CHAPTER 661: CHAPTER 660: TRADE FAIR (PART 1)

Eriina called out her friend’s full name with an air of summoning someone for a reckoning.

Today, on the weekend, the blonde twin-tailed girl in her bedroom at the British diplomat’s residence in Tokyo let out a sigh.

"Well, Eriina, are you satisfied with my latest work?"

"..."

"If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as your tacit agreement!" Bai Muying’s long legs swung under the desk, betraying a slight excitement.

She indeed had a reason to be excited.

As a doujinshi artist known by the pseudonym "Bai Muying," even though she was a big name within her niche circle, she was far less well-known than those serialized manga artists.

But who would have thought that last night, when she casually posted a few scrap images from her newly improvised Sapporo event doujinshi on her personal Twitter, it not only went viral on Japanese Twitter overnight but also reached neighboring countries. This morning, when she opened Twitter, she found a horde of foreign fans coming to plead for the full collection’s download address, leaving Bai Muying dumbfounded.

And then, seeing the tens of thousands, and still growing, surge in her Twitter followers, Bai Muying finally realized one fact:

Her Sapporo event doujinshi had suddenly caught fire.

And now...

Bai Muying looked down at the pile of drafts on her desk; she was rushing on the second volume, and due to strong reader demand, the second volume was no longer just a bromance-filled doujinshi but had a popular female character added in, much to everyone’s delight.

Of course, the protagonist of the doujinshi was still that star chef who had set the culinary world ablaze.

"Eriina, you definitely didn’t finish reading the first volume, did you? Want me to send it to you now?" Bai Muying teased with a mischievous chuckle.

"..."

"Also, I owe you an apology in advance..."

Eriina, clutching her phone, felt a sudden pang of anxiety at those words.

"Do you dream of becoming a princess from a fairy tale, walking hand in hand towards the highest throne with the prince who has defeated demons to rescue you?" Bai Muying spoke with suppressed laughter, her words loaded with innuendo, obvious even to an idiot.

Eriina bit her lip and said, "I do not!"

"You’re really not being honest with yourself!"

"Further, what I want to tell you is that these doujinshi adaptations have official permission. You should check out the event’s participation agreement. Not long ago, the event’s official Twitter even liked my post!"

Bai Muying was confident and full of energy.

...

In the afternoon.

A car departed from the Ookura Mountain Villa.

The end of the event didn’t mean a cooling of interest; the villa’s exterior was packed with media reporters lying in wait.

Lowering the curtain on the car window, Xia Yu withdrew his gaze, and said helplessly, "When will this craze die down? Even if we go back to Tokyo, the shopping street will be jam-packed. We might as well stay out for a few more days and relax."

"You do need to relax more."

Zhu Qing replied, "At your age, you should be enjoying your youth, not wait until you’re old and can’t walk, only to reminisce about an empty, pale youth. Looking back, you’d find all your time was given to cooking!"

She spoke with intent and glanced sideways at the passenger seat beside her, where Tiqie Eriina, who had been hanging her head and placing her hands on her plaid skirt since leaving the house, suddenly seemed embarrassed and as if she couldn’t bear to meet anyone’s gaze.

Xia Yu made a sound, he had noticed Eriina’s unusual behavior, and Zhu Qing had seen it earlier; both were well aware of what was going on.

It was indeed the doujinshi that had spread, too embarrassing.

A helpless facepalm ensued.

"Eriina isn’t answering my calls!" Xia Yu was out of options, given that every competition team had already signed an agreement, one term of which involved the authorization of personal image rights. He should have been aware of this earlier, considering the culture in Japan, where everything is feminized and turned into an anime character. The officials had probably planned to generate economic benefits from derivative fan works long ago.

"Let’s talk about the Gourmet Hunter’s festival instead!"

Putting his worries aside, Xia Yu said to Zhu Qing, "Aunt Qing, you must have some experience with this, right?"

"Of course!"

As the car drove to the outskirts of Sapporo, Zhu Qing explained, "Similar gatherings, depending on the situation, sometimes happen once a year, sometimes once every two or three years. The timing is unpredictable, and the location varies worldwide. This festival has existed since the mass invasions began, from World War II to the modern era, spanning decades..."

Half an hour later, the car stopped in the countryside at a parking spot.

Xia Yu, Zhu Qing, and Eriina got out of the car.

Looking around, there were no buildings, just wilderness, but the road was blocked with barriers and fences, with armed military police carrying riot shields guarding the important checkpoints. They had just passed identity verification.

Above and below the hills, there were tents everywhere.

There weren’t many people on site, just over a thousand or so scattered around the hills, rather sparse, and not the crowded situation one might expect.

The three of them were disguised, wearing masks and baseball caps. Most of the passersby were dressed similarly, mysterious and secretive.

Just getting out of the car, they were stopped by a shout:

"Hey, over there, star chefs, want to take a look?"

A middle-aged man with a tent and a signboard by the road was calling out to them.

They could be recognized even like this?

Xia Yu was surprised, but then he looked more closely and laughed.

An acquaintance, Jintan Shun.

He led Zhu Qing and Eriina over to look at the sign in front of Jintan Shun’s tent. There wasn’t much on it, just this:

"’Big Gate Crab Fish,’ hunting level 1, caught in an inland dark river, alive, 2 available for trade—details negotiable."

"’Five-tailed Vulture,’ hunting level 2, caught in a snowy mountain rock area, mature, alive!"

These were undoubtedly Fantasy Ingredients for sale, but the method of transaction was mostly primitive bartering.

The first couple of offers were fine, with low hunting levels, but from the third item on even Zhu Qing couldn’t keep walking, she stared at the sign and read softly:

"’Vajra Ape Prophet,’ a mysterious mammal, a rare kind of ape, high rarity, hunting level 10. Meat tested inedible, cannot be cooked, but brain matter is a ’Spirit Treasury,’ suitable for culinary consumption, can increase brainpower, mental fortitude."

"Vajra Ape Prophet!"

Zhu Qing couldn’t help but tell Xia Yu, "Ten years ago, in the Chinese Cuisine World, two Lin Chefs had a cooking showdown over this ingredient and became rivals!"

"Interested?"

Jintan Shun, wearing a gray knit cap that covered his messy hair, handed over a smartphone with a grin and played a carefully recorded video.

The location was an IGO professional ingredient storage warehouse open to the public, and of course, the protagonist was a captive Vajra Ape.

In the video, the ape was pounding on steel bars, with a pitiful plea for mercy in its eyes.

Such human-like eyes were a sign of high intelligence.

"Alive—"

Jintan Shun drew on a black cigarette, exhaling rings of smoke and said, "Back then, I chased this thing in the mountains for five days and nights before I caught it. Don’t be fooled by its pitiable little act—when it runs, it’s incredibly agile. Several times I nearly got crushed by rocks it threw at me from on high, hehe, after all, it’s a rare species with a hunting level of 10..."

"Just for 2 pounds of ’Jewel Meat,’ you can take it away!" Jintan Shun had an expression like he was cutting his own flesh, his face twitching in an Oscar-worthy performance.