Ryan continued walking through the buildings, but the deeper they went into this part of the district, the more the atmosphere completely changed.
The lively hobby-shop energy from earlier slowly disappeared and was replaced by something heavier.
More uncomfortable.
Neon lights glowed in dark red and purple colors across the streets while loud music echoed from different buildings nearby. Some signs flashed suggestive anime artwork, while several workers stood outside trying to invite passing customers inside. The sidewalks were crowded with drunk people, tourists, smokers, shady businessmen, and groups of young men laughing far too loudly.
Even the air itself felt different.
The smell of cigarettes, alcohol, perfume, cheap food, and humid nighttime streets mixed together into an atmosphere Zaboru immediately disliked.
His expression slowly frowned.
"Ryan... where exactly are we?" Zaboru asked while looking around carefully. "You know I really don't like red districts."
And he genuinely meant it.
Zaboru never enjoyed places like this, not even in his previous life. He understood adult entertainment existed everywhere, but personally? He always found these kinds of environments strangely depressing beneath all the bright lights and fake excitement.
Ryan noticed the discomfort on Zaboru's face and quickly raised both hands.
"Relax, relax," Ryan said with a grin. "Technically, yeah, this area counts as a red district. There's even a cosplay pleasure house somewhere near here."
Zaboru immediately looked even more disturbed.
"A what?"
Ryan almost laughed after seeing that reaction. "See? That exact face is why I brought you here."
Zaboru rubbed his forehead.
Honestly, hearing the words 'cosplay pleasure house' physically damaged him a little.
Ryan continued while still grinning mischievously. "But don't worry Boss i know you, I'm not bringing you there. I'm not suicidal. Besides, Ayumi would probably assassinate both of us." Zaboru sighed "I'm not involed with this.."
That part at least made Zaboru relax slightly.
"There's something else I actually want to show you," Ryan explained. "Technically it's healthier than the adult stuff around here... though honestly? After seeing it, I'm not fully sure whether it's mentally healthier."
Zaboru narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Now he was even more concerned.
Zaboru sighed deeply. Honestly, the moment adult entertainment became involved, his mood immediately dropped a little. He genuinely disliked places like this. Not because he was naïve about them existing, but because he simply had no interest in that kind of environment anymore. He was a family man now. Compared to noisy nightlife or shady pleasures, he much preferred spending time with Ayumi and his children.
Still, he trusted Ryan enough to continue following him.
Ryan might joke around constantly, but he knew Zaboru's boundaries very well.
So after another few minutes of walking through the district, they finally arrived in front of another building. Surprisingly, this one looked far more normal compared to the neon-filled streets around it. The outside almost resembled an ordinary commercial building, with bright windows, posters near the entrance, and groups of people casually entering and leaving.
At first glance, nothing seemed strange.
But the moment Zaboru stepped inside...
He immediately realized Ryan had brought him somewhere completely different.
Zaboru immediately froze near the entrance, completely flabbergasted by what he was seeing. "What the...?" he muttered, genuinely at a loss for words. The place was not exactly adult entertainment, but it was definitely strange in a completely different way. Rows of anime statues stood proudly across the room, some cute, some heroic, some wearing elaborate fantasy outfits, and several girls were walking around in cosplay. However, unlike the red district outside, the atmosphere here was not openly indecent. It was more like an extremely intense fan space that had somehow absorbed every corner of Akihabara and rebuilt itself inside Los Angeles.
What truly shocked Zaboru was not the merchandise or the cosplayers. It was the sheer number of guys inside the building wearing loud anime shirts, character headbands, long coats, fingerless gloves, fake swords, and outfits that looked like they had escaped from five different fantasy series at once. Some were loudly debating character power levels, some were posing dramatically near posters, and others were speaking with strange confidence about fictional girls like they were discussing actual girlfriends.
Zaboru knew these types of people very well from his previous life.
Otaku or Weebs.
The moment that word appeared in his mind, he almost felt spiritual damage. He could practically smell the place too, not in a completely disgusting way, but in that unique mixture of plastic figures, old carpet, instant snacks, energy drinks, cheap perfume, and human obsession that only a deeply concentrated fan gathering could create.
Ryan leaned closer with a grin and lowered his voice. "Hahaha... welcome to the dark side, Boss. Honestly, I'm surprised these kinds of places already exist here too."
Zaboru slowly looked around again, still trying to process the scene in front of him. "Ryan..." he said quietly. "I think we have discovered something more dangerous than the red district."
Zaboru was deeply amused as he and Ryan continued exploring the place. Most of the area was filled with figures, posters, model kits, wall scrolls, and glass display cases showing expensive limited-edition merchandise. Some people were admiring rare collectibles with serious expressions, others were taking photos in front of cardboard standees, and a few were guarding their shopping bags like they had just obtained national treasures.
Then Zaboru overheard a conversation nearby that made him genuinely unsure whether he should laugh, cry, or immediately leave the building to protect his soul.
Two large guys wearing loud anime shirts were sitting at a small table near the figure display. One of them had a towel wrapped around his neck like a battle scarf, while the other wore fingerless gloves for absolutely no reason. Both of them looked incredibly serious, as if they were discussing international diplomacy instead of fictional women.
"My waifu is really something else, bro..." the first guy said with a heavy sigh. "She's hard to please these days."
The second guy nodded solemnly, as if he truly understood the pain of marriage. "Yeah, I get you. Mai Shiranui didn't want to eat anything back then, but now she's normal again."
Zaboru's smile twitched.
Ryan slowly turned his head toward him, silently asking if they had heard that correctly.
Then another guy nearby joined the conversation with complete confidence. "Hmm? Your waifu is Mai Shiranui? Such a vulgar woman. My waifu is Artoria Pendragon. She is elegant, noble, beautiful, and worthy of eternal devotion."
The first guy immediately stood up, his chair screeching against the floor. "What did you say about Mai!?"
The Artoria believer also stood up, adjusting his fake medieval cape with unnecessary drama. "I said what I said. A true king's wife must have dignity."
"Dignity!? Mai has fighting spirit, beauty, and fire!"
"Fire is temporary. Royal grace is eternal."
The two of them stared at each other like a duel was about to begin.
Zaboru felt the cringe hit his chest so hard it almost became physical damage. Ryan, meanwhile, gritted his teeth and whispered, "Boss... I think I aged three years just listening to this."
Zaboru covered his mouth, desperately trying not to laugh.
The worst part was that both men looked completely serious.
As if the honor of their imaginary wives truly depended on this battle.
"Yeah, this place is kind of good for testing your mentality, huh...?" Ryan whispered, still looking spiritually damaged by the waifu debate.
Before Zaboru could answer, another conversation reached their ears from a nearby table, and this one somehow sounded even worse.
A skinny guy wearing a black cloak, red contact lenses, and a forehead protector leaned forward with deadly seriousness. "Bro... I activated my Sharingan yesterday."
His two friends immediately froze as if he had just revealed classified military information.
"No way..." one of them whispered.
"How many tomoe?" the other asked, completely serious.
The cloaked guy clenched his fist. "Only one for now. But I'm sure it awakened because someone at school said anime is for children. My rage was so intense that my left eye started burning."
Zaboru's lips pressed together so hard he almost injured himself trying not to laugh.
Ryan slowly turned his face away, shoulders shaking slightly.
One of the guy's friends nodded with deep sympathy. "I understand your feeling, bro. I experienced it too. Last week, my cousin said cartoons and anime are the same thing. For three seconds, I felt darkness inside my soul."
The other friend placed a hand on his chest. "Same. My aunt called my limited-edition figure a toy. I almost unlocked Bankai right there."
The cloaked guy closed his eyes and nodded solemnly. "We are cursed with power normal people cannot understand."
Zaboru almost lost it.
He turned around slightly, pretending to examine a nearby figure display, but his shoulders betrayed him. He was silently laughing so hard that Ryan had to bite his own finger to keep from making noise.
This was no longer just weeb behavior.
This was full chuunibyou evolution.
Nearby, these kinds of conversations seemed to happen everywhere. Some people were discussing fictional bloodlines like they were legal family inheritance. Others argued about whether they could survive inside a fantasy world if they trained seriously for six months. A group near the arcade center was comparing imaginary power systems while drinking soda like ancient martial masters discussing forbidden techniques.
And the strangest part was that the place itself supported all of it. It sold everything from food and snacks to merchandise, figures, costumes, card packs, manga, posters, imported game soundtracks, and even arcade tokens. There was a small food stall selling themed rice bowls, an arcade section filled with fighting games and rhythm machines, and several tables where people gathered like guild members waiting for a quest.
Zaboru grinned wider, still barely holding back his laughter.
The Sharingan conversation was real.
The weeb community was real.
Chuunibyou was real.
And somehow, it had already crossed the ocean and built a base in Los Angeles.
Zaboru genuinely did not know whether he wanted to laugh or cry anymore.
The worst part was that this kind of behavior was completely real in his previous life too.
Weebs were real.
Chuunibyou was real.
And now somehow both of them had crossed the Pacific Ocean and evolved inside Los Angeles.
Honestly, seeing it happen with his own eyes in US felt surreal.
Zaboru and Ryan continued exploring the building for a while longer, but every few minutes they encountered something that dealt direct psychic damage.
At one corner, a group of teenagers were dramatically recreating anime fight scenes using wooden sticks while making their own sound effects.
"SHUNPO!"
"YOU FOOL! MY SPEED EXCEEDS HUMAN LIMITS!"
One of them suddenly slipped and crashed directly into a cardboard cutout.
Nobody laughed.
Instead, another guy rushed over seriously. "BRO ARE YOU OKAY!? Did the recoil from your forbidden technique hit your body!?"
Ryan physically turned around because his shoulders were already shaking violently.
Meanwhile, another section of the building had become a full-on strategy war room. Several people gathered around a table covered with cards, notebooks, snacks, and empty soda cans while arguing like military generals discussing war tactics.
"If I combine Blue-Eyes White Dragon with this setup, the battlefield changes completely!"
"That strategy is weak against psychological warfare."
"What psychological warfare!?"
"I stare directly into their soul before my turn starts."
Zaboru immediately walked away before hearing the rest.
Then they passed the arcade section, where a skinny teenager wearing a long black coat dramatically pointed toward a rhythm game machine DDR 2 and Taito no Tatsujin.
"Music... is merely another battlefield."
The machine immediately destroyed him.
Game Over.
Perfect failure.
The guy slowly removed his hand from the machine before whispering with complete seriousness, "My power... still has not fully awakened."
Ryan grabbed Zaboru's shoulder because he was already silently dying from laughter.
"Boss..." Ryan wheezed quietly. "I think this place is actually more dangerous than the red district."
Zaboru wiped tears from his eyes while nodding weakly. "At least the red district doesn't attack my soul directly."
Ryan completely lost it after hearing that.
After calming down slightly, Ryan finally grinned and asked, "So... how is it?"
Zaboru looked around the building again before smiling helplessly. "Eye-opening."
Then he paused dramatically before placing two fingers near his eye.
"I think... I can unlock my Sharingan now because the emotional damage this place has to my heart."
Ryan laughed so hard he nearly hit the wall.
After that, the two of them continued exploring this strange new "Japan district" spreading throughout Los Angeles. And honestly?
The area was becoming incredibly popular in the United States.
Because of ZAGE's massive distribution network across America, Japanese entertainment culture had spread much faster than anyone expected. Anime, games, manga, trading cards, arcades, GunPla, internet cafés, cosplay culture, and online communities were no longer niche hobbies hidden in tiny corners.
Now they were becoming mainstream.
And surprisingly?
A huge number of Americans genuinely welcomed it.
Days passed, and the gaming world began shifting its attention once again. Microsoft's next trailer was about to release, Apple's iPlay showcase was drawing closer, and somewhere behind the scenes, ZAGE was preparing another surprise of its own.
To be continue
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