"You're the one who's over-interpreting!" Shu shot back, not yielding an inch, picking up another disc titled "Homu's Grand Tour: A Spiritual Journey".
"By your logic, shouldn't this film about a Homu's out-of-body experience exploring the meaning of life be thrown into the 'Fantasy & Philosophy' category just because it involves 'souls' and some 'abstract concepts'?
"But its core is warmth, healing, and finding the spark of life! It clearly belongs in 'Family & Heartwarming'."
"How can "Homu's Grand Tour" and "The Homu Family" be the same? One is about a spiritual adventure, the other is about daily family life!"
"The emotional core is similar, both are warm and positive! If you want to sub-categorize, fine, but the main category should be unified!"
"Unified? By your method, then something like "Homu Slayer", which is about killing demons, could be thrown into 'Family & Heartwarming' just because of the 'sibling bond'?!"
"I never said that! I'm just pointing out that your classification standards are subjective and logically inconsistent."
Their speech grew faster and faster, picking up and putting down discs in their hands, gesturing back and forth between several category shelves.
Both were trying to attack the other using their logical loopholes, but because their thought processes were identical, their debates often fell into a loop of "you anticipated my anticipation."
"You're just forcing it! You're not considering the customer's actual search habits at all!"
"Your 'habits' are based on the 'original' memory from a world that doesn't exist here, completely without a realistic basis!"
"That's still better than someone classifying a superhero movie like "Homu-Man" as 'Inspirational Growth' just because 'the protagonist has internal struggles'! It's clearly a movie adapted from a first-person shooter game!"
"The core of "Homu-Man"'s plot is the protagonist's journey from a confused soldier to finding his conviction. That is inspirational growth! The game adaptation is just the format."
"The format isn't important? Then all Homu movies might as well be classified under one big category of 'Films Starring Homu'!"
"You're twisting my words—"
The argument gradually deviated from its original track. It started with the initial classification problem, but within a few sentences, it had turned into a full-blown questioning of each other's judgment, equally mediocre cultural awareness, and even their almost identical aesthetic tastes.
They pointed at various Homu-fied covers that were full of déjà vu but still utterly abstract in their eyes, critiquing each other's choices, their tones dripping with disdain, their eyes full of contempt...
As if the other's choice had sullied the dignity of the shop.
Just as Shu picked up a disc titled "Homu: Infinity War" and was about to accuse the other of mislabeling what was "clearly an epic ensemble piece versus a simple action flick"—
Jingle.
The shop door was pushed open.
A boy wearing glasses, who looked like a middle school student, peeked his head in, his eyes shining with an excitement that neither of them understood.
"Excuse me... are you open for business? I'm looking for the collector's edition of "Homu Art Online: Mother's Rosario Arc"..."
The argument came to an abrupt halt.
The two "Stelles" turned to the door simultaneously, their faces instantly switching to a slightly stiff, business-like smile.
Shu quickly shoved the "Homu: Infinity War" in his hand onto the nearest shelf, while Shu nonchalantly adjusted the placement angle of the "Homu Art Online" series discs to make them look neater.
"W-Welcome," Shu said dryly.
"The collector's edition is... over here," Shu pointed to a specific spot in the "Hot-Blooded Competition" section, his tone steady.
The boy, having received his instructions, ran over joyfully and began to squat in front of the shelf, carefully searching.
The two "Stelles" maintained their smiles, shooting each other a vicious glare from the corners of their eyes.
You just wait.
This classification thing isn't over.
You're finished once this customer leaves.
A silent threat was exchanged where their gazes met.
The boy's arrival was like the first domino falling.
In the blink of an eye, the glass door of [Hmoe Random Play] was completely occupied by a stream of customers.
The majority of the customers were young, teenagers and young adults in their early twenties, their eyes shining with a pure love for Homu that Shu couldn't comprehend.
In comparison, there were very few people who were just curious about the new shop.
There were also quite a few middle-aged people in their thirties and forties, perhaps with children who were not yet of school age, or perhaps they themselves had retained that nostalgia. Their expressions held a bit more reminiscence and scrutiny.
There were even a few white-haired elderly people who slowly strolled in, squinting at the dazzling array of goods, as if tracing the mark of a distant era.
The originally spacious shop instantly became crowded and noisy.
The two "Stelles" were like non-swimmers thrown into a raging river. The faint business smiles they had managed to maintain were instantly shattered by a tidal wave of questions.
"Boss! Is the collector's edition of "Homu Art Online: Ordinal Scale" over here? Why don't I see the bonus poster?" The glasses-wearing boy who had come in first anxiously waved the standard edition disc case in his hand.
Shu subconsciously looked at Shu, who was being stopped by a young mother holding a baby.
"Excuse me, do you have any Homu animations suitable for a baby? Something with soft visuals and soothing music? Preferably something that teaches colors and shapes..."
Before Shu could answer, a fashionably dressed girl on the other side had already held up a disc with a dazzling cover.
"Miss! Is this "Homu Fantasia: Starlight Symphony" a new musical movie? The trailer was super beautiful! Do you have the original soundtrack CD to go with it?"
Questions rained down from all directions, pelting the two "Stelles" until they were reduced to clueless little birds that could only chirp.
Shu fumbled around in the "Hot-Blooded Competition" section, trying to help the glasses-wearing boy find the so-called "collector's edition," only to find that apart from the standard edition they had seen when unboxing and shelving, there were no other versions.
"The c-collector's edition might... not have arrived yet?" he offered a dry explanation, which earned him a disappointed but understandingly helpless look from the boy.
Faced with the young mother's inquiry, Shu's brain rapidly searched through the limited disc information, trying to find a suitable film from among those titles filled with "action-packed fun."
"Homu's Grand Tour: A Spiritual Journey"?
It involved out-of-body experiences and death, which didn't seem quite right.
"The Homu Family", a daily drama?
But the synopsis seemed to mention family conflicts...
"Perhaps... "Homu's Gentle Time"? The cover is a sleeping Homu," he pointed uncertainly to a corner. The disc cover did indeed feature a fluffy Homu curled up on a cloud, and the title looked harmless.
"This one's good! Thank you, boss!" The young mother happily carried her baby over.
Before Shu could breathe a sigh of relief, a college student-looking boy in a baseball cap leaned over the counter, deliberately lowering his voice.
"Boss, do you have... any of those... 'special' Homu collections? The price is negotiable!" His eyes darted around, filled with the excitement of an underground transaction.
Seriously, you really think we're here to sell bootlegs?