Lilika Yuri (2)

It was an odd sight to have the mall so full of people early in the morning. I checked the time on my marble three times to confirm if it was 6AM in the second district time. I wondered how these people willingly got up so early just to buy stuff.

Posters of Lilika Yuri littered the screens of advertisement and covered the front of the shirts of many fans who were clustered in the same area. The mall was filled to the brim with overflowing merchandise covered with the name of Lilika Yuri. There were Lilika Yuri cups, toys, games to even sofas. It was like this mall was dedicated to the existence of Lilika Yuri.

It was truly paradise for fans of Lilika Yuri as they got swept away by all these products. I never realized the otaku fandom would be so large in the second district. Maybe it was different from my former life where people usually hid they were otakus to avoid disapproval from the general public.

"Wow, Lilika Yuri is insanely popular here," I commented on the fans that lined up in an orderly fashion to get into each store.

Loud music of Lilika Yuri filled the air to the point Jules and Alex would have trouble hearing me, if not for their great hearing. I had to remind myself to not shout to get my message across to communicate with Jules. It was like loud music was strangely messing with my brain.

"It was a normal shopping mall the last time I came," Jules observed his surroundings with suspicion.

It was hard to believe Jules as everyone had their phone backgrounds to something related to Lilika Yuri when I looked through the hectic setting. Plus, there wasn't a single store that didn't sell any products, not about the Vocaloid.

Even though I was a fan of Lilika Yuri, it wasn't to the point of obsession like the fans who gathered to this place. The obsession of the mall was like it was somehow brainwashed. Alex seemed to believe the same thing as his alertness perked while taking every careful step.

"It's like this is where the concert is held."

"You're not wrong, the concert hall is inside this mall." Jules pointed out.

Well, it did make sense that Jules would put the setting in the teleportation gate to someplace close to the concert hall. I tugged off the bizarre feeling off my chest as I pulled on Jules' clothes to gesture to get out of this hectic place until the time of the concert.

Jules, getting the hint, escorted us to the café located a few blocks away from the mall in a peaceful neighborhood. It was just what we needed as I frowned upon the fans who did not seem to be in their right minds somehow.

The waiter came to take our order as soon as we took a seat. The bright Lilika Yuri sticker on her apron sucked in all our attention as she brightly displayed her picture-perfect business smile.

"I couldn't get the tickets to the upcoming Lilika Yuri concert," a girl cried from the table behind us.

"Same here," the girl's friend slammed her head against the table in frustration.

"I bought a thousand albums, but none had them had tickets inside," she mumbled with devastation.

"What? Only that? I bought three thousand albums and there wasn't a single ticket!" the girl who ruined her face with tears violently slammed the table with both of her hands.

This was freaky. I could understand one or two albums, but three thousand? The store played the debut song of Lilika Yuri as the table behind us made a ruckus that the other customers seemed to let go.

It was like all the customers were understanding and knew what they were going through. When I took a deeper look into the café we were in, I found almost everyone had something related to Lilika Yuri.

The customer who paid their bill in the table in front of us wore Lilika Yuri shoes. The table beside us had Lilika Yuri handkerchiefs sticking out of their small pockets. Even a table few metres away from us wore Lilika Yuri hats and the table beside them wore Lilika Yuri bracelets.

What was wrong with this town? There was no way a single Vocaloid could be this popular. The drinks we ordered came with a complimentary Lilika Yuri straw inside as a service. Maybe after finishing our drinks, I would take a train to the next city to go to a quieter place.

However, the train roared with another song by Lilika Yuri. All the commuters had at least one Lilika Yuri merchandise and some mumbled the lyrics to the numerous songs all by Lilika Yuri.

For once, I covered my ears, sick of all these Lilika Yuri songs that I had once liked. Maybe this meant I was a casual fan rather than a deeply obsessed fan like all the others around me. In the crowd of people who filled the city, Jules, Alex, and I were the only ones unaffected by Lilika Yuri.

Alex had already put on his noise cancellation barrier, sick of the loud noise, and asked us to message him with our marbles. At this point, I couldn't even blame him as I wanted to do the same. I guessed even good songs can turn into a monster when played over an infinite number of times over the gaudy speakers.