Anyway, I'll prepare the props, so don't worry. All that's left is to do the cosplay and go."
"I'm anxious about what you're planning."
Surely she's not going to make me wear something with high exposure. What would a man do with high exposure?
While we were chatting, we arrived at the Electronics District. At first glance, it looks like a department store, but the main focus is electronics, and the rest is just secondary.
"......Huh?"
"Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing... as long as we don't meet."
Ignoring the annoying presence that caught my spiritual sense, we started window shopping leisurely in the store, which had few people since it was still a weekday.
"I thought about buying something while we're here. But the outlet standards for Japanese products and our country's products are different."
"Since the countries are different, it can't be helped."
"It would be so much better if they just standardized it properly. It's inconvenient that they use miles and meters separately for distance units, too."
"That is true. There was a major accident where a US space battleship used the metric and yard systems incorrectly in its warp program and crashed into Jupiter."
"What kind of SF traffic accident is that? So what happened?"
"Warp is a technology that makes you bleed if you mess it up... The density inside Jupiter and the spatial field caused by the warp, and other factors mixed together, causing Jupiter to explode. Of course, the aftermath blew away Earth, and it's a case where a civilization was destroyed by a ridiculous mistake."
"Hey, that's no joke. Even if you develop space, it takes only a moment to be destroyed. It's rare for a civilization that has gone down the space development tree to be destroyed."
Both Sion and I have lived for a long time and seen many civilizations, so we've seen big-scale but ridiculous incidents. But this result is a bit big compared to the mistake. A whole civilization blown away just because of a unit error?
We finished the conversation and decided to look around at the electronics. I adapt quickly, but I'm still surprised sometimes when new features come out in electronics.
For example, there was a time when TVs were just for watching broadcast programs, but these days you can watch movies at home, and watch desired programs whenever they are released for free, so I think that technological advancement is truly awesome.
Well, it would be really great if it always developed in a good direction.
"Still, there are quite a few decent products. Maybe because it's Japan, there are some unique items too. Look at this. It's an egg-shaped humidifier."
"Ah, I saw this on the internet. Humidifiers come in such small sizes these days."
Even if it wasn't something necessary for daily life, there were more fascinating items than I thought. When I was reincarnated in an SF world, I had seen even more fascinating items than this, but from the perspective of an Earthling living in the 21st century, it was fun.
Honestly, how could it not be fun to go shopping with my wife on our honeymoon?
"Come to think of it, do we have a camera or something?"
"We can just take pictures with our phones."
"There's a romance in taking commemorative photos with a camera, printing them out, and hanging them in a frame."
"Then shall we buy one?"
When I asked a store employee, they said the camera section is on the 5th floor along with the computer section.
"5th floor, let's be careful there."
"Why?"
"By this Earth's standards, there's a pretty strong guy."
"Is he a Force User?"
"Yeah, he's been hanging around since earlier, but if we don't pay attention, it's fine."
"Then how strong is he?"
"Hmm..."
I roughly expanded my spiritual sense to compare. The range is small compared to the maximum of my will-force field, but just by paying a little attention.
"He's the strongest in Japan."
He's in the top 3 in the East Asian region.
Sion responded to my answer.
"He's a total weakling, isn't he?"
You are a really bad girl.