Chapter 049 Chapter 49

All the doors on the street opened at the same time, with a loud bang, and in perfect order.

Saito Shun was so scared that he jumped up on the spot and almost cursed.

Then people came out of these shops. They were wearing kimonos and holding green lanterns. They hung the lanterns at the doors and opened for business.

The green lantern swayed gently on the door frame, emitting a dim light, which also dyed the store door a touch of green, making it look like the underworld.

But Saito Shun and his companions did not find the green lanterns weird. In Japan, hanging green lanterns at the door of food stores has a special meaning, which means that more than half of the ingredients used here are local ingredients.

This may seem strange in other countries, but it is very normal in Japan, which has a very small land area. The food self-sufficiency rate here is less than half, and it basically relies on imports. People here prefer local ingredients and are very fond of stores that use local ingredients.

Green represents vegetables and hometown, so the green lantern has become a symbol of using local ingredients.

Normally, if you see a shop with a green lantern on the street, there is no doubt that many locals will go in and consume. As long as the food is not too bad, it will be crowded with customers.

Of course, due to the high cost of local ingredients and the lack of corresponding connections, it is not easy to obtain large quantities of local ingredients in a continuous and stable manner, resulting in not many stores being able to hang up the green lantern.

Unlike now, the whole street is all green.

Miyuki looked at the endless green lanterns and said, "Are these restaurants... all izakayas?"

A long time ago, most shops would have lanterns hung at the door because they were the only means of lighting and they would be hung whenever the shop was open at night.

Later, when lights came into being, many shops removed their lanterns. Now, the only shops that are still willing to hang lanterns are izakayas, and the lanterns have become the symbol of izakayas in disguise.

"It's not an izakaya." Okita Shinro stood at the door of a store. He didn't dare to get too close, and looked into the store from a distance of more than two meters. "This is a fried food store."

As if to prove what he said, the sound of frying food sizzling came from the kitchen in the store. The aroma of fried food immediately overflowed, gently touching the noses of several people.

The stomach of the office worker Yuno Yingdou, who stayed up late to work, made a rumbling sound. He had been working overtime from the afternoon until late at night, and had only eaten a bag of biscuits in the meantime, so he was already hungry.

Fried food, that's his favorite.

"I really want to eat something." Aburano Hideto unconsciously took a few steps towards the store. After he stood in front of the dirty counter at the door of the store, a man lifted the curtain and walked out from the back kitchen.

"Welcome." A man wearing a black, greasy apron came out. He grinned, revealing his white teeth. "Do you want to buy anything?"

Aburano Hideto swallowed and looked towards the kitchen.

"What do you want to buy?" the man asked again.

"I want to buy..." Aburano Hideto was about to open his mouth to order, but was suddenly pulled back by Okita Shinro beside him. Aburano Hideto was caught off guard and took two steps back, almost falling to the ground. He looked at Okita Shinro unhappily, "What are you doing?"

Okita Shinro didn't say anything, but just stared towards the kitchen.

The man stood behind the counter with a grin on his face, but after Aburano Hideto left the counter, the man's expression suddenly changed. His eyes bulged outward and the corners of his mouth drooped. Although his eight shiny white teeth were still visible, his expression was no longer a smile, but rather fierce anger.

Hideto Aburano shuddered when he was stared at by the man's angry expression. The thoughts of eating that had just filled his head disappeared like a tide. After he calmed down, cold sweat broke out on his back.

"No, I don't want to buy it." Hideto Aburano took a few steps back with his briefcase, trying to get away from the fried food shop, but accidentally bumped into the counter of a shop on the other side of the street.

Immediately after Aburano Hideto touched the counter, a hunchbacked old woman with wrinkled face walked out from the darkness deep inside the store. She placed her hands on her knees and stretched her long neck forward, like a tortoise head with its neck stretched to the extreme, as if she wanted to pass through the counter and peek in front of the customers to spy on something.

"What do you want, sir?" The old woman glanced up at Hideto Aburano.

When Hideto Aburano turned around, he saw a white head and a long neck. He screamed in fright again, took two steps back again, stepped on Rimi's foot and fell to the ground.

Li Mei cried out in pain and looked dissatisfied.

Watching the 'customer' leave, the old woman narrowed her eyes and turned back to the depths of the store.

"Let's leave quickly, it's a bit scary here." Miyuki said.

"Where are you going?" Yanagida Maiko asked in a panic, "Back to the platform?"

"No!" Saito Shun immediately retorted, "The woman in the red dress must still be there. It's very dangerous there!"

Ling Nai: "Then you can't stay here."

Li Mei: "Well, what do you mean by the green lanterns hanging in these shops? Do they mean they use local ingredients? But there are no stars."

According to the rules here, when hanging a green lantern means local ingredients, stars must be marked on it. The more stars it has, the higher the percentage of local ingredients. Over 50% is the lowest one star.

There are no stars painted on these lanterns, they are just ordinary green lanterns.

Okita Shinro hesitated for a moment and said uncertainly: "Maybe it's because... I like the color green?"

"It's not important, let's get out of here quickly." Aburano Hideto said quickly, his eyes always stole glances at the fried food shop. The man of the fried food shop returned to the kitchen behind the curtain because Aburano Hideto left the counter. He guessed that it was the kitchen because there was always frying sounds behind the curtain. Because there was no fried food on the counter of the shop, Aburano Hideto didn't know what this shop was frying.

It's usually a croquette, a mixture of meat and potatoes, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried.

The taste is really popular and it is also Hideto Aburano's favorite fried food.

But now, Aburano Hideto couldn't think of the delicious fried food at all. His mind was full of the man's ferocious expression. And he always felt that someone was staring at him, from that fried food shop. He thought that the man might be staring at him with a scary look through a curtain.

Aburano Hideto was very scared.

His proposal to leave was approved by everyone, and everyone quickened their pace and left the place at a speed almost like a trot.

One minute, three minutes, no matter how I walked, I couldn't leave this street. The long street with green lanterns seemed to have no end.

"Stop first!" Li Mei shouted loudly.

Everyone else stopped walking. Li Mei looked around and asked tremblingly, "Have we passed this place three times?"

"Huh?" Everyone else stopped.

Okita Shinro looked around.

All the shops were of similar size, all had green lanterns hanging, none had signs, and none had any merchandise on display.

They are similar, but the details are different.

For example, in the shop on the right, there is a tattered fortune cat on the dirty counter.

The lucky cat was covered in cracks and was tied up with layers of transparent tape to maintain its appearance. Its paws, which should have been waving constantly, were raised high, motionless.

Okita Shinro didn't know what this store sold. There was no sign hanging and no fragrance emanating. As long as the store owner didn't come out to speak, no one would know what kind of store this was.

Maybe they could find out by going in, but it was absolutely impossible for them to go in.

"This is the second time I've seen this lucky cat," said Shinro Okita.

When I first saw it, I was just shocked at first glance, but the sight of the cat in pieces looked a bit tragic, and that left a slight impression on me.

When the others heard what Okita Shinro said, they gasped.

"Look." Saito Shun patted Aburano Hideto's shoulder, "Isn't that a telephone pole in front? The one next to the missing person notice? And the fried food shop in front?"

Aburano Hideto was so scared that he was shaking all over, and there was no need to say anything.

Especially when Saito Shun mentioned the fried food shop, Aburano Hideto screamed in fear, turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

"Hey——" Saito Shun wanted to catch him, but failed. Seeing the newcomer in the workplace collapse and run away, Saito Shun looked at Okita Shinro and others for help, "What should we do?" Chase him?

Okita Shinro looked at the others. Everyone had a hesitant look on their faces, waiting for others' judgment.

"...Wait?" Okita Shinro said hesitantly. Rather than giving an answer, it was more like asking for other people's opinions.

Everyone else nodded.

However, they waited for a long time but Hideto Aburano did not show up. This made Shinro Okita feel uneasy as he thought Hideto Aburano would run back from the opposite direction.

Is changing direction the correct way to leave here?

"Let's try this way," said Okita Shinro, "maybe we can still catch up with him."

The others nodded, they thought so too.

However, after walking around, they not only did not see the figure of Aburano Hideto, but they were once again trapped in a maze and returned to the shop with the lucky cat. Several people looked at each other, and fell into great fear and doubt.

They didn't know where Hideto Aburano went or what he encountered, but the live broadcast room knew.

After Hideto Aburano and Shun Saito and others dispersed, the live broadcast room interface immediately split into two, one was still staring at Shun Saito and others, and the other followed behind Hideto Aburano.

Hideto Aburano ran all the way, not knowing how far he had run. When he stopped, he saw that he was still on the green-lit street. The most terrifying thing was that there was a fried food shop next to him.

Yes, that fried food shop where he almost bought something.

The boss stood behind the counter and looked at him with a grin: "What do you want to buy?"

"No..." Aburano Hideto ran away again, but this time, no matter which direction he turned his head to look, a store door would appear in front of him, and a man with a grin would ask him what he wanted to buy.

He looked like he wouldn't stop until he bought it.

Aburano Hideto was very scared but couldn't escape from here, so he finally made a bold decision to buy something to try.

Maybe if I buy it, I can leave here.

"I...I want a croquette." Aburano Hideto fumbled in his pocket. "How much is it? I have it. Here's the money."

The boss smiled until his eyes narrowed: "It's free, just provide the ingredients."

"I...I didn't..."

"One croquette requires one pound of meat. Please provide the ingredients."

"No - I don't want it!"

“Our ingredients are healthy and hygienic, just like you, our customer, right?”

Hideto Aburano turned around in fear and tried to run, but no matter which direction he turned, he saw grinning bosses. All the bosses reached out their hands to Aburano. After catching Aburano, the men who looked the same as they copied and pasted them into one, and dragged him into the back kitchen of the store with a grin.