"! You! You actually dared to laugh at me?!" Okabe Rintaro suddenly ran out of the laundromat. "Just you wait, one day I'll crush your confidence under my heel!"
"You just wait and get your neck cleaned, Christina!"
"..." Listening to Okabe Rintaro's shouting, Makise Kurisu's steps faltered slightly. Although she had no intention of turning back to argue with him further, she still lowered her head, muttering with a complex expression, "I told you, my name isn't 'Tina'."
'SERN is researching time travel.'
'To decipher their secret program, we must use the special functions of the IBN5100.'
Okabe Rintaro's words couldn't help but echo in her ears.
"Seriously, you said you cared, that's why I told you." Okabe Rintaro, muttering discontentedly, walked back into the laundromat with his hands in his pockets. "A computer?"
In the dressing room, just like a real maid, Mayuri, dressed in a maid outfit and wig, held a hair accessory for the pink-haired girl in front of her.
"Hmm, it's an old computer." She nodded and said, "It seems to be worth 5100 yen or something."
"5100, could it be..." Felis's movements stopped.
Then, the scene returned to Okabe Rintaro.
The old fan whirred, and in the familiar Beef Bowl Restaurant, Okabe Rintaro raised the hot soup in his hand.
Then, he answered the ringing phone.
"tuturu, Okabe." From the other end of the phone, Mayuri's voice came, "Listen, listen, Mayushii has found out something incredible."
The voice came from his ear, but the figure of the boss appeared in front of him.
The boss was still clearing away other customers' bowls and chopsticks. She said nothing, only silently pointed behind Okabe Rintaro.
It was a 'No Mobile Phones' sign.
"No mobile phones." When Okabe Rintaro turned around and saw the words clearly, she finally spoke.
"Felis-chan said 'she's seen' the computer you're looking for, Okabe." Mayuri's voice still came from his ear.
"No mobile phones!" Seeing that Okabe Rintaro seemed to have no intention of hanging up, the boss repeated herself with great displeasure.
But he stood up first, then quickly pulled a coin from his pocket and slapped it onto the table.
Gulping down the free tea, and then slamming the cup back onto the table, Okabe Rintaro said nothing, only put away his phone, and then suddenly ran out of the restaurant door.
"Wait, wait—" The boss's voice did not stop his steps at all.
Okabe Rintaro's steps quickened, from a jog to a sprint, from calm breathing to gasping for air.
"..." With a sigh, the boss lowered her head and glanced at the coin he had slapped on the table. "Isn't this not enough?"
Okabe Rintaro ran away without paying enough.
And the audience below also began to discuss slightly.
— "I feel like, when Okabe is willing to call Assistant by her name directly, that's when the emotional entanglement will begin."
— "Although I think what he said was stupid, he really took it to heart, right? That's why tsundere characters are really like that."
— "Can't handle it, Mayuri only remembered the number, right?"
— "I always feel like Felis has the aura of a young lady."
— "If you pretend to make a call, the boss won't bother you, but if you actually make a call, the boss will come looking for trouble."
— "It indirectly proves that Okabe was faking calls before."
— "A tribute to the legendary dine-and-dash king, Okabe Rintaro."
"..."
He arrived at 'May Queen nyan²' again after a long time, but Okabe Rintaro was stunned.
Because an incredibly restless sound came from the cafe.
"Felis Nyan Nyan—"
"Felis Nyan Nyan—"
"Felis Nyan Nyan—"
Like cheering for an idol, a large number of male customers had cloths tied around their foreheads, clenching their fists and shouting the same words loudly.
In front of the cafe, a notice board was displayed.
The large characters 'Felis Cup' were clearly written on it.
Looking further down, one could vaguely see words like 'Rainet' and 'Hosted by Felis'.
However, Okabe Rintaro didn't seem to notice; he murmured, looking at the crowd accumulated in front of him:
"What's going on here?"
Suddenly, with impeccable timing, a delicate female voice, amplified by a microphone, rang out:
"Hello everyone, you've all been waiting, nyan."
A white spotlight illuminated the cafe, which had all its other lights off, casting Felis's figure into relief.
"The 'Felis Cup Daytime Session' will begin soon, nyan." As the Host, she introduced to the 'audience' below:
"Everyone, you must defeat Felis with all your might to get the special Nyan Nyan Omelet Rice, nyan!"
As her words fell, she raised her hand high, and at the same time, the audience below also let out an incredibly loud cheer.
Then, they once again began to shout in perfectly synchronized unison:
"Felis Nyan Nyan—"
"Felis Nyan Nyan—"
"Felis Nyan Nyan—"
"..." Okabe Rintaro's expression was almost impossible to maintain. "What's wrong with this dimension?"
It was comparable to a cult gathering.
"Ah, Okabe." Suddenly, a familiar voice came from beside him.
His childhood friend, Mayuri, dressed in a maid outfit, waved her hand at him. "tuturu—"
"Mayuri, what exactly happened?" Saying this, he looked again at the incomprehensible scene in front of him. "The dimensional wall is warped."
"No, this is the Felis Cup," Mayuri replied with a smile.
Okabe Rintaro: "Huh?"
What the heck?
"It's Felis-chan playing Rainet battles with the customers," she said.
The lively music slowed down slightly, and the audience stopped chanting slogans repeatedly.
Suddenly, the Host, who should have been on stage, had unknowingly come down and spotted the newcomer.
"Ah, Kyouma!" Felis leaned closer and asked, "Are you going to participate too, nyan?"
"Felis can battle 10 people at once, nyan." Felis, dressed much prettier than usual, gently raised her hand and placed it against her face. "So I can still—"
"I refuse." Okabe Rintaro said without hesitation:
"Instead of that, where is the IBN5100?"
Faced with his persistent questioning, Felis immediately dropped her smile.
"Well..." She pondered for a moment and said, "I'll tell you after you participate, nyan."
Okabe Rintaro became anxious.
"Don't talk nonsense! The critical moment for whether the world's structure can be changed has arrived!" He waved his large hand:
"Mere games are—"
"If you don't participate, then I'm sorry, please leave, nyan."
But Felis, who usually went along with his topics and played chuunibyou games with him, this time merely turned around as a matter of course, uttering words of dismissal.
"You, a maid, dare to try and dismiss your master's guest?! The IBN5100—"
"Can't hear you, nyan."