The promotional activities in Shanghai became hotter with each event, and the response triggered among the fan community far exceeded expectations.
Following the fiery atmosphere of the first fan meeting, the subsequent promotional events for the Alice in Borderland crew in Shanghai were all packed with seas of people. Even the prices of scalper tickets were speculated to have multiplied several times over.
The long guns and short cannons of the media and the fanatical shouts of the fans turned every event venue into an ocean of joy.
Michiya Gōshin was undoubtedly the most dazzling existence in this storm. His fluent Chinese ability effortlessly broke down language barriers, allowing him to establish a wondrous, near-zero-distance intimacy with the Xia Country fans.
He was no longer a foreign idol on a distant screen, but 'one of their own' who could communicate freely in a common language and even understand their unique humor.
Whenever he picked up the microphone and spoke in standard, perfectly enunciated Chinese with that magnetic voice, the wave of sound from below the stage almost lifted the roof.
At the event sites, in addition to the solid batch of fans Sakurajima Mai already had in Xia Country, Michiya Gōshin frantically harvested a massive amount of new fans within just a few days thanks to this unique charm. The 'Ai-Yu-Ren' group expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The third event, which was also the final large-scale mall atrium event in Shanghai, saw the atmosphere reach a boiling point.
Although the number of security personnel had been doubled, forming a human wall to stand ready, they still could not completely suppress the enthusiasm of the fans. The circular corridors on every floor of the mall were crowded with young people looking forward in anticipation. Countless mobile phone screens lit up like stars, focusing on the center of the stage.
Today, Michiya Gōshin chose a navy blue casual suit with dark patterns. It retained the propriety of a formal occasion while revealing a bit of casual approachability.
He was interacting with a male fan who had been lucky enough to be drawn to come on stage, answering profound questions about the character's human choices in extreme environments in the show.
"Actually, I think the most fascinating thing about this character isn't how great a sacrifice he made," Michiya Gōshin nodded slightly, expounding in clear and penetrating Chinese. His gaze sincerely met that of the male fan who was somewhat overwhelmed with excitement. "Rather, it lies in the fact that in a desperate situation, he still tried to protect that small piece of softness in his heart that belongs to being 'human'."
His interpretation was not only precise but also carried a kind of literary philosophical thought. It instantly hit the softest part of many audience members' hearts, triggering a deeper level of resonance and thunderous applause.
That male fan nodded vigorously, his eyes flashing with the excited light of being understood.
Sakurajima Mai, meanwhile, stood gracefully by his side, wearing a pale sakura-colored dress. Her face maintained an impeccable smile at all times. In the intervals when Michiya Gōshin was expounding his views, the girl supplemented with a few sentences just right. The tacit understanding between the two seemed innate.
About two hours later, the group photo session ended, and this event drew a perfect period.
Back backstage, the fatigue of days of running around had long disappeared from the faces of Director Aoyama and the Nenshi representative, leaving only the flush of excitement nourished by huge success.
The consecutive performances, which could be called perfect—especially the super-strong effect brought by this 'secret weapon,' Michiya Gōshin—filled them with near-blind confidence regarding Alice in Borderland's conquest of the Xia Country market.
"Everyone, thank you for your hard work!"
Director Aoyama clapped his hands vigorously, his voice slightly hoarse from excitement.
"The final show was impeccable! Everyone has been spinning non-stop these past few days; you must be exhausted!"
"The good news is that we have a full day and a half of rest time coming up. We don't need to gather until tomorrow afternoon to head to the airport and return to Japan. Tonight, everyone get a good sleep! Tomorrow morning is free time; go feel the charm of Xia Country!"
This news was like sweet dew, causing the team members, whose nerves had been taut for days, to erupt in heartfelt cheers and applause.
The high-intensity, high-pressure promotional work had indeed drained everyone's energy. This sudden holiday appeared particularly precious.
Returning to the hotel where they were staying, Michiya Gōshin took off his suit jacket, which still carried the outdoor heat, and casually tossed it onto the sofa armrest. He undid the top two buttons of his tightly fastened shirt, feeling the cool, dry air from the central air conditioning pour into his body.
He paced to the living room and found that Kato Megumi's figure was already there.
She was facing away from him, leaning over the wide desk. Her slender and focused figure was sorting thick stacks of documents into categories.
On the desktop, the laptop screen glowed with a faint light. Beside it lay densely packed itineraries, media briefings, contract copies, and various receipts waiting to be processed.
Kato Megumi was still wearing that signature professional suit, revealing her fair and slender nape. Even in this moment of rest when everyone else had relaxed, she seemed to automatically maintain a state of readiness for work, like a precision gear wound tight.
Hearing Michiya Gōshin's approaching footsteps, Kato Megumi immediately straightened up and turned around. Her face wore her customary calm and soft expression.
"Michiya-san, here are the flight confirmation slips for the return trip tomorrow, the airport VIP channel arrangements, and the preliminary work schedule for the week after returning to the country. Please take a look."
"..."
Michiya Gōshin took the stack of papers, then walked to the single sofa nearby and sat down. His gaze fell on Kato Megumi's delicate yet always composed face.
"Kato."
He spoke, his voice gentler than when handling official business usually, carrying a trace of warm concern. "There isn't any work for the next day. Since we've made a rare trip to Xia Country, why not give yourself a holiday and rest properly?"
Kato Megumi was unprepared for this proposal. A flash of strangeness passed through her calm eyes, and she was about to refuse almost reflexively.
"...Um, Michiya-san, I still have some wrap-up analysis of the promotional data and reimbursement receipts that need sorting..."
"Work can never be finished."
Michiya Gōshin interrupted her, a relaxing smile rippling across his face.
"Kato, ever since you became my artist assistant, you've been on standby almost every day, handling matters big and small. It's truly been hard on you."
He said with a smile, "If you collapse from exhaustion, I won't be able to explain it to President Kato. Wouldn't I end up with the bad reputation of squeezing my employees?"
Upon hearing this, Kato Megumi fell into a brief silence.
She looked at Michiya Gōshin's smiling eyes. This was not the first time; Michiya Gōshin had told her to rest several times before.
After a moment of silence, Kato Megumi did not directly comply or politely refuse. Instead, she raised her eyes and asked in an extremely light tone, "Michiya-san, is there anything you want to do during this rest time?"
This question caused Michiya Gōshin to be slightly stunned as well.
He leaned back against the sofa and began to think seriously. Ever since that night on the Bund when he held the emotionally collapsed Sakurajima Mai in his arms, the frozen hard ice between them had indeed cracked, and their relationship had eased a lot.
But that subtlety and complexity still existed. At the end of today's event, Sakurajima Mai said she felt physically and mentally exhausted and wanted to rest quietly alone.
Then he wouldn't disturb her.
Michiya Gōshin decided to respect her private space and planned to find his own amusement.
"Me..."
Michiya Gōshin smiled faintly, his tone taking on a trace of rare laziness and yearning.
"Then I'll take this opportunity to walk randomly through the streets of Shanghai. I'll be the most ordinary tourist, wandering aimlessly, and enjoy some relaxation time that truly belongs to myself."
Hearing this answer, Kato Megumi's heart stirred. She spoke up immediately, her speaking speed even a little faster than usual.
"Um, Michiya-san, I have been using my fragmented time to learn Chinese recently. If possible, I would like to go out with you, Michiya-san. Perhaps I can try communicating with the locals; consider it language practice."
Now it was Michiya Gōshin's turn to feel pleasantly surprised. He instantly sat up straight, looking at Kato Megumi with interest, his eyes holding unconcealed appreciation.
"Oh, Kato, you're learning Chinese? When did that start?"
"I only just started getting into it not long ago."
Kato Megumi lowered her eyelids slightly, avoiding his smiling, probing gaze.
"This is a very good thing!"
Michiya Gōshin felt genuinely happy, his smile becoming even brighter. "For language learning, the environment is crucial. Then that's perfect. Just the two of us today; let's go out for a walk together. You can treat it as immersive practice. Relax your mood, and I'll count as having a chatting partner."
His refreshing agreement and sincere encouragement filled Kato Megumi's heart with a bit more satisfaction, so she nodded gently.
"Then I'll go change my clothes first."
"Okay."
Michiya Gōshin smiled. Although Kato Megumi usually wore that OL uniform belonging to an assistant, she was a girl after all. If going out to play, she naturally needed to dress up.
He sat on the sofa, waiting for the other party to change.
About twenty minutes later, when Kato Megumi appeared in the living room again, even Michiya Gōshin, who was accustomed to her professional attire, could not help but have a flash of amazement sweep across the bottom of his eyes.
The girl had put on a soft light blue cashmere knitted cardigan, with a simple pure white cotton lining underneath. On her lower body was a pair of well-fitting light-colored straight-leg jeans, and on her feet stepped a pair of clean white canvas shoes.
Her face was still plain and without makeup, but her entire temperament seemed to have changed somewhat, turning into a beautiful girl-next-door.
"It suits you very much."
Michiya Gōshin praised with a smile, his tone sincere and without the slightest impurity.
"Thank you."
Kato Megumi pursed her lips slightly. Her fair cheeks seemed to flush with an extremely faint blush, but it disappeared very quickly.
Michiya Gōshin himself had already changed into a black casual hoodie with no logos and dark gray sweatpants. He only wore a mask, strictly covering that highly recognizable face, striving to blend into the crowd to the maximum extent.
They did not choose hot tourist spots like the Bund or Nanjing Road where people rubbed shoulders. Instead, like two true local idlers, they wandered aimlessly through the streets and alleys filled with the breath of life.
The two walked together past Shikumen architectural complexes that carried a historical heaviness amidst the quiet, passed petty bourgeois districts wafting with the rich aroma of coffee and baking sweets, and also stopped to watch with great interest on the periphery of noisy and chaotic traditional vegetable markets.
Michiya Gōshin familiarly used Chinese to buy two cups of warm soy milk and two portions of Xiao Long Bao at a steaming snack stall, then handed them to the girl beside him.
Kato Megumi accepted them with a bit of novelty, taking small bites of the Xiao Long Bao filled with meat juice. In those eyes that were always calm and waveless, a trace of desire for exploration and simple satisfaction that a girl of her age should have was rarely revealed.
"How is the taste?" Michiya Gōshin asked casually as he walked, his tone the lightness of total relaxation.
"Mn... very delicious."
Kato Megumi nodded, seriously trying to answer in her still somewhat raw Chinese. Although her tone was a bit flat, her word choice was accurate, and the meaning was expressed clearly.
Michiya Gōshin cast an encouraging smile and began to intentionally or unintentionally introduce some characteristic old buildings or local snacks seen along the way using a slightly slower speaking speed.
Kato Megumi listened extremely focusedly, like the most serious student in class. Occasionally, she would whisper a repetition of one or two words she found awkward to pronounce, or use extremely short sentences to ask questions.
Her learning ability was very good. within a short time, she was already able to use some basic daily communication phrases quite methodically.
When passing a small street park surrounded by tall buildings, they were attracted by a burst of noise mixed with rich Shanghai dialect.
They saw a group of silver-haired elderly people surrounding a chessboard table, watching two old men playing chess with rapt attention.
The crisp clack-clack sound of wooden chess pieces landing on the board, along with the old men's fiercely emotional and fast-paced Shanghai dialect arguments, constituted a vivid picture of market life full of fireworks.
"Move the Chariot! I'm going to eat your Horse!"
Michiya Gōshin stopped his steps involuntarily. His gaze fell on the crisscrossing Chu River and Han Border on the board, his eyes revealing a light of interest that Kato Megumi had never seen before.
He stood quietly behind a white-haired old man who was watching the battle, looking very engrossed, as if his entire soul was immersed in the slaughter within those square inches.
After seeing this scene, Kato Megumi quietly moved to a position slightly behind Michiya Gōshin's side. Like a plant that would not disturb others, her gaze involuntarily fell on his eyes, which were exceptionally bright at this moment.
The him before her eyes, stripped of the aura on stage that people could not look directly at, was like a big boy who had found a beloved toy.
This strong contrast caused ripples to spread once again across the calm lake of Kato Megumi's heart.
Once the game ended, the old man who finally lost the chess match patted his bald head somewhat dejectedly. Looking up, he saw Michiya Gōshin standing aside, whose outstanding figure and unique temperament were difficult to hide even while wearing a mask, as well as the quiet and beautiful girl beside him.
The old man's eyes lit up. Wearing a broad-minded smile, he greeted enthusiastically in Mandarin mixed with a heavy Shanghai accent.
"Young man, you've been watching for quite a while. How's your chess skill? Want to play a round?"
Hearing this, the smile in Michiya Gōshin's eyes deepened, like spring water breaking the ice.
He nodded happily and asked in fluent, natural Chinese, "Sure, Sir. Then I'll play a game with you and learn from you."
He sat down calmly on the stone bench opposite the old man, while Kato Megumi continued to stand silently behind him to his side.
The chess game opened again. Michiya Gōshin played unhurriedly, sometimes frowning in thought, sometimes placing pieces decisively. Not only was his chess style clear, but he was also able to chat easily with the old man in smiling, authentic Chinese. From chess tactics to the urban changes in Shanghai over these years, the old man obviously enjoyed communicating with this young man very much. His chatterbox opened, and his laughter was hearty.
Although Kato Megumi could not completely understand those fast conversations carrying an accent, she could clearly feel the relaxation and joy emanating from deep within Michiya Gōshin.
She watched his fingers, which had well-defined joints and were slender and powerful, moving the chess pieces steadily. She listened to the natural talking and laughing between him and the old man without any barrier.
When the game reached the mid-game, Michiya Gōshin cleverly sold a flaw in a seemingly inadvertent link. The old man's eyes lit up. Seizing the opportunity, his Chariot and Cannon cooperated, pressing harder step by step.
"Checkmate! Hahahahaha!"
The old man shouted proudly, slapping his own knee vigorously and laughing heartily, his wrinkles all smoothing out.
"Young man, not bad, not bad! It seems you still have a lot of room for improvement!"
Michiya Gōshin cupped his hands with a smile, his tone sincere. "Sir, your chess skills are a cut above; I am fully convinced."
The old man was in an excellent mood. His gaze crossed over Michiya Gōshin and landed on Kato Megumi behind him, who had been as quiet as a painting all along. A teasing smile of someone who has been through it all appeared on his face. "Young man, is this girl your partner? I can tell she's a good girl, quiet and delicate with fine features. You must cherish her properly!"
These words were like thunder on flat ground, causing a crack to appear instantly in the calm expression Kato Megumi had maintained all along. Although there wasn't a large change on her face, her heartbeat accelerated significantly. When she looked at Michiya Gōshin's face, she found that the other party actually laughed.
"Sir, you've misunderstood. She is my friend and also my work partner. She just happened to be free today, so we came out to stroll together."
"Friend? Work partner?"
The old man wore an expression of 'I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice' and waved his hand teasingly.
"Who'd believe that! You young people just like to play games and fool around. Friends, friends... you're just deceiving yourselves! The way she looks at you is unusual, I can tell!"
The old man's words carried kind-hearted ridicule and stubborn certainty.
Michiya Gōshin smiled helplessly. Knowing that this kind of thing would only get darker the more it was described, he didn't waste any more breath. He stood up and politely bid farewell to the old man.
Kato Megumi also quickly bowed slightly to the old man, then followed Michiya Gōshin's footsteps.
Meanwhile, in the quiet space of the hotel.
Sakurajima Mai took a nap for about an hour on the soft large bed in her luxury suite.
The high-quality sleep alleviated the physical fatigue of consecutive days to a certain extent, but the chaotic thoughts on the mental level did not subside with it.
In her mind, fragments of that night on the Bund played repeatedly uncontrollably—the humid river breeze, the blurred lights on the opposite bank, the warmth of his embrace, and her own uncontrollable tears.
Why not, taking advantage of this rare rest day, proactively ask him to go out for a walk?
After all, the relationship between him and me has eased a lot...
A thought quietly broke through the soil, carrying tentative courage.
Once this idea sprouted, it grew rapidly, becoming difficult to ignore. Sakurajima Mai glanced at the electronic clock at the bedside; it showed it was only three in the afternoon. Hesitation and struggle sawed back and forth in her heart for a moment. Ultimately, that impulse to get close gained the upper hand.
She got up and walked into the bathroom, patted her face with cold water, carefully tidied her slightly messy long hair in front of the mirror, applied elegant lip gloss, and changed into a comfortable yet fashionable beige knitted long dress with a light coffee-colored windbreaker over it.
Arriving at the door of Michiya Gōshin's suite, she stopped her steps, raised her hand, and knocked gently on the heavy solid wood door panel with her knuckles.
Knock, knock, knock.
Inside the door was silence; there was no response.
Sakurajima Mai furrowed her meticulously drawn beautiful brows and raised her hand again, increasing the force slightly.
Knock, knock, knock!
Inside was still like an empty city; only the sound of her own knocking echoed in the empty corridor.
Still sleeping? That shouldn't be...
Doubts arose in Sakurajima Mai's heart. Just after the event ended, Michiya Gōshin's mental state was still very good, and he hadn't mentioned anything about sleeping.
Just as she was hesitating whether to make a phone call, the door of the adjacent room was pushed open with a click. A young female staff member responsible for coordinating crew materials walked out. Seeing Sakurajima Mai standing outside Michiya Gōshin's door, she immediately stopped and bowed respectfully to greet her.
"Sakurajima-san, good afternoon."
"Nakamura-san, hello."
Sakurajima Mai quickly adjusted her facial expression, displaying an impeccable elegant smile, and asked casually.
"Nakamura-san, have you seen Michiya-kun? I have some work matters I want to confirm with him."
"Michiya-san, huh."
The female staff member tilted her head to recall and quickly answered, "He went out with his assistant, Kato-san. It seems they haven't come back yet."
"Went out?"
The perfect smile on the girl's face froze for a frame. Although she recovered quickly, that extremely brief pause and the astonishment that flashed past the bottom of her eyes did not escape the observation of a careful person.
"Yes."
The female staff member did not perceive Mai's subtle emotional changes. Instead, carrying a bit of interest in sharing gossip, she continued.
"Speaking of which, it was quite novel. It was my first time seeing Kato-san not wearing that OL uniform! She changed into a casual style outfit today. She looked very beautiful, simply like two different people from usual. I almost didn't recognize her!"
"I feel... Kato-san is clearly a beauty, yet she always has that expressionless look."
This supplementary explanation was like the point of an icy needle, piercing into Sakurajima Mai's defenseless heart defenselessly.
Michiya Gōshin went out with Kato Megumi?
Kato Megumi even specially changed her clothes?
The next moment, the scene from the day before the scandal incident occurred immediately replayed in Sakurajima Mai's mind: Kato Megumi familiarly changing clothes for the drunk Michiya Gōshin.
Mn... just what is the situation now?
________________________________________
Get rewarded for helping with our community goals!
🎯 Reward for all: +1 bonus chapter at 50 Powerstones.
🚀 Tier Reward: Help us reach 20 members for +5 chapters on all stories!
👻 Join the crew by searching Ms. Medusa on (P). You know the spot! 😉