Since the 1995 broadcast and phenomenal success of Neon Genesis Evangelion, the production committee system it promoted not only pushed the industry forward once again, but also drove peripheral industries to begin establishing themselves in Akihabara.
Following the emergence of maid cafes, anime-related shops began to open in clusters, and manga magazines like Shonen Jump started holding events in Akihabara... By 1999, the ACG atmosphere in Akihabara was already very thick, and the term "Holy Land of ACG" began to appear.
Exiting Akihabara Station from the Electric Town Exit and arriving at Electric Town, all sorts of flashy ACG billboards immediately filled his vision—
rurouni kenshin, cardcaptor sakura, InuYasha, Full Metal Panic!, Cowboy Bebop...
He admired the sights along the way, following the Original Owner's memories until he reached the shop where the Original Owner worked part-time.
It was a bookstore that primarily sold new issues of various manga magazines, tankobon, complete manga sets, setting guides, and art books. Beyond that, doujinshi and adult manga were also fully available.
The first thing that caught his eye was a poster stand for Detective Conan: The Last Wizard of the Century.
Detective Conan: The Last Wizard of the Century had been officially released since April 17th and was currently showing to great popularity. Their shop was also coordinating with the movie's promotion, placing the complete set of detective conan tankobon in the most prominent position.
As the third detective conan movie, the biggest draw of The Last Wizard of the Century was the first theatrical appearance of three highly popular characters from the original work—Haibara Ai, Hattori Heiji, and Kaito Kid.
After its official release, the content of this movie received widespread praise from both fans and casual viewers. Its box office performance was excellent, and it seemed likely to go a step further and break the box office record of the second movie, The Fourteenth Target.
"The Last Wizard of the Century..."
Although the Original Owner hadn't seen this movie yet, he, of course, had seen it long ago. Recalling it slightly, the content of the movie and other related information quickly and clearly surfaced in his mind.
He realized with a start:
"Ah, it's this movie."
The Last Wizard of the Century did indeed successfully break the previous movie's box office record. Not only at the time, but even among the many Conan movies of later generations, it remained one of the top-ranked and highly acclaimed entries.
He hadn't expected to arrive just in time for this movie's release...
He kind of wanted to go to the cinema to watch it.
Akira felt a momentary spark of interest, but immediately after, he thought of his shriveled wallet and let out a long sigh.
A movie ticket cost 1,800 yen. Given his current financial situation, spending 1,800 yen specifically to watch a movie was somewhat extravagant.
1,800 yen was almost enough for him to buy nine copies of Weekly Shonen Jump. Even if he were buying detective conan manga volumes, it would be enough for three!
Sigh, I still need to make money.
—"Mochizuki-kun, are you troubled by something?"
Suddenly, a call from inside the bookstore pulled him back to reality. A woman wearing a blue work apron printed with the bookstore's logo, with a lean build and a gentle smile on her face, walked out from the shop.
Seeing her, Akira hurriedly greeted her:
"Manager!"
The woman was named Sakamoto Kayo. Although she didn't seem to be even thirty yet, she was already the manager of this bookstore and was a very capable person.
She was also the person who had personally interviewed and hired the Original Owner, and she usually took great care of him at work.
"You're here for your shift."
Sakamoto Kayo nodded with a smile, then asked:
"I saw you looking a bit distressed just now, Mochizuki-kun. Are you in some kind of trouble?"
"No, nothing like that."
Akira gave a wry, self-deprecating smile:
"I'm just laughing at how poor I am."
"'Laughing at how poor you are'...?"
Sakamoto Kayo couldn't help but blink, then covered her mouth and chuckled softly:
"That's a very interesting way to put it. It's just that Mochizuki-kun used to have such a serious face every day; I didn't expect you to have such a humorous side."
"Is that so?"
Akira was also taken aback by her words, but he soon realized where the issue lay.
In his memory, the Original Owner didn't actually have the serious personality she described. It was just that after coming to Tokyo, he had been under constant pressure from both financial and creative struggles, which had turned him into that'serious-faced' person she spoke of.
"What? So Mochizuki-kun never realized it?"
Sakamoto Kayo was suddenly caught between laughter and tears. She hadn't expected that while he looked cool and aloof, he was actually the somewhat slow-witted type.
"I'm very sorry for causing you concern."
Although he realized she seemed to have misunderstood the reason, Akira couldn't easily explain, so he could only gloss it over with an apology.
"It's no trouble at all. After all, Mochizuki-kun is our shop's ace."
Sakamoto Kayo chuckled, not minding at all.
She attributed Akira's previous seriousness to the unfamiliarity of their relationship, while his behavior just now suggested they were becoming more comfortable with each other.
This type of person wasn't rare; some people's behavior in front of strangers versus acquaintances was like two complete extremes, almost as if they had a split personality.