Heavy girl? I feel worse than Black Hole Trigger!

Even if you don't eat, drink or sleep, you can still live well by absorbing a little "nutrients" from the earth.

It's normal for him to not pay much attention to running a coffee shop.

But recently, Zheli has been spending a bit too much money.

For the first time, he felt that playing music was really expensive!

"At this point, I can only do a side job."

The man pushed up his sunglasses.

In the shopping district of Ikebukuro, a blond man wearing a windbreaker and sunglasses sat on a folding stool with a blanket in front of him, on top of which were several delicate-looking mechanical devices.

Just set up a stall!

Maybe you will ask, can you really make money by setting up a street stall?

Of course - not much money.

Because the real purpose of Baodengzheli is to hype the topic.

First, there's the urban legend of the "Ikebukuro street vendor weirdo." A few days later, photos, videos, and a few testimonials circulate, stirring up the buzz. Then, it's time for some nagging influencer to "debunk" the story, or perhaps even stage their own, turning it into online marketing.

Throwing ads directly in people’s faces will only make them look for the button to skip the ad, but allowing them to “solve the puzzle” themselves and direct their attention through curiosity can be a good marketing strategy.

Of course, if there are passers-by who are interested in his products, it is not impossible to make some money.

"Excuse me?"

“This is how it’s used.”

Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. … Clang.

"Wow! So strong!"

Snap.

“It can also be used as a lighter.”

"Bought it!"

"Thank you for your patronage~"

Baodeng Zheli waved his hand lazily at the young people who left excitedly.

All I can say is that the research and development technology of the talented physicist Kiryu Sento, brought to this world that has not been baptized by the aesthetics of Kamen Rider, is a dimensionality reduction attack.

As a mere toy, it may seem a bit childish, but it is a truly practical toy, who can refuse it?

For example, this one, modeled after a KABUTO insect detector, uses Cross-Z Dragon technology. Once fully charged, it automatically flies with the user throughout the day, landing in their palm when they raise their hand. For an extra fee, it can be transformed into a knife, a music player, or something else entirely.

The knife will automatically fly into your hand when you wave your arm. Isn't it super cool?

The asking price is 500 million yen.

Anyway, the price is not something that ordinary passers-by can afford.

As it happened, Zhe Li had no intention of actually selling it. He would at least wait until it was listed online and real collectors came to him for negotiation.

He pretended to be at work and did nothing for most of the afternoon. Thinking that the show was almost over, Baodeng Zheli prepared to pack up and go home.

“…Goodbye!” “Goodbye!” “…”

It seemed like the sound of a female student saying goodbye to her friend.

Zhe Li didn't even glance at them. Female students seemed to pop up everywhere in this city, and he was used to it.

however.

"Um, hello?"

The same sound was heard quite close by.

Zhe Li raised his eyes, looked past his sunglasses and glanced forward.

A girl with long pink hair and glasses was leaning forward, propped up on her knees, looking at him.

"Hello there!"

Noticing the man in front of her was looking her over, the girl smiled widely and greeted him again.

Zheli was about to smile back out of habit, but then he remembered that his current persona was that of a street vendor in Ikebukuro, so he kept a straight face and nodded coolly: "Hello. What can I do for you?"

The girl was not moved by his somewhat cold attitude, and still said with a smile:

"Excuse me, are you playing in a band?"

...Huh? A band? You're not here to buy anything from me?

Hmm, that's not right. The young girl asking about the band right off the bat should be common sense in this world.

While Zhe Li was thinking, he followed the other person's gaze and glanced at the violin case beside him.

He did bring his own bass—after all, he had an appointment with Lenai. He would keep her company until she got bored.

"Indeed." Zhe Li asked back, "What's wrong?"

"Ah, this."

The girl stood up again, took a half step back, and organized her words.

"I'm a member of our school's student council. We're planning to form a band to perform at the cultural festival... Could you recommend any music shops?"

Zhe Li crossed his arms and asked, "Before this, I was more curious about why you wanted to ask me this?"

"Eh? T-this..." The girl began to stammer.

As soon as I separated from my friends, I immediately approached strangers to ask about trivial matters that I would normally consult with my friends first. When asked why, I was vague...

This is the common situation, where you brag and pretend to be rich in front of your friends, and then have to find a way to cover up the lie later.

"If it's inconvenient to answer, it's okay not to say it."

He no longer wanted to care about the street vendor’s personality. Zhe Li’s eyes had a more caring and kind look, like a child.

The young girls he met recently were all very "anime-like" and full of their own characteristics. When he suddenly saw a normal girl, he actually felt a subtle sense of comfort.

"There's a live house nearby called 'RiNG'. It's quite large and has a built-in music store. If you need anything, you can ask the staff there for advice." Zhe Li patted his bass case. "I bought my bass there too. The service is great."

"Oh!" The girl looked at the violin case seriously.

Zhe Li didn't know what she could see from a box.

"I'm going there later, how about I take you there now?" Zhe Li said.

"this--"

The girl's expression froze and her voice became hesitant again.

That’s right, this is the reaction of a normal girl who is skeptical about an invitation from a stranger!

Oh, it’s really normal!

Seeing the other party's resistance, Zhe Li was deeply moved and gave up the idea of leaving immediately.

Although he didn't mind being misunderstood by strangers, he didn't intend to scare this rare normal girl.

The value of the most gentle creature on earth (self-proclaimed) is still rising! Bao Deng Zheli was almost moved to tears by himself.

So he simply sat back on the folding stool. "Again, that live house is called RiNG, which is written as R, i, N, G. It seems to be quite famous in the area, so it should be easy to find."

Then he spread out the carpet again and planned to set up his stall again.

What he didn't expect was that the girl was not only normal, but also very understanding.

"Um, um. Sorry... I..."

Obviously realizing that Zhe Li was trying to avoid suspicion, the girl spoke to him again with hesitation.

Zhe Li was now speechless, so he could only smile and spread his hands, indicating that he also understood the apology the girl wanted to express, and simply changed the subject:

"I'm actually setting up a stall here selling little toys. Do you want to see if there's anything you'd like to buy?"

"Street stall? I thought you were a street performer..."

The girl covered her mouth in surprise.

Zhe Li paused for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully, "That makes sense. Next time I'll just perform on the street."

"Hey, so casual?"

Zhe Li shook his head and sighed, "These days, there's no way to keep customers here without some unusual tricks."

"I get it! Internet celebrities are the same. They all seem like they'll disappear completely if they don't become more extreme."

"It's even more difficult for influencers, after all, there's so much competition. Even young students these days are running their own online communities to become famous, making life even harder for those who actually rely on these platforms for a living."

"...I always feel a little sorry." The young female student was a little embarrassed.

"You're also running a community? Ah, don't take it too seriously. If they're easily defeated by some random students, it just proves they weren't meant for this path in the first place."

Zhe Li lowered his head and fiddled with his invention.

"Always complaining about the environment will only speed up your elimination. In the end, it all comes down to hard work."

Then, he picked up something with a smile on his face.

"For example, I'm very confident in my products."

"……Glasses?"

"Put them on and try them on." Zhe Li handed over the glasses.

The girl first took off her glasses and put them into the chest pocket of her uniform, then she hesitantly took the glasses handed to her by Zheli and slowly put them on.

The only thing she noticed at first was that her vision was blurry - this wasn't a plain lens?

Expecting that she would soon feel dizzy due to the incorrect degree, the girl was about to take it off when she found that her blurry vision suddenly rippled and then became clear in an instant.

"Huh?" She couldn't help but exclaim.

The person in front of me is the street vendor wearing sunglasses.

The extremely clear sight made the girl subconsciously focus on the other person's face——

Under the orange-gold sea with a hint of sunset, one can vaguely see a pair of glowing eyes through the sunglasses: although sharp, they are not sharp, and instead give the illusion of looking at the sea or the sky.

“…Eh, ah…”

She suddenly felt her mind go blank.

"How is it? Very interesting, isn't it?" Zhe Li thought she was just surprised by the automatic focus adjustment function of the glasses, so he raised the corners of his mouth confidently and said, "This is a special pair of glasses that can automatically change the focus. It can be worn by both nearsightedness and farsightedness. If necessary, it can even be used as a telescope."

As for the principle behind it? I can only say that you don't need to understand the Kamen Rider thing that well.

"Yeah, yeah! That's amazing." The girl said insincerely.

"Also, these glasses have other additional functions." Zhe Li tapped his temple and gestured to the girl, "There's a button on the edge of the frame. Try pressing it."

The girl did as she was told. Then, she noticed words appearing on her lens: the current time and the words "Hello!"

"what……?"

"Have you ever heard of Google Glass? These glasses are inspired by it."

Although the technical cores are all black technologies from the world of Kamen Rider Build.

As for the principle behind it? I can only talk about the Kamen Rider thing... (omitted)

"A single tap activates the glasses' digital assistant, and a long press activates voice recognition. Try holding it down and saying, 'weather,' or anything else you want to search for online."

She followed suit and looked surprised when she heard the reading voice coming from the bone conduction headphones.

"So interesting."

The girl played for a while, then she was startled as if she had just woken from a dream, and slowly moved her gaze to Zhe Li's face.

"Excuse me...how much are these glasses?"

Zheli stopped what he was doing, smiled at her, and said, "20 yen."

"...That's right!" The girl smiled bitterly.

Despite being only a junior high student, she was a master of social media and had a basic understanding of popular new technologies. She had at least heard of Google Glass, which was said to cost $1500, which translated to around 20 yen.

She wasn't so far as to conclude that the stall owner was asking for too much, but her pocket money was not enough to buy such an expensive toy.

It's not like the guitar, which has a legitimate reason to hold a cultural festival...