Chapter 76 – Getting Through the Entertainment Zone
Currently, Mia jumped over the top of several buildings at once while he hid his face behind his hands in embarrassment.
'Why did I talk like a girl!? Oh, God, why!? Why did it relapse again!?'
He was so ashamed that he wanted to dive off from a tall building and kill himself. Because of the conflicted emotion, he subconsciously ran and jumped without a destination.
Soon, a voice from Crystal pulled him back to his usual self.
[Misha! Why the heck are you running randomly!? Stop what you're doing!]
'Eep'
Mia stopped his feet and found himself on a rooftop of a condominium. It seemed he had jumped and had parkoured his way to a residential area without noticing.
"I'm sorry."
*Mew* (Banana Misha.)
"…"
[It's fine. Get down from there and proceed to the prison as planned. It's good that you didn't stray too far.]
"Okay."
Mia looked around to see a way to jump down from the 10th floor of the building. A wry smile appeared on his face as he did not remember how he had gotten there.
*Mew* (Misha is a banana.)
"…"
.
= Five Minutes Later =
Like a civilized man, Mia got down from the building with the building's elevator. As he walked out of the condominium, the condo's security guard glanced at him and looked away.
They simply rolled their eyes, thinking that Mia was just a weirdo resident of this building.
Mia also observed the reaction of all onlookers and people around him. Seeing that no one cared about his outward look, he proceeded toward the prison on foot.
As Mia walked further out of the residential zone to the entertainment and business area, he got to the buzzing city of the night street.
On both sides of the street, all shops displayed their colorful neon lights to hint that they were still opening for business even though it was almost midnight.
A crowd of thousand people strolled on the busy district, and street food stalls were everywhere on the sidewalk, forcing the shoppers to walk in the middle of the road. Fortunately, cars and bikes were not permitted into this area, or it would have been terrible for shoppers and vendors here.
Each block of this entertainment zone separated all businesses. All adult entertainment, nightclubs, casinos, and red-light districts located at the eastern edge of the blocks, attracting wild men, gangsters, and rich old men into the location.
Meanwhile, attractions for NEETs and nerds were on the opposite side of the adult zone. As these people were not compatible with gangsters and nightclubs, everything here filled with anime and game businesses. Casinos were also there, but they were toned down to suit the specific population. However, deep inner into the secret part of this area, they hid the adult zone for these gamers and anime lovers as well.
At the center, it was the most peaceful zone as this was for the general entertainment geared for all ages. Most businesses in the central area were food stalls, cosmetics, fashion, shoes, and all activity which targeted women were there, so the majority of the customers here were women and their dating partners.
Mia observed the city map billboard at the entrance of this district with a frown. As he was carrying guns and wearing the entire exoskeleton suit, he would stand out if he strolled into the central or the eastern zone.
However, if he disguised himself as a cosplayer and got into the western zone, all craving virgins over there might swarm Mia for a photo shooting. Moreover, not many shops over there were opening for business at night, which made that area secluded.
Judging the pros and cons, Mia decided to brace into the central area for his self-protection. Being in the crowded area was much safer than going into the gangster's zone or the anime zone.
When Mia approached the entrance of the central entertainment district, a police officer stopped him.
"Miss, you can't bring fake guns and all kinds of military-related items into this area. If you wish to participate in a cosplay photo-shooting, you have to enter the western zone."
"I-I just only want to cross the street and buy some food."
"Miss, it's against the law. The central district is a weapon-free zone."
The police pointed at a street sign next to him. It was a symbol of a pistol with an X mark.
"Then, can I walk through the adult area?"
The officer glared at Mia with a suspicion, "You don't look like you're 18 yet. You can't enter that zone. Heck, go play with your friend in the west area, you're wasting my time."
The police shooed Mia with a gesture. To him, Mia was just a naïve young girl who was attracted to nightlife, so he did not think much about his gears and guns.
Mia sulked and walked to the otaku district, he predicted that people over there would gather around him and snapped photos like hyenas, and he would have a hard time passing through the area.
Nostradamus and Captain Obvious would be proud of Mia's prediction. As soon as he stepped his feet into the area for less than ten steps, flashes of cameras greeted Mia.
"Look at this way please!"
"Can you make a pose?"
*Snap*
*Snap*
*Snap*
Flashes from cameras, phones, and wristwatches blinded Mia as if he were a superstar while they were reporters from news stations.
It was close to midnight, yet these freaks were still loitering around the anime shops, cafe, and game centers.
One minute later, a fat man with a fulled backpack sneaked behind Mia and started taking pictures of his buttock with the tail. As if he triggered something, more men rushed closer to Mia and took the snapshots of his lower body parts.
*MYA!?* (Hentais detected! Can I kill all of them!?)
'Patient Tama, be patient!'
Mia also wanted to unleash his anger and slaughter everybody here to cut a path for himself. As his anger rose, he mustered his courage to yell at them.
Unfortunately, Mia was not in the combat mode at the moment. When he yelled at Sebastian at the base, he had mentally and physically prepared for a possible combat scenario, so his odd muscle memory did not act up.
Since Mia did not try to harm to locals this time, the reflexive movements of his muscle memory flared again. This time, he forgot to adjust his vocal cord.
Mia shouted, but his voice was still the girly version, "Can you make way? I need to get through this area to meet my friends. I'm late for the appointment."
The melodious voice of Mia struck the heart of these game and anime otakus. As if they were trained soldiers, hundreds of them created a path and saluted at Mia.
"Make way for the dragon princess Celestine!"
"Her Highness is getting through! Make way, you faggots!"
Mia blinked in confusion.
'Who is this dragon princess Celestine they are talking about?'
A minute later, four strong men carried a palanquin and place it before Mia.
"Princess Celestine, we have brought your carriage. Please sit on it, and we shall bring you to your destination."
"..."
Mia's eyes turned into small dots (・_・) once more, thinking to himself, "What the banana is happening here?"
Seeing their sincerity and their sparkling eyes, Mia sat down on the palanquin carriage without much thought, letting these unknown strangers carrying him.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S BRING OUR PRINCESS FORWARD!"
"USH!"
"HURRAH!"
Without knowing Mia's destination, the four strong men carried the palanquin on the road as they yelled and sang an anime song. Soon, the fat men on the front changed their clothes and turned into beefy medieval knights. Several cameramen also changed into plate armor suit and walked behind the palanquin.
Within a couple of minutes, this unexpected carriage taxi turned into a parade of knights and a princess. By the time Mia rechecked his surroundings again, a marching band already formed in front of his palanquin and had begun drumming another anime song as they marched forward.
'What the banana have I gotten myself into?'
Mia glanced around while his poker face stayed the same. As he looked at a giant monitor on a clock tower, it was broadcasting an anime.
The heroine of that anime had dragonewt horns and a small dragon tail. She was wearing an exoskeleton and a rifle as her weapon. Around her, several medieval knights wielding RPGs and matchlock muskets were shooting at enemies in a war.
The most shocking part was, the heroine had the same blond short and curly hair like Mia.
'Are they thinking that I'm cosplaying that character!?'
Then, the character on the screen spoke in a stuttering voice, "P-Please don't fight."
Ironically, she was using a flame thrower, cooking her enemies alive.
"I-I don't like violence. P-Please be my friends, 'kay?"
As the character said that with teary eyes, she repeatedly thrust a knife into an enemy soldier's stomach while the other hand of her was covering his mouth. She twisted the blade, which made the pain more excruciating before she pulled the knife out along with his innards.
"Will you be my friend?"
The soldier had already died from the pain and agony while his face was in tears. On the other hand, the heroine smiled and hugged the dead body.
"Now, you're my friend."
Mia's poker face intensified.
'What kind of sick fuck is this story!? And what the banana am I watching!?'
.
On the other side of the street, a player with the name [Shurka] was working as an engineer. She came to the entertainment district as she was following her trainer on the duty.
Her real-world name was also Shurka, the sole daughter of Professor Luckyaf, who had deleted the [Santa Murderer] character and started anew.
Because of the commotion and the parade, Shurka turned her attention from her mentor to the palanquin. Then, she saw Mia in his dragonewt form.
"Is that Uriel Mia?"