The venue of the book signing was in the lobby of a hotel.
It was just after lunch time and before the official start of the event, the lobby was already packed with people... They were all fans of Kurumada-sensei - this comic has been published for more than thirty years, and it once became a global phenomenon.
The reporter was interviewing the fans who had come early to wait, and caught them one by one.
Chara Suzuki and her child pushed her around, frightening several elderly women, and finally reached a corner of the lobby... Chara Suzuki looked at the picture album held by her child and shook her head disdainfully.
Along the way, he was trying to popularize science with this kid. He tried every method, danced and danced, and was almost at a loss for words.
This thing doesn't look good. The fighters in it are so weak. I can beat a group of them by myself, okay? It's just that the gods are a little troublesome.
The child looked suspicious after hearing this, and Suzuki Char could only say no, and it took a while before he finally said that there should be a few hard-to-gnaw bones.
"...Little brat, get your signature and leave immediately!"
But...you have to queue up.
Suzuki Char could not do evil here, so she could only impatiently queue up behind a middle-aged man wearing a bloated white short-sleeved shirt.
He glared at the man in front of him. The man was so frightened that he broke out in cold sweat and automatically gave up his position. Suzuki Chara was overjoyed. He felt that he could glare all the way and become the first to get the signature.
So he really used some tricks and stood at the front of the team... The child gradually showed a look of expectation.
"What, it doesn't start until three o'clock?"
Char Suzuki looked at the time - it was only seven minutes past one o'clock.
He looked back at the crowded scene and suddenly felt extremely regretful, and was thinking about whether to demolish the hotel lobby.
But he is only responsible for debt collection in the store, and does not belong to the system of driving performance. It is really difficult to take action casually... But if you take into account the current situation where weird things are happening in society these days, it seems that he can do something about it?
Suzuki Chara, who really didn't want to stand in this place for nearly two hours, glanced at the kid next to him whose eyes were full of expectation, and then coughed twice.
"Kid! I have to go to the bathroom. You stand here waiting for me. Don't walk too fast. Do you hear me?"
The child nodded silently.
So Suzuki Char put his hands into his trouser pockets, nodded, and walked out looking for a way.
…
In the same hotel, on the upper floor, in a quiet and comfortable lounge.
A girl in a white dress is sitting in front of the piano, playing the world-famous song "Adelina by the Water".
The girl has a face as pure as an angel, and even the light seems to soften around her.
The sound of the piano soothes everyone around.
On the sofa, an old man with gray hair and ordinary appearance was quietly reading the newspaper.
There were reports in the newspaper about some strange things that had happened in the past few days... The old man seemed to be looking attentively - until the girl's song had finished playing, he didn't react.
"Father."
The girl has arrived in front of the man... She really looks flawless, whether it is appearance or manners.
"Oh...I was thinking about something." The old man folded the newspaper and put it on the table.
The girl glanced at a certain headline in the newspaper and couldn't help but curiously asked: "Father, do you believe what the newspaper said? I said it was those weird things."
The old man thought for a while and said: "Shazhi, you have to understand that the world we live in has always hidden many unknown secrets, so if it didn't happen in front of your eyes, how can you be sure of it?
Is it true or false?”
"Common sense, social cognition, and... science." The girl pondered and gave the answer.
The older man smiled slightly and said, "Actually, you still need to be skeptical."
The girl... The girl named Saori shook her head and looked at the man in front of her - in fact, she was not the man's biological daughter, but was adopted by him since she was a child.
Even so, he has been very good to her for more than ten years... There is no strange reason or twisted emotions, he really just treats her as his biological daughter.
She can feel it... Her senses have been very keen since she was a child, and she seems to be able to penetrate people's hearts.
"Father, I have been having some strange dreams recently." Saori said suddenly.
"What a dream." The old man raised his head in surprise, his eyes calm.
Saori said slowly: "There are some very strange contents, such as the contents in the comic you created, father... In the dream, I seem to be another person."
"Who?" the old man asked curiously, his eyes still calm.
"The goddess in there..." Saori shook her head and sat down, seeming a little tired, "There are many more. It seems to be a complete world, but it is fragmented. It seems that there are many differences from the content of the comics created by you, father.
, but there are similar places...I can’t figure it out.”
"That's just a dream." The old man smiled and said: "You have to know that before I adopted you, I was already creating this comic. Of course, because I love it from the bottom of my heart, that's why I
When I adopted you, I gave you the name Saori."
But those dreams that broke into her sleep were so real, as if they had happened before... The girl Saori opened her mouth, but in the end she just hid these in her heart.
Experimentation, social cognition...science, these things she learned all told her that those were just dreams, strange dreams, maybe caused by some kind of psychological pressure.
"Okay, maybe you need to take a good rest." The old man suddenly said at this time: "Maybe you can rest here during the autograph session later without having to accompany me."
At this moment, there was a knock on the door of the lounge. It was the staff at the book signing that was being held in the hotel lobby, as well as the old man's personal assistant. They were outside the door at this time.
"Teacher Kurumada, it's almost time. You may need to prepare for your appearance."
"I'll be there soon." The old man said outside, then stood up, adjusted his clothes, then looked at his daughter Shaozhi, smiled and said: "Then, if the things in the dream are all
Is it true, would you expect it?”
The girl fell into silence, seeming to be thinking about this issue seriously.
The old man added at this time: "But in fact, I don't look forward to the day when the world in my comics becomes reality."
What do the father's words mean?
The doubts in the girl's heart deepened even further.
"I'm going to the bathroom, you stay here." The old man... Teacher Kurumada said softly at this time.
…
He did go to the bathroom, and the staff and assistant were waiting outside the door... Since there was still plenty of time, the two of them were chatting about something.
There seems to be some strange rumors about this hotel.
A firefighter was burned to death here. After that, hotel guests claimed to see a man wearing a firefighter's uniform wandering in the corridor at night.
Of course, not all of them, just a small part, and they will be forgotten soon afterwards... But I heard that someone saw it again last night, I don't know whether it is true or not.
These are all these strange things lately, the assistant said in a serious tone.
The staff member simply lit a cigarette and didn't care...but at this moment, a hand suddenly stretched out and stubbed out the cigarette butt that the staff member had just lit.
"Asshole, didn't you see that smoking is prohibited here? I hate people smoking?!"
The staff member was startled subconsciously and turned around, only to see a young man with a ferocious face... He was really ferocious, with a ferocious look that made people fear him at a glance.
If looks could kill, this young man's looks could.
The staff member shuddered instinctively, was startled, and secretly thought it was scary...it was clear that the other person actually looked quite handsome.
Why is it so fierce?
"Yes...I'm sorry."
Due to the fierce look in his eyes, the staff member quickly lowered his head and apologized.
The ferocious young man snorted coldly, still looking like he was ready to fight with someone at any time. He walked to the bathroom door, opened the door and walked in.
"Teacher Kurumada is inside!" The personal assistant was startled at this moment, worried about what this vicious young man would do, but did not dare to step forward.
The staff member shook his head and pointed to the crumpled cigarette in the trash can next to him - this was the one that the sinister-looking young man took away from his hand.
"Maybe he's just a bit fierce, but he's actually a pretty nice person, right?" he said.
The assistant thought for a while, felt a little worried, then gently opened the bathroom door a little and looked in.
He found that the ferocious young man had indeed done nothing. He was standing in front of the toilet and shook it twice... It seemed that he was overthinking it. The assistant secretly murmured his shame before closing the door.
At this time, the staff next to him suddenly became motionless.
The personal assistant patted his shoulder in confusion... only to see that with just a simple pat, the staff member fell directly to the ground, his face pale!
The personal assistant couldn't help but raise his head, and his pupils suddenly widened.
He saw a person...a firefighter, a firefighter whose face had been burned to a dark brown color, but was still burning!
The personal assistant's lips trembled, and just when he was about to scream in terror, this strange thing penetrated directly in front of him... As if he was getting divorced, the personal assistant fell to the staff on the ground without making a sound.
The firefighter with a burning face did not stop at this time, but just walked deeper into the corridor.
…
In the bathroom, Char Suzuki shivered and started to lift up his pants with satisfaction.
At this time, a well-dressed man with gray hair on his temples came out and met Suzuki Chara's eyes... Teacher Kurumada, who had just walked out, was not surprised by Suzuki Chara's ferocious eyes.
"Huh?" Chara Suzuki let out a light sigh. After quickly fastening his pants, he turned around, stared at Kurumada-sensei up and down, blinked and said, "This shabby place actually has something
What kind of guy are you?"
Teacher Kurumada could not help but frown.
But Suzuki Char suddenly moved at this moment... He simply put his hands into his pants pockets. At the same time, a substantial pressure, like a stormy sea, instantly surged towards the Kurumada-sensei!
The tiles and appliances in the bathroom could not withstand the pressure and cracked.
Teacher Kurumada frowned deeper... Facing the surging pressure, he gently waved his hand and pressed down, suppressing this invisible and terrifying pressure.
However, Suzuki Chara smiled and looked at Mr. Kurumada, seemingly very happy, "Old man, is there anything you can't solve? I'll help you! Don't worry, the price is fair, cheap and easy to use!"
Teacher Kurumada was startled and couldn't help but laugh, "I don't need any help... If you don't make trouble for me, you should be doing me a favor."
But he was secretly on guard in his heart... He knew that this young man with a ferocious face was just a simple test, and was far from his true self.
Suzuki Chara waved her hand without thinking, and a white card flew towards Mr. Kurumada, "Don't worry, I have seen many guys like you, and I feel that I have nothing to solve, but
One day you will find that there are still some things in the world that you are not capable of... This is my personal phone number, you are welcome to call me at any time."
Teacher Kurumada took a look at the card.
Name: Char Suzuki
Business: Undertakes various debt collection businesses, specializes in intimidation, recovers various organs, cleans gang members, and can professionally formulate special bloody projects such as painting people on walls, with preferential treatment for large quantities.
Phone number:xxxxxxxxx91
"Okay, I accept it." Teacher Kurumada casually put the card into his clothes, "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Suzuki."
Suzuki Chara nodded with satisfaction... Although he is professionally responsible for debt collection, it is good to be able to get some business occasionally!
His vacation has been exhausted, and the extra performance has been spent on that kid. Now he is broke and in urgent need of some funds, so he has to work as a salesman for a few times.
——Who said that with my intelligence I can only be a thug?
——I can eat for hundreds of years if I open my business! I will encounter the best when I go out! Are you afraid?!
"You're welcome!"
Suzuki Chara was not vicious at all at this time, "Remember to call me as soon as possible if you need it! Oh... that's right! If you encounter some sneaky people with gray smoke, circling around you, trying every possible means to think
If you want to tempt you to buy something from them, you don’t need to be polite to me, just beat them hard, and remember to look for me!”
"Okay, I'll take note of it." Teacher Kurumada nodded.
"You old man is so easy to talk to." Suzuki Chara greeted with a smile, then opened the door and walked out.
He really walked out from here, with no intention of staying at all.
An interesting guy, right? Kurumada-sensei thought silently... But at the same time, he was also shocked by the opponent's unfathomable strength - Kurumada-sensei had not met anyone who could give him this kind of pressure for a long time.
Thinking of all the strange legends that had begun to appear in the past few days, Mr. Kurumada stood in front of the mirror and remained silent. In the mirror, the originally old and ordinary appearance gradually changed... and finally turned into a handsome and soft face.
