Feng Ye, Chu Feng, and Wu Ya arrive back at the hotel oblivious to the follower a few blocks behind. Resting in their rooms, Harata, Akihiko, and Yotusba arrive back late.
The group winds down fooling around in the pool and recreational areas offered for the guests staying.
Time passes quickly as all six members retire and rest up for the following long day.
Early the next morning, the group meets up in the lobby area after feasting on the complimentary continental breakfast offered by the hotel. A travel bus awaits outside which goes directly to the concert grounds.
The bus is relatively full, but not overcapacity. There are plenty of space for the passengers and it seemed to be considered luxurious.
"Good morning everyone." A middle aged guide stands at the front of the bus next the the bus driver and greets all the passengers.
"Today, we will be heading over the Renai Series Event. Naturally, as we arrive at our destination, we will also pass by some good scenery which I would be glad to introduce some topics about. Anyways, it seems that we are fully ready to head out.. Let's head on our way!"
The next 20 minutes of the ride consisted of the tour guide essentially providing some details on some of the famous historic sites and scenery that is passed by. During this travel time, half of the bus are listening intently, while the other half discussed quietly among themselves. Naturally, Feng Ye, Haruta, and Chu Feng was part of the latter group.
"How are you feeling?" Feng Ye inquiries Haruta.
Out of all six of them, clearly Haruta is the most excited.
Haruta beams with excitement while he replies, "Haha. I can't wait to see and arrive. Perhaps..I can get a picture and a signature!"
With a determined expression, Haruta clenches his fist as though making a vow.
Nearby, Chu Feng smiles and shows Haruta his phone. "Hehehehe. You shouldn't have rode off yesterday. You missed the opportunity… guess who this is?"
"WTF!!!!!!!! F! F! F! F! F! F! F! F!" Haruta yells.
Naturally, he had yelled very loud...thus, the tour guide pauses as she is startled. Everyone on the bus also stops and an awkward silence is experienced as everyone stares at Haruta.
"Sorry! I was a bit too excited. Please don't mind me!" Haruta immediately panic strickenly explains and apologizes.
The tour guide is very friendly and easily helps ease the situation. "Haha! Glad you have this excitement! That's no problem. Anyways, on the right side over here you can view another scenic area of the city.."
Chu Feng with Wu Ya and Feng Ye nearby chuckles. "Haha.. Haruta, you truly must be regretting!"
Haruta shows an expression as if he is about to cry.
Yotsuba who is sitting next to Haruta, pats him on the shoulder. "It's fine. We have VIP backstage access anyways. You'll probably be able to meet her… lol."
Enlightened, Haruta brightens up. "You are right!"
As this interlude is over, the bus arrives at the area of the event. Large lines have already formed to get into the event. The entire event is at a rather large area. There are two sections which are the outside area and the inside. The outside area which consist of an outside area filled with carnival stalls and games along with outdoor events all related to the Renai Series event.
Naturally, many contests are being setup and numerous booths for artists and other stalls have been setup. It is very lively as though it is a mid autumn festival or new years celebration.
The inside area is actually a very large dome structure which is essentially a huge auditorium and concert hall. It stands erect in the center of all these activities occurring around it.
The tour guide clarifies the situation for everyone. "We have arrived at the Renai Series Event. Here ,as you can see, are two areas. The surrounding area around the concert hall over at the center are the activities and numerous events which occur throughout the duration of the event. Naturally, there are a variety of vendors and even booths for you to check out. Be sure to not miss out on it as it is a wonderful experience. Next, you can see the huge concert hall complex. This area is where the seiyuu, Kana Hanazawa, will be performing in a few hours. Naturally, everyone on this bus is apart of the VIP section, thus, you will be able to enter the building easily via our VIP entrance. Everyone else who have bought tickets are currently lined up awaiting the building to open its doors. Once you get off the bus, please head over to the registration area and show your confirmation email to obtain your passes. As we have arrived, we hope you enjoy your day and have fun!"
The tour guide provides a lengthy information dump which has enlightened several passengers. As the bus comes to a halt and the door opens, the passengers slowly file out to a drop off area.
Not too far away, huge crowds can be seen lining up in organized fashion to be able to enter the concert hall.
"Ah hahaha! We have finally arrived!" Haruta exclaims happily.
"Yes, a very lively and different atmosphere!" Akihiko also smiles and comments.
Yotsuba has a smile on his face as he nods in agreement.
Chu Feng looks around and sizes up a few of the stalls and surroundings. "Man, there's a lot of good food...haha. Let's head over there and try that hotdog looking thing!"
Feng Ye laughs. "You are getting ahead of yourselves. Let's get our pass first, Haruta, you have the email ready?"
"Yes!" Haruta answers.
The group of six follow the passengers who had just gotten off the VIP bus to the registration area. Around 20 minutes in total was spent in line to get the pass.
The pass is in the form of a badge. Upon seeing Haruta's email, the staff smile and provide six badges. The badge comes with a nice lanyard, a bag, and a program guide.
The badge simply notes the individual's name and the tier of the pass. Naturally, Haruta's group has the highest tier. There are four tiers available for purchase which consist of General, Premium, Exhibitor, and VIP.
The general tier is a badge which is the cheapest. It simply provides access to the event and surroundings outside. Admission to the concert requires the purchase of a separate concert ticket which is already sold out. Premium also includes admission to the concert event and is a good deal which is cheaper if one were to purchase the general tier and then the admission concert ticket. Exhibitor badge is provided to those who are vendors and booth staff of respective companies. The highest tier is the VIP which is the most expensive and comes with access to pretty much everything. It includes the bus shuttle, priority entrances and waiting lines along with early access to events.
Feng Ye, Haruta, Chu Feng, Wu Ya, Akihiko, and Yotsuba have the rare VIP+ badge. This pass cannot be bought and can be solely obtained by winning the Renai Giveaway Series. This badge naturally has some pretty epic benefits which include backstage access and other behind the scene events such as after party invitations and competitions.
VIP viewing areas and highest priority servicing are also apart of this package. They were also provided a more exclusive swag bag which seemed to be stuffed full some pretty cool swag which the other badges do not have.
The six put on their VIP + badges. Their lanyards seem to be made of higher quality material than the others. The General and Premium badges had lanyards which display and advertisement for the company who sponsor it which take up the aesthetic appeal of the lanyard.
VIP and Exhibitor badges had nice graphics of an anime version of Kana Hanazawa on the lanyard rather than the advertisement.
Chu Feng laughs as he is the first to immediately check what is in this fancy drawstring bag which seems to be full of swag.
"Haha, that's quite a lot of stuff!" He comments as he reaches in the bag and pulls out some neko ears and puts in on his head.
"Unexpectedly some cosplay swag LOL!" Haruta smiles as he points as Chu Feng who looks ridiculous.
"Come on now.. Don't hate Haruta...Nyaa!" Chu Feng teases jokingly.
The entire group laughs.
The group who has found a park bench had sat down to take a look at the map provided. This stop also allowed Feng Ye to look around and truly size up the entire event space. It is huge.
A lot of anime themed banners, events, booths are everywhere. It is super lively. A lot of cosplayers also wander around. The scene can be simply described as though he truly had entered otaku central. The amount of excitement buzzing in the air as many exclaim in surprise in regards to awesomely dressed cosplayers or posing next to anime cutouts which they refer to as "waifus" or "husbandos."
Seeing the variety of individuals shuttling about, Feng Ye had a rather wicked thought. Some of the individuals are quite fit and healthy, while others not so much. Seeing the rather unhealthy ones seemed to remind Feng Ye of a famous meme in his old world by Filthy Frank. Some of these unhealthy individuals seemed to be quite similar to the images found in Filthy Frank's "weeaboo song."
Seeing this resemblances made Feng Ye sigh. Truly, in all worlds, there are the same variety of individuals of this nature.
All of the anime characters, Feng Ye couldn't recognize at all. However, the artwork and style seemed to be pretty consistent to the ones in his old world…
Quite strange.. Obviously this Kana Hanazawa wasn't the same as the one in his world. Coincidences truly do happen… as it seems Renai Circulation still exists in this world. However, Angel Beats!, Oreimo, and Tokyo Ghoul surprisingly is nowhere to be found. It is replaced with other animes.
Chu Feng and the others didn't really notice Feng Ye who was taking in the surroundings as they were focused on the map as though they were trying to memorize it…
Haruta points to an area on the map. "Hey.. let's go visit this place first! A ramen shop!"
Chu Feng immediately disagrees. "You just ate! Let's go inside the concert area and see if we can get any other benefits….maybe even more swag…"
Wu Ya disagrees with both Chu Feng and Haruta as she points out, "Chu Feng you greedy af troll and Haruta, you seriously just ate.. Let's go check out some of the events around here instead!"
Nearby Akihiko interjects, "How about we split up and meet back at the concert hall at a designated time? We all have this VIP+ badge anyways, so getting in should be no problem."
"True, that's a good idea. Let's do that!" Haruta agrees.
The rest of the group nods in agreement.
"Alright, so who wants to come with me?" Haruta inquiries. Naturally, Akihiko and Yotsuba immediately join up as they really have no preference.
At this time, Chu Feng pats Feng Ye's shoulder, "Let's go get free stuff!"
Feng Ye declines. "Chu Feng.. you have literally so many opportunities to get free swag. Idf you get it now, you'll just be carrying a larger load for the rest of the day. Simply not worth it. I'll go check out the events instead…"
Wu Ya smiles as she also comments. "Yes, Feng Ye come with me and let's stroll around."
Chu Feng although loves swag, he would prefer not to stroll and become lost in a crowd of cosplayers of a variety of shapes and sizes.
"Ah.. alright. You make a good point.. I'll also go see the events." Chu Feng corrects his statement.
"Haha, shameless. Truly a thick facial skin!" Wu Ya snorts.
"Thank you! Appreciate the compliment!" Chu Feng replies.
The group laughs.
"Alright, we'll see you guys later!" Chu Feng waves to Haruta's group.
"Yes! See you soon," Haruta replies.
Thus, Haruta's group heads to the direction of the ramen shop while Feng Ye, Chu Feng, and Wu Ya head towards the area with a bunch of booths, events, and stalls.