Chapter 4: Seto and Mito
「0 gold coins, 0 silver coins, 1 copper coin」.
A thought of "wanting to take out a copper coin" arose in Ryusei Kiryu's mind.
Another copper coin immediately appeared in his hand.
At the same time, the system wallet icon changed to 「0 gold coins, 0 silver coins, 0 copper coins」.
So that's how it works; coins go directly into the system wallet and don't take up space in the inventory. It's very convenient.
Ryusei took out the other copper coin from his pocket and deposited it along with the first.
Now he had a basic understanding of the concept, origin, and deposit/withdrawal methods of coins.
The next question to confirm was which animals the system would classify as "monsters" and from which coins could be dropped upon defeat. However, it was getting late today, and Beika Town was too unsafe. To be on the safe side, he decided to wait until tomorrow.
Ryusei took out the phone provided by the system and found the nearest ramen shop on the map.
He went to the shop, ate a bowl of tonkotsu ramen to fill his stomach, then went to the bank and inserted the identity card into an ATM.
The identity card contained 500,000 Japanese yen. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for his immediate needs.
Ryusei directly withdrew 100,000 Japanese yen in cash from the identity card.
He glanced up at the camera, walked out of the bank, and only after arriving at the street corner and confirming his surroundings were safe, did Ryusei put the cash into his inventory.
This cash occupied a separate inventory slot; the system wallet did not accept it.
Ryusei took out his phone and, following the map navigation, arrived at a supermarket where he purchased some daily necessities and food.
Leaving the supermarket, Ryusei carried two large bags. There were many people around, so he couldn't directly put them into his inventory.
Just as he was about to hail a taxi to go back, Ryusei suddenly noticed a sign on the street corner.
「Seto Marine Products」 Below the sign were a few smaller characters: 「Beika Town Branch」.
"Seto… could it be mermaids?"
Ryusei was a little curious. After thinking for a moment, he walked towards the shop.
The interior of this seafood shop was very spacious, and the floor was exceptionally clean. There was also no common fishy smell found in seafood shops in the air.
"Welcome to Seto Marine Products! What can I get for you, customer?"
A young female attendant at the entrance greeted him warmly.
"I'll just look around first." "Alright, please take your time, customer. You can leave your belongings at the counter for now, and if you need anything, just call me anytime!" "Okay, thank you."
Ryusei felt that the service at this shop was quite pleasant.
He put down the groceries he had just bought, walked around the shop, and found that most of what was sold here were high-end ingredients, and almost all of them were live.
Ryusei stopped, looking at the long sea eels and huge lobsters in the glass tank, his expression thoughtful.
Since snakes could be classified as "monsters," could these animals be too?
Ryusei really wanted to buy two and take them home to kill and test, but he glanced at the price tags and silently dismissed the idea.
Never mind, buying a chicken or a duck at the market tomorrow would also work for testing.
Ryusei returned to the counter and retrieved his stored items.
Although he hadn't bought anything in the shop, the female attendant didn't show any displeasure. She still sent him off with a smile, welcoming him to come again next time.
"The products are good, the service is good, it's just a bit expensive."
Ryusei didn't see Seto San or Seto Gozaburo in the shop. He figured it was because this shop was just a branch.
Stepping out of the shop, Ryusei looked at the sign of the shop next door, which had an image of a cow on it:
「Mito Meats」. It also said: 「Beika Town Branch」.
"The shop of Mito Ikumi's family from Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma has also appeared... How many works has this world integrated?"
Ryusei didn't go into this beef shop to look.
After all, beef shops sold slaughtered and portioned meat; they wouldn't sell live cattle. With his current savings, buying an entire live cow would be tough.
"However, I don't need to buy a whole live cow. I just need to complete the 'kill' step. If I have a chance to meet Mito Ikumi in the future, maybe I can go to her family's slaughterhouse through her to experience killing a cow..."
After returning to the apartment building.
Ryusei first went into the kitchen, put the bought ingredients into the refrigerator, and by the way, boiled a kettle of hot water.
Then, he went into the bedroom and opened the wardrobe.
The wardrobe was filled with clothes provided by the identity card. Although they weren't brand-name, they were all new and clean.
Ryusei wasn't picky about these, so he casually took out a pair of pajamas and went into the bathroom.
Old as this apartment building was, the hot water came quite quickly.
After a comfortable hot shower, Ryusei walked into the kitchen, wiping his hair with a towel.
The water in the kettle had already boiled, and white steam was rising from the spout.
Ryusei took two cups, poured half a cup of hot water into one cup and put it into his inventory, then poured the instant coffee he had just bought tonight into the other cup.
Carrying the coffee back to the bedroom, Ryusei sat at his desk, took out his phone, and started searching for nearby gold and silver jewelry shops.
There were quite a few results.
One of them, named "Miss Mira's Jewelry Store," had rave reviews.
"This one it is."
Ryusei wrote down the phone number of this shop, intending to call tomorrow when the shop opened to ask if they could custom-make commemorative coins.
He wanted to test if the system would accept counterfeit coins.
Although it was highly unlikely that he could be so clever, he still had to try.
Ryusei took a sip of coffee, then picked up his phone and started browsing current news.
Gathering more information would help him understand this unfamiliar world better.
"Sure enough, there's Totsuki Academy... Shokugeki..." "Tennis league... Seigaku, huh..." "And mahjong league... Kiyosumi High..."
Ryusei saw the shadows of many anime characters in the trending news.
Besides these, there were probably some anime he hadn't watched.
Ryusei put down his phone, feeling that although the situation in this world was somewhat complex, the main theme seemed to be slice-of-life romance anime.
"There are no supernatural powers... Wait, aren't the mermaids of the Seto family considered yokai?"
Ryusei searched for information on "Seto Marine Products" on his phone.
What appeared was a photo of a rugged man with a distinct cross-shaped scar on the side of his face.
Below the photo was his name — Seto Gozaburo.
"The name and appearance match, so it must be that Gozaburo 'the Rock'. Therefore, non-human creatures exist in this world."
Ryusei looked at the man on the screen and pondered.
"Since there are mermaids, there might also be monsters like werewolves and vampires... If I can kill them, the coins they drop should be more than what snakes drop, right?"
"However, with my current strength, doing something like that is too difficult."
"I'll start by practicing with ordinary chickens, ducks, and fish."
Ryusei brushed aside the unrealistic fantasies in his mind, picked up his cup, and took another sip of coffee.
The coffee had already become a bit cold.
Ryusei put down the cup, took out the cup of hot water he had previously put into his inventory, and found that it was still steaming hot.
It and the coffee were poured from the kettle at the same time, so normally, they should have cooled down at the same rate.
But it hadn't.
It must be because of the inventory. It seemed to "lock" the state of items put into it, and when taken out, the item would still be in the state it was in when put in.
To further confirm this idea, Ryusei put this cup of hot water back into his inventory, intending to check it again tomorrow morning.
Ryusei continued to browse the news until midnight, when the stimulating effect of the coffee gradually wore off.
He felt a hint of drowsiness, took the empty coffee cup to the kitchen to rinse, and went back to bed to sleep.
The next morning, the alarm clock on his phone rang on time.
Ryusei got up, washed up, changed into his Tonosaki school uniform, took out the bread and milk he had bought last night from the refrigerator, and left for school.
As he went downstairs, Ryusei encountered a neighbor.
She was a silver-haired older sister with delicate features and an indifferent expression.
She seemed to have just returned from her night shift, her steps going upstairs appeared a bit tired, and she carried a plastic bag containing several bottles of beer and several cups of instant noodles.
Ryusei's memories, provided by the system, didn't have a deep impression of her; he only knew her name — Yukino Mifuyu.
"Miss Yukino, good morning."
Yukino Mifuyu glanced at him, nodded, and replied simply and faintly: "Morning."
The two passed each other on the stairs.
Ryusei felt a chill in his body, as if he had just brushed past a large block of ice.
He looked back at Yukino Mifuyu.
The older sister's figure looked especially beautiful from behind and from a lower angle, like a plump fruit.
But Ryusei's attention wasn't on her figure, but on the bag she was carrying.
The surface of the beers had a faint white color, clearly covered with a layer of frost.
In this weather, beer bought from a convenience store couldn't possibly maintain such a cold state for long... Ryusei glanced at it, then casually withdrew his gaze, and after going downstairs, he left the apartment building directly.
Upstairs, Yukino Mifuyu stood by the corridor railing, watching Ryusei's retreating back with an expressionless face, then turned and went back to her room.
Subway platform.
Ryusei was still recalling the scene from earlier.
That Miss Yukino Mifuyu didn't seem to be an ordinary person.
However, considering that he lived in the land of outstanding people, Beika Town, Ryusei didn't dare to investigate too much. If he offended her, the beautiful neighbor might come knocking on his door in the middle of the night.
It was also possible that Miss Yukino Mifuyu was also a character from some anime series that he hadn't watched.
The subway arrived, and Ryusei squeezed in with a large crowd of office workers and students.
The train car was as crowded as a sardine can. Although there was air conditioning inside, the air still felt stuffy and murky.
Ryusei was not surprised by this.