28 Re:Zero

It was yet another busy day at Igarashi's shop. The 'Your Name' craze is slowly dying down, but its popularity is still present. As such, some people are still going to Igarashi's shop to buy the book.

Some people that entered his shop today for the first time were taken aback by the furniture in the waiting area and sat there awkwardly while a child that looked no younger than 15 years gave people books and took the money.

However, there was something... Odd about the atmosphere of the shop today. Most probably because of some people that were reading a book that seemed to be different from 'Your Name'.

And it was at this moment that two people walked into Igarashi's shop.

"Boss Yunru! I heard you made a new book?!" Excitedly yelled a young man.

"Quiet down, Xingqiu, you're disturbing other people..." The person beside him said

It was none other than Xingqiu and his best friend Chongyun.

At the back, a head poked out revealing Igarashi's face. "Oh, it's you two."

He then walked over to them holding five books with a cover of Re:Zero. "What's up?" Igarashi asked them

Xingqiu looked at Igarashi's hand and couldn't hide his excitement. "Boss Yunru, that's your new work, isn't it?!"

Hearing him being enthusiastic about his new book, Igarashi smiled. "Yup. It's a book that focuses on... Uhh... Magic. Yeah, magic."

He couldn't tell them that the book is about trauma and mental breakdown. That would just make them slightly lose interest.

Xingqiu smiled brightly and handed him a pouch of Mora. "I'D LIKE TO PURCHASE A BOOK PLEASE!"

"M-Me too, please..." Chongyun added as he stretched out his hand with a pouch of Mora.

Igarashi didn't want to be rude and accepted their pouch of Mora. He shrugged and smiled. "Oh, by the way, the price for this book is lowered to 7,000 Mora now."

"Eh, why?" Xingqiu asked

"Well, the reason is that I'll be dividing the story into chapters. The books in my hand right now are the first and second chapters." Igarashi explained.

Since Re:Zero is a series and not a movie like 'Your Name', he decided to split the story into chapters like the mangas they are.

Xingqiu thought for a moment and nodded. "I see, I see. I guess that is understandable."

Igarashi nodded and gave the two of them their manga. He then pointed at the vacant seats and said while smiling, "Oh, by the way, if you want to read the book here, then you can sit down over there."

"Really~ that's convenient." Xingqiu said.

At this moment, Chongyun, who was looking at the whole room from the start, spoke to Igarashi. "Boss Yunru, I have a question."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Why does the inside of your shop... Feel cold?" Chongyun asked. Though, to be frank, he liked how cold the inside of Igarashi's shop is. Since he has excessive Yang Energy, he constantly suppresses it with something cold like the popsicles that he brings everywhere.

"That's... A secret!" Igarashi replied before chuckling.

Though, the real reason he does not want to talk about it is that he spent 60 system credits on an air conditioner. To top it all off, he had to buy a powerful power generator for 100 system credits to sustain the electronics in his shop. 'Oh, the pain...'

His system credits almost turned to nothing. It was a good thing that the stream of customers kept coming to provide him with system credits.

Chongyun was confused at first and tried to ask more questions but Igarashi already left them and went to the other side of the wall.

He looked at his best friend again and found that he was already sitting down on the long couch as he opens the first page of the book.

Soon, Xingqiu started showing his hobby and commenting while reading a book.

Chongyun just looked at his friend and sighed with helplessness. 'He always does this...' Seeing that the room was comfortable for him, he decided to sit down next to Xingqiu and started reading.

He couldn't help but enjoy the coldness of the room. 'I might... Visit this place frequently...' He thought with a smile.

Soon, he started reading.

* * *

The story started off with a person dying on the floor and blood oozing from his body as he reaches out his hand to another person. And on the drawing, the man that was dying made a promise saying that he would have them. 'That's... A new way of starting a story, I guess?'

'Odd... Who is he promising to?' Chongyun thought. He got curious and kept flipping pages.

It soon got to the pages where the man from earlier was no longer dying but seemed like he was spacing out. His information was then shown next to him in the manga panel.

[ Natsuki Subaru ]

[ Third Year Highschool Student]

'His name is Inazuman...' Chongyun thought. There had been rumors going around that the author of 'Your Name' is Inazuman because of the names in the book.

And seeing that Igarashi's new book also had an Inazuman name, Chongyun made some conclusions. 'Though, it might just be because he likes their culture...'

He then shrugged and continued reading. He found it odd that the main character knows that he got sent to another world, a genre that is not that popular on Liyue, yet.

He continued reading until he finally saw the Subaru ending up in an alleyway with thugs. He punched one of the thugs but was threatened with a knife. Then, a young girl came running to the main character, and the latter thought she was going to save him but in reality, she was just passing by. 'How... Awkward that must have been...' Chongyun found it amusing.

He continued flipping each page and finally saw the person wearing the same clothes from the first page of the book. She had long white hair and slightly elongated ears.

When Chongyun saw the girl, he actually blushed a little. 'Boss Yunru... Really does know how to make beautiful girls...'

He cleared his mind and calmed himself down. He then continued reading and the girl started fighting the thugs. She summoned ice crystals and later, a floating cat appeared. It was later identified as a spirit and she's a spirit user.

Seeing the fight, Chongyun started thinking. 'Boss Yunru explained at the author's notes on the front page that this will be set in another world where visions don't exist...' Chongyun thought. 'So, is this what 'magic' is? Hmm...'

He continued reading and found that Subaru was saved but was then later ignored by the white-haired girl. And just like that, the main character fell asleep while appreciating her beauty.

He later then woke up dreaming to be sleeping on his savior's thighs but was disappointed to find out that he was only dreaming.

'Does sleeping on thighs... Feel good...?' Chongyun innocently thought.

The two of them later found a lost girl and returned her to her parents. And soon, they got an info where to find items that were stolen. And so, they prepared themselves to fight the person that might have stolen the white-haired girl's item.

Chapter 1 & 2, end.

'That's... It?' Chongyun thought. 'That was rather... Odd?'

He doesn't know what to say. Though, to be frank, he quite liked the story even if it's just the first chapter. But still, he feels like something was wrong.

'On the first page, Natsuki Subaru was seen dying next to a person wearing the same dress as that white-haired girl...' Chongyun started pondering.

His eyes then widened with a realization. 'It can't be... Is Boss Yunru foreshadowing their deaths? It can't be, right? But...' He just couldn't get a grip on the story and how it would play out.

"Man~ that was not as good as I expected it to be..." Chongyun heard a voice beside him and looked at Xingqiu who placed the book down.

He then noticed that Chongyun was also finished reading and smiled. "Oh, Chongyun, are you finished too? How was it in your view?"

"I... Don't know... But it feels like there is something more to it..." Chongyun replied

"Eh? Really? What is it?" Xingqiu was curious about his friend's view on the book

And so, Chongyun started explaining what he speculated.

"Hmm... I see, I see. Well, it's just as you said. There is something that Boss Yunru is hinting... But what is it?" Xingqiu said as he place his hand on his chin

It was at this moment that a voice interrupted the both of them. "I see that you two are done. So, how is it?" It was Igarashi.

"Boss Yunru! You have to answer our question!" Xingqiu immediately said

"Hmm? What is it?" Igarashi innocently replied. Though, he secretly already knows what it is.

"Well, on the first page of the book, the main character was dying. But how and why? From what I see, he was already saved by that girl, right?" Xingqiu said

"Hmm..." Igarashi hummed with a smile. "Then what do you think? From the top, it looks like your everyday 'Feel Good' story with the main character always winning at life, no?"

"Yeah..." Chongyun and Xingqiu both said.

Igarashi smiled. But this time, his smile seemed... A bit off. "Well then, why don't you continue reading?"

He then slid two books at the both of them secretly with the same smile. "Go on. Read it."

The two of them felt like something was REALLY wrong and subconsciously gulped. They nodded and found out that it was the third chapter of the story.

Feeling something was about to happen in this chapter, the both of them started reading immediately.

Meanwhile, Igarashi went back to his desk with a sinister smile. "Hehe... I wonder how they'll react~?"

Mo Fan heard him and looked at him with a deadpan expression. "Boss... You're oftentimes evil..."

He had already seen the horrors of what will happen in the third chapter.