Tokyo: Oreimo

The temporary parking area outside Tokyo Big Sight is already full of various freight vehicles.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the concrete road still retained the warmth of last night.

Tanaka Middle School walked from the direction of the station carrying the school flag, with the flagpole resting on her shoulder, and Aozaki Aoko's silhouette swayed slightly in the morning breeze.

Makoto Takeda leaned out from the driver's seat of the rented van: "Chairman! Over here!"

The cargo compartment door opened, revealing six large cardboard boxes stacked inside.

Three thousand game discs, each individually wrapped in bubble wrap, with Ayumi's illustration of a Western-style mansion under the moon printed on the outer shell.

"Takeda, you can actually drive?"

"I just got my driver's license during summer vacation." Takeda pushed up his glasses.

Yosuke Kobayashi, Shota Okubo, and Misaki Asakura walked in from the direction of the station one after another. Ayumi was the last to arrive, carrying a thick stack of task assignment sheets.

"Where's Gao Cheng?" Tian Zhongxue looked around.

“He messaged me yesterday saying he had something to do at home.” Ayumi handed him the task assignment sheet. “Neither he nor Ling Nai will be participating in the first day of sales.”

"Hey, it's a rare occasion for our club's masterpiece to be released on its first day." Okubo said with some regret.

“There’s no other way.” Ayumi said calmly, “Everyone will follow the division of labor. Takeda and the chairman will be in charge of moving the goods, Kobayashi will record the sales data, Misaki will be in charge of the preview display, and I will be in charge of customer guidance.”

Tian Zhongxue stuck the club flag on the stall stand: "Who cares! Today's main attraction is 'The Night of the Witcher,' we'll sell Takashiro's share for him!"

......

At exactly 10:30, the iron gate was pulled up.

The queue was more than double that of COMI last December. The line stretched from the East Hall entrance all the way to the fountain in the center of the plaza, and security personnel repeatedly used loudspeakers to maintain order.

At the manga and comics booth, the first wave of customers rushed to the table the moment the event started.

"Three copies of 'The Night of the Wizard'!"

"Please give me two limited edition copies!"

"Is there a demo? Is there a demo available?"

Misaki Asakura frantically unpacked the sample, turned her laptop towards the customer, and saw the opening animation playing smoothly on the screen—the performance system that Takeda had tweaked countless times.

Tian Zhongxue pulled CDs out of the cardboard box with such speed that it was like tightening screws on an assembly line. Kobayashi Yosuke calmly counted the sales, marking a tally mark in his notebook for every fifty sets sold.

Okubo was in charge of collecting money and giving change, and the coins in the change box were decreasing at a visible rate.

"There are way more people than in DongCOMI." He wiped his sweat. "What's going on?"

"The popularity of the forum section," Kobayashi said without looking up, "plus the reputation built up by 'Kara no Kyoukai'."

Ayumi stood at the very front of the booth, holding up a flipbook display board for the sample books, her eyes scanning the long queue.

In the queue, some people were wearing Aniplex T-shirts, some were carrying TYPE-MOON merchandise bags, and there were a few faces she recognized—old customers who had come during the winter COMI season.

"You guys are really making a game this time?" A young man wearing glasses took the disc, his eyes shining. "I checked the official website, and Orange will have a role in the game, right?"

“Yes,” Ayumi replied.

"I'm really looking forward to it, give me one."

Similar conversations were repeatedly staged in front of the stalls.

9:40.

Tian Zhongxue reached into the last cardboard box, only to find nothing.

He paused for two seconds, then turned to look at Xiaolin, who shrugged.

"Three thousand sets, sold out."

"No way?" Okubo stared at the empty cardboard box in front of him. "It's only been a short time."

"One hour and forty minutes." Kobayashi pushed up his glasses.

Tian Zhongxue plopped down on an empty cardboard box.

There were still customers queuing in front of the stall, and Ayumi had already explained to them that the stall was sold out and calmed them down.

"That's all for today."

Tian Zhongxue stood up from the cardboard box, pulled the school flag off the stand, and waved it twice forcefully above his head.

"Print another six thousand sets immediately!"

"President," Ayumi reminded him, "this number is equivalent to casting all your balls."

"I know!" Tian Zhongxue gritted his teeth. "But three thousand sets sold out in an hour. Such a good result, it would be foolish not to print more! Didn't Dong COMI Gaocheng also invest all his revenue into it?"

Okubo raised his hand: "I agree."

Kobayashi nodded: "I support reprinting."

Misaki Asakura whispered, "The customers in line are still waiting."

"Unanimously approved!" Tian Zhongxue slammed the school flag on the ground. "It's settled then!"

At 10:30, the reprint confirmation was completed.

Apart from the samples and laptops on display, everything that could be sold at the booth was sold out.

Tian Zhongxue disassembled the empty cardboard boxes, folded them neatly, and stuffed them into the cargo compartment.

"Two hours of free time!" he announced. "Return to the stall at 1 p.m. to meet up."

“By the way, how about we check out Aniplex’s booth in the corporate section?” Okubo suggested.

"Let's go!" Tian Zhongxue exclaimed, "I've heard that Aniplex has a new game coming out, let's go right now!"

Ayumi didn't say anything. She tugged at the strap of the canvas bag on her shoulder and followed the crowd toward the corporate exhibition area.

The passageways between the exhibition halls were packed with people.

Cosplayers posed against the wall for photographers, while several players dressed in white lab coats from "Steins;Gate" ran past them.

As Tian Zhongxue walked, he kept turning back: "Ayumi, do you think our demo version of Aniplex's new game can compare?"

"I don't know," Ayumi said calmly.

"In terms of technical capabilities and completeness, there should be a significant gap, but you'll only know once you've played it."

"Speaking of which, President, have you become so arrogant that you've forgotten everything else, comparing our club to Aniplex?"

Tian Zhongxue chuckled awkwardly, "Isn't it because Gao Cheng's script is quite excellent? I don't think his writing is worse than Gen Urobuchi's."

As the creator of "Mahoutsukai no Yoru," he believes that, to some extent, the work has a rigorous setting and a very high level of completion.

It's just as good as FSN, and I secretly think it surpasses the original, but I only dare to think that to myself.

If I said it out loud, I'd probably get torn to shreds by Aniplex fans, right?

"Speaking of which, it's a real shame that Gao Cheng isn't here today. That guy had to come up with something at the last minute. He must be very happy to see his work selling so well, right?"

"I've already texted him, but he hasn't replied yet. It seems he's really busy."

The group of anime fans chatted as they walked toward Aniplex's exhibition area.

.....

Meanwhile, Ryosuke and Ayano were sitting at a table deep inside the demo area.

The two were dressed differently from their usual attire; they were practically fully armed.

A baseball cap, sunglasses, and a face mask completely covered his face.

A long table was set up in front of them, and on the other side of the table was a queue that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"What? Is the Giantess using us as a gimmick?"

"We were suddenly notified of a signing event! There were so many people, my hands are about to fall off from all the signing."

Ling Nai muttered softly, while Ryosuke beside her gave a wry smile.

He only received the notification last night.

Because he and Ling Nai, as shareholders, had devoted too much energy to the manga research institute recently, Saori complained about it.

They said that as a shareholder of the company, it was time for him to contribute to the company.

She requested that the two of them participate in the signing of the RE demo version.

Rumiko Takashiro and Gen Urobuchi, as the main creators of the art and script, immediately sparked a buzz on 'Future Dimension'.

Today, Aniplex will be the star of the entire summer COMI.

Chapter 287 What does Old Xu look like?

The ceiling in the corporate exhibition area is higher and the lighting is brighter than in the East Hall.

Aniplex's booth occupied the most prominent position in the corporate area, with a huge LED screen in front, which was playing the animated PV of "Sword Art Online" and the demo trailer of "Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-".

Tian Zhongxue tilted his head back, his mouth agape in an "O" shape.

"This scale is way too exaggerated." He tugged at Ayumi's sleeve.

Ayumi didn't say anything.

Her gaze shifted from the large screen to the layout of the entire booth. The demo area was on the left, with a barrier separating the fast lane from the regular lane.

The merchandise area is on the right, with shelves full of limited-edition Aniplex items. Deep inside the booth is a special passage for those interested, marked with a "STAFF ONLY" sign.

Everything was in good order.

"Bumi, look over there!" Tian Zhongxue pointed to a group of life-size standees next to the merchandise area.

These are standees of Dream Chaser members. Shizuka Hayakawa's standee is placed at the front, her blue-streaked bangs gleaming coldly under the light. The standees of the other three members are arranged in order.

"Life-size!" Tian Zhongxue took out his phone and started snapping pictures. "I became a huge fan after seeing Shizuka-san backstage at the last Winter COMI. She has a performance this afternoon."

Ayumi didn't respond; her gaze fell on the entrance to the passageway on the side of the booth.

A staff member wearing an Aniplex uniform pushed open the passageway door, and then a tall figure walked out of the passageway.

Her long black hair was loosely tied up at the back of her head, and the lenses of her frameless glasses reflected the lights overhead. Her dark business suit outlined a sharp profile, and a work badge hung on her chest with the Aniplex logo printed on the dark blue lanyard.

Ayumi stopped in her tracks.