"So where to now?" Yi Zheng said as he drove.
"Of course the first place to see is an otaku's dream," Ming Jun said, eyes burning.
"So you want to see a group of schoolgirls being stripped?" Shae Harris said, scooting away from him.
"I said that's not it!" Ming Jun shouted at her.
Wei Zhi and Mori Aoi chuckled at the back.
"I still have no idea where to go," Yi Zheng said casually.
"I mean go to a store named Otaku's Dream," Ming Jun said.
"Eh??" the other three exclaimed.
"That's really the name of a place?" Shae Harris said in shock.
"Who on earth would name a store that?" Wei Zhi hissed in disbelief.
"That name is kinda..." Mori Aoi couldn't complete her sentence because she was blushing too much.
"What are you thinking about with such a red face?" Ming Jun looked at her suspiciously.
"Obviously she wanted to say perverted," Shae Harris said, smiling widely.
"What kind of image are you seeing in your head?" Ming Jun asked in surprise.
"That... well... um, girls in short skirts," Mori Aoi said with a face dyed pink.
"Sister, your imagination is still too little.
Haven't you heard of their legendary deeds?" Shae Harris said, rubbing Mori Aoi's head.
"No, why don't I understand what you're talking about??" Ming Jun exclaimed.
"Don't play dumb.
We've heard of your guys' tales," Shae Harris said righteously, her nose up in disdain.
"If you want to speak then speak English," Ming Jun said, rolling his eyes.
"Fine, if you want me to tear your mask off then I will.
First of all, why is every single girl either a busty beauty or a loli?
What are you, pedophiles or perverts—pick a side!" Shae Harris fired a string of accusations.
"That doesn't mean the show isn't good," Ming Jun complained.
He couldn't refute it because it was 100% true with no way to escape.
"Second of all, why do the majority of the female cast have to be underage busty girls in short skirts?" Shae Harris said, raising two fingers.
"That's just because the main character is usually a teen.
No one wants to watch an old man fight monsters," Ming Jun retorted.
"Then make their boobs age-appropriate!
No girl would ever want to carry such heavy luggage all the time," Shae Harris said, crossing her arms.
"How would you know?" Ming Jun looked at her chest and smirked.
Shae Harris gasped so loudly that she ended up choking.
"Okay, then why are they always moaning at every single sentence?" she decided she must defeat this otaku today.
"Who knows, maybe that's just how Japanese girls speak," Ming Jun said, crossing his arms.
"We do not!" Mori Aoi, who had been watching silently, erupted.
"You didn't even live that long in Japan before the great disasters to find out," Ming Jun, still in defense mode, retorted.
"That doesn't mean I talk like that!" Mori Aoi said before she started to cry.
"I'm sorry," she hiccupped.
"Keep us out of your argument," Wei Zhi glared at the two of them.
Then he tried to stop her from crying by talking softly about how Ming Jun didn't mean it.
"I'm sorry," Ming Jun stuttered after seeing her cry.
He really didn't mean it,
but he always got so defensive about anime because of how much crap it got from other people.
"It's okay," Mori Aoi said, sniffing back her sobs.
"See, he really didn't mean it.
He's just a bad guy normally," Shae Harris said softly while hugging her head.
"And you were the one egging him on," Wei Zhi scowled at her and tried to pull Mori Aoi from her grip.
"That's cute and all, but I still don't know where I'm going," Yi Zheng spoke from the driver's seat.
Ming Jun gave the direction and then sat quietly.
Shae Harris, seeing his indirect refusal for a second round, also began to play games.
The two seated at the back looked out their respective windows in a daze.
The van was quiet except for the sounds from Shae Harris's game console.
"How do you know so much if you haven't watched anime?" Ming Jun suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Anime is actually popular despite the way they sexualize girls," Shae Harris replied, still focused on the game.
"So you have watched anime before?" Ming Jun said in surprise.
"I did a long time ago because some guy was saying the natural disasters were exactly the same as in an anime he watched.
And that the next thing would be the zombie apocalypse.
So yeah, I was curious and watched the anime he was talking about," Shae Harris replied, fingers pressing buttons on her console.
"Oh, and did you enjoy it?" Ming Jun asked curiously.
"Yeah, it was pretty interesting,
but I got tired of hearing those girls speak and watching their clothes being ripped off," she replied.
"So you gave up?" Ming Jun asked.
"No, I switched to a more brutal anime where aliens hunted humans and blood was flying everywhere," Shae Harris smirked at the thought.
Ming Jun looked at the evil smirk and shifted away slightly.
"Anyway, you've watched one, so you should understand that anime is actually amazing," Ming Jun said.
"Yeah, some might be, but the way the female characters speak makes it hard to bear.
Especially when you watch it in a public space.
And trust me, a hospital is definitely not a place to watch that kind of thing," she said.
"Then why not leave the hospital and watch it at home?" Wei Zhi asked in confusion.
"Unless I was able to knock out the nurses, I still wouldn't have a chance.
One step feels like I ran a marathon all day without rest," Shae Harris chuckled.
"Are you feeling better now?" Mori Aoi looked at her worriedly.
"I feel amazing and can even take on this fatty," Shae Harris said, pinching Ming Jun on the side of his body.
"Hey—" Ming Jun flinched and slapped her hand away, blushing.
He swatted her hand and glared at her.
"I can perfectly believe it," Wei Zhi said, rolling his eyes.
"And I can perfectly believe she would kick your ass too," Ming Jun retorted.
"No need to fight, I have enough fists for the both of you," Shae Harris said, waving a clenched hand.
Mori Aoi giggled.
Ming Jun and Wei Zhi rolled their eyes at the same time.
"Well, I'm going to show you the highlights of anime and manga," Ming Jun patted his chest in excitement.
"Well then, we'll have to see what you have in store for us," Shae Harris said.
The rest of the ride was relatively calm, with occasional banter as they played with Shae Harris's game console.
After two hours, they made it to the location.
It was a two-story building with the name Otaku's Dream on the signboard.
Ming Jun was the first to come down from the van and rush to the entrance.
"I've always wanted to come here," he said excitedly.
Yi Zheng and the rest walked up to him, Yi Zheng in the lead as usual.
Then he told them to stay put while he went through the building for stray zombies.
The result was two strays on each floor that posed no threat to him.
Yi Zheng wiped the blood off his face and suddenly remembered again—
the zombies were clearly less than usual.
In actuality, it would be more accurate to say they had disappeared.
But if not in the places he had driven to, then where else could they be?
And why did they flock to one place?
"You done?" the voice of Ming Jun brought him out of his thoughts.
Yi Zheng looked at his burning eyes and nodded.
"Great, then I'll show you guys around," Ming Jun said proudly.
"I thought you'd never been here before," Shae Harris teased him.
"I haven't, but I worked part-time in a smaller store," Ming Jun said proudly.
"Woah, that's amazing.
Even I haven't worked in a place like this," Mori Aoi said, clapping her hands in praise.
Ming Jun became haughty, crossing his arms with his round chin high in the air.
"Why not?" Wei Zhi asked curiously.
"Because I have a sense of pride," Mori Aoi said cheerfully, still with a sweet smile.
Puff—
Shae Harris was laughing so hard that she ended up rolling on the ground clutching her stomach.
Wei Zhi was laughing too, though not as bad.
Ming Jun looked at Mori Aoi in pain as he clutched his chest.
Why was I disgusted so brutally again???
Mori Aoi flushed as she realized what she had said.
She meant her sister wasn't a huge fan and found anime childish, so there was no reason for Mori Aoi to work there.
Plus, her sister forbade it because she didn't want to associate with the anime community at all.
And Mori Aoi's statement was basically a summary of what her sister said that made her give up the opportunity—
the opportunity to work at this kind of store.
Now she couldn't apologize because she wasn't lying.
So she just pouted and pinched Wei Zhi, who was still laughing beside her.
Wei Zhi felt the pain and jumped.
He turned in confusion to the flushed girl beside him.
She was retracting her claws and blinking innocently.
Wei Zhi: No, why???
Mori Aoi: blinks innocently
Translation: I'm innocent.
Wei Zhi: rubbing his side
Translation: I can still feel the evidence.
Mori Aoi: pouts
Translation: It's your fault.
Wei Zhi lost the battle and rubbed her head hard while smiling helplessly.
"Look on the bright side," he said casually.
"What bright side?" Ming Jun asked.
"You can't lose what you don't have," Shae Harris wiped a tear and said.
"You—!
Alright, if I don't blow your mind today then call me a dog!"
Ming Jun huffed at her before calming down to make that declaration.
He strode forward and earnestly began to explain.
The first thing he pointed to were shelves containing books with drawings in them.
"The first floor is a collection of all rare and popular manga in all main languages."
Ming Jun took out a stack of books and showed them.
One was in Japanese.
Another in Chinese.
A third in Korean.
And the last in English.
"Since when are these the main languages?" Shae Harris asked.
"These are the main languages in the anime community," Ming Jun replied.
Shae Harris rolled her eyes.
"And these are the manga, which as you can see are drawn.
This one is a manhwa because it was made by a Korean and uses Korean names and customs," Ming Jun said, showing them a book.
"This one is a manhua because it was written by a Chinese author and uses their names and customs.
Then there's the colored version and the standard black-and-white.
Secondly, there are also novels arranged on these shelves, which are the written form of the drawings.
Of course, they're also translated into the major languages.
There are different genres of manga, manhwa, and manhua," Ming Jun said, looking at them in thought.
"Here is the sports section.
And this one is the action section."
Ming Jun put a hand on Shae Harris's shoulder and guided her to the two sections.
Then he picked out two—one from each section—and handed them to her.
Shae Harris looked at him suspiciously.
Ming Jun just smiled politely.
"Honestly, I'm already scared by that look," Shae Harris said, shivering.
"Just trust me this once and read it.
I promise that if you try it with an open mind and a desire to explore,
then you'll never dare to utter the words 'anime is a cartoon' in your life.
Just sit down on this comfortable soft chair and let yourself sink in."
Ming Jun personally led her to a one-person couch.
He spoke softly to her along the way and even went to bring back snacks from a convenience store nearby.
Shae Harris was even more skeptical. The polite smile on his face was giving her chills.
"Unless you want to admit defeat right here, right now,
then I'd be happy to let you chicken out," Ming Jun snorted in disdain.
"Very good. If I admit defeat, then call me a chicken," Shae Harris huffed, then opened the first book.
She buried her head in it and focused completely.
Ming Jun showed a satisfied smirk.
Then he turned to the other two.
Mori Aoi and Wei Zhi shivered at the same time once they saw that polite smile.