Chapter 459 – Escape… Or Not…?
Let’s think for a moment.
What do you think is the most essential thing about a festival?
A substantial amount of capital to hold the festival?
That’s not wrong.
If there’s no capital, it’s impossible to gather enough people for a festival.
A place where the festival can be held?
That’s somewhat true.
If there’s no venue for the festival, there will be significant restrictions on the participants.
The unique features of that particular festival?
That’s also correct.
If there’s nothing attractive enough to draw people in, it will fall into obscurity.
However, it’s a bit difficult to say that all these things are absolutely essential elements of a festival.
Those with good observation skills might have noticed the common essential element among the things listed above.
That’s right.
The most essential element of a festival.
It’s none other than…
People.
Only when people gather is the foundation of the festival complete.
And without people, no matter how much capital you pour into it, it cannot be called a festival.
Fortunately, the Japan Hunter Academy was meeting that essential element.
However, does the saying “too much can be toxic” hold true in any country?
The number of people that had gathered was seriously overwhelming.
It was incomparable to the number when we arrived in the morning.
“Everyone, be careful! The number of humans has increased dramatically!”
“Is there no quiet spot? I’m getting annoyed and want to kill them all.”
“Please, don’t do that, Hyeji.”
I quickly hugged Hyeji as she was about to burst, then urgently looked at Kyoukyou.
“Is there anywhere even slightly less crowded?”
“Ah, I just thought of something! Just follow me!”
Kyoukyou began to push through the crowd with a look of realization.
I narrowed the distance to make sure I wouldn’t lose Kyoukyou.
[All you need to do is show your face once.]
‘That would ruin the festival.’
[Ah, right.]
How long did we move for?
The pressure from the surrounding crowd gradually eased.
The obstructed view started becoming clearer, and finally, we were able to escape the overwhelming crowd.
“Did everyone get out okay?”
“Hyeji and I are both fine.”
“Thanks, Kyoukyou. I almost died.”
[The ones who almost died were not Hyeji but those people, right?]
‘……I don’t know. I don’t want to know…’
Compared to just a moment ago, the space felt quite spacious now.
We could finally take a breather, but even with the crisis behind us, Kyoukyou’s expression didn’t look too good.
“By the way, where is this place, Kyoukyou?”
“Uh… Hyeji-chan, actually…”
Kyoukyou hesitated for a moment to finish her sentence.
It was a bit difficult to describe, but if I had to express it in detail,
it was a little awkward to show a fact that she didn’t want to reveal.
“What’s wrong, Kyoukyou? Didn’t you want to come here?”
“Ah, no, it’s true that it was the place I originally planned to come to… It’s just… I intended to come alone…”
“Why?”
What kind of place was this that she was reacting like that?
This kind of reaction was something I hadn’t seen before.
Seeing Kyoukyou’s unfamiliar expression, I discreetly asked Piece.
‘Are they worried that some embarrassment might be revealed here?’
[Huh? It’s not like you’re undressed or anything.]
‘……I’m the idiot for talking to you. Ah, f*ck.’
I should have just kept my mouth shut.
Recently, Piece had rarely made a normal remark, and it was my mistake to engage in conversation with this idiot.
Anyway, I stopped blaming myself and looked around.
I didn’t take long to scan the area, but I could somewhat understand why Kyoukyou was reacting that way.
And it was only natural.
“Seeing VTubers at a festival… I really feel my life is ruined.”
“Your life isn’t ruined.”
“Then what is it?”
It was because of the type of people all gathered here.
“You’re really living your life.”
“Ah.”
They were the people commonly referred to as otaku.
“Is it because the people here are otaku?”
“…Y-yes…”
Indeed, the appearance of the otaku was the stereotypical one found in media.
Very skinny to the point that they looked like they’d break if you tapped them, or quite plump to the extent you’d worry about their ankles.
Moreover, they had barely made any effort in their appearance.
Kyoukyou probably didn’t want us to see this.
[Is it really necessary to be concerned about that? You’re the biggest problem here.]
‘Why does your speech sound so Korean when the background is set in Japan, damn it.’
I could somewhat understand Kyoukyou’s feelings.
She might worry that we would have a negative impression or express skepticism regarding the Japan Hunter Academy’s festival.
People naturally wish to show only their good side to others.
But this much was entirely bearable.
“Why worry about something like this? It doesn’t matter.”
“…Is that really true, Shinwoo?”
As long as they weren’t causing us any outward harm.
“There’s really nothing that happens, right?”
“That’s certainly true…”
There was not a whiff of the stink or foul odor commonly thought to be associated with a space filled with otaku.
“I’ve also adapted thanks to Shinwoo, so it’s fine, Kyoukyou.”
“Oh, then I’m really relieved!”
Moreover, it was bad to look down on or discriminate against others based on appearance.
Just because someone looks a bit weird, it’s utterly unreasonable to spew nonsense.
This crazy world is filled with idiots who spout garbage even when they look completely fine.
For example, like Piece, who is stuck to me right now.
[Why is this body getting insulted!]
‘Then prove me wrong, f*cking girl.’
[……Dog.]
We even became friends with that hideous monster, to begin with.
Some might wonder why there were no issues despite being surrounded by otaku.
But there was undoubtedly a clear reason for that.
“Hey you! Stop!”
“Are you talking to me?”
Thanks to the cluster of otaku gathered a little further away,
there was a place that resembled a checkpoint where people could enter.
And one of the otaku began to speak sternly to a man with a bushy beard.
“You, go shave before you come here.”
“…Huh…? What do you mean by ‘shave’…?”
“Ah, is this guy clueless…? Look closely.”
Then that otaku suddenly grabbed a razor and swiftly shaved the beard of the questioning man.
What remained where the blade passed was smooth skin.
He quickly wrapped up the razor in paper, quietly murmuring,
“This refers to the technique of cutting only the beard without cutting the skin.”
“Ohhh…”
At that moment, another female otaku was stopped from entering.
“Ugh! Stop!”
“Why, why?!”
The otaku who spoke to the female instantly frowned and pinched his nose,
likely due to an unbearable stench coming from her.
“This is a holy place, so at least wash yourself before coming!”
“Huh? ‘Wash’…? What does that even mean?”
“Is this a clueless person as well…? Yare yare, so naive…”
At that, the otaku, still pinching his nose, handed the female a bar of new soap.
“That’s the act of creating lather and washing away the filth of the world with water.”
“I’m too scared; I’ll just do it later.”
“It’s not later; do it right now!”
With that, the female let out a big sigh, snatched the soap, and turned to leave.
She probably had plans to wash herself off as much as possible with that soap.
And due to these self-regulating actions, there were no outward issues at least.
[It feels like some kind of master’s conversation.]
‘That’s not wrong…’
However, those with sharp observation skills might have caught on.
The fact that until just now, I had been mentioning that
‘At least outwardly’ there were no problems.
Hyeji and Kyoukyou were either too absorbed in each other or just too far away to hear.
“Why is it said that sibling incest is dangerous? If we don’t go to foolish places, isn’t it safer?”
“Don’t you know the history where genes get messed up because of that? That’s why our ancestors didn’t do it.”
Right now, thanks to this f*cked-up translation device, I was overhearing their conversation perfectly.
“That’s so our ancestors preserved genes to allow us to freely engage in incest.”
“……That does have a point.”
They were gathered to express their opinions mainly on incest.
“I’ll now make a bold declaration! Frankly, maternal incest should be justified to be set as wool!”
“This isn’t a family court; why are we caring about such a thing?”
“Incest that doesn’t have blood relations is weak and fake incest!”
Or they were having serious discussions with earnest expressions.
“Today’s debate topic is, ‘Should we choose between dad’s boyfriend or boyfriend’s dad to determine pure love?’”
“If I make both of them my man, wouldn’t that be pure love?”
“Harem isn’t pure love, so you should choose between them.”
Of course, digging deeper into that content wouldn’t reveal any real debate.
“Excuse me, host. I believe that question is flawed.”
“Why is that?”
It was an insult to even call it a debate, more so than using the term debate.
“Dad and boyfriend are the same thing, right?”
“Ah, I made a mistake.”
It would be more fitting to say they were issuing live certificates of human decency.
It may be said that incest is relatively relaxed in Japan compared to other countries.
But to arrive at this level of discussion was truly astonishing in multiple ways.
Just the fact that these idiots were consuming air was a surprise.
[Isn’t this what it means to be a ‘Hunter’ Academy?]
‘Why is this something that’s common across nations, damn it.’
Whether they were ordinary people, hunters, or otaku.
There really wasn’t much difference.
They were all just insane f*ckers.
