The place where they parked was on the side of a branch road behind the venue, not the main road normally used to reach the venue, so it wasn't too crowded.
However, one could also see that on the main road at the end of the street, vehicles were already lined up in long queues, and countless people were slowly converging on the sidewalks on both sides of the main road towards the front entrance of the venue.
Although they couldn't see the front of the venue from here, they could imagine that it would undoubtedly be a scene of extremely crowded, vast seas of people.
After all, with a visitor scale of nearly 80,000, just letting all the visitors enter would likely take an entire morning.
Fortunately, they were using the back door today; otherwise, just waiting in line would have been quite torturous.
Still, the expression "using the back door" felt a bit strange.
Then, Akira raised his head slightly, and the main building of the Tokyo International Exhibition Center immediately occupied most of his field of vision.
The main structure of the exhibition center looked like four inverted pyramids pieced together, then lifted from the ground by four pillars, with a quite peculiar design.
This was Akira's first time coming here, and his first time seeing this building with his own eyes.
But he was not unfamiliar with it.
Because the exhibition center was also the main venue for the previously mentioned 『ComicMarket』, or CM.
And as the world's largest dōjin convention, it appeared in many modern-themed works, especially those leaning towards otaku culture.
For example, "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend";
Or, for example, the uncle's favorite, "Oreimo";
Including the architectural prototype for Nijigasaki High School in the Love Live! series, which is also the Tokyo International Exhibition Center.
In short, for an old-school otaku, coming here could be considered a pilgrimage to a sacred site.
"I'll go park the car first, let's keep in touch by phone later."
"Alright."
After temporarily parting ways with Hisashi, the two headed towards the back of the venue.
The exclusive passage for internal staff was at the back of the venue, completely opposite to where the tourists gathered, and the meeting place he had agreed upon with his three assistants was also there.
Compared to the packed front entrance, the back of the venue was quite deserted.
So, very quickly, Akira spotted the three of them already gathered together.
Beside them was a stranger, who was likely Daisuke's wife.
As they gradually approached, the other party also noticed them, and Hayato waved excitedly: "Mochizuki-sensei!"
At the same time, they naturally noticed Rin beside Akira, and after seeing her appearance clearly, they were immediately stunned—
Mochizuki-sensei's friend is a super cute beauty!
And soon, the Tanaka couple, who had a TV at home and had coincidentally seen Rin perform on TV, quickly recognized her identity.
So Mochizuki-sensei's female friend is that lead singer of 『Tsukirin』?!
Daisuke was surprised at first, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt it was also quite normal.
Although Mochizuki-sensei had a lot of free time every week, he wasn't the type who liked to go out and play or socialize everywhere.
Therefore, the only woman he could frequently come into contact with in his daily life was probably Shimizu-san Rin, the lead singer of 『Tsukirin』, right?
"Morning, everyone."
After walking closer, Akira smiled and greeted the group briefly, then looked at Daisuke's wife.
She was half a head shorter than Daisuke, and her appearance was that of an average person, but she gave off a well-behaved feeling.
Just then, she also stepped forward and bowed respectfully to him: "Hello, Mochizuki-sensei, I am Daisuke's wife, Tanaka Aoi."
"Thank you very much for taking care of my husband usually, and it is an honor to be able to participate in this event with everyone.
If there is anything I do that is inconsiderate, please bear with me."
Her standard, flawless delivery left him stunned.
However, if one observed carefully, one could see that her tone was slightly tense, and it seemed she wasn't actually too comfortable saying such polite formalities.
So he smiled and said: "If we're talking about taking care of someone, it's actually Tanaka-san who has been taking care of me."
Then, he added jokingly in a relaxed tone: "Besides, this isn't some company team-building event, so there's no need to be so formal, right?"
"You're making me a bit nervous."
"Ah, I'm sorry—"
Tanaka Aoi was immediately a bit embarrassed, but looking at the smile on his face and realizing that he truly didn't care about these things, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Then she smiled again, bowed slightly to him, and retreated to Daisuke's side.
Finally, there was Rin beside him. She smiled and bowed slightly to everyone: "My name is Rin, I am Mochizuki-kun's friend. It's nice to meet you all, please treat me well."
"Ah, it really is Shimizu-san—!"
Hayato exclaimed in surprise.
Although Akira hadn't told them about his female friend's situation before, they had carefully analyzed it privately and all felt it was very likely to be Rin.
Now it seemed they were indeed right.
And she was far more beautiful than he had expected!
Damn Mochizuki-sensei!
Deep down, he couldn't help but feel a surge of envy, jealousy, and hatred towards Akira once again.
But it had to be said, with the two of them, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, standing together like that, they looked incredibly well-matched.
At the same time, Shota, who was standing nearby, was startled by Hayato's voice and wished he could quickly cover his mouth.
He reprimanded him speechlessly: "Idiot, don't shout so loudly! What if someone else hears you?!"
As one of Rin's fans, Shota was actually very excited to be able to see her in person, perhaps even more excited than Hayato.
That's why he was even more aware that now that Rin was a super-popular up-and-coming A-list singer, if she were accidentally exposed, it might cause some trouble later.
"I know."
Hearing this, Hayato smiled somewhat smugly: "So didn't you notice that I called her 'Shimizu-san'?"
"The surname Shimizu is quite common, isn't it?"
It had to be said that this move was indeed flawless; Shota had nothing to say and could only sigh in weariness.
But then, he immediately perked up and introduced himself to Rin reservedly: "Hello, Shimizu-san, my name is Shota, I am Mochizuki-sensei's assistant."
"Hello."
Rin nodded with a light laugh: "Mochizuki-kun often mentions you all to me, saying that you are all very important helpers to him."
Huh?
Did I ever say that?
And I don't mention you that often, right?
Akira was confused upon hearing this.
However, this statement wasn't actually wrong.
More importantly, the three assistants were obviously quite pleased with this; Shota was even more encouraged, saying: "I still have a long way to go, but I will continue to work hard!"
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
You've been played, young man.
Akira couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.
But come to think of it, why did he feel that Rin's statement had a touch of a "matriarch" vibe to it?
"—, everyone, look over there!"
At this moment, Hayato's call drew their attention. Following his gaze, they saw that the crowd queuing in the distance had finally started to move.
At nine o'clock in the morning, 『JumpFesta』 officially opened for admission.