"There are quite a few new games out recently," Geto said, holding an exquisitely packaged box in a large shopping mall.
"Let me see."
Hearing about new games, Eichi also leaned in.
"Mario has a new game out again?"
Looking at the familiar red cap, big nose, and overalls on the packaging, Eichi immediately became interested.
Eichi had loved the Mario game in his previous life, but unfortunately, he could only play it secretly back then.
Now it was great; he could openly play with Geto.
Geto's academic performance was excellent, so his parents weren't as strict with him, and thus the two often played games at Eichi's house.
"Want to come to my place and try it out?"
"Of course."
Geto also loved playing games.
Or rather, no boy in his childhood could refuse the joy of battling until dusk with a good friend, each holding a game controller.
Additionally, playing games actually had another use for Geto.
Because the strange abilities and levels in games often gave him inspiration.
Geto had thousands of Cursed Spirits under his Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
It was impossible for him to remember the characteristics of every single Cursed Spirit and use them flexibly.
It would be time-consuming and laborious, and many might be useless even if remembered.
Therefore, Geto always performed a simple categorization of his Cursed Spirits.
For example, what kind of Cursed Spirit was suitable for reconnaissance, what kind could act as a tank, what kind had high output... After a simple classification of Cursed Spirits, Geto would team up Cursed Spirits that could cooperate with each other.
There were conventional Cursed Spirit squads, with a front-liner, a support, and an output for each team.
There were also specialized squads formed for specific purposes.
For instance, if the goal was to restrict enemy movement, Cursed Spirits that could control water flow would be teamed up with a Yuki-onna.
This way, when Geto used Cursed Spirit Manipulation, he could summon the Cursed Spirits he had prepared in advance according to the situation.
And a part of the inspiration for these collaborations came from actual combat, while another part came from games.
The bizarre abilities of monsters in games had a high overlap with equally bizarre Cursed Spirits.
Therefore, when Geto played games, besides the protagonist's team, he also specifically studied some interesting monsters and traps in the game.
This was also why Geto could always summon Cursed Spirits suitable for the current battle during every fight.
The pleasant shopping continued.
After checking out, they went to the restroom, and Eichi skillfully put both their shopping bags into his shadow.
"That's really convenient."
Watching the shopping bags disappear into Eichi's shadow, Geto felt a bit envious.
The convenience of having a personal space was something everyone understood.
"Can't your Cursed Spirit Manipulation store things?"
"No, it can only hold Cursed Spirits."
Geto shook his head.
"Then you could try to find Cursed Spirits that can store things."
"Cursed Spirits that can store things, huh?"
Geto pinched his chin, deep in thought.
"That's right, some Cursed Spirits have abilities related to space and time. Although the use of these Cursed Spirits' abilities is limited and not very helpful in combat, they would definitely be fine just for storing things."
For example, Toji's Ogama, and that Cursed Spirit that trapped Mei Mei and Utahime for a while.
"That's a good suggestion."
Geto decided to pay more attention to requests that might involve such Cursed Spirits when taking on future commissions.
"Oh, sorry to keep you waiting."
Gojo Satoru, wearing sunglasses, appeared before the two of them.
"You're so slow."
Eichi was merciless.
"It's those people in the Family dragging their feet; otherwise, I would have been here much earlier."
"Speaking of which, did you not bring bodyguards this time?"
Eichi looked left and right, completely failing to spot the several yukata-clad uncles who often appeared with Gojo Satoru.
"If they came along, wouldn't we not be able to have fun? I sent them back," Gojo Satoru waved his hand.
"Oh, right, where to next?"
"The anime convention."
Eichi pulled out an anime convention flyer, which advertised the event currently being held at the large shopping mall.
"Let's go!"
The group quickly arrived at the convention venue.
As soon as they entered the main door, the three of them felt a visual impact rarely seen in daily life.
The novel scene arrangements, numerous exquisite hand-drawn original artworks, and various handicrafts all captivated their eyes.
"Look, over there."
Gojo Satoru pointed to a booth not far from the entrance, where Naruto and Sasuke were selling artbooks together.
"It's the living Naruto and Sasuke! I'm going over first."
"Gojo, don't run inside the venue; you'll bump into people."
Geto quickly followed.
Eichi also followed closely behind.
To be honest, it was a very strange feeling.
They knew that these people in front of them were just cosplaying and were not really the characters from the anime appearing before them.
But every time they saw these cosplayers at the convention, their eyes would light up, and they would subconsciously treat them as real anime characters.
"Yo, Naruto, want to go eat ramen together?"
"Huh?"
The suddenly appearing Gojo Satoru invited Naruto.
"Yeah, Ichiraku Ramen is the best!"
Realizing what was happening, Naruto gave Gojo Satoru a thumbs-up and a bright smile.
"Alright, let's go now!"
Gojo Satoru grabbed Naruto's arm, ready to leave.
"Hey, hey, hey, wait, I haven't finished exploring the convention yet!"
The boy cosplaying Naruto couldn't keep up the act. "I thought you were being chuunibyou, but you're serious!"
"Ah, it's Hanamichi Sakuragi!"
Fortunately, a new figure caught Gojo Satoru's attention.
Eichi, standing nearby, picked up an artbook from the booth and opened it.
Slap.
The next second, Eichi forcefully closed the artbook with both hands.
Eichi was a little red-faced.
"What's wrong?"
Geto, who had just pulled Gojo Satoru back, noticed Eichi's somewhat strange reaction.
"Nothing. Gojo, weren't you going to see Hanamichi Sakuragi? Let's go see him together."
The group quickly arrived at the Slam Dunk booth.
"This one, this one, and this one, wrap them all up."
Gojo Satoru bought all the main characters' figurines.
Eichi also picked out a few he liked and bought them.
These were all childhood memories.
Soon, several familiar figures came into Eichi's sight.
Artoria, Medusa, Gilgamesh, Archer.
The cosplayers had a very high degree of Degree of restoration (fidelity).
"This one's good."
Eichi picked up an Artoria in a dress figurine and examined it carefully.
"We also have artbooks here, would the customer like to take a look?" the booth owner enthusiastically promoted to Eichi.
Eichi flipped through the artbook in his hand. One page featured only one person, while others had Kuzuki-sensei and Caster together.
"This drawing is well done."
"You like Medusa too? Let me tell you, Medusa is super cool! The long-haired, eye-patched older sister is amazing! Just looking at Medusa makes me want to eat three bowls of rice…"
Soon, more and more people gathered to discuss, some liking Artoria, some liking Rin Tohsaka… Eichi, who had initially maintained normalcy, was quickly swept up by the atmosphere and joined the discussion and photo-taking crowd.