The two "Stelles" quietly listened to the customer's eloquent speech. Compared to the two of them, whose expressions were gradually becoming "ferocious," the customer was getting more and more excited as he spoke.
But unfortunately, the two shopkeepers' minds seemed to have been on a different frequency from his from the very beginning.
Ambition?
Their initial intention in opening the shop was just to find a space where they could coexist and to deal with Otto's request. Where did any business ambition come from?
Could he possibly use the revenue from this shop to buy out the entire Fire Moth and turn Otto into "Little Otto the Receptionist," "Water Cooler Otto"?
Huge potential?
The only one on the market?
Who could have thought of that! Shu had never imagined that this world could be so slapdash.
It turned out that after leaving the shelter, he discovered that society was full of gold everywhere.
Hire official employees?
Shu instinctively resisted this idea.
Because it meant bringing more strangers of unknown backgrounds into their fragile, disguised lives, not only increasing the risk of exposure but also making the situation more complicated.
Of course, it was possible not to hire strangers, but...
Uh... he had already managed to slip under Siegfried's nose once, so... Kiana's trial... should... perhaps... probably... possibly... maybe...
Ugh—
Shu felt a slight heart attack just thinking about it.
But the customer's words were irrefutable.
From a purely business perspective, his suggestions were very pertinent, and could even be called golden advice, an immortal showing the way.
If they were really just a pair of ordinary twin sisters who wanted to run an entertainment shop well after the apocalypse, these words would undoubtedly be pointing them in the right direction.
But they weren't.
"...Thank you for your advice." In the end, Shu could only respond dryly, his tone devoid of emotion. "We will... seriously consider it."
What else could he do?
[Shu] also nodded slightly on the side, as a form of agreement.
Seeing this, the customer knew that they had taken his words to heart, so he didn't say any more and smiled.
"I was just saying it casually, you can make your own decision.
"Alright, I'll look around some more, see if there are any other good films." After speaking, he strolled leisurely towards the "Sci-Fi Future" section with his hands behind his back.
The two "Stelles" stood where they were, looking at the busy fans in the shop, the customers choosing merchandise, those exquisite "figures," the empty counters and screens...
It felt like the world had become something he no longer understood...
Opening a shop in disguise was originally meant to simplify the problem, to seek a temporary haven, a stopgap measure.
Although neither Shu expected this stopgap measure to solve any problems, it didn't mean they could calmly accept this degree of "deviation."
This haven seemed to be growing its own sails, about to set sail for a "blue ocean" that they had never anticipated and might not even want to go to.
And the suggestion to "recruit employees" was like a hole and a patch on this haven. If they didn't adopt it, this haven would most likely sink.
And if they did... hiss...
Did they really have to involve more unrelated people just to maintain this increasingly complex disguise?
Or, should they consider... a quick retreat?
Exchanging a glance, both saw the same conflict in the other's eyes.
They silently retreated to the rest corner that had been "meticulously maintained" by the fans.
The newly refilled hot tea in their palms transmitted warmth, but it couldn't warm the increasingly clear coldness and heaviness in their hearts.
Recruiting employees.
This simple and direct business suggestion, for them, touched upon their core dilemma and worries.
He was by no means naturally reclusive, unable to stand having too many people around him. It was just that after experiencing too much loss and shouldering too heavy a responsibility, he had subconsciously built high walls around himself.
"If you don't have it, you won't crave it... If you have it, you will never allow it to be lost."
This [Hmoe Random Play] was supposed to be a stopgap measure, a temporary haven.
The fundamental conflict between Shu and the other [Shu] had to be resolved sooner or later, whether by fusion, annihilation, or worse... in whatever way.
And on that day, this disguised identity named "Stelle," along with this shop that held a special meaning, would most likely dissipate silently like a bubble in the sun.
At that time, those recruited employees who relied on this job for a living, and might even have found a sense of belonging here, would instantly lose their support.
The vibrant community of fellow fans that had formed around the shop, the moments of joy and relaxation that the customers had found here, might all collapse along with it.
Furthermore, if it was as that customer said, and [Hmoe Random Play] developed into an indispensable entertainment landmark of the base, then its sudden disappearance... the shock would probably far exceed the closure of an ordinary shop.
The consequences... just imagining it was enough to make the two Shus, who were used to being in control but also knew that nothing was certain, feel a suffocating sense of responsibility and guilt.
Wasn't this what they were most afraid of?
Involving others in their uncertain future, and then leaving behind an irreparable mess.
However...
Their gazes drifted involuntarily to the inside of the shop.
The badge girl was patiently explaining the age appropriateness of a certain Homu family animation to a young father, her profile focused and gentle under the light.
The twin-tailed girl had successfully sold a series of discs and was cheering softly with the customer.
The short-haired girl had helped an elderly man with mobility issues find an old movie he had been longing for. The wrinkles on the old man's face smoothed out, and he thanked her repeatedly.
At the entrance, the other girls were smilingly welcoming new customers, their eyes bright.
It wasn't just visual.
"Empathy" was transmitting the positive emotions flowing within the shop, thread by thread, into their hearts.
The joy of finding a fellow fan, the satisfaction after helping others, the sense of accomplishment from completing a challenge...
The pure happiness of being immersed in something they loved, the relaxation after temporarily forgetting the pressures of the outside world...
These emotions weren't earth-shattering, but they were vivid, warm, like tiny, glowing seeds, stubbornly growing in this post-apocalyptic base built of cold metal and heavy responsibilities.
Like a sugar-coated poison, held tightly in Shu's mouth.
Shu could "feel" it.
Clearly, unavoidably.
He couldn't bear to shatter this beauty.
He didn't dare to think about it in detail.
What kind of scene would it be when these points of light were suddenly extinguished because of their "disappearance"?
But, their thought patterns, accustomed to "control" and "exhaustive enumeration," forced them to deduce that worst-case "outcome."