Chapter 65: The God Tongue and The Ryuo's Prison Food!
This world also had its share of long-running mainstream shonen manga.
But compared with Saku's memories from his previous life, there were some noticeable differences.
For example, two members of the old "Big Three," Naruto and Bleach, simply didn't exist here.
In their place were Yokai Warrior and Eight Million Godslayers.
Saku had skimmed a few chapters of both before and felt that neither came close to Naruto.
Even stranger, this world didn't have Dragon Ball or Detective Conan either.
All Saku could say was that Japan's manga scene in this world had gotten the short end of the stick.
It was similar to China's web-novel industry here.
Many famous works from his previous life were missing, while most of the replacements were thoroughly mediocre.
Then his gaze landed on The Darwin Incident.
「Holy crap. Guys, who understands this pain? I actually found a pile of crap... cough, wrong. I mean The Darwin Incident.」
「Never in a million years did I expect this legendary piece of work to exist here too.」
「I seriously want to know how this thing even got published. Were the editors blind? Did nobody notice how anti-human some of this stuff is?」
「Good grief. Something this outrageous is actually displayed beside One Piece. I can't even tell which one is being insulted here.」
[Valid roast detected. Roast Points +40. Current total: 4,690.]
The good mood Saku had been enjoying vanished the moment he saw it.
Yukino: 'Crap? Does Saku have to use such vulgar language?'
Yui: 'Crap? What does he mean?'
Mai: 'A manga that can make Saku-kun lose all restraint like this... I'm strangely curious. No. Better not.'
Most people hearing his inner voice either became curious or quietly searched the title online.
Utaha was different.
She immediately followed the scent of drama straight over.
She knew perfectly well how famous One Piece was and had read some of it herself.
It was the classic mainstream battle shonen.
There wasn't much to analyze.
It was simply fun.
If she absolutely had to summarize it, the protagonists shouted about friendship, bonds, and dreams before beating down one villain after another.
Old-fashioned?
Certainly.
But most readers loved that kind of thing, especially boys.
The Darwin Incident, on the other hand, was completely unfamiliar to her.
That only made her more curious about what kind of manga could make Saku this angry.
"What's so interesting over here?"
Utaha rounded the shelf and immediately spotted the book beside One Piece that Saku had so affectionately described as "crap."
She hadn't even opened it yet.
The creature on the cover, dressed in human clothing, was already enough to make her uncomfortable.
Part of it was the uncanny-valley effect.
The other part was that she genuinely couldn't decide whether the creature looked more like an ape or a frog.
Just seeing it occupy the center of the cover made her stomach turn slightly.
People always said you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
Utaha suddenly realized that saying wasn't necessarily absolute.
Wasn't it also possible for something to look unpleasant on the outside...
And somehow be even worse inside?
Saku didn't answer.
Instead, he efficiently picked up the neighboring volume of One Piece and placed it directly on top of The Darwin Incident, completely hiding it.
"Nothing worth seeing."
"Trust me. It's painful to look at."
「Something this cursed should just sit here collecting dust. No need to poison innocent people.」
His eyes had suffered once in his previous life.
He had no intention of suffering through it again.
And he certainly wasn't going to encourage anyone around him to look either.
"...All right."
Utaha hesitated, then nodded.
"I'll trust you."
Curiosity killed the cat.
She decided to take his advice.
"Utaha-senpai, let's look somewhere else."
Saku stepped forward and gently ushered her toward another section.
Before long, they reached the magazine shelves.
There was practically every category imaginable.
Celebrity magazines.
Fashion.
Hobbies.
Entertainment.
But the thing that drew attention most easily wasn't any ordinary magazine.
It was the gravure section.
Every year, newly debuting entertainers in the showbiz industry would release a photobook. And these photobooks often featured swimsuits.
So you could easily imagine that among the pile of covers, the dazzling bare legs and the plump, well-fed bunnies were the visual focus.
Saku's gaze drifted over almost on instinct.
And despite not being particularly interested in gravure herself, even Utaha couldn't help noticing the flashy display.
"Jinnai-kun."
Utaha glanced at him mischievously.
"Which celebrity do you like?"
"Ahem."
Saku immediately straightened up.
"Obviously Mai."
「Utaha-senpai, trying to trick me into saying something dangerous? Not happening.」
「Though if you're asking whether I can appreciate attractive swimsuit models in general... of course I can. I've got eyes. Who would say no to seeing beautiful women in swimsuits?」
Utaha smiled.
Saku thought she was playing checkers while he was playing chess.
In reality, she was somewhere up in the stratosphere.
His spoken answer had never mattered.
She cared about what he thought.
"So you've already seen Mai in a swimsuit?"
「Mai in a swimsuit? Actually... I haven't.」
「Wait. Don't tell me Mai has done this kind of gravure shoot before too.」
「Tch. Mai's swimsuit look should be for me alone.」
Utaha hadn't expected him to be quite this possessive.
While thinking about that, she casually picked up one of the swimsuit magazines and flipped through it.
"This one isn't bad."
She pointed at one spread.
"Very cheerful. The styling suits her too."
"Seriously?"
「This is what you call good? Utaha-senpai, your standards are surprisingly low. This isn't even as good-looking as you. And this bunny is obviously enhanced, probably padded in places.」
Saku gave the page a quick glance before losing interest.
The styling looked overly manufactured to him, as if half the effect came from careful posing, wardrobe tricks, and heavy retouching.
After flipping through several more pages, he found most of the young celebrities perfectly ordinary in both looks and figure, and grew worried about whether the next generation would even get enough to eat. They could only sit at the same table as Saki and Yukino.
Eventually, Saku's attention shifted toward the neighboring magazine racks.
Then he spotted a familiar name.
His expression froze.
「Whoa, wait... Totsuki Culinary Academy?」
「And the God Tongue, Nakiri Erina?!」
「Seriously? Even Food Wars! got merged into this world?」
「Don't tell me The Prince of Tennis and Captain Tsubasa are here too. I really won't be able to keep a straight face.」
Still stunned, Saku searched through the nearby magazines.
Fortunately, he couldn't find either of the titles he'd just mentioned.
What he did find was an article about shogi.
According to the report, Sora Ginko had recently claimed the Women's Throne title and was being celebrated by the media as the Snow White of Naniwa.
Saku stared at the page.
「This anime crossover world really is way more complicated than I thought.」
「First I find Nakiri Erina from Food Wars!, and now even Sora Ginko from The Ryuo's Prison Food...」
「Wait, no. The Ryuo's Work Is Never Done!」
「What a mess.」
He sighed internally.
「Whatever. None of this has anything to do with me, and it doesn't interfere with my business plans. Our lives don't even overlap.」
[Valid roast detected. Roast Points +30. Current total: 4,720.]
His surprise lasted only a moment.
After silently marveling at just how chaotic this world was becoming, Saku placed both magazines back on the shelf.
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