Akihabara, what some people call the holy land of otakus, was as lively as ever.
Bright signs covered the buildings, advertising anime, games, figures, and the latest light novel releases. Normally, the streets were already crowded with tourists and fans, but today the crowd was even larger than usual.
Outside one of the bookstores, a long line stretched down the street.
A signing event was being held.
Normally, these events attracted a decent number of readers.
But today was different.
Today was the first public signing event ever held by the mysterious author known only as Sirius, the author of the famous light novel series Orion: At the End of Stars.
Which explained why the line looked more like the entrance to a concert than a book signing.
Among the fans waiting in that massive line stood a boy clutching a single light novel carefully in both hands.
He looked visibly excited.
From the outside, it looked like he was having a long inner monologue.
Inside his head… he was absolutely having a long inner monologue.
"My name is Tomoya Aki.I'm an otaku, a blogger who runs a small site reviewing games, anime, and light novels… and today I'm standing in the longest line I've ever seen for a book signing."
Tomoya glanced down at the cover again, running his thumb across the silver lettering.
Orion: At the End of Stars — Volume 1.
Honestly, it was a unique kind of story.
It broke many common clichés. There was no final boss that needed to be defeated. Even if such a figure existed somewhere in the universe, the main character, Orion, would probably ignore him unless provoked.
The story was about the journey of a boy named Orion and his parents as they travelled across the universe.
Planet to planet.
Star system to star system.
Along the way, they met strange characters, explored alien cultures, enjoyed incredible food, and occasionally fought in spectacular battles.
It was almost like placing a shonen protagonist inside something like Kino's Journey, except set in space.
Normally, that combination shouldn't work.
But somehow… it worked extremely well.
Mostly because of the characters and the worldbuilding.
The worlds felt alive, each planet having its own culture, history, and strange creatures. And the characters were all incredibly charming, especially the heroines.
Even though most of them only appeared in a single volume, they were memorable. There were also several recurring heroines that fans loved.
And of course, there was the protagonist himself.
Orion.
He basically did whatever he wanted and enjoyed the journey.
Sure, he was a little narcissistic.
But the worst part was that he actually had the ability to back it up.
Which was probably why the series had gained so many followers even during its early web novel days.
And now the light novel version had become extremely popular.
Too bad there was still no anime adaptation.
Several studios had reportedly tried to approach the author, but Sirius-sensei had rejected every single offer.
Tomoya still couldn't understand why.
Speaking of the author…
He was a complete mystery.
No one knew what he looked like.
Aside from writing, he occasionally uploaded his own music and songs to his Nexus account and sometimes posted random creative works.
Even stranger, many of the followers on his account were major companies and conglomerates.
And when Sirius casually posted a relationship update two days ago, the comment section had exploded with congratulations, including messages from those huge companies.
Which only fueled the rumours.
Some people believed Sirius was actually a hidden, rich second-generation heir who wrote novels for fun.
But no one knew the truth.
And today was the first time he had ever appeared in public for a signing event.
Which was why so many fans had shown up.
As Tomoya was thinking about all this, the line finally moved forward.
It was his turn.
He entered the small booth.
And sitting behind the table was the mysterious author himself.
Wearing an SD Gundam Freedom helmet.
It was normal for authors to hide their faces during signing events, so Tomoya didn't mind much.
He stepped forward nervously and placed the book on the table.
Up close, the mysterious author looked even stranger.
For some reason, Tomoya had the strange feeling that the person behind the helmet was probably very handsome.
An SD Gundam Freedom helmet stared back at him.
Still… this was Sirius-sensei.
Tomoya straightened his posture slightly.
Trying not to sound too excited, he asked,
"Sirius-sensei, Orion travels through so many different worlds and meets so many different characters. How do you come up with such diverse settings and people?"
The helmet tilted slightly toward him.
For a moment, Tomoya wondered if he had asked something too complicated.
Then the author answered simply.
"Experience helps."
Tomoya blinked.
"That answer was so simple… yet somehow it sounded incredibly profound, as expected of Sirius-sensei."
The pen moved across the page as the author calmly signed the book.
A moment later, he pushed it back across the table.
Tomoya picked it up carefully.
"Thank you very much, Sirius-sensei."
He stepped aside, making room for the next fan.
As he walked away, he glanced back once more at the masked author calmly signing books.
"Just what kind of thoughts are inside the head of a genius like that…?"
Meanwhile, Akira signed another book and slid it back across the table without looking up.
Then he spoke telepathically with Selena.
"Hey, sister."
Selena replied immediately.
"What is it, brother?"
Akira asked,
"Well… if a zombie bites a werewolf… would that create a zombie werewolf?"
There was a short pause.
Then Selena replied flatly,
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Akira signed another book.
"Or if the werewolf bites the zombie first? Would the zombie become a werewolf zombie instead?"
Selena telepathically took a deep breath.
"Brother, I am really busy right now. If you wanted to say something, say it."
Akira paused briefly while signing another book.
"You see… yesterday, when Erika was drinking my blood, I suddenly wanted to bite Erika back. So, I wanted to ask if that's normal."
Selena sighed.
"…Then why bring up zombies and werewolves?"
Akira answered seriously.
"Well… biting is involved. So, it's a close enough topic, right?"
Selena replied immediately.
"No. It isn't. It's not even close."
Akira continued,
"Well, whatever. Just tell me— is it wrong to bite back my vampire girlfriend?"
Selena thought for a moment before answering.
"I don't really know. Just ask her. If she's okay with it, then do it. It's not like you haven't bitten her before."
Akira responded,
"Yeah, but we were just childhood friends back then, not boyfriend and girlfriend."
Selena replied dryly,
"You do realise that both of you did all that even before you were an official couple, right? Why are you asking this now?"
Akira signed another book as he answered.
"Well… I mean… I don't know. Back then, I was just playing around. But now that we're a couple, everything feels different. I feel more conscious of her. I can't do what I did back then normally. I wonder why."
Selena sighed.
"I don't know. I think it's normal to feel like that."
Then she added,
"As for biting, just ask her yourself. I'm too busy for relationship counselling right now."
Akira asked,
"What are you so busy about anyway?"
Selena replied immediately.
"It's all because of you."
Akira blinked.
"What did I do?"
Selena answered,
"Remember the fight last night? Your final particle beam struck the school grounds."
Akira frowned slightly.
"So?"
Selena continued,
"It caused some damage to the fate energy gathering array under the school."
Akira paused mid-signature.
"What? You mean that Fate Energy Farm? What happened?"
Selena replied,
"As I said, it's not a farm. It's a fate energy reservoir. And for what happened to it, that's what I'm still trying to find out."
She sighed.
"It was never supposed to be damaged, even if the entire school above it was destroyed. So, I'm not sure either."
Akira shrugged slightly.
"Oh. Well… Hope it's not too much, we can fix it right?"
Selena sounded more troubled this time.
"That thing is extremely old. Older than even this world itself. I'm not even sure how to fix it…"
She let out another quiet sigh.
Then suddenly she added,
"Oh, brother. Looks like you have a special guest."
Akira paused.
"Huh?"
He looked up.
Standing in front of the table was a girl.
Or rather, a very beautiful girl in an obvious disguise.
A brown hooded trench coat hid her crimson hair.
Black sunglasses covered her eyes.
A mask hid half her face.
It was the kind of disguise a celebrity might wear when trying not to be recognised.
But Akira recognised her immediately.
"Rias?"
Yes.
It was Rias Gremory, the main heroine of High School DxD… and one of Akira's old friends.