Chapter Fifty-Two: A True Fan

They appeared to be like-minded friends, yet suddenly broke into a fierce fight. As the crowd moved, these four young men skillfully fought while walking, afraid to fall behind and let others cut ahead, truly a spectacle to behold.

Chen Zi'ang hurriedly pushed his sister's wheelchair aside to avoid getting caught up in their scuffle, and quietly listened from behind for a moment before finally understanding the cause of their quarrel.

It turned out that one of them, unbeknownst to the others, had secretly gotten information from an insider among the staff. He learned that Maki Kirigaya would walk from the main stage to the T-shaped runway to interact with fans before the intermission. So, he secretly bought a bouquet of flowers to present to her.

To present flowers meant a chance for close, face-to-face contact, and perhaps, by sheer luck, even touch her hand while handing them over—a clear act, from the other three’s perspective, of wanting to get close to their goddess. An offense, pure and simple.

"Death penalty seems appropriate," said the bespectacled young man after a moment's consideration, his expression cold.

"Yes, considering we've known each other for nearly ten years, let's make it swift," the other two chimed in. "Give him a quick end—he deserves it for brotherhood's sake."

"Wait!" cried their friend pinned to the ground. "I'm innocent!"

Several puzzled passersby, seeing the four fighting, had initially wanted to intervene. But upon hearing such a heartfelt "I'm innocent," they couldn't help but laugh and walk away.

"It seems Oishi still disputes the charges," the bespectacled one pushed up his glasses, a cold gleam in his eyes. "Go ahead, defend yourself: this bouquet you bought without telling us—who is it for?"

"I..." Oishi opened his mouth, his gaze sweeping over Chen Zi'ang and Rin Tsukimi behind him. Suddenly, he scrambled up, snatched the bouquet from his friend's hand, and handed it directly to Rin Tsukimi, declaring:

"That's right! I bought this bouquet precisely for this goddess here!"

The other three fixed their gaze on Rin Tsukimi's face, at first showing awe and shy admiration... but such feelings flashed and faded, quickly overwhelmed by their deep-rooted fan devotion.

"Oishi," said the bespectacled man, exuding a chilly aura as he seized Oishi, who was still trying to explain. "Your flowers were bought last night. Are you claiming you already knew this beautiful..."

He tried to look at Rin Tsukimi, but as if blinded by the sun's radiance, he hurriedly averted his gaze and, bowing his head, growled:

"Then you'll be sentenced to the 'normie punishment'!"

The other two, meanwhile, were lost in their own worlds: the curly-haired one clutched an autographed photo of Maki Kirigaya to his chest, eyes closed, muttering prayers as though warding off devils with a holy relic; the earringed one turned away entirely, mumbling, "Ah, hallucinating... how could a goddess of this caliber be within five meters of me?"

Oishi, still locked by the bespectacled man, persisted in offering the bouquet to Rin Tsukimi, the plea and terror in his eyes clearly begging, "Save me."

Rin Tsukimi smiled gently, took the bouquet from his hand, and immediately passed it to Chen Zi'ang:

"Thank you for the flowers, but I already have a boyfriend, so I'll let him take care of them."

The four were stunned, and all turned their gaze to Chen Zi'ang.

After a moment, the bespectacled man released Oishi, and the four huddled together with their backs to the group, whispering conspiratorially, occasionally glancing back.

Chen Zi'ang: ?

Thanks to his past training with fire seeds, his physical abilities were heightened, so even though the group tried to keep their voices low, he could vaguely make out their conversation:

"Didn't expect such evil to exist in the world..."

"Should we enact divine punishment?"

"Not a good idea—after all, we don't know him... we might actually get arrested by security..."

"Then let's become brothers with him, and then betray him?"

"You just want to learn his secrets for getting close to goddesses!"

"Nonsense! I merely wish to rid the world of evil and save a poor girl from confusion and deceit!"

"Don't be fooled, everyone. He's definitely planning to betray us otaku and join the normies!"

As they argued, the four started roughhousing again, pretending to link arms but actually elbowing, pinching, and choking each other, devolving into chaos.

Chen Zi'ang quietly pushed his sister, holding Rin Tsukimi's hand, calmly bypassing the group.

They couldn't stay together any longer—it would be too contaminating.

"How should I deal with this bouquet?" he asked, raising the flowers. "After all, they were meant for you."

"Just toss them over there," Rin Tsukimi replied.

Following her gaze, Chen Zi'ang noticed a garbage can overflowing with trash beside the flowerbed near the queue.

After some thought, he decided not to stuff the bouquet inside, but instead placed it atop the lid.

Anyone who wanted it could help themselves.

They rejoined the queue, continuing toward the Martial Arts Hall ticket checkpoint, and along the way, encountered several more attempts at conversation from passersby.

Most were seeking to make friends, both men and women. One even claimed to be a talent scout, hoping to recruit Rin Tsukimi for his agency; she politely declined all such invitations.

"See, I really am quite popular," said Rin Tsukimi with a playful smile after sending off yet another wave of admirers. "If I debuted, I could definitely become a superstar."

"You want to pursue a career in entertainment?" Chen Zi'ang asked in surprise.

"No, no, not at all," Rin Tsukimi quickly waved her hand, making a tiny gesture. "I'm just showing off a bit to you, that's all—being vain for a moment."

"Oh," Chen Zi'ang nodded, "Good. I always thought having a celebrity around would be terrifying."

"Why?" Rin Tsukimi asked curiously.

"Because..." Chen Zi'ang hadn't finished when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Chen, here for the concert?" The speaker was clearly exhausted, wearing a security officer's uniform—obviously a colleague from the Public Security Bureau.

"Yeah," Chen Zi'ang replied, clearly acquainted. "It's the weekend, and I managed to get tickets... You're on duty here?"

"Ah," his colleague complained helplessly. "Duty, they say, but it's really just herding people—most of the time I'm guiding crowds, blocking line cutters, maintaining order, keeping them from wandering off."

"No more chatter, enjoy yourself. I'm off to work."

Watching his colleague depart, Chen Zi'ang turned back and said:

"See? Whenever there are crowds like this, it's a nightmare for us security officers."

"This colleague works in Section Three, which hates music festivals and concerts the most... because the whole section has to work overtime, with huge crowds that are hard to manage."

"Of course, for Section Six like us, if an anomaly appears in a place with so many people, everyone would go crazy."

"I see," Rin Tsukimi giggled. "So that's why you dislike celebrities? Maybe we should find a reason to cancel this troublesome concert."

"Don't joke," Chen Zi'ang waved his hand. "With Maki Kirigaya's fame, if we ordered the concert canceled today, the director would be bowing and apologizing to the press tomorrow."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Rin Tsukimi joked, though she was seriously considering it.

Should she sabotage the concert after all? Perhaps cause the stage to collapse...

She suddenly looked down at Chen Xiaozhu in the wheelchair.

Her little sister seemed so excited—forget it.