"Lots of new games have come out recently."
Inside a large shopping mall, Suguru Geto held a beautifully packaged game box.
"Let me see."
Hearing that there was a new game, Eiji also came closer.
"Mario's got a new one?"
Looking at the familiar red hat, big nose, and overalls on the box, Eiji immediately became interested.
Eiji had loved the Mario games in his past life, but unfortunately, he could only play them in secret back then.
Now, it was great that he could play openly with Suguru Geto.
Suguru Geto's grades were excellent, so his parents weren't as strict with him, which allowed the two of them to often play games at Eiji's house.
"Want to come over to my place and try it out?"
"Of course."
Suguru Geto also really enjoyed playing games.
Or rather, what boy growing up could refuse the joy of battling alongside his best friend, each with a controller, until dusk?
Besides, Suguru Geto actually used playing games for another purpose.
The strange abilities and levels in games often gave him inspiration.
Suguru Geto's Cursed Spirit Manipulation had subdued thousands of Cursed Spirits.
It was impossible for him to remember the characteristics of every single one and use them flexibly.
It would be time-consuming and effortful, and many might be useless even if remembered.
Therefore, Suguru Geto had always simply categorized his Cursed Spirits.
For example, what kind of Cursed Spirits were suitable for reconnaissance, which could act as meat shields, and which had high output...
After simply categorizing the Cursed Spirits, Suguru Geto would group together those that could cooperate with each other.
There were standard squads with Cursed Spirits for front lines, support, and output.
There were also specialized squads formed for specific purposes.
For instance, to pursue the goal of restricting enemy movement, he would team up Cursed Spirits that could control water with a Snow Woman.
This way, when Suguru Geto used Cursed Spirit Manipulation, he could summon the Cursed Spirits he had prepared in advance according to the situation.
Some of the inspiration for these combinations came from actual combat, and some came from games.
The myriad abilities of monsters in games had a high degree of overlap with the equally myriad Cursed Spirits.
Thus, when Suguru Geto played games, besides the main party, he also specifically studied some of the interesting monsters and traps in the game.
This was also why Suguru Geto could always summon Cursed Spirits suitable for the current battle.
The pleasant shopping continued.
After paying, Eiji went to the restroom and skillfully put the two of them's shopping bags into his shadow.
"It really is convenient."
Watching the shopping bags disappear into Eiji's shadow, Suguru Geto felt a bit envious.
Anyone who understood would appreciate the convenience of a personal space.
"Can't your Cursed Spirit Manipulation store things?"
"No, it can only hold Cursed Spirits."
Suguru Geto shook his head.
"Then you should look for Cursed Spirits that can store items."
"Cursed Spirits that can store items?"
Suguru Geto tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"That's right, some Cursed Spirits have abilities related to space and time. Although the use of these Cursed Spirits' abilities is limited and they don't help much in combat, they're definitely fine for just storing things."
For example, Toji Fushiguro's Uraume, and the Cursed Spirit that trapped Mei Mei and Utahime for a while.
"That's a good suggestion."
Suguru Geto decided to pay more attention to requests that might involve such Cursed Spirits when taking on future jobs.
"Oh, sorry for the wait."
Satoru Gojo, wearing sunglasses, appeared before them.
"You took your time."
Eiji said without mercy.
"It's those people in my family being so slow, otherwise I would have been here already."
"Speaking of which, didn't you bring any bodyguards this time?"
Eiji looked left and right, completely failing to spot the bath-robed uncles who often appeared with Satoru Gojo.
"If they followed us, we wouldn't be able to have fun properly, so I sent them back."
Satoru Gojo waved his hand.
"Ah, right, where are we going next?"
"The comic convention."
Eiji pulled out a flyer for a comic convention, advertising the event being held at this large shopping mall.
"Let's go!"
The group quickly arrived at the convention venue.
As soon as they walked through the entrance, the three of them felt a visual shock they rarely experienced.
The novel scene arrangements, the abundance of exquisite original artwork, and various handicrafts all captured their attention.
"Look, over there."
Satoru Gojo pointed towards a booth not far from the entrance. Inside, Naruto and Sasuke were selling art books together.
"It's live-action Naruto and Sasuke! I'm heading over."
"Satoru, don't run around inside the venue, you'll bump into people."
Suguru Geto quickly followed.
Eiji trailed closely behind.
Honestly, it was a peculiar feeling.
He knew that the people before him were just cosplayers, not actual characters from anime who had come to life.
Yet, every time he saw cosplayers at a convention, his eyes would light up, and he'd subconsciously treat them as the real anime characters.
"Yo, Naruto, want to go grab some ramen?"
"Huh?"
Satoru Gojo, who had suddenly appeared, invited Naruto.
"Sure, Ichiraku Ramen is the best!"
Naruto, snapping back to reality, gave Satoru Gojo a thumbs-up with a bright smile.
"Alright, let's go now."
Satoru Gojo grabbed Naruto's arm, ready to leave.
"Whoa, whoa, wait! I haven't finished browsing the convention yet."
The guy cosplaying as Naruto couldn't hold back. I thought you were just being dramatic, but you're actually serious?
"Ah, it's Sakuragi Hanamichi."
Fortunately, a new figure caught Satoru Gojo's attention.
Beside him, Eiji picked up a sketchbook from the stall and opened it.
Snap.
The next second, Eiji forcefully closed the sketchbook with both hands.
Eiji blushed slightly.
"What's wrong?"
Suguru Geto, who had just pulled Satoru Gojo back, noticed Eiji's strange reaction.
"It's nothing. Satoru wanted to see Sakuragi Hanamichi, right? Let's go take a look together."
The group quickly walked over to the Slam Dunk booth.
"This, this, and this, wrap them all up."
Satoru Gojo bought the entire set of main character figures.
Eiji also picked out a few favorites and bought them.
They were all memories from his childhood.
Soon, several familiar figures caught Eiji's eye.
Artoria, Medusa, Golden Flash, Red A.
The cosplayers' resemblance to the characters was very high.
"This one's nice."
Eiji picked up a figure of Artoria in her formal dress and examined it closely.
"We have art books here too, would you like to take a look, customer?"
The stall owner enthusiastically promoted his wares to Eiji.
Eiji flipped through the art book in his hands. One page had a drawing of a single person, and another showed Teacher Kuzuki and Caster together.
"This drawing is really good."
"You like Medusa too? Let me tell you, Medusa is super cool. A mature woman with long hair and an eyepatch is amazing. Just looking at Medusa makes me able to eat three bowls of rice..."
Soon, more and more people gathered to discuss. Some liked Artoria, some liked Rin Tohsaka...
Eiji, who had been maintaining his composure at first, was quickly swept up by the atmosphere and joined the ranks of people discussing and taking pictures.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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