The apples on the fruit stall were large, plump, and bright red, looking very appetizing.
Behind the stall stood the owner—a middle-aged man wearing a black open-chest short vest with a black bandana tied around his head and a fierce scar across his face. He did not look like an easy person to talk to.
"Hey kid, want to buy some apples?"
Satoru Gojo reached out and picked up an apple from the stall, squeezing it slightly with his fingertips. The fruit was firm, elastic, and full of moisture.
Without asking for the owner's permission, Satoru Gojo took a direct bite.
Sweet and sour juice burst in his mouth, accompanied by a fresh fruity aroma. The taste was actually a bit more impressive than the strawberry cakes he usually ate.
"Hmm, tastes good."
Satoru Gojo narrowed his eyes and nodded with satisfaction, preparing to head elsewhere.
"Hey!"
"Kid, you dare to steal?!"
The fruit stall owner noticed Satoru Gojo's action, his eyes widening in anger. He looked ready to rush out from behind the stall to teach him a lesson.
"Oops."
Satoru Gojo raised an eyebrow. "My bad."
He fished a few coins out of his pocket and casually tossed them onto the stall. The coins hit the surface with a crisp "clink."
Having done that, Satoru Gojo continued munching on the apple as he turned to leave. However, once the owner saw the coins clearly, he became even angrier.
This guy had pulled out some random metal pieces from who-knows-where and tried to pass them off as money! Outrageous!
"You bastard, pay me properly!"
The fruit stall owner swung his fist and charged at Satoru Gojo.
"Is his setting the 'irritable type'?" Satoru Gojo muttered.
The fruit stall owner's fist approached rapidly, but just as it was about to hit Satoru Gojo, it could not get any closer, no matter what.
"What... what's going on?"
The fruit stall owner looked at Satoru Gojo, who was within arm's reach, in shock. He realized that no matter how much force he used, he couldn't move an inch further, let alone touch him.
Such a bizarre sight was truly startling.
At that moment, the fruit stall owner saw two patrolling guards walking nearby and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Guards! Someone is stealing over here!"
"Tch."
Satoru Gojo saw the two guards' attention being drawn as they headed his way.
He calmly took the last bite of the apple. Then, while the owner was busy shouting at the guards, he stuffed the apple core into the man's chest pocket and gave it a light pat.
"See ya."
With that, Satoru Gojo's figure blurred and he quickly vanished into the crowd.
He wanted to see more of this interesting illusion and didn't plan on wasting time here.
In the blink of an eye, Satoru Gojo appeared at the corner of an alley. Standing in the alley and hearing the hurried footsteps outside, he couldn't help but laugh.
"I didn't expect the NPCs in this illusion to be so dedicated."
Once the commotion outside faded, Satoru Gojo leisurely walked out again.
A short while later, Satoru Gojo appeared several streets away. The previous encounter had made him increasingly interested in this illusion.
This time, he planned to go see those oddly-shaped beastmen.
"A dog-type beastman? Doesn't look that cute."
"You bastard!"
"Do you want to die?!"
The beastman, feeling humiliated after having his head rubbed by Satoru Gojo, roared loudly, baring sharp fangs as if he wanted to eat him alive.
"Dogs that like to snarl aren't very likable."
With a smile on his face, Satoru Gojo disappeared in an instant while the beastman was still chasing him.
Not long after, Satoru Gojo reappeared inside a blacksmith shop. A few moments later, a shirtless blacksmith wearing a thick apron swung his hammer and rushed out in a rage. All that was left for him was Satoru Gojo's receding figure.
Similar scenes continued to play out over the following hour.
General stores, bookstores, inns... wherever Satoru Gojo went, chaos followed.
After several consecutive commotions, Satoru Gojo gained a deeper understanding of the "realness" of this world. The taste of the food, the texture of objects, and the emotional fluctuations of the people were all unrealistically authentic.
He leaned against a large tree and reached up to pull down his blindfold, revealing his ice-blue Six Eyes. The patterns on the iris were clearly visible.
As his gaze swept across his surroundings, there was still no trace of cursed energy. This feeling of "absolute void" caused a hint of doubt to rise in his heart for the first time.
He had seen countless clever illusions or domains. Even an Innate Domain that could simulate reality and manifest a person's inner world would leave traces of cursed energy in the details. Furthermore, what they could manifest was usually only a very limited part.
But this "world" was realistically perfect—the touch, the taste, and the emotional responses of those people just now were no different from the real world.
This was something an Innate Domain could absolutely not achieve.
"Is it not an illusion?" Satoru Gojo lightly tapped the wall with his fingertip, his brow furrowing slightly. "But if it's not an illusion, then what is it? That so-called 'world travel'?"
He muttered to himself, his tone becoming a bit more serious. "This 'world travel' is much more interesting than I imagined."
There was also that strange system that kept popping up with "Popularity" prompts. If this really was a brand-new world and not an illusion caused by a technique, then his method of exploration would need to change.
Earlier, he had acted carelessly because he thought it was an illusion. But he was not the type of person who liked to cause trouble for ordinary people.
"For now, I'll treat this as a real world."
"Since it's a real world, I can't do without money."
Satoru Gojo felt his pockets; there were only some Yen coins left over from buying drinks, which were clearly useless in this world.
Stealing? Direct pass. Working? Don't even think about it.
"This really is a troublesome situation."
Although Satoru Gojo said this, the glint of amusement in his eyes beneath his sunglasses showed that this wasn't truly a difficult problem for him.
[24 hours until the arrival of this world's protagonist, Subaru Natsuki.]
[Supporting character, please prepare to welcome the protagonist and work hard to gain popularity.]
"Here we go again."
Seeing the words "supporting character" appear before him, Satoru Gojo ruffled his white hair.
"Supporting character... you really underestimate me."
"I have twenty-four hours. It seems I have something to look forward to."